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BoneSnapDeez
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by BoneSnapDeez Tue Apr 18, 2017 10:52 pm

1. Chrono Trigger (SNES)
2. Gyromite (NES)
3. Lucy -The Eternity She Wished For- (Steam)
4. Ys III: Wanderers from Ys (Famicom)
5. Radical Dreamers (SNES)
6. Video Games 1 (TI-99/4A)
7. Portopia Renzoku Satsujin Jiken (Famicom)
8. Exile (TurboGrafx CD)
9. Exile: Wicked Phenomenon (TurboGrafx CD)
10. Xak (PC Engine CD, Xak I・II)
11. Xak II (PC Engine CD, Xak I・II)
12. Neutopia (TurboGrafx-16)
13. Captain Silver (Sega Master System)
14. Märchen Veil (Famicom Disk System)
15. Vanguard (Atari 2600)
16. Kangaroo (Atari 2600)
17. Front Line (Atari 2600)
18. Mario Bros. (Atari 2600)
19. Harmonia (Steam)
20. Donkey Kong (Atari 2600)
21. Jungle Hunt (Atari 2600)
22. Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes (TurboGrafx CD)
23. Gorf (Atari 2600)
24. Neutopia II (TurboGrafx-16)
25. Dungeon Magic (PlayStation 2, Taito Legends 2)
26. The Lost Vikings (SNES)
27. Blue's Journey (Wii Virtual Console)
28. Wizard Fire (Wii, Data East Arcade Classics)
29. Super Mario Run (Android)
30. Dragon Warrior II (NES)
31. Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure (GOG.com)
32. Witch & Hero (Nintendo eShop)
33. Phoenix (Atari 2600)
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Phoenix rules! The game's a classic arcade fixed shooter, later ported to the Atari 2600. Gameplay is similar to the better-known Gorf, which launched one year later, in that there is a series of discrete stages, as opposed to endless waves of samey enemies, culminating in a final boss battle.
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The enemies are pretty rad, the majority of them being phoenices with regenerating wings. Control is solid, in that I didn't feel the "need" to swap out the joystick for a Genesis controller. There's some "music" here as well, a never-ending atonal series of rising and falling bloops and beeps. The highlight of the game is the boss, a little alien dude housed inside of a giant mothership. You need to chip away at the mothership's exterior, and then time your shots through a scrolling "conveyor belt" to hit the boss himself. Phoenix is made for high-score chasing, and any skilled player can expect to sail through several loops before expiring.
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I'd put this a notch above both Gorf and Demon Attack (a game so similar to Phoenix that Atari sued Imagic). Certainly one of the better fixed shooters on the system. Phoenix had a sequel called Pleiads, which received one of those homebrew Atari 2600 ports many years later. What's funny is that the two games had different publishers in the arcades, so if you wanna try the arcade originals get Taito Legends for Phoenix and Tecmo Classic Arcade for Pleiads.

Pew pew that's my review.
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BogusMeatFactory
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by BogusMeatFactory Tue Apr 18, 2017 11:10 pm

Phoenix is a game I grew up playing with my cousin in his basement in the early 90s and always had a blast. It just felt so fulfilling. The sense of impact was there and I am glad to see someone else recognizing its awesomeness.
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MrPopo
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by MrPopo Wed Apr 19, 2017 3:45 am

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
6. X-Wing: Imperial Pursuit - PC
7. Star Wars Republic Commando - PC
8. X-Wing: B-Wing - PC
9. Blazing Lazers - TG-16
10. Tales of Xillia 2 - PS3
11. Shining Force CD: Shining Force Gaiden - Sega CD
12. MUSHA - Genesis
13. Sonic CD - Sega CD
14. Final Fantasy Legend III - GB
15. Tales of Zestiria - PS3
16. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Switch
17. Horizon Zero Dawn - PS4
18. Tales of Berseria - PS4
19. Battlefield 1 - PC
20. Turok 2: Seeds of Evil - PC
21. Mass Effect Andromeda - PC
22. Starflight 2 - PC
23. Armored Hunter Gunhound EX - PC
24. Space Megaforce - SNES
25. Persona 5 - PS4

I am now 82 hours later with max confidant links and a full compendium except for the single NG+ only Persona. Persona 5 was quite the ride, and in my opinion improves on the previous games in almost every way. The one place it doesn't? The music isn't as good. Which is not to say it's bad, it's just not nearly as memorable.

But on to the good stuff. Persona 5 is another iteration on the mechanical systems that were introduced in Persona 3. You once again move to a new area for one school year, starting in April (because Japan) and ending in late December; for some reason Jan-March are never actually important to play, just some wrap up story bits. Once again things start off calmly before you discover that there's something sinister going on, and it's up to you and your special abilities to handle things. Along the way you mix dungeon crawling with visual novel elements (with each one having a benefit for the other). Like I said, you should be familiar with this.

Persona 5 takes that basic framework and iterates on every aspect to create something better. It starts with the UI; the whole thing is incredibly stylish, with little animations for every menu transition (but fast enough it doesn't bug you) and even the loading screens will involve silhouettes of people appropriate to the area and how you got there (take the train, it's people crowded together). Next comes the animations. Whereas Persona 3 and 4 tended to be very stiff, with a handful of pre-baked animations to emphasize things (that still had a shockingly low number of frames of animation), Persona 5 has a wide variety of ways for the characters to emote or idle. And the animations are quite smooth and natural looking. Even your talking cat companion does cat things that are appropriate to being a cat. Again, it's not necessarily a big deal, it just makes the presentation that much better.

Social Links have been renamed Confidants (to fit with the thievery theme) and they've been expanded in usefulness. Now every confident (except for a single story-progressed one) provides you with a variety of benefits for ranking them up outside the experience bonus on fusion. It's an extension of how Persona 4 gave your teammates bonuses for raising their S.Links. So, for example, raising one Confidant gives you experience bonuses in dungeons as well as leaking experience to benched party members, while another gives a variety of bonuses to the negotiations. It's a great way to make the social stuff that much more valuable to you.

And speaking of negotiations, the biggest change is in the dungeons and battle system. The main dungeons for the storyline are all hand crafted now, with a variety of story beats and some puzzles to solve to traverse. While Persona 4 skinned the random dungeons for your target this goes all out into creating a unique area that fits in with the theme of the boss. This also let them turn the previous game's ability to get a preemptive if you strike an enemy from behind into a full mechanic of being able to hide behind cover and dash to other spots so you can ambush the guards. Again, this fits very well with the thievery theme. And once you get into battle you will see an incredibly welcome change: the random blob monsters of Persona 3 and 4 have been replaced with the classic series demons. The patrolling guards are some humanoid attired appropriately for the dungeon, but upon engaging in battle they morph into a party of two Jack Frosts and a Succubus. This means that long time players have an advantage in knowing enemy weaknesses, as well as if you look ahead at the fusions you can't do yet.

So, as I mentioned, demon negotiation is back. This occurs in two ways. The most common way is for you to exploit enemy weaknesses to knock them all down, like in the previous games. However, now when that happens you trigger a hold up; your party circles the enemies and holds them at gunpoint. From here you can trigger an all out attack as usual, or you can engage in negotiation. You can ask for them to join you, to give you money, or to give you an item. Having them join requires you to answer a couple questions. Unlike previous games (such as Nocturne) the correct responses are actually pretty predictable, but you do still have to think. For a given enemy temperament they respond positively to a certain type of response, but it's frequently not obvious what types of responses you have to give. So it's still work to get enemies to join, but it's the kind of work you can get good at, as opposed to Nocturnes "hope and pray".

The other change to the battle system is around the attack elements. Like Persona 4, physical attacks are a single element. There is now a gun element which is triggered from your limited ammunition firearms or certain skills. Firearms tend to be used for knocking down vulnerable enemies, and have a unique advantage of letting you empty an entire clip on a shot-by-shot basis into enemies. This has the effect of reducing the impact of enemy evasive ability; you generally can guarantee an all out attack against a group of gun vulnerable enemies. Damaging bless and curse skills are back, giving you an option for exploiting weakness that isn't just an instant kill, which is important with demon negotiation being tied to exploiting weakness. And there are two "new" elements. I use quotes because they both appeared before in previous games. Nuke is back from Persona 1 and has a bonus when striking enemies who are burned/frozen/shocked. Psy is back from Devil Summoner (the Saturn one) and has a bonus when striking enemies who are suffering from mental ailments (e.g. rage, brainwashed, etc). The addition of these two elements means that some enemy weaknesses and skill sets get shuffled around, so don't be surprised if some of your previous knowledge of enemies is out of date.

Storywise I think this ends up being the darkest of the modern Persona games; the wrongs you are trying to right are all very personal; the enemies you are dealing with have done some very bad things to people close to your party. The other change is that your actions have a noticeable impact on the world as seen by a random NPC. Persona 3 was all restricted to the magic 13th hour while Persona 4 consisted of you preventing people from noticing bad shit was happening. Here you very loudly and very visibly change the world. That said, the overarching plot takes a bit to kick in; the beginning couple dungeons are mostly isolated incidents before you pick up on the deeper threads that have been running through things.

This is definitely a must own if you're a fan of the overall SMT series or just JRPGs in general.
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ElkinFencer10
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by ElkinFencer10 Wed Apr 19, 2017 8:17 am

Games Beaten in 2017 So Far - 35

January (10 Games Beaten)
1. Persona 4 Arena - Playstation 3 - 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 (7 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


35. Alienation - PlayStation 4 - April 18

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Alienation is a game steeped in mediocrity and garnished with a light touch of "meh." I grabbed my copy about a month or so ago from Play-Asia's PS4 sale. It was only $20, and it involved killing aliens; that's all I needed to get sold. Needing a pallet cleanser after my series of extremely long games, I figured that Alienation sounded perfect.

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Alienation is a twin stick third person shooter. You move with the left stick and aim with the right stick. Right trigger fires your weapon, right bumper uses your melee attack, and triangle changes weapons. You can equip up to three weapons - primary (your machine gun), secondary (revolver or shotgun), and heavy (flamethrower, rocket launcher, or minigun). The game is broken into 20 levels, the first of which is a tutorial. Levels 2 through 19 are a hell of a lot of fun, though. Level 20 would be fun, but it's merciless. In the first 19 levels, there are respawn points throughout the level, and activating one respawns you at that point if you die. The enemies respawn, but you don't lose your objective progress, so it's fairly forgiving. You also have six difficulties from which to choose. The last level has no difficulty settings, and there are no respawn points - die at any point, and it's game over. This is also the hardest level in the entire game by FAR. It's not that it's unfair, per se, but given how starkly contrasting it is with the previous 95% of the game, it's just too jarring a change in my opinion.

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Graphically, the game looks pretty good. It's not a marvel or anything, but it looks nice. The camera is fairly zoomed out, so you don't see any texture issues, and the framerate stays pretty smooth throughout. The sound design is...bland. It's not bad. But it's not impressive. The music is okay. The voice acting is okay. The sound effects are okay. Nothing really stands out, though. It's just...okay. Same with the story. Aliens invade the planet, you're part of a military force armed with power armor that fights to retake the planet. I lost interest once it started getting more detailed than that. It's basically every post-alien invasion game ever.

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The one shining point of the game is the multiplayer. There's no local multiplayer, which is a MAJOR bummer, but the online co-op is great. When you choose a mission to play, you're automatically given the option of starting a new game (which you can set to either public or private) or joining a game from the list of ongoing missions other people around the world are playing. I had a lovely (and extremely helpful) Japanese fellow join a few of my missions and help me out. The guy was like four times my level, so I don't know if he just pitied me or what, but he tore through the aliens like tissue paper whereas I was having to fight tooth and nail just to advance. The extremely small player base does negate this positive aspect somewhat, but if you can find a mission online, it really is a lot of fun, even without knowing the other folks or an option for voice chat.

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Overall, Alienation is an okay game. If you happen to see it cheap (which is unlikely; the game doesn't seem to be all that common) and you like alien shooters, I'd say give it a try, but it's definitely not a game one should rush out to buy. It doesn't do anything remarkably well, but it is a decently fun romp for what it is. If anyone does have this and wants to play, however, definitely hit me up.
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fastbilly1
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by fastbilly1 Wed Apr 19, 2017 12:26 pm

fastbilly1 wrote:1. Day of the Tentacle Remastered - PC
2. Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide - PC
3. Final Fantasy VII - PSX
4. Zelda Breath of the Wild - Switch
5. Warframe - PC
6. Kingdom Rush - Android
7. Kingdom Rush Frontiers - Android

8. Kingdom Rush Origins - Android
9. Secret of Monkey Island Talkie Edition - PC

8. Kingdom Rush Origins is the weakest of the series. It takes the excellent build up of the first two games then decides to change everything about it that makes it magical. Difficulty ramps randomly, on some maps heroes are more important than towers, and some maps are downright unfair (in its defense those are mostly the post game maps). It is the prettiest of the Kingdom Rush's and well worth the $3 or $6 they charge based on version. But it is a letdown after Frontiers.

9. Now I beat Monkey Island back in 91, with a friend on his families Mac Classic. I have not beaten it since, despite playing it on and off every few years. Last week I made the effort to get through the Special Edition but I could not stand the animation on talking. So I looked around found the Talkie mod that I knew someone was working on a few years ago. Well the Talkie mod took some time to install, and you have to run it through ScummVM, but it is exactly what I wanted. Its the Classic graphics, but with the modern voices. Modern sound effects, classic music. I was in heaven for the six hours over three days it took me to beat it. So I installed Monkey Island 2 Talkie and started on that as soon as I beat the first.
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Sarge
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by Sarge Wed Apr 19, 2017 1:02 pm

I really need to look into that for when I play through MI2. I liked the voices, 'cause they're really well done, but the graphics are very hit and miss.
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noiseredux
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by noiseredux Wed Apr 19, 2017 1:05 pm

um... I thought the Special Edition of Monkey Island allowed you to go w/ the classic graphics or the new graphics? Just like the DOTT remake. Am I remembering it wrong?

Steam says:

Scene-for-scene hot swap allows for seamless transition between special edition and classic modes anywhere and at any time


...so I don't think I'm remembering wrong.
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dsheinem
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by dsheinem Wed Apr 19, 2017 1:23 pm

Games Beaten 2017
Inside - PS4
Street Fighter V - PS4
TIMEframe - PC
Rituals - PC
Mother Russia Bleeds - PC
Horizon: Zero Dawn - PS4
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Switch
Here They Lie - PSVR
Dexed - PSVR
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard - PSVR
Last Voyage - iOS *new*
Ghost Blade HD - PS4 *new*

Total: 12


Previously: 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010

Last Voyage is a cool looking game with a great soundtrack. It mixes puzzle levels, "guide your character with your finger" levels, a few tilt-based levels, and a lot of interesting ideas into a completely enthralling aesthetic experience. I wish more iOS games had these kind of interesting design ideas going on.

I beat Ghost Blade HD on easy. It was easy. The game is a decent enough shmup in the DoDonPachi vein, though it certainly doesn't match the excellence of Cave's offerings. Still, not a bad way to kill some time for $10 or so.
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fastbilly1
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by fastbilly1 Wed Apr 19, 2017 1:25 pm

noiseredux wrote:um... I thought the Special Edition of Monkey Island allowed you to go w/ the classic graphics or the new graphics? Just like the DOTT remake. Am I remembering it wrong?

Steam says:

Scene-for-scene hot swap allows for seamless transition between special edition and classic modes anywhere and at any time


...so I don't think I'm remembering wrong.

You can, but it goes back into the original everything. AKA no voice acting.
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MrPopo
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by MrPopo Wed Apr 19, 2017 1:40 pm

fastbilly1 wrote:
noiseredux wrote:um... I thought the Special Edition of Monkey Island allowed you to go w/ the classic graphics or the new graphics? Just like the DOTT remake. Am I remembering it wrong?

Steam says:

Scene-for-scene hot swap allows for seamless transition between special edition and classic modes anywhere and at any time


...so I don't think I'm remembering wrong.

You can, but it goes back into the original everything. AKA no voice acting.

I don't think that's right. I recall being able to have the voices on for ME1 with classic graphics. I definitely know you get to do so in ME2.
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