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June's TR theme?

Poll ended at Tue May 15, 2018 12:36 pm

8-Bit Platformers
15
23%
Pre-Halo FPS
13
20%
Action RPGs
9
14%
Fan Translations
11
17%
Beat-'Em-Ups
17
26%
 
Total votes : 65
dsheinem
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Re: Together Retro - June

by dsheinem Thu May 17, 2018 7:45 am

I agree. The D&D beat em ups are excellent for being a sort of hybrid brawler/RPG title, but they don't hold a candle to the best pure brawlers in the genre. I have played both of them a couple times and just can't quite understand the lavish praise...
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Sarge
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Re: Together Retro - June

by Sarge Thu May 17, 2018 8:05 am

I didn't really enjoy the first one all that much, either. I may give the second a go, though, and see if it changes my opinion.
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noiseredux
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Re: Together Retro - June

by noiseredux Thu May 17, 2018 8:35 am

I always kind of keep Guardian Heroes on the list of "maybe try it again in a few years?" to see if I was wrong. But I don't know. I like Treasure more as like... a company I really respect vs. a company whose games I really like, I think. Which is not saying I don't like any of their games. But in general I don't seem to like them as much as everyone else does. I do think Treasure games LOOK fantastic, though.

The D&D games, I don't know. I just find them rough to play. They feel sort of clunky to me or something. Compared to the beat-em-ups I really love (Streets of Rage, TMNT & Turtles In Time, etc) they just don't feel as smooth or whatever. I also don't think the beat-em-up/RPG hybrid thing did much for me. Unless we count River City Rampage because that game is incredible.

(EDIT: Oh, and I HATED Dragon Crown :| )

I mean different strokes of course. I don't think any of these games are bad games, they just didn't really grab me personally. There's an obviously ineffable thing that happens when you play a game where it either clicks or doesn't sometimes - and it's based on a million little things (controls, visuals, audio, what's going on in your life that day, who's on first...) - and each of those little things are 100% personal. I mean on paper I'd probably tell you that Renegade is not as good a game as Guardian Heroes or those D&D games, but from a purely personal preference place (how's that for alliteration?) I'd say "dudes, Renegade RULES!"

At any rate, I am looking forward to this TR. I think comfort foody arcade games are totally what I'm ready for right now.
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BoneSnapDeez
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Re: Together Retro - June

by BoneSnapDeez Thu May 17, 2018 9:42 am

Epic discussion. I'm chuckling a bit because Guardian Heroes and the two D&D games comprise my holy beat 'em up trilogy. Literally my three favorite games of the genre. Guardian Heroes stands above all others though. What's amazing to me is how the game contains like 10 million mechanics but still manages to feel streamlined and uncluttered.

I think setting is ultimately pretty important to me. I love fantasy and get bored quickly with urban beat 'em ups, Streets of Rage notwithstanding. Final Fight, one of the most heralded games of the genre, I just can't stand. Puts me to sleep.

Noise and I do coalesce at one point though: Dragon's Crown was underwhelming.

Anyway, I should probably save some of these thought and opinions for June!
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prfsnl_gmr
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Re: Together Retro - June

by prfsnl_gmr Thu May 17, 2018 10:11 am

+1 on Guardian Heroes. IMO, it is the best beat ‘em up ever.

I enjoyed the D&D games, but they didn’t blow me away quite like Guardian Heroes. I played through one of them in arcades a long time ago, and I revisited both them with my children last year. They are really fun to co-op, but after spending a ton of time with Guardian Heroes, the leveling and combat mechanics felt too simplistic.
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Exhuminator
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Re: Together Retro - June

by Exhuminator Thu May 17, 2018 11:03 am

A few reasons why some folks might not like Capcom's D&D beat 'em ups...

Firstly these are not pure beat 'em ups, you've got levels, equipment, shopping, NPC dialogue, stuff like that. These are beat 'em up / RPG hybrids. For someone seeking a pure aught beat 'em up experience, the RPG elements would just seem like unnecessary complexity. Secondly these are fantasy themed, so if someone prefers urban settings then the aesthetics won't be pleasing. Lastly the D&D beat 'em ups were 100% designed with co-op in mind. These two games really aren't meant to be played solo. These D&D games are meant to be played co-op with as many folks as possible, thereby conveying the experience of a party of adventurers taking on a D&D campaign. That's why playing as a single class character by yourself feels constricted or unbalanced, you're meant to have different classes supplementing one another to fill out the ranks. If you're tying to play one of these D&D beat 'em ups solo, you're doing it all wrong. I can understand how single player would be less than ideal. That said these games are awesome if you: enjoy a little complexity, like fantasy settings, and have friends to co-op with.

As for Dragon's Crown... yeah it's not great. Typical Vanillaware design. Awesome graphics but short on actual content. So the game's made to be as grindy as possible to stretch said limited content artificially. That means replaying the same few sections, and fighting the same few enemies, over and over and over again. I know someone that put 100 hours into Dragon's Crown and still loves it. I'm just not that kind of gamer at all. Five hours was more than enough for me thanks. (And yes I was playing co-op... which only marginally made Dragon's Crown slightly less mind numbing.)

If Guardian Heroes on Saturn is decent single player, I may have to check it out next month. I've not played much of it, as I've not done much Saturn gaming at all really. Never owned the console, and emulation only recently became tolerable for the thing.
PLAY KING'S FIELD.
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Ack
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Re: Together Retro - June

by Ack Thu May 17, 2018 11:14 am

For those of you criticizing the D&D hack and slash games, what were your thoughts on King of Dragons? Was it better as a pure hack and slash, or did it's rudimentary gear and leveling system not working for you?
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Sarge
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Re: Together Retro - June

by Sarge Thu May 17, 2018 11:36 am

King of Dragons feels smoother to me, so I really like it. I also like Knights of the Round. It feels a little meatier in the way the combat handles, and I like that a lot.

My hangup with the D&D games is that combat doesn't feel very fluid. I didn't particularly care for Dragon's Crown, either; too much grinding for my tastes. And I actually like Odin Sphere! (Speaking of which, Odin Sphere totally counts.)
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noiseredux
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Re: Together Retro - June

by noiseredux Thu May 17, 2018 11:38 am

yup, I enjoyed King Of Dragons way more as well.

I think most of the points Exum made probably explain my dislike of the D&D games.
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Jmustang1968
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Re: Together Retro - June

by Jmustang1968 Thu May 17, 2018 12:17 pm

King of dragons was supposed to be console version of D&D games but they lost the license. I really like King of Dragons, but its slowdown on SNES can be pretty bad.
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