What are you playing?

[Bebpo]

Beat Guacamelee 2. Was great. Some of the platforming in the last dungeon and optional areas are >_____<

But, I think the game's easier than the first overall. Like in the original I 99%'d the game only because I couldn't beat the last 2 screens or so of Treetops platforming. Here when I got to Treetops I was like OH FUCK ME NO and then they're like "you're almost there, the key is so close" and IT'S NOT, but I made it through and beat the treetops section and all the optional platforming bits I ran across, so I feel like that was easier here. The final boss was also really easy which was weird because I remember the last boss in the original being pretty challenging until you got all the moves down. Combat is still satisfying but G2 feels even more platformer focused than G1, which is fine since the platforming is good. Some of the bits in the last dungeon with snakes and stuff were really fun.

I did read there's some chicken trial thing that's harder than treetops in the original though, so maybe not on the easier part.

Anyhow, took me almost 9 hours and I didn't get close to 100%. Probably gonna clean up a bit and try for the last couple keys I'm missing for the true end.

Overall Guacamelee 2 is more of the same, but when the original is one of my top Metroidvania's with Hollow Knight, SoTN and Super Metroid, another quality Guacamelee is a good playthrough. Great art, great music, funny writing and I even liked the story. Will be interesting to see what Drinkbox does next. Severed wasn't as good as Guacamelee but it was pretty creative & interesting. I'm surprised they didn't port it to Switch since they ported it to iOS and it's touchscreen based.

One thing I do really like about Guacamelee 1 & 2 is I feel like in gaming they're the best celebration of Mexican culture since like Grim Fandango.

They are... up in the sky. You can see it on the world map. You can get there from one of the flat areas by going up. It's impossible to miss, honestly, it's a big, floating temple with like 20 doors upfront. Each door is one particular, timed challenge.

So I went to this place and the guy goes "before you enter, you have to pay your dues...literally, uh, do you want to go to the PSN store?" 

Not sure if I want to pay extra for it, but I'll watch some youtube vids of it and see.

[Bebpo]

I think Guacamelee! 2 ultra bombed. There was like no hype for it vs when the first game launched

Yeah I just youtubed the

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Javier x 3 fight

[close]

, since you mentioned it and I didn't run into it (only found 3 of the key parts) and the video only had 118 views and 0 comments. The first game was pretty underrated. They ported it everywhere to get more exposure little by little but most people haven't even heard of it. Not surprised Pt.2 bombed.

Then again in the credits, Drinkbox studio is like...10 people. So hopefully the games sell enough to keep them afloat.

The soundtrack is so good too.

Am I going to find a metroidvania that even remotely compares to Hollow Knight or should I not bother? Guacamelee looks like a good contender.

I think not as HK is the pinnacle of the genre even besting Super Metroid and SOTN. Adjust your expectations (downwards) slightly and enjoy other titles? Guacamelee is kind of different. Same genre but different flavour.

Ori is kind of good and stylistycally similiar to HK (dark forests and caves). I'd suggest Ori over Guacamelee but Ori has like no bosses at all vs HK 456789876 bosses.

I still haven't played Ori after all these years 

I have the directors cut version they released after, so I'll give it a play one of these days.

[The Sceneman]

Just been smashing through Sleeping Dogs Definitive Edition.

The DLC content is sweet! Never did the Wheels of Fury stuff first time as theres no achievements - but the futuristic race-car you get is super sweet. Just about to do the 'Zodiac Tournament' DLC, which apparently is parody/homage to Enter the Dragon. I'm havent seen the film (although funnily enough have seen Jim Kelly's follow up flicks - Black Belt Jones and Hot Potato). Hopefully I'll be able to appreciate the content well enough. I'm hoping there will a black dude with a massive afro to fight

[porkbun]

No Jim Kelly clones in there to fight (his character was Bruce's friend in the movie).  But it is a fun DLC that is all fighting.  You may not get all the references, but ETD's plot isn't exactly Shakespeare.  An undercover cop goes into a fighting tournament to try and bust a crime lord.  Mortal Kombat basically used the same thing.

The Nightmare in North Point DLC is fun as well, again, it may help if you've seen Hong Kong kyonshi ("hopping vampire") movies like Mr. Vampire but it's a nice take on the "zombie mode" subgenre.

One thing I did really like about SD was how deep the Hong Kong movie references got.  Like they had the expected Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan outfits, but there was stuff from Stephen Chow and Andy Lau movies in there as well.

It was originally going to be a full on Hong Kong/USA co-production with the in-game actors being from HK (most of them can speak pretty good English).  The early promo movie for it was filmed in HK and had legit people from the industry working on it behind the camera.  Suppoedly Sammo Hung was going to have a big part in the game and helping with doing the mocap for the kung fu moves.

[porkbun]

I hit quote instead of modify, I am dumb.  Which is further proven by the fact that I played the Lynx version of Pit Fighter for an hour on the bus today.

[Great Rumbler]

 

[The Sceneman]

No Jim Kelly clones in there to fight (his character was Bruce's friend in the movie).  But it is a fun DLC that is all fighting.  You may not get all the references, but ETD's plot isn't exactly Shakespeare.  An undercover cop goes into a fighting tournament to try and bust a crime lord.  Mortal Kombat basically used the same thing.

The Nightmare in North Point DLC is fun as well, again, it may help if you've seen Hong Kong kyonshi ("hopping vampire") movies like Mr. Vampire but it's a nice take on the "zombie mode" subgenre.

One thing I did really like about SD was how deep the Hong Kong movie references got.  Like they had the expected Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan outfits, but there was stuff from Stephen Chow and Andy Lau movies in there as well.

It was originally going to be a full on Hong Kong/USA co-production with the in-game actors being from HK (most of them can speak pretty good English).  The early promo movie for it was filmed in HK and had legit people from the industry working on it behind the camera.  Suppoedly Sammo Hung was going to have a big part in the game and helping with doing the mocap for the kung fu moves.

Thanks for your post mr porkbun

I love Wei Shen's voice actor - nails his part with gusto. What an interesting game with such an unusual production.

I saw this video a few months ago, the latter half of it details SD development:

[The Sceneman]

I hit quote instead of modify, I am dumb.  Which is further proven by the fact that I played the Lynx version of Pit Fighter for an hour on the bus today.

Whoa, I imagine a port of a bad game on a shitty system must be some next level shit. I tip my hat to you

[The Sceneman]

ngl this actually looks p dope. The music is hypnotic

[kingv]

Huh, that makes me interested in sleepy dawgs.

I didn’t know it was so influenced by HK action movies.

Someone really needs to make a game that references all the crazier ones, like 5 deadly venoms or flying guillotine.

[The Sceneman]

Its mostly influenced by Grand Theft Auto I think - theres just a lot of oddball extra content

[porkbun]

Well it is an open world game - so it is influenced by GTA of course - but a lot of the in game content owes a lot to Hong Kong movies.  The plot has elements of Infernal Affairs (remade in the US as The Departed) and some missions are total nods to HK movies - the mission in the hospital is totally derived from the finale of John Woo's Hard Boiled, the one in the church is from Woo's The Killer (down to Wei wearing a blood stained white suit like Chow Yun Fat) - and the whole dual guns akimbo in slo-mo was a trademark of Woo's Hong Kong "heroic bloodshed" movies.

And Pit Fighter on the Lynx actually isn't too bad.  It's certainly a lot better than the SNES version.  The moves are easy to pull off and there's a bit more strategy since the specials use some of your character's energy, so you can't just spam them like other versions.

[demi]

Chrono Cross is fucking AMAZING.

(Image removed from quote.)

(Image removed from quote.)

nice blown up assets. barf

[kingv]

Speaking of John woo. Stranglehold was actually pretty good.

[MMaRsu]

Speaking of John woo. Stranglehold was actually pretty good.

Yeah when the fuck is that coming to backwards compatibility though? I purchased it recently in anticipation..

[Stro]

Sleepy Dawgs was awesome. Loved running around town doing Ryder kicks to old ladies.

[Great Rumbler]

Sleepy Dawgs was one of the best open-world games of the 360/PS3 generation.

[Bebpo]

Ooooh, yeah I totally forgot CC is the rpg with the mindfuck plot twist midway where

spoiler (click to show/hide)

MC goes into Antagonists body

[close]

And you wake up in pastel rainbow land. That was pretty awesome back in like 99 or whenever it came out. Even for Jrpg twists like Aerith, that was tops.

I remember that twist being one of the reasons I really liked CC in the end.

[Bebpo]

I kinda miss when Jrpgs all had crazy ass twists. FF7, Xenogears, CC, great time to be an rpg fan. FFT had some cool stuff too.

[Bebpo]

Also a lot of the key CC team did Baten Kaitos at Monolithsoft which was also pretty crazy and ambitious and colorful with great tunes.

[Bebpo]

True. FF8 is probably the most crazy FF in a lot of ways. Talked about this last night with Kara. Would be nice if they remake 8 someday.

[Svejk]

True. FF8 is probably the most crazy FF in a lot of ways. Talked about this last night with Kara. Would be nice if they remake 8 someday.

FF8 needed a remake moreso, imo.  FF7 was fine the way it was, besides the horrible translations of course.

[Cindi Mayweather]

At the behest of Positive Touch, started La Mulana. So far it’s a very fun action platformer with very involved exploration. I’m really liking it. Going to play it after Bloodborne and then play Dark Souls 1.

Do the Timed Challenges Bebpo they are very short and very fun (kind of... hehehehe). Oh and the Dankest Timeline cave for reeeeeeeeeeeee type of posters.

---

I got the ship in Chrono Cross and am clearing the Ghost Ship. Game is very, very fun! I kind of forgot the Chrono Trigger story after all these years. I only remember the Frog, the triangle magic spells, Lavos and dinosaurs. Will have to refresh my memory because in this title they are calling me the Assassin of Time/ Chrono Trigger. Deepest lore?

Also why do I need 40 party members. JESUS. CHRIST. I think I've unlocked 50% of the team already (looking at the grid) but am only using THREE PEOPLE. The same silly thing Suikoden was up to! Why do the PSX-era JRPGs focused so much on gazillion party members? It makes them unmemorable, filler (hehehe). Later on the JRPG devs wisened up and did stuff like FF12 with specific party exclusive Hunts (i.e. Female Only) or FF13 with whole chapters where you were forced to play with selected party members. Those are much better ideas than 40-people cast. Or just cut the team size further down to 4 people like in FF15.

FF16 to have 3 party members confirmed?

Suikoden has six member parties FYI. In V, eight person parties (six in battle, two in support).

Does Chrono Cross get any harder? I am after the Viper Mansion and so far it's super easy, generic battles and bosses. Hoping the Mansion was still Tutorial area.

Things I like:

- crafting (!) in a 1999 JRPG
- stealing from bosses
- field arena effects
- spells have levels like -2/-1/0/+1/+2 etc.
- tons of goofy characters

There are spikes, mostly bosses.

[kingv]

True. FF8 is probably the most crazy FF in a lot of ways. Talked about this last night with Kara. Would be nice if they remake 8 someday.

FF8 needed a remake moreso, imo.  FF7 was fine the way it was, besides the horrible translations of course.

I just hope the remake doesn’t whitewash Barrett. We need his authentic black voice.

[Cindi Mayweather]

True. FF8 is probably the most crazy FF in a lot of ways. Talked about this last night with Kara. Would be nice if they remake 8 someday.

FF8 needed a remake moreso, imo.  FF7 was fine the way it was, besides the horrible translations of course.

I just hope the remake doesn’t whitewash Barrett. We need his authentic black voice.

[HardcoreRetro]

I remember photoshopping a KFC bucket around the chocobo for a cheap laugh.



So it could be worse.

[benjipwns]

I bought some dude's old pile of PS2 games from his parents garage sale for $20, it almost felt like when I'd buy the random bags of comics from local cons decades ago before they were anything more than glorified flea markets.

You could tell a decent chunk of the titles hadn't really been revisited too much, if ever.

Most importantly, got Rygar

Gonna blog more about it hopefully, also tossed in some older PS1 I assume mostly jank I got for pennies a long time ago and never really did anything with, if I'm PS2in it up, might as well use some backwards compat. Also I've now mixed in some stuff I never got around to but stupidly bought.

Been ages since I sat down with console garbage fairly often alongside the normal PC Master Race life. Since the Wii times probably. It seems so quaint to fire it up for an hour or so connected solely to the TV. Also the games are giving me all kinds of ingame currency to unlock things but I can't seem to find where I can purchase large packs of a secondary currency to pay for that currency to purchase more ingame items, and none of the games have yet to complain about how I haven't plugged in a CAT5 cable into the PS2 to get it on the network to store my currencies. A very strange world I am revisiting. I don't even think I have entered any login details.

[naff]

I suck at Ace Combat 7, but getting better. Kinda edged through the first ten missions getting C's and B's, but the annihilation missions were owning me, then i bought the AC-10c. YES. But then I got to mission 11 and the 4x Land to Air missiles weren't cutting it anymore, so i give the Super Hornet w Railgun a shot. And i fuck around with the AC-10c Bombs.. Nope. Then i finally, after many different plane and load out attempts, give the AC-10c with SP Rocket Launchers a crack. A rank. Ez mode. Cracked it. Also learnt how to just keep doing backflips to just destroy everything in my path while avoiding missile locks. Weird game, but it's starting to click. Having a lot more fun than when i tried Assault Horizons.

[MMaRsu]

How does one find cheap gba or gameboy games?

There are no garage sales where I live

[Rufus]

No flea markets, either?

[archnemesis]

What about eBay and similar auction sites?

[Spieler1]

trying to deal with fake copies on ebay

[MMaRsu]

No flea markets, either?

yeah but very sporadic and usually im not one to wake up at 0600 :p

But yea been using dutch ebay and yesterday I found out Facebook has a marketplace where ppl who dont know their worth sells a bunch of gb stuff

[demi]

How does one find cheap gba or gameboy games?

There are no garage sales where I live

dont you euroscrubs just buy flashcarts and pirate everything you socialist pricks

[HardcoreRetro]

If he gets them at garage sales he might as well go the pirate/flashcart route anyways since loads of em are bootleg copies.

[MMaRsu]

Yeah im trying to go the original route. I found someone selling all this, but I'm afraid to ask for the prices





 

[MMaRsu]

This is all the stuff I bought in recent weeks ( aside from the 2 GBA SP backlights and 5x DMG backlight kits )

[BisMarckie]

I‘ll have a look in my parents basement if there is still some Game Boy stuff the next time I‘m there. I collect retro consoles, but never cared about handhelds. I‘d send you that junk for free if it‘s still there.

[MMaRsu]

Man that would be so amazing ofcourse I would have to pay for shipping

  If I can return the favor in any way just let me know    I might have something you might be interested in who knows

[demi]

CIB Game Boy games? Oh my. Yeah that won't be cheap unless they're some dumb old grandma.

Also even though you are trying to go legit, I would still invest in a flashcart so you can take it all with you. Put that bitch in a GB Micro or GBA SP 101 mmm yes daddy

[MMaRsu]

Yeah im not at all versed in flashcarts etc so I'd have to take a look at that at some point.

[demi]

Just look into the EZ Flash models. I use an EZ Flash IV, but I think there are newer models now. GBATemp is a good resource.

[chronovore]

I've been trying some AC Odyssey.
Whoever balanced the power levels in this game either had, or needed a lobotomy.

One guy 2 levels above me kills me in 2 hits, and took (no joke) 40 minutes to kill, because i literally do .1% damage to his health bar... and they attacked me in two.
Then a guy just 1 level below me, will die in 4 hits.

Go fuck a cactus.

Origins was also shit, in this regard, but i don't remember it being this fucking bad.

I'm playing Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag and enjoying the hell out of it. That feeling when you're sailing at top speed and the crew breaks out in a shanty is:
 

[benjipwns]

Soldiers of Fortune Gold has like five minute long loading times. I looked it up online to see if maybe it was just this copy (or even worse my PS2) and nope, but apparently, the Dreamcast version is even worse somehow!

The biggest complaint about Soldier of Fortune on the Dreamcast was its ridiculously long load times. Thankfully, the PlayStation 2 version doesn't take nearly as long to load. Although there are 10 missions in the game, there are nearly 30 separate levels, which means the load screen becomes a frequent and often unwelcome visitor. Understandably, the game's frenzied action screeches to an abrupt halt each time a load screen appears, but the delays are noticeably shorter than those in the Dreamcast game.

On the upside, it's been almost two decades since I played this on PC, but it seems like it's otherwise just a pretty straight port at the lower PS2 resolution and worse textures. I guess Half-Life and Deus Ex had similar early decent PS2 ports too so maybe this shouldn't be too surprising. I was expecting something more like Voyager: Elite Force which despite being almost a literal Quake III mod runs and looks like hot garbage on PS2.

Fun (not so fun) fact related to this line of discussion? The Quake III port to PS2 was Bullfrog's last game.

P.S. I shot a dude's leg off, then his other leg, then his face.

[Cerveza mas fina]

Starting Darkwood now 

[BIONIC]

Starting Darkwood now 

Sounds like something filler would be into 

[demi]

speedruns seem to use Serge / Fargo / Glenn as the main characters, i'm sure theres a speedrun purpose to that

[Mr Gilhaney]

Bought Parkitect and really enjoying it. This is way more the RC game I was looking for, when I bought Planet Coaster. Parkitect has a good management part to it as well as having the fun of building a park.

[Bebpo]

So, I got really into World of FF when it clicked for me and I'm like 75% through the game already at ch.17/21 and been catching almost all the pokemon along the way and doing all the intervention side stuff.

This game has a really slow and shitty UI which is very bad for pokemon/smt games where you are constantly changing your party members and going into their skill trees to upgrade them. There's also a real bad lack of information to the point where I've had to google several skills because there is no way to find out what a skill does. I blame this on Tose game being Tose game.

Also Big Bridge is really boring. Especially when you get to the top and die on an optional super boss and realize the warp door is at the bottom and you have to climb the whole fucking thing again.

that being said

The game after it opened up about 3-5 hours in with mirajawels, interventions, sidequests, transfigurations, champion summons, champion mirajewels, XL pokemon summons, etc... has been pushing all the right buttons gameplay-wise for the kind of skill/team management tinkering I enjoy in games and catching monsters and leveling monsters is fun. The Summons are cool, the Maxima edition Champion Jewels where you dress up as FF characters and get an extra move or two seem kinda useless for the ones I've tried and XL monster summoning seems useless to so far since they had a ton of HP (good) but they don't really seem to output anymore damage than your character stacks would do normally? Idk. I only have Cerebus and an Adamontoise so far for XL.

I also am really enjoying the silly pun writing and all the nostalgia of hanging with FF characters and being in FF towns/dungeons. Always exciting to see what the next area will be and will it be your favorite area from your favorite FF?? Also some of the music remixes are really nice like FF3's Eternal Wind in the 2nd city you go to. I also like that guest character-wise it's not just the main characters/villians like in Dissidia but you get side characters too. I think for some of them it's their first time voiced and it's cool and makes me want Square to do fully voiced FF5/6/8/9 asap (since FF4 DS was VA'd cutscenes and 7 remake will be addressing that). Bartz from FFV & Gilgamesh have a good VA dynamic. Never been a big fan of Butz/bartz but I'm becoming one now.

Pacing is pretty good like an old-school PS2 era rpg (is PS2 old-school at this point? idk). Cutscenes, dungeons, side-stuff, keep moving and keep enjoying new things! It's why I blew through a lot of the game so far in like a week. I plan on doing all the post-game dungeons too unless it gets real grindy. Will try to collect all the pokemon but not gonna fuck around for any grind for hours for rare chance encounter ones. So probably will miss a few.

Anyhow, outside the UI sucking and game being a little too easy and not forcing you to really strategize hard with your pokemon, oh and not being able to skip the summons (nostalgic throwback!) this is a pretty good game and got me hooked. I hope it sold enough to make a 2nd one because with just a few improvements it could be even better + another chance to include characters and towns and dungeons and music that you like that didn't make it into here.

Game is cute & funny and the graphics are actually pretty good if you're ok with the bobblehead look. Seems like it must've had a pretty sizeable budget. I like all the cameo stuff like Xenogears and 4th wall breaking. Hell there's even a Dirge of Cerebus character lol

I picked this up when it launched on PS4 but got turned off by the first hour or two which seemed really simple and dull. Glad I stuck with it on Switch (portability is very nice). This along with Dissidia (the old ones, not the new crappy one) & Theaterhythm & FF14 are doing a good job satisfying my Final Fantasy series nostalgia. I remember when FF was kinda dying for a while, but now it's a series I like a lot again. Just gotta play FF15....

[demi]

sounds about right. it's a cute fun game with good visuals and music (i played vita, but) but man it is dull and simple.

i never played the maxima content, but i watched it on youtube and it still seemed like nothing changed in that regard.

[demi]

you would probably get bored of this too. it's final fantasy fanservice through and through. enjoy the ride or go play something else

[Bebpo]

Is it better than FF: Type Zero? I played that game for about 4 hours and it bored me (which is hard to do).

Nah, probably too easy so you’d get bored. Also the UI might drive you crazy.

But Type Zero was trash gameplay with a great soundtrack and cool ending, so I definitely think World of FF is a better game so far. Type Zero has the better soundtrack though.

[Cerveza mas fina]

I traded some stuff and got a watch in Darkwood, now ill trally be able to stay out late 

Fuckinh scary though hiding in my house at night listening to noises just armed with a plank

[MMaRsu]

Finally got this package that was sent to the wrong adress, I had to have them ( some hair product company ) my parcel lol.



Gba SP Black with all authentic Pokemon Sapphire, Link to the Past & Minish cap ( and 3 other crap games ) for 60 euros! Even has the original charger and its in great condition.

The pokemon Sapphire has a clear save on it O_o

[Kunai With Chain]

Finished Digimon Cyber Sleuth. The gameplay was monotonous, on normal it had zero challenge, it had so many gameplay elements that are just absolutely a chore to play through and the translation needed some proofreading since it was rife with mistakes. But all said and done, it was actually a pretty decent game. The dialogue had its funny moments and the story was not too bad, much better than what I would have expected from a Digimon game going in. Might actually give Hacker's Memory a try now if it goes on sale.

[Bebpo]

Finished Digimon Cyber Sleuth. The gameplay was monotonous, on normal it had zero challenge, it had so many gameplay elements that are just absolutely a chore to play through and the translation needed some proofreading since it was rife with mistakes. But all said and done, it was actually a pretty decent game. The dialogue had its funny moments and the story was not too bad, much better than what I would have expected from a Digimon game going in. Might actually give Hacker's Memory a try now if it goes on sale.

I think there's a huge problem in general with Pokemon/Digimon/World of FF type games where they have deep team setup options for strategy but the games are so easy you're rarely required to put in that much thought.

Like in Pokemon MP, yeah it's happens (does Digimon have MP?), but SP-wise it's missing.

And that's why the SMT games are so good, they're not really much different than any of the above games but the higher kill or be killed difficulty actually forces you to manage your team and strategy and it's much, much more rewarding.

I wish games like Pokemon/Digimon/World of FF would have a regular mode & hard mode available off the bat (I know World of FF has a hard mode but it's NG+, wtf is the point of saving challenging difficulties for NG+ if you've beaten the game by then and are basically done with it) to at least address this for older, more experienced players.

[Cerveza mas fina]

Finally got this package that was sent to the wrong adress, I had to have them ( some hair product company ) my parcel lol.



Gba SP Black with all authentic Pokemon Sapphire, Link to the Past & Minish cap ( and 3 other crap games ) for 60 euros! Even has the original charger and its in great condition.

The pokemon Sapphire has a clear save on it O_o

Thats a good buy

[MMaRsu]

Finally got this package that was sent to the wrong adress, I had to have them ( some hair product company ) my parcel lol.



Gba SP Black with all authentic Pokemon Sapphire, Link to the Past & Minish cap ( and 3 other crap games ) for 60 euros! Even has the original charger and its in great condition.

The pokemon Sapphire has a clear save on it O_o

Thats a good buy

Yeah thx I thought so as well, I think the games all together are easily worth 60 euros

[tiesto]

Borys, it was a long while ago but I remember the boss fight with

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Miguel in front of the destroyed Leene Square

[close]

being really difficult.

[Bebpo]

Some/most of the intervention sidequests in World of FF are greaaaat



I love the Japanese VA for Tonberry, it's Joji Nakata who plays most villians and Alucard in Hellsing and stuff with DEEP MENACING VOICES, so perfect for Tonberry who look cute but can 9999 damage you in one stab.


The localization in this is top notch too, up there with Trails in the Sky and stuff. The English dialogue doesn't match the Japanese dialogue about 1/4th the time because 1/4th the game is speaking in Japanese puns, but the English puns they make up to replace the conversation are sometimes really good and even better than the Japanese puns.