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Post by spanky on Mar 9, 2024 21:00:47 GMT -5
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Post by vnisanian2001 on Mar 9, 2024 21:31:14 GMT -5
Mah boi, these baseball games are what we true strong warriors pay money to go see.
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Post by excelsior on Mar 10, 2024 2:44:20 GMT -5
Namco developed games collagesTop 5 retro Namco games? I have a better grasp on their OSTs than the actual games at the moment. Soul Blade Tekken 2/3 Splatterhouse NES Valkyrie no Densetsu ARC Rolling Thunder 3, Tank Force or AC2 Galaga '88 has to be in there. I feel like you have to include Pac Man in there somehow even though Championship Edition DX is much better than the old stuff. Agree on Rolling Thunder. If you can include Tekken in this then Mr Driller and Klonoa definitely qualify. If you draw the line even later you've got Katamari.
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Post by vnisanian2001 on Mar 10, 2024 3:10:33 GMT -5
I would have put Burning Force in that collage. The soundtrack in the Arcade game rocks. That bass slaps.
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Post by dsparil on Mar 10, 2024 6:07:31 GMT -5
Namco has made too many of the most influential/important games of all time for a genuine top 5 to not just be filled with them. Galaxian or Galaga, Pac-Man, Pole Position, Tower of Druaga and Xevious could fill a top 5 from the first half of the 80s alone.
Retro is a bit nebulous, but my personal favorites are:
Alpine Racer (literally my most played arcade game!) Final Lap Twin Galaga '88 Point Blank Xevious
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Post by ommadawnyawn2 on Mar 10, 2024 6:24:13 GMT -5
Namco developed games collagesTop 5 retro Namco games? I have a better grasp on their OSTs than the actual games at the moment. Soul Blade Tekken 2/3 Splatterhouse NES Valkyrie no Densetsu ARC Rolling Thunder 3, Tank Force or AC2 Galaga '88 has to be in there. I feel like you have to include Pac Man in there somehow even though Championship Edition DX is much better than the old stuff. Agree on Rolling Thunder. If you can include Tekken in this then Mr Driller and Klonoa definitely qualify. If you draw the line even later you've got Katamari. I suppose so, I didn't think in those terms here just what you find the best/most fun now? But feel free to expand it to 10 if you want and you can include more of the historically important games. @vnisanian200 - It's in there, just swipe right! Alpine Racer seems like one you really should play the original of, I'll have to try and find one near me hah.
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Post by JDarkside on Mar 10, 2024 7:19:48 GMT -5
Busy wrapping up my Like A Dragon blind spots, with a stop to 0 for screens before getting to 6 (ugh).
5 took ages to find a good tap out point on, and my desire to go back when I finish the current assignment isn't too high. The issue with 5 is that the side stories (the big character specific side narrative and subgame) are actually too good and make you want to go play them to the end, and they grind the story to a halt - which is especially damaging here, because the one part that is genuinely and clearly important to the core story is Kiryu's first part, and then the finale spins its wheels to try and show how several dozen side characters you probably forgot about connect to the core conspiracy, and I *still* barely understand why a few are even connected. There's somehow too much game you want to play, while the story is extremely poorly paced because it isn't clear how any part is actually important. You could ripout Saejima's part with no consequence in particular, with exception of having to move exactly one character to another part because they're too important, while also being one of the most annoying characters in the entire franchise.
But man, when the game hits, it hits. Kiryu's part is fantastic from start to end, Haruka's part has some unique ideas that were fun to explore (I would have preferred Akiyama was there from the start instead of awkwardly mashing him in halfway through), and Shinada is just one of the best leads these games have ever had. Such a funny horn dog, but also a genuinely sweet idiot with a really relatable core conflict.
Ishin is also neat and I had to tap out because I could feel the dangerous pull of the 0 style side content pacing. It has some really unique combat I appreciated, and I thought it was interesting how it leaned more into RPG elements in leveling than the main series, having more focus on stat upgrades than getting new moves. Even the casting in this version was interesting, especially freaking Shibusawa being introduced here as your genuinely loving adopted brother. That said, there is some nationalist subtext in there that occasionally bugged me, and I am aware of the closing lines of the game which *woof*, but it wasn't as thick as I was expecting due to focusing more on character drama. It helps that the character you control has, like, good and correct stances on a lot of things in substories, but I still raise an eyebrow here and there at some lines and implications thrown into the air, and had trouble figuring out if it was included for the sake of being true to views of the period, or if it was to push a message, and it felt about 50/50 in either case.
Also you can sing Baka Mitai and Ryoma will end it playing everyone some Jazz For Your Soul and one guy gives a thumbs up which is objectively hilarious. I would recommend it, I don't think the game overall (until those final lines with YIKES) is any more collar tugging than the main series and its fumbling around writing women, queer characters, and immigrants.
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Post by excelsior on Mar 10, 2024 12:08:15 GMT -5
I suppose so, I didn't think in those terms here just what you find the best/most fun now? But feel free to expand it to 10 if you want and you can include more of the historically important games. Now you want me to like ten things?!? That's what we call a moving of the goalposts! Seriously, though, Namco are all about the arcades, and some of those older classics get regular play from me, whereas I don't think I've touched Tekken in almost a decade. I'm pretty happy with the ones I selected. I don't think I could stretch to a meaningful list of 10.
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Post by dsparil on Mar 10, 2024 14:16:12 GMT -5
For 2D arcade games, Namco always seemed years ahead of everyone else but less so for 3D especially after their first 3D "generation" when the hardware was just souped up consumer stuff. Not that the games got worse, but some of those System 2 games in particular are just mind-blowing for the time.
Galaga '88 Final Lap Twin (to represent the Pole Position lineage) Pac-Man Point Blank (or Time Crisis since it had more staying power) Pro Baseball: Family Stadium (One of the best selling Famicom series no one thinks about) Ridge Racer (all the versions blend together in my head) Soulcalibur (Dreamcast specifically) or II (in general) Tekken 3 Tower of Druaga Xevious
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Post by ommadawnyawn2 on Mar 10, 2024 17:59:00 GMT -5
I suppose so, I didn't think in those terms here just what you find the best/most fun now? But feel free to expand it to 10 if you want and you can include more of the historically important games. Now you want me to like ten things?!? That's what we call a moving of the goalposts! Seriously, though, Namco are all about the arcades, and some of those older classics get regular play from me, whereas I don't think I've touched Tekken in almost a decade. I'm pretty happy with the ones I selected. I don't think I could stretch to a meaningful list of 10. Yeah I guess, although their PS1 ports were generally better than the arcade originals in the late 90s at least! They did have the best sound and sometimes the most advanced graphics in the arcades back in the late 80s-early 90s, probably made Sega focus on 3D sooner. Tekken is worth revisiting just for the cutscenes. I shall have to try Final Lap Twin even though it don't look like much!
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Post by Snake on Mar 11, 2024 14:58:25 GMT -5
Namco games?
The older arcade games that have been most impressionable on me: Galaga Rolling Thunder Dragon Spirit Ridge Racer Time Crisis
Great atmosphere, for all them.
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Post by lurker on Mar 14, 2024 1:26:19 GMT -5
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Post by 1upsuper on Mar 17, 2024 3:22:16 GMT -5
It's not my favorite game to play, let alone my favorite Namco game, but I almost feel a need to bow my head whenever Tower of Druaga comes up. The mystery and the challenge -- and the confusion! -- of that game really sums up the idea of video games to me. I played the game for the first time as an adult, but it reminded me of being a kid again who didn't fully understand the limits of what games could do. The game beat me, which is not something I'll admit for very many games. I'd love to see one of those communal notebooks that Japanese players apparently put together and left by the arcade cabinet back in its day. I'm getting off the topic of Namco here, but Bubble Bobble is another game with a similar level of secrecy and intrigue that I love.
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Post by dsparil on Mar 22, 2024 8:01:05 GMT -5
After going through DQI last week, I figured I'd give DQII a try since I've never touched that one for some reason. Am I the only one who finds it notably worse? It just feels like more of the same but with a party that makes grinding so much slower.
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Post by excelsior on Mar 22, 2024 8:05:17 GMT -5
No, I'd consider it the weakest entry by some distance.
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