Sean

That's not to say there isn't some fun to be had in blitzing through levels filled with hundreds of enemies lying around every corner. But in Doom, there isn't a single non-boss enemy you can't take on in a circular area with no cover at all. In Quake, you can't deal with Shamblers or Vores in the same exact environment without sustaining unavoidable damage. These are enemies designed to be fought while hiding behind pillars and peeking out of corners, not head-on and completely naked with several other enemies knocking you off your ass while you do it.

By major I mean to the extent of the Metal fight. I already know about the transitions and menu tweaks like enabling other Sonic abilities in save files and disabling the limit.

As for as I can tell the only major changes were in regards to zone transitions. Everything else is basically the same. 

There's also some minor tweaks to some of the other boss fights.

More or less my feelings as well. Except add to that the color pallets of Encore being super drab and kind of hard to look at. All the vibrancy is gone, and with little changed in the actual layouts, it's even more perplexing why Encore is worth engaging with at all.

Same. I think the changing of Special Rings in particular is terrible. I wish they would've just granted additional chances to get the emeralds, not completely shift the locations altogether.

I would give Ray some more time, and be willing to experiment with his glide. I felt very similarly to you at first regarding how he plays, but after I gave it some time, I think he fits incredibly well within the scope of Mania's design, and the design of the classic formula in general. He's an absolute blast IMO.

Ray is the character I've used the most so far. I used his glide all over the place in Green Hill and Chemical Plant. Couldn't figure out a single instance where it actually felt useful, let alone enable me to get the hang of it.

i find ray's gliding incredibly useful just for the extra air control and height he can get. even without much space he can get some extra height to reach places that sonic and mighty can't, and he does so much faster and more fluidly than tails or knuckles.

and while the encore stages aren't radically different there is actually a fair amount changed. it's mostly object placement and not major route changes, but there's enough that they feel like remixed versions of the originals and not just straight repeats.

But Sean, it has “on car mode!”

Technically Mania Plus isn't out yet, just seems a LOT of people are getting their physical copies in the mail early (super infuriatingly so coz I pre-ordered mine in a store like a sucker lol)

not id but ever played dishonored or the prey remake?

Been the same way with the megaman battle network series lately. 

This doesn't really change anything but Prey isn't really a remake, they just kinda re-used the name to try and generate some buzz.  The new game has literally zero to do with the original other than that they're both sci-fi/alien themed shooters.  Most people agree that it was a stupid PR move coz Prey really doesn't fit as a name for the newer game in terms of overall narrative or gameplay themes etc.

All the same... I would recommend it lol.  Though it isn't an Id-style action-fest, much more BioShock 1/2 in style.

Never played either of those games. Prey (both the original and reboot) caught my eye though.

Quake had an ep4?

The Elder World. It has some pretty confusing map design, which if Doom II is anything to go by, is a hallmark of Sandy Petersen's levels. I enjoyed it though.

have you seen the RetroAhoy documentaries on youtube about doom and quake? they're actually really good and considering how you've been playing them a lot recently, i think they're worth a watch

Not yet but I'll look into them!

This upsets me!

My condolences!

Having mastered DOOM, you'll have to wait till DOOM: Eternal to RIP AND TEAR some more.

you rip and teared its huge guts

By all means Doom is a reboot that shouldn't have worked but oh it worked sooooooo damn good

I almost thought you were talking about OG Doom for a second there

Which is funny cos the Doom 1/2 Cybie can be killed with a single point-blank BFG if you're daring.

I beat Doom 1 a few days ago. Episode 4 kinda sucked

Thy Flesh Consumed is actually an expansion more than anything else and isn't even considered canon iirc. And it really shows considering how hard they clearly wanted it (lol Hell Baron on map 1, lmao fucking Cyberdemon on map 2).

As far as the retro expansions go I feel No Rest for the Living on Doom II is the best of them by a pretty large margin. Pity you kinda have to buy Doom 3 BFG Edition to get it on PC because it was never actually sold separately.

I have every Doom game on PC including 3BFG so I was gonna check it out via GZDoom once I'm done with the main Doom II.

For me it really just doesn't read as anything particularly special or new as someone who's been reading shonen for years. The characters are fun but my favorites get no screen time and the ones I find the most boring are the main ones, soo lol

Yeah, my first playthrough of the game I've been trying to see how far i'll get without upgrades and it was pretty manageable for the most part although that was on normal I think and I haven't gotten terribly far in it.

I think a lot of the difficulty I had during my first playthrough ultimately boiled down to the imprecision of using a controller, and me forgetting to upgrade basically any of my weapon mods until well after the halfway point. On my UV playthrough, I switched to mouse and keyboard and have been making a more conscious effort to buy the upgrades I want and use them liberally, which is what makes the later levels a cakewalk even on UV.