Games Beaten 2015

[Sarge]

Sometimes I feel that urge, but I'm hit or miss on actually acting on going back to earlier entries. If they're not linked, I have a lot less of an urge to do so. Especially if the quality level is massively better in the sequel.

Now, I pretty much beat every Zelda game, so... no issues there in the first place. But a good example is Shadow Hearts. I never finished the first, but I played through Covenant even though the games are linked. The third kinda stands alone.

[Exhuminator]

The third kinda stands alone.

Indeed.

The real Shadow Hearts trilogy starts with Koudelka and ends with Covenant.

[prfsnl_gmr]

1. Cut the Rope (3DS)
2. Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (PS3)
3. Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth (XBOX)
4. Jewel Link Chronicles: Mountains of Madness (NDS)

Jewel Link Chronicles: Mountains of Madness (NDS) is the second game I played based on the writings of H.P. Lovecraft, and AFAIK, it and Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth (XBOX) are the only two console/handheld games based on H.P. Lovecraft's work.

Whereas Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth is an outstanding first-person adventure game, Jewel Link Chronicles: Mountains of Madness superimposes hidden-object and match-three "puzzles" over the basic narrative from H.P. Lovecraft's most famout novella. Each of the game's numerous level consists of two hidden-object puzzles and one match-three puzzle, but the monotonous levels are offset by wild-swings in difficulty. (The hidden-object "puzzles" are consistently dull, but the match-three "puzzles" range from incredibly easy to console-destroyingly difficult.)

In short, the game is dull, poorly-designed, and serves only to sully the material on which it is ostensibly based. I do not recommend it to anyone.

[Ack]

Jewel Link Chronicles: Mountains of Madness (NDS) is the second game I played based on the writings of H.P. Lovecraft, and AFAIK, it and Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth (XBOX) are the only two console/handheld games based on H.P. Lovecraft's work.

Yes and no. While a lot of games feature inspiration from Lovecraft, there are a few other console games that pull directly from his work. Unfortunately the console ports for Necronomicon: The Dawning of Darkness and Prisoner of Ice did not make it to the US. KaZe also made a Japan-only Lovecraft-themed pinball game called Digital Pinball: Necromonicon.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Jewel Link Chronicles: Mountains of Madness (NDS) is the second game I played based on the writings of H.P. Lovecraft, and AFAIK, it and Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth (XBOX) are the only two console/handheld games based on H.P. Lovecraft's work.

Yes and no. While a lot of games feature inspiration from Lovecraft, there are a few other console games that pull directly from his work. Unfortunately the console ports for Necronomicon: The Dawning of Darkness and Prisoner of Ice did not make it to the US. KaZe also made a Japan-only Lovecraft-themed pinball game called Digital Pinball: Necromonicon.

You are correct, and I should have clarified my post. There are certainly many games that draw some inspiration from Lovecraft's work. (One of them is being obnoxiously advertised in Gamestops right now!) There are remarkably few console/handheld games that are actually based on his writings, however, and Jewel Link Chronicles: Mountains of Madness (NDS) and Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth (XBOX) are the only ones, AFAIK, to receive a North American release.

One point I do not need to clarify, however, is that Jewel Link Chronicles: Mountains of Madness (NDS) totally sucks.

[J T]

Alone in the Dark (1992) was the game that first introduced me to H.P. Lovecraft, the Necronomicon, and the Cthulu Mythos. I don't know if it's fair to say that was based on Lovecraft's writings or not, since it is also based on Edgar Allen Poe's "Fall of the House of Usher".

[Exhuminator]

Alone in the Dark (1992) was the game that first introduced me to H.P. Lovecraft, the Necronomicon, and the Cthulu Mythos.

That's true for me as well. Although I would throw in this and that too.

[Ack]

Alone in the Dark (1992) was the game that first introduced me to H.P. Lovecraft, the Necronomicon, and the Cthulu Mythos. I don't know if it's fair to say that was based on Lovecraft's writings or not, since it is also based on Edgar Allen Poe's "Fall of the House of Usher".

What gets entertaining here is just how much Lovecraft was influenced by Edgar Allen Poe:

“When I write stories, Edgar Allan Poe is my model.” (to Rheinhart Kleiner, 20 January 1916)

“But Poe was my God of Fiction.” (to Rheinhart Kleiner, 2 February 1916)

“Since Poe affected me most of all horror-writers, I can never feel that a tale starts out right unless it has something of his manner. I could never plunge into a thing abruptly, as the popular writers do. To my mind it is necessary to establish a setting & avenue of approach before the main show can adequately begin.” (to Clark Ashton Smith, 18 November 1930)

“Poe has probably influenced me more than any other one person. If I have ever been able to approximate his kind of thrill, it is only because he himself paved the way by creating a whole atmosphere & method which lesser men can follow with relative ease.” (to J. Vernon Shea, 19 June 1931)

“Next to Blackwood, Poe stands first in basic seriousness and convincingness—though his themes tend to centre in limited manifestations of the terrestrially gruesome, and in sinister twists of morbid human psychology. In total effect he probably transcends Blackwood, and indeed all rivals; that is, what he does tell is told with a potent art and daemonic force which no one else can even approach.” (to Fritz Leiber, 9 November 1936)

[alienjesus]

1. Star Fox 2 SNES
2. Sonic Advance 2 GBA
3. Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker Wii U
4. Advance Wars: Dark Conflict DS
5. Joy Mech Fight Famicom

Another 2 for the list - including the first game in my new alphabet marathon!

Advance Wars: Dark Conflict

Advance Wars: Dark Conflict is game A in my alphabet maratong, and was a reboot of the series released for the DS. It eschews the colourful cartoony style of the GBA games (and the first DS game) for a darker grittier look with more realistic and American styled character art. This was a terrible choice - the game is very offputting from the outset - post apocalytpic setting, overly serious characters and an honestly uglier art style for battles.

That said, over time the game grows on you. The characters aren't a patch on the ones in Advance Wars, but they're not annoying by any means. The music isn't as catchy as the last game, but it's still very good and I enjoyed it a lot. And most importantly, it's still Advance Wars - and it's been rebalanced, generally for the better.

Units have been nerfed or buffed in several ways - the most expensive units (bombers, battleships etc) have been decreased in cost and the battleship in particular has been majorly buffed to justify it's high costs. The cheapest units are little pricier too, so choosing the more expensive units is a more reasonable choice than in previous games. A few of the more surreal or pointless units have been removed (like the black boat or stealth bomber) and a few new ones have been added which are better balanced - like the flare which allows you to light up dark squares during fog of war levels. They're not all winners though - the new fighter units (duster in the US version) I never really found much use for - they only seemed good for helicopters and infantry, and anti-airs were a better choice for that - they were cheaper, and the money saved could go to a bomber in a few turns.

CO powers have also been greatly dialed back - the effects are weaker, they're harder to charge and they can only be used if your CO is on the battlefield - you can add them to a unit to make it more powerful (the effect depends on the CO). Honestly I found this feature kinda easy to forget, and I didn't like it as much as the old system.

The story was kinda dull and predictable, but it apparently differs a fair bit between the US and PAL versions - the PAL version is truer to the Japanese script, but the US version adds a bit more character and is generally considered the better one. Even things like character names and unit names differ - the interceptor in PAL is called the fighter in the US, the fighter in PAL is called the duster in the US, the characters Catleia and Sigismundo are called Isabella and Grayfield and so on. It seems kinda redundant to change those, but whatever.

Overall, Advance Wars Dual Strike is a solid game, but it's just missing the charm of the earlier entries. I hope we see another Advance Wars game some day on 3DS, but I hope it follows the GBA style more than this one.

Joy Mech Fight

Joy Mech Fight is a fighting game released for the Famicom in 1993. This late release date probably explains why it never came west - it's not a big translation job, and it's very fun and playable and looks fantastic for the system it's on.

The story is ripped right out of Mega Man - two scientists are best buddies, and they build Robots together. One day one of them turns evil, kidnaps all the robots and tries to use them to take over the world. The other scientist reprograms a robot who wasn't designed to fight into a fighting robot and sends them out to defeat the others. You even fight the robots 8 at a time .

Although the robot you start with (Skapon) is perfectly acceptable as a fighter, the first seven robots you fight get added to your team when you beat them. You can choose any one of the 8 for any fight from that point on. There are a total of 35 battles to get through in all, with 4 of those being boss fights after each set of robots.

The battle system is pretty polished for an 8 bit fighter, although it's very simple - each robot has a standard set of moves which vary in range and power depending on the robot. These are all simple direction + button presses and there are only about 6 of them in total - punch, kick, front punch, low kick, jumping kick & jumping punch. Each robot also has 4 special moves - one of these is always a throw, but the other 3 vary quite a lot and sometimes use some odd button presses - sometimes very simple ones too. For example, all fireball type moves are done by pressing down and punch.

The game is very friendly to newcomers - it has built in demos and tutorials to show you all the robots special moves, accessible before any fight. The control scheme is also clearly design for fighting game newbies, although a couple of special moves are a little trickier to pull off (my favourite character had one which was a half circle forward + both attack buttons).

Presentation wise, the game shines. It's absolutely beautiful for an NES game, and the animation style (with characters made up of floating parts like rayman) allows the characters to animate fluidly on the 8 bit system. The music is decent, but ultimately forgettable.

Overall, the game is definitely worth the money it commands, which is actually not all that much (I paid about £12). I played it translated on my Retron5, but the translation isn't essential to enjoy the game, so if you have a method to play it, give it a go.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Another 2 for the list - including the first game in my new alphabet marathon!

You're not doing all the A thru Z games back-to-back, right?