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         Imitation can sometimes be a very sincere form of flattery and other times it can easily cause a piece of media, or entity, to be sullied and cast aside as nothing but a simple copy. In the case of Overblood, I think the comparisons it got to Resident Evil was probably one reason why it's not very fondly remembered (though that isn't to say it doesn't have other problems) and that is honestly a bit of a shame, though it's understandable as to why that was the case. You see, the developer Riverhillsoft was not super well known in the states as their primary releases were for a detective series called 'J.B. Harold Murder Club' and that didn't get it's first US release till the early 90's (and even that was stuck on the fairly unpopular Turbographix CD console) and Overblood was probably what they were first really known for in the Western markets. The problem was that Overblood at it's core was a spiritual successor to an earlier, experimental title they had made called 'Doctor Hauzer' which was a rather short adventure title in the same vein as the early 'Alone in the Dark' series. Now 'Doctor Hauzer' had some interesting visuals and did some innovative ideas with it's camera work, but it was a Japanese only 3DO release, so it was never that popular and attempting to improve on that title was a great idea....except around the same time 'Resident Evil' had come out and was garnering a lot of attention, so comparisons were inevitable. So after doing an LP of 'Doctor Hauzer' I always meant to go and do an LP of 'Overblood' to do some comparisons and because at it's core, it was a game I could enjoy and appreciate more after 'Doctor Hauzer' and here we are. I decided to try to do live commentary for this, so I apologize if it gets a bit too rambly at times but it helped me to plan out things better and get the flow down better, and for the most part I'm going to try to not take the utter piss out of the game because it's no where near as terrible as some people make it out to be. Hopefully this paints the game in a slightly better light than what's normally cast upon it. Finally, no spoilers. This isn't a terribly long game and the plot is known to some, but let's just wait to discuss the plot and it's twists when they come up naturally.  Raz Karcy is our protag and general amnesiac blank slate; he wakes from a deep cryo sleep with a bad skin rash and a hankering to know just what hell is going on. On the whole, he's a pretty amicable guy.  Pipo is our new best friend and constant reminder of what beeps and boops sound like. He's also the brains of the outfit and the one with the technological know how, which is super necessary in this sci-fi setting.  Milly is another survivor in the mysterious facility and an amnesiac like Raz, but is there more to her? Only time will tell...  Shadow Man is a mystery figure that seems to be pulling strings behind the scenes. But what does he have against Raz and why does he want Milly so badly...? discworld is all I read fucked around with this message at 07:25 on Oct 19, 2018 |
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Sep 17, 2018 05:09
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 In an unknown time at an unknown place some unknown guy wakes up and find he doesn't know what's going. Now while are story is just getting started, I suppose it's worth admiring a couple things that I think often get overlooked. First and foremost, there's the camera which was carried over to some degree from 'Doctor Hauzer' (though instead of a bird's eye view, it instead gives you a first person option). To some people, including my tween self back in the mid 90's, it just seemed like pointless fluff and something I avoided using like that plague but on this more recent play through I can appreciate the different types of play it facilitates and the fact that the game was honestly made with the idea that any of the three possible views would be feasible to play through the game with. If you look at something like Resident Evil, I think they ended up sticking with static cameras and static backgrounds for hardware limitation reasons (and for some aesthetic purposes) but compared to what Overblood allowed, it was a bit limited. Likewise there's the ability that Overblood gives to switch between two different characters; each has their differing purposes and strengths, and while Resident Evil did have two different characters you were never controlling them in tandem and instead they just existed in a vacuum somewhere else why you played through a given play through. It wouldn't be till Resident Evil Zero when that franchise would do something similar, but these are probably ill fitting comparisons as they are just comparing two entirely different genres of games. Still, I'm not alone with these comparisons and it's important to look at things that Overblood did right when you can. discworld is all I read fucked around with this message at 05:18 on Sep 17, 2018 |
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Sep 17, 2018 05:10
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I froze to death a frankly embarrassing number of times in the first room when I played this game back when it was new.
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Sep 17, 2018 07:26
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I'm pretty sure my only exposure to this game is through the old old LP on the archive, which IIRC wasn't really that informative/serious, so it's going to be nice to see one actually showing off the game, especially as you mentioned putting it in the context of building off of Doctor Hauzer rather than ripping of resident evil.
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Sep 17, 2018 19:51
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Hel posted:I'm pretty sure my only exposure to this game is through the old old LP on the archive, which IIRC wasn't really that informative/serious, so it's going to be nice to see one actually showing off the game, especially as you mentioned putting it in the context of building off of Doctor Hauzer rather than ripping of resident evil. Kibayasu posted:I froze to death a frankly embarrassing number of times in the first room when I played this game back when it was new.
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Sep 17, 2018 22:23
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Well if they locked Raz up in cryogenic suspension for eternity like that he was probably a very naughty boy. Probably some kind of mad scientist creating abominations like zombie plagues or robots that can only communicate in beeps.
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Sep 17, 2018 22:37
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 Always loved Raz's constant need to finger gun I missed Pepo
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Sep 18, 2018 00:26
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That rash is gonna need more than a little cortisone cream.
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Sep 19, 2018 06:41
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 One floor down and some silly deaths under our belts. No real plot yet though; for now it's just tutorials with our constantly beeping companion but that will change shortly. POOL IS CLOSED posted:That rash is gonna need more than a little cortisone cream.  And yes, if you haven't seen the film adaptation of 'The Drifting Classroom' then you are missing out. VVVVV Thankfully your LP is still safe and sound on the lparchive and I'd say the one major thing it has going against it is the sound quality. Like some of your guests are just inaudible, but this is mostly just a fun romp down memory lane for me. I do remember beating it but there are certain points in replaying it and I don't know how I got past certain parts. discworld is all I read fucked around with this message at 07:43 on Sep 21, 2018 |
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Sep 21, 2018 04:55
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drat this takes me back It was subject of one of the worst LPs ever recorded which sadly is gone forever now I'm honestly pretty interested to see how this game goes when you, for example, know what the controls are some plague rats fucked around with this message at 07:18 on Sep 21, 2018 |
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Sep 21, 2018 07:15
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Honestly, I get the feeling that he didn't recently catch that. The corpse was wearing the same kind of body suit he was, and he woke up in cryostasis. He was probably put under so they could try to cure him once they researched a cure. I'm of two minds of Pipo. He's adorable, but him just beeping like that every so often is actually kind of annoying.
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Sep 21, 2018 08:57
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Aw man, Drifting Classroom. That's almost nostalgic. They did another adaptation in 2002 as a weird romance drama. I think our man is gonna need some heavy duty steroids and biologicals...
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Sep 22, 2018 05:41
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Keldulas posted:Honestly, I get the feeling that he didn't recently catch that. The corpse was wearing the same kind of body suit he was, and he woke up in cryostasis. He was probably put under so they could try to cure him once they researched a cure. When I was a kid I thought Pipo doing his excited jump meant I was going in the right direction.
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Sep 23, 2018 02:44
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Kibayasu posted:When I was a kid I thought Pipo doing his excited jump meant I was going in the right direction. Good thing for you guys that I don't have faith in my humor, otherwise I would have went with my gimmick idea of subtitling Pipo's beeps and boops with his thoughts or general feedback about a given situation. Yeah, I know it's a great idea...right up there with when I role played as a landlord showing someone around the apartments of Silent Hill 2.
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Sep 23, 2018 07:26
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 A new companion joins us, but you might be asking why...and I'm sorry to say that it's due to things taking a dark turn. Also something that I'd like to talk about considering how many vent systems is in this video and I've seen the retsuparae and some other videos that kinda rag on the whole vent system, but to me it makes sense. I mean, you need to circulate air down here and that why there's a big rear end wind tunnel and vents, right? It's very rare for this game to take bizarre leaps in logic or structure.
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Sep 25, 2018 04:55
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 As we attempt to wrap up basement level 3, the danger keeps getting more and more real. Especially since Milly is unable to check the safety on the gun and even worse she's no Pipo. Oh yeah, and even outside the monsters there seems to be someone else out there that wants Raz dead....maybe it's the same person who locked him away for eternity.
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Oct 1, 2018 06:52
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I forgot that amazing ladder climbing animation. I think I am finally ready to accept you, Blond Pipo
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Oct 2, 2018 00:26
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Hey Milly, I bet Pipo wouldn't have helped create a world ending virus.
Kibayasu fucked around with this message at 23:42 on Oct 2, 2018 |
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Oct 2, 2018 23:39
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 Finally had time to catch up to part 5. Is it kosher to talk about it since it hasn't been posted here yet? You mentioned that the this game had way less files than RE or Dr.Houzer, I think a reason it gets away with that is that it's one of way too few games that switches perspective away from the main character (either to Milly or Zeus and shadow man) and that let's the player get information without the character needing too. Most games just drops very obvious hints that the PCs ignore so that the player can guess the traitor or whatever but this games just straight up tells you Milly is lying and a lot of info about the purpose of the complex without having the make Raz look like and idiot because he ignored it when it was written in a note and I think it's pretty great.
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Oct 6, 2018 14:33
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 Things continue to go as well you might expect for Raz as we start to explore one of the larger areas in the game, but what dark secrets will unfold...and what out this massive headache that Raz is suffering from? Hel posted:
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Oct 6, 2018 21:11
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I guess it makes sense that Milly could easily cure Raz but that was still really easy. "Extracted" and not "destroyed" the virus huh 
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Oct 7, 2018 05:23
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 And that's when the developers decided to put in an arcade section among all the plot...(it's not that bad honestly) But yeah, second to last update and I know we're all ready for the thrilling conclusion. Still in mind I'm a bit torn about what to start next; Fatal Frame 5 is definitely sitting around there (and I've actually got the first two parts done) but I did enjoy doing this more laid back approach and I realized there's a gaggle of games I've been meaning to revisit like Parasite Eve, and I could probably do more relaxed, live commentary for that. Who knows, but for now hop on my jet ski...
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Oct 13, 2018 03:50
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The gamegear had more battery life than that skimmer, who built that hunk of junk
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Oct 13, 2018 13:05
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coleman francis posted:The gamegear had more battery life than that skimmer, who built that hunk of junk The same people who build flashlights in any game with a limited flashlight.
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Oct 16, 2018 21:16
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I was more weirded out by the fact the skimmer went crazy without power rather than just slowing down to a stop. Or was the battery powering the skimmer's balancers while something else powered the engine, making its short life-span even dumber?
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Oct 16, 2018 21:23
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I can only assume the battery drained so quickly from doing all the sweet jumps and pumping the tunes on the stereo. It could also be that it was already slightly drained from being in the other skimmer. In retrospect I kinda wonder if everyone just had to deal with that tunnel when going from one location to another; it must suck to have to do that constantly in this mysterious facility.
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Oct 17, 2018 00:26
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I must not have gotten this far because I do not remember Battletoads in the game I played.
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Oct 17, 2018 02:19
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 And before you know it, our adventure has come to a close but that doesn't mean the game doesn't have time for a few more twists and turns, and a surprise guest or two... Also fun fact, I only just recently learned that there are hot keys set up to the controller that will allow you to easily use a healing item or equip your gun. The more you know when it's too late I suppose.
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Oct 19, 2018 07:25
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Eh, not sure I buy the "Player-Raz is the real Raz theory". Mind you, I'm fine with accepting Antagonist-Raz as another clone, but it's not like one of them has to be the original. Besides, we already saw plenty of Raz clones about in those tubes. The Player-Raz could have just been one that was deemed a failure for the experiment a bit prematurely and so was locked up afterward, hence his being put in cryo with no plans for reanimation.
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Oct 19, 2018 17:14
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Overblood 2 is so baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad Thanks for the LP
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Oct 19, 2018 20:39
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Edvarius posted:Eh, not sure I buy the "Player-Raz is the real Raz theory". Mind you, I'm fine with accepting Antagonist-Raz as another clone, but it's not like one of them has to be the original. Besides, we already saw plenty of Raz clones about in those tubes. The Player-Raz could have just been one that was deemed a failure for the experiment a bit prematurely and so was locked up afterward, hence his being put in cryo with no plans for reanimation. I don't know; it was own personal theory and I felt there was some question regarding who was real and who wasn't real. Like maybe the dead, face down scientist that we got the badge from was the real Raz. coleman francis posted:Overblood 2 is so baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad
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Oct 19, 2018 23:11
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Thanks for LPing this game; I did enjoy the themes and how it unfolded. However, even having watched your LP of Doctor Hauser, I would never have guessed there was any connection between the two games. Genre-wise they have nothing in common, and I really didn't see anything else in common, either. Looking forward to whatever you do next, and hoping that at some point Fatal Frame 5 comes up. Thanks!
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Oct 20, 2018 23:01
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Everyone's a clone and all the originals are dead! That's my theory.
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Oct 21, 2018 02:22
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POOL IS CLOSED posted:Everyone's a clone and all the originals are dead! That's my theory.
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Oct 21, 2018 05:58
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Kind of a fascinating watch; the game is really bad. But kind of interestingly bad in terms of that voice acting, graphics, presentation and so on.
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Oct 21, 2018 07:22
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