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Flake
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Re: Games Beaten 2015

by Flake Sun Feb 15, 2015 8:56 pm

1/3: Super Mario Bros 2: Lost Levels (Luigi Run) (3DS VC/NES)
1/4: Super Mario Bros. (Wii / All-Stars)
1/15: Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)
1/20: Super Mario Kart 8 (WiiU)
1/28: Super Mario 3D World (WiiU)
2/15: Luigi's Mansion 2: Dark Moon (3DS)

Finally finished this game up. I've had it since just after launch but the game has such a particular pacing that I had to wait until I was in the 'mood' to play this one all the way through. That mood finally struck and I have to say, this game is impressive.

There are some gripes that I have such as the game taking some cheap shots, or the end game introducing back tracking at a time where they really needed to just let the player freaking be done - a lack of restraint at the 11th hour in game design seems to be all the rage these days.

Other than that, the game is a marvel. The puzzles fit organically with the setting and I only got truly stuck once or twice. It wasn't too easy, it wasn't too hard. The amount of personality the title has is amazing and half the fun was watching Luigi interact with his environment or his many and varied idle animations.

I've still never played the original but I'm hoping that it has a lot in common with this one.
Maybe now Nintendo will acknowledge Metroid has a fanbase?
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Ack
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Re: Games Beaten 2015

by Ack Sun Feb 15, 2015 9:17 pm

1. Renegade Ops (PC)(Multidirectional Shooter)
2. Borderlands 2 (PC)(FPS/RPG)
3. Gunpoint (PC)(Puzzle Platformer)
4. Robotrek (SNES)(RPG)

And another NTSC-U SNES RPG bites the dust. I have mixed feelings on this one. I like the game overall, but it has some problems that I feel can be really detrimental.

First, the sound and music are wonderful. It's bright, it's colorful, it sounds great, and it looks wonderful. The overworld theme stood out as being particularly appealing here, and there is a heavy reliance on sound effects to inform the player exactly what has just happened in the game. Unfortunately a few of the songs are on the short side, and the battle theme is highly repetitive even when not considering how often you'll listen to it. But when the soundtrack shines, it shines.

The downside is that all of these bright colors contribute to an issue I found with the game: its kiddie attitude. With the lead character being only a child, cartoonish characters, bright colors, a simple world map, and what appears to be a somewhat straightforward combat system and item creation system, the game just doesn't feel like it has the weight and impact of the heavyweight RPGs on the console. Between the talking crabs, the evil pumpkin-headed boss who ultimately gets forced to clean toilets, the simpleton characters who seem completely oblivious of their surroundings...this is not a game to take seriously. This issue is further magnified by the translation too, which is serviceable at times but often ventures into the horrendous.

And then you discover the depth to it all. There is a massive item creation system, there are a variety of attack arrangements which change based on what equipment you wield, there are bosses which are supremely difficult when compared to their surroundings in the game, certain weapons offer entirely unique attributes and combat styles, there are hidden advantages on the grid-like battle system related to positioning, etc. And the game explains almost none of this to the player. I'm told that the instruction manual included a list of what items could be created. If you have any interest in playing the game, I definitely recommend tracking this list down. In fact, I recommend using a guide to tell you where to go, as the often lacking translation does a terrible job of conveying what to do.

But despite all of these complexities, it doesn't really add much to the game, because so much of it can be completely ignored. The final boss fight, I walked up and hit him in the face. Over and over again. That was all it took. I actually felt let down by the game due to just how easy the battle went. It required only the barest of strategies, while certain previous bosses had required more patience in positioning my robot and bating the AI into a trap(though again, doing this completely ruined the challenge. I 2-shotted the 3rd to last boss with a proper strategy and managed to do max damage in the process). Once you have your grasp on the combat system, most battles require almost no strategy. Learning the intricacies of the item creation system allows the player to create powerful weapons early on that completely break the challenge. I had an Axe 3, the most powerful melee weapon in the game, by the time I had beaten the second dungeon. And that same Axe 3 is what I used to bash in the final boss' face.

Yet I don't dislike the game. Despite its problems, Robotrek has a scrappy charm that I enjoy, and a happy-go-lucky veneer that hides a deeper system which can be easily be broken. I wish I had gotten into this when I was younger, as I think this is just the kind of game for people who have started to analyze RPGs and understand them but are not yet near ready for the complexity of something like 7th Saga.
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noiseredux
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Re: Games Beaten 2015

by noiseredux Sun Feb 15, 2015 9:29 pm

BoneSnapDeez wrote:One of those games where your "name" can only be three characters, eh?


No. Because of such games I have used BRA as my name in every game since I was a kid.
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Hobie-wan
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Re: Games Beaten 2015

by Hobie-wan Sun Feb 15, 2015 10:50 pm

noiseredux wrote:*moore Apple IIness*


If you want to check out a platformer, have a go at Hard Hat Mack.
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Ziggy587
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Re: Games Beaten 2015

by Ziggy587 Sun Feb 15, 2015 10:57 pm

BoneSnapDeez wrote:I'd try Ys Book I & II if I were you.


I was thinking about it. I'll probably go with the TG16 version, it looks like the best. The PSP version looks alright though. And speaking of the PSP, the remake of 3 looks pretty neat too.
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prfsnl_gmr
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Re: Games Beaten 2015

by prfsnl_gmr Sun Feb 15, 2015 11:54 pm

Flake wrote:I've still never played the original but I'm hoping that it has a lot in common with this one.


I havn't spent much time with Dark Moon, but the original Luigi' Mansion is fantastic. It is easily the Gamecube's most charming game, and it still looks great. (Also, you can beat it about six hours; so, it never wears out its welcome.) I highly, highly recommend it.
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BoneSnapDeez
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Re: Games Beaten 2015

by BoneSnapDeez Mon Feb 16, 2015 12:38 am

Ziggy587 wrote:
BoneSnapDeez wrote:I'd try Ys Book I & II if I were you.


I was thinking about it. I'll probably go with the TG16 version, it looks like the best. The PSP version looks alright though. And speaking of the PSP, the remake of 3 looks pretty neat too.


TurboGrafx version is the best by a mile. No other ports are even close.

Make sure you crank those speakers.
Flake
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Re: Games Beaten 2015

by Flake Mon Feb 16, 2015 1:45 am

prfsnl_gmr wrote:
Flake wrote:I've still never played the original but I'm hoping that it has a lot in common with this one.


I havn't spent much time with Dark Moon, but the original Luigi' Mansion is fantastic. It is easily the Gamecube's most charming game, and it still looks great. (Also, you can beat it about six hours; so, it never wears out its welcome.) I highly, highly recommend it.


It is actually coming up on my list very soon. As you can see, I am enjoying something of an extended stay in the Mushroom Kingdom this year. I think I'll be hitting Luigi's Mansion up after a few quick palate cleansers. Speaking of...

1/3: Super Mario Bros 2: Lost Levels (Luigi Run) (3DS VC/NES)
1/4: Super Mario Bros. (Wii / All-Stars)
1/15: Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)
1/20: Super Mario Kart 8 (WiiU)
1/28: Super Mario 3D World (WiiU)
2/15: Luigi's Mansion 2: Dark Moon (3DS)
2/15: Super Mario Land (3DC VC/GB)

Did not mean to add another game onto the list in the same evening but I accidentally sat down and beat Mario Land. Some thoughts:

This game has aged poorly and even back in the 90's, I thought this game was pretty terrible. It looks and feels like something cobbled together on a TI-83 calculator. It only has two redeeming qualities: First is the music- some surprisingly catchy tunes.

Secondly, this game is a real curiosity. Gunpei Yokoi made some really wacky choices, and they were all deliberate. First - why Sarasaland? Even when Mario Land was made, there was already an increasingly well developed Mario mythos. Creating this one shot land out in the middle of space with a completely new princess seems bonkers unless there was a specific reason for it. Alas, those answers probably died with Mr. Yokoi. I do know that there is a direct storyline that starts with Mario Land and goes through to Mario Land 3 but other than the fact that Mario is in another galaxy, nothing in this game is ever revisited. Why did Daisey come back with Mario? Did she forever sever her connection with Sarasaland? Where was Luigi or Peach in all of this?

Mario Land just doesn't make any sense and I wish that Nintendo had followed through on it.
Maybe now Nintendo will acknowledge Metroid has a fanbase?
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BoneSnapDeez
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Re: Games Beaten 2015

by BoneSnapDeez Mon Feb 16, 2015 11:06 am

I love Mario Land. As a kid I was upset it wasn't the pack-in game. I didn't want no block dropping nonsense.
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Erik_Twice
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Re: Games Beaten 2015

by Erik_Twice Mon Feb 16, 2015 12:29 pm

Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War is over! Really loved this game, which you probably could tell by how much I've raved about it around here and on Twitter. I truly believe it's a classic and right now it's one of the games I most want to own in physical format.

Sadly, the current translation patch which will be replaced soon has a glitch at the end and the game freezes before it shows you your result screen with the total playthrough count (In a 60 hour game!), rank and total playtime count. I don't think it's silly, either, I really want to give it a whirl another time with completely different tactics and that kind of stuff.

So yeah, very happy to have played and beaten this game. And it's a long one! I don't think I've beaten such a long game in ages.

Something interesting: This game was in development for two years (!) with Gunpei Yokoi as producer. And I think it really shows in the game, it has a lot of stuff going on.
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