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Post by ZenithianHero on Apr 13, 2021 16:02:34 GMT -5
Penguin Wars (PS4, First Time, 6 hours) Remake of the UPL arcade game. The gameplay is a a cross of dodgeball and billiards or pinball design. Players must avoid getting hit by balls and also prevent every ball on the field from resting on your side or you'll get a penalty. The field may contain gimmicks such as direction-forcing arrows or bumpers and also have access to spikeballs and bombs. These provide a much needed twist to what is still a repetitive game for story mode. Furthermore there is a stat system to level up your team. I don't recommend rushing to the boss stage as your characters need some serious bulk to survive. I don't like the story cutscenes too much. The actual scenes are alright but the graphical style they used is bad. The sprites are so zoomed in the screen became a mess of pixels.
6/10
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Post by spanky on Apr 14, 2021 13:16:01 GMT -5
Mega Man V (PS4 via Legacy Collection, Replay)
This is a big step up from IV. Most notably the difficulty has been toned down quite a bit (though it jumps back up once you hit the fortress stages) and most enemies take a lot less hits which makes your Mega Buster feel a lot more powerful. The more powerful buster makes the robot weapons feel pretty weak with a couple really useless ones, but that's all Mega Man games I suppose. Beat is borderline OP as he rips through normal enemies, does heavy damage to all versions of Dark Man and makes the Wily Capsule a cinch.
The level design is also better with some neat gimmicks like Gravity Man's stage and the bosses are actually pretty fun to fight this time around, even with just the Mega Buster. It still looks great and the music has some of my favorite tracks (once again, Gravity Man, and the Proto Man stages).
Once again the big thing holding the game back for me is the two fortresses but I do like the Proto Man one. Minor complaint but I wish the fight against the impostor Proto Man was against well...Proto Man instead of another Dark Man fight. Moving onto VI next which is actually one of my personal favorites.
Current rankings:
II III V I IV
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Post by Apollo Chungus on Apr 14, 2021 17:22:33 GMT -5
Destrega (PS1; First Time; 3 hours 45 minutes)
A bit of a story with this one before I discuss it any further. I started doing this challenge back in January as an attempt to play at least some of the many games I'd either bought or downloaded over the years, with the condition that I only allow myself to get another game for every 5 I beat or every 15 I deleted (can't really go to the shops and trade in games at the moment, with circumstances still being as they are). Games I was planning to review for the website were exempt from counting since I'd have to get and play them regardless.
However, that was three months ago and a fair bit has changed - I've beaten around 30 games I owned, and deleted well over 130. That's quite a shift, and I'm not able to commit to certain games I do own due to either their (relatively) long length or the lack of a save anywhere function. Plus, I've been putting off playing games that I'm meant to review, and that's something I'd like to change. So I'm changing my personal rules a little in that I'm getting games whenever they take my interest, and I'm now going to be counting games I'm planning on covering.
Destrega is one of those games, though I won't be discussing it in much detail since I wanna save that for the review. It's a 3D fighter designed by Omega Force, the team known for the Dynasty Warriors games, and focused on characters firing different kinds of energy attacks with combinations of Square, Triangle and Circle. I played through the Arcade mode as all twelve characters. I know the minimal number is eight, but I figured I might as well play as everyone since I needed to take screenshots for as many character combinations and locations - allows for loads of screenshots that I can then whittle down to an interesting selection later on. There is a story mode, but this helps me get a more intimate understanding of each character's playstyle and techniques that I can use to write a better review.
Nothing much else I wanna say for now.
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Post by dsparil on Apr 16, 2021 9:49:40 GMT -5
The Persistence (Switch, First Time)
I was a little interested in this as it's sort of a rogue-like take on System Shock 2, but it's actually pretty boring since it's all dull grinding with barely any story. It's hard to tell what it even is apart from you're on a ship that's spitting out zombie clones of the crew since what dialogue does exist between the main character and an engineer you never see is sometimes delivered at the wrong point or seemingly not at all. For one part I had I to reload because an event didn't correctly trigger, and I did get some extra dialogue the second time. Aside from that, you have four randomized decks each with an explicit objective in them. This was originally a PSVR game and maybe the missing 3D spectacle actually adds something, but it's just a bland and boring game otherwise.
Rating: 4
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Post by alexmate on Apr 17, 2021 7:19:33 GMT -5
Wheels Of Aurelia (PC - Windows via Epic Games, 1st time, timer: 1hr 5 mins) I got two endings I hope that's OK. I'm not going for the full 15.
Good Points (Wheels of Aurelia): * Gorgeous artwork which is really stylised. * Impressive soundtrack which I may pick up individually at some point. * A style of game people enjoy, but not everyone will. A bit specialist.
Bad points (Wheels of the bus): * Possibly a bit short. * It's story based, but there's arguably not much gameplay. * Arguably expensive for what it is. I would be disappointed had I paid £7, but it was free on Epic last year. * Storyline is only ok, it deals with real subjects, but it's not as engaging as say Emily Is Away or Monster Prom, but this is subjective.
Rating: 7
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Post by dsparil on Apr 17, 2021 7:44:58 GMT -5
I'm not saying you have to do all 16 endings, but it's less about the story than painting a picture of late '70s Italy. You don't really get that from just a few endings. It's also more of a coffee break game than something to sit down and vigorously work through. Ironically, the mobile version is both the cheapest and fullest featured version.
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Post by spanky on Apr 18, 2021 8:27:36 GMT -5
Mega Man VI (PS4 via Legacy Collection)
The reputation for VI is mixed...but it is one of my favorite installments in the series. It relies on it's gimmicks heavily, perhaps too heavily but...they're fun gimmicks? I really enjoyed being able to power through, or fly over most of the encounters in the game. Punching right through enemy shields is so satisfying! It does make the game one of the easier ones. The Power suit works well on almost all the bosses and the suits allow you to pick up lots of extra energy tanks and lives. I had both maxed out by the end of the game. The negatives of course are the suits pretty much negates all the special weapons.
The game looks great (that sunset in Tomahawk Man's stage!) - I love late era titles for all systems where the developers have mastered the hardware so they all look and sound amazing and this is no exception. Music is pretty good and I did like the international theme of the boss designs.
Also not sure if it's in my head or what but this is the first game in the collection where I noticed some missed inputs and lag.
I played through VII last year so I think I am going to skip it, it's not one of my favorites though. So, on to VIII.
Current standings:
II III VI V I IV
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Post by alexmate on Apr 19, 2021 4:55:45 GMT -5
I'm not saying you have to do all 16 endings, but it's less about the story than painting a picture of late '70s Italy. You don't really get that from just a few endings. It's also more of a coffee break game than something to sit down and vigorously work through. Ironically, the mobile version is both the cheapest and fullest featured version. I think I got enough a feel for the game, but I might go back to get more endings.
Pachinko Sexy Reaction (Arcade, 1st time, Timer: 1hr 22) Honestly not that difficult once you figure out the mechanics, but it can be quite stingy.
Good Points (Balls of steel): * Fairly nice animation and character design. This game is from 1998, had it been made a few years before it would be stunning. * Professional voice acting from Japanese actresses who have gone onto better things (e.g. Catherine, Pokemon games, Yu Gi Oh) * Unique table design for each character * Arguably a forerunner to better games like HuniePop.
Bad Points (little balls): * As repetitive as you would expect. * A bit boring to play. * Game can really mess you up and make you lose if it wants to, a bit like real slot machines.
Rating: 6
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Post by Snake on Apr 19, 2021 10:26:23 GMT -5
Mega Man Maverick Hunter X, PSP (1st time, approx. 2 hours)
This remake of the original Mega Man X isn't half bad. I still prefer the original 2-D, but making the whole game 3-D modeled makes for some interesting scrolling perspectives and other visual effects. The game movement and feel is different, and it through me off for doing some things (like dash wall jumping). The attack patterns and vulnerability for some bosses get changed up. And Sigma's base gets an overhaul in design. The armor power-ups are mostly rearranged, so I did spend some time trying to find dash boots and the helmet! Hadoken executes a lot faster, leaving X less open to attack. The added cut scenes gives me more back story to the whole world around Mega Man X. Vile also makes for an interesting variation in gameplay. I think they could have added a Zero scenario too.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2021 4:42:46 GMT -5
Getting a bit behind in filling this in so I'll post a couple quickly while it's on my mind:
Journey to the Savage Planet (PS4, First Time, 9 Hours) This is a game that appeals to me a great deal by borrowing of gameplay systems from the Metroid Prime series. Like in those games you must explore an alien environment through platforming, battling and finding upgrades. The gameplay works well and the planet is enjoyable to explore so it does have a degree of success in emulating what that series does so well. There are a few things that I see as drawbacks in Journey, however. For one, the upgrades have an unnecessary crafting system. I say unnecessary because the crafting system doesn't really allow you to upgrade out of order and you still must locate the correct tools in order to progress, so it just seems like crafting was put in because it's become conventional to include it. Another example of something included due to popularity elsewhere is Soulslike dropping loot and having to relocate it which doesn't really fit well either. There is also the 'sense of humour' which really grated on me as I found it obnoxious but each to their own of course. None of this held me back from having a really nice time with the game outright, and I was still playing after beating the boss with the intention of gaining 100%. I ended up not reaching that goal, however, since I found a few late and post game challenges to have some sloppy or tedious design. Perhaps there was some rushing there? The core gameplay though is nicely polished and the shooting isn't too demanding, which is great since I have a low skill level in that area.
Score - 7/10
Nintendo Land (Wii U, First Time, 17 Hours) I decided to go back and play Nintendo Land from a single player perspective, having only really used it for multiplayer back in the day. As it's a mini game collection my reception to the experience was varied between games so I will say a short sentence or two around each one:
Balloon Trip Breeze - I have a soft spot for Balloon Fight and so had a really nice time with Balloon Trip Breeze. Using the stylus to control movement feels really natural and there's a nice level of challenge.
Donkey Kong's Crash Course - Using the tilt control of the gamepad to manoeuvre your minecart through an obstacle course without crashing feels great. The visuals and score attack elements feel reminiscent of the arcade game. The challenge is highly addictive and I would say this is the star attraction in the package.
The Legend of Zelda Battle Quest - You can either play as the bowman or swordsman in an on rails style game. I chose the former since I found the swordsman gameplay didn't respond too well. Generally the game is balanced more for multiplayer and so was a little over tough I think. Also you are made to use the gamepad even in single player without reason which is frustrating. Didn't enjoy this minigame.
Metroid Blast - Again you can choose between two gameplay styles - this time on foot and Samus's gunship. I found the gunship more enjoyable. Generally I had a nice time with this game, and especially enjoyed the boss fights with series antagonists. There's a reasonable amount of puzzle to the challenge and they feel like they could take place within a Metroid game.
Pikmin Adventure - This one's really just a button masher, beat em up style game, except your attacks are pretty slow so it feels a little flat. There are some really nice enemy designs though and you can see some hints toward what would be included in Pikmin 3.
Takamaru's Ninja Castle - You use the gamepad to flick throwing stars into the screen in a very old school feeling rail shooter. It reminded me of Hogan's Alley. This is a decent addition but there isn't much content and I wasn't particularly asking for more either.
Captain Falcon's Twister Race - I struggled a bit with twister race as it used tilt controls to manoeuvre your vehicle, but it didn't feel as natural in this game since you hold the gamepad straight up. There is some fun to be had in mastering the courses.
Yoshi's Fruit Cart - You draw a path for Yoshi's cart on the touch screen to collect the fruit, which can only be seen on the TV screen which gives a view of the same area otherwise. I remember enjoying this back on release but trying to beat it now I just found it frustrating. The game could do with being more forgiving in my opinion.
Octopus Dance - I really enjoy rhythm games and so had a good time with Octopus Dance. You have to imitate the movements of a computer Mii to the rhythm, though I found in the last round the movements were too fast to keep track of.
Generally this is a nice package. The games are usually well themed and include nice soundtracks and vibrant visuals. The main drawback is that you are too often required to look at the gamepad, even when it simply wasn't necessary. I really would have enjoyed the game more if I was looking at the TV screen more often.
Score - 7/10
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Post by JoeQ on Apr 20, 2021 7:49:41 GMT -5
DIVI-DEAD (Windows) - First playthrough, Time: no idea, too much Played for the HG101 Discord server monthly GamesClub. A horror/mystery eroge that got an official English release back in the nineties. It has an interesting premise and plot, but it's severely hampered by the poor and often wildly inaccurate translation that only serves to make the already confusing plot even more incomprehensible. The "gameplay" is also mostly just tedious busywork, having to click through each location in succession until the game is satisfied and gives you the next event. I completed all three scenarios (with a guide, no way in hell are finding all the flags without one) and got CG Hit Display 100.0% (all event scenes unlocked in gallery). Rating: 2/5Alphabet Challenge: ---D--------M-OP-RST--W--- Number Challenge: 0-23------
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Post by Apollo Chungus on Apr 20, 2021 8:30:52 GMT -5
I've been quite busy finishing off the last few lectures and assignments for my college course, and the only games I've been playing at the moment are rather quite long. Yesterday was a bit stressful, so I took to playing random browser Flash games that I could find. How To Raise A Dragon (Browser; First Time; 7 minutes)
This is a short game by Gregory Avery-Weir in which you play as a dragon throughout their entire life from birth to finding a home over a thousand years later, played out as a series of vingettes where you can make certain choices as to what kind of dragon they'll be - what color they are, the element they use, and what their relationship towards humans will be. There's plenty of options on offer, allowing a good incentive to keep replaying it to see what else you can find.
Although it's a browser game, it doesn't seem to run on Armor Games or Kongregate without a Flash emulator plugin. I only managed to play it in this manner because the Flash player on e621 somehow still works on Internet Explorer. If it grabs your interest, you can download the game from the itch.io page of the Future Proof Games studio co-founded by Avery-Weir: futureproofgames.itch.io/how-to-raise-a-dragon Vulcan Skunk Dating Sim (Browser; First Time; 8 minutes)
This is a short visual novel by rubberskunktoo, an artist who mainly does lewd comics and artwork. The game is based on their *Vulcan the Lonely Skunk and Friends* characters and comic series, in which the romantically deranged skunk Vulcan takes you out on a birthday date. Your goal, such as it is, is to try and last as long as possible before Vulcan can't take it anymore and starts making out with you. You do this by picking from a series of dialogue options, but the joke is that no matter what you say, whether you shower him with praise or insult him at every turn, he'll still fall even more in love with you. I played through this three times (which I'm counting altogether since the actual runtime per attempt is two or three minutes), and I couldn't figure out if there's a way past the loveboat scene - if there even is anything else to see. Reading the comments didn't suggest anything either.
It's an odd game, but I rather like it overall. The artstyle's quite nice in that loose cartoony way that suits how crazy in love Vulcan is, and the way the dialogue is written made me chuckle a few times. It's solid for what it is, and if you kinda like the idea, give it a go: www.furaffinity.net/view/9960202/ (THE GAME ITSELF IS SFW, BUT THE ARTIST'S PAGE CAN'T BE SEEN UNLESS YOU MAKE AN ACCOUNT AND SET IT TO VIEW NSFW CONTENT. FURAFFINITY'S PRETTY ALRIGHT, BUT I DON'T BLAME YOU IF YOU CHOOSE TO NOT BOTHER WITH IT.)
Doodle God (Browser; First Time; 1 hour 2 minutes)
I often describe myself as a hermit when it comes to ubiquitous pop culture, and while that's sometimes exaggerated for my own amusement, it's times like this where I'm reminded of how much that really is the case. I'd never heard of Doodle God until I stumbled across it last night, despite it being seemingly quite popular and getting ported to a bunch of systems. It's a neat puzzle game by Badim where your goal is to form the basic elements of the universe: you start with earth, wind, water and fire, and combine two of them to create new elements, and you then combine those new elements with each other or the old elements to make even more, and proceed to keep doing that until you've created all the possible elements.
The presentation is fairly tongue-in-cheek, with some elements being inherently goofy (creating vampires and wizards) and other elements coming from strange or amusing combinations (combining "human" with "human" creates the element of "sex"). It encourages mixing all kinds of elements to see what you end up with, though this does get a bit overwhelming when you've got so many possibilities to work with. You do have a hint system, but it has a cooldown that increases the more you use it - the longest I had to wait for a hint was four minutes. I get how it's meant to stop you relying on the system, but the silly long cooldown eventually had me reading a walkthrough after a while.
Still, it's a neat enough game for what it is. The mobile and ported versions have way more combinations to work from, as they're meant to be played in brief spurts when you're on the go, but the original version with 115 possible elements can be found (although you'll need to have a browser plug-in to emulate Flash games, much like How To Raise A Dragon): www.kongregate.com/games/badim/doodle-god
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Post by spanky on Apr 21, 2021 6:44:54 GMT -5
Beat Spartan X 2 (Famicom via AVS/Everdrive combo, first time)
Just one of many games I have sitting on my Everdrive. I love the original Kung Fu for the NES and I remember seeing a preview for the sequel in an old Nintendo Power, but it never came out here. Well, I finally tried it, and it's a much more fleshed out game than the original but it's not enough. The game is very easy, and even shorter. This might be fine if it was a score attack type game that went on forever but it is 5 or 6 levels long, has cutscenes between levels, a proper ending and can be beaten in about 15 minutes, which is pretty absurd for a game that came out in 1991. Still, the core gameplay, as simple as it is, has an addicting rhythm to it. Definitely a game would have made a disappointing purchase at full price way back when but is a fun distraction nowadays.
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Post by dsparil on Apr 21, 2021 8:26:54 GMT -5
Escape Velocity Nova (macOS, First Time)
I’ve played EVN in the past, but this is technically my first time finishing even a single of the six separate plot lines. The original game and the sequel Override are both well regarded Classic Mac OS games although this one was also released for Windows along with downloadable conversions of the first two games.
As the title suggests, this is a top down space exploration game that’s sort of in the spirit of more free form space games like Elite. There is much more emphasis on the story than other games of this type with the aforementioned six plot lines. They’re all mutually exclusive and have to be done on separate playthroughs. Each of the three major governments are presented along with three “background” groups; there’s also sub-plots that sometimes lead into the major plot lines. Each mission has a fair bit of text that goes along with it which coupled with the general deemphasis on combat during the story gives the game an almost visual novel feel. Many of the plots also have some kind of branching that let you jump into a different one.
The big issue with the general structure is that too many of the missions rely on pure randomness to trigger. It also seems like there must be some kind of problem the RNG as the chances are generally 50% but seem to trigger a tenth as frequently as they should. I remember reading that the scripting system ended up being overly complicated even for the developers so I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a never fixed buy. I also remember that it was possible for one of the storylines to lock you out of getting the ships unique to it due to a weird scripting bug for the first few versions. Because of the low probabilities in practice, you end up doing a lot of really boring randomized ferry missions which deadens the pace.
While you could potentially pass some of that time trading instead, it isn’t a particularly strong element. Each planet or station trades in up to six basic commodities. Prices are divided in low/medium/high prices, but the percent differences are the same for each commodity and prices aren’t dynamic. A few locations have special goods only sellable one or two locations, but the profit isn’t worth it. Medical supplies in Sol for luxury goods on New Ireland a few jumps away is one of the fastest, most profitable and safest routes. Unless you want to “role-play” a trader with some super expensive and high capacity freighter for some reason, there isn’t much reason to ever touch trading except to earn enough to buy a decent fighter at the beginning of the game before tackling one of the main plots.
Combat fairs better at least. There’s a fair variety of ship, ship classes and weapons although a I’ve always felt that a high end fighter fairs the best. Movement is semi-Newtonian with your facing separate from your heading excluding a handful of special ships. You still have a top speed so it isn’t actually realistic, but you do need to put a little more thought into your movements than usual.
On one hand, EVN is kinda fun and relatively nice looking for what is essentially a shareware game albeit one from 2002. Each planet and station even has a description which is emblematic of the attention paid to the story elements and world. On the other, it is a little dull since so much of the game is waiting for what are essentially delivery missions to randomly get assigned. In some ways, modding the game is most of the point and there’s a few large scale total conversions that have been finished since I last played this way back when. However, with the quiet shutdown of publisher Ambrosia Software a few years ago, the actual searchable database of plugins went away leaving a dump on Archive.org as the main source for them. Needless to say, that makes finding worthwhile minor mods harder than it used to be.
Rating: 7
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Post by ZenithianHero on Apr 21, 2021 9:39:05 GMT -5
Little Nightmares 2 (PS4, First Time, 5 hours)
Wow, what a great sequel. I loved the first game one of my favorite PS4 games. Much of what I love is still intact. If you haven't played the original, you are this tiny child trying to escape from these weird and frightening people you come across. The first game was set entirely in this underwater resort called the Maw the sequel is set in a huge city. The new character teams up with Six who starred the previous game. Much of the gameplay is the same. Sneak and escape rooms by climbing furniture and solving puzzles. The large threats will kill you if you are spotted. The sequel has more action to it, I had to use an axe or hammer to defeat smaller enemies. There's timing to it yes but it kinda highlights how clumsy the controls are for this series. Never quite improved from the first game. This factors into having to practice your timing or distance as well. This game ramps up the horror the way events unfold in the school and hospital chapters in particular so suspenseful and eerie. The variety in scares and situations is what impresses me the most. The story relies more on having cosmic horror, while the original game felt more twisted fairy tale. It is a manner of preference, I think the first game's story is better overall especially the finale and last boss but the sequel has a way of keeping you hooked and theorizing what just happened.
Overall a great sequel. It doesn't fix the controls and trial and error of the first game but the scenarios and game design makes up for that. Do not think we will get DLC, Tarsier thinks it is unlikely as they are bought by Embracer and they are working on a new project. Namco owns the IP and can greenlight other titles. There is a TV show in the works at least. If that is still a thing.
8/10
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