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Post by 🧀Son of Suzy Creamcheese🧀 on Aug 8, 2021 16:30:10 GMT -5
Sunlust (Win10, 64h35m, 1st play)
I probably have more thoughts about this than any game I'm going to beat this year, and nobody will care because it's another DOOM II mod!!! Whatever, I'm still going to write several paragraphs on it!!
This is known as an extremely difficult wad, and has some infamous moments in the endgame. I played through the entire thing on Hurt Me Plenty without saves, and I can say that it's easily the hardest game I've ever completed in my life. I did use saves to practice parts of stages, but it's not realistic to play it without practice (this itself could take up a lot of time, and there were times where I could barely finish a stage with savescumming!). I also chose to play this one with pistol start (meaning you don't carry over any of your ammo, weapons or health into the next stage). That added a lot of strategy to the maps, and is definitely how I'm going to be playing DOOM mods from now on. By stage 10 it was already quickly becoming the hardest DOOM mod I'd played and starting with stage 20 I started to doubt if I could ever beat this. After the second-to-last map (which is called Go Fuck Yourself by the way) I couldn't possibly imagine they would be able to top that.
But the final stage is truly insane. I've spent about 20 hours on that one. First practicing seperate segments, and then going through it with saves a couple times before finally managing to do with without saves. It takes 50 minutes to play through and takes perfect playing throughout, as health items and ammo are just scarce enough that messing up screws you over, and also requires a bit of RNG. Yes, there's a decent amount of infighting you have to rely on, and that's a bit luck-based. There's a part where you have to fight a couple hundred enemies and there's some Archviles in there that will fuck you up if they don't get distracted by other enemies. Of course it's towards the end of the stage so if you die you just wasted 40 minutes. For the past two weeks or so I would do one or two attempt each day and I'm honesty going to miss the grind.
There's quite a lot of slaughter-y fights that rely on infighting here, and you won't get very far in the game if you don't come up with a strategy for maps and individual fights. Learning the maps was a super satisfying process, and there weren't really any major stinkers either. The maps are a more focused that your typical DOOM game/mod, but there's still enough non-linearity and surprises, it's not just a series of arenas. There isn't a lot of dead time where you're just killing some random enemies on your way to something more interesting, and there aren't any stupid mazes or switch-hunting. Oh, and of course the maps looked amazing.
This was simply one of the best gaming experiences ever, and the two guys who made this are geniuses. The creativity on display here is just endless, both in the fights and the environments. There were definitely a few times where I was pissed off by how difficult certain parts were, but the maps were always fun and satisfying to beat, and I'm sad I'm finished with it.
Rating: 10/10
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Post by JoeQ on Aug 9, 2021 1:03:32 GMT -5
Ground Control (Windows) - Replay, Time: 45h 31 min (GOG timer, combined time for both) Ground Control: Dark Conspiracy (Windows) - First playthrough (maybe?) Revisited this early 2000s real time tactics game and despite showing it's age and having numerous small annoyances and frustrations (no commands while paused or mid-mission saving, friendly fire that adds nothing) it held up well and was a joy to play through again. I beat both the Crayven Corporation and Order of New Dawn campaigns on Normal difficulty. I also beat the expansion Dark Conspiracy, which continues the story (and sets up another cliffhanger that was never followed up on...). I'm... not actually sure if I ever beat this one back in the day. I definitely had it, but have no memories of the later missions and plot twists whereas I still remembered most of the main game. The difficulty curve is much more uneven and wonky, so younger me could definitely have rage quit at one of the more frustrating early missions. Rating: 4/5 (for both) Alphabet Challenge: A--D--G----LM-OP--ST--W--- Number Challenge: 0-23------
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Post by alexmate on Aug 9, 2021 14:04:34 GMT -5
Always Sometimes Monsters(PC-Windows, 1st time, Timer: 11.4 hrs) I think I restarted this at some point. I managed to get all achievements.
Rating: 7
Alphabet Challenge: ABCDEFGHI--LMN-P--ST--W--Z
I Love You, Colonel Sanders! A Finger Lickin’ Good Dating Simulator (PC-Windows, 1st time, Timer: 1 hr 5 mins)
Fairly fun visual novel, with some great artwork.
Rating: 6
Drinks With Abbey (PC-Windows, 1st time, Timer: 44 mins - All achievements)
Rating: 6
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Post by dsparil on Aug 10, 2021 9:50:31 GMT -5
Final Fantasy III (NES, First Time)
FFIII is a bit of a mess in my opinion. FFII did go too far in shaking things up, but it had a well developed story. This feels like a proper follow up to the first game with a more advanced class system but with a poorer and more generic story than II's. The job system is also pretty unbalanced too, and I went most of the game with one Warrior, one Monk and two Red Mages. It isn't clear what job level even does most of the time, but Warriors and Monks get attack bonuses that are difficult to overcome with new equipment while Red Mages get some exclusive weapons that greatly extend their usefulness.
The first half to two thirds is actually pretty easy minus a few points where you're forced to use certain jobs for various reasons. The worst of those is a boss battle where you have to use a Scholar for its weakness identifying ability but you also don't get any equipment a Scholar can actually use so they're mainly deadweight. It's especially mean that the game withholds Libra from you until right after this! The final dungeon is also way too hard. It's four parts with one technically being optional but in practice required due to having the final two jobs. The final two parts have to be done in one go as you can't leave the final part, and some of the bosses are just brutal. Classes also modify stat growth instead of only modifying the underlying stats so unless you abuse this, you're probably going to have to grind a ton for levels and money to buy the powerful but extremely expensive and one time use shuriken weapon. I probably screwed myself somewhat by not switching jobs sooner, but there's so little info on this version.
Because I played it emulated at basically 4x speed the whole way through, I didn't spend a huge amount of time, but it also doesn't feel very well spent. The DS version has some right ideas about making every job more viable the whole game, but it's also so extremely tedious right from the start. I had actually started out with that one, but it wore me down fairly quickly.Â
I finished in 12:23:43.
Rating: 6
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Post by Apollo Chungus on Aug 10, 2021 13:24:59 GMT -5
dsparil Is it okay to list games that you've played sped up? I figured that wouldn't really be a thing, what with the whole "play the games as originally intended" rule. I get that there's a difference between using save states as cheats and speeding up the game so you're not spending so much time on a dull game, so maybe I'm just being pedantic.
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Post by personman on Aug 10, 2021 19:21:44 GMT -5
Ace Combat Assault Horizon Legacy + (3DS) 81 hours, first time
When AC7 impressed me so much I did what I usually do and start researching the series, reminiscing about things I played already and finding out more on what I missed. By the looks of things not too much, since AC Infinity was a massive microtransaction nightmare, some mobile and iOS games that look dreadful, Assault Horizon proper was a spit in the face, and maybe one of the PSP games (X to be precise) looked somewhat interesting. But then there was the sole 3DS game I never heard about before. I looked into out of morbid curiosity and learned that despite the title the thing is actually a remake of the 2nd game back on the Playstation. Fancy that.
I only played through that game in my last year of highschool exactly one time so I thought hell, lets give it a shot. I've been dead set on filling out my 3DS library and it sounded like this could be at least an ok addition. Well, I'm very surprised by how much I got into this, its really impressive for what it is. Maybe its just because I'm getting reacquainted with handhelds lately but I'm just surprised by how much of a full blown AC game this feels like. You've got a big roster of planes who for the most part feel pretty varied, the secret conditions to spawn enemy aces is accounted for, the missions are perfectly intact and even spruced up a bit. All the usual dialogue that tries so hard to sound authentic even though its clueless is there and sounds charming as usual. Its good stuff. I'd even say the customization feels better than it did in 7 which parts I experimented with making much more noticeable difference. Though in all fairness I unlocked very few part in AC7 since getting aces to spawn in that game is really tough. One thing I was worried about though is the inclusion of that chase cam thing that Assault Horizon added, there's these get out of jail free moves you can do to easily avoid missiles too which just tends to kill you as much as it saves you really. Honestly in context for a handheld game I'm more forgiving of the concept, you want to make things quick and snappy for short bursts of playtime so its not a bad fit. However, you can just ignore them if you want to do things the right way and better yet, just turn them off. Very wise move. And of course you can switch between simple controls or classic to allow for pitch and yaw, thank goodness.
There are gripes though of course. Even on the new 3DS hardware the game does get taxed pretty bad on some missions making the thing slow to a crawl. Its not so often that its annoying but I'm sure it'd bother someone. Also the difficulty curve does go a little nuts towards the end. You have the inclusion of new squadrons that you have to go up against who serve as boss fights with their own gimmicks. This is great, but eventually they get so tough to the point of near impossibility if you don't have a higher tier plane. In all fairness I didn't realize you could sell your planes in order to trade up and get a better bird but even still it seemed like there was no way you could afford a plane good enough for the job without going over to free mission mode and grinding a bit. The AI can get a little messed up too. I remember having one of the aces dead to rights and for whatever reason he was scripted to be invulnerable so he seriously just span in place like one of those fidget spinner things to get away unharmed. Though at the same time I can't count how many times I was easily able to herd someone into flying straight into the ground, its like it just depends on the games mood. Take your wingman for instance, sometimes they do the typical thing of just kinda flying around doing nothing and other times they will just kill everything for you on the opposite side of the map. Its weird. There is Amiibo support that grants you some tacky paint jobs and specially customized planes if you have the plus version which ends up locking some stuff behind them that I'll never get. God I hate Amiibos, it was just taking DLC and making it even worse.
But all in all I really loved this. I guess it goes to show that a PS1 game I barely remember was actually really damn good. Now whether this is a replacement for it I honestly don't know and I'm probably going to track down a copy of the original because I'm completely psychotic and want to compare. Regardless though this is a great game and I think I'd recommend it to people who are still hanging onto their 3DS and like these sort of games. It hits the right mark of having missions that are just meaty enough but not taking too long to make it feel unwieldly for a handheld game, the controls are actually really good. Its bothersome features can be shut off, there's a ton of replayability to be had for unlocking weapons and custom colors (you can even customize the colors on some of the schemes, how cool is that?) and I'd even say for a 3DS game it look damn good. Again maybe its just me since playing ancient Gameboy games for a month straight has made me loose perspective and I'm shocked by how much is here when its really not that much.
Rating: 8 - Hell with it. I really loved this. It's currently my favorite 3DS game.
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Post by dsparil on Aug 11, 2021 5:44:51 GMT -5
dsparil Is it okay to list games that you've played sped up? I figured that wouldn't really be a thing, what with the whole "play the games as originally intended" rule. I get that there's a difference between using save states as cheats and speeding up the game so you're not spending so much time on a dull game, so maybe I'm just being pedantic. Is there anything you've held back on listing? I think speeding up isn't as intrinsically cheat like in the way non-suspending save states are. There's probably situations where it is more like a cheat, but speeding up battles is a common enough feature in newer games and rereleases that it doesn't rise to that level.
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Post by Apollo Chungus on Aug 11, 2021 6:06:07 GMT -5
dsparil Is it okay to list games that you've played sped up? I figured that wouldn't really be a thing, what with the whole "play the games as originally intended" rule. I get that there's a difference between using save states as cheats and speeding up the game so you're not spending so much time on a dull game, so maybe I'm just being pedantic. Is there anything you've held back on listing? I think speeding up isn't as intrinsically cheat like in the way non-suspending save states are. There's probably situations where it is more like a cheat, but speeding up battles is a common enough feature in newer games and rereleases that it doesn't rise to that level. That's a fair point. When speed up options tend to make the game super fast, you'd need to time your prompts to the absolute nanosecond to not keep walking into walls or falling into pits. I figured it was fine for games that included the option by default (such as Enchanted Arms), but I wasn't sure how it should apply to emulators and the like.
To answer your question, I haven't held back on listing anything. I just didn't bother playing very slow and very long games since I figured I should play them as they originally were, and I'd prefer to play shorter games. I'm not sure how much this'll change that habit, though I guess it at least leaves more RPGs open for me to faff around with. Thanks for answering my question!
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Post by dsparil on Aug 11, 2021 7:58:07 GMT -5
Picross NP Vol. 8 (SNES, FIrst Time)
Nothing new in this volume either, but the illustrated section is very coincidentally Olympics themed! Obviously for the Sydney Olympics, but the first puzzle is Tokyo Tower as if to presage this year's. Nintendo theme is Donkey Kong Country although it's probably really for DK64.
Having gone through all of these now, the first volume was clearly the one the one that got the most attention. The extra info in the illustrated section never came back and the majority of them ended up being unthemed or at least very unobviously themed. It was probably nice to get more picross, and the base price of $160 for the full set does roughly hit the $2 per hour mark I generally consider as a decent value. Throwing in another $80 for two cartridges upsets that a bit but not by a huge amount.
I finished in 10:01:01.
Rating: 8
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Post by dsparil on Aug 12, 2021 6:36:52 GMT -5
Crystal Ortha (Switch, First Time)
After liking Hit-Point's Monster Viator so much, literally everything is worse is this followup RPG. It's not even an interesting failure. Just bland and boring with significantly cut down gameplay and no positives to speak of.
Rating: 4
I finished in 9:33:42.
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Post by JoeQ on Aug 12, 2021 7:39:57 GMT -5
The Silver Case HD (PS4) - First playthrough, Time: no idea A HD remaster/remake of SUDA51's first game under his then newly established Grasshopper Studios and it did not disappoint. A noir thriller VN/adventure game that on the surface level is about a detective squad investigating a serial killer, it begings to veer into increasingly weird directions as it goes on. Stylish, bizarre, dreamlike and captivating... but also often tedious and highly repetitive, seemingly by design. Highly recommended and I'm already planning to play the sequels Flower Sun and Rain and The 25th Ward. Got the platinum trophy, which was easy peasy as usual for VNs. Just had to revisit a few cases to do some optional stuff I missed on first go. Rating: 4/5 Alphabet Challenge: A--D--G----LM-OP--ST--W--- Number Challenge: 0-23------
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Post by Apollo Chungus on Aug 12, 2021 12:28:00 GMT -5
Aviary Attorney (Switch; First Time; 3 hours 43 minutes) This is one those games I've always wanted to play ever since I first heard about it, but then forgot it existed even though I could very easily play it (which is most games, to be honest). Despite the comparisons to Ace Attorney, this has more of a choose-your-own-adventure feel to it where your actions lead you to different interactions, outcomes and endings as the game goes on. It's pretty neat, though I was a bit of a coward and skipped back to previous days so I could end up with what I felt was a more satisfying conclusion. Considering how long Spirit of Justice was and how long Ace Attorney games seem to be nowadays, it was a really nice change of pace to be able to blast through something similar in a much shorter span of time. I feel like the website's review goes into some more interesting aspects, and as I'm rather knackered at the moment, I'd recommend giving that a read if you want more thoughts on it. (I didn't write it, despite this sounding like a promotion. I just can't be bothered to write more.) It's a cool game overall, and one I'd recommend if you're interested in the concept.
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Post by ZenithianHero on Aug 14, 2021 19:11:03 GMT -5
Ace Combat 7 (PS4, First Time, about 16 hours 30 minutes)
I had this back when it came out (had to get AC5 as a preorder gift). I played various entries over the years, primarily the PS2 entries. Gotten the hang of the gameplay rather quicker than I thought. Although, it is a brutal game. I had to restart it on easy and many missions still give me trouble. You can grind out credits to buy better planes, which help but the missions I was stuck on have harsh conditions that it took strategy not just a better load. Situations such as lightning distorting your display, having to hunt down trucks in a sandstorm, protecting a base from bomber planes and ground units, the escorting. I almost quit on this game but I pulled through. Completing these missions is very satisfying and one of my most exciting moments on PS4. I would never want to replay those missions any time soon, I do not know how people do it on higher difficulties. You guys should become ace combat pilots in real life.
The game is very impressive overall. So immersive and good variety in missions. I enjoyed the story too, the characters had some good chatter during missions too.
8/10
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Post by Digitalnametag on Aug 15, 2021 10:46:20 GMT -5
NEO: The World Ends With You PS4 FTP 32 hours
It's okay? The soundtrack is awesome and the game-play decent fun but the story relies heavily on the first game and the new content from the Switch port. Not really what you want out of a sequel to a game that came out 14 years ago (watch the anime or play the switch port first I guess). The story doesn't get interesting until the last 12 hours or so. The first game has excellent pacing and a story that gives you strong motivation to want to continue playing. NEO does not. The new characters are mostly uninteresting and the stakes feel low. The battle system feels stagnant for a good portion of the game. Unique boss battles are few and generic enemies feel lame. Especially the humanoid ones. This all does improve near the end, but those middle hours are slooooooooooowwwww. The game desperately needs a quick travel option and better text skip when you have to replay segments during post-game. I gave up on finishing the secret reports for now due to boredom. Just read them online later...
That's a lot of complaining but I did mostly enjoy the game. The soundtrack is great, the art is stylish, and the battle system can be fun. The story is interesting near the end. The World Ends With You on the DS is one of my all time favorite games and the sequel doesn't quite live up to that. Still worth a play if you liked the original. Not recommended for new players.
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Post by alexmate on Aug 15, 2021 13:13:46 GMT -5
Condemned: Criminal Origins (PC Windows via Steam, 1st time, timer: 8hr 21) Great game taking cues from Se7en and Silence of the Lambs. Also manages to be distinctly different from Fallout 3, Doom 3, Quake 4 etc as well as survival horror from the time.
Rating: 8
Alphabet Challenge: ABCDEFGHI-KLMN-P--ST--W--Z
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