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Post by 🧀Son of Suzy Creamcheese🧀 on Feb 23, 2020 15:43:44 GMT -5
Back to Saturn X Episode 2: Fountain in the Tower of Sparks (Win10, 1st play, 18h50m)
After the excellent Episode 1, I was wondering if the forgiving nature of the stages was due to it only being the first episode or the designers just making it a priority. As it turns out, it's mostly the first. Episode 2 is where the typical trappings of fan-made DOOM mods start to rear their ugly heads. Although I will say props to them for making a stage that took an hour and 40 minutes that I managed to do in one go. Though I was completely willing to savescum on that one and I got a bit lucky. Overall, the level design is still really solid, with tons and tons of details, great use of the texture set (mostly textures not seen in ep. 1) and clever connections and shortcuts implemented to make the typical DOOM backtracking less tedious. It's just that the first episode was much less cheap, while still delivering plenty of thrills. This sometimes crosses the line a little.
Anyway, I doubt that many people are interested in hearing me talk about a DOOM mod for ages, so I'll just mention that the graphics and music are again top-notch, and I can't wait for the last episode to release.
Rating: 9/10
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Post by ZenithianHero on Feb 23, 2020 18:41:17 GMT -5
Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes (Switch, first time, 15 hours)
Where to start? First and foremost I recommend playing this game as blind as possible. The story is such a love letter to Suda51's past work and to video games. The amount of lore dumped into this game is fascinating. Not just what each NMH character was up to, but the details put into this fictional game system Travis interacts with.
From a story experience, it's golden.
The actual gameplay is alright. It is not something I would replay in entirety anytime soon. The levels are too long, I won't spoil the actual gimmicks but I blame the enemies with high health the most. The game can be hard too, enemies can stun lock you and interrupt your special chip abilities if you timed poorly. Boss fights are the best parts, I think the variety of attacks are neat but the arenas are large and the camera rather leave opponents offscreen instead of a dynamic zoom setting to keep your eye on the action. It's rare to die this way but it is something to keep note of.
I completed much of the DLC too. This was Killer Marathon stage (which was a challenging level with a time limit and pinball-like hazards) and Badman Strikes Again (visual novel cutscenes telling his backstory).
Rating: 6/10
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Post by 🧀Son of Suzy Creamcheese🧀 on Feb 25, 2020 12:51:31 GMT -5
Bionic Commando (NES, 1st play, 2h20m)
Fun game. I'm surprised by how much easier it is than the GB Bionic Commando. In fact, if it weren't for the kind of glitchy nature of the swinging (mostly getting stuck in the ceiling or clipping through terrain), it would be one of the easiest NES games I'm aware of. You know what, it probably still is. There's also essentially infinite continues and levels are pretty short, so game overs aren't that harsh.
The game does show its age a bit, not only in the swinging but also the sometimes nonsensical nature (translation?) of the dialogue and the balancing (once you get the bazooka you never have to use another weapon ever again, same with the health potion). But the touches of non-linearity and the variety in the stages are pretty good, and blowing up Hitler in graphic fashion is a great way to end a game (though the actual final 'boss' is very underwhelming and more akin to a Gradius finale). It's a shame there was never a console sequel back in the day. I'd imagine a Super Bionic Commando would've been pretty sweet.
Rating: 8/10
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Post by Snake on Feb 25, 2020 21:29:38 GMT -5
Sonic CD, Sega CD (1st time, approx. 2 hours)
Played the US version, and quite disappointed with the soundtrack. I listened to the soundtrack for years, long before actually sitting down and playing the game. American BGM feels more ambient industrial, over the usual jazzy synth bubbly music of the usual Sonic Team fare. The game itself, I had trouble making sense of the "time travel" of going to "past" or "future." I only managed to get one chaos emerald, and got a "Try Again" after the credits roll. Overall, game and level design is decent and colorful, but I don't think I could ever fall in love with a Sonic game. Cut-scenes by Toei Animation?! A reasonable FMV bonus for a CD game.
Score : 6/10.
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Post by dsparil on Feb 27, 2020 7:33:48 GMT -5
Mega Man Zero (Switch, Replay)
Wanted to take a little break from FFX, so I plowed through this on the Casual mode (which is really the Easy Scenario from the DS collection) as I've finished this "properly" so many times. The fact that the core content only takes about an hour to finish really goes to show how much of the game is padding in terms of looking for Elves and leveling up your weapons as you start out with all the Elves, max weapon levels and every permanent effect applied without it deducting from your ranking score. The optional addition of checkpoints (in standard and casual) is nice though even on the easier mode if only for the bomb disarming mission. A few specific parts of that mission in particular are made so much more difficult due to nearly blind drops from the GBA's squat resolution. I'll probably do the other games in the Zero/ZX collection in standard with checkpoints though. The Casual mode is billed as being for people that just want the story, and there's no challenge at all.
I finished in 01:09:53.
Rating: 9 (in general)
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Post by Digitalnametag on Feb 28, 2020 17:31:18 GMT -5
Mega Man Zero 2 PS4 Replay 4 hours
I wimped out and turned on Save Assist for this one... Lots of spikes and a few tough jumps in some levels. I've S ranked the game on GBA when I was younger but replaying a five minute level because you died on the boss or mistimed a jump has kinda lost it's appeal. Especially after playing Zero 1 yesterday although it has much shorter levels. The game requires memorization and being given the chance to fight and try to learn a boss or stage again immediately saves a lot of time. But it still makes me feel weak. Ah well. Time has dulled my Z-saber. I, uh didn't use any cyber-elves at least. My A rank is dirty. The ranking is the one thing I don't care for in the game as you cannot get the extra skills without a high rank. Luckily ZX and ZXA don't have that problem so I won't use the save assist there. MMZ3 and MMZ4 on the other hand...
Zero 2 is definitely a bit tougher than Zero 1. Longer levels and a couple more varied tasks during the mission. The music, game play, story, and graphics have all received upgrades. A small mercy, the damage you can take and still get a good rank has been increased. Also you can get Sub-tanks without killing a poor defenseless cyber-elf. Bosses however are tougher and vary there patterns a lot more than they did in MMZ1. Some of those A/S rank attacks they do are brutal.
The opening stage in MMZ2 is a particular highlight with awesome music and a neat intro. I played MMZ2 a lot back when it came out but it has probably been 10 years (MMZ DS Collection) since I last have. The games are meant to be played through multiple times while building up your skills to try and get a better rank. Which is neat for a kid with only a few games to play but the me of today doesn't particularly feel like spending 20 hours getting gud again. Still one of my favorite games and a great Mega Man game. For my money this is the best Zero game. Man playing these makes me nostalgic for when Capcom used to put out a bunch of different Mega Man games. Guys Command Mission remastered right!?!?!?!? Joking.
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Post by dsparil on Feb 29, 2020 8:59:29 GMT -5
And the list of all games ordered by submitter: alexmate - Left 4 Dead (Windows, First Time, 7h 42m timer/7h ref, 8.0/10) alexmate - Left 4 Dead: Dead Air (Windows, First Time, 30m ref) alexmate - Left 4 Dead: The Sacrifice (Windows, First Time, 2h ref) alexmate - Limbo (Windows, First Time, 3h 40m timer/3h 30m ref, 8.0/10) alexmate - one night, hot springs (Windows, First Time, 31m timer/28m ref, 7.0/10) alexmate - Painkiller: Black Edition (Windows, First Time, 8h est/10h ref, 7.0/10) Digitalnametag - Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout (PlayStation 4, First Time, 36h est/25h ref) Digitalnametag - Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot (PlayStation 4, First Time, 37h est/30h 30m ref) Digitalnametag - Legend of Zelda, The: A Link to the Past (SNES, Replay, 8h est/15h 30m ref) Digitalnametag - Mega Man X (SNES, Replay, 2h est/3h 30m ref) Digitalnametag - Mega Man Zero (PlayStation 4, Replay, 4h est/3h ref) Digitalnametag - Mega Man Zero 2 (PlayStation 4, Replay, 4h est/3h ref) Digitalnametag - Super Castlevania IV (SNES, First Time, 5h est/4h ref) dsparil - Again: Interactive Crime Novel (DS, First Time, 7h 35m 36s timer/10h 30m ref, 7.0/10) dsparil - Agatha Knife (Switch, First Time, 4h ref, 6.5/10) dsparil - AI: The Somnium Files (Switch, First Time, 21h 6m 36s timer/24h ref, 7.0/10) dsparil - Another Code: R — A Journey into Lost Memories (Wii, First Time, 11h 37m 6s timer/16h 30m ref, 8.0/10) dsparil - Assassin's Creed III Remastered (Switch, First Time, 20h 15m timer/16h ref, 7.0/10) dsparil - Assassin's Creed III: The Tyranny of King Washington (Switch, First Time, 5h 26m 15s timer/5h ref, 7.0/10) dsparil - Assassin's Creed Liberation Remastered (Switch, First Time, 22h 48m 31s timer/8h 30m ref, 7.0/10) dsparil - Caged Garden Cock Robin, The (Switch, First Time, 3h 30m est/5h ref, 7.0/10) dsparil - Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (DS, Replay, 10h 22m 36s timer/11h ref, 9.0/10) dsparil - Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (DS, First Time, 8h 14m 2s timer/10h ref, 9.0/10) dsparil - Demon's Crest (SNES/Switch, Replay, 4h ref, 6.0/10) dsparil - Hotel Dusk: Room 215 (DS, Replay, 15h 30m ref, 9.0/10) dsparil - Last Window: The Secret of Cape West (DS, First Time, 12h 51m timer/14h ref, 9.0/10) dsparil - MechaNika (Switch, First Time, 2h 30m ref, 6.0/10) dsparil - Mega Man Zero (Switch, Replay, 1h 9m 53s timer/3h ref, 9.0/10) dsparil - Monster Tale (DS, First Time, 7h 34m timer/7h ref, 4.0/10) dsparil - Prison Princess (Switch, First Time, 3h 50m timer/3h 30m ref, 7.0/10) dsparil - Rygar (NES, First Time, 2h ref, 7.0/10) dsparil - Sinless (Switch, First Time, 2h ref, 1.0/10) dsparil - Sorry, James (Switch, First Time, 3h 30m est/3h ref, 5.0/10) dsparil - Squidlit (Switch, First Time, 40m timer/34m ref, 7.0/10) dsparil - Star Fox 2 (SNES/Switch, First Time, 43m ref, 8.0/10) dsparil - Tangle Tower (macOS, First Time, 5h 30m ref, 8.0/10) dsparil - Tower of Beatrice, The (Switch, First Time, 1h ref, 8.0/10) dsparil - Trace Memory (DS, Replay, 3h 25m 6s timer/5h ref, 8.0/10) JoeQ - Apotheon (PlayStation 4, First Time, 18h est/8h 30m ref, 8.0/10) JoeQ - Dungeon of Zolthan (Windows, First Time, 1h 5m 14s timer/58m ref, 7.0/10) JoeQ - Flat Kingdom Paper's Cut Edition (Windows, First Time, 8h 20m 55s timer/4h 30m ref, 7.0/10) JoeQ - Half-Life (Windows, Replay, 20h est/12h ref, 9.0/10) JoeQ - Half-Life: Blue Shift (Windows, Replay, 3h est/3h ref, 7.0/10) JoeQ - Half-Life: Opposing Force (Windows, Replay, 6h est/5h ref, 8.0/10) JoeQ - Last Eichhof, The (Windows, First Time, 30m est/22m ref, 6.0/10) JoeQ - Vantage Master Online (Windows, First Time, 26h 21m ref, 8.0/10) Null0x00 - NiGHTS Into Dreams... (Saturn, Replay, 3h 30m est/2h 30m ref, 8.0/10) Null0x00 - Rise of the Triad: Dark War (DOS, First Time, 8h est/8h ref, 8.0/10) Null0x00 - Star Wars: Dark Forces (DOS, First Time, 8h est/9h ref, 8.0/10) paperchema - Darkness, The (Xbox One, First Time, 10h est/9h 30m ref, 7.5/10) paperchema - Titanfall 2 (Xbox One, First Time, 8h est/6h ref, 9.5/10) Snake - 1942 (NES, First Time, 4h est/2h ref, 3.0/10) Snake - Astyanax (NES, First Time, 1h est/1h ref, 6.5/10) Snake - Castlevania (NES, Replay, 40m est/3h ref, 8.0/10) Snake - Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse (NES, Replay, 1h 10m est/4h ref, 9.0/10) Snake - Dragon Ball 3: Goku-den (NES, Replay, 12h est/7h 15m ref, 7.0/10) Snake - Legend of Zelda, The (NES, Replay, 2h 30m est/8h 30m ref, 8.0/10) Snake - Ninja Gaiden (NES, Replay, 20m timer/2h 30m ref) Snake - Salamander (PC-Engine, First Time, 30m est/30m ref, 5.0/10) Snake - Sonic CD (Sega CD, First Time, 2h est/2h ref, 6.0/10) Son of Suzy Creamcheese - Back to Saturn X Episode 2: Fountain in the Tower of Sparks (Windows, First Time, 18h 50m timer/7h ref, 9.0/10) Son of Suzy Creamcheese - Bionic Commando (NES, First Time, 2h 20m timer/2h 30m ref, 8.0/10) Son of Suzy Creamcheese - Pokémon Shield (Switch, Replay, 19h 30m timer/25h ref) toei - GG Aleste (Game Gear, First Time, 37m ref) toei - Kenyuu Densetsu Yaiba (Game Gear, First Time, 30m ref) toei - Moldorian (Game Gear, First Time, 20h 9m ref) toei - Super Buster Bros. (SNES, First Time, 2h ref) toei - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall of the Foot Clan (Game Boy, First Time, 26m ref) toei - Tempo Jr. (Game Gear, First Time, 2h 30m ref) Woody Alien - Cthulhu Saves Christmas (Windows, First Time, 11h est/6h ref, 6.5/10) Woody Alien - DogolraX (Windows, First Time, 2h est/1h 30m ref, 5.5/10) Woody Alien - Pikuniku (Windows, First Time, 4h est/3h ref, 7.0/10) Woody Alien - Super Panda Adventures (Windows, First Time, 9h est/8h 30m ref, 8.5/10) X-pert74 - GRIS (Windows, First Time, 3h 42m timer/3h 30m ref) ZenithianHero - Bulb Boy (Switch, First Time, 2h est/2h ref, 7.0/10) ZenithianHero - Pan-Pan (Switch, First Time, 2h est/2h ref, 8.0/10) ZenithianHero - Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes (Switch, First Time, 15h est/9h 30m ref, 6.0/10) zerker - Ape Out (Switch, First Time, 2h 30m est/2h ref, 8.0/10) zerker - Astroneer (Linux, First Time, 66h est/17h ref, 9.0/10) zerker - Guacamelee! 2 (PlayStation 4, First Time, 8h 32m timer/8h 30m ref, 9.0/10) zerker - Micro Mages (NES, First Time, 1h ref, 7.0/10) zerker - Touryst, The (Switch, First Time, 4h 19m timer/5h 30m ref, 8.0/10)
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Post by dsparil on Mar 2, 2020 11:13:22 GMT -5
Oceanhorn 2 (macOS, First Time)
After hating the first game so much, I'm not sure why I inflicted this upon myself. Probably only because it's totally exclusive to Apple Arcade—it actually says "Produced by Apple" in the credits—so I didn't technically pay for it outright. I'm having a hard time deciding whether this is better or somehow worse than the first game! On the plus side, the production values are much higher. There's plenty of voice acting mainly done by seasoned professionals and the graphics are decent enough though bland and generic. That's about it for outright improvements though.
The gameplay has shifted from being top down to being a 3D Zelda clone with SS/BotW's stamina bar. That right off the bat is an issue as it drains very quickly when running making that useless. Rolling also drains it, and you can only get in a few rolls. Blocking drains it too as does your "charge up" combo which empties it completely. That last part is actually less of an issue than you'd think since you never need to use it! The enemy AI is basically nonexistent (sometimes literally due to bugs) so you can just keep your shield up (which doubles as the target button) and just mash attack. Swimming is the biggest problem though as you can barely swim before drowning and falling into water with no or recharging stamina will instantly kill you. There's no free climbing which is why BotW had a bar in the first place!
The general design is more dull and drawn out than outright terrible like the first game. Everything is just so barren with few enemies and only the simplest of puzzles. There's only 3 dungeons and none of them are any good. The first two have very small core parts and the final dungeon is just a largely linear area of little excitement. There's also some small cave areas but those have so little in them that they're not worth mentioning. The intro dungeon is kinda half way between those caves and a dungeon as there is a boss at the end, but not much else. The overworld is equally boring too. There's technically a collect-a-thon tied to it, but it's so bland and overly large for how barren it is that I couldn't bring myself to even poke around.
The items aren't interesting at all either. You have bombs which are infinite but take forever to recharge, a grappling hook which does get some use but largely in places that could have just had a ladder instead, and a diving helmet which alleviates swimming issues but you get it once you're almost done with all the swimming. You can hypothetically collect some submerged chests with it, but the ones I tried only had money which is literally useless.
Instead of spells, you have a "caster gun" which can fire normal bullets and 3 elemental ones. The elemental shots can be used in combat, but take way too much time to reload. They're mainly used for puzzles but they get barely any usage that way and it feels super tacked on. A bigger problem is that drops for them don't even give you a full shot so you sometimes need to collect four or five.
You also have one or two companions for most of the game, but they are underutilized and add nothing to the game. They barely do any damage in combat, but are invincible so you don't have to babysit them at least. You can give them very basic commands, but that only gets real use in two or three places where you have to tell them to stand on a button. They mainly just yell out really obvious things.
The bosses are hands down the worst part just like in the first game. There's more of them, but none of them are any good at all and might be even worse overall. Some of them are just high HP enemies and are beyond easy and boring even if the AI didn't regularly glitch out leaving them just standing or just walking around like you weren’t there. There’s also a unique mini-boss that has what must be the intended strategy for it fall apart due to an AI oversight.
There’s four other Zelda style bosses and three of them are easy and very dull. The final boss in particular is egregiously easy. It’s not quite on the level of Vectorman 2’s (run left and right while firing at a diagonal), but it's close. In a slight change, the AI of the final boss also easily breaks but in a way that requires it to be restarted instead unless it happens right at the end. The boss of the first main dungeon is a complete design disaster though, and I struggle to see how it got out of play testing without being reworked. Ironically, it would be the only good boss in the game if it were made less annoying.
Obviously dullness and broken AI is a common theme here. The main source of all these problems is 100% due to the smallness of the team. Just one person handled the story, game design and general production while also being the lead artist and level designer. That’s just way too much for one person to do without everything suffering. The team overall might actually be smaller than the first game! I haven’t mentioned the story because it basically disappears in the middle. There’s the bones of a decent game here but nothing else.Â
I finished in 9:45:02.
Rating: 4
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