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PartridgeSenpai
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by PartridgeSenpai Sun Sep 10, 2017 7:36 pm

ElkinFencer10 wrote:
Exhuminator wrote:Cave Story was pretty good until the very end. The boss rush was dumb, and the final boss was overkill. Drastic difficulty spike, or that's how it was with the original PC release. I don't know if all the ports and remakes since then have been better balanced. I hope so.

Either it hasn't or the original was just inhumanely difficult because the difficult still spikes, the boss rush is still stupid, and final boss is still all kinds of bullshit.


The difficulty modes weren't in the original if I remember correctly. I don't actually remember what easy mode is, having never played on it, but I do remember that hard mode is basically just the same game but NO health upgrades! :lol:

I'm definitely gonna have to go out and pick up the Switch version soon so I can do a counter review! You've made me so nostalgic to play it again <3

I also already mentioned it in the Slack chat, but I'll put it again here. The game does a very good job at hiding a fairly significant amount of content that you're very unlikely to come upon on a first playthrough unless you're following a guide and know exactly what to do and not do. I've never even fought the last boss without the Spur (the best gun in the game), and I can't imagine how hard he must be without it. The generally poor signposting on how to actually get to the best gun in the game and the final-final boss that it goes towards unlocking is probably one of the biggest problems with the game from an overall design point, in my opinion. If you go through the game knowing those things, the story, pacing, and difficulty are very much improved, so I just see it as such a shame that basically EVERYONE can't and doesn't and walks away with a bad impression :cry:

Still probably on my top 10 or 20 favorite games ever though. I'll always have a close place in my heart for it :)
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by pierrot Sun Sep 10, 2017 8:54 pm

PartridgeSenpai wrote:[If you go through the game knowing those things, the story, pacing, and difficulty are very much improved, so I just see it as such a shame that basically EVERYONE can't and doesn't and walks away with a bad impression :cry:

I played the original a couple years ago, and thought it was really fun, despite not knowing about those secrets. I agree that it would have been nice to get better hints toward them over the course of the game, but I didn't mind the ramp up in difficulty for the bosses at the end. I thought it was fairly consistent in ramping up the difficulty, throughout the game, with possibly a slightly greater slope to the difficulty curve at the very end.
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PartridgeSenpai
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by PartridgeSenpai Sun Sep 10, 2017 9:45 pm

pierrot wrote:
PartridgeSenpai wrote:[If you go through the game knowing those things, the story, pacing, and difficulty are very much improved, so I just see it as such a shame that basically EVERYONE can't and doesn't and walks away with a bad impression :cry:

I played the original a couple years ago, and thought it was really fun, despite not knowing about those secrets. I agree that it would have been nice to get better hints toward them over the course of the game, but I didn't mind the ramp up in difficulty for the bosses at the end. I thought it was fairly consistent in ramping up the difficulty, throughout the game, with possibly a slightly greater slope to the difficulty curve at the very end.


Has anyone else here who's played it gone for the secret stuff at any point? I only know of you, Exhumy, and Elkin who've gone through it, but perhaps someone else has? I'm just curious.

Also, Exhumy and Elkin, if you thought the main game's difficulty ramped up bad, you ain't seen NUTHIN' until the hell-stage that leads to the final-final boss! That place will absolutely kill the shit out of you (and you can apparently speed run the whole thing in 2 minutes? I could swear there's an achievement for it) :lol:
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by Sarge Sun Sep 10, 2017 10:04 pm

The Hell run in Cave Story is aptly named. Contra-level difficulty there. I wish I'd beaten it normally the first time through. It's a good game, but it's not amazing. But at the same time, it needs to be judged for when it was released; 2004 is a looooong time ago in indie years. And by one dude, no less? Super impressive. This is when a lot of people realized, "Wait, I can make my own games now? Sweet!"

January:
1) The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition (PC) (8.5) (1/1) (~5.5 hours)
2) ActRaiser (SNES) (8.0) (1/2) (~4 hours)
3) Bonk's Revenge (GB) (6.0) (1/3) (~1 hour)
4) Tiny Toon Adventures: Babs' Big Break (GB) (6.5) (1/3) (~1 hour)
5) Blackwell Legacy (PC) (7.0) (1/5) (2.6 hours)
6) Blackwell Unbound (PC) (7.5) (1/7) (2.2 hours)
7) Blackwell Convergence (PC) (8.0) (1/7) (2.4 hours)
8) Blackwell Deception (PC) (8.0) (1/8) (4.7 hours)
9) Blackwell Epiphany (PC) (9.0) (1/9) (6.5 hours)
10) Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (PS4) (8.0) (1/22) (~55 hours)
11) Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (360) (8.0) (1/28) (~.5 hours)
12) Deep Duck Trouble Starring Donald Duck (SMS) (6.5) (1/31) (~1 hour)

February:
13) Quackshot Starring Donald Duck (GEN) (7.5) (2/7) (~2 hours)
14) Fire Emblem Heroes (Android) (8.0) (2/9) (~10 hours)
15) Super C (NES) (9.5) (2/20) (~0.5 hours)
16) Contra (NES) (10.0) (2/20) (~0.5 hours)
17) Mickey's Dangerous Chase (GB) (6.5) (2/24) (~1 hour)
18) My Nintendo Picross: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (3DS) (8.5) (2/25) (~19 hours)
19) Mega Man 2 (NES) (10.0) (2/28) (~0.8 hours)

March:
20) Final Fantasy XV (PS4) (8.0) (3/2) (~33 hours)
21) Blaster Master Zero (NS) (9.0) (3/10) (~6.5 hours)
22) Espgaluda II Black Label (360) (8.0?) (3/17) (0.5 hours)
23) The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (NS) (9.5) (3/28) (~70+ hours)

April:
24) Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment (PC) (8.5) (4/7) (~5.5 hours)
25) Hyper Light Drifter (PS4) (8.0) (4/9) (~8 hours)
26) Gekido Advance: Kintaro's Revenge (GBA) (7.5) (4/16) (~3 hours)
27) Vanquish (PS3) (8.5) (4/17) (~7 hours)
28) Journey (PS3) (6.0) (4/19) (~2 hours)
29) GunForce (SNES) (4.0) (4/22) (~20 minutes)
30) GunForce 2 (ARC) (7.0) (4/23) (~30 minutes)
31) GunForce: Battle Fire Engulfed Terror Island (ARC) (6.0) (4/23) (~20 minutes)
32) Mighty Final Fight (NES) (8.5) (4/29) (~30 minutes)

May:
33) Final Fantasy V (SFC) (6.0) (5/1) (~33 hours)
34) Super Adventure Island (SNES) (7.0) (5/2) (~1 hour)
35) Dragon Spirit: The New Legend (NES) (7.5) (5/3?) (~30 minutes)
36) Mighty No. 9 (PS4) (5.0) (5/6?) (~5 hours)
37) Contra III: The Alien Wars (Hard) (SNES) (8.5) (5/11) (~1 hour)
38) Operation C (GB) (7.5) (5/22) (~1 hour)

June:
39) Super Dodge Ball (NES) (9.5) (6/1) (~15 minutes)
40) Bare Knuckle III (GEN) (7.5) (6/3) (~1 hour)
41) Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES) (9.5) (6/5) (~30 minutes)
42) Wizards & Warriors X: Fortress of Fear (GB) (4.0) (6/8) (~1 hour)
43) Castlevania: The Adventure (GB) (3.5) (6/9) (~1 hour)
44) Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King (PC) (8.0) (6/15) (~8.5 hours)
45) Streets of Rage (GEN) (9.0) (6/17) (~45 minutes)
46) Ghouls 'N Ghosts (GEN) (6.5) (6/17) (~4 hours)
47) Contra: Hard Corps (GEN) (8.5) (6/18) (~50 minutes)
48) Mighty Gunvolt Burst (NS) (7.5) (6/23) (~3 hours?)
49) Exile's End (PC) (8.0) (6/24) (~5 hours)

July:
50) Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (PS4) (8.5) (7/1) (16h53m)
51) Pharaoh Rebirth+ (PC) (8.0) (7/3) (7 hours)
52) Jackal (NES) (9.0) (7/9) (45 minutes)
53) Golden Axe III (NES) (2.5) (7/9) (~45 minutes)
54) Rygar (NES) (7.0) (7/10) (~2 hours)
55) Faxanadu (NES) (8.0) (7/14) (~6 hours)
56) Tekken 3 (PSX) (6.0) (7/24) (~20 minutes)
57) Horizon: Zero Dawn (PS4) (8.5) (7/30) (38h16m)

August:
58) Contra: The Alien Wars (GB) (3.5) (8/1) (~30 minutes)
59) Super Smash Bros. (N64) (8.0) (8/6) (~20 minutes)
60) Battletoads (Japan) (NES) (7.5) (8/10) (~40 minutes)
61) Castle of Dragon (NES) (2.5) (8/10) (~1 hour)
62) The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (NES) (3.0) (8/10) (~30 minutes)
63) Strider (NES) (6.5) (8/11) (~2 hours)
64) Commando (NES) (3.5) (8/11) (~1 hour)
65) Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa (NES) (6.5) (8/12) (~1h30m)
66) Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (GEN) (4.0) (8/12) (~1 hour)
67) Dragon Scroll: Yomigaerishi Maryuu (NES) (5.0) (8/13) (~4 hours)
68) Mega Man 8 (SAT) (7.0) (8/17) (~4 hours)
69) Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap (PS4) (8.0) (8/19) (4h42m)
70) Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix (PS3) (6.5) (8/25) (~30 minutes)
71) Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth (DS) (7.5) (8/27) (25 hours?)
72) Daikatana (GBC) (6.5) (8/28) (~3 hours)
73) Bionic Commando (NES) (9.5) (8/30) (~1.5 hours)
74) Adventure Island II (NES) (6.5) (8/31) (~3 hours)

September:
75) The Mafat Conspiracy (NES) (5.0) (9/1) (~1.5 hours)
76) Snake's Revenge (NES) (8.0) (9/4) (~4 hours)
77) Ys: Memories of Celceta (VITA) (7.5) (9/4) (~25 hours?)
78) Skate or Die 2: The Search for Double Trouble (NES) (5.0) (9/7) (~2 hours)
79) 1943: The Battle for Midway (NES) (7.0) (9/9) (~2.5 hours)
80) Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom (ARC/360) (5.0) (9/9) (~1 hour)
81) Arkista's Ring (NES) (6.0) (9/9) (~1 hour)
82) Bad Dudes (NES) (4.0) (9/9) (~45 minutes)
83) G.I. Joe: The Atlantis Factor (NES) (7.0) (9/10) (~2 hours)
84) Target: Renegade (NES) (2.0) (9/10) (~1 hour)
85) Gyruss (NES) (8.5) (9/11) (~1 hour)
86) Renegade (NES) (3.5) (9/12) (~30 minutes)

I've always liked G.I. Joe: The Atlantis Factor a lot. I know the first game is more beloved, but this one is slightly better, even if it has some problem areas. I used to be able to consistently beat this one in the days of no save states and all that. I'm not as good now, but you can radio for health restoratives or an ammo dump (which uses up one of the radios). It's a good idea to play through routes just to pick them up. Also, the order you pick up your Joes is important if you want to use particular ones; I didn't get Snake-Eyes or Duke until the end, and by that point they were hopelessly behind in strength.

At any rate, it almost doesn't matter who you go with as long as you can get their life meters up with some Chevrons, then get their fists and the laser gun upgraded (once you have it). That thing rips through bosses like nobody's business.

EDIT: Straight trash, y'all. Target: Renegade is straight trash. I did finally figure out a good way to deal damage quickly, but the game is balanced terribly, with cheap shots galore (even more than usual in a brawler). I'm not even sure I'd recommend trying this one from sheer morbid curiosity like I did.

EDIT 2: Gyruss was one of my favorite games growing up. I didn't have the NES version, but a guy with a tire shop in my town had arcade machines next to my uncle's service station, so I got to play what he had at times. (And for the record, the fact that this guy had those games was crazy; I come from a town of maybe 250 people.) I got to play stuff like Ninja Gaiden, Double Dragon, Robocop, and, of course, Gyruss. I love the circling-the-screen mechanic, and the action is blistering. I don't remember the changes between it and the NES version, but I don't remember a lot of the boss-type encounters being in the arcade version, nor do I remember that power shot. They're both interesting additions to what was a pretty simple (but awesome) game. It's sad that this version of Konami isn't kicking anymore.

I'm probably going to claim a legit win on this one. The couple of times I restored state, I died again soon after and just kept going. Getting the final boss pattern was the trickiest, but once I had it, power shots sped things up and also made for a good defense against his lasers.

EDIT 3: Renegade ends up much better than its ersatz sequel, or at least the NES one does. It's very short, but the moveset is varied, and you can even do running attacks, which is something not seen until the third game of the Double Dragon series. (Of course, Technos did it in some other games of theirs before DD3.)

Really, what brings it down is the very, very unfair enemies. Most you can deal with, but it really takes good usage of your running attack, or your ground-and-pound. Bosses in particular will stomp you if you don't use the dash attack. The last boss is even worse, much like Double Dragon, he wields a gun, and unlike that game, one shot and you're dead. This is made even worse if he catches you in your dash attack, because he'll hit you with a melee attack and immediately follow with a shot. Basically, you can't really get hit here. The only way I found was to move above or below, and do the dash attack with perfect timing as he moved onto your plane. Otherwise you're likely to get capped.
Last edited by Sarge on Wed Sep 13, 2017 12:06 am, edited 3 times in total.
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PartridgeSenpai
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by PartridgeSenpai Sun Sep 10, 2017 10:17 pm

Sarge wrote:The Hell run in Cave Story is aptly named. Contra-level difficulty there. I wish I'd beaten it normally the first time through. It's a good game, but it's not amazing. But at the same time, it needs to be judged for when it was released; 2004 is a looooong time ago in indie years. And by one dude, no less? Super impressive. This is when a lot of people realized, "Wait, I can make my own games now? Sweet!"


Yeah, I'll be the first to admit, it has its fair share of problems and isn't some messiah of gaming, but it's a game I really enjoy at the very least :)

He's still making games, too! Kero Blaster came out a couple years back, and that was him :D . Definitely a much more action over adventure measure in Kero Blaster, to the best of my knowledge though. It's Cave Story-ish in its combat, but definitely not Cave Story. I still gotta play it Xp
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Exhuminator
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by Exhuminator Wed Sep 13, 2017 11:03 am

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Deception III: Dark Delusion | 8/10

At its heart, the Deception series (consisting of five entries at this point) are real time strategy games. In this regard, Deception III is very similar to Deception II. Once again you play as a female protagonist trapped in a castle who uses magical traps to kill her pursuers. At any time the player can pause the game and set up to three traps per room in whatever configuration they wish. This time there are multiple castles to fight in, and the traps can now be custom designed by the player. Thus if you wanted to make a vampiric spiked wall that summons people to itself, and then slams into them, you can do so. Despite custom trap making, Deception III is more difficult than Deception II. Primarily because pursuers in this entry can have special traits like summon-resistance, elemental guarding, or the ability to regenerate life. That means you must have a well rounded custom trap arsenal to counter multitudes of varying threats. Your biggest worry in Deception III are the "Hellknights", trust me they live up to their name. A nice feature is you can read the stats and bio of every enemy in the current level, aiding in strategic design.

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Deception III's self-contained plot is fairly lengthy, told by many CG and real-time cutscenes. Unfortunately the localization is a bit crude, and the nuances of the story are lost in translation. (All you need to know is everybody wants to kill you, so kill them instead.) The graphics are above average with detailed textures and expressive polygonal characters. The OST gets the job done but won't stick in your mind. Aesthetics aside, gameplay is the real focus here. Constructing Rube Goldberg styled death trap sequences never gets old. And combo attacks net high "Dreak", the currency used to build new traps. For example, activating a bear trap to hold an enemy, then slamming them with a giant hammer into a lava pit, after which an arrow hits them in the face, yields high Dreak reward. It's all great fun, and offers the player plenty of creativity. Any real time strategy fan with a sadism streak would do well to check out Deception III: Dark Delusion.

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PLAY KING'S FIELD.
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Key-Glyph
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by Key-Glyph Thu Sep 14, 2017 2:56 am

Thanks for the Contra high-fives, guys. I didn't actually know that pulling off a deathless run was "a thing" until a few days ago; the idea was on my radar only because there's a line in a YT Cracker rap about it that I've always thought was both funny and impressive ("We finished Contra with only one life / Finished Metal Gear Solid using only a knife").

I've really got the challenge bug now, though, so I've been practicing runs without powerups. I can do it without using continues, but so far I'm still dying three or four times. The weird thing is that the game is easier with the peashooter! Some enemies fire and spawn more slowly when you don't have powerups going. It's really noticeable on bosses. The bases don't seem to change though, so that just becomes an exercise in defensive, determined whittling.

But now for some new stuff:

01. Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (PS2)
02. Portal 2 (PS3) [2-Player]
03. Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar (ApplII) -- Summer Games Challenge
04. Pokemon HeartGold (DS)*
05. Tecmo Bowl (NES) -- Summer Games Challenge
06. Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge (XBLA) -- Summer Games Challenge
07. X-Men (GEN) -- Summer Games Challenge
08. Contra (NES) -- Summer Games Challenge
09. Star Fox (SNES) -- Summer Games Challenge
10. The Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse (SNES)
11. Super Metroid (SNES) -- Summer Games Challenge
12. XCOM 2 [Veteran Ironman] (PS4)*
13. Contra (NES)* [Deathless Run]

14. Mega Man (NES)
15. Mega Man 3 (NES)


I was recently gifted a bunch of Mega Man games because I'd mentioned I'd only played the second installment on the NES, so I sat down to an MM Marathon while home sick today. Since I wasn't steeped in the series as a kid or adolescent I don't have an idea of whether my Mega Man opinions are going to be controversial, but my experience was really mixed. And for the record, I did play 2 as an adult and liked it very, very much.

Mega Man:
With Mega Man, I was having a decent time plugging away at the levels, but found many of the Robot Masters frustrating. The concept of the game hinges on your being able to discover weaknesses, but I'd get initially stomped in some fights so quickly (I'm looking at you, Elecman) that I couldn't even really tell how effective a weapon was, much less begin to understand any movement patterns. I was frequently left feeling as if things were impossible instead of being inspired to discover a tactical secret. I also found myself wishing that the damage from "super effective" weapons was standardized; with Ice Man, for example, I spent a lot of time trying to perfect my jumps because I thought it was a necessary tactic based on the length of other fights, when later I discovered you can just knock him out in about three seconds with the right gun. I felt kind of duped into channeling a lot of energy into a skill that was most likely intended to be bypassed (and which I could never pull off consistently anyway because the window of success was so small).

I think in the end, Mega Man suffered from being overly ambitious. There were so many wonderful ideas and so much going on, but this unfortunately impacted gameplay. There was a lot of slowdown that interfered with my timing, for one thing, which was a huge flaw for a precision game like this. I also felt like the Wily Fortress went on for waaaaay too long (although due to the lack of passwords it did make me leave the NES on pause overnight, which brought back memories); I can't count how many times I died trying to get past that last rush of four Masters, and I spent over an hour trying to figure out the final boss. But the platforming was enjoyable, and the concepts are really fun. Mega Man 2 obviously took the groundwork laid here and built it up into the classic it was intended to be.


Mega Man 3
My experience with Mega Man 3 was in some ways the opposite of the original. For example, I thought the levels suffered from more unfair traps and maneuvers than the bosses did, although the game was way more generous with powerups. As another example, once I got through the four mystery levels, the Wily Fortress basically let me parade around the bases feeling awesome instead of pushing me into the dirt. Basically, in the original I enjoyed the stages but got aggravated with the endgame; with 3 I was aggravated with the stages but enjoyed the endgame.

The improvement in graphics and sound was really captivating, though. I think Mega Man 3 might have my favorite soundtrack of the original trilogy. I can say this with 90% certainty because I was singing along a heck of a lot more than I remember doing with 2.

I plan on watching long plays of the MM trilogy with really talented folks at the helm, because I'm genuinely super curious to see how certain things are done properly -- but from my layman's perspective, I kind of felt like Mega Man and Mega Man 3 were games about running into stuff and taking damage. What amazes me about saying this is that it's exactly what people say who don't like the Sonic series, and Sonic games click with me on such a deep level that I forget this experience is not universal. So it's a bit of what you grew up with, a bit of what inspires you, and a bit of what you come to the table already talented at, I suppose. It's interesting to see something like this from the other perspective.
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yaktaur
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by yaktaur Thu Sep 14, 2017 7:49 am

I beat Super Mario Land B-)
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Markies
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by Markies Thu Sep 14, 2017 5:44 pm

1. Phantasy Star II (GEN)
2. Guitar Hero (PS2)
3. Adventures of Lolo (NES)
4. Animal Crossing (GCN)
5. Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse (NES)
6. Beyond The Beyond (PS1)
7. R.B.I. Baseball (NES)
8. Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo (PS1)
9. GoldenEye: Rogue Agent (GCN)
10. Project Gotham Racing (XBOX)
11. Ristar (GEN)
12. Conker's Bad Fur Day (N64)
13. Crash Bandicoot (PS1)
14. Pikmin (GCN)
15. Syberia (XBOX)
16. Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht (PS2)
17. Tetris Plus (PS1)
18. Metropolis Street Racer (DC)
19. Darkwing Duck (NES)
20. Marvel Vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes (PS2)
21. Ico (PS2)
22. Final Fantasy V (SNES)
23. Mega Man X (SNES)
24. Beyond Good & Evil (XBOX)
25. Beetle Adventure Racing! (N64)
26. Sonic Adventure (DC)
27. Giga Wing (DC)
28. Metal Arms: Glitch in the System (XBOX)

29. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GCN)

I beat The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker on the Nintendo GameCube this afternoon!

So, the last 3D Zelda I had played was Majora's Mask back in 2002. I was in college and brought up my N64 to play through some games. My roommate was able to help me and I was able to beat that game.

Afterwards, I played Link to the Past and then Zelda II respectively for the first time. Link to the Past was a few years after college and Zelda II was just recently. So, I was due for a 3D Zelda title and the Wind Waker was one of the main reasons I bought a GameCube as I was so excited to play it.

I know Wind Waker gets some flak from several people. I never cared about the change in art style when the game was first released. I didn't have an opinion one way or another. And I know people complain about the boating/searching in the game. I also know that whenever a Zelda game is brought up in a gaming forum that it leads to a major discussion, so I will do my best to present my opinion.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is one of the greatest games I have ever played. It might reach my top 10, but I know that it is in my top 20.

I loved absolutely everything about the game. It is unbelievably fantastic and just an absolute blast to play.

I love the cell shaded look and the art style. It has such a timeless look that blew me away even 15 years after its release. Also, Link is full of expression that his face cracked me up several times. I will never get tired of the look of wonder on his face when he pulls up a treasure chest.

It wasn't until the 3rd or 4th time that I was exploring the entire world that the searching began to wane on me. I began to understand how people did not like it. For me, I persevered and I enjoyed it to the very end. I understood how people thought it was too much, but it never reached that point for me. I loved traveling from island to island, exploring new areas and uncovering hidden secrets.

I loved all the inhabitants and the mini-games that were brought there. There was never a mini-game that was too difficult or that made me want to quit the game. In fact, I enjoyed them all and will never get tired of saying 'Ker-FLUME!'

Even though the dungeons weren't that plentiful, they were rather long and exciting. After a few hours of playing them, I had a feeling of accomplishment when I finally beat them. And the bosses were unique as well and creatively designed.

I will always have a treasured spot in my heart for the original Legend of Zelda. That game was my childhood and I beat it countless times. For my second spot, I always said Ocarina of Time was it. For now, I think it has some competition.

I loved everything about it and I'm so excited to continue my Zelda journey. I have some compilations first, but in the end, I am now looking forward to playing Twilight Princess!
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by ElkinFencer10 Thu Sep 14, 2017 7:01 pm

Games Beaten in 2017 So Far - 96
* denotes a replay

January (10 Games Beaten)
1. Persona 4 Arena - Playstation January 1
2. Chrono Trigger - SNES - January 7
3. Ys: The Vanished Omens - Master System - January 8
4. MUSHA - Genesis - January 10
5. Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree's Woe and the Blight Below - PlayStation 4 - January 11
6. Ys I - TurboGrafx-CD - January 13
7. Ys II - TurboGrafx-CD - January 14
8. Dragon Quest Builders - PlayStation 4 - January 23
9. Resident Evil 7: Biohazard - PlayStation 4 - January 26
10. School Girl/Zombie Hunter - PlayStation 4 - January 29


February (12 Games Beaten)
11. Fire Emblem Heroes - Android - February 3
12. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD - Wii U - February 5
13. Dante's Inferno - PlayStation 3 - February 7
14. Hotel Dusk: Room 215 - DS - February 11
15. Persona 4: Dancing All Night - Vita - February 12
16. Sniper Elite 4 - PlayStation 4 - February 17
17. Pony Quest - NES - February 19
18. Halo Wars 2 - Xbox One - February 22
19. Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions - PlayStation Portable - February 24
20. Hotline Miami - PlayStation 4 - February 26
21. Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light - Famicom - February 27
22. Bad Dudes - NES - February 28


March (6 Games Beaten)
23. Root Letter - PlayStation 4 - March 2
24. Vroom in the Night Sky - Switch - March 10
25. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Switch - March 17
26. Super Bomberman R - Switch - March 18
27. Super Mario Run - Android - March 24
28. I Am Setsuna - Switch - March 24


April (9 Games Beaten)
29. Mass Effect: Andromeda - PlayStation 4 - April 1
30. Sniper Elite: Nazi Zombie Army - PlayStation 4 - April 2
31. Sniper Elite: Nazi Zombie Army 2 - PlayStation 4 - April 2
32. New Frontier Days: Founding Pioneers - Switch - April 3
33. Sniper Elite: Nazi Zombie Army 3 - PlayStation 4 - April 4
34. Persona 5 - PlayStation 4 - April 17
35. Alienation - PlayStation 4 - April 18
36. Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc - PlayStation 4 - April 23
37. Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair - PlayStation 4 - April 29


May (14 Games Beaten)
38. Puyo Puyo Tetris - Switch - May 4
39. Fire Emblem Gaiden - Famicom - May 6
40. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - Switch - May 6
41. Outlast II - PlayStation 4 - May 7
42. Dishonored - PlayStation 4 - May 10
43. Snipperclips: Cut it Out, Together! - Switch - May 12
44. Pikmin - Gamecube - May 12
45. Metal Slug - Neo Geo MVS - May 13*
46. Dariusburst CS: Chronicle Savior - PlayStation 4 - May 14
47. Batman: The TellTale Series - PlayStation 4 - May 17
48. Batman: Arkham VR - PlayStation 4 - May 18
49. Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia - 3DS - May 25
50. Farpoint - PlayStation 4 - May 27
51. The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings - Xbox 360 - May 29


June (10 Games Beaten)
52. Star Trek: Bridge Crew - PlayStation 4 - June 2
53. The Walking Dead: A New Frontier - PlayStation 4 - June 3
54. Rebel Galaxy - PC - June 18
55. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II - Vita - June 20
56. Medal of Honor: Allied Assault - PC - June 21*
57. Medal of Honor: Allied Assault - Spearhead - PC - June 21
58. Medal of Honor: Allied Assault - Breakthrough - PC - June 22
59. Aliens Versus Predator - PC - June 23
60. Army Men - PC - June 24*
61. Apartment 666 - PC - June 26


July (20 Games Beaten)
62. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist - Genesis - July 12*
63. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Hearts of Stone - PlayStation 4 - July 15
64. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Blood and Wine - PlayStation 4 - July 22
65. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - PlayStation 4 - July 24
66. Splatoon 2 - Switch - July 25
67. Kamiko - Switch - July 25
68. Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge - Xbox - July 26
69. Panzer Dragoon - Saturn - July 27*
70. Snake Pass - Switch - July 27
71. Buck Bumble - Nintendo 64 - July 28*
72. Castlevania - NES - July 29
73. Castlevania II: Simon's Quest - NES - July 29
74. Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse - NES - July 29
75. Super Castlevania IV - SNES - July 30
76. Castlevania Adventure - Game Boy - July 30
77. Castlevania Adventure Rebirth - Wii - July 30
78. Contra Rebirth - Wii - July 31
79. Heavy Fire: Special Operations - Wii - July 31
80. Heavy Fire: Black Arms - Wii - July 31
81. Panzer Dragoon II Zwei - Saturn - July 31*


August (9 Games Beaten)
82. Sunrider: Mask of Arcadius - Steam - August 4
83. Panzer Dragoon Saga - Saturn - August 5
84. Sunrider: Liberation Day - Steam - August 6
85. Emily is Away - Steam - August 8
86. Ys III: Wanderers from Ys - SNES - August 19
87. Nights of Azure - PlayStation 4 - August 25
88. Uncharted: The Lost Legacy - PlayStation 4 - August 26
89. Strike Suit Zero: Director's Cut - Xbox One - August 27
90. Devil's Third - Wii U - August 30*


September (6 Games Beaten)
91. Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle - Switch - September 4
92. Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom - Wii U - September 4
93. Daytona USA - Xbox 360 - September 6
94. Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow Over Mystara - Wii U - September 6
95. Cave Story+ - Switch - September 10
96. Cosmic Star Heroine - Steam - September 14


96. Cosmic Star Heroine - Steam - September 14

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Cosmic Star Heroine is a game I went into knowing nothing about, immediately felt very conflicted about, and then fell absolutely in love with.  I started playing it because Flake said he was going to start it, and I like playing single player games alongside someone else and swapping experiences.  When I fired it up and saw the 16-bit-esque pixel graphics, I immediately though "Oh Christ, another damn pixel art game..." but I had kept hearing good things about it, and mrpopo had given me the Steam code for the game a few months ago, so I decided I'd stick with it.  Jesus Christ, I'm so glad that I did.

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It's immediately evident that Cosmic Star Heroine takes a lot of inspiration from Chrono Trigger, Phantasy Star, and Mass Effect.  It's a 2D JRPG like the former two games, but it has lot of playable characters from whom to choose and a save-the-galaxy sci-fi theme like the latter.  Although I didn't realize this until I was about a third of the way through the game, it's made by the same folks who made the PHENOMENAL Cthulhu Saves the World and the (supposedly but I haven't played it yet) excellent Breath of Death VII, two other pixel art indie RPGs.  While having satirical rather than serious plots, those games are extremely well regarded (as is Cosmic Star Heroine), so made perfect sense to me why I was enjoying this game so much once I realized that it was the same development team.  As I later found out, Cthulhu and the protagonist from Breath of Death actually make cameo appearances as optional side quest bosses (as does the Raccoon City Police Department from Resident Evil 2).

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The game plays like a fairly standard JRPG with a team of up to four playable characters (out of a total of eleven) and one non-player "support" character who gives certain buffs (+25% damage to organics, +25% healing, +10% exp gain, etc).  Rather than a typical MP system, the game uses a "charge" system whereby your characters' abilities each have one use, and to recharge that ability, the character must spend a turn defending.  The game is very approachable and doesn't get bogged down in grinding or meticulous item rationing like a lot of JRPGs because your characters' health is always restored after each battle.  The game takes place almost entirely on three different planets with an almost-endgame dungeon and the actually-endgame dungeon away from those three planets.  Once a certain point is reached, one can travel freely between the three planets and hunt sidequests and fight optional bosses.

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The visuals, being pixel art, don't really stand out as WOW! levels of impressive or anything, but they are definitely well done, and the backgrounds and environments definitely have unique character and charm.  The game's music is actually fantastic - something that's often neglected in indie RPGs - and it's the sound design along with the writing that really make the game shine.  The music is always fitting for the situation or the locale, and the writing is extremely well done with a story that keeps players interested and engaged and characters who never bore and who are, for the most part, pretty well developed throughout the game's progression.  The humor in the game is one of the best aspects of the writing in my opinion, and that will come as no surprise to those who've played Cthulhu Saves the World.

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Cosmic Star Heroine is definitely an extraordinary indie game.  I've become increasingly difficult to impress with indie games over the years, especially those that employ the done-to-death pixel aesthetic, but this game manages to do it.  It's well written, brilliantly designed, and more playable than a lot of AAA games with cutting edge graphics and 3D game engines.  It's a simple game, but it's an example of simplicity at its finest.  With a handful of platforms supported (not to mention Limited Run Games' upcoming physical releases for Vita and PS4), this is a game that all RPG lovers need to play.  I can promise you that it won't disappoint in the slightest.
Exhuminator wrote:Ecchi lords must unite for great justice.

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