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marurun
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by marurun Sat Jan 14, 2017 7:49 pm

For the last time, guys... Persona isn't a Dragon Slayer game!
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TSTR
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by TSTR Sat Jan 14, 2017 8:03 pm

And I think we've reached this point:

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BoneSnapDeez
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by BoneSnapDeez Sat Jan 14, 2017 9:42 pm

1. Chrono Trigger (SNES)
2. Gyromite (NES)
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Gyromite is one of those charming old "black label" NES games released at launch in North America. But a look at the Japanese release date reveals that this game initially dropped before Super Mario Bros., and it plays exactly how you'd expect a pre-SMB Nintendo game to play. Smooth platforming action, small stages (they seem to be about 2-3 screens), black background, addictive gameplay.

Here's the gist. Gyromite stars a professor who must clear each stage of dynamite before a timer hits zero. Red and blue gates must be raised and lowered frequently to progress. The only enemies are "smicks" who are ostensibly threatening but usually seem to lumber around aimlessly. One hit from a smick equals one life lost. The professor is defenseless and can't jump, but he can bait smicks with radishes which placates them for a small window of time. With good timing, the poor smicks can also be crushed by gates (which can crush the professor as well!).

Gyromite offers an impressive number of stages - 40 total - so one playthrough should easily net more than an hour. On the surface the game appears to be rather well-designed and it perhaps could have been an NES classic, if not for one niggling idiosyncrasy. Yes, this is one (of the two) R.O.B. the Robot games.
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Now, I've never used a R.O.B. and don't plan on buying one. But, from what I've gathered from video footage, playing Gyromite with R.O.B. works something like this: you press the start button, communicating lights flash, and R.O.B. raises/lowers gates by way of "gyros" (these plastic disc things). It's a slow process, which aids in explaining why the smicks trot around at a glacial pace and why the stage time limits are beyond generous.

So how does one play this sans R.O.B.? Well, the A and B buttons on controller two can also be used to raise and lower the gates. One still has to use the d-pad on controller one to move the professor, however, so two controllers are needed. I should mention here that this is a fantastic game to co-op with a young child: give 'em gate duty. And playing alone actually... isn't that that, surprisingly. Remember, the prof. can't jump so the bulk of the controller one action is regulated solely to the d-pad. I played with controller one in my left hand, thumb on the d-pad, while controller two rested next to me, my index and middle fingers on B and A. The only tricky moments occur when a radish needs to be picked up and moved, as this requires the B button on controller one.

And since the game is designed to be played with slow ass R.O.B. you're at a huge advantage when using two controllers instead. I found myself blazing through most stages unscathed. The game does get a bit tricky in the later half, as it's possible to talk a "wrong" path and get stuck. There's a suicide option (I think it was Start and Select pressed together?) for these very situations. That said, the difficulty peaks and flattens eventually. I don't think level 40 was any harder than level 25, for instance. Gyromite is quite generous with continues too - they're unlimited.
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Let's talk about "Mode B." I didn't even know this existed (most longplays ignore it, as did James Rolfe in his rather amusing R.O.B. review), and when I saw it listed in the main menu I figured it just represented a slight variation to the standard gameplay. Instead, it's a completely different set of 25 additional levels(!) and wholly new gameplay. These stages are meant to be played with R.O.B. exclusively. Or, in my case, controller two exclusively. Now the professor is a sleepwalker meandering through levels left to right. The only thing to do it raise/lower the gates in the correct fashion, so he doesn't end up falling into a smick pit. The professor's sleepwalking shuffle is very slow here (again, that's probably to sync up with slow-as-shit R.O.B.) and the game's pretty easy should you choose to play in the "unauthorized" fashion. There is less room for error here this time, however, as the continue system has been scrapped.

Overall, I'm really surprised by how much fun I had here. Given it's unorthodox play method, I would hesitate to recommend buying a copy. That said, if you have a copy collecting dust because you lack a R.O.B. don't despair. Plug in two controllers and pop that bad boy in. It's quite a trip.
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by MrPopo Sat Jan 14, 2017 9:48 pm

1. Pokémon Moon - 3DS
2. Tony Hawk's Underground - GCN
3. Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War II: Chaos Rising - PC
4. Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War II: Retribution - PC
5. Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness - PSP

A combination of watching AGDQ and Together Retro finally got me to finish this game. Previously I'd only ever gotten as far as chapter 3 before getting stuck. This time I was able to focus a bit more and exploit a bit more to make my way through. At the end of the game I had a level 97 Etna with the Longinus just stabbing stuff to death, with other party members jumping out every so often to toss a health item at her.

I played the PSP port, which I don't believe changes much to the core game. It does have an alternate Etna game mode, but I'm saving that for a future run. I've previously played Disgaea 3, and in comparison this is much more primitive and not as balanced. In Disgaea 3 I was able to move forward at a pretty good pace, and slowly leave behind party members who weren't pulling their weight. When I've done previous attempts at Disgaea 1 if I tried maintaining a party they quickly got outclassed, while running a solo character has several humps to get over before you reach smooth sailing.

I think the biggest disappointment for me was the story. Now, it's not bad by any stretch of the imagination, but it's kind of disjointed. At times it feels like they finished the first half and went "oh crap, we need more maps" and started pulling some stuff out of their ass. By contrast, Disgaea 3's story is more cohesive and has a lot of fun fourth wall breaking that is integral to the plot.

I'm honestly not sure what else to say about this game. The numbers get huge and defense gets less and less valuable as time goes on due to how the formulas work. If I were to do the optional content I'd need to go into grind mode and get a full party so I can use a strategy of wiping them before they get a meaningful turn. It definitely would be great if I had a limited number of games, as there's a lot you can do in it for power grinding. But that's not something I'm really interested in.
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TSTR
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by TSTR Sat Jan 14, 2017 9:52 pm

@Bone - That actually sounds pretty cool, dude. I've never even looked at Gyromite beyond being "that R.O.B. game you can rip open for FC converters sometimes." The control scheme sounds interesting—I bet running that thing in an emulator with all the actions mapped to something with 4 face buttons would make it even easier.
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by Xeogred Sat Jan 14, 2017 9:54 pm

1. Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary World Tour (PC)
2. Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter* (PC)
3. Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter (PC)
4. D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die (PC)
5. Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight (PC)

* replay

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Meow.

Freaking loved Momodora. Feels like a legit SNES game. Whereas Axiom Verge fills in the Metroid fix, Momodora feels a bit more Castlevania to me. You could easily see some nods and influences from Souls/Bloodborne here as well. I played on normal, early on it was a little tougher than expected but got really easy as it went, kind of per usual for most Metroidvania's. Clocked in about 3:24 and had 98% of the map filled, still missing some ivory bugs and stuff so I'll probably jump in and see if I can 100% it. It does have difficulties too and apparently a "don't kill anyone" achievement, so there's some nice replayability here. As always, I'm extremely picky with indie/small budget games, but like I said... everything about this felt like a legit SNES game. So hopefully that's a glowing recommendation. Two thumbs up.

Apparently there's more games? I see III on Steam, but it looks older. So I'm guessing Reverie was the newest and some of these older ones were maybe freeware?
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Sarge
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by Sarge Sat Jan 14, 2017 10:00 pm

Yeah, the older ones are free. I think M3 is for sale, as is the newest one you just played. Glad you enjoyed the game! There's a lot of secrets squirreled away in the game, too. Make sure to poke around a bunch! :)

That was a really quick playthrough, too. I don't remember how long I spent on it, but it was more than 3.5 hours. (Checked, old post says 6-7 hours. I did completionist, though.)
Last edited by Sarge on Sat Jan 14, 2017 10:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by Flake Sat Jan 14, 2017 10:01 pm

Super Mario Bros Advance 4: Super Mario Bros 3 (GBA/WiiU)
Super Mario Bros Advance 2: Yoshi's Island (GBA/WiiU)

Finally beat Yoshi's Island. It's a really neat title but the level design wears a little thin towards the end. The break with the tradition of most Mario games where power ups are obtained is not bad but it led to a situation where I did not see much reason to strive to obtain melons or use the vehicle forms unless the level design demanded it.

The art style, however, is second to none. It felt like a story book and the little effects like mud splashing on wet levels or soft dirt breaking up when an egg hits are touches that even today are not implemented often enough.

All in all, I see why it is such a classic but I wish a few things had been done differently.
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BoneSnapDeez
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by BoneSnapDeez Sat Jan 14, 2017 10:01 pm

TSTR wrote:@Bone - That actually sounds pretty cool, dude. I've never even looked at Gyromite beyond being "that R.O.B. game you can rip open for FC converters sometimes." The control scheme sounds interesting—I bet running that thing in an emulator with all the actions mapped to something with 4 face buttons would make it even easier.


Haha yeah, I actually thought about doing the PC emulation thing about halfway through, but decided to stick it out with the NES.

My copy of Gyromite does not have the converter inside of it... but I actually do have a Gyromite converter that I purchased separately. :lol:
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by Xeogred Sat Jan 14, 2017 10:07 pm

Sarge wrote:Yeah, the older ones are free. I think M3 is for sale, as is the newest one you just played. Glad you enjoyed the game! There's a lot of secrets squirreled away in the game, too. Make sure to poke around a bunch! :)

That was a really quick playthrough, too. I don't remember how long I spent on it, but it was more than 3.5 hours.

Masterful Metroidvania skills. 8) :lol:

Despite clocking in more time than it takes me on some of the Castlevania's, or about the same time, it did feel short. Maybe because the map appears a bit bigger than it really is and there wasn't a lot of bosses. I think I just didn't want it to end, like most Metroidvania's. Only took two sessions. Axiom Verge seems like the longest one ever so far.

I'll probably check out III on Steam sometime, only $2!

This has me really craving more Shantae for sure now haha.

I've been eyeballing Hyper Light Drifter for my next indie game though.
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