1. Oni - PC
2. Donkey Kong 64 - N64
3. Yoshi's Story - N64
4. Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrentide - PC
5. Forsaken 64 - N64
6. Bloodrayne: Betrayal - PSN
7. Fire Emblem Seisen no Keifu - SNES
8. Fire Emblem Shin Monshō no Nazo: Hikari to Kage no Eiyū - Nintendo DS
9. Valkyria Chronicles 3 - PSP
10. Ready 2 Rumble Boxing - DC
11. Rise of the Tomb Raider - PC
12. XCOM 2 - PC
13. Shadowrun Hong Kong Bonus Campaign - PC
14. Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest - 3DS
15. Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright - 3DS
16. Lagrange Point - NES
17. Fire Emblem Fates: Revelations - 3DS
18. Cybernator - SNES
19. Outwars - PC
20. Resident Evil - GC
21. Resident Evil 2 - GC
22. Resident Evil 3 - GC
23. Resident Evil Code Veronica X - GC
24. Dino Crisis - PSX
25. Resident Evil 5 - PC
26. Dark Souls 3 - PS4
27. The Banner Saga 2 - PC
28. Bravely Second - 3DS
29. Star Fox Zero - Wii U
30. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - PC
31. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Winter Assault - PC
32. Doom (2016) - PC
33. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade - PC
So I had a post written up but then one of my cats decided to nuzzle the keyboard and get the tab closed.
Risk-style map is interesting but after a few missions you can just blitz most things and it becomes easy outside the strongholds. Strongholds are fun, Tau can go fuck themselves, Necrons are OP.
Games Beaten 2016
Re: Games Beaten 2016
Blizzard Entertainment Software Developer - All comments and views are my own and not representative of the company.
-
BoneSnapDeez
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 20118
- Joined: Mon May 02, 2011 1:08 pm
- Location: Maine
Re: Games Beaten 2016
1. Tenchi Sōzō (Super Famicom)
2. Eternal Senia (Steam)
3. Tombs & Treasure (NES)
4. Magic Knight Rayearth (Super Famicom)
5. Zelda no Densetsu: The Hyrule Fantasy (Famicom Disk System)
6. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (NES)
7. Seiken Psycho Caliber: Majū no Mori Densetsu (Famicom Disk System)
8. Deep Dungeon: Madō Senki (Famicom Disk System)
9. Deep Dungeon II: Yūshi no Monshō (Famicom Disk System)
10. Suishō no Dragon (Famicom Disk System)
11. Dandy: Zeuon no Fukkatsu (Famicom Disk System)
12. Lagoon (SNES)
13. Contra (NES)
14. Super C (NES)
15. Wonder Boy (Sega Master System)
16. OutRun (Sega Master System)
17. OutRun (Genesis)
OutRun was originally an arcade game by Yu Suzuki of After Burner, Space Harrier, and Hang-On fame. The arcade cab resembles a Ferrari complete with a steering wheel, gas and brake pedals, and stick shift. My first encounter with the arcade game occurred on a trip to Disney World when I was 15. I was terrible at the game and was thus petrified that I would in turn be unable to operate an actual automobile.
It's been said that OutRun isn't a racing game but a "driving game." This is kind of true. There aren't any "competitors" in the field but there's an extremely tight race against the clock. The goal of the game is to make it from one end of the course to the other, though there are several different branches to take each with varying scenery. Checkpoints pop up at each fork in the road and those must be hit within a certain time frame or it's Game Over. Proper shifting is also essential. The low gear causes the car to accelerate faster, but lacks top-end speed. I found that on the Master System I was shifting from low to high at 170 km/h, on the Genesis it was more like 150.
The protagonist is some suave dude with his qt3.14 of a gf sitting shotgun. Though there aren't any other "racers" there is traffic to avoid and navigating the corners properly is essential as wiping out results in precious time lost.
The game's soundtrack is extremely memorable. You get to choose one of three songs from a car radio upon booting the game, all of which are suitably relaxing for taking a Sunday drive at 250 km/h.
OutRun was ported extensively. I have access to four variations of the game and decided to go with the two old-school Sega releases.
The Master System port is a bit tricky to play. It's very pixelated and it's tough to see what lies ahead. Since the controller lacks three action buttons up/down in the d-pad are used for shifting. This was a touch annoying - I tend to unconsciously(?) hold down up in games like this, which caused me to slip into low gear.
The music is a little garbled too. The ocean wave sounds that play at the game's start sound more like Darth Vader's breathing. Still, for an 8-bit port it plays reasonably well, and it's miles ahead of the C64 version I also own (which feels downright impossible to complete).
The game has a chance to shine on the Genesis. The graphics are crisp and beautiful and much closer to the arcade. Controls are tighter and the car is thus easier to maneuver. There's also way more traffic compared to the SMS game, as I assume the Genesis could support more sprites.
I found OutRun to be rather difficult. There's extremely little room for error. Crash a few times at the beginning and you're better off just resetting the game as that lost time is virtually impossible to make up. Beating the game requires one long (well, six minutes or so) near-perfect run with room for maybe a small handful of minor errors. Memorization is essential. The arcade original was certainly a quarter-muncher, and those types of games don't always translate well to consoles. Overall, I'd say I like the "style" of the game - it looks and sounds incredible - more than the actual substance. Glad to have this one under my belt, though I don't see myself playing it much in the future.
2. Eternal Senia (Steam)
3. Tombs & Treasure (NES)
4. Magic Knight Rayearth (Super Famicom)
5. Zelda no Densetsu: The Hyrule Fantasy (Famicom Disk System)
6. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (NES)
7. Seiken Psycho Caliber: Majū no Mori Densetsu (Famicom Disk System)
8. Deep Dungeon: Madō Senki (Famicom Disk System)
9. Deep Dungeon II: Yūshi no Monshō (Famicom Disk System)
10. Suishō no Dragon (Famicom Disk System)
11. Dandy: Zeuon no Fukkatsu (Famicom Disk System)
12. Lagoon (SNES)
13. Contra (NES)
14. Super C (NES)
15. Wonder Boy (Sega Master System)
16. OutRun (Sega Master System)
17. OutRun (Genesis)
OutRun was originally an arcade game by Yu Suzuki of After Burner, Space Harrier, and Hang-On fame. The arcade cab resembles a Ferrari complete with a steering wheel, gas and brake pedals, and stick shift. My first encounter with the arcade game occurred on a trip to Disney World when I was 15. I was terrible at the game and was thus petrified that I would in turn be unable to operate an actual automobile.
It's been said that OutRun isn't a racing game but a "driving game." This is kind of true. There aren't any "competitors" in the field but there's an extremely tight race against the clock. The goal of the game is to make it from one end of the course to the other, though there are several different branches to take each with varying scenery. Checkpoints pop up at each fork in the road and those must be hit within a certain time frame or it's Game Over. Proper shifting is also essential. The low gear causes the car to accelerate faster, but lacks top-end speed. I found that on the Master System I was shifting from low to high at 170 km/h, on the Genesis it was more like 150.
The protagonist is some suave dude with his qt3.14 of a gf sitting shotgun. Though there aren't any other "racers" there is traffic to avoid and navigating the corners properly is essential as wiping out results in precious time lost.
The game's soundtrack is extremely memorable. You get to choose one of three songs from a car radio upon booting the game, all of which are suitably relaxing for taking a Sunday drive at 250 km/h.
OutRun was ported extensively. I have access to four variations of the game and decided to go with the two old-school Sega releases.
The Master System port is a bit tricky to play. It's very pixelated and it's tough to see what lies ahead. Since the controller lacks three action buttons up/down in the d-pad are used for shifting. This was a touch annoying - I tend to unconsciously(?) hold down up in games like this, which caused me to slip into low gear.
The music is a little garbled too. The ocean wave sounds that play at the game's start sound more like Darth Vader's breathing. Still, for an 8-bit port it plays reasonably well, and it's miles ahead of the C64 version I also own (which feels downright impossible to complete).
The game has a chance to shine on the Genesis. The graphics are crisp and beautiful and much closer to the arcade. Controls are tighter and the car is thus easier to maneuver. There's also way more traffic compared to the SMS game, as I assume the Genesis could support more sprites.
I found OutRun to be rather difficult. There's extremely little room for error. Crash a few times at the beginning and you're better off just resetting the game as that lost time is virtually impossible to make up. Beating the game requires one long (well, six minutes or so) near-perfect run with room for maybe a small handful of minor errors. Memorization is essential. The arcade original was certainly a quarter-muncher, and those types of games don't always translate well to consoles. Overall, I'd say I like the "style" of the game - it looks and sounds incredible - more than the actual substance. Glad to have this one under my belt, though I don't see myself playing it much in the future.
-
ElkinFencer10
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 8621
- Joined: Fri Aug 13, 2010 8:34 pm
- Location: Henderson, North Carolina
- Contact:
Re: Games Beaten 2016
1. Shadow Warrior - Playstation 4 - January 1
2. The Order: 1886 - Playstation 4 - January 2
3. Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop - Wii - January 3
4. NyxQuest: Kindred Spirits - WiiWare - January 4
5. Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F 2nd - Vita - January 5
6. Shadow the Hedgehog - Gamecube - January 9
7. Fairy Bloom Freeia - Steam - January 10
8. Petit Novel Series: Harvest December - 3DS - January 13
9. Gas Guzzlers Extreme - Steam - January 14
10. Muramasa: The Demon Blade - Wii - January 16
11. Project Zero 2: Wii Edition - Wii - January 19
12. Killzone: Liberation - PSP - January 20
13. Sin & Punishment: Star Successor - Wii - January 20
14. Kirby's Epic Yarn - Wii - January 24
15. Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love - Wii - January 25
16. Corpse Party - PSP - January 25
17. Freedom Planet - Wii U - January 25
18. Earth Defense Force 2: Invaders from Planet Space - Vita - January 25
19. Silent Hill: Homecoming - Xbox 360 - January 26
20. Life is Strange - Playstation 4 - January 28
21. Corpse Party: Book of Shadows - PSP - February 2
22. Megadimension Neptunia VII - Playstation 4 - February 12
23. Dr. Discord's Conquest - NES - February 13
24. Corpse Party: Blood Drive - Vita - February 17
25. If My Heart Had Wings - Steam - February 18
26. Missing: An Interactive Thriller - Steam - February 18
27. Her Story - Steam - February 18
28. Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright - 3DS - February 26
29. Saints Row 2 - Steam - March 1
30. Saturday Morning RPG - Playstation 4 - March 3
31. Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest - 3DS - March 6
32. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze - Wii U - March 8
33. Pokken Tournament - Wii U - March 20
34. Moe Chronicle - Vita - March 22
35. Tom Clancey's The Division - Playstation 4 - March 23
36. Yoshi's New Island - 3DS - March 28
37. Alien Rage - Steam - April 1
38. Alien Breed: Impact - Steam - April 2
39. Alien Breed 2: Assault - Steam - April 3
40. Alien Breed 3: Descent - Steam - April 3
41. Bravely Second: Ballad of the Three Cavaliers - 3DS - April 6
42. Quantum Break - Xbox One - April 7
43. Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric - Wii U - April 8
44. Akai Katana - Xbox 360 - April 9
45. Otomedius Excellent - Xbox 360 - April 9
46. Chasing Dead - Wii U - April 10
47. Fire Emblem Fates: Revelation - 3DS - April 14
48. Ratchet and Clank - Playstation 4 - April 20
49. Starfox Zero - Wii U - April 23
50. Aero Fighters 2 - NeoGeo - May 8
51. Bravely Second: End Layer - 3DS - May 11
52. Uncharted: Golden Abyss - Vita - May 15
Going into this game, I was skeptical. Uncharted is a pretty great series, but can it really make the transition to the handheld? The Arkham series tried that, and that was....less than great. Same with Call of Duty. Having played the game, though, I am extremely surprised at just how good it is.
For being on a handheld, the visuals are extremely nice. Obviously the textures and character models aren't quite as impressive as those seen on the PS3 or PS4, but the lighting effects - especially the reflection effects on water and metallic surfaces - are really, really well done. The gameplay has some room for improvement, specifically in the area of hit detection, but again, given that it's taking a game every bit the equal of its console counterparts in scope, I'm giving it a pass on a few minor technical flaws.
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I put this game off for a while because I really expected to be disappointed. With my mom visiting this weekend, though, I knew she'd be using the TV for Law and Order, so I figured that since I wouldn't be able to play Uncharted 4 just yet, I might as well play this and have 4 seem PHENOMENAL in comparison. While I'm sure Uncharted 4 will still feel incredible, I gotta admit, I was extremely impressed with the Vita's go at the franchise. This one definitely gets my recommendation for Vita-owning fans of the Uncharted series. Unfortunately, Golden Abyss does not work on the Playstation TV without some...unofficial...software updates given its use of the front touch screen, the rear touch pad, and the gyroscopic tilt controls (all of which feel a bit gimmicky but not to the point of feeling just plain stupid).
2. The Order: 1886 - Playstation 4 - January 2
3. Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop - Wii - January 3
4. NyxQuest: Kindred Spirits - WiiWare - January 4
5. Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F 2nd - Vita - January 5
6. Shadow the Hedgehog - Gamecube - January 9
7. Fairy Bloom Freeia - Steam - January 10
8. Petit Novel Series: Harvest December - 3DS - January 13
9. Gas Guzzlers Extreme - Steam - January 14
10. Muramasa: The Demon Blade - Wii - January 16
11. Project Zero 2: Wii Edition - Wii - January 19
12. Killzone: Liberation - PSP - January 20
13. Sin & Punishment: Star Successor - Wii - January 20
14. Kirby's Epic Yarn - Wii - January 24
15. Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love - Wii - January 25
16. Corpse Party - PSP - January 25
17. Freedom Planet - Wii U - January 25
18. Earth Defense Force 2: Invaders from Planet Space - Vita - January 25
19. Silent Hill: Homecoming - Xbox 360 - January 26
20. Life is Strange - Playstation 4 - January 28
21. Corpse Party: Book of Shadows - PSP - February 2
22. Megadimension Neptunia VII - Playstation 4 - February 12
23. Dr. Discord's Conquest - NES - February 13
24. Corpse Party: Blood Drive - Vita - February 17
25. If My Heart Had Wings - Steam - February 18
26. Missing: An Interactive Thriller - Steam - February 18
27. Her Story - Steam - February 18
28. Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright - 3DS - February 26
29. Saints Row 2 - Steam - March 1
30. Saturday Morning RPG - Playstation 4 - March 3
31. Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest - 3DS - March 6
32. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze - Wii U - March 8
33. Pokken Tournament - Wii U - March 20
34. Moe Chronicle - Vita - March 22
35. Tom Clancey's The Division - Playstation 4 - March 23
36. Yoshi's New Island - 3DS - March 28
37. Alien Rage - Steam - April 1
38. Alien Breed: Impact - Steam - April 2
39. Alien Breed 2: Assault - Steam - April 3
40. Alien Breed 3: Descent - Steam - April 3
41. Bravely Second: Ballad of the Three Cavaliers - 3DS - April 6
42. Quantum Break - Xbox One - April 7
43. Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric - Wii U - April 8
44. Akai Katana - Xbox 360 - April 9
45. Otomedius Excellent - Xbox 360 - April 9
46. Chasing Dead - Wii U - April 10
47. Fire Emblem Fates: Revelation - 3DS - April 14
48. Ratchet and Clank - Playstation 4 - April 20
49. Starfox Zero - Wii U - April 23
50. Aero Fighters 2 - NeoGeo - May 8
51. Bravely Second: End Layer - 3DS - May 11
52. Uncharted: Golden Abyss - Vita - May 15
Going into this game, I was skeptical. Uncharted is a pretty great series, but can it really make the transition to the handheld? The Arkham series tried that, and that was....less than great. Same with Call of Duty. Having played the game, though, I am extremely surprised at just how good it is.
For being on a handheld, the visuals are extremely nice. Obviously the textures and character models aren't quite as impressive as those seen on the PS3 or PS4, but the lighting effects - especially the reflection effects on water and metallic surfaces - are really, really well done. The gameplay has some room for improvement, specifically in the area of hit detection, but again, given that it's taking a game every bit the equal of its console counterparts in scope, I'm giving it a pass on a few minor technical flaws.
I put this game off for a while because I really expected to be disappointed. With my mom visiting this weekend, though, I knew she'd be using the TV for Law and Order, so I figured that since I wouldn't be able to play Uncharted 4 just yet, I might as well play this and have 4 seem PHENOMENAL in comparison. While I'm sure Uncharted 4 will still feel incredible, I gotta admit, I was extremely impressed with the Vita's go at the franchise. This one definitely gets my recommendation for Vita-owning fans of the Uncharted series. Unfortunately, Golden Abyss does not work on the Playstation TV without some...unofficial...software updates given its use of the front touch screen, the rear touch pad, and the gyroscopic tilt controls (all of which feel a bit gimmicky but not to the point of feeling just plain stupid).
Exhuminator wrote:Ecchi lords must unite for great justice.
-
Exhuminator
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 11573
- Joined: Tue Apr 30, 2013 8:24 am
- Contact:
Re: Games Beaten 2016
I beat Golden Abyss myself not too long ago. This was my review from Feb 2015:
It wasn't a bad launch title, but I'd prefer it had been 5 hours long not 10.
It wasn't a bad launch title, but I'd prefer it had been 5 hours long not 10.
PLAY KING'S FIELD.
-
Exhuminator
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 11573
- Joined: Tue Apr 30, 2013 8:24 am
- Contact:
Re: Games Beaten 2016
Games Ex has beaten in 2016:
66. Everblue|PS2|2001|scuba adventure-RPG|12h 38m|7/10
Released for PS2 in 2001, Everblue was Arika's first attempt at a scuba diving game. Arika would go on to create Everblue 2 for PS2 in 2002. Then the Everblue games were followed on the Wii with Endless Ocean in 2007, and Endles Ocean: Blue World in 2009. Having finished and loved the Endless Ocean games on Wii, I was hungry for more oceanic adventuring, thus sought out the original Everblue. I had expected to simply play a more primitive version of Endless Ocean. I was in for quite a surprise.
It turns out that Everblue is very different indeed than Endless Ocean. First off, Everblue should have been called Everdark, because you spend most of your time salvaging through shipwrecks in very deep and black waters. That's right, the point of Everblue is not to scuba dive and catalog fish. Rather, Everblue is about salvaging, treasure hunting, and getting filthy rich. Slinking around in foreboding sunken deathtraps, with nothing but a flashlight to guide your way. Yes, you're usually fully unnerved while you're doing it. Or at least, I was.
Let's backtrack for a minute. In Everblue you play as a young man named Leonardo Delphino, son of a famous but long lost scuba diver. You live in a little apartment on Daedalus Island, and you've started a little salvaging business to make ends meet. It doesn't take long before you're tracking down leads for bigger and better wrecks to salvage. And you'll be a millionaire before you know it (but more on that in a minute).
While salvaging, you begin to find unusual artifacts that put you in line with a mystery your own father was working to solve, before he himself drowned in an underwater archeological exploration. By interrogating local townsfolk, finding and reading ancient tomes, hiring museum curators for research, and other such means... perhaps you can solve the mystery your father failed to unravel. Or maybe you'll just get lost in a sunken cruise liner's boiler room and asphyxiate.
In the meantime, there are some side diversions outside all the salvaging. When you're not out in the water, you're mingling around town, interacting with locals and shops. You can buy new gear and restoratives. You can auction off treasures in a fun auction house mini-game. You can help to build museums by donating artifacts. You can create photo albums of fish, or aid in reef building for them. You can support the habit of the local town alcoholic, by giving him all the liquor you find. You can collect commemorative coins for doing odd jobs for locals. You can earn new titles for accomplishing hefty goals (basically an achievement system). You can synthesize new gear. You can scuba race other divers. And there's other stuff I'm forgetting. It's hard to be bored playing Everblue with so much stuff to mess around with. But let's be honest, most of the time you're gonna be deep down in dark wrecks pooping your pants.
When I say dark, I mean pitch black ships that are huge and creepy as hell. And here's where Everblue really differentiates itself from Endless Ocean. You can die in Everblue. Yes. If you run out of air, or run out of stamina, you straight up will die. All progress lost, you're dead, game over. And let me tell you folks, Everblue will put that fear in your heart. When you're three sections deep in the bilge of a long lost brigantine, trying desperately to find your way out, with a bag fall of hard sought loot, and only two minutes of air left in the tank... you will start to panic. Usually only to come face to face with some disgusting seabeast indifferent to your strife. Everblue can be a deeply disturbing game at times, there are some really strange things to find in these waters. None of which I'll ruin for the two other people on Earth who might play Everblue in humanity's future.
If I have one big complaint with Everblue, it's that despite how easy it is to become filthy rich... there's barely anything to spend your money on. You'll be stuck with a ten minute air tank for far too long... I'm a multi-millionaire why can't I buy a re-breather Arika? Eventually you will get better gear yes... but it's kind of silly how little you can do with your insanely huge bank account. Another complaint I have is that some of the wrecks you dive are in uncharted waters. Since you can not charter a boat to take you into uncharted waters, that's a problem. So every time you need to dive that kind of wreck, you'll have to submerge on the edge of the uncharted border, and swim out to the wreck, wasting precious oxygen. Come on Cap'n, won't you drop me off over this wreck if I tip you a cool million bucks? I'm good for it, promise.
I went through a lot of trouble to be able to play Everblue, and it was worth it. In over three decades of gaming I can honestly say, I've never played a game quite like this one. Everblue is truly unique. It's also truly not a game for just anybody, because it's pretty crazy. Really, Everblue's such a strange hybrid of genres. It's a scuba simulation, an adventure game, a light RPG, a puzzler, and even a psychological survival horror. I think the best thing I can say about Everblue; is that this game made me feel unusual emotions. Mainly feelings of extreme claustrophobia and the distinct sensation of suffocating. No really, my own actual breathing would get shallow when my air started running out in the video game. That might sound strange, but that's how immersive Everblue can be. And when you're desperate for new gaming experiences, you'll take what you can get, even if it's sympathetic suffocating!
Everblue is not a masterpiece, don't get me wrong, it has some design quibbles. There's plenty of things I'd change here. But there's also a totally idiosyncratic experience to be had, along with a rather interesting tale to unravel. There's plenty of things to do, lots of things to see, and no end of chances to piss your wetsuit. So even fifteen years past its prime, I say Everblue is worth diving into, even if it does go off the deep end at times.
*Bonus factoid. Despite being released in Europe, the spellings in the English localization are American-ized. As in "color" instead of "colour". This leads me to believe this game was originally translated for USA release. But I guess Capcom realized most Americans couldn't care less about a non-violent scuba salvaging simulator, and wisely(?) chose PAL land instead.
66. Everblue|PS2|2001|scuba adventure-RPG|12h 38m|7/10
Released for PS2 in 2001, Everblue was Arika's first attempt at a scuba diving game. Arika would go on to create Everblue 2 for PS2 in 2002. Then the Everblue games were followed on the Wii with Endless Ocean in 2007, and Endles Ocean: Blue World in 2009. Having finished and loved the Endless Ocean games on Wii, I was hungry for more oceanic adventuring, thus sought out the original Everblue. I had expected to simply play a more primitive version of Endless Ocean. I was in for quite a surprise.
It turns out that Everblue is very different indeed than Endless Ocean. First off, Everblue should have been called Everdark, because you spend most of your time salvaging through shipwrecks in very deep and black waters. That's right, the point of Everblue is not to scuba dive and catalog fish. Rather, Everblue is about salvaging, treasure hunting, and getting filthy rich. Slinking around in foreboding sunken deathtraps, with nothing but a flashlight to guide your way. Yes, you're usually fully unnerved while you're doing it. Or at least, I was.
Let's backtrack for a minute. In Everblue you play as a young man named Leonardo Delphino, son of a famous but long lost scuba diver. You live in a little apartment on Daedalus Island, and you've started a little salvaging business to make ends meet. It doesn't take long before you're tracking down leads for bigger and better wrecks to salvage. And you'll be a millionaire before you know it (but more on that in a minute).
While salvaging, you begin to find unusual artifacts that put you in line with a mystery your own father was working to solve, before he himself drowned in an underwater archeological exploration. By interrogating local townsfolk, finding and reading ancient tomes, hiring museum curators for research, and other such means... perhaps you can solve the mystery your father failed to unravel. Or maybe you'll just get lost in a sunken cruise liner's boiler room and asphyxiate.
In the meantime, there are some side diversions outside all the salvaging. When you're not out in the water, you're mingling around town, interacting with locals and shops. You can buy new gear and restoratives. You can auction off treasures in a fun auction house mini-game. You can help to build museums by donating artifacts. You can create photo albums of fish, or aid in reef building for them. You can support the habit of the local town alcoholic, by giving him all the liquor you find. You can collect commemorative coins for doing odd jobs for locals. You can earn new titles for accomplishing hefty goals (basically an achievement system). You can synthesize new gear. You can scuba race other divers. And there's other stuff I'm forgetting. It's hard to be bored playing Everblue with so much stuff to mess around with. But let's be honest, most of the time you're gonna be deep down in dark wrecks pooping your pants.
When I say dark, I mean pitch black ships that are huge and creepy as hell. And here's where Everblue really differentiates itself from Endless Ocean. You can die in Everblue. Yes. If you run out of air, or run out of stamina, you straight up will die. All progress lost, you're dead, game over. And let me tell you folks, Everblue will put that fear in your heart. When you're three sections deep in the bilge of a long lost brigantine, trying desperately to find your way out, with a bag fall of hard sought loot, and only two minutes of air left in the tank... you will start to panic. Usually only to come face to face with some disgusting seabeast indifferent to your strife. Everblue can be a deeply disturbing game at times, there are some really strange things to find in these waters. None of which I'll ruin for the two other people on Earth who might play Everblue in humanity's future.
If I have one big complaint with Everblue, it's that despite how easy it is to become filthy rich... there's barely anything to spend your money on. You'll be stuck with a ten minute air tank for far too long... I'm a multi-millionaire why can't I buy a re-breather Arika? Eventually you will get better gear yes... but it's kind of silly how little you can do with your insanely huge bank account. Another complaint I have is that some of the wrecks you dive are in uncharted waters. Since you can not charter a boat to take you into uncharted waters, that's a problem. So every time you need to dive that kind of wreck, you'll have to submerge on the edge of the uncharted border, and swim out to the wreck, wasting precious oxygen. Come on Cap'n, won't you drop me off over this wreck if I tip you a cool million bucks? I'm good for it, promise.
I went through a lot of trouble to be able to play Everblue, and it was worth it. In over three decades of gaming I can honestly say, I've never played a game quite like this one. Everblue is truly unique. It's also truly not a game for just anybody, because it's pretty crazy. Really, Everblue's such a strange hybrid of genres. It's a scuba simulation, an adventure game, a light RPG, a puzzler, and even a psychological survival horror. I think the best thing I can say about Everblue; is that this game made me feel unusual emotions. Mainly feelings of extreme claustrophobia and the distinct sensation of suffocating. No really, my own actual breathing would get shallow when my air started running out in the video game. That might sound strange, but that's how immersive Everblue can be. And when you're desperate for new gaming experiences, you'll take what you can get, even if it's sympathetic suffocating!
Everblue is not a masterpiece, don't get me wrong, it has some design quibbles. There's plenty of things I'd change here. But there's also a totally idiosyncratic experience to be had, along with a rather interesting tale to unravel. There's plenty of things to do, lots of things to see, and no end of chances to piss your wetsuit. So even fifteen years past its prime, I say Everblue is worth diving into, even if it does go off the deep end at times.
*Bonus factoid. Despite being released in Europe, the spellings in the English localization are American-ized. As in "color" instead of "colour". This leads me to believe this game was originally translated for USA release. But I guess Capcom realized most Americans couldn't care less about a non-violent scuba salvaging simulator, and wisely(?) chose PAL land instead.
PLAY KING'S FIELD.
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alienjesus
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- Posts: 8776
- Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2009 7:10 pm
- Location: London, UK.
Re: Games Beaten 2016
Exhuminator wrote:*Bonus factoid. Despite being released in Europe, the spellings in the English localization are American-ized. As in "color" instead of "colour". This leads me to believe this game was originally translated for USA release. But I guess Capcom realized most Americans couldn't care less about a non-violent scuba salvaging simulator, and wisely(?) chose PAL land instead.
It probably just means that Capcom's English localization team is based in America.
Other than Nintendo games since around the DS era, most of the time we get the American localization over here in Britain, complete with colors, moms, honor, valor and the likes. I actually find it a little irritating, but I can understand them not wanting to spend more money on localisation over such small differences.
Nintendo localize for Europe and the US seperately fairly often these days. I think it's mainly to try and speed up PAL releases.
Last edited by alienjesus on Mon May 16, 2016 12:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Games Beaten 2016
1. Metal Slug (MVS)(Run and Gun)
2. Puzzle Link (NGPC)(Puzzle)
3. Illusion of Gaia (SNES)(RPG)
4. Warhammer 40,000: Rites of War (PC)(Strategy)
5. Shadowrun: Dragonfall (PC)(RPG)
6. Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss (PC)(RPG)
7. Drakkhen (SNES)(RPG)
8. Flight of the Amazon Queen (PC)(Point and Click Adventure)
9. Shadowgrounds: Survivor (PC)(Top-Down Shooter)
10. Lufia & The Fortress of Doom (SNES)(RPG)
11. BioShock (PC)(FPS)
12. Jeopardy! Sports Edition (SNES)(Game Show Sim)
There were six game show simulators released on the Super Nintendo in the United States: 1 Family Feud, 2 Wheel of Fortune versions, and 3 Jeopardy! By finishing a run through Jeopardy! Sports Edition, I've now beaten 4 out of the 6. This is not a hugely popular genre, nor is it one I would recommend to folks unless they have a morbid curiosity about them, because I just don't find them that good. Interesting, sure, as they do offer up some interesting trivia that may or may not still be relevant. But not good. Still, they do manage to capture the faux glamour of their respective titles, and Jeopardy! Sports Edition is no different.
Jeopardy! Sports Edition is Jeopardy!, down to the theme, the set, the possibility of a Daily Double, even Alex Trebek's 16-bit mustache. If you know anything about the game show, then you'll be able to understand how the game operates. You also get a choice of who represents you in the game, all based on sports folks, though not necessarily anyone famous. I went with some old man who played golf, and when I got a question correct, he'd give a pixelated smirk that shows us old folks still know a thing or two that the damn kids sure don't. Stupid kids, get off my lawn! Unfortunately since answering questions can't be handled with something like a microphone, you instead have to run a cursor through the alphabet to spell out your answer while a minute timer ticks away. Misspell something, and you're screwed because you have to manually delete everything you typed in to go back to fix the mistake. I didn't get the chance to see how picky it might get with names or nicknames unfortunately, though since punctuation isn't offered, things like hyphens and apostrophes are all dropped.
The questions offer a surprising variety too. I expected it to just cover football, baseball, and basketball, but in the several times I fired it up, I had categories such as athlete endorsements, baseball movies, alternate leagues, athlete ages, and so on. Sure, baseball and football still formed the brunt of the questions, but I also had questions pertaining to hockey, swimming, gymnastics, Olympic competitions, soccer, even horse racing in international competitions. I was surprised at the breadth of topics. Yes, some of it is now out of date or dated in such a way that folks likely won't know about it(how many alternate soccer leagues formed in the US in the 1960s can you name?). The game also errs on the conservative side at times, so Josh Gibson's rumored hits out of Yankee Stadium in the 1930s? Not counted. The game declares there are 0 hits out of Yankee Stadium ever. I also discovered that there are some strange limitations in how the game picks questions, as my Final Jeopardy question was one I had literally seen 30 seconds before as the last question of the Double Jeopardy portion. I guess the devs thought there were enough questions that this wouldn't ever happen via random selection.
I doubt many folks will ever care about the game show simulators on consoles. It's an odd little throwaway genre. But it has its moments, and I was entertained for at least 20 minutes before moving on. I should really get around to tracking down the last two on the SNES so I can finish sweeping through this genre.
2. Puzzle Link (NGPC)(Puzzle)
3. Illusion of Gaia (SNES)(RPG)
4. Warhammer 40,000: Rites of War (PC)(Strategy)
5. Shadowrun: Dragonfall (PC)(RPG)
6. Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss (PC)(RPG)
7. Drakkhen (SNES)(RPG)
8. Flight of the Amazon Queen (PC)(Point and Click Adventure)
9. Shadowgrounds: Survivor (PC)(Top-Down Shooter)
10. Lufia & The Fortress of Doom (SNES)(RPG)
11. BioShock (PC)(FPS)
12. Jeopardy! Sports Edition (SNES)(Game Show Sim)
There were six game show simulators released on the Super Nintendo in the United States: 1 Family Feud, 2 Wheel of Fortune versions, and 3 Jeopardy! By finishing a run through Jeopardy! Sports Edition, I've now beaten 4 out of the 6. This is not a hugely popular genre, nor is it one I would recommend to folks unless they have a morbid curiosity about them, because I just don't find them that good. Interesting, sure, as they do offer up some interesting trivia that may or may not still be relevant. But not good. Still, they do manage to capture the faux glamour of their respective titles, and Jeopardy! Sports Edition is no different.
Jeopardy! Sports Edition is Jeopardy!, down to the theme, the set, the possibility of a Daily Double, even Alex Trebek's 16-bit mustache. If you know anything about the game show, then you'll be able to understand how the game operates. You also get a choice of who represents you in the game, all based on sports folks, though not necessarily anyone famous. I went with some old man who played golf, and when I got a question correct, he'd give a pixelated smirk that shows us old folks still know a thing or two that the damn kids sure don't. Stupid kids, get off my lawn! Unfortunately since answering questions can't be handled with something like a microphone, you instead have to run a cursor through the alphabet to spell out your answer while a minute timer ticks away. Misspell something, and you're screwed because you have to manually delete everything you typed in to go back to fix the mistake. I didn't get the chance to see how picky it might get with names or nicknames unfortunately, though since punctuation isn't offered, things like hyphens and apostrophes are all dropped.
The questions offer a surprising variety too. I expected it to just cover football, baseball, and basketball, but in the several times I fired it up, I had categories such as athlete endorsements, baseball movies, alternate leagues, athlete ages, and so on. Sure, baseball and football still formed the brunt of the questions, but I also had questions pertaining to hockey, swimming, gymnastics, Olympic competitions, soccer, even horse racing in international competitions. I was surprised at the breadth of topics. Yes, some of it is now out of date or dated in such a way that folks likely won't know about it(how many alternate soccer leagues formed in the US in the 1960s can you name?). The game also errs on the conservative side at times, so Josh Gibson's rumored hits out of Yankee Stadium in the 1930s? Not counted. The game declares there are 0 hits out of Yankee Stadium ever. I also discovered that there are some strange limitations in how the game picks questions, as my Final Jeopardy question was one I had literally seen 30 seconds before as the last question of the Double Jeopardy portion. I guess the devs thought there were enough questions that this wouldn't ever happen via random selection.
I doubt many folks will ever care about the game show simulators on consoles. It's an odd little throwaway genre. But it has its moments, and I was entertained for at least 20 minutes before moving on. I should really get around to tracking down the last two on the SNES so I can finish sweeping through this genre.
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noiseredux
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 38148
- Joined: Fri Nov 14, 2008 1:09 pm
- Contact:
Re: Games Beaten 2016
I love Jeopardy, and as such I love Jeopardy games. I have played lots of them over the years. I still have a couple on PC, but I haven't played them in a while.
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prfsnl_gmr
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 12201
- Joined: Mon Jun 01, 2009 10:26 pm
- Location: Charlotte, North Carolina
Re: Games Beaten 2016
Ack wrote:There were six game show simulators released on the Super Nintendo in the United States: 1 Family Feud, 2 Wheel of Fortune versions, and 3 Jeopardy!
Damn it, Ack. You're going to make me collect these, aren't you?!
.....
1. Ultimate NES Remix (3DS)
2. Space Invaders Infinity Gene (iOS)
3. World of Goo (iOS)
4. A Dark Room (iOS)
5. Shovel Knight (WII U)
6. The Room (iOS)
7. Mega Man 10 (PS3)
8. The Room Two (iOS)
9. Braid (PS3)
10. Kung Fu Fight! (WII U)
11. Kung Fu Rabbit (WII U)
12. Escape Goat (360)
13. Canabalt (iOS)
14. Leo's Fortune (iOS)
15. King's Field: The Ancient City (PS2)
16. Grim Fandango Remastered (iOS)
17. Dust: An Elysian Tale (360)
18. Shantae (GBC)
19. 3D Space Harrier (3DS)
20. 3D After Burner II (3DS)
21. 3D Classics: Kid Icarus (3DS)
22. Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters (GB)
23. Shantae: Risky's Revenge Director's Cut (WII U)
24. Final Fantasy Adventure (GB)
25. Furdemption (iOS)
26. Virtua Fighter Remix (SATURN)
27. Manos The Hands of Fate (iOS)
I beat Virtua Fighter Remix a few weeks ago (with Lau, of course). It is OK, but its sequels are vastly superior. (I also prefer the blocky original to the textured remix.) I will write more about it in the summer games challenge thread when I am done with Virtua Fighter 2 and Fighting Vipers.
Manos The Hands of Fate is a basic action-platformer based on the infamous movie. It is well designed, but the touch controls make some sections unnecessarily frustrating. (It is also available on Steam; so, there is a way to play it with a controller. This version is undoubtedly the better experience.) Nonetheless, it is a fun distraction, and the $1 price point was just right. Most importantly, however, the game works as both a parody of 1980s, Japanese-developed, console action platformers and a love letter to some truly terrible movies. (The game is based on one of my favorite bad movies, and the enemies include killer shrews, screaming skulls, goblin/trolls, and hobgoblins, among others. Also, Ro-Man is the penultimate boss.) Accordingly, I plan on keeping the game on my iPad for a while (if for no other reason than to summon a chip-tune rendition of "Torgo's Theme" at any time).
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BoneSnapDeez
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 20118
- Joined: Mon May 02, 2011 1:08 pm
- Location: Maine
Re: Games Beaten 2016
My wife speaks Spanish and used the word "mano" the other day. Didn't know that it literally meant "hand." She hasn't seen Manos: The Hands of Fate though. Sad.
When you startin' the Summer Challenge, chief?
When you startin' the Summer Challenge, chief?