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Post by spanky on Feb 23, 2022 16:15:43 GMT -5
The Peace Keepers (SNES via NSO, Never Properly Beaten)
Had to use the rewind feature to beat the final boss. He has a screen filling special attack which takes off over half your health unless you use the (never really needed up until this point) block feature. I guess I took the completely wrong path through the game because I got the bad ending as well (Norton, standing in front of a grave with a bouquet of flowers, thinks to himself how eager he is to get back to his job working in the sewers??).
The final entry to the Rushing Beat trilogy is one of the more ambitious beat-em-ups of the era. Boasting 4 hidden characters, 2 hidden ones, a few secret moves, multiple paths and multiple endings depending on the paths taken. The graphics are much better than the previous entries of the series with some large enemy sprites. The fighting has been refined and feels much smoother than the other entries. However, enemies have a habit of interrupting your combos. Typically in these sorts of games, if you manage to land a punch, you can finish a combo unless interrupted by another enemy. Foes in this game, especially the big fat guys will just randomly grab you out your combo. I don't think I'd mind this if you could counter the throw somehow...but you can't. It really caused me a lot of headaches.
RB isn't the greatest trilogy of games but I do give them credit for trying to do new things with each game and upping the stakes. The first game has you fighting typical punks and criminals, the second has you fighting cyborgs and the third has you taking on an array of mutants and robots.
This game is notable for having one of the most...bizarre localizations of the era, barring something like Street Combat that just completely changes the characters. BGM must be turned on from the options menu and even then, a lot of the songs from the Japanese version are completely removed. The redone story line is completely bizarre. Many of the endings just have gag text. Several cutscenes have been completely removed. There's tons of media references. The main villain talks like he's from a Shakesperean play (OK, this I kind of like). I rented this as a kid for a sleepover with a friend, we spent the next day trying to make sense of the story. I know changes like this were commonplace in the era but I always wonder what the localizers were thinking. I swear I remember reading a website years ago that went into depth about the changes made to the story. Both this site's article and TCRF touch on it, but the site I'm thinking of covered it in detail. Anyone know what I'm talking about?
I think this is a tad better than Brawl Brothers but I really hesitate to give it a higher score than that because it's too flawed. 6/10.
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Post by dsparil on Mar 1, 2022 9:50:04 GMT -5
Super Space Invaders (Game Gear, ridiculously difficult)
Looking into the other '90/'91 Space Invaders before doing a post on the PCE game. The Game Gear port of Super Space Invaders '91 is so absurdly difficult. This is a game for Space Invaders masters and basically no one else even on the easiest setting. I'm not sure how anyone is supposed to even beat the bosses. All the ones I did launch homing missiles at you that are almost completely impossible to avoid.
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Post by Apollo Chungus on Mar 5, 2022 18:13:23 GMT -5
Evoland (Switch; First Time; Gave up at the final boss)
I wanted something short to play in between Etrian Odyssey V and Spiritfarer, which are quite good but require enough investment (both timewise and mechanically) that it can be kinda exhausting. While looking round the eShop, I stumbled across a collection of the Evoland games; I'd heard about the original's gimmick of evolving through game design trends and graphics - starting off with fixed scrolling and monochromatic graphics, and then upgrading to low-poly visuals with HD textures, free movement, a mini-map and other such things - and I figured I'd give the collection a bash.
The original game is... fine. A perfectly serviceable action RPG, but one where its lampooning of genres and playstyles frequently wandered from "being annoying on purpose" to just "being annoying". Stuff like the tedious Diablo-esque dungeon, running back and forth in a town of pre-renders and slow loading screens to solve a tedious information fetch quest, lame turn-based battles in the overworld and some dungeons. I can see it being funny since its pacing is brisk enough that each of these bits only last a few minutes. However, it just wasn't for me.
I got to the final boss, died in the first phase, and since dying boots you to the title screen and a save point that's not nearby, I decided to look up a walkthrough. There's a couple of phases, and I wasn't feeling up for beating it. I'm not planning on going back to it, nor am I planning to check out Evoland 2 since it's much, much longer and apparently is very annoying to play. Unlike the previous fail posts, there's no frustration with this one. It's just one of those things where I realized that the game isn't for me, but I gave it my best shot and I'm happy to leave things as they are.
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Post by dsparil on Mar 5, 2022 18:38:52 GMT -5
The frustrating thing about Evoland 2 is that there's two legitimately good maybe even truly innovative Zelda-esque dungeons buried inside it. The rest of it is shallow at best and toxic waste at the worst which makes for a very puzzling package.
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Post by Apollo Chungus on Mar 15, 2022 6:22:27 GMT -5
This is gonna be a mix of games that I've given up because I got stuck, lost interest, or simply haven't played for too long that I don't have much interest in jumping back right now.
Elli (Switch; First Time; Gave up around the second(?) world)
A 3D platformer presented from an isometric angle with various puzzles to solve, with both platforming tests and more complex puzzles involving placing objects, pressing switches and the like. It's pretty alright for what it is, but I'm not particularly keen on those more complex puzzles - mainly because they're in that strain of puzzles that are just really tedious and awkward to pull off at the best of times. It ain't for me, and I just couldn't hack playing something I was so dispassionate about.
Etrian Odyssey V: Beyond the Myth (3DS; First Time; Gave up at floor 19)
Man, this was something of a bummer. Etrian Odyssey is my favourite traditional RPG series by all of the country miles, with its focus on combat options, filling in of maps, and tough enemies requiring you strategize from the get-go addressing all the issues I have with most RPGs (which I often find to be really tedious slow affairs where you walk between story bits and dull battle bits) to make for a deeply engaging game. I've had V for about four years now, but I always kept getting stuck at the first boss which is really dang difficult. Finally, I made a concerted effort to push through it this time, and I did!
I was well on my way to playing through the game, listening to various ToddInTheShadows videos as I explored the second and third stratums, solving navigational puzzles, doing quests and all the usual things I love doing about the EO games. However, when I got to the fourth stratum, I started having significantly less fun. I can owe that entirely to the new gimmick of the teleporting crystals, which make navigation incredibly cumbersome. It seems the dungeon designers were really keen on this, because the two floors that introduce the concept get rid of seemingly everything else - interesting quests, places to acquire materials, even those little events that occur in certain areas; they're all gone.
That was already a bad enough slog, but I've found myself stuck in a situation where I'm meant to lead two FOEs into these crystals and then make my way back round past them, at which point I invariably end up getting stuck between them and unable to progress since they're way more powerful than I am. I tried to consult a walkthrough, but I think I need to follow a step-by-step guide in order to get past them and I can't seem to find one. It's unspeakably awful, and I'm not putting up with it. Bollocks to this dungeon and whoever designed those stupid crystals.
Vampire Rain (Xbox 360; First Time; Haven't played since the start of January)
I got this and a couple of other random games back around Christmas, mainly because I knew this got awful reviews back in the day. I briefly played it for about the first two stages and a few of the tutorial levels, and maybe it's just me, but it's not too bad. Everything works as it should, and traversing the nightly town while avoiding getting spotted by potential vampires carries a cool tension. I'd have played more of this, but I got distracted with other things and I'm not sure if I'm in the mind for coming back to this, so I'm gonna leave it at that for now.
Warriors of Might and Magic (PlayStation 2; First Time; Haven't played since the start of February or thereabouts)
An action-RPG made in the PS2's very early days, made by 3DO as part of the Might and Magic series. I bought it on the basis that I'd never heard of it before, and because the screenshots on the back looked like it came from the PS1. (Obviously they don't, but the actual PS1 version amusingly runs way better in terms of framerate). This was fairly dodgy, with somewhat clunky combat and a framerate that hovered around the 20s most of the time, even dipping into the teens on occasion, making for the kind of game that would immediately be dismissed as quite naff.
But somehow, I found myself enjoying it for the few stages I played; combat's clunky but simple enough to get around, levels can be surprisingly large in that early-2000s way where the detail is low but there's plenty to see and explore, and you can save anywhere you like so that's awesome already. Like Vampire Rain, I just haven't been back to this in ages and I'm not up for returning to it at the moment.
Wave Race 64 (Nintendo 64; First Time; Gave up during the hard championship)
Grabbed the Wii VC version (which oddly plays really slowly once the WAD is installed in my modded Wii), and gave it a few goes. It plays really well, and I think the choppiness of the framerate works nicely with the choppiness of the waves to make for an exciting, tense game where you're bouncing about and just managing to make tight turns. The levels are quite cool, with Drake Lake being my particular favourite for how atmospherically misty it is. However, it got too tough for me during the hard championship and I honestly got overwhelmed by a sequence of tight turns in Port Blue's new shortcut - leaving me just staring at the screen and unable to comprehend how I was going to overcome it.
It's a shame, but the game's very cool. So at least there's that.
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Post by ZenithianHero on Mar 15, 2022 10:55:58 GMT -5
Mega Man X6 (PS4 via Legacy Collection 2, First time, game is too mean)
On my quest to finish the numbered Mega Man X games I was doing well up until now. If X3 had a hard start and X5 had difficulty spikes, X6 is too stupid hard for me to care anymore. I was patient and I really tried. The game has serious level design problems. Some levels have enemy spam or annoying placement. Many stage gimmicks are dumb. The donut minibosses in the Phoenix stage too hard without charged special weapons and you have to fight them multiple times. Wolf's stage with falling ice that changed rules on you (seriously, why does it instant kill you by filling in the gap?!). Scarab's stage is randomized and can take forever to get rooms with upgrades. Shark's compactor is tedious and slow plotting.
If the game already wasn't challenging enough, there are nightmare effects that apply to levels as you cycle through trips. These add objects to block your path, insects that can block your shots, stage effects like dimmed lights and falling fireballs. This game is cruel.
I had to quit against High Max near the end of the game. I have no idea what to do against him. I looked up strategies but no sooner I break his shields he puts up new ones. I cannot dodge his swooping attacks in time. At this point I wasn't having fun and I didn't want to restart the stage with the annoying totem enemies.
Screw this game, but I did like some thing about it. The upgrade system better than in X5, even if it is possible to miss them with a poorly timed reploid death. The armor sets to unlock are fun to use too. The Shadow Armor turned X5's Gaia Armor into a ninja.
My playtime was about 6 hours.
Onward to X7 I guess.
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Post by spanky on Mar 15, 2022 12:05:24 GMT -5
The donuts in Mega Man X6 feel like the designers are trying to deliberately troll you with the most infuriating design possible. I think High Max is where I got stuck myself when I played the game years ago.
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Post by dsparil on Mar 15, 2022 12:32:43 GMT -5
I mostly remember having some trouble saving a few of the reploids. There's one in particular that you have to do nearly perfectly. I'm a little tempted to replay it just to see what I think now.
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Post by ZenithianHero on Mar 15, 2022 12:52:57 GMT -5
The donuts in Mega Man X6 feel like the designers are trying to deliberately troll you with the most infuriating design possible. I think High Max is where I got stuck myself when I played the game years ago. I don't understand the thought process with it. The game had a short development time, so the conclusion is this was filler. They already have a stage with a relentless miniboss in the background. The oroboros could been like the submarine minibosses where you damage a little of it and it retreats. Maybe that could make the level more interesting.
Now I want to rant. For those who didn't play the game I'll explain this level to you. The first threat of this level is a boss that when I looked it up is called the Nightmare Snake. However it is donut shaped (likely oroboros themed). Has weaknesses in 4 corners of its design and will fire orbs at you and moves left to right constantly. Hitting the lower weak points may require crouching. Upper weaknesses may require wall jumping to reach. The best way to handle it is charging up a special weapon and causes good AoE damage. After that you think to yourself "okay that wasn't bad" the next segment has flamethrower traps you may think this is a normal lava stage. Yay! But no. Oh no. You are sent to an arena where the same miniboss circles the arena. Mind you, if you die you have to go through those flame traps again. This version of the boss is "okay", but it is easy to lose your weapon attacks to the moving camera. The AoE effects may be subdued. After that you are taken to a long vertical room. You have two doors, I assume this means another fight with the thing. And yes, you did. This time a corridor filled with enemies because the game hates you. The miniboss hugs the ground and weakpoints hard to hit. And because this is Mega Man, enemies respawn. Not regular enemies either but those floating nightmares that don't drop health. Now that is over you are greeted to a tiny sliver of a corridor with another door. Surely this is Phoenix's room right? Nope. You get THE SAME FREAKING MINIBOSS and now there's rising instant kill fire. The boss pops up and down as you proceed. It's annoying because there is only so much you can do for timing. Defeat that and there is yet AGAIN another of this same miniboss. Now in a fire-filled room with small platforms to jump between. It isn't as hard as the others but at this point enough is enough. And thankfully it was the final one. The funny part? Phoenix was an easy boss. Could been one of the easiest ones to tackle first if it weren't for this stage. So unless X7 or X8 has BS like this, I'm declaring this the worst entry. This is a game made by level designers who didn't want to work on the job.
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Post by dsparil on Mar 15, 2022 13:14:04 GMT -5
X7 has reploids that die before you even see them, floaty controls and one of the most grating bosses ever.
The PSX version of X6 has difficulty settings and options for autocharging and rapid fire. I forget if those made it into the Legacy Collection. There's also balance patches if you try it again emulated.
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Post by ZenithianHero on Mar 15, 2022 14:29:59 GMT -5
It does, these are straight ports after all. Next time I'll set it on Easy, but I wanted to go through all these on the default Normal is all. And oh boy looked and apparently reploids die from regular enemies now? Also you need a whole lot of them to unlock X.
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Post by dsparil on Mar 21, 2022 18:44:00 GMT -5
Xevious: Fardraut Saga (MSX2, Continuing is technically a cheat)
Compile's MSX2 Xevious game is so weirdly designed. You can pick a ship from four at the beginning with some differences between them, but if you die, you're always in the Solvalou afterward. There's a few different power ups, but they're doled out randomly so you can end up with the screen clearing K when there's nothing on screen. If you die towards the end of a level, you'll actually get bumped up to the next one. I think this could be why continuing is hidden and not mentioned in the manual. You can use that feature to push yourself towards the end and basically always start fresh with a fancy ship. That somewhat lowers the difficulty, but this is such a frustrating game otherwise especially the last level that it seems extra cruel to have to get through everything with such a paltry number of lives. It basically goes from an absurdity to merely hard.
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Post by Apollo Chungus on Mar 21, 2022 19:19:33 GMT -5
Ridge Racer 3D (3DS; First Time; Gave up at the start of the Advanced Grand Prix)
Modded my new 3DS and grabbed this among a bunch of other games. I've been playing this loads over the last couple of days due to my personal life being all over the shop right now, but I'm happy to call it quits. The game offers plenty of main content - too much, really. There's like 40+ Grand Prix events with four tracks each, which is already gargantuan except that there's only 30-ish tracks (this includes both normal and reversed versions), so a lot of those tracks reappear quite frequently. I wanna write more about what this got me thinking in the main thread, or maybe I'll write a blog about it. Suffice it to say, it's a grand game but there's absolutely too much that you have to do if you wanna reach the end.
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Post by blackdrazon on Mar 24, 2022 3:34:28 GMT -5
The thing with Evoland 1 was that it was a Ludum Dare Flash game. That version was just fine! But somehow, almost everything added on top of it for full release was a mess. Sadly, I really do remember the moment where I thought: "Oh, this is new! [five minutes later] And incredibly unfun!"
I guess I still liked the concept enough to pick up the sequel but I gave up on it early on.
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Post by Woody Alien on Mar 25, 2022 10:30:02 GMT -5
Moonlaw (Steam, first time, buggy game)
Found a recommendation for this game on the Metroidvania subreddit: a free, bite-sized game about a knight on the moon defeating monsters. Looks alright but the character gets stunlocked by enemies, the hitboxes and collision detection are janky and it sometimes slows down to a crawl. I can't even defeat the first boss because of the short range of the knight's weapon and the fact that I don't even understand if I'm damaging it or not. Tried three or four times then said, screw this game. Also I saw a bit of a gameplay video and it copies too much from the original Metroid.
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