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I started Shining Force II on the Sega Genesis this evening!

Shining Force was second favorite game of 2016 and one of the best Genesis games I have ever played. So to say I was excited to play Shining Force II would be an understatement. Right from the word go, the game is so much like the first game. It's like jumping into a pair of comfy pants. The battles are still highly addictive and the characters are even more unique. I was hoping it would be fantastic and so far, I have not been disappointed.

Is it weird that I think I like the first Shining Force more?

noiseredux wrote:Is it weird that I think I like the first Shining Force more?

Is it weird I don’t like Shining Force at all?

I really should give the series another shot sometime...

noiseredux wrote:Is it weird that I think I like the first Shining Force more?

I like the art style more in the first. Both are awesome games though!

noiseredux wrote:Is it weird that I think I like the first Shining Force more?

The only complaint I would have is that the controls while walking around town feel weird. It has this 'Secret of Mana' feel where your character has to be right next to the screen for the screen to move. You are basically walking around shops, so it's no big deal, but it still feels kind of weird.

They fixed the clumsy inventory system from the first game. Now, when you get an item and you are full, it just goes to the next available slot in the party.

prfsnl_gmr wrote:Is it weird I don’t like Shining Force at all?

I really should give the series another shot sometime...

They are the PERFECT starter Strategy RPG. If Disgaea/Fire Emblem/Final Fantasy Tactics are too daunting with their levels, complex battle systems and confusing storylines, Shining Force makes it so much more simpler. If you have never played a SRPG before, Shining Force is the perfect entry game into that genre. I love SRPG's, so this is a no brainer and I love to play a more simplified version of it.

Been playing a lot of jet ski games lately, mainly splashing 1,2 and n64 wave race. Still think the waves in wave race is better. It's bigger and really do feel like your hitting actual waves.

My XCOM EW Impossible playthru is dependent on finishing the Base Defense.

I completely forgot that the Base Defense was SOON after the Base Assault. I don't have enough Laser weapons (3rd month) on my soldiers so I'm doing low damage. I may have found a way to complete the mission, but I'm definitely going to lose most of squad. This is my first Impossible run, I've made some mistakes, but hopefully I can pull this mission out. Just hope the game doesn't crash again like last night. I swear the game is less stable on Impossible because there's so many enemies and they're aggressive. Or maybe the Aliens crash the game if they think you're going to win.

Slowly trucking through Yakuza Kiwami while dabbling with Dragon Ball Fighterz and Fortnite.

Anyone else pick up Dragon Ball?

XCOM EW Impossible update: Operation Ashes and Temples, complete! If I didn't beat this mission, it was game over because I didn't have any good backup saves and you cannot fail this mission.
Using elevation to my advantage, I was able to survive the alien onslaught. Being severely under equipped, my team somehow bagged 27 of those aggressive, evil Alien SOB's. Only about 7 of those were lowly Sectoids. Every other alien was a heavy hitter like Mutons, Mectoids, Cyberdiscs, Sectoid Commander. I lost 3 experienced soldiers and had another gravely wounded. All 5 "Blue shirts" also died. Losing "Deadman" hurt a lot since I only have 2 Assaults now. I recruited 3 more soldiers, luckily one squaddie became an Assault.

Just when I thought I could recuperation, the next day, Terror mission! "That's XCOM, baby!"
There was no way I could complete it without everyone having Laser weaponry, so I ignored my second Terror mission. Japan immediately left the Council which I knew was going to happen. It was OK, since I had already lost the Asian Bonus and Japan only supplied $$$50 per month. Downed a medium UFO and assaulted it. Captured 2 Sectoids for the interrogation for Beam research credit and their Plasma pistols. I have to have anyone with Lasers from now on. There was also 2 Sectoid Commanders but I didn't want to reload and spend time capturing one of them. Just started the first Deluge mission. I think once I get the last of the satellites up and have Laser weapons on everyone, hopefully the situation will stabilize.

For about the past month I've been sporadically plugging away at Alundra on the PS1. Some accounts from Japanese gamers label Alundra as a sister game to Landstalker on the Genesis, and by all accounts, that seems pretty apropos to me. A tremendous amount of the game feels like Landstalker 2, but the funny thing about that is there doesn't really seems to be a lot of overlap between the development teams of the two games. Of course, Matrix Software (the developers of Alundra) spun off from Climax Entertainment, but the only common name I can find between the two games is in the Creative Director/Map Designer for Landstalker working on the dungeon maps in Alundra. (Also, obviously, the Character Designer/Illustrator, Tamaki Yoshitaka, worked on both games as well.) So, it seems like the similarities to Landstalker are conscious ones, but I'm not entirely certain how that can be. I certainly play both games very similarly, in that neither is an exceptionally long game, but I can't seem stick with playing them for more than an hour or two at a time, with long breaks between sessions. Some of the key differences between Alundra and Landstalker are in the change of viewpoint, and the differences in tone with regard to the respective stories. Alundra does away with the isometric view (which is very welcome), but still has a lot of the perspective issues in terms of platforming. The best way I can describe it is that it's like a mix between Landstalker and Beyond Oasis, except there's so many layers of junk in the terrain, that making jumps and avoiding hazards are still nearly as perilous and/or frustrating as in Landstalker. The story is a pretty big departure from the lighter fare of Landstalker, as well. Events in the game are sure to weigh fairly heavily on the more sensitive player. The darker tone also seems to manifest itself in the graphics, though I can't say if that was a conscious choice or not. I wasn't totally sold on Alundra in the early part of the game, but I have come to enjoy it a bit more as I've played. Right now, I'm at about the last quarter of the game, I would guess, and it has become pretty good, outside of the minor qualms that have persisted.


Otherwise, I started playing Onore no Shinzuru Michi o Ike on the PSP. It's pretty interesting game, although I'm not sure I'd classify it as an instant classic. It has a sort of mobile app vibe to it in its gameplay; It plays out as a series of stages, each with a series of floors that require speedy puzzle solving to clear, and potentially a boss at the end. The catch is that you have one minute per 'life' to get as far as possible, and often gimmicks require "sacrificing" a life, because the game retains all of those actions in memory, and plays them out again as 'ghosts.' So, for instance, there are certain switches that have to be held down in order to be activated, meaning that for a first play, you take your ninja dude ("Hayate-maru") to the switch, hold it down until the end of the minute, and then come back with the next ninja dude to continue to the next floor, or what have you. There's also a grading and level up system, allowing for upgrading of Hayate-maru's skills (strength, speed, number of lives, ninjutsu). It's a fun game so far, mostly, but I'm a little concerned about how the later levels will play out. We'll see.