I've been recently playing NBA 2K24 with my brother on PlayStation 5.

Also "dusted off" the NBA Live '97. I played it on Windows 95 PC back in the day. It must have been one of the first computer games I ever played. Trying out DOS version for the first time in DOSBox-X. I have PS5 controller plugged to the PC (with DualSenseX running in the background - not really needed for this it seems), the game then shows joystick on the screen where you assign which device will control the desired team. Who knew it would work through emulator, it's magic!

I kinda suck at it, 🤣! It's quite something, especially for 1996. The game plays itself if you leave it alone.

"Dusted off" because the original CD is nowhere to be found, so had to rely on the well known digital archive. There used to be everything, the CD, the box, the manual (in German I think). But since it was my brother's...it's gone along with the black-white GameBoy console. 🙁

UCyborg wrote on Yesterday, 21:55:

Also "dusted off" the NBA Live '97. I played it on Windows 95 PC back in the day. It must have been one of the first computer games I ever played. Trying out DOS version for the first time in DOSBox-X. I have PS5 controller plugged to the PC (with DualSenseX running in the background - not really needed for this it seems), the game then shows joystick on the screen where you assign which device will control the desired team. Who knew it would work through emulator, it's magic!

What a coincidence! I just played it last night (and it's a game I probably play a couple of times a year nowadays, tops).

It was the first NBA game I got exposed to (it is also the last one that works under DOS). Compared to some of the later versions (even '98) it is a bit clunky, but I love it. I never got the patience to play through a season, though - so I just play exhibition games with a custom team 'Slammers' I created with some of my favorite players at the time.

UCyborg wrote on Yesterday, 21:55:

I kinda suck at it, 🤣! It's quite something, especially for 1996. The game plays itself if you leave it alone.

I never got really good either, but I figured out that the dumb strategy of trying to get a player into a clear shot as close as possible to the basket tends to work most of the times and allows me to win most games, even on 'all star' difficulty. I play either 3-minute or 5-minute quarters; everything else takes too long. The game's shot probability calculations are screwed up in some ways. If you're ahead against the CPU towards the end of the game, some of its players on some teams start shooting threepointers almost without miss. I never found out if this would work the same for me if I was behind and had to catch up.

The only other one I played was NBA Live 2003, I remember playing through the season on this one. I briefly remember 2006 version, which felt more life-like with more varied player animations. It might have been a bit too much for GeForce4 MX 440. 😁 I see the Live series' sales suffered, probably due to its competitor NBA 2K series.

Not sure which one I should try next at some point on PC from either series since there are so many of them.

Regarding '97, I apparently messed with Windows version at some point since I have an entry in my custom compatibility database. Might be buggy. I see it doesn't have any entry on PCGamingWiki. DOS version surprisingly works OK in emulator. Surprisingly because this computer sucks at emulating anything decent. Maybe this game's requirements are so low?

Another thing to note, don't leave PS5 controller plugged to a sleeping PC. The battery got almost completely depleted throughout the night... Are these USB devices just weird or is it my aging PC?

The place I work at sold some USB devices in the past that didn't do something required by USB-C standard. So if you plugged it to the host's USB-C rather than USB-A (the connector on the device's side is C), it wouldn't power up at all.

Still on Dark Souls. The experience is a lot better now that I'm playing the remaster on Steam. A locked 60 FPS with proper frame pacing makes a noticeable difference, especially during boss fights, where you need to time your dodges perfectly.

The more I play this, the more similarities to Gothic I'm noticing. For example, from (almost) the very start, you can go anywhere you want, but some areas have powerful enemies which can annihilate you in an instant. This sort of naturally guides you to where you're supposed to go. That said, as in Gothic, you can run past certain enemies and grab a few powerful items early on, which can make things a bit easier. Another similarity is that combat seems to be based on both of player skill and character stats, at least with a melee build.

Level design can be a bit annoying at times, especially when you're forced to walk on narrow ledges while being assailed by multiple opponents. There are also some instances where enemies are shooting arrows or throwing explosives at you from elevated locations that you can't reach so quickly. However, combat becomes very satisfying once you get the hang of the basics, and learn to time your moves properly.

For example, the fight against Havel can be very tense, as he can easily one shot you this early in the game. But it's still possible to beat him and get his excellent ring, if you're persistent and remain light on your feet. This again reminded me of fighting Skeleton Warriors and Orcs early on in Gothic. It takes a long time, but it can be done, if you really give it your all. I also got the Drake Sword, which I'm told is a good early-mid game weapon, but falls off during the later stages.

Surprisingly, I'm enjoying this game more than I thought, at least during these early areas. I also like that there's a variety of builds that you can try. Although I'm liking my melee warrior so far, I am kinda intrigued by the magic system as well. Might be something to consider for a future replay.