1) Dead Space Extraction (Wii); January 3 2) Resident Evil 4 (Wii); January 11 3) Disaster: Day of Crisis (Wii); January 13 4) Sin and Punishment: Successor of the Skies (Wii); January 16 5) Shadowrun Returns (Android); January 25 6) Gravity Rush (PS Vita); April 4 7) Shin Megami Tensei: Persona (PSP); June 7
Just beat the SEBEC storyline. I'm tempted to play through the Snow Queen quest, but for the moment i'm saturated, as i ended up grinding for AGES to get my party strong enough to beat the final boss. I really liked Persona for its old-school charm, although am given to understand that changes were made to make the PSP version easier to play. Not having played the original, i don't know what they were, but i'm not sure if i'd have enjoyed it as much on PSOne.
I got the game for 3 Euros in a recent PSN sale, and i can say i definitely enjoyed playing, and weirdly i liked it more than Persona 3 Portable - mostly because the dungeons had different settings, as opposed to the latter's single, ultra-boring, tower. Definitely liked the fairly unique setting, and the storyline was interesting enough to keep me going through the grind.
In 2009 Capcom released a sequel to the original 1988 NES Bionic Commando, developed by Grin, this sequel was also called Bionic Commando. Against all odds, 2009 BC manages to incorporate the free swinging gameplay of 1988 BC, and successfully convert it to the z-axis modern environment. Once the player acclimates to using the bionic arm, they will find themselves swinging all over the stages in furious succession. Combining this swinging with fast blasting action and special bionic arm attacks, 2009 BC has some of the most frenetic and awesome combat you'll ever play in a video game.
But the skill barrier to enjoy this is quite high, the player will have to babysit the camera and deal with manual swinging only at all times. As a long time fan of the Bionic Commando series, I didn't find the plot in this game all that engaging. Nathan Spencer should not have dreads, they look silly on him. There should be more boss battles (the ones that are there are fantastic). Snipers in this game are absolutely obnoxious (a Grin specialty). And roping the player into the linear stages using instantaneously deadly radiation was just dumb (invisible walls would have been a much better choice).
Despite a high learning curve and some questionable design choices, 2009 BC remained a very fun and challenging game for me. It's got great graphics, huge environments, a nice OST that reminisces 1988 BC's own OST. Also stellar voice acting from Mike Patton of all people! Most importantly of all, 2009 BC actually feels like proper Bionic Commando, and given the complexity of the movement requirements for that, it's quite an impressive feat of programming. If you get good at this game, you will be amazed at the chaotic insanity you manage to engage in and survive. The intense combat combined with the frantic aerial travel is often astounding. For high skill action gaming enthusiasts, 2009 Bionic Commando is not a game to swing past.
@Exhuminator: *Salute!* Thanks! In the late 90s through to the late 00s, i went through a period where i would try to buy and play every game that i could get my hands on, which was to be honest a pretty unhealthy way to do it, but i definitely think it helped to refine my own personal taste into what it is today. I might not like the games that are necessarily great according to reviews etc, but the games that i now *do* play, with limited time and budget, are ones that i get good mileage and value from.
Even stuff like Disaster: Day of Crisis which was reviewed mostly as middling gave me an interesting experience which i hadn't had from any other game.
dust_hound wrote:Even stuff like Disaster: Day of Crisis which was reviewed mostly as middling gave me an interesting experience which i hadn't had from any other game.
Indeed, in my experience the Wii is chock full of games like that.
As for Disaster: Day of Crisis, I enjoyed it, definitely an underrated Wii game. It was like playing a crazy summer blockbuster movie. Also hamburgers the size of your head and grizzly bear chases.
Key, I cannot tell you how glad I am that you enjoyed PSIII. I don't like such a loner anymore. I think you'd dig PSIV as well, but prepare yourself for a game that's nothing like its predecessor.
Key-Glyph wrote:I will definitely be playing Phantasy Star IV in the future.
Phantasy Star IV is very different from previous installments in some ways. Story-wise it is a more traditional RPG and hearkens back more to PS II. That said, the music is great, the gameplay is great, and I'm sure you'll enjoy it.
1. Super Smash Brothers - N64 (January 3) 2. Shovel Knight - Wii U (January 6) 3. NES Remix - Wii U (January 14) 4. NES Remix 2 - Wii U (January 14) 5. Streets of Rage - Genesis (January 16) 6. F-Zero - SNES (January 21) 7. Super Mario 3D World - Wii U (January 28) 8. Hyrule Warriors - Wii U (February 5) 9. Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D - 3DS (February 23) 10. Double Dragon Neon - PC (March 1) 11. Mario Kart 8 - Wii U (March 3) 12. Hotline Miami - PS3 (March 14) 13. Pokemon White - Nintendo DS (March 17) 14. Pokemon Soul Silver - Nintendo DS (April 2) 15. Pokemon White 2 - Nintendo DS (April 14) 16. Pokemon X - Nintendo 3DS (April 30) 17. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare - Xbox One (May 3) 18. Pokemon Shuffle - Nintendo 3DS (May 12) 19. Hearthstone: Blackrock Mountain - PC / iPhone (May 17) 20. Splatoon - Wii U (June 7)
This is an endearing little shooter. It's one of the most unique titles I've played in a while. In some ways, it felt some Super Mario Galaxy / Super Mario Sunshine vibes from it, but still very different. I turned off the motion controls, I didn't care for them all that much. I have been playing Online for an hour here and there, but I went through the single player campaign and most of the Amiibo challenges. This is one that I hope keeps with the content updates, and I'll be enjoying it for some time to come.
Key-Glyph wrote:I will definitely be playing Phantasy Star IV in the future.
Phantasy Star IV is very different from previous installments in some ways. Story-wise it is a more traditional RPG and hearkens back more to PS II. That said, the music is great, the gameplay is great, and I'm sure you'll enjoy it.
Yeah, PS1, 2, 4 make up a trilogy from a story perspective, as each one leads pretty well to the next. PS3 is kind of off in its own little world (for story reasons).
Blizzard Entertainment Software Developer - All comments and views are my own and not representative of the company.
Been putting off updating for ages. Time I got up to date!
Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland
This was game F of my alphabet marathon, and is the first of several games starring everyones least favourite Zelda character, Tingle. This is the only one of the Tingle games to make it out of Japan thanks to it's PAL release - Tingle's Balloon Fight, a Club Nintendo exclusive Balloon Fight remake and Colour Changing Tingle's Balloon Trip of Love, the even more weirdly named sequel to Rosy Rupeeland both didn't make it out of Japan.
The plot of the game has your character being called to a magical rupee pond, where a rupee faced guy pops up to tell you how you can go to Rupeeland by gathering rupees and throwing them into the rupee pond to build a giant tower, powered by rupees. He then turns you into a Tingle - also THE Tingle and sets you on your mission. If you haven't guessed, rupees are a big deal in this game. It's also interesting that Tingle isn't just Tingle, but rather one of a group of Tingle's that exists.
As I mentioned, rupees drive EVERYTHING in this game. And I mean EVERYTHING. You can earn rupees by making maps (classic Tingle!), defeating bosses, helping people with issues, selling items you find, brewing potions and selling them and lots more, but you'll need to make sure you milk all these sources for all they're worth, because you have to spend a LOT of rupees to progress too. Rupees and needed to buy ingredients, buy maps to fill in, open new areas, build bridges, hire bodyguards (because although Tingle can fight, he's pretty bad at it) and even talk to people. In fact, you need to spend rupees to talk to people to convince them to let you in their shop in order for you to then spend more rupees buying stuff from them. All of this is compounded by a haggling system - some rewards you're offered you can choose how much you want. Too little and you make progress hard on yourself. Too much, and greedy Tingle gets nothing at all. Same goes for some purchases. You can make offers, but if it's too low, not only will they not accept, they'll still take all the rupees you offered them too, the money-grubbing gits. You thought Tingle was a crook in Wind Waker? Wait til you see the cast of this game! And to top it all off, rupees are also your health for the game. Tingle loses rupees in battle - Hit 0, and it's game over.
The main gameplay involves exploring the world and dungeons in order to earn money to progress. There's a lot more puzzle solving in dungeons than battles due to Tingle's mediocre combat abilities.
Battles are done in a method that kind of reminds me of For The Frog The Bell Tolls. Touch an enemy and battle initiates in a big smoke cloud. You can move to drag more enemies into battle - you'll lose more rupees, but get more rewards for winning. You can also tap the smoke cloud on the touch screen to help Tingle out a bit, but it only makes a small difference. Bodyguards are crucial in later areas, where Tingle will struggle to fight anything. Bosses are totally different to regular battles, and generally have unique mechanics for each one - launching tingle from trampolines, dropping bombs from balloons - it's all fun and actually sometimes really challenging. The final boss fight is a totally bizarre shooter, and one of the weirdest things you'll ever see in a Nintendo game.
The game's music is pretty lacking and most areas have ambient sound only, but the graphics are charming and detailed and the games writing is funny on occassion, although I wish they would have pushed it more.
The game has one massive flaw in my opinion though, and it is on of the main mechanics of the game. The barter system is broken beyond belief - it's too punishing to lose all your rupees if you underbid, as often areas only just provide enough rupees to progress, and if you screw this up, you can expect to spend HOURS tediously grinding potions to earn money back. Losing 98000 rupees because you underbid when 99000 rupees would have worked is unbearable, and I recommend you skip the nonsense and use a guide for this instead. There's no way to get a grasp on the game's economy to judge it, as in world 1, 200 rupees is a massive reward, but by world 11, anything less than 20000 is a joke. If they had punished you less severely - say by taking 10% of the money you offered - it'd feel fair and still discourage too much trial and error. As it is, it's a tedious blind guessing game.
Tingle is an interesting game, and it's certainly worth giving a go. It definitely won't be for everyone, it's weird, it can be repetitive and tedious, and it can actually be a bit mean-spirited when no-one will even talk to you without you paying them first. But it's quirky and unique, and you'll never play anything like it. Also, it heavily implies Tingle gets a blowjob or something, so there's that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0j6QGyoMEjo
Splatoon
So everyone's spoken about this game, and you probably know the deal, so I'll keep it short.
Splatoon is a pretty great online multiplayer shooter with a solid but short story campaign that plays kinda like Mario Galaxy with guns.The design of the world, stages and characters is utterly charming, and the bright colours make the game world feel a ton of fun. Story mode is short and sweet, but offers up new mechanics on a consistent basis, has a charming story that is inoffensive and doesn't intrude on the gameplay and some fun bosses. There are also some secret items that provide some silly backstory to the world of Splatoon that are fun to collect as a bonus, and if you have the Amiibo for the game, you can replay some of the story levels under different conditions, such as with a roller or charger weapon, or on a time or ink limit.
The multiplayer is where the game focuses and where it shines. It's fast, fun and frenetic, and its easy enough to grasp for new players to have an impact, whilst requiring enough skill for pros to not be outshone. The turf war inking mechanic is a clever way to get people involved, as it offers an avenue for players who aren't as comfortable with shooters to contribute, whilst letting the maps still be small enough and the gameplay fast enough that they can learn over time as they do encounter people.
The 5 starting stages in the game are all very well designed and a ton of fun to play, with Blackbelly Skatepark being my personal favourite, and the promise of more content constantly being added is nice. I won't lie though - the starting map pack felt a little lacking. I also wish the Map rotation feature would either go away or happen more quickly, as 4 hours is WAY too long to be playing the same two maps over and over.
Splatoon is a wonderfully fun game, and is one of very few games that has convinced me to play online (along with Kid Icarus Uprising on 3DS which is actually reasonablly similar), As long as they keep content coming, I'm looking forward to keeping this game in my Wii U for some time to come.
Mega Man X
Mega Man X was played for Together Retro, and I posted most of my thoughts there. But here's a summary.
Mega Man X controls wonderfully, I love the wall jump and the dash (which really should have just been there from the start) and some,but not all, of the levels are well designed and fun to play.
The music is pretty good, but not as catchy as classic Mega Man tunes, and I've already unfortunately forgotten most of it. Visually it's a nice looking game, with some interesting stage themes and nice enemy designs, although I wish they wouldn't recycle enemies as often as they do - they needed more variety.
I had a lot of fun on the maverick stages for the most part, with one or two exceptions (Launch Octopus for example), but I didn't have fun in Sigma's castle at all. The first stage seemed terribly designed, the second was forgettable, the third was just a boss rush and the battle with Sigma was pretty simple and a bit boring to be honest.
The story was way too 90s for my tastes. Blah blah blah doom and gloom, brooding, despair, blah.
I liked Mega Man X, but I didn't love Mega Man X. It's a well designed game for sure, and I can see why some love it. But there were just too many moments where I realised I wasn't actually having fun playing it, and that is a rarity amongst Mega Man games for me. I'll probably play the sequels some day, but I'm in no rush for now.
Next up: I'm working through stuff for marathons: Alphabet marathon - Game G: Game & Watch Gallery 4 Summer challenge - Final Fantasy VIII
Last edited by alienjesus on Tue Jun 09, 2015 6:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
