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PartridgeSenpai
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Re: Games Beaten 2016

by PartridgeSenpai Sun Jan 03, 2016 10:13 am

Sarge wrote:I have a weird history with Tales games. They're always really hit and miss with me. I loved Symphonia to pieces, but Vesperia fell a bit flat (I still beat it, though!). I didn't initially cotton to Abyss, but it ended up being one of my favorites. The original is pretty good, and I went through Destiny, but I have yet to finish off Eternia. But I somehow suffered through Legendia... at least the first part of the game.

Anyway, I'm playing a bit of Tales of Hearts R now, and it's pretty spiffy so far. The pacing is absolutely blistering right now, and I really, really appreciate that.


I'm glad to hear someone recommend Tales of Hearts R, because I've been looking at getting it, but the other couple Tales-fan friends I have didn't like it so much. I was also kind of looking forward to Legendia because it was developed by the Tekken guys, and not the usual Tales developers.
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MrPopo
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Re: Games Beaten 2016

by MrPopo Sun Jan 03, 2016 11:37 am

What I've been hearing is that Hearts is good, but the English localization of Hearts R is bad.
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Sarge
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Re: Games Beaten 2016

by Sarge Sun Jan 03, 2016 10:04 pm

Well, it's spotty in where they use voice acting and where they don't. And it's in Japanese where it is. That doesn't really bother me. In fact, I often disable voices when I get the opportunity, because the voices in my head (har!) sound better in general. The translation itself, at least for the time I've played, seems fine. I've heard good things on that front.

I've also heard folks say that the DS version's battle system was slicker, though. This one moves it to 3D, like most modern Tales games, for better or for worse.

Now, for the other reason I'm in this thread...

...I've done it. I've beaten Holy Diver legit.

Well, effectively. I was pounding away at levels 5 and 6 today, and managed to get through them legit. No joke! I've even got the horrible "grapes of wrath" section down to a science. I usually only lose a life or two, and I've generally got five or six when I get there because the rest of the stage has gotten a bit easy.

Of course, I knew not beating the stupid eyeball tower in a proper run would bug me like crazy, so I went back to the beginning, and pounded on him. Took me three stage runs, and I got there the last time, thought I didn't have enough life, but managed to put him down without losing any lives against him. The speedrun has the right strategy for sure, you just have to do some manic switching between triggering your Overdrive and blasting away. I had two segments down for a while without even realizing it, I was so into it. With that, I've legit finished every single stage, so I'm calling this one done. I have zero doubts I could roll through levels 5 and 6 right now, but I'm absolutely exhausted putting that much effort into the game today.

My playthrough wasn't nearly as pretty, either. There are segments where I shine, but Funkdoc's got some amazing skills in the game, far more than I have achieved.

For the record? Game is still BS.
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BoneSnapDeez
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Re: Games Beaten 2016

by BoneSnapDeez Sun Jan 03, 2016 10:19 pm

I think the Tales series is kind of..... lazy, basically.

Some of the initial titles (Phantasia, Destiny, Symphonia, Abyss) are pretty fun, but then the developers got complacent and starting cranking out the same formulaic padded "epic" RPGs faster than anyone could actually play them. I barely even remember Vesperia and Graces F, let alone the differences between the two. The dungeon-crawling game on PSP was kinda cool, cuz at least that did something different.
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Sarge
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Re: Games Beaten 2016

by Sarge Sun Jan 03, 2016 10:32 pm

I remember Vesperia pretty well, actually. It had one of the cooler protagonists in the series. Too bad his combat style didn't feel as smooth as I'd like, and there was something about the game that just drug on a bit too long. It could also be that my patience isn't what it used to be...

I still need to finish Graces f. I went about 30 hours in.

The series does have a tendency to phone it in at times, though. Like I said, I feel the track record there is spotty. I don't think they're ever truly bad, though. Except maybe Legendia, and even that had its moments.
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marurun
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Re: Games Beaten 2016

by marurun Sun Jan 03, 2016 10:32 pm

Borderlands: the Pre-Sequel

I have thoroughly beaten this game. I have beaten it, and the raid boss end-boss fight, in Ultimate Vault Hunter mode and am 3 levels from max (70). The only thing I haven't done is complete the Holodrome in UVH mode and finish all the Claptrap side-quests in UVH mode. Consider it beaten to a pulp.

So, this game plays a lot like Borderlands 2. The level design isn't as sharp, but the new enemy types are great. Also, lasers and the cryo element are fun. The game is quite a bit buggy in places, though. The writing isn't as consistent as BL2, though I really do love the Australian flavor of Elpis. It provides excellent fleshing-out of some stuff in Borderlands 2. Basically, much much more of the same, with some advantages and some disadvantages. Does reach the highs of BL2, but the lows aren't too low, so it remains a fine game.
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MrPopo
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Re: Games Beaten 2016

by MrPopo Sun Jan 03, 2016 11:59 pm

1. Oni - PC
2. Donkey Kong 64 - N64

101%, K. Rool down in two attempts, 23 hours in game (so probably closer to 30 hours real time when you figure in all the unskippable cutscenes that don't advance the in game timer. I ended up having to look up the locations of the two secrets in the entrance to Fungi Forest (it's not evident they exist, and even getting the first one probably means you miss the second one) and the location of Diddy's banana at the peak of DK Island (I got screwed by the draw distance and thought it didn't exist there).

This ended up being a really mixed game for me. I thought the overall level design was really clever and they did a good job of slowly ramping things up and teaching you to switch between your characters to pass different parts of the level. The game has a ton of collectables, but it never really feels onerous. Unless you're crazy enough to try and get all 100 bananas for all Kongs in all levels.

The part that ended up causing me the most frustration, and it was enough that I feel it really hurts the game, is the minigames. About half of them were fun and not too bad, but the other half just utterly sucked. Herding the gophers (especially having to do 15 twice), every single race, fly swatting, and several of the battle arenas that either forced Donkey Kong on you or spammed Kasplats.

Also, the credits aren't nearly as awesome as Jet Force Gemini's. But at least it has the DK Rap.
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Sarge
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Re: Games Beaten 2016

by Sarge Mon Jan 04, 2016 1:12 am

The bananas were the worst. I wouldn't have minded if you could pick them up with any Kong, but no, you have to be the right Kong. Very annoying. A lot of the game is really solid, but there's a such thing as too much collecting, and the game certainly commits that crime.

Aaaand... you've put the DK rap in my head. Dang it. DANG IT. (I used to annoy my bro with it, though.)
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retrosportsgamer
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Re: Games Beaten 2016

by retrosportsgamer Mon Jan 04, 2016 1:16 am

Ok here we go! This is the year!

1. Momonga Pinball Adventures (WiiU-eShop)

I love pinball so this adventure game using pinball tables (for the most part - there are some flying sequences and a mini-level where you're tilting the gamepad) was something I wanted to check out when it clocked in at 50% off ($2.99). You can earn up to three stars (think Angry Birds) on each level, strictly based on points (time remaining, coins obtained, etc) and in addition, each level has 4 additional challenges after completing the course. My only mild complaint for the game is that these have to be played in order and one at a time - you can't knock out two challenges in one run. If the second challenge is to beat the level in sub-2 minutes, you have to complete that even if you capture 50 coins (or whatever) during the same run. Some forced replayability there.

The pinball mechanics here are fine, and the character are very kid friendly. A critique you'll see for the game is that it is short, which is true if you're just going to finish the story. The final boss took me three attempts fwiw. It's 9 levels (so 45 challenges) and there are some fun mini-levels mixed in. This one is also available for $1.99 on iOS and Android.
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Re: Games Beaten 2016

by MrPopo Mon Jan 04, 2016 3:12 am

1. Oni - PC
2. Donkey Kong 64 - N64
3. Yoshi's Story - N64

Following up the DK Rap comes the singing Yoshis, which couldn't help but bring a smile to my face each time. And I had kitties snuggling with me while I played, so it was just one giant joy session. When I wasn't falling into pits, of course, which was often.

I don't know how I feel about this game. The game is quite short, but at the same time the levels get difficult fast, much much much moreso if you want to go for a melon only run. There's a lot that instant kills you, and you can't continue once you run out of lives. And the branching paths are sort of a choose your own difficulty selection. It's this weird mix of fun game for younger people and hardcore ballbuster.

I guess the singing puts it into the good category.
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