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Sarge
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by Sarge Mon Jul 03, 2017 5:09 pm

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)

Fun, Symphony of the Night-inspired exploratory platformer. Nice spritework, good music, cool Egyptian theme. The localization is mostly good, but some quirks here and there. That jeep auto-scroller is pretty awful, though. It was definitely channeling its inner DKC mine cart level there, to ill effect.

Definitely worth the cash I dropped on it, though.
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by Flake Tue Jul 04, 2017 12:40 am

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

March:
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch)
Batman: Arkham Asylum (PS3)

April:
Front Mission 3 (PS1/PSTV)
Mega Man 2 (PS4)

May:
Megaman 3 (PS4)
Megaman 4 (PS4)
Megaman 5 (PS4)
Megaman (PS4)
Megaman 6 (PS4)

June:
Megaman Legends (PSX)
Final Fantasy X HD (PS4)

July:
Marvel vs Capcom: Clash of the Super Heroes (PS3)
Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 (PS4)


Been a bit since I last updated!

Mega May never technically ends! Megaman Legends never fails to impress me, no matter how much time passes or how often I beat it. I talked a lot about what I was thinking as I played this game through on the forum's slack channel but the tl;dr version is that this game makes me miss 90's era Capcom. They took some massive risks but the corollary to that was the heart they put into their projects.

Final Fantasy X HD is the first JRPG I have beaten in a long time. Again, anyone who hangs out in our slack channel probably caught my play by play on this one but if I had to pinpoint two things that stood out to me in my first playthrough of this game since I was 19:

- The game is much more compelling and difficult than I ever remembered
- The 'what did we do wrong?' moment after the party kills a religious leader is great.

Marvel vs Capcom: Clash of the Superheroes is really dam hard! I love it more than any other game in the series that came after it, even my beloved Tatsunoko vs Capcom. The 90's era Marvel artwork still resonates and the cast of characters for both sides is spot on. There is something about CPS2 era sprite work that makes it hard to take MvC3 seriously. I just wish I was better at this game!

Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 is a game that was released on the PS3 and Xbox 360 game consoles. An updated port with all DLC included was re-released on the Playstation 4 and Xbox One digital marketplace.
Maybe now Nintendo will acknowledge Metroid has a fanbase?
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Xeogred
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by Xeogred Tue Jul 04, 2017 1:22 pm

That's awesome to hear about Mega Man Legends. I plan to get to that one sometime this year hopefully. I played and beat 2 back in the day and really enjoyed it.

Also I love seeing FFX get some love thesedays, since I've kind of had a revelation with that one since I replayed it with the HD release. I kind of hated it back in the day, but a second time around... it's a damn good game.
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Sarge
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by Sarge Tue Jul 04, 2017 2:02 pm

Despite my griping about early 3D games in another thread, Mega Man Legends doesn't draw my ire because it still looks pretty great. Talk about some great art design and working within limitations.
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Xeogred
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by Xeogred Tue Jul 04, 2017 2:14 pm

Good point! It still looks awesome. It can definitely be case by case, for sure.

Also Sarge, I put Pharaoh Rebirth on the wishlist. I still don't know where you and Bone dig these kinds of gems up, but I'm glad I have some trusted sources here to discover some cool hidden stuff haha. That one looks really cool.
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Segata
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by Segata Tue Jul 04, 2017 3:10 pm

RiME

Really loved this game. I'm usually a fan of these kinds of games. Lost in Shadow on Wii,rain on PS3,Brothers a Tale of Two Sons,Majin & The Forsaken Kingdom. (oddly not a fan of Team Ico) So I was looking forward to RiME since it was revealed a few years ago. Now I know that initial reveal wasn't actual gameplay but the final game looks pretty much exactly like what was shown. The puzzles are good and the platforming is good. The story is told really well with no words. It's pretty emotional. I loved it and playing through it again to get collectables I missed.

If you like Team Ico like games or anything similar then pick this up.
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BoneSnapDeez
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by BoneSnapDeez Tue Jul 04, 2017 9:33 pm

Xeogred wrote:I still don't know where you and Bone dig these kinds of gems up


Well, I can answer this! I assume you're talking about Steam indie games and the like?

First, find some curators that update frequently and have tastes similar to yours. Follow them. My personal favorite is called J-Indie Arcade.
http://store.steampowered.com/curator/6 ... ie-Arcade/

Second, to wade through the tremendous number of games, make good use of tags while browsing. Use multiple tags. For instance, I found some games that I enjoyed (Cally's Caves 3, Tobari and the Night of the Curious Moon) by searching for platformers that feature female protagonists.

Also, when you find a developer you like just download all their games. :lol:
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by Flake Tue Jul 04, 2017 10:32 pm

Xeogred wrote:That's awesome to hear about Mega Man Legends. I plan to get to that one sometime this year hopefully. I played and beat 2 back in the day and really enjoyed it.

Also I love seeing FFX get some love thesedays, since I've kind of had a revelation with that one since I replayed it with the HD release. I kind of hated it back in the day, but a second time around... it's a damn good game.


FFX is a very solid package. There's not a lot of excess or bloat which is a stark difference compared to FF8 or FF9. There's a few decent side quests but nearly all of the game is a fairly linear and (mostly) well told story. Not sure why I was so hard on it back in the day. I honestly don't remember.
Maybe now Nintendo will acknowledge Metroid has a fanbase?
Flake
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by Flake Tue Jul 04, 2017 10:42 pm

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

March:
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch)
Batman: Arkham Asylum (PS3)

April:
Front Mission 3 (PS1/PSTV)
Mega Man 2 (PS4)

May:
Megaman 3 (PS4)
Megaman 4 (PS4)
Megaman 5 (PS4)
Megaman (PS4)
Megaman 6 (PS4)

June:
Megaman Legends (PSX)
Final Fantasy X HD (PS4)

July:
Marvel vs Capcom: Clash of the Super Heroes (PS3)
Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 (PS4)
Adventures of Mana (PSTV)

I'm a life-long fan of the Seiken Densetsu / Secret of Mana series. Which is sometimes a good thing and sometimes a horrible thing. I've never beaten Final Fantasy Adventure, the English localization of the original Seiken Densetsu. This remake, which is essentially the original game with a great paint job and some quality of life tweaks, is a lot of fun!

It's probably the least ambitious remake of an old game I have ever seen but given how much crap Sword of Mana got for changing the original game's formula, I don't think this is a bad thing. I was even able to get by with a FAQ written for the gameboy game over 13 years ago!

The controls are great and the artwork has been updated to something of a compromise between the story book style of Legend of Mana and the graphics engine used in the FF III/IV remakes for the DS and PSP. I highly recommend this game if anyone is looking for an old school Mana game done well.
Maybe now Nintendo will acknowledge Metroid has a fanbase?
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MrPopo
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by MrPopo Tue Jul 04, 2017 10:54 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
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
26. Torment: Tides of Numenera - PC
27. Cosmic Star Heroine - PC
28. Prey - PC
29. Strafe - PC
30. Mystic Origins - NES
31. Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia - 3DS
32. Ultra Street Fighter II - Switch
33. The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky - PC
34. Ultima IV - PC
35. Environmental Station Alpha - PC

So I was watching SGDQ and Hollow Knight came up, and it looked neat and I decided to look for more Metroidvanias after I binged them last year. This was the first of them that I completed, and I'm hoping the weakest, because I'd be really sad if the other two were worse than this one.

So Environmental Station Alpha, like Axiom Verge, takes a lot of cues from the original Metroid. It's mostly the work of one guy with some support for art and music. The basic plot is that this station suddenly went dark and you are a little robot sent to investigate. There's a mystery, blah blah blah. It's all an excuse to have you navigate a labyrinthine world and pick up movement upgrades. The graphics are also in that NES pixelated style, though it's not shy about using some screen effects to do things like show that a room is hot or you're underwater. Your character only occupies the space of a single block, and it's sort of reminiscent of the protagonist of I Wanna Be The Guy. This is not an accident.

This game is extremely execution heavy, at times to its detriment (especially with many of the late game bosses). Aside from a standard double jump and a boost (that starts off horizontal but later gains a vertical version) your main mobility tool is a grapple beam that is pretty well modeled to give you a lot of momentum. This can be used with the right jump angles to launch yourself up shafts and will be a source of getting into a lot of places you need to be. And for the most part this platforming is tight and fun, with a lot of obvious escalation of how to pull things off.

But then there's other parts where the developer got too into that "I Wanna Be The Guy" mindset of requiring near perfect execution, and that's in the main game (I won't get into some of the optional items and the true ending). It turns several sections into major slogs. Now, if it was just that failing meant you had to try again, it would be one thing, but many times you're in hostile territory and you will quickly see your health whittled down by repeated attempts. I'll contrast with AM2R, which had several of the optional expansions behind parts that required tight execution of either chained shinesparks or wall jumps, and the penalty for failure was having to try again. The nasty stuff was always 100% optional, whereas some of the nastiest stuff in ESA is mandatory.

This all comes to a head in the later boss battles. All of the boss battles are challenging, with you needing to read patterns to avoid attacks (as your health is always pretty low compared to damage output; there's no 100%ing your way out of the fights like in Metroid). But once you get the boost things really take a turn for the nasty. The thing is that the boost makes you invincible for its duration, and from that point forward every boss has one or more attacks that require you to boost through. And not just a quick dodge; many times it's sequential dodges. It takes a potentially fun mechanic and just utterly beats it into the ground, before giving you a final boss fight where you are relentlessly spammed with attacks and frequently find yourself with no where to dodge (and when an attack takes off an eight of your HP you notice those moments really quickly). It forces you to play on the level of a low percentage speed runner because a traditional approach just gets you killed. Personally, I think it was overdone and made those fights feel a lot less fun (it didn't help that your dash is short enough that you need to have extremely good timing to not take damage anyway on the backside).

This game definitely had potential, but it gets pulled down by a shitty difficulty curve and a little too much feeling that the dev thought he was being clever.
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