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MrPopo
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Re: Games Beaten 2019

by MrPopo Fri Jul 19, 2019 11:26 am

Command and Conquer has not aged well,

You must burn in fire Elkin. And also must play Red Alert; it's on the same engine and maintains the played straight cutscenes where they really are trying their best (and have some narmy moments). Then things diverge. The Tiberium series stays serious, though the Tiberian Sun cutscenes are on the weaker side because now they're more of a movie, rather than you being briefed (they go back to the briefing style in Tiberium Wars and have a star studded cast). Meanwhile, Red Alert goes full camp in Red Alert 2 and 3, and you need to play RA3 at some point for the power trio of Tim Curry, JK Simmons, and George Takei as the three faction leaders. Generals is frankly skippable; it's just too generic. It uses StarCraft style base building instead of C&C style (not to mention StarCraft style menu bar on the bottom instead of the side) and they get rid of the FMV. It's just a near future US vs. China vs. Terrorists game. It just lacks the charm of the other games.
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Ack
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Re: Games Beaten 2019

by Ack Fri Jul 19, 2019 11:50 am

"Thank you for the nice shoes, master!"

Angry mobs. Chemical weapons officers. RPG emplacements. You better believe I played Terrorists.
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Re: Games Beaten 2019

by ElkinFencer10 Fri Jul 19, 2019 12:07 pm

Generals (Zero Hour, specifically) is the only C&C I've actually played at any length although entirely randomly AI multiplayer maps. I was really put off by the series when I first tried is a good 10 years ago because it was so different from what I was used to (Starcraft, Rise of Nations, Star Trek Armada, Age of Empires, etc), so Generals was the only one that I was comfortable with at the time. Now, obviously, I'm getting out of my shell. But yes, I fully intend to go through Red Alert and the rest of the Tiberium series at some point.
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MrPopo
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Re: Games Beaten 2019

by MrPopo Fri Jul 19, 2019 12:34 pm

Ack wrote:"Thank you for the nice shoes, master!"

Angry mobs. Chemical weapons officers. RPG emplacements. You better believe I played Terrorists.

I mean, those are nice, but not as nice as Overlord Tanks. Put a tower on one and gatlings on the rest and go to town.
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Re: Games Beaten 2019

by pook99 Fri Jul 19, 2019 8:29 pm

104. Castlevania: Blood Moon (nes hack)

Blood Moon is one of the most famous castlevania hacks, I've read about it alot but have stayed away from it because it is supposedly one of the harder hacks, while this hack is on the more difficult side it typically does not feel cheap and does a few things that help you stay in the game.

The most notable thing that makes this game manageable is that you do not lose your sub weapon when you die or continue, if you have the double or triple shot, you will lose those, but you are never without a subweapon in this game barring the very first section. In addition to that you start with 30 hearts each time you die, and the game is very generous about handing out double and triple shots (represented by a small and large bible respectively), what this means is that once you find your favorite weapon you can keep it forever and it is really nice to basically never run out of sub weapons. This adds a nice new gameplay mechanic as you can really rely on your sub weapon of choice in a pretty big way, and you will definitely need them.

As mentioned above this is a hard game, but it is not one of those rom hacks that just throw 100 enemies at you every step making it feel stupid and cheap, I would say the general level design and enemy placement is very much in line with what you would expect from a mainline castlevania title but it is just a little harder. Difficulty of course varies depending on the stage, deaths stage was very tough thande death fight was a nightmare, imagine death only your surrounded by pits and there are 4 sickles on the screen at any given time, also because of where he spawns you cant cheese the holy water, complete nightmare and I cant believe I ever beat him. By contrast I beat draculas stage on my first try and dracula himself is pretty easy since there is a meat you can grab mid fight and you can stock up on triple holy water or boomerang really easy.

The hacked graphics look nice, all the enemies are sprite swapped, level designs are entirely new as is the enemy placement. There are one or two random parts where you will accidentally walk into a pit because you dont know what your looking at and while it is annoying when it happens, it doesnt happen often enough to hamper your enjoyment. There are also alot of cool outdoor backgrounds, which as the name implies, has an ominous blood moon hovering in the sky. The sounds are all from the original game and while some of the tracks are switched to different levels, there are no new tracks in this game which is just fine, I love the soundtrack of this game.

Blood Moon is a great hack to try if you feel you are an expert at castlevania, it is tough but in a way that keeps you coming back for more, this is definitely not a game that you should play if your new to the series but definitely worth a playthrough if your a veteran looking for a solid challenge.
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Re: Games Beaten 2019

by Ack Tue Jul 23, 2019 10:52 am

1. Dusk (PC)(FPS)
2. Project: Snowblind (PC)(FPS)
3. Soldier of Fortune: Platinum Edition (PC)(FPS)
4. Ziggurat (PC)(FPS)
5. Wolfenstein 3D: Ultimate Challenge (PC)(FPS)
6. Destiny 2 (PC)(FPS/RPG)
7. Destiny 2: Curse of Osiris (PC)(FPS/RPG)
8. Destiny 2: Warmind (PC)(FPS/RPG)

9. Destiny 2: Forsaken (PC)(FPS/RPG)
10. Star Wars: Rebel Assault (PC)(Rail Shooter)

11. Castle Werewolf (PC)(FPS)
12. Project Warlock (PC)(FPS)
13. Castle Crashers (PC)(Hack and Slash)
14. This Strange Realm of Mine (PC)(FPS)
15. BioShock Remastered (PC)(FPS)
16. BioShock 2 (PC)(FPS)
17. BioShock 2: Minerva's Den (PC)(FPS)

18. Blood (PC)(FPS)
19. Blood: Cryptic Passage (PC)(FPS)
20. Blood: Post Mortem (PC)(FPS)

21. Shadow Warrior (PC)(FPS)
22. Shadow Warrior: Twin Dragon (PC)(FPS)
23. Shadow Warrior: Wanton Destruction (PC)(FPS)

24. F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin (PC)(FPS)
25. F.E.A.R. 2: Reborn (PC)(FPS)

26. Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines (PC)(RPG)
27. Men of Valor (PC)(FPS)
28. Ultima III: Exodus (PC)(FPS)
29. Albedo: Eyes from Outer Space (PC)(Point and Click)

30. Midnight Ultra (PC)(FPS)
31. Amid Evil (PC)(FPS)
32. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (PC)(RPG)
33. Betrayer (PC)(Horror)

34. Borderlands 2: Commander Lilith & the Fight for Sanctuary (PC)(FPS/RPG)

I beat this probably about a week ago, but I'm finally getting around to writing a little about it.

Commander Lilith & the Fight for Sanctuary is the DLC bridge that was developed to help shepherd in Borderlands 3. As I'd previously gone through and beaten all the other DLC campaigns for the game, I decided I'd check it out, even if I don't have any interest in the Epic Game Store for the next part of the series.

Basically, Lilith is now the commander of the Crimson Raiders, but then Colonel Hector, a freaky plant-man thingy from Dahl, shows up and takes Sanctuary away with a strange mutagen that makes folks into plant mutants. As the player, you are tasked with building a resistance against Hector, finding a cure for the mutagen, and then taking back Sanctuary. In the meantime, you can also engage in some sidequests to see what's been going on with various characters from the Borderlands universe. These include building a memorial for Scooter and finding Buttstallion.

There has been some consternation over the change to a particular voice actor and how Epic mishandled the whole situation. I didn't play Tales from the Borderlands, so I'm not going to dive into it. Instead, I'm just going to focus on how this game feels, which is that it feels like Borderlands 2 at higher levels: bullet sponge enemies, repeatedly raiding bosses for specific loot, and jokes ranging from great to meh. It's all the best and the worst parts of Borderlands 2, so I can't say it's a bad thing; I've generally enjoyed the series, but going back just doesn't do much for me anymore.

There is a new mechanic based around the toxic cloud from the plant mutagen boosting damage but killing you if you stay too long, and you do get a few new pieces of gear and a raid boss. That's cool and all. Yet, it's not making me giddy to come back to this series. Maybe it will usher in some curious new fans who missed Borderlands 2 when it came out 7 years ago though. To them I say good luck, but I'm feeling old and grizzled these days, so...eh.
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Re: Games Beaten 2019

by marurun Tue Jul 23, 2019 1:47 pm

Honestly, part of it's the writing. The writing just really isn't up to par for the series. That's not to say the series doesn't have some cringe-worthy moments, but this DLC feels particularly weak in that department. I do kind of wish they would provide a mechanism for people to pay to level up particularly loved guns. Grinding for something specific is a real downer.
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Ack
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Re: Games Beaten 2019

by Ack Tue Jul 23, 2019 4:03 pm

marurun wrote:Honestly, part of it's the writing. The writing just really isn't up to par for the series. That's not to say the series doesn't have some cringe-worthy moments, but this DLC feels particularly weak in that department. I do kind of wish they would provide a mechanism for people to pay to level up particularly loved guns. Grinding for something specific is a real downer.


I believe that. Tiny Tina was good as usual, but most of the main cast just felt bland. Like, sure, I want to kill Hector because he keeps declaring he's winning points, but I was disinterested in any other reason to do it.

I believe that gun mechanic is being implemented in BL3, which I appreciate. I do know which character interests me most (mech lady; I tend to prefer the soldiers in these games), but I'm gonna wait and see how the game gets received and then decide once it gets a Steam release on whether I go in on it.
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PartridgeSenpai
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Re: Games Beaten 2019

by PartridgeSenpai Wed Jul 24, 2019 4:28 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)
14. Shin Gundam Musou (PS3)
15. Battle & Get! Pokemon Typing DS (DS)
16. Banjo-Kazooie (N64) *
17. Super Mario 64: Rumble Edition (N64)
18. Mario Party 3 (N64) *
19. Paper Mario (N64) *
20. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES) *
21. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX (GBC) *
22. The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages (GBC) *
23. The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons (GBC) *
24. Yoshi's Island (SNES) *
25. Super Mario World (SNES) *
26. Super Mario RPG (SFC) *
27. Kaeru No Tame Ni Kane Wa Naru (GB)
28. Final Fantasy VI (SFC) *
29. Final Fantasy IV (SFC) *

30. Final Fantasy V (SFC)

And my adventure through the Final Fantasy games on Super Famicom comes to an end with one I've never actually beaten before! Popo gave me a guide to how the job system works, and I got right to work. And 34-ish hours later, I'm done! I didn't do anything absurd like maxing out every job, but I did do all the sidequests to get all the spells and super weapons and such. And also like FFIV, I played through this on my Wii U Virtual Console, so I played it in Japanese and with the benefit of a save state (so I needed to reset properly for deaths and such a lot less, basically).

On a presentation level, FFV falls right between FFIV and FFVI in basically every respect, as one might expect it to. The only slight exception is with music, which I have to put V at the bottom of that list for, as while Clash at Big Bridge is a GREAT song, basically every other song in the game is really forgettable. The environmental and monster graphics look beautiful though, as do the animations.

The combat is a really nice sister experience to FFVI (which is basically just FFIV but better) with its big ol' job system. I personally prefer FFVI more, if only because FFV does a fairly terrible job at actually informing the player about very large swaths of mechanics that the job system contains. Even things as basic as how many levels are in a certain job or what those levels unlock are entirely unmentioned until you just go and unlock them. If you don't have the patience for a LOT of experimentation and grinding, or you aren't willing to use a guide like I did, you are probably going to bounce off of FFV very hard, especially in its 3rd act (exactly like I did when I attempted to play through the PS1 version when I was younger). But I did use a guide for it, and had a lot of fun optimizing my team incrementally as I unlocked more jobs~. A lot of your enjoyment of the combat system in this game will be a lot on how you enjoy experiencing your RPG combat, but as long as you know what you're getting into, you'll probably have a good time. To reiterate, FFV's job system is not a bad system, it's just a very poorly explained one for the level of complexity it actually has.

The story is also a really nice advancement on IV's narrative. Because it can't rely on a character's combat job to do legwork for developing their character (as IV does a lot), V spends a lot more time developing the characters as people via their interactions between each other and with other NPCs, and it's done really well. It's use of overall themes isn't nearly as well done as VI does it (Exdeath is basically Kefka if Kefka had a story presence but no actual characterization), but its uses of comedy and levity break tone far less heavily than VI's do. Aside from some fairly serious issues I have with Faris' character (about whom I'm currently writing an entirely separate essay about), I really enjoyed the characterization methods used in V, and it's fairly easy to see how these translated to how VI would do its storytelling (right down to the final act of the game being far more non-linear with lots of optional side-goodies you're encouraged, but not required, to get).

Verdict: Recommended. This just barely doesn't make a "highly recommended" status because the caveat of being adequately prepared to deal with the job system is SUCH a big one. That withstanding, however, it's a fantastic game, and an excellent parallel experience to FFVI on the Super Famicom. What it does well it does nearly as well as VI, or does an entirely different way to VI such as to make V stand very well on its own as simply a game for a different kind of JRPG fan.
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PartridgeSenpai
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Re: Games Beaten 2019

by PartridgeSenpai Sun Jul 28, 2019 1:27 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)
14. Shin Gundam Musou (PS3)
15. Battle & Get! Pokemon Typing DS (DS)
16. Banjo-Kazooie (N64) *
17. Super Mario 64: Rumble Edition (N64)
18. Mario Party 3 (N64) *
19. Paper Mario (N64) *
20. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES) *
21. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX (GBC) *
22. The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages (GBC) *
23. The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons (GBC) *
24. Yoshi's Island (SNES) *
25. Super Mario World (SNES) *
26. Super Mario RPG (SFC) *
27. Kaeru No Tame Ni Kane Wa Naru (GB)
28. Final Fantasy VI (SFC) *
29. Final Fantasy IV (SFC) *
30. Final Fantasy V (SFC)

31. Final Fantasy III (Famicom)

Another Final Fantasy game done, and another one I'd never beaten before~. Over the course of like 27 hours, I played through this in Japanese on my Famicom Mini. I will be the first to admit, I think I abused save states in this game more than any other I think I've ever played (granted I've played very very few games with save states) because this game can be a proper mean ol' bugger at times. Between that and fighting the with crappy controller on the Famicom Mini, this is definitely a game I don't see myself ever revisiting on this hardware, but it was still one I enjoyed a lot more than I didn't.

FF3 starts out with 4 unnamed orphans stumbling into a cave to find the wind crystal that vanished in a big earthquake, and it propels them into a fateful quest to save the world. I named mine after people who voted for me to play the game on the RB Slack chat (Mr. Popo, Flake, and Marurun) as well as Gunstar, since I needed a 4th member XD. FF3 doesn't have named characters, no, but they're kind of a group character unto themselves. Your party leader will talk and the characters will refer to you as the heroes of light, but there's not a great amount of characterization present. Characters are almost entirely one-dimensional and just there to move the story along, but it's an entertaining story that does the job more than well enough. Honestly, the most interesting part was seeing just how much DNA of this overall plot is present in FFIV and V (and VI to a somewhat lesser extent) with how those two games also take the idea of world crystals being taken/controlled by some otherworldly malevolent demon thing (and V of course going as far as to also link its world crystals to jobs the party gets).

More of an evolution on FF1's job choices than FFV's full blown job system, FF3 has jobs your party can switch between to give them different base stats that effectively just stack a modifier on top of their existing level stats. The only real difference your job makes upon level up is how your max HP is affected (life-long mages will have less health than life-long fighters, for example). You can only change jobs so fast though, as it uses a capacity resource that you build up as you fight things, and the longer you used a job in the past, the cheaper it is to switch back to. However, with how small your limited inventory space and how you NEED to unequip yourself before changing jobs, it's not very practical to carry around more than one or two alternate-jobs' worth of gear at any given moment.

The game's dungeon and boss design likes throwing you into situations that FORCE you to use these jobs, like a boss who constantly changes his elemental weakness so you need an otherwise nearly useless Scholar to tell his weaknesses, or a boss who does lots of horrible AOE magic so you need a lot of dragoons to do Jumps to both avoid his attacks and do big damage to him. The game always tells you when you need to do this though if you just talk to people around towns. It occasionally really sucks, especially when they throw enemies that split upon physical strike at you before you really get the job that can deal with those (dark/mystic knights), but they're generally fairly tolerable gimmicks and never make the game outright boring. It has several dungeons that force you to be mini, so only magic attacks really do anything, but at least those are proper dungeons. The worst gimmick dungeon in FF3 is better than the single gimmick dungeon in FF4 (the atrocious magnetic dungeon). It is also really odd seeing those mechanical steps BACK FF4 has compared to FF3, as this game also does a MUCH better job of automatically stacking and sorting your inventory where FF4 does nothing of the sort.

But compared to all 3 SFC games, this game is FAR harder. The lack of inter-dungeon save points or tents/cottages to heal up in them as well as sprawling late-game dungeons that are far more numerous than any of the SFC games really makes the Famicom version of FF3 something not to be taken for granted. This game easily would've taken me at least 3 or 4 more hours of grinding and redoing large segments of dungeons if I didn't have the Famicom Mini's save states to back me up, and that's a low estimate on my part. Especially the final dungeon, whose beginning has a lot of very difficult enemy encounters, and whose later half has a point-of-no-return and a huge boss rush AND really tough enemies all with no tent heals or save points, it's quite the marathon without the ability to save state. The game's pacing is often quite brisk and didn't really require any grinding on my part, but running from battles is so difficult (and dangerous as it means you take colossal defense penalties) as well as how frequent and incredibly deadly back-attacks are in the late-game, if you wanna do this game as it was originally intended, you're gonna be dying and redoing a lot of stuff a LOT.

Verdict: Hesitantly Recommended. The game is fun, but it can just be SO unforgiving at points that it's really hard to outright recommend this game in any capacity on the original hardware. I would bump it up to a Recommended if you're using save states like I did, but for the Famicom version as it was originally played, this game is just way too brutal for anyone who doesn't really love old RPGs and isn't afraid to grind and redo areas because of that difficulty and lack of respect for the player's time.
I identify everyone via avatar, so if you change your avatar, I genuinely might completely forget who you are. -- Me
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