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Post by retr0gamer on May 3, 2021 14:26:17 GMT -5
Btw - my latest in insomnia entertainment - I've discovered your old blog. I'm quite enjoying it. I get embarrassed when I go back to read it I probably should have kept it up and gotten better at writing but life gets in the way. I probably could just watch Drakengard 3 on youtube but I guess like the intoner's disciples, I like self punishment.
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Post by retr0gamer on May 3, 2021 15:59:47 GMT -5
Speaking of a game with really good gameplay, initial impressions of R-type Final 2 are that it's really good! Loving it. Reviews complained about visuals but I think it's gorgeous.
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Post by Deleted on May 4, 2021 3:17:34 GMT -5
Btw - my latest in insomnia entertainment - I've discovered your old blog. I'm quite enjoying it. I get embarrassed when I go back to read it I probably should have kept it up and gotten better at writing but life gets in the way. Not that it will mean much coming from someone who can't write for toffee himself, but I think you write well. There's personality to it. It's pretty clear also you improved a great deal over the course of the blog so I don't think you need to feel any embarrassment. Also, glad to hear you're liking R-Type Final 2. As I recall you weren't a big lover of the PS2 one. I can't really afford it, but I'm kind of worried physical copies will quickly disappear. Snake - Not sure what the deal was with the Sega Astro Mini. I know limited quantities used to be Limited Runs business model, but we're going back a few years for that. I guess there's a difference in just needing to order so many carts/discs. I'm not really into the merch included in the limited editions; I stand by my no vinyl no buy rule, and Castlevania already has some nice vinyl's anyway. I have been hanging on for the physical cart though. Honestly, I'm finding Limited Run a pain; always spending my money. I'm thinking I need to pick up Bug Fables too. Ahh...
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Post by retr0gamer on May 4, 2021 6:40:12 GMT -5
Also, glad to hear you're liking R-Type Final 2. As I recall you weren't a big lover of the PS2 one. I can't really afford it, but I'm kind of worried physical copies will quickly disappear. It's constant 60 FPS rather than fluctuating between 60 and single digits and there's no down time in levels so far so it's already got an advantage out of the gates.
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Post by 🧀Son of Suzy Creamcheese🧀 on May 4, 2021 6:47:06 GMT -5
I've been meaning to get some of those tiny Mario Lego enemy bags. It's a shame they have those stickers on them though. Yeah, ok so that is gonna sell out in literally seconds.... It’s been surprisingly easy to pick up sealed Limited Run games for reasonable prices lately (i got Timespimner, the latest Shantae, River City Girls, Oceanhorn, Chasm, Metal Slug Anthology, Transistor, Blazing Chrome to name a few) so I have hopes that I might be able to get this (at least the regular edition) someday down the line. I will try my best to buy this ultimate edition day 1 though... It looks very very nice. Is that Metal Slug Anthology any different from the old PS2 version?
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Post by dsparil on May 4, 2021 8:32:21 GMT -5
I played a little R-Type Final 2 since I'm still working on SaGa Frontier Remastered. It's nice that you can change ships between levels and not only when using a continue which I don't think was possible in the first game. For example, a homing force will decimate the first boss in seconds, greatly helpful for the second and nearly useless for the third. I've only been trying to see how far I can go on one "credit" on the different difficulties and haven't gotten farther than stage 4 yet.
I got the special edition which I thought came with a little R-9A figure, but it actually comes with a metal model kit from a company called Metal Earth. I'd never heard of them, but they seem established enough to have a bunch of licensed stuff like Star Wars and Gundam on top of more traditional things like planes and cars. I wonder if NIS/Granzella got some kind of special deal because the model is an 8/10 on their difficulty scale and uses more sheets than usual. I feel terrified to actually make it so I'm planning on getting a few of the other ones to practice on first which was maybe the cross-promotional point. They're actually pretty cheap, $7 to ~$25 depending on complexity and licensing, and I really don't want to mess up one I can't replace.
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Post by retr0gamer on May 4, 2021 9:36:56 GMT -5
I bought the season pass and it seems to be worth it. Each of the three DLC sets add 3 stages. I played the first which is a remix of stage 6 of R-Type. It's pretty much remixed into something very different and very interesting. Didn't get past it as it was hard as balls but if the other stages are as good I'll be happy with my purchase. Season pass adds up to 9 extra stages which is pretty much a whole new R-Type game.
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Post by JoeQ on May 4, 2021 17:13:31 GMT -5
I've been meaning to get some of those tiny Mario Lego enemy bags. It's a shame they have those stickers on them though. Yeah, ok so that is gonna sell out in literally seconds.... It’s been surprisingly easy to pick up sealed Limited Run games for reasonable prices lately (i got Timespimner, the latest Shantae, River City Girls, Oceanhorn, Chasm, Metal Slug Anthology, Transistor, Blazing Chrome to name a few) so I have hopes that I might be able to get this (at least the regular edition) someday down the line. I will try my best to buy this ultimate edition day 1 though... It looks very very nice. Is that Metal Slug Anthology any different from the old PS2 version?
Nope, just the emulated PS2 Classic port of it. LRG also did Metal Slug 3 and XX separately for PS4, but those were new ports by Code Mystics. MS3 also has third version available on PSN, that one's by Hamster. SNK rights can be messy....
Sega Astro Mini was just leftover stock from Japan they were selling in partnership with Sega, so it wasn't an open preorder. They weren't producing any new units.
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Post by Deleted on May 5, 2021 8:52:02 GMT -5
I ended up having an accidental 'Capcom Month' from some time in April to now. I'm still on with Monster Hunter Rise, and have also been playing some Street Fighter games (is it just me or is Alpha 3 PS1 pretty dang hard?). Mostly though, I have been playing Breath of Fire Dragon Quarter.
I've already made comment as to what an interesting game I've found it to be. My Breath of Fire experience previously covers only 1, which I dropped halfway due to disinterest, and 4 which I found to be solid enough but didn't particularly grab me. Between those two, I gather this is a series of very run of the mill RPG's, with no particularly interesting battle systems and for which the biggest standout is the graphics. Dragon Quarter then, feels like the anti Breath of Fire. Gone are the vibrant hand drawn sprites, and in their place dank, claustrophobic environments and simple, yet effective character models. I feel like I've seen far too many 'bleak futures' in video games of late, but in comparison Dragon Quarter offers a world so dystopian, so thick with it's own dismal atmosphere, it feels impossible not to get wrapped up in it, and the plight of it's characters. The base storyline has layers of simplicity and depth, and is portrayed wonderfully with top notch direction in it's cutscenes, that seemingly exceeds the expected limitations of it's primitive art style.
The main storyline revolves around the hero characters attempt to aid escapee test subject, Nina, in a journey to the surface world, from which man has shut itself away. Within the story he has merged with a dragon, who's abilities are slowly killing him. What's particularly interesting is how the gameplay reinforces this idea with the 'D-Counter' which increases as the power is used. Transform into the dragon and unlock it's abilities in battle, and you will trounce even the toughest of bosses, yet, when the counter reaches 100% it's game over. It's paramount then to ensure that the abilities are used highly infrequently, perhaps 3 or 4 times throughout the game. Your only tools to reduce the counter are the SOL-restart (go back to the beginning) and SOL-restore (go back to your last save point). However, this is where the systems can really be exploited. When you perform an SOL you will be able to carry certain things over, and in understanding how to benefit from that the player will be able to surmount previously unbeatable challenges.
There's more interesting concepts at work here of course. The battle system is highly tactical and offers a great puzzle. Like a strategy game there's a great importance on positioning, but there's also a nice combat system as well as action points, which are given each turn and can be stacked to some degree. The player will need to learn all of these, as well as prepare their equipment sets well in advance of combat, in order to achieve the best results. I myself didn't even pick up on the combo system until around halfway through, there was simply so much to pick up on. It is in this learning process though, that the game offers a rich, rewarding play experience, up there with the very best of JRPG's.
All in all, Dragon Quarter's only real flaw is it's gateway to entry. All the layers, all it's moodiness will scare away previous fans of the series. Like I said before, this is the anti Breath of Fire. For someone looking for something quite different however this is about as good as you will get. Is it a masterpiece? I haven't quite decided. Perhaps I need that second playthrough to experience those extra moments to help push my decision. For now though, I will say it is at least very close.
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Post by Deleted on May 6, 2021 0:51:18 GMT -5
Bit of a random announcement from Nintendo here. I don't really have a reason to pick up software built around making your own experiences, but at least with this they're smart enough to position it as an entry level project which means there should be a market for it, unlike say Dreams.
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Post by Snake on May 6, 2021 10:54:38 GMT -5
I ended up having an accidental 'Capcom Month' from some time in April to now. I'm still on with Monster Hunter Rise, and have also been playing some Street Fighter games (is it just me or is Alpha 3 PS1 pretty dang hard?). Mostly though, I have been playing Breath of Fire Dragon Quarter.Street Fighter Alpha 3 takes some getting used to. Unlike most Street Fighters, Alpha 3 is interesting as you can kind of juggle the opponent in the air with combos. But it's my personal favorite of the series. Dramatic Battle is one of the coolest modes to play through too! I just got Monster Hunter Rise as a birthday present, but I haven't booted it up yet. How you liking it so far? I'm hoping it's a lot less farm grinding than Monster Hunter World...
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Post by Deleted on May 6, 2021 11:25:11 GMT -5
I ended up having an accidental 'Capcom Month' from some time in April to now. I'm still on with Monster Hunter Rise, and have also been playing some Street Fighter games (is it just me or is Alpha 3 PS1 pretty dang hard?). Mostly though, I have been playing Breath of Fire Dragon Quarter.Street Fighter Alpha 3 takes some getting used to. Unlike most Street Fighters, Alpha 3 is interesting as you can kind of juggle the opponent in the air with combos. But it's my personal favorite of the series. Dramatic Battle is one of the coolest modes to play through too! I just got Monster Hunter Rise as a birthday present, but I haven't booted it up yet. How you liking it so far? I'm hoping it's a lot less farm grinding than Monster Hunter World... Thanks for the answer. I guess I'll look up some techniques online to see what I can learn. Or drop the difficulty to the bottom, that's always an option. I really have never been good at fighting games but I could beat the story in SFII at least. On Monster Hunter Rise - It's a nice Monster Hunter game. There's a real improvement to mobility and the difficulty is lower than ever. I can't directly compare to World since I skipped that one. With the grindiness I found that I didn't need to grind at all until high rank, which is the hub missions which are multiplayer focused, but can be played single player also. Getting through the main story I didn't have to grind at all. I will say the story mode is very short, and I'm tiring of the game far more quickly than previous entries. I think it favours new players and those put off by older entries being grindy, perhaps at the expense of those who liked the old way to some degree. I'd imagine you would enjoy it, as long as you like the combat that is. Hope you had/are having a good birthday also. Should I bake a cake and eat it in your honour? Red velvet perhaps?
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Post by ommadawnyawn2 on May 7, 2021 6:59:56 GMT -5
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Krh-vrEZEc8May 9th is the deadline for those who haven't submitted yet and want to join in on a community top 25 GOAT list (guy is a member of the resonant arc/dark pixel discord).
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Post by Snake on May 8, 2021 12:05:54 GMT -5
On Monster Hunter Rise - It's a nice Monster Hunter game. There's a real improvement to mobility and the difficulty is lower than ever. I can't directly compare to World since I skipped that one. With the grindiness I found that I didn't need to grind at all until high rank, which is the hub missions which are multiplayer focused, but can be played single player also. Getting through the main story I didn't have to grind at all. I will say the story mode is very short, and I'm tiring of the game far more quickly than previous entries. I think it favours new players and those put off by older entries being grindy, perhaps at the expense of those who liked the old way to some degree. I'd imagine you would enjoy it, as long as you like the combat that is. Hope you had/are having a good birthday also. Should I bake a cake and eat it in your honour? Red velvet perhaps? Haha, thanks. I had a pretty nice birthday. Mocha cake is my childhood favorite! Coffee buttercream and chocolate just work for me. Though I'd be just as content with one of each flavor of Ben's Cookies.
I certainly prefer combat and co-op play for Monster Hunter World. The constant part farming just got too tedious for me to catch up to peers. Especially when the Icebourne expansion was released. Sounds like I need to jump on Rise. For the most part, I just stick to Long Bow and Heavy Bow Gun since I like the way they handle. If mobility is improved, I certainly start on Great Sword and other large, hunky, bulky, slow combo weapons. How many hours have you logged on the game now?
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Post by Deleted on May 9, 2021 15:28:54 GMT -5
On Monster Hunter Rise - It's a nice Monster Hunter game. There's a real improvement to mobility and the difficulty is lower than ever. I can't directly compare to World since I skipped that one. With the grindiness I found that I didn't need to grind at all until high rank, which is the hub missions which are multiplayer focused, but can be played single player also. Getting through the main story I didn't have to grind at all. I will say the story mode is very short, and I'm tiring of the game far more quickly than previous entries. I think it favours new players and those put off by older entries being grindy, perhaps at the expense of those who liked the old way to some degree. I'd imagine you would enjoy it, as long as you like the combat that is. Hope you had/are having a good birthday also. Should I bake a cake and eat it in your honour? Red velvet perhaps? Haha, thanks. I had a pretty nice birthday. Mocha cake is my childhood favorite! Coffee buttercream and chocolate just work for me. Though I'd be just as content with one of each flavor of Ben's Cookies.
I certainly prefer combat and co-op play for Monster Hunter World. The constant part farming just got too tedious for me to catch up to peers. Especially when the Icebourne expansion was released. Sounds like I need to jump on Rise. For the most part, I just stick to Long Bow and Heavy Bow Gun since I like the way they handle. If mobility is improved, I certainly start on Great Sword and other large, hunky, bulky, slow combo weapons. How many hours have you logged on the game now?
A man after my own heart. I love coffee butter cream, and last year made a run of mocha cakes. I'm not one to toot my own horn but they were really quite good. On Mon Hun, I'm a Great Sword man. At least this time around, I like to pick a different one each game. So I've put in around 45 hours so far. Not many for me, but as I said it is short. More content is being added of course. Honestly I was expecting to keep going a bit more but then New Pokemon Snap happened and the below image should say enough about the addiction considering it released 9 days ago: But can you blame me? Look how adorable it is... (a few of my 'snaps') Since there's not much news going on - does anyone else have any playtime lists/images from any of your systems? Doesn't have to be Switch. Also quick mention - this is the first time I've tried transferring images from Switch to PC. Shocked how easy it is. I'll have to use some in the HG101 Completion Challenge in future.
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