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BoneSnapDeez
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by BoneSnapDeez Wed Aug 09, 2017 8:28 pm

Y'all should play the game "Zwei!!"

FALCOM!!!!!!

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Oh and the sequel is......
Image
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
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BoneSnapDeez
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by BoneSnapDeez Wed Aug 09, 2017 8:39 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)
34. Emerald Dragon (Super Famicom)
35. Sky Skipper (Atari 2600)
36. Donkey Kong Country (SNES)
37. Cadash (TurboGrafx-16)
38. Cadash (Genesis)
39. Popeye (Atari 2600)
40. Mega Man 2 (NES)
41. Mother (Famicom)
42. Scramble (Game Boy Advance, Konami Collector's Series: Arcade Advanced)
43. Super Cobra (Atari 2600)
44. Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II (GameCube)
45. Mecha Ritz: Steel Rondo (Steam)
46. Donkey Kong (Wii Virtual Console)
47. Donkey Kong Jr. (Wii Virtual Console)
48. Donkey Kong 3 (Wii Virtual Console)
49. Donkey Kong Jr. Math (Wii Virtual Console)
50. Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards (Nintendo 64)

Already talked about it here:
viewtopic.php?p=1107634#p1107634
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by Flake Thu Aug 10, 2017 8:39 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)
Adventures of Mana (PSTV)
Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope (Switch)
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (PS4)
Castlevania (NES/WiiU)

August:
Castlevania The Adventure: Rebirth (Wiiware)
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (GBA/WiiU)

Not a bad game! Definitely doesn't top Circle of the Moon as my favorite GBA game but it's a great mini version of Symphony of the Night.

Things I didn't like: I didn't like Soma as a protagonist because he did not seem to really take any agency in his situation. You basically run around a castle till you find someone to tell Soma what to do, no questions asked.

I also was not impressed by the design of the Castle. There were way to many long corridors that dead ended into empty rooms with no real purpose or treasure.

Things I did like: The nods to the franchise' history and a lot of the ancillary characters. Low-Key Alucard was interesting and I thought it was a cool Castlevania III homage to have Alucard and descendents from the Belmonts and Belnades clans, even if only one of them was playable.

The soul system was great! It meant a lot more menu navigation than really jives with me but it was a great Metroid-esque approach to level design and it was fun to figure out which sets of souls had synergy with your current weapons.

The weapons were really cool but the rate at which you received them meant that after about an hour, the odds of any given weapon found being worth your time dropped like crazy. In SotN, the item improvement was incremental but Aria's stat jumps are too drastic.

I am pretty sure I got a 'bad' ending so I'll probably come back at this one, FAQ in hand again.
Maybe now Nintendo will acknowledge Metroid has a fanbase?
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by dsheinem Thu Aug 10, 2017 10:54 am

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
Ghost Blade HD - PS4
What Happened to Edith Finch - PS4
Fast RMX - Switch
Puyo Puyo Tetris - Switch
Garou: Mark of the Wolf - Vita
Star Wars: Republic Commando - PC
Battlefield 1 - PS4
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - Switch
Shock Troopers - PC (Arcade)
Shock Troopers 2nd Squad - PC (Arcade)
Gravity Bone -PC
A Thousand Flights of Loving - PC
Forza Horizon 3: Hot Wheels - PC/X1
Eve: Valkyrie- PSVR
Farpoint - PSVR
Painkiller: Battle Out of Hell - PC
Ghost Squad - Wii
Monument Valley 2 - iOS
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare - PS4
Tekken Tag Tournament 2 - 360
Tekken Advance - GBA
100ft Robot Golf - - PSVR
Final Fantasy XV: A King's Tale - X1
Star Wars Racer Revenge - PS2
Just Cause 3 - PS4 *new*
Toadled - PC *new*

Total: 37


Previously: 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010

Other than a few minutes with JC2, this was my first real time with a game in this series - and I adored it. There's a real sense of speed over vast open-world terrain that makes navigating a joy, the fun (albeit repetitive) destruction-based missions are a hoot, and the game typically looks sharp (even if it suffers some framerate issues and pop-in). The game I kept being reminded of when playing was Red Faction: Guerilla (high praise!), as it brings that same energy and love for explosions.

Toadled was a short/cheap Steam game where you grow from a small toad to one that can eat worlds. It was dumb, and fun, and well worth the low, low price.
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by Stark Thu Aug 10, 2017 12:14 pm

BoneSnapDeez wrote:Oh and the sequel is......
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:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

LOL! That'd be like calling a sequel to Herzog Zwei, Herzog Zwei II. Too bad we never got a sequel to that awesome game.
Let strength be granted, so the world might be mended...so the world might be mended.
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by marurun Thu Aug 10, 2017 12:42 pm

Just wait until they release Herzog Zwei the Third, episode IV.
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by ElkinFencer10 Thu Aug 10, 2017 8:59 pm

Games Beaten in 2017 So Far - 81
* 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 (1 Game Beaten)
82. Sunrider: Mask of Arcadius - Steam - August 4


82. Sunrider: Mask of Arcadius - Steam - August 4

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Hooooolllyyyyyy crap. The phrase "you get what you pay for" has no place in the same discussion of this fan-damn-tastic visual novel, that's for sure. Sunrider: Mask of Arcadius is a game that's not quite like anything I've played in the past. It's about 60% visual novel and 40% sci-fi mech tactics game. Best of all, it's free. I think it was originally just called "Sunrider" but had the title changed when a second half was added or something. I don't know. The title screen just says "Sunrider," but it's called "Sunrider: Mask of Arcadius" in Steam. You know, for when you go download it. Because it's free. And it kicks ass.

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I'll address the two different genres the game hits in their own separate sections, but first let's take a look at the plot. Without giving too much away, you play as a dude named Kayto Shields, and you've been given your first command of a starship in the Cera Space Force - the Sunrider. It's a new, state-of-the-art battleship in the small planetary defense force of Cera, one of the planets in a region of the galaxy known as the Neutral Rim, named so because the planets there remain unaffiliated with either PACT or the Solar Alliance, the two major galactic powers. PACT is a relatively new power, having arisen when it overthrew the New Empire's tyranny and assumed control of its planetary holdings. Unfortunately for the Neutral Rim, PACT didn't stop there, soon beginning a quest for galactic conquest. After approximately five minutes of being in the captain's chair, your ship's sensors detect a PACT fleet warping in. They promptly annihilate the Cera Space Force, nuke the capital, and claim victory. Narrowly escaping the PACT fleet by fleeing to a neighboring neutral planet, you and your find yourselves the last remaining Ceran vessel and without a government. Thus begins the lone wolf quest to build a galactic coalition (hopefully including the galaxy's other superpower) to drive PACT out of the Neutral Rim and reclaim Cera as an independent planet. Oh, and all of the allies you find are perfect waifu candidates. Because of course they are. ^_^

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I'll now turn our attention to the tactics part of the game. Whenever the Sunrider finds itself in combat, rather than tell the story of the battle as most visual novels would, it shifts to a format that looks a lot like a small scale battle in Civilization. The area of space you're fighting in is broken into a 2D hexagonal grid in which the battle is fought by taking turns. Each of your ships has a certain amount of energy that can be used for various types of attacks, buffing and debuffing abilities, or movement. Your objective will usually be "kill all the bad guys," but every now and then, you'll have a more specialized objective. "Survive six turns" or "Get the cargo ship safely to the right edge of the map," for example. The difficulty can be adjusted on the fly, so if you decide that your battles are too easy, you can increase the difficulty at any time; conversely, if you find yourself unable to succeed in a battle despite multiple attempts, you can lower the difficulty and either leave it there or raise it back after that battle. The game is designed to be extremely approachable in that regard because as fun as the combat is, the story is the real star of the show here.

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The visual novel aspect of Sunrider is at once both its strongest and weakest point. It's written in such a way that you really get sucked in and interested in the characters and their struggles. Unfortunately, the translation is a bit sloppy with various typos and grammatical mistakes strew throughout. It's certainly not a constant thing, but I'd guess that probably 3% of the dialogue has some kind of minor typo. For a 15 hour VN, however, that does add up. The English voice acting - thankfully only used during battle when a character moves or attacks - is also....not great. Some of it is fine, but it's reaaaally hit or miss. One character in particular is a goofy girl and references a few ten year old memes in her lines. It's cute, but it's also a bit lame. Cringe level lame. You get past it, though, and if you don't, there's always the option to mute the voices. The art also looks a bit amateur. In fairness, it's only this studio's second game, and IS free, so there's only so much room to complain, but it is worth noting.

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One thing that does need to be addressed is the game's use of H scenes. If you don't know what that is, then you're probably not a big fan of Japanese visual novels, but in short, it's the NSFW scenes. Being sold through Steam, the game is obviously censored with nothing explicit visible. The devs do have a "decensorship patch" available on their site and instructions on how to install it if you so choose. Wanting the experience to be the way the developers and writers intended (and being a perv), I installed the patch. What I was pleasantly surprised to discover, however, is that at no point does this visual novel approach eroge territory. Yeah, there are some nipples in a few scenes, but it's not done in an erotic sense but rather in a true-to-life sense. There's a scene where one of the women is lost in thought about the fate of her homeworld in the shower, so naturally, there's some nipple visible (though the camera stops at her abdomen). The story itself doesn't actually call attention to it; they just don't shy away from it, either. It's just there. It's part of life. Granted, the scenes like that could have been written in different settings, but part of what made those scenes a breath of fresh air is that it's one of the very few examples I've seen use human nudity in a very natural, organic way with the story-telling rather than trying to shoe horn in some sex for the sake of getting horny teenagers interested. It would be like looking at Botticelli's "Birth of Venus" or Michelangelo's "David" in an erotic sense. Yes, you can see Venus's nipple; yes, you can see David's penis. It's done for the sake of depicting the nature of humanity in the art, though, not for the sake of any eroticism.

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Sunrider is a visual novel that, despite its amateurish artstyle and less-than-stellar (no pun intended) translation, truly did impress me, and it did this with a regular price tag of $0.00. The story it told, while not completely original or anything, was told well with characters that I found interesting. The surprise of finding a tactical combat aspect to the game made it even more impressive; it made the game downright fun rather than just an interesting and immersive read. Granted, I'm a big fan of visual novels in general, so I'm probably a bit easier to please than most when it comes to the genre, but I really did enjoy this game immensely. The only thing keeping it from being a 10/10 homerun in my book is the aforementioned issues with translation and voice clips. Despite that, though, it was still damn good, and I still HIGHLY recommend it to everyone. I mean, you LITERALLY have nothing to lose; the damn thing's free!
Exhuminator wrote:Ecchi lords must unite for great justice.

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Sarge
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by Sarge Thu Aug 10, 2017 11:07 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)
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)

So, Battletoads is a bit different in its Japanese incarnation. There have been significant difficulty tweaks that, while not making the game easy, make it significantly less soul-crushing than the US/PAL releases. I'm rusty as all get-outs, and I still pushed through with credits to spare (I might have also done a little save-stating at the end, but still... just trust me, it was a foregone conclusion. The US version gives three lives, three continues; the Japanese version 5x5.)

I'm honestly not sure how I feel about this version. To some degree, the reprieve is appreciated; most players would get to see a lot more of the game than they would have otherwise. The Turbo Tunnel, long considered the weed-out level in the US version, is much easier here, and there are so many tweaks that I'd recommend checking out everything that was modified over on TCRF. But at the same time, the insane difficulty gives the US version some extra level of character, at least once you've scaled that mountain. I guess for high-level play, the US version would be preferred, but for a first time through, the Japanese version is better. I'm guessing I'm starting to realize why some of the difficulty hacks for different games are so popular now; I could see wanting to graduate to something tougher after playing a particular game for so long.

Anyway, if Battletoads has stymied you before, give this one a shot. Don't expect it to be easy, but expect it to be easier.

As for Castle of Dragon... y'all, this ain't a good game. It reminded me of a pirate cart, honestly. Super-sketchy hit detection that doesn't work in your favor, a bad frame rate, constant screen flashes when enemies appear or switching weapons... I'm pretty sure the game is one step away from falling apart completely. It has some halfway interesting ideas for a side-scrolling actioner, including giving you three different weapons to fool around with, but the execution mars it at every step. Just go play the spiritual sequel, Sword Master. That game still plays a bit rough, but it's a ton more polished than this junk.

EDIT: So, another Seta game, and not intentionally. I had a buddy of mine that owned The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. I always thought it was pretty junk, and unfair to boot. And my stance on the matter hasn't actually changed. But at least it's pretty functional compared to Sword Master. Hit detection doesn't feel wrong, even if jumping and your weaponry is a bit odd (think Adventure Island, to some degree). The real problem is "gotcha" enemies that come in from all different directions, very little chance to avoid them, and the fact that you die in one hit. Yes, one hit. This feels like a game where you should get at least four. But then, I suppose you'd be able to blow right through the game and return that sucker to the rental store. :lol:
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PartridgeSenpai
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by PartridgeSenpai Fri Aug 11, 2017 12:27 am

Partridge Senpai's 2017 Beaten Games:

1. Tales of Hearts R (Vita)
2. UPPERS (Vita)
3. Volume (Vita)
4. Overlord: Minions (DS)
5. Kirby: Planet Robobot (3DS)
6. Overlord II (PS3)
7. Overlord: Dark Legend (Wii)
8. La-Mulana (Remake) (PC)
9. Infamous: Second Son (PS4)
10. htol#NiQ: The Firefly Diary (Vita)
11. Blood Bowl (360)
12. Dead to Rights: Retribution (360)
13. Bioshock Infinite (360)
14. Bioshock Infinite: Burial At Sea Part 1 (360)
15. Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea Part 2 (360)
16. Singularity (360)
17. Seifuku Densetsu Pretty Fighter X (Saturn)
18. Ultraman: Hikari No Kyojin Densetsu (Saturn)
19. Donkey Kong 64 (N64) (repeat)
20. Song of the Deep (PS4)
21. Naruto Gekitou Ninja Taisen 3 (GCN)
22. Banjo-Tooie (N64) (repeat)
23. Wario Land (VB)
24. Yakuza HD Edition (PS3)
25. Yakuza 2 HD Edition (PS3)
26. Vanquish (PS3)
27. Watchdogs 2 (PS4)
28. Pikmin (Wii)
29. Pikmin 3 (Wii U)
30. Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (Wii U)
31. Super Mario 3D World (Wii U)
32. Tales of Innocence R (Vita)
33. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)
34. Boing! Docomodake DS (DS)
35. Kirby Triple Deluxe (3DS)
36. Magicka 2: Learn to Spell... AGAIN! (PS4) (repeat)
37. Pokemon Moon (3DS)
38. Pokemon Black 2 (DS)
39. Pokken Tournament (Wii U)
40. The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth + (Switch)
41. Dynasty Warriors: Gundam (360)

42. Saints Row (360)

I'm a big fan of the 3rd and 4th games of the series, so I thought it made sense to go back and play the original two. I'm fiiiinally getting around to that. I'm a big fan of open-world big-city games like this, so I figured I'd enjoy it at least a bit no matter what, and that's more or less what happened. This game has some clever and at points quite chuckle-worthy writing, but the gaping holes in the gameplay just really hold it down.

I was genuinely engaged in the story. It's a lot of the tongue-in-cheek humor and writing the series would later become infamous for, but here it comes off more like a slightly more silly and quippy Grand Theft Auto. Of the three gangs you gotta take down, I liked the Vice King's plot the best, mostly just because Ben King is a really cool dude. I thought the other two gang's stories were quite fun as well, but I felt they were a little short and underdeveloped compared to the VC's. It came off a bit like they were trying to have too many characters in those, and ended up having to cut out more exposition bits that really fleshed out the characters a bit more between each other. It seems like you meet people just to watch them die a mission or two later at times, especially for the Los Carnales missions. The comedy is often very well done though. The way they handle your (mostly) silent protagonist always had me giggling to myself, even though it might come off as eventually getting a little old to some. No really big complaints here.

Then you have the gameplay, oh GOD the gameplay. This game REALLY goes out of its way to make you do missions that really aren't that fun just for the sake of diversity of mission objectives, which is a design philosophy I really can't stand. It makes a lot of missions (like several that involve moving a big truck or bulldozer around very quickly before the relentless tide of baddies blow it up or get it stuck) just a miserable slog to do because of how difficult they are. The enemy cars can push you around SO fucking much, no matter how big the car you're in it. The FBI cars especially can fling you around like no one's business. Not to mention you NEVER get checkpoints in the middle of a mission, so a LOT of this game is failing a mission and then driving back to the location of that mission.

The game very frequently thinks it has better mechanics than it actually does, and bases missions around you fangling through those. Basically every single mission you do to take down the Riders involves some car-to-car combat, something this game really struggles with. You can ONLY use pistols, SMG's, and grenades from your driver's seat. With SO many missions that involve incapacitating or taking out an enemy vehicle as it flees from you, that just got so endlessly frustrating and tedious. A last nail in just the poor mechanics making the game worse is there's no aim-down-sights at ALL. One rifle has a scope. Other than that, you're hip-firing absolutely everything, and there are some missions where this REALLY sucks ass (including one where you gotta do a 2 minute drive to the airport to then struggle to AK-fire down an ariplane only with hip-fire from a moving vehicle. That sucks ass).

You also gotta do "respect" activities to earn a kind of non-exp, whose only purpose is to unlock your ability to do more story missions. This wouldn't be so bad if a lot of the side activities weren't so arduous. With how bad the gun-play and car-combat can be at times, it makes the higher levels of these things absolutely impossible, and I have no idea how some were ever intended to be accomplished in single-player. They're okay fun though, and a decent enough way to break up the action. I'd much prefer they just be optional ways to earn EXP or cash and you could just spam story missions as much as you wanted. Those babies are the real highlights of the game for the most part.

Granted, money doesn't really serve that much of a purpose. You're more or less as powerful as you'll ever be as a character when you start the game. Other than which flavor of gun you like most, there's really nothing power-wise to spend money on. Guns are crazy expensive and not usually actually different enough to matter, so I never spent money on guns (especially as you can't just buy ammo, you've gotta buy many of the same gun to get more ammo for that gun). Given that you lose like 20% of your cash every time you die, I found it prudent to find SOME way to get value of my money before I lost it dying (for every time you fail a respect activity, it counts as a real death, and even a cop pulling you out of your car will instantly kill you). The only way I found to do this was pimping out my character.

Now you can buy and upgrade cars and such, but there's no phone service to call them like in later games, so it's SUCH a bitch to go out of your way to get your custom cars, I always just stole one. It's easy and harmless enough. Literally, unless you do it within a foot of a cop, you'll never get in trouble for it (this ain't Mafia II, folks). As you buy clothes and jewelry for your character, you'll get more style points. These style points give you a respect multiplier for the respect activities you do, so I found it very prudent to invest in them so I could get to story missions faster. The best way to accumulate these bonuses is through jewelry, as you can wear a LOT (like 6 ear piercings, 3 nose, 2 eyebrow, 4 lip, 4 rings, 3 necklaces and a separate pendant on each, a watch on each wrist). If you opt for the most expensive option on each, you'll get those extra bonuses rollin' in quick. But this does kinda force you to have a piercing-happy character to actually play most optimally, which I felt kinda sucked (I never really wanted any :? ).

As a final note, the game also runs pretty poorly. The Xbox ain't the biggest powerhouse, and this game didn't try to hide that. The game's framerate is linked to how fast it runs, so it just feels like the game gets slowdown occasionally. This is really present when you have several cars with aggro'd passengers inside fighting at once on the screen. Not something that's a problem all the time, but given you gotta do every mission to beat the game, enough missions have this problem that it becomes very hard not to notice. The game also has some problems loading in textures and, at times, entire buildings and city-blocks. There was a time or two where I'd be followed by a bunch of dudes, just to turn the camera to see that the city block I was approaching was just a flat texture on the ground, and it took a second for the city itself to pop in. Speaking of pop-in, this game has it SO fuckin' bad. If ANY non-aggro'd car gets behind you for any length of time, you better kiss that bitch goodbye. Not only is that pop-out really annoying, but you can see enemies pop-in well inside your line of vision a LOT. It's not game-breaking, but definitely immersion breaking and annoying more often than not.

Verdict: Not recommended. If this game had really repetitive on-foot gunplay missions, I'd honestly think it'd be a lot better. It focuses too hard on things it doesn't do well, and it really suffers for it. No amount of clever writing can save it from that. I'd only play this one if you're both a big fan of city open-world games AND a big Saints Row fan, because that'll be the only way you'll be able to trudge through all the sins this game commits :/
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Re: Games Beaten 2017

by MrPopo Sat Aug 12, 2017 5:09 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
36. Dust: An Elysian Tail - PC
37. Hollow Knight - PC
38. The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky Second Chapter - PC
39. The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 3rd - PC
40. Call of Duty - PC

I was feeling kind of bogged down by the large number of long JRPGs that I've been consuming, so I decided to do something lighter to break things up; Call of Duty. I played through Medal of Honor: Allied Assault and its expansions last year, so it was interesting to see how this game contrasted. A lot of the same staff was involved, and it shows. But Call of Duty iterates on what MoH did and makes for quite the enjoyable WWII game.

CoD is split up into three storylines; the first is an American paratrooper working to ensure D-Day will be a success, the second is a British soldier who quickly gets co-oped by SAS to engage in some key sabotage, and the third is a Russian soldier thrust into the battle for Stalingrad. You will do the entirety of each storyline except for the last mission before moving on to the next. The last mission of each campaign is set near Germany's defeat, so there's some timeskip involved. In fact, the last Russian mission is your unit hoisting the flag over the Reichstag.

The biggest difference from MoH:AA is that there is a major emphasis on squad combat. While you never control your squad members, you almost always are working in tandem with several fellow soldiers. This means that you don't have to Rambo your way through things (in fact, that's a super easy way to get killed). Your role ends up being working on key targets; taking out MG42 operators, completing demolition objectives, and operating heavy artillery against tanks. This emphasis definitely gives the game a different feel from MoH:AA, and it's more like you're actually fighting battles, rather than engaging in commando ops. Of course, the SAS missions tend to be more on the commando ops side, but you sort of expect that.
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