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laurenhiya21
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Re: Games Beaten 2019

by laurenhiya21 Sun Apr 21, 2019 2:31 pm

4/6: Okami HD (Switch)
I’m sure pretty much everyone here knows about Okami, so I’m not really going to explain too much, but I will briefly explain my thoughts on it. This wasn’t the first time that I played Okami, as I had previously played a large chunk of the Wii version, but this was the first time I beat the game. I don’t remember the exact reason why I didn’t beat it on the Wii, but I certainly enjoyed playing the HD version more than the older version. When I first played Okami, I remember loving the graphics, music, and characters (I think I was also fine with the combat), but one of my biggest struggles was drawing anything somewhat accuracy with the Wiimote. I remember especially having trouble with anything that required drawing a circle. With the HD version of Okami, that was a non-issue since I could use a regular controller instead. I imagine some people might find it awkward to draw shapes and lines with a controller, but I found it to be incredibly easy to do.

With that being said, I do have one small complaint. At several points in the game, you are required to do one of two mini-games. One is just fishing, which isn’t too difficult, and the other is this digging game, similar to something like Mr. Driller. The first required digging game isn’t too bad, but some of the others took me an annoyingly long time to figure out. I didn’t really enjoy them and wish I could have just skipped them.

Other than that, I really enjoyed Okami! If you haven’t played it, then I might suggest that you give it a shot :)

4/8: Katamari Damacy Reroll (Switch)
It’s not often that I replay games that I’ve already beaten as there’s just so many games I want to play, but then Katamari Damacy Reroll came out (which is a remake of Katamari Damacy). Since I hadn’t played the original in a long while, I thought it would be a good time to give it a replay.

Since I beat the original game before I was writing my thoughts on games I’ve played, I don’t know exactly what I thought of the original game. I remember enjoying it, as it was just a simple but whacky and fun game, but I had difficulty with the controls and some tough levels. With Reroll, I still had a lot of fun, but I guess some things were adjusted a bit since I had no problem beating any of the levels. In fact, I beat many of the levels with minutes to spare, which never happened in the original. This might be a downside to some if you like more difficulty in your games, but for me this was a nice change since I prefer Katamari to be more of a chill experience. As an additional bonus, Reroll has gotten a nice HD facelift and looks better than before. With this remake, I think the only complaint I have is that it’s a fairly short game, but I knew that before hand so I don’t really mind much (it’s not a full-priced game anyway).

If you like a wacky, chill game, I’d try Katamari Damacy Reroll out (or the original would be fine too honestly). Just keep in mind that Reroll only has a limited physical run in the States (and limited to Gamestop too booo), so if that’s important to you then I’d pick it up sooner rather than later.
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MrPopo
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Re: Games Beaten 2019

by MrPopo Sun Apr 21, 2019 7:12 pm

1. Octopath Traveler - Switch
2. Dusk - PC
3. Forsaken Remastered - PC
4. Tales of Eternia - PS1
5. Resident Evil 2 (2019) - PC
6. Pokémon Trading Card Game - GBC
7. Metro Exodus - PC
8. Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales - PC
9. Project Warlock - PC
10. Magic: The Gathering - PC
11. Ghost 1.0 - PC
12. Call of Duty 2 - PC
13. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice - PS4
14. Revelations: The Demon Slayer - GBC
15. Mechstermination Force - Switch
16. Shadow Warrior Classic Redux - PC

Shadow Warrior is a Build engine FPS that manages to be more juvenile than Duke Nukem 3D and has some level design problems that can cause players to get stuck due to not being able to see how to proceed. That said, it isn't terribly long and has some decent gameplay when it's being strong. It's worth playing if you're an FPS junkie, but it certainly sits in the "average" category.

Like Duke 3D, Shadow Warrior revels in appealing to "teenage" humor. The main character is full of quips, only now it's someone doing a really bad "me so solly" accent. Then add in the atomic health replacement being a fortune cookie that gives you a "Confucius say" joke and the large number of "Wang" jokes (the main character is Lo Wang). It actually manages to get all the way to painful, whereas Duke 3D had a much better balance that made it be at the level where it approached the level of decent satire.

The game's weaponry is similar to what you see in Duke 3D, but with some minor twists to fit the setting. Instead of a pistol you have shurikens, for example. For some reason they ramped up the area and damage of explosive weapons, which, combined with the many tight corridors and melee enemies, means you mostly save them for bosses to not get killed. It uses the same inventory system as Duke 3D as well, with many of the same items.

The level design is a weird mix of interesting and confusing. When the levels are working they do a good job of being representative of what might be real places. But the designers also didn't always do a good job of making it evident what paths are available to the player. A couple levels have the main path locked behind what would traditionally be a secret, so if you don't think of doing the "explore everywhere" thing you will hit a brick wall. And the final level has what seems like a ceiling actually be intended to be a smoke field; if you don't try and move through it again you'll be stuck. It's one thing when the player doesn't remember where a particular door is, but when there isn't even a path visible it's a level design miss.

There's definitely some potential here, but the game has a few too many bad pieces of gameplay (including some suicide enemies lurking right behind a door that one shot you) to call it a classic. And that's before the racist humor strikes.
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Re: Games Beaten 2019

by emwearz Sun Apr 21, 2019 7:21 pm

Pretty much agree with what you said about SW: Redux.

In my younger years I thought Shadow Warrior was amazing, funny and had a great sense of exploration that Duke lacked.

I found it much harder than Duke3D (which I played a lot so knew well), but thought the humor was on point. I played the Redux version when it came out and everything about the game had aged so poorly to me.

It didn't feel challenging, it felt cheap.
It didn't feel like I had to explore levels, I felt lost due to poor design.
I didn't find any of the 'jokes' funny, they were either overtly racist or just puns on the word Wang and just missed the mark with me.

Very much a product of its time. Out of the build trilogy of games that focus on movies tropes, (Shadow Warrior = Martial Art Movies, Duke Nukem = Action Movies, Blood = Horror Movies), it is the only one I don't play on a semi regular basis.
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MrPopo
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Re: Games Beaten 2019

by MrPopo Mon Apr 22, 2019 1:07 am

1. Octopath Traveler - Switch
2. Dusk - PC
3. Forsaken Remastered - PC
4. Tales of Eternia - PS1
5. Resident Evil 2 (2019) - PC
6. Pokémon Trading Card Game - GBC
7. Metro Exodus - PC
8. Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales - PC
9. Project Warlock - PC
10. Magic: The Gathering - PC
11. Ghost 1.0 - PC
12. Call of Duty 2 - PC
13. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice - PS4
14. Revelations: The Demon Slayer - GBC
15. Mechstermination Force - Switch
16. Shadow Warrior Classic Redux - PC
17. Lost Sphear - Switch

Lost Sphear is the second game by Tokyo RPG Factory, who debuted with I Am Setsuna. Now, I loved the hell out of I Am Setsuna; it added a bit to the Chrono Trigger battle system and had an aesthetic that was a total package; the story was definitely on the bleaker side of things, and this was mirrored by the snowy landscape and the piano-only music. So I jumped into this game with high hopes. Unfortunately, Lost Sphear ends up being a weaker game overall.

The story is set in motion when a phenomenon known as Lost starts occurring in the hero's hometown; people and objects start turning into a blank whiteness. However, he discovers that he has the ability to restore the Lost by focusing on the memories of those Lost. This, he sets off to try and figure out why things are becoming Lost, and restoring those along the way. Now, this was an interesting seed for things, and the game does a good job of rendering the Lost (flat white texture with no directional lighting). But about a third of the way through the game everyone forgets the Lost are a major plot point, and instead things shift to excavating ancient mecha from ruins, then some empire building. It's only in the last third of the game do you remember that the Lost are a major problem (and not just a minor gameplay element), at which point they become the most pressing thing (as the final boss is definitely linked to it). This is sort of a microcosm of the entirety of the game's problems; a lack of focus.

Remember how I mentioned ancient mecha? That's a system in the game. In battle you can go into a robot form, which can't use basic attacks but can use your skills and a special ability with a long cooldown. They never feel fully integrated to the narrative; a good example is the AGWS from Xenosaga Episode 1; they show up, can be used, but they aren't tightly integrated like Xenogears' titular gears. Similarly, the combat system takes I Am Setsuna's combat and adds some additional layers. The first is the ability to fully reposition on your turn, finally giving Marurun the ability to maximize the various linear and area attacks to hit enemies as best as possible. The second is an extension of the Momentum mode. Not only can you activate it to boost your damage, if you equip special support items to your skills you can get a benefit (such as healing your HP or lowering enemy defense). Using momentum can trigger your skills to learn the equipped bonus, so you still maintain it even when you remove the support item (so it's a build your own uber skill system). However, you can't really make major use of this until late game, as you are very resource constrained early on which prevents you from getting many of the support items. Again, it feels a bit tacked on.

The game's skill system is also a bit cumbersome. Every skill has a cooldown to it; you can never use a skill on successive turns, and sometimes you might have to wait up to five turns between a given skill. This makes healing an especial pain, as you need to carefully consider if this is worth putting your heal on cooldown (there also is a general dearth of healing magic). And the ATB doesn't pause until you pick a skill, so when you're figuring out how to sequence things for a given enemy you're probably getting pounded on. The cooldown system would have been better served with a fully turn based system, such as FFX's. There's the potential for strategy in how you sequence your moves to maximize damage, but you frequently find yourself needing to pick things quickly.

It really feels like the game didn't have someone with a singular vision for it to provide some editorial guidance. They just kind of threw every idea they had into it and tried to get it to all come together. You end up with a middling RPG that has several interesting parts, but ultimately doesn't rise to greatness.
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Ordinary Gamer
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Re: Games Beaten 2019

by Ordinary Gamer Mon Apr 22, 2019 8:07 am

New member, I like this thread. I hope no one minds this post being a bit long, but I've completed a handful of cool games recently. These were all played on PS4.

The Hong Kong Massacre

So if you've played Max Payne or especially Stranglehold, you'll feel pretty comfortable with this game. It gets compared to Hotline Miami a lot, because it's a top down, one hit death game, but it feels to me like its game play roots are more in Max Payne and it's overall style comes from John Woo cinema as exemplified in Stranglehold. You basically run around blasting people using dives, ground slides and bullet time. Graphically...it looks like a John Woo movie. The music is very catchy, so much so that some youtubers have been dancing and free styling while playing this game LOL. The story isn't much to talk about, but it's not that important in a game like this. It basically consists of what you'd expect given the game's cinematic influences. A dead partner cop, a dude seeking revenge, police interrogations, Asian gang members getting murdered, and lots of birds flying around everywhere for some reason.

Since you die in one hit, a good play through of a level really does play out like a well choreographed John Woo shoot out with your character gracefully dodging bullets while popping off head shots, destroying scenery and generally just causing bloody mayhem. There's lots of destructible stuff in the environment, so you can shoot through doors, dive through windows, etc. Again, it's kind of like a top down, twin stick shooter version of Stranglehold. Every level has three challenges. Beat the time limit, kill everyone without missing a shot, and the hardest one which is finishing the stage without bullet time (I really hate that one). If you want to unlock new weapons and upgrade them, you'll need to do some of these challenges

Overall, a fun game if you like bullet time shooters, John Woo cinema, and Hotline Miami. You might also be interested in God's Trigger, a game I may eventually talk about here when I finish it

Astro Bot Rescue Mission

So basically, if you want a game with the magic of a classic Mario title on your Playstation 4, this is it. Honestly, I had more fun with this game than Mario 64 and Super Mario 3d Land. The game is just pure joy in video game form as it's hard not to constantly find yourself smiling while playing it.

It uses VR to great effect not just in creating visual spectacles, but the fun ways the game interacts with the player. You'll move Astro Bot through each level, jumping about and attacking enemies in typical platformer fashion, but you are also physically moving through each stage yourself. This means you'll have to interact with certain things in the environment, while also avoiding obstacles, and even providing assistance to your little Astro Bot through various gadgets tied to your controller, like using the dualshock as a flashlight to reveal hidden platforms for Astro Bot to use. It's almost like you're controlling two characters while playing through this game. It sounds more complicated than it is, basically you're just following Astro through each level. As you maneuver him past various enemies and obstacles, you'll be automatically moving forward through the level just behind him. Basically, you're on rails but he isn't. This creates a fun dynamic in each stage. Just to give an example, in one area you'll have Astro Bot maneuver past some canon balls and as you follow him through the same area, you might have to physically move your actual head in order to avoid one of those canon balls smacking you in the face (which causes a cool shattered glass effect on your screen)

Other than the neat, two character feature, this is your typical, collect-a-thon platformer. In each stage you'll be hunting down Astro Bot's stranded pals (eight per level), while also looking for "space chameleons" that unlock fun (and occasionally frustrating) extra challenge levels. The VR is put to good use as you'll sometimes need to look all around you to keep up with what's going on. At times Astro Bot will be moving around above you, behind you, or to the left or right of you. You'll need to look around in every direction sometimes just to find all of the hidden bots too. It's a fully, 3-dimensional experience in a way that a non-VR platformer like Mario 64 or Spyro could never be. And the first time an enemy attacks YOU instead of Astro Bot will probably catch you by surprise.

The game looks gorgeous, other than the rather low resolution and occasional blurriness and pixelation (which are problems with every PSVR game). Astro and his pals are very cute and bosses look amazing as the sense of size and scale they have in VR is incredible. These are big, giant sized enemies you'll be facing off against and you'll feel pretty small by comparison. The soundtrack is incredible with really catchy, upbeat, feel good tunes. Astro Bot will make you feel like a kid again

Honestly, Astro Bot is probably THE reason to get a PSVR. Though there are plenty of other quality titles as well (like Moss). Astro Bot has serious mascot potential

Volgarr the Viking

Volgar is HARD, like really HARD...and that's why it's great. Because if you stick with it, you WILL eventually make progress and it will feel very rewarding. This game plays a little like a Ghouls n Ghosts game, and it also has a clear influence from Rastan. You lose equipment when you take hits and if you don't have any equipment then the next hit kills you. The game is low on checkpoints, so death means replaying a significant portion of the level again, especially if you die at a boss. The death system is cool. Crystals bring you back to life using the power of Odin, so death in this game is part of the narrative. There's two paths through the game. The second one is harder and instead of crystal checkpoints, you'll have a Valkyrie following you around. She can resurrect you only a limited number of times, so on "The Path of the Valkyrie", you will need to master the game as you can't die an infinite number of times. Did I mention there's no saves? You will need to finish the Path of the Valkyrie in a single sitting, though that shouldn't be so odd to those of us raised on 8-bit, 16-bit and arcade games.

The game is meant to be tough, it's even in the game's original advertising. The thing is though, the more you play, the more familiar you become with the levels, the enemies, and each stage's hidden secrets. Little by little, the game gets easier...until eventually you master it. At which point, the game becomes almost stupidly easy. Volgarr is a methodical, almost puzzle like game. Typically, when you die it's only because you haven't figured out the right way to approach the situation. Each time you figure out how to get past a certain tough part of a stage, it gets committed to memory. Eventually you will memorize the entire level and it then becomes a cake walk. Bosses too, have predictable patterns you will eventually learn, but only after they've killed you and made you replay half a stage at least a dozen times. The game is very old school...and very metal. Seriously, there is an actual heavy metal track you will hear if you beat the game. Heck, just listen to the music in the trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nN9mKr_O2og

The game has some neat mechanics, like the variety of ways you can use Volgarr's spear to not just take out enemies, but help him with platforming, and even protecting him from enemy projectiles. You have a very limited number of moves, but it's surprising the number of ways you can take advantage of them due to the game's clever level and enemy design. It's a fun game. If you like Rastan, Ghouls n Ghosts, power metal or vikings, check it out

The Messenger

Ninja Gaiden is back baby! Seriously, if you like the NG trilogy on the NES, stop reading and go play this. Honestly, the less you know about the game the better, it's full of fun surprises. If you want to know more though, read on.

So yeah, it plays a lot like the old NES games. The biggest difference is "cloud stepping". The way this works is any time you attack ANYTHING, you can perform a jump, even if you're in mid-air and have already jumped. This gives you a lot more maneuverability and flexibility than classic Ninja Gaiden. As you play through the game, you will unlock other techniques that give you even more mobility options, like air gliding, and a whip like ability that lets you latch on to objects and enemies. This game must be a dream for speed runners as the number of techniques you will acquire, in addition to cloud stepping, allow you to not only do some crazy platforming the likes of which I haven't seen since Guacamelee, but also keep your forward momentum going at all times.

Oh but there's more, you can purchase upgrades via a shop keeper, who is hands down one of the greatest characters in video game history. Seriously, this character has incredible dialog. Some of it is down right hilarious and some of it is surprisingly serious and insightful. The writing in this game is top notch. The story, while not as complex as the old Ninja Gaiden games, is very interesting and the game's mix of humor and philosophy kept my attention at all times.

Another neat thing this game does is similar to the Valkyrie I mentioned when talking about Volgarr. When you die, a little demon named Quarble will rewind time and bring you back to your last checkpoint. The catch is, he'll follow you around and steal your money until he has collected his debt for saving you, which can slow down the upgrade process for you. Also, he will endlessly troll you every...single...time...you die. Imagine the old men from The Muppet Show following you around and heckling you every time you die...and you will die. Oh yes, this game has a level of difficulty comparable to the old Ninja Gaiden games...well, maybe not THAT hard. It is tough in some parts though, especially if you hunt down the optional Power Seals, each of which requires you to overcome a difficult platforming challenge. And that's AFTER you actually find them.

There's still MORE to talk about. This game is so full of surprises. Eventually, the game will actually switch from 8-bit graphics to 16-bit graphics, for reasons you'll have to play the game to find out. The first time this happens is a true WTF moment, especially if you haven't seen any of the game's trailers. Even crazier, the game eventually goes from linear, side scroller to an actual Metroid style game. You will revisit each of the linear levels you've previously completed, but now you can switch between their original 8-bit versions and the new 16-bit versions, which will give you access to new areas, new story elements, and new bosses! It's f***ing awesome!

This game is fantastic, and it even got a nod of approval from NG's original creators:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctijWWXznFg

Okay, I'm done. That was a lot of typing :lol:
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prfsnl_gmr
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Re: Games Beaten 2019

by prfsnl_gmr Mon Apr 22, 2019 8:31 am

Ordinary Gamer wrote:New member, I like this thread. I hope no one minds this post being a bit long, but I've completed a handful of cool games recently. These were all played on PS4.

The Hong Kong Massacre

So if you've played Max Payne or especially Stranglehold, you'll feel pretty comfortable with this game. It gets compared to Hotline Miami a lot, because it's a top down, one hit death game, but it feels to me like its game play roots are more in Max Payne and it's overall style comes from John Woo cinema as exemplified in Stranglehold. You basically run around blasting people using dives, ground slides and bullet time. Graphically...it looks like a John Woo movie. The music is very catchy, so much so that some youtubers have been dancing and free styling while playing this game LOL. The story isn't much to talk about, but it's not that important in a game like this. It basically consists of what you'd expect given the game's cinematic influences. A dead partner cop, a dude seeking revenge, police interrogations, Asian gang members getting murdered, and lots of birds flying around everywhere for some reason.

Since you die in one hit, a good play through of a level really does play out like a well choreographed John Woo shoot out with your character gracefully dodging bullets while popping off head shots, destroying scenery and generally just causing bloody mayhem. There's lots of destructible stuff in the environment, so you can shoot through doors, dive through windows, etc. Again, it's kind of like a top down, twin stick shooter version of Stranglehold. Every level has three challenges. Beat the time limit, kill everyone without missing a shot, and the hardest one which is finishing the stage without bullet time (I really hate that one). If you want to unlock new weapons and upgrade them, you'll need to do some of these challenges

Overall, a fun game if you like bullet time shooters, John Woo cinema, and Hotline Miami. You might also be interested in God's Trigger, a game I may eventually talk about here when I finish it

Astro Bot Rescue Mission

So basically, if you want a game with the magic of a classic Mario title on your Playstation 4, this is it. Honestly, I had more fun with this game than Mario 64 and Super Mario 3d Land. The game is just pure joy in video game form as it's hard not to constantly find yourself smiling while playing it.

It uses VR to great effect not just in creating visual spectacles, but the fun ways the game interacts with the player. You'll move Astro Bot through each level, jumping about and attacking enemies in typical platformer fashion, but you are also physically moving through each stage yourself. This means you'll have to interact with certain things in the environment, while also avoiding obstacles, and even providing assistance to your little Astro Bot through various gadgets tied to your controller, like using the dualshock as a flashlight to reveal hidden platforms for Astro Bot to use. It's almost like you're controlling two characters while playing through this game. It sounds more complicated than it is, basically you're just following Astro through each level. As you maneuver him past various enemies and obstacles, you'll be automatically moving forward through the level just behind him. Basically, you're on rails but he isn't. This creates a fun dynamic in each stage. Just to give an example, in one area you'll have Astro Bot maneuver past some canon balls and as you follow him through the same area, you might have to physically move your actual head in order to avoid one of those canon balls smacking you in the face (which causes a cool shattered glass effect on your screen)

Other than the neat, two character feature, this is your typical, collect-a-thon platformer. In each stage you'll be hunting down Astro Bot's stranded pals (eight per level), while also looking for "space chameleons" that unlock fun (and occasionally frustrating) extra challenge levels. The VR is put to good use as you'll sometimes need to look all around you to keep up with what's going on. At times Astro Bot will be moving around above you, behind you, or to the left or right of you. You'll need to look around in every direction sometimes just to find all of the hidden bots too. It's a fully, 3-dimensional experience in a way that a non-VR platformer like Mario 64 or Spyro could never be. And the first time an enemy attacks YOU instead of Astro Bot will probably catch you by surprise.

The game looks gorgeous, other than the rather low resolution and occasional blurriness and pixelation (which are problems with every PSVR game). Astro and his pals are very cute and bosses look amazing as the sense of size and scale they have in VR is incredible. These are big, giant sized enemies you'll be facing off against and you'll feel pretty small by comparison. The soundtrack is incredible with really catchy, upbeat, feel good tunes. Astro Bot will make you feel like a kid again

Honestly, Astro Bot is probably THE reason to get a PSVR. Though there are plenty of other quality titles as well (like Moss). Astro Bot has serious mascot potential

Volgarr the Viking

Volgar is HARD, like really HARD...and that's why it's great. Because if you stick with it, you WILL eventually make progress and it will feel very rewarding. This game plays a little like a Ghouls n Ghosts game, and it also has a clear influence from Rastan. You lose equipment when you take hits and if you don't have any equipment then the next hit kills you. The game is low on checkpoints, so death means replaying a significant portion of the level again, especially if you die at a boss. The death system is cool. Crystals bring you back to life using the power of Odin, so death in this game is part of the narrative. There's two paths through the game. The second one is harder and instead of crystal checkpoints, you'll have a Valkyrie following you around. She can resurrect you only a limited number of times, so on "The Path of the Valkyrie", you will need to master the game as you can't die an infinite number of times. Did I mention there's no saves? You will need to finish the Path of the Valkyrie in a single sitting, though that shouldn't be so odd to those of us raised on 8-bit, 16-bit and arcade games.

The game is meant to be tough, it's even in the game's original advertising. The thing is though, the more you play, the more familiar you become with the levels, the enemies, and each stage's hidden secrets. Little by little, the game gets easier...until eventually you master it. At which point, the game becomes almost stupidly easy. Volgarr is a methodical, almost puzzle like game. Typically, when you die it's only because you haven't figured out the right way to approach the situation. Each time you figure out how to get past a certain tough part of a stage, it gets committed to memory. Eventually you will memorize the entire level and it then becomes a cake walk. Bosses too, have predictable patterns you will eventually learn, but only after they've killed you and made you replay half a stage at least a dozen times. The game is very old school...and very metal. Seriously, there is an actual heavy metal track you will hear if you beat the game. Heck, just listen to the music in the trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nN9mKr_O2og

The game has some neat mechanics, like the variety of ways you can use Volgarr's spear to not just take out enemies, but help him with platforming, and even protecting him from enemy projectiles. You have a very limited number of moves, but it's surprising the number of ways you can take advantage of them due to the game's clever level and enemy design. It's a fun game. If you like Rastan, Ghouls n Ghosts, power metal or vikings, check it out

The Messenger

Ninja Gaiden is back baby! Seriously, if you like the NG trilogy on the NES, stop reading and go play this. Honestly, the less you know about the game the better, it's full of fun surprises. If you want to know more though, read on.

So yeah, it plays a lot like the old NES games. The biggest difference is "cloud stepping". The way this works is any time you attack ANYTHING, you can perform a jump, even if you're in mid-air and have already jumped. This gives you a lot more maneuverability and flexibility than classic Ninja Gaiden. As you play through the game, you will unlock other techniques that give you even more mobility options, like air gliding, and a whip like ability that lets you latch on to objects and enemies. This game must be a dream for speed runners as the number of techniques you will acquire, in addition to cloud stepping, allow you to not only do some crazy platforming the likes of which I haven't seen since Guacamelee, but also keep your forward momentum going at all times.

Oh but there's more, you can purchase upgrades via a shop keeper, who is hands down one of the greatest characters in video game history. Seriously, this character has incredible dialog. Some of it is down right hilarious and some of it is surprisingly serious and insightful. The writing in this game is top notch. The story, while not as complex as the old Ninja Gaiden games, is very interesting and the game's mix of humor and philosophy kept my attention at all times.

Another neat thing this game does is similar to the Valkyrie I mentioned when talking about Volgarr. When you die, a little demon named Quarble will rewind time and bring you back to your last checkpoint. The catch is, he'll follow you around and steal your money until he has collected his debt for saving you, which can slow down the upgrade process for you. Also, he will endlessly troll you every...single...time...you die. Imagine the old men from The Muppet Show following you around and heckling you every time you die...and you will die. Oh yes, this game has a level of difficulty comparable to the old Ninja Gaiden games...well, maybe not THAT hard. It is tough in some parts though, especially if you hunt down the optional Power Seals, each of which requires you to overcome a difficult platforming challenge. And that's AFTER you actually find them.

There's still MORE to talk about. This game is so full of surprises. Eventually, the game will actually switch from 8-bit graphics to 16-bit graphics, for reasons you'll have to play the game to find out. The first time this happens is a true WTF moment, especially if you haven't seen any of the game's trailers. Even crazier, the game eventually goes from linear, side scroller to an actual Metroid style game. You will revisit each of the linear levels you've previously completed, but now you can switch between their original 8-bit versions and the new 16-bit versions, which will give you access to new areas, new story elements, and new bosses! It's f***ing awesome!

This game is fantastic, and it even got a nod of approval from NG's original creators:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctijWWXznFg

Okay, I'm done. That was a lot of typing :lol:


Welcome to the forums! That’s a great post, Please stick around and talk about games.

Also, I am extremely impressed you made it through Volgarr the Viking. It is such a good game, but I start getting crushed by the second level. Nice work!

Also, long time member DSH also loved Astro Bot and said it may go down as one of the all time great platformers.
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Re: Games Beaten 2019

by marurun Mon Apr 22, 2019 8:38 am

Wow, epic way to step into the Games Beaten 2019 thread! We love those long write-ups around here (but really, we love any write-ups.)
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Re: Games Beaten 2019

by PartridgeSenpai Mon Apr 22, 2019 8:44 am

Partridge Senpai's 2019 Beaten Games:
Previously: 2016 2017 2018
* indicates a repeat

1. Night Slashers (Switch)
2. Bye-Bye BOXBOY! (3DS)
3. GTA4: The Ballad of Gay Tony (Xbox 360)
4. Katamari Forever (PS3)
5. Detention (PS4)
6. Donkey Kong 64 (N64) *
7. OctoDad: Dadliest Catch (PS4) *
8. FlintHook (Switch)
9. God of War (PS4)
10. God of War HD (PS3)
11. Tiny Barbarian DX (Switch)
12. God of War 2 HD (PS3)

13. Starlink (Switch)

Beat Starlink a week or two ago and only just now have the internet to type about it! I helped a friend beat all the Gummy Ship stuff in Kingdom Hearts 3, and it made me really wanna play a real spaceship game. I looked over on the eShop and noticed the eternal sale that the Digital Deluxe edition of Starlink was still on, so I picked it up. It made a really great simple game to de-stress to while I was waiting for my job to start after moving to Japan.

Starlink is a game by Ubisoft and it is very much still an Ubisoft Game (TM). Large open-world with tons of icons scattered around that you progressively unlock more of with effectively identical activities to do to fill up number percentages, all while a larger story goes on around it. The gimmick this time is that you're a spaceship, but that said, it's a pretty decent gimmick.

There are two parts to Starlink: planets and space. Space has you in your spaceship flying around, getting into dogfights, and attacking larger spaceships in raid-like solo fights. They're really well put together, and honestly I kinda wish the whole game had just been a better fleshed-out space game, because you're honestly barely in space unless you really wanna do ALL the nearly identical raid-like fights. The second part is the planets, where you're still in a spaceship, but your spaceship is basically glued to the ground like a landmaster in Starfox. You zoom about these slightly procedurally-generated planets doing quests for quest-givers, attacking enemies you find, scanning wildlife, and collecting goodies. There is a lot of planet stuff in the game, and honestly I thought it was a shame because it's definitely the less remarkable part of the gameplay loop.

You're a spaceship, so of course you can customize it! If you have the physical toy, you can plonk your IRL guns onto the ship's wings and they'll appear on your ship in the game, same goes for wings on your ship. They'll even face backwards if you plonk them on backwards! It's a really neat gimmick, and the digital replacement for it is honestly really horribly clunky and cumbersome and really would've benefited from a faster way to instantly toggle between loadouts without going into a menu (the game does have loadouts, you just can't go between them quickly).

There are 4 different elemental weapons, fire, ice, stasis, and vortex; and there are also a series of additional neutral weapons that have no element attached. They're all really different and fun to use, and using one with a pilot gets only a certain amount of skill points with that weapon, so you're encouraged to try out loads with different combos to get more skill points and see what works best together. The weird thing is that the number of each is really odd, especially how there is only ONE stasis weapon, and given that vortex enemies are weak to stasis, you're gonna be using that ONE a LOT. The physical versions of the game also never came with at least one of these elemental weapons, and given there are certain in-game activities that require all the elements to complete, the game NEEDED extra toys to be bought to actually 100% if you bought the physical toy (a very crappy, but quite typically Ubisoft move). In summary, weapons are fun, but elemental gunplay is kinda poorly thought out and badly monetized to boot.

The Switch version comes with included Starfox DLC where you can play as fox, fly the Arwing, and play some special Star Fox missions as you try and track down Star Wolf, and at least compared to the rest of the content in the game, it's fairly substantial. Now, there isn't actually THAT much to do, but it's another story side-quest in a game that otherwise has ONE story-related side-quest that isn't a part of the main story, so at least proportionally it's a fairly sizable amount of content. It's quite well put together too, and easily makes the Switch version of Starlink the definitive one despite how much better other consoles can likely run the software.

The story of Starlink is VERY forgettable and a far cry (no pun intended) from Ubisoft's better writing achievements of recent memory (such as the excellent Watchdogs 2). It's very kiddy in the kinda bad way, where it seems like it's trying to feel deep but never really does anything beyond looking pretty and having an atmosphere of something cool happening without anything meaningful occurring. For the sake of selling more toys, the cast is bloated to the point where there were several cutscenes that featured characters I never remembered seeing before, let alone knowing the character traits of. The story was clearly not the focus of this game, and was sacrificed for the sake of selling more toys. Not a deal-breaker (I mean I 100%'d the planet parts of the game, so clearly there's something to the gameplay loop that's appealing despite the story), but a shame given how well Ubisoft has shown they can construct a narrative.

Verdict: Recommended. Starlink may not be anything mind-blowing for most people, but it's a good time, and something fairly easy to recommend if you can get the digital deluxe edition for 50% off like I did. It made me look forward to the upcoming Starfox DLC for it, and even more look forward to the innovations a Starlink 2 may bring, if that ever exists.
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Re: Games Beaten 2019

by pook99 Mon Apr 22, 2019 9:39 am

@ordinarygamer: Welcome to the forums, great first post. I love volgar the viking, probably one of my all time favorite indie games. The challenge in that game is just done very well, and learning how to conquer new areas is very rewarding and satisfying.

I enjoyed the messenger as well, but the shift to metroidvania style took the wind out of my sails a bit. I was loving it at first but there is just sooooooo much backtracking in the later half of the game that it became kind of a slog. I still enjoyed the game(you could find my review somewhere on this thread) but the 2nd half definitely took it down a notch for me. I loved the writing though, probably some of the most genuinely enjoyable writing I have ever seen in a game.

@MrPopo: Mechstermination force is one of my favorite switch games. Although I did not have to grind much to complete it, I definitely agree that just rewarding the player with a heart + weapon/upgrade after every boss would have been a much better way to go. Since I did not really grind much I did not unlock all the weapons, which kind of sucks. I only unlocked the flamethrower and the spread, I would have liked to have seen all the weapons the game offers but I just focused on all my money on health.
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Re: Games Beaten 2019

by marurun Mon Apr 22, 2019 11:42 am

Wow, nice Starlink review, Partridge. Some folks have called the Star Fox stuff the best part of the game. What are your thoughts on that?
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