What are you playing?

[demi]

Here's my lineup, I'm working through the shorter games before playing the RPGs

Albert Odyssey
Dark Savior (play Landstalker first)
Deep Fear (Europe)
Dragon Force
Enemy Zero
Legend of Oasis (play Beyond Oasis first)
Linkle Liver Story (translation)
Lunacy (play Mansion of Hidden Souls first?)
Magic Knight Rayearth
Mansion of Hidden Souls (actually a sequel, despite being the same name as Sega CD - play that first?)
Mystaria
Panzer Dragoon Saga
Shining Wisdom
Shining in the Holy Ark
Shining Force 3 Episode 1 (US Official)
Shining Force 3 Episode 2 (translation)
Shining Force 3 Episode 3 (translation) (don't really need to play Shining Force 1&2)
Valhollian (translation)
Virtual Hydlide (DANK MEME)
Nights into Dreams (play on Xbox)
Guardian Heroes (play on Xbox)
Three Dirty Dwarves

played:

Astal (complete)
Clockwork Knight (complete)
Clockwork Knight 2 (complete)
Bug (dropped)
Bug Too! (dropped)
Mr. Bones (complete)
Keio Flying Squadron 2 (complete)
Panzer Dragoon 2 (complete)
Die Hard Arcade (complete)
Jung Rhythm (complete)
Ninpen Manmaru (dropped)
Steamgear Mash (dropped)
DecAthlete (dropped)
Steep Slope Sliders (dropped)
Amok (dropped)
Shinrei Jutsatsu Taroumaru (complete)
Crimewave (dropped)
Shinobi Legions (complete)
Burning Rangers (complete)
Bulk Slash (complete)
Tryrush Deppy (complete)
Willy Wombat (complete)
Daytona USA (xbox, all achievements)

[Svejk]

Dragon Force   

Based off that list, you haven't played Landstalker? Game rules so hard.

[demi]

No, I actually havent played Landstalker, at least fully - I've maybe tried it out once or twice

I've played Beyond Oasis before though, I will replay that before doing Legend of Oasis

[Svejk]

I recently started a playthrough of Beyond Oasis myself.. One of the few Genesis ARPGs I always end up dropping for whatever reasons.  Never hated it or anything, just always distracted by something else.

[Joe Molotov]

Elden Ring is still so good.

[bork]

Elden Ring is still so good.

 

Yes!  Am back on it after having not played for two years.  First I started trying to get back to finishing up the game, but pretty quickly got sidetracked into doing other stuff.  One thing I never did was fight General Radahn- my character was level 129 when I did this battle and he went down super-easy.  Almost felt bad about it since the game story hyped it up so much.

I spent the last few days of play time getting all the necessary equipment and items to do a "God Fist" build that uses gauntlets to do insane damage.  It's not what I'm used to since the idea is to run around with little to no armor and just run right up and start staggering enemies, but it works!  Well...mostly.  If there's mobs of enemies, I feel kind of helpless at times, but then again it has always been kind of like that for me in some situations, lol.

Currently working on getting the star fist version of this build finished up.  I had a lot of trouble finding that weapon since I couldn't get to to where it's located in the capital.  Finally just googled it and found that I had missed a spot where you can jump up to a little hallway that leads to that entire portion of the map.


Still not sure if I'm going to stick with this build, but when it works, IT WORKS.  Apparently you can take out Mohg almost effortlessly with it.

[demi]

Saturn gaming:

- Three Dirty Dwarves

A beat em up (sort of) with some nice 2d graphics. It had some variety with the levels, at least. Not really difficult.

- Resident Evil (vod: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2184203795 )

Decided to play the Saturn version of this for giggles. The Saturn version is a competent port, and even has its own exclusive features, such as a "dual tyrant" final encounter if you play as Chris (I didn't play as Chris). I forgot you had to wait for Barry when he drops the soap, so I didnt get the best ending. Whoops. After that, I tried out the exclusive "Battle Game" mode which even has some exclusive enemies, such as Zombie Wesker, and the Golden Tyrant (it's just a Tyrant colored piss). Here is a Battle Game VOD playthrough: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2184601890

- Mansion of Hidden Souls (Sega CD)

Busted out the Genesis Mini 2 to play this, and was... whelmed. It's a FMV game with very, very compressed graphics. You aimlessly walk around a mansion trying to trigger events, except some things cant occur until you see a specific scene. It's very annoying and you might as well look at a guide, the game is very, very short.

- THE Mansion of Hidden Souls

Yes, its named the same EXCEPT the Saturn version has "The" added to it. This is also a sequel to the first game, as you find out in the game (you learn one of the characters is the main character from the first game, who winds up in the mansion because of reasons). Otherwise this is pretty much the same game as the first one, you aimlessly try to trigger events just so you can progress the story. The visuals are a step up, as I would expect from a Sega CD -> Saturn upgrade.

- Lunacy

The third game in the "series" but its actually very unrelated to the first two. More of a "successor" but again most of the gameplay is pretty much unchanged, except the arena is much larger so you get lost easier, trying to trigger scenes that allow you to progress the game. The story is probably the worst of the three. There is no mansion, but there are butterflies, I think thats about the only relation.

[demi]

Saturn gaming:

- Enemy Zero

I had to finally try this game, again after reading it in magazines for so long. I enjoy D, I enjoy D2, why not Enemy Zero? Well, I couldnt do it. The D-like exploration bits are fine, but the actual gameplay parts where you navigate the hallways are not good. You basically have to navigate maze-like corridors that have invisible enemies. You can tell how near the enemies are by a simple beep. That's it. If they are REALLY close, you get another noise and your only options are to charge up your gun (which only shoots like, 3 bullets?) and hope you shoot correctly, or you die. About that - this game restricts how many times you can save your game. Ok, well Resident Evil has ink ribbons! True, but in this game you get penalized for LOADING your game too! So on "easy" mode you get 99 energy. That's it - if you save too much, youre fucked. If you die a lot and load too much, youre fucked. I tried to get over the hurdle of dying, but I was just not enjoying the game. FLUSHED

- Nights into Dreams (vod: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2188627475)

Played this for the first time in many years, my only real experience with the game has been a random demo from many years ago, where I had no idea what the fuck I was doing. Now, after reading about the game and watching videos, I have an idea on how to play the game! So I did, and earned all achievements on the Xbox version. This includes unlocking all levels, earning A ranks on all levels, and random misc. achievements. I love the music in this game. I also learned that the 360 version is more of a port of the PS2 version, so purists arent the biggest fan of this. I briefly played the original Saturn version and I can understand the reasoning, but I dont have a 3D pad so playing this game with a DPad does not sound the most fun.

- Guardian Heroes (vod: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2189795575)

Another game I've always read about in magazines, now I finally played it. The RPG mechanics are very light, and honestly I'm not sure why they are in the game. It really is just a short simple beat em up. I tried all the characters, and landed on Han and Serena as my favorites. I unlocked all achievements available, which wasn't very difficult. Some of the endings required me to juggle an enemy enough to get high negative karma, which gave me (very) small variations of some endings.

- Deep Fear (vod: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2191149986)

It's Resident Evil! On an underwater base! This game was only released in Europe, but there is a US prototype that works perfectly fine (ask me how I know). This game came out about 2 years after Resident Evil, so it had some time to improve on the formula - and it does! At least in regards to control, in Deep Fear you can actually move while shooting - running and dodging! That's about the extent of the improvements, the rest of the game is pretty run of the mill survival horror. The story basically boils down to space aids spread by monkeys (just trust me on this). I did enjoy this though - it only has one ending. It is not that difficult, mostly because you literally get infinite ammo and infinite healing items that are replenishable in various rooms. It also has an air system where rooms gradually lose air, but you can refill those rooms and your breathing mask (for underwater rooms) with no concern.


With this I am finally ready to play some RPGs. I don't know which one to start with, so I might just I dunno throw them on a randomizer wheel and spin. Throw a dart at a wall. Maybe start with the lesser known ones first?

[Bebpo]

Wow, the final zone of FF14 Dawntrail is wow.

This is some of the best bits in a Final Fantasy game. Great time to be a fan of the franchise.

[demi]

Recent gaming:

- The Wizard of Oz: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road (DS)

Inspired by a couple threads on Ree-Era, I decided to play this game. It's very mid. I have nothing much to say about it. I finished it.

- Monster Tale (DS)

A nice looking 2D metroidvania-ish game. Gameplay wasnt that exciting, and theres a lot of back and forth to progress to the point of annoyance. It's by the same people who made Henry Hatsworth on DS.

- Ancient Roman: Power of Dark Side (PS1)

This game was recently translated, and it is considered one of the worst JRPGs, at least on PS1. Maybe period? In any case, it really is bad, theres no "the internet is wrong!" about this. But thankfully it's pretty short - I finished it in about 20 hours. The game is completely broken, in many areas. You can buy a simple weapon (Sleep Axe) which literally puts anything to sleep and prevents them from attacking. Even the final boss!

It also has the coolest death animation I've seen in a game

https://www.twitch.tv/frostitution/clip/ImpossibleAstuteVulturePermaSmug-O8l-B-C7K_-q1Q1P

- Mystaria: The Realms of Lore (Saturn)

My first Saturn RPG, and I picked this one. It's a pretty simple SRPG like Shining Force. You get a set cast of characters, and you traverse a simple world map and fight some battles, which recruit a few more characters for story reasons. From here you basically pick your favorite 5/6 and stick with them. I enjoyed this. It took maybe 20 hours to finish, it's not a long game either.



- Maneater

A simple game where you play as a shark and eat shit. It's very simple but chill game with cute humor. It's on GamePass

[chronovore]

Played Zenless Zone Zero at launch. It was properly hyped, had a ton of marketing, and it looked like a cyberpunk-adjacent F2P from the Hoyoverse — Genshin Impact had good gameplay, so I was hopeful.

"ZZZ" is sadly, an apt acronym.

I played for 60 minutes or so at launch, and it was tepid gameplay with some portions that looked like it was on mobile. This is another of their ubiquitous play efforts, so maybe that's accurate. But it felt lame to be doing a grid maze on a PC playthrough. Non maze-gameplay combat was also overly simple.

Uninspired to continue, I only booted it up again last night. Instead of remembering my login information, I had to re-login — TWICE, the start menu controls were reversed, and after all that and it went through two updates, it then wanted me to watch the opening cinema again (unskippable) and that's when I noped out.

Deleted.

How can this much money be spent on building and hyping a game, only to have this much garbage preventing players from even experiencing it?

[Svejk]

FF7 Regirth - Yuffie is annoying as piss.  Don't really like how they've hoisted her up to be on par with Tifa and Aerith.  They seem to put the spot light on her more than I care for... especially knowing how her original story arc goes. 

[tiesto]

A whole shitload of Trails through Daybreak, I'm finishing up Ch 4 now.

It's nice getting to see a new part of Zemuria, and Calvard seems to have slightly more diverse biomes/town designs than Liberl/Erebonia. Unfortunately it seems that the field/dungeon areas are a lot less numerous than in the other Trails games. And the battle system, the half action/half turn-based feels pretty clunky, though combat is really snappy, especially the initiate/exit of combat. It's night and day compared to the last RPG I played (Sea of Stars), which had the most sluggish, boring combat and traversal imaginable.

Cast of characters is pretty decent, Van is enjoyable and him and Aaron's banter is funny. Music is good and I quite like the capital city's "Old Town" and it's rustic Parisian vibes.

[Bebpo]

A whole shitload of Trails through Daybreak, I'm finishing up Ch 4 now.

It's nice getting to see a new part of Zemuria, and Calvard seems to have slightly more diverse biomes/town designs than Liberl/Erebonia. Unfortunately it seems that the field/dungeon areas are a lot less numerous than in the other Trails games. And the battle system, the half action/half turn-based feels pretty clunky, though combat is really snappy, especially the initiate/exit of combat. It's night and day compared to the last RPG I played (Sea of Stars), which had the most sluggish, boring combat and traversal imaginable.

Cast of characters is pretty decent, Van is enjoyable and him and Aaron's banter is funny. Music is good and I quite like the capital city's "Old Town" and it's rustic Parisian vibes.

Aaron's great. Him and Van are the best characters in this new series for sure. Aaron might even be better than Van.

At least Van is >>>>>> CS3/4 Rean.

[demi]

Saturn gaming:

- Virtual Hydlide (vod: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2209003849)

Yes, it's the infamous game you've seen about online. Hot take: This game isn't as awful as they would make it seem! I think the random seed element is fine, though it only really randomizes item placement and the overall map. The progression, dungeon layout, and key items are the same. It's a very short game, you can finish it in like 3 hours max.

- Shining Wisdom (vod: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2215299335)

The first of many zelda-likes on the Saturn, this one was "ok" - honestly felt like it could have just been fine on the Genesis. It has this kind of annoying "dash" mechanic that requires you to tap A to generate charge, which then immediately gets wiped if you bonk a wall, hit an enemy, etc. This mechanic is part of the magic system as well, so every time you need to do one simple thing, you gotta rev that meter up. It's also one of those games that require you to swap items often, so you'll be - pause - swap - pause - do action - pause - go back to weapon - pause - so on and so forth. On the whole it's about a solid 6 incher. It took me about 10 hours to complete, and I missed some stuff based on my end results screen.

- Linkle Liver Story (vod: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2221173127)

A translation, this game was developed by Nextech, who made Crusader of Centy. I havent played Crusader of Centy (might as well now), so I cant compare, but wiki says this game was originally meant to be a sequel to Centy, but shit changed and now it's a zelda-like with a furry. This game was short, wrapping up in about 5 hours, but it was pretty mid. Not challenge, not exciting... really not much to say about it.

Regular gaming:

- Glory of Heracles 2: Titan's Downfall (NES)

After modifying my NES Classic so I can play Goemon games (I want to play english Goemon games), I saw I still had my save when I was in my "let's play all Glory of Heracles games!" moment. I stopped at 2 because of reasons (other games and shit I guess). So I loaded it back up, saw where I was in a guide, and continued forward. I eventually finished it over the weekend. The game, like the previous does a big fuck you moment where you kind of hit an "endgame" moment and literally ALL the shops save 2 are locked, meaning some endgame gear is unavailable to you. It also locks the best sword + shield behind literally the first gear you get (Rusty Sword + Rusty Shield -> Zeus Sword + Zeus Shield). How would you know that? Fuck you that's why. I used a guide for this game because these NES games were brutal as shit.

- Nancy Drew games (vods available on twitch)

I havent really mentioned these, but over the past year or so I have been playing all the Nancy Drew adventure games in order. I loved these games as a kid, and wanted to revisit them. So every weekend I fire up the next game in the series and play through it. They aren't long or difficult games, but they are actually really good point and click / puzzle / mystery games. But that's just me. If you are interested I am more than glad to offer you what I consider the "good ones". There are some stinkers, and I want to make my own "tier list" for anyone interested when I am done. I am currently up to game #21 out of #34

[Bebpo]

Hey Demi, I enjoy reading your retro writeups, but honestly they all just sound like you're wasting your time on old mid or worse dated games that don't hold up.

Hope you're getting some enjoyment out of it.

[demi]

I am enjoying playing these games, I've never played them before, that's why I am doing it. Sometimes you gotta dig through the mud to find treasure

I'm not "not" enjoying them, I've dropped several games as you've seen in my writeups -- like Enemy Zero, etc.

[Svejk]

Been jumping around other, smaller games while playing through FF7 Rebirth.

MGS2 - I believe I only played this game maaaaaybe twice total, as opposed to a dozen or so times of MGS1.  And so far, my opinion that I had then still remains unchanged; This game is such a step down from MGS1.  So many little things that immediately just showed Kojima was forced into making a follow up; Story and characters especially.  And cripes almighty, Raiden's US VA is the fucking worst.  Could they have not found someone that didn't sound like a little bitch?  The Japanese VA at least sounded off like he had a pair.  Game was still ahead of it's time graphic and gameplay-wise, but I still feel this is still near the bottom of the MGS totem.  I only played MGS3, 4 & 5 once, so I look forward to playing through those again (mostly just 3 & 4) and see how I feel about them so many years later.  Already a bit worried about watching so many cut scenes. lol

Beyond Oasis - Trying to give this one another honest try.  Got the water sprite and heading to next area.  Playing on the Genesis Collection, it's nice to have a rewind feature.  I think the controls are not exactly the most friendly, and that's what always deterred me from this game.  Doing the gainer dagger flip isn't hard, but it's a bit fumbly depending on which direction you're facing.  I remember being sorely unimpressed with the music back in the day, but I find a much greater appreciation for it now.  Yuzo using what range he had on the Genesis, he does a fantastic job.  Would love to hear an arranged version of it.

Other than that, trying to plow through FF7 Rebirth.  Honestly, I appreciate it's pacing.  Even though it's semi-open world, it seems like it wants to move you along with the story, which I'm totally fine with.  I get side tracked with points of interest, but only so much to feel some progression and jump back to the story feeling content.  Cid's VA is a bit lame, but not as annoying as Yuffie is.  I can't take her energy... but damn, she fights good.  Just got to Cosmo Canyon.. 

[bork]

- Linkle Liver Story (vod: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2221173127)

A translation, this game was developed by Nextech, who made Crusader of Centy. I havent played Crusader of Centy (might as well now), so I cant compare, but wiki says this game was originally meant to be a sequel to Centy, but shit changed and now it's a zelda-like with a furry. This game was short, wrapping up in about 5 hours, but it was pretty mid. Not challenge, not exciting... really not much to say about it.

Didn't know this was made by the Crusader Of Centy team!   I liked Crusader Of Centy even if it was a pretty blatant and unoriginal Zelda clone.  Will see about trying this.

[demi]

Beyond Oasis - Trying to give this one another honest try.  Got the water sprite and heading to next area.  Playing on the Genesis Collection, it's nice to have a rewind feature.  I think the controls are not exactly the most friendly, and that's what always deterred me from this game.  Doing the gainer dagger flip isn't hard, but it's a bit fumbly depending on which direction you're facing.  I remember being sorely unimpressed with the music back in the day, but I find a much greater appreciation for it now.  Yuzo using what range he had on the Genesis, he does a fantastic job.  Would love to hear an arranged version of it.

I did a playthrough of Beyond Oasis last night, only took me like 4 hours. I still think the game holds up for the most part. I did miss side stuff and half of the spirit jewel upgrades, but do you really need that shit? Nope

vod: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2225522935

Legend of Oasis this weekend

[Svejk]

Beyond Oasis - Trying to give this one another honest try.  Got the water sprite and heading to next area.  Playing on the Genesis Collection, it's nice to have a rewind feature.  I think the controls are not exactly the most friendly, and that's what always deterred me from this game.  Doing the gainer dagger flip isn't hard, but it's a bit fumbly depending on which direction you're facing.  I remember being sorely unimpressed with the music back in the day, but I find a much greater appreciation for it now.  Yuzo using what range he had on the Genesis, he does a fantastic job.  Would love to hear an arranged version of it.

I did a playthrough of Beyond Oasis last night, only took me like 4 hours. I still think the game holds up for the most part. I did miss side stuff and half of the spirit jewel upgrades, but do you really need that shit? Nope

vod: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2225522935

Legend of Oasis this weekend

Awesome! Watching now.

[demi]

Finished Legend of Oasis last night, took me about 10 hours (8.5 in-game, but I died twice so idk)

I think I over hyped this one because I was excited to play this one, thinking it's gonna suck my dick and make me cum.

It didn't, and man did this one feel like a general downgrade in everything.

- Dungeon layouts a maze and confusing, no real clear direction it felt like
- World Map confusing to navigate (and no actual world map to reference like the first game - huh?)
- Spirits were fine... they added two new spirits that were largely useless
- Removal of inventory/weapons, instead opting for a "potion" mechanic that acts like a fairy in zelda to save your ass
- Unable to save anywhere, instead must use save circles, similarly there are healing circles as well for health/magic
- Music sounded nothing like Yuzo... at least my expectation of some Yuzo music

Towards the end I just wanted it to be over, the last few dungeons were a drag. Honestly most of the game made me feel that way. Beyond Oasis is just wayyyy better to me.

Anyway here is the vod, towards the end it's mostly just me going "man this sucks" lmao, I was over it. https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2227529076

[Svejk]

Finished Legend of Oasis last night, took me about 10 hours (8.5 in-game, but I died twice so idk)

I think I over hyped this one because I was excited to play this one, thinking it's gonna suck my dick and make me cum.

It didn't, and man did this one feel like a general downgrade in everything.

- Dungeon layouts a maze and confusing, no real clear direction it felt like
- World Map confusing to navigate (and no actual world map to reference like the first game - huh?)
- Spirits were fine... they added two new spirits that were largely useless
- Removal of inventory/weapons, instead opting for a "potion" mechanic that acts like a fairy in zelda to save your ass
- Unable to save anywhere, instead must use save circles, similarly there are healing circles as well for health/magic
- Music sounded nothing like Yuzo... at least my expectation of some Yuzo music

Towards the end I just wanted it to be over, the last few dungeons were a drag. Honestly most of the game made me feel that way. Beyond Oasis is just wayyyy better to me.

Anyway here is the vod, towards the end it's mostly just me going "man this sucks" lmao, I was over it. https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2227529076

That sucks.. Guess there was a reason for it not getting much praise even then.  Definitely curious what you will think of Dark Savior, especially coming from LandStalker... 

[Himu]

Been jumping around other, smaller games while playing through FF7 Rebirth.

MGS2 - I believe I only played this game maaaaaybe twice total, as opposed to a dozen or so times of MGS1.  And so far, my opinion that I had then still remains unchanged; This game is such a step down from MGS1.  So many little things that immediately just showed Kojima was forced into making a follow up; Story and characters especially.  And cripes almighty, Raiden's US VA is the fucking worst.  Could they have not found someone that didn't sound like a little bitch?  The Japanese VA at least sounded off like he had a pair.  Game was still ahead of it's time graphic and gameplay-wise, but I still feel this is still near the bottom of the MGS totem.  I only played MGS3, 4 & 5 once, so I look forward to playing through those again (mostly just 3 & 4) and see how I feel about them so many years later.  Already a bit worried about watching so many cut scenes. lol

Beyond Oasis - Trying to give this one another honest try.  Got the water sprite and heading to next area.  Playing on the Genesis Collection, it's nice to have a rewind feature.  I think the controls are not exactly the most friendly, and that's what always deterred me from this game.  Doing the gainer dagger flip isn't hard, but it's a bit fumbly depending on which direction you're facing.  I remember being sorely unimpressed with the music back in the day, but I find a much greater appreciation for it now.  Yuzo using what range he had on the Genesis, he does a fantastic job.  Would love to hear an arranged version of it.

Other than that, trying to plow through FF7 Rebirth.  Honestly, I appreciate it's pacing.  Even though it's semi-open world, it seems like it wants to move you along with the story, which I'm totally fine with.  I get side tracked with points of interest, but only so much to feel some progression and jump back to the story feeling content.  Cid's VA is a bit lame, but not as annoying as Yuffie is.  I can't take her energy... but damn, she fights good.  Just got to Cosmo Canyon..

MGS2 is not a great story MGS. It's a great gameplay MGS. The tactics and stealth is incredible. Things like dog tags and stuff make it amazingly replayable. The game is a speedrunner game. I would used to boot up the game and just speedrun it for kicks. Difficulties like hard and extreme and euro extreme and all the add ons with MGS2 Substance make it a God tier MGS. It depends on what you want out of MGS. If it's story, yeah it's low compared to MG2, MGS1, or MGS3. But gameplay wise it's up there with MGS3.



Game is a classic and while not the overall best MGS, is easily the most fun. If you're an MGS fan that plays for story, fine. But if you're an MGS fan that plays for runs there is no better.

[Svejk]

Been jumping around other, smaller games while playing through FF7 Rebirth.

MGS2 - I believe I only played this game maaaaaybe twice total, as opposed to a dozen or so times of MGS1.  And so far, my opinion that I had then still remains unchanged; This game is such a step down from MGS1.  So many little things that immediately just showed Kojima was forced into making a follow up; Story and characters especially.  And cripes almighty, Raiden's US VA is the fucking worst.  Could they have not found someone that didn't sound like a little bitch?  The Japanese VA at least sounded off like he had a pair.  Game was still ahead of it's time graphic and gameplay-wise, but I still feel this is still near the bottom of the MGS totem.  I only played MGS3, 4 & 5 once, so I look forward to playing through those again (mostly just 3 & 4) and see how I feel about them so many years later.  Already a bit worried about watching so many cut scenes. lol

Beyond Oasis - Trying to give this one another honest try.  Got the water sprite and heading to next area.  Playing on the Genesis Collection, it's nice to have a rewind feature.  I think the controls are not exactly the most friendly, and that's what always deterred me from this game.  Doing the gainer dagger flip isn't hard, but it's a bit fumbly depending on which direction you're facing.  I remember being sorely unimpressed with the music back in the day, but I find a much greater appreciation for it now.  Yuzo using what range he had on the Genesis, he does a fantastic job.  Would love to hear an arranged version of it.

Other than that, trying to plow through FF7 Rebirth.  Honestly, I appreciate it's pacing.  Even though it's semi-open world, it seems like it wants to move you along with the story, which I'm totally fine with.  I get side tracked with points of interest, but only so much to feel some progression and jump back to the story feeling content.  Cid's VA is a bit lame, but not as annoying as Yuffie is.  I can't take her energy... but damn, she fights good.  Just got to Cosmo Canyon..

MGS2 is not a great story MGS. It's a great gameplay MGS. The tactics and stealth is incredible. Things like dog tags and stuff make it amazingly replayable. The game is a speedrunner game. I would used to boot up the game and just speedrun it for kicks. Difficulties like hard and extreme and euro extreme and all the add ons with MGS2 Substance make it a God tier MGS. It depends on what you want out of MGS. If it's story, yeah it's low compared to MG2, MGS1, or MGS3. But gameplay wise it's up there with MGS3.



Game is a classic and while not the overall best MGS, is easily the most fun. If you're an MGS fan that plays for story, fine. But if you're an MGS fan that plays for runs there is no better.

Watching people speedrun this is mind numbing; just how they can do the littleset of maneuvers to throw enemies off just enough to get by.  I did not know you could first person punch a soldier in the nuts to stun them.   

[demi]

Played some Sakura Wars, with the translation patch. If only Ichirou were here to see me now...

It was fine, mostly visual novel, then you do what appears to be "one" battle that involves some small SRPG elements.

Finished 2 chapters, vod here: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2228845894

I'll probably do a couple chapters a night. I looked at a guide at how long the game is, it doesnt seem like a lengthy game.

[Bebpo]

Played some Sakura Wars, with the translation patch. If only Ichirou were here to see me now...

It was fine, mostly visual novel, then you do what appears to be "one" battle that involves some small SRPG elements.

Finished 2 chapters, vod here: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2228845894

I'll probably do a couple chapters a night. I looked at a guide at how long the game is, it doesnt seem like a lengthy game.

I picked these up back in the day, but couldn't get into them because the srpg part is so minor. Never got past a chapter or two. Not sure what was supposed to be the best one. I think 2/3/5?

[Himu]

Played some Sakura Wars, with the translation patch. If only Ichirou were here to see me now...

It was fine, mostly visual novel, then you do what appears to be "one" battle that involves some small SRPG elements.

Finished 2 chapters, vod here: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2228845894

I'll probably do a couple chapters a night. I looked at a guide at how long the game is, it doesnt seem like a lengthy game.

I picked these up back in the day, but couldn't get into them because the srpg part is so minor. Never got past a chapter or two. Not sure what was supposed to be the best one. I think 2/3/5?

4

[demi]

The only English ones at the moment are 1 (Saturn) 5 (Wii/PS2) and 6 (PS4), but there are teams working on translations:

Sakura wars 2: https://x.com/NoahSteam_/status/1611517315203616768 (same team that did Sakura wars 1)

Sakura wars 3: https://x.com/TaishoRoman3/status/1768669361307324896

Sakura wars 4:

Sakura wars GBC (takes place during Sakura wars 1): https://www.romhacking.net/translations/6348/

Sakura wars Columns: https://www.romhacking.net/translations/6079/

[Himu]

Sakura wars gbc before saga went third party? Holy shit

[tiesto]

Finished Legend of Oasis last night, took me about 10 hours (8.5 in-game, but I died twice so idk)

I think I over hyped this one because I was excited to play this one, thinking it's gonna suck my dick and make me cum.

It didn't, and man did this one feel like a general downgrade in everything.

- Dungeon layouts a maze and confusing, no real clear direction it felt like
- World Map confusing to navigate (and no actual world map to reference like the first game - huh?)
- Spirits were fine... they added two new spirits that were largely useless
- Removal of inventory/weapons, instead opting for a "potion" mechanic that acts like a fairy in zelda to save your ass
- Unable to save anywhere, instead must use save circles, similarly there are healing circles as well for health/magic
- Music sounded nothing like Yuzo... at least my expectation of some Yuzo music

Towards the end I just wanted it to be over, the last few dungeons were a drag. Honestly most of the game made me feel that way. Beyond Oasis is just wayyyy better to me.

Anyway here is the vod, towards the end it's mostly just me going "man this sucks" lmao, I was over it. https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2227529076

Yeah, I played and beat Legend of Oasis during the pandemic.. very challenging game, the navigation is really tricky and there's not a lot of intuitive ways of moving around the environment. The final dungeons in particular were really tough. Not sure how I feel overall about it, it reminded me of Alundra in terms of difficulty and convoluted navigation, but it wasn't as good.

Anyways, I've been continuing on Daybreak, up to the final chapter now, thinking I'm nearing going to the final dungeon. Hoping to finish it, or at least get to the final boss, by the end of the weekend.

Also, I beat Mega Man 3 GB. Good game, a huge leap in difficulty from 2, but more fair than 1. Spark Man, Dust Man, and Dive Man were especially tough, though the actual Dr W castle stage was a joke. Hoping to one day score copies of MM4 and 5 GB, as I hear they're the best.

And beat Rockman & Forte SFC with both Mega Man and Bass. Much harder with Mega Man, due to the lack of double jumping which makes a particular boss (King's helicopter) much more difficult. Probably the toughest MM I've beaten so far on my quest to beat all the MM platformers.

Tonight will play Xardion (SFC) and Power Strike (SMS), 2 pickups from LI Retro Expo.

[Joe Molotov]

Finished Dragon Quest V. It was a great game, although the encounter rate was starting to get a bit tedious by the end. Not too bad tho, I can handle that in a 25 hour game.

Starting Famicom Detective Club Vol. 2 today. I played the first game when it came out but never finished the 2nd one. Gonna play it before Emio: The Smiling Man comes out this Friday.

[Svejk]

Finished Dragon Quest V. It was a great game, although the encounter rate was starting to get a bit tedious by the end. Not too bad tho, I can handle that in a 25 hour game.

Starting Famicom Detective Club Vol. 2 today. I played the first game when it came out but never finished the 2nd one. Gonna play it before Emio: The Smiling Man comes out this Friday.

Dragon Quest V is the only DQ game I've played through to the end (unless you count DQ Builders).  Absolutely loved it.  Played it about 3 years ago, and it couldn't have been a better time too, what with the generational chapters that hit feels way harder now than they would've if I played earlier.  I'm almost afraid of playing another DQ since because it just ended on such a happy high note for me. 

[Svejk]

Tomb Raider Remastered - On the Atlantis level of TR1.  Forgot how great the pacing is in this game, on top of fun ass level designs that get more challenging.  Can't remember if the OG was like this, but I'm carrying tons of medipacks and rounds.  Like over 3000 rounds for uzis, over 1000 for magnums and so forth, but it's nice to just unload when necessary.  Game has aged remarkably well. 

Started up Lords of the Fallen - Only have done the first area and boss, but it's been fun.  Somethings feel slightly off in terms of design, but the gameplay/combat is shockingly pretty solid and responsive.  Will probably goes more balls deep after I complete Rebirth...

FF7 Rebirth - Up to Chapter 11.  Shits starting to get a bit more confusing, but still having fun with it.  Kinda want to just wrap it up at this point. So many side mini games.. There's fun to be had, but it's a bit too distracting half the time.

[Bebpo]

I finished FF7 Rebirth after like 5 months? Did everything until chapter 12 and then just said fuck it and finished the story and rapping up the endgame quests/mini-games/trophies now (though I'll never get the develop all materia and I'm not playing hard mode NG+ w/no item usage so not going for platinum).

I think Rebirth is an amazing game that has a pretty bad main story. It's a lot of nothing and then I wasn't satisfied with the end. Though I did like a lot of the cutscenes and character interactions because it's a fun cast and the graphics are amazing.

I'd need to replay the original FF7, which I will do after part 3 since I don't want to set expectations and be annoyed when things are changed/missing when I play 3, but one of my major gripes with the Rebirth main story is how everyone in the party is fucking dumb and can't figure out anything that is ever going on. Like it's so much I just can't take it and it bugged me a lot. Things from the Robed guys to Cloud's mental state, etc... Also the Turks and to an extent Rufus are very badly written in this and nonsensical constantly and Hojo is just EVIL LAUGHING SCIENTIST. It's just very bad writing which might be because the OG was badly written, but I don't remember. FF7 OG's story was never something that stuck with me over the years, more the music and characters and vibe.

Also I don't dislike all the MSQ, stuff like Queens Blood tournament on the boat, Junon, Costa Del Sol are great. It's just every time the plot deals with the robed guys and sephiroth and hojo and rufus, it kind of sucks.

But for the other 90% of the game that is not the main story, Rebirth is awesome. The zones are very fun to explore, the sidequests are mostly great, the mini-games are often fun and silly. There's some duds in there, but overall there is like 70 hours of great fun sandbox content that makes Rebirth a fantastic game.

[Svejk]

I finished FF7 Rebirth after like 5 months? Did everything until chapter 12 and then just said fuck it and finished the story and rapping up the endgame quests/mini-games/trophies now (though I'll never get the develop all materia and I'm not playing hard mode NG+ w/no item usage so not going for platinum).

I think Rebirth is an amazing game that has a pretty bad main story. It's a lot of nothing and then I wasn't satisfied with the end. Though I did like a lot of the cutscenes and character interactions because it's a fun cast and the graphics are amazing.

I'd need to replay the original FF7, which I will do after part 3 since I don't want to set expectations and be annoyed when things are changed/missing when I play 3, but one of my major gripes with the Rebirth main story is how everyone in the party is fucking dumb and can't figure out anything that is ever going on. Like it's so much I just can't take it and it bugged me a lot. Things from the Robed guys to Cloud's mental state, etc... Also the Turks and to an extent Rufus are very badly written in this and nonsensical constantly and Hojo is just EVIL LAUGHING SCIENTIST. It's just very bad writing which might be because the OG was badly written, but I don't remember. FF7 OG's story was never something that stuck with me over the years, more the music and characters and vibe.

Also I don't dislike all the MSQ, stuff like Queens Blood tournament on the boat, Junon, Costa Del Sol are great. It's just every time the plot deals with the robed guys and sephiroth and hojo and rufus, it kind of sucks.

But for the other 90% of the game that is not the main story, Rebirth is awesome. The zones are very fun to explore, the sidequests are mostly great, the mini-games are often fun and silly. There's some duds in there, but overall there is like 70 hours of great fun sandbox content that makes Rebirth a fantastic game.

I did the mistake(?) of watching an OG PS1 playthrough on YT as a refresher prior to this.  Like you, my memories of playing it back then mostly consists of the music, vibe and characters.  Story-wise, I mostly just remember the whole Lifestream parts, but so much of the middle parts I didn't remember.  (The part with Cloud in the wheelchair and Tifa pushing him to get away from the crumbling city literally made me LOL, because I don't remember that part at all.)  I wanted to compare and contrast... which helped some, but not without seeing flaws on both ends too.

As Himu mentioned earlier, the original translation is indeed bad... And rewatching it, it's even more noticeably bad.  It was just as hard to understand the emotions they're trying to display today, as it was back then.  Like Elden Ring, I feel like I'll have to watch someone do a "breakdown" of the story that supposedly followed it well enough to justify certain characters' behaviors and link together some cutscenes...  But even with Rebirth, some parts seem so off-the-wall and randomly inserted as filler, it can be hard to swallow some.

The last instance that made me roll my eyes was

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Cosmo Canyon trial with Barret and Red following that "Gi" witch doctor looking guy (already forgot the name).  I'm assuming they wanted to tie that into the cloaked guys, but can't help but to feel like it's the most random filler that's so loose to the main story, just feels completely unnecessary.

[close]

And also anything with Yuffie...  She’s a beast when fighting, but any cut scenes with her are practically unbearable to me.  The 7 year old antics she displays are borderline cringe.  And the fact they made her romanceable/dateable, feels pretty wrong on so many levels.

I will say storywise, Zack's parts have been probably the most interesting, as they've up’d his integration of the original story pretty well in this, IMO.  At the same time, I haven't completed it yet, so we'll see.  Haven’t gotten to the infamous scene yet.  Somehow I’ve managed to dodge all spoilers on it; at least on whatever they supposedly “changed”.

But yeah, overall, the game has still been a total blast to play.  It’s an incredible achievement that this still exists, and at such a high budget too.  Enjoying it SO much more than FFXVI last year.  The fights in Rebirth actually make me think strategically, like classic RPG’s of old.. FFXVI did none of that.

[Bebpo]

So like with the Gi addition, I think it's fine? Not being super familiar with the OG, because if I'm understanding it correctly it's:

spoiler (click to show/hide)

just adding some lore background to the creation of Meteor materia which is a big deal given the role Meteor plays in the ending. Saying the Meteor materia came into existence because these space aliens came to the planet and when they died they couldn't return to the lifestream since they weren't from the planet and their ghost just existed in a state of undeath limbo torture forever and so they prayed for the destruction of the planet itself to free their spirits and that concentration of prayer created the Meteor materia.

I actually am totally ok with that. It's a cool bit of backstory and I'm always down with more extraterrestrial beings in FF games like Jenova and all the outer space stuff in FF14 series.

[close]

[Svejk]

So like with the Gi addition, I think it's fine? Not being super familiar with the OG, because if I'm understanding it correctly it's:

spoiler (click to show/hide)

just adding some lore background to the creation of Meteor materia which is a big deal given the role Meteor plays in the ending. Saying the Meteor materia came into existence because these space aliens came to the planet and when they died they couldn't return to the lifestream since they weren't from the planet and their ghost just existed in a state of undeath limbo torture forever and so they prayed for the destruction of the planet itself to free their spirits and that concentration of prayer created the Meteor materia.

I actually am totally ok with that. It's a cool bit of backstory and I'm always down with more extraterrestrial beings in FF games like Jenova and all the outer space stuff in FF14 series.

[close]

That makes more sense than what I got from it..

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I already forgot the purgatory portion of his story.   
I think I was too dead centered on his design as a character and felt he looked extremely out of place with the majority of the game's art direction..  Speaking of out of place characters, I just reminded myself of the Parappa Goblin in that Yuffie trial too. It just scream UE4 unused asset. Lol

[close]

There's one thing that I'm remembering also that was pretty random, but it had me intrigued as to wth it was..

spoiler (click to show/hide)

the giant sand titan that appears in the desert cyclone.
Not sure what was up with its encounter, but even Cloud and crew were like, "wtf was that all about?"

[close]

[demi]

That's just Gilgamesh, he's there for humor while you do the mystical armor sidequest

[Himu]

Svejk what part of FFVII do you not understand?

[Joe Molotov]

Svejk what part of FFVII do you not understand?

How does Cloud have all these bitches on his dick with zero rizz?

[Svejk]

Svejk what part of FFVII do you not understand?

Svejk what part of FFVII do you not understand?

How does Cloud have all these bitches on his dick with zero rizz?

In a way… this is partially the question? Lol

I think what I initially had ’s about was why Tifa and Aerith won’t be honest and straight up with Cloud.  But sometimes it’s hard to tell what are lies and what’s the truth.. Thus said, I guess with what Tifa went through, she’s relatively timid and is even questioning herself; If her memories are what they are since Cloud’s (Zack’s) are so vivid and “spot on” when recalling events.  It seems Aerith knows, it’s just she’s.. along for the ride and it almost doesn’t matter who he’s claiming to be.  She's WAY more aware of how the lifestream works (with peoples’ souls, memories, etc.), so she pretty much has suspicioin that Zack is really there within him, but she want's to know who Cloud is at the same time. 

I just learned that there was a hidden cut scene in in the OG that explained more of Zack’s background. (I have no idea if I saw it back then or not), but what brings up questions now in Rebirth, is how they let the role of Zack play out more detailed (like meeting up with Biggs and whatnot), and with that, along with the phantoms and how they intervene like hell.. It seems like they (the phantoms) are the controllers of destiny itself.  They literally stop bullets from hitting him, while we all know he eventually will get killed by Shinra, but it has to happen at a specific time for reasons.  BUT, now with the black and white phantoms "clashing", I guess it seems pretty obvious it's Sephiroth wanting to alter destiny, and they are the visual representation of just that.... Which makes me wonder if Sephiroth himself was expecting Zack instead of Cloud.  I dunno.  Guess that wouldn't make sense since Cloud was the one injected with Jenova cells and has the Mako eyes, so he can contrl his thoughts and make him question everything.

When watching my PS1 playthrough, I completely understand where it all ties up too, and it practically had me tearing up over the, “It doesn’t matter.. the past is the past and this is now, and this is who we are now, because these are the people we love!” moment on the Highwind.   

With the way Rebirth is filling stuff in can make it seem a bit misleading at times, so there’ll be some scenarios that come and go in my memory, so don’t be surprised if I act confused about some parts again lol…… there's alot going on in the entirety of this game.

Come this weekend, I probably won't even remember talking about this....
 
Maybe I’m living through someone else’s memories…

[demi]

Comparing FF7make with OG probably wont do you any favors.

While they share many similarities they made a lot of cuts and changes (Rocket Town is entirely removed, and Cid and Vincent's addition are completely poochy'd in -- among others)

[Svejk]

Another thing I’m mentally torn on Rebirth, is wanting to know what’s going to carry over to Reunion, or whatever part 3 will be called (I can’t imagine it being called something else).  I didn’t know that certain summons carried over from Remake.  And one summon in particular only carried over if you played Integrade, which I didn’t.  That being said, I honestly don’t have the time to try and get all the summons available in Rebirth during this initial playthrough/run.  I want to know exactly how much will carry over, or if you’re able to obtain them in part 3.

I will likely b-line where I’m at now, but will likely come back to Rebirth in a few years time before part 3 and wrap up what will be confirmed to carry over then.  Of course, I’m sure I’ll forget plot stuff yet again. Lolol  So I’m not too concerned of fomo on certain aspects, but it would be nice to plan out now ahead of time, with what time I have.

By the way, I hate Chadley.  Want to punch him in the face so bad.  Wish they used a Moogle instead of him to tell of the lands.  Would’ve seemed so much more appropriate instead of just tying them into mini-games.

Comparing FF7make with OG probably wont do you any favors.

While they share many similarities they made a lot of cuts and changes (Rocket Town is entirely removed, and Cid and Vincent's addition are completely poochy'd in -- among others)

I'm sure you're right.  Just along for the ride myself... It's just me wrestling with my memories of old.
I have a feeling I'm gonna be disappointed with how they do Cid in part 3.

[Himu]

I haven’t played Rebirth.

But here’s the digs on Tifa. Tifa is weak. She is strong physically but weak mentally. This is why she joined Avalanche - to have some sort of power. But she’s unable to call out Cloud and his memories until it’s too late. She’s a ball of insecurity. Notice in battle Tifa is physically dominant and the game presents her as this bad ass but she’s timid and unable to actually talk to Cloud. Also she loves Cloud and knows that if she told him the truth he’d probably crack which is why she tells Sephiroth not to show Cloud the real photo that was taken. But  in her weakness she is so utterly reliant on Cloud (asking him to save her, the promise;etc) to tell him the truth.

By contrast, Aerith is physically weak but mentally strong. She’s well aware there’s something up with Cloud going by what she says in Gongaga and she knows Zack is dead. She knows he’s mirroring Zack. But why or how she doesn’t know. She just gives him empathy and focuses on finding a way to help the planet by summoning Holy. For her saving the Planet is more important than healing what Cloud is going through. I’ve never seen Aeirth as loving Cloud. She loved Zack whom she sees in Cloud. She wants to meet “the real” Cloud and admits that Cloud on disc 1 isn’t the real Cloud. I think she also realized Cloud needed Tifa and Tifa needed Cloud more than she needed Cloud or vice versa.

Think of FFVII OG as a group of insecure characters - all of them except Aerith, who is secure and sure of herself - that try to do good but end up failing and their battles to overcome their insecurities and eventually conquering. Cloud not being good enough and not making it to Soldier, Barret causing the downfall of Corel and being a bad leader, Tifa always needing someone to rescue her, Red XIII’s inability to get past his disdain for his father being a “coward”, Yuffie’s once proud nation turned into a tourist spectacle, Cid’s shame with not fulfilling his dreams;etc. All of them are focused on failure. Aerith just wants to save the planet as the last Ancient and Cloud’s story ultimately while interesting isn’t as important as stopping Seph and Jenova.

Ultimately though the game is written to make this all under interpretation. So interpret as you wish.

[Svejk]

I haven’t played Rebirth.

But here’s the digs on Tifa. Tifa is weak. She is strong physically but weak mentally. This is why she joined Avalanche - to have some sort of power. But she’s unable to call out Cloud and his memories until it’s too late. She’s a ball of insecurity. Notice in battle Tifa is physically dominant and the game presents her as this bad ass but she’s timid and unable to actually talk to Cloud. Also she loves Cloud and knows that if she told him the truth he’d probably crack which is why she tells Sephiroth not to show Cloud the real photo that was taken. But  in her weakness she is so utterly reliant on Cloud (asking him to save her, the promise;etc) to tell him the truth.

By contrast, Aerith is physically weak but mentally strong. She’s well aware there’s something up with Cloud going by what she says in Gongaga and she knows Zack is dead. She knows he’s mirroring Zack. But why or how she doesn’t know. She just gives him empathy and focuses on finding a way to help the planet by summoning Holy. For her saving the Planet is more important than healing what Cloud is going through. I’ve never seen Aeirth as loving Cloud. She loved Zack whom she sees in Cloud. She wants to meet “the real” Cloud and admits that Cloud on disc 1 isn’t the real Cloud. I think she also realized Cloud needed Tifa and Tifa needed Cloud more than she needed Cloud or vice versa.

Think of FFVII OG as a group of insecure characters - all of them except Aerith, who is secure and sure of herself - that try to do good but end up failing and their battles to overcome their insecurities and eventually conquering. Cloud not being good enough and not making it to Soldier, Barret causing the downfall of Corel and being a bad leader, Tifa always needing someone to rescue her, Red XIII’s inability to get past his disdain for his father being a “coward”, Yuffie’s once proud nation turned into a tourist spectacle, Cid’s shame with not fulfilling his dreams;etc. All of them are focused on failure. Aerith just wants to save the planet as the last Ancient and Cloud’s story ultimately while interesting isn’t as important as stopping Seph and Jenova.

Ultimately though the game is written to make this all under interpretation. So interpret as you wish.

Which makes the story so great overall; having discussions to even this day.. certain characters being more relatable now than before and vice versa.  Both the OG and FF7make both have their parts of dialog that seem to not make sense because they're abruptly short and display more of a visual emotion/reaction we're suppose to read, moreso than the characters up and pouring out all their thoughts verbally.  They're obviously mentally struggling and cutting themselves off mid thought half the time.. How I feel half the time too. Lol

[demi]

Boys...

Dragon Force...

This game is tight. I am a convert. I'll follow up with more detail tomorrow, but man this game is fun.

vod here: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2235674562

[Svejk]

Boys...

Dragon Force...

This game is tight. I am a convert. I'll follow up with more detail tomorrow, but man this game is fun.

vod here: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2235674562

Fuck yeah.  I played through 2 characters non stop in a 24 hour period with no sleep when I first got that game.  I don't even really care for strategy games either. Lol

Do you plan on trying DF2? I'm assuming there's a translation somewhere.  They had it at the store bork and I worked at, but didn't have it in me to plow through the language barrier.  Read later that it didn't really bring anything new to the table other than having two different armies to each side to select.

[Beezy]

Started Ys IX this week when I realized that Ys X would be released this year. I haven't had much time to play anything lately, but action RPGs have always been easy for me to jump in and out of. I'll be getting Visions of Mana tomorrow also.

[Joe Molotov]

Ys IX was nice, I liked the city focus. Zipping around like a jank Arkham City lol.

[demi]

Ok, so Dragon Force. I played for like 8 hours last night.

This game I read about a lot in magazines, and all the gameplay footage I've seen made the game feel overwhelming. Real time, menus, keeping track of the kingdom... it does feel daunting. But I sat down and did some homework, which entailed:

- Reading the manual
- Watching a youtube video that goes over some intro stuff
- Googling to read general threads on reddit

And I jumped in. I picked Wein because people said it was a decent starter campaign and because it sounded like ween (it's actually Wine as I learn later) and did some progress. Marched over, did some what could be considered "tutorial" combat battles. After playing about 8 hours, I am much more comfortable with the gameplay loop, and to a degree it actually negatively affects the game. The game basically relies on a chart, similar to pokemon. Water beats Fire, Fire beats Grass... but for unit types. So Cavalry beats Soldier, Archer beats Harpy... you get the idea. Once you understand this, or reference it, all you do is prepare your team by examining all the enemy generals marching around the map. For reference, the manual shows this chart so it's not exactly cheating to know this information.



This also goes out the window when you unlock Dragon types, which is literally just RNG when you search castles during break time. They are literally better than any type in the game besides like one or two other units.

So what do I like about the game:

- I like the real time aspect, but while also being able to pause and take a second to analyze and prepare
- I think being able to have 200 units on screen during a battle is pretty wild (100 vs 100)
- Distilled the gameplay is actually pretty simplistic, even though the presentation is like playing 52 card pickup
- Slowly making progress as you get stronger feels good ("Just one more fight...")
- 8 campaigns if you really care to, though from reading it sounds like they are mostly similar

Honestly this game might be the gateway drug to me finally playing Ogre Battle and Unicorn Overload, I'm kinda hooked. I will definitely be playing Dragon Force 2, but apparently that one is not as good as the first according to fans. I am a believer, and more people should check this game out.

[bork]

Shadow Of The Ninja is out- it's tough!  You only get one life, although you can continue from the area that you died in instead of having to start the entire level over. Over. Not sure if the continues are unlimited or not.

In the NES version, the two ninjas were exactly the same.  Now Kaede feels heavier/tankier (she thicc!) than Hayate does.  He seems like the better character because of this since his jumps are better.  I'm wondering if this was intentional or if this will be patched. If it was intentional, she's basically like an added slight difficulty spike.

[demi]

Dragon Force Gaming:

I took over the world, but now I have to collect the macguffins to unseal the true evil guy

Finished Trials of Mana (PS4) as well. It's fine. Not difficult, not really exciting...

Started Persona 3 Reload, since the Aigis DLC is out this month. It's flashy, updated, looks great.

[Svejk]

The Rufus Colosseum fight in Rebirth.  Man, fuck that fight. I'm highly considering dropping to easy just to get past it. Total bullshit type of fight. 

Did finish up Tomb Raider 1 and am up to the Venice stage of TR2.  Still all time classics.

Also played more Rise of the Tomb Raider.  Still enjoy playing through these. 

Edit: Ok, I just ripped Rufus a new one.  I basically found my approach was total shit and ineffective. Learned of the disorder atb, and that all she wrote. Felt good to finally wreck his ass.

[Joe Molotov]

Played Emio - The Smiling Man. It was alright, but a little short for $50. It was a little longer than the first two, but not by much. I think it took me around 9-10 hours to read through and then there was a 30 minute animated movie to tie up all the loose ends.

Thinking about playing Star Wars Outlaws next.

[demi]

Finished Dragon Force



This game was great. There are things to improve, which I hope the sequel addresses but otherwise this game was very good. Glad I finally got to experience this one.

[Himu]

Never played DF. Shame there was no hd release.

TRIII London levels are complete ass. I liked the subway level but other than that…Woof.

[tiesto]

Finally finished Trails through Daybreak and did a quick playthrough of the SMS version of Ys 1. The SMS version ain't winning any awards but it was interesting in seeing the differences between it and the Turbo CD version (my favorite of all versions of Ys 1). Namely, Adol is known as Aron in this game, and the main baddie is now DULK FUKT (instead of Dark Fact). Also, you need to hit enemies wayyyy at an offset, not just slightly at an offset, or else you'll take damage back... making this one of the harder versions of the game. Plus, it takes forever to gain the first few levels (you probably spend a quarter of your playtime in this grinding to level 2), but you need to be maxed out in levels before even hoping to damage the boss of the mine. Which makes engaging in any kind of combat once you get to Darm Tower pointless.

Next up - Visions of Mana, Astro Bot, and Tron Bonne when my friend comes over.

[Joe Molotov]

get FUKT

[Himu]

Dulk Fukt