Aug Together Retro: Animal Main Characters

[noiseredux]

as far as I can tell, my copy of Okami still hasn't shipped. Sigh. I fear that by the time it arrives I won't have as much time to actually get into it for the month. That's what happened with Morrowind earlier this year and it bummed me out. Anyway, I had my heart set on playing as AN ANIMAL and not as an anthropomorphic animal. I feel like that made the challenge a little tougher since I'd have to rule out stuff like Sonic and Ninja Turtles and so on. So looking through what I've got, I guess I could at least take a shot at some Flicky. Maybe some classic Snake Rattle & Roll as well. I love that game. But I've never played Flicky. Still, I'm hoping that Okami shows up in time so I can at least play SOME this month.

[Exhuminator]

Maybe just buy Ōkami HD online, download it, and play it that way for now?:

https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/okami-hd-switch

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/okami-hd/c0w6p6n2q4qf

https://store.steampowered.com/app/587620/OKAMI_HD/

[noiseredux]

Maybe just buy Ōkami HD online, download it, and play it that way for now?:

https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/okami-hd-switch

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/okami-hd/c0w6p6n2q4qf

https://store.steampowered.com/app/587620/OKAMI_HD/

I already paid almost $40 for a physical copy, so I really can't see dropping another $20 for a digital copy. I mean, as long as it shows up before the end of the month I'll still play as much of it as I can before September.

[Exhuminator]

Fair enough, I was just trying to think of a way you could play it faster is all.

-

I think I'm about halfway through Sonic Unleashed on Wii. Wow is this a weird game. It's like Sonic Team were developing two entirely unrelated Sonic games and upper management decided to mesh them into one release. I'm not super fond of the Sonic the Werehog sections, but they're not overtly terrible or anything... just monotonous. However when you're just running along as Sonic in normal Sonic the Hedgehog type stages, the game's pretty fun.

[noiseredux]

Fair enough, I was just trying to think of a way you could play it faster is all.

Understood, and appreciated.

I actually made an attempt at some Flicky last night... just as a storm knocked out my power. The best laid plans!

[Nemoide]

After taking a break to play DKC, I played through the second area of Blinx: The Time Sweeper.
This time I was strategizing how to go about collecting time-crystals and this is definitely what the game wants you to do. So far the game is fairly straightforward, not too difficult, but a bit awkward. I'm still at the beginning but while I wouldn't say it's a bad game, but it's also not a must-play hidden gem.

One thing I notice is that soundtrack feels like it has elements of the soundtrack for NiGHTS into Dreams. Wikipedia says the composers were Mariko Nanba and Keiichi Sugiyama, who weren't directly involved with NiGHTS. But Nanba worked on other Sonic Team projects and Naoto Oshima did direct both games, so there's a connection that might explain why I sense a similarity.

[noiseredux]

Alright, I got confirmation that Okami finally shipped so fingers crossed. If I can even get a solid week with it before the month is up then I'll be happy.

EDIT: Okay, y'know what? Fuck it. I think I've found a suitable replacement game for the time being. I should have time to pick it up after work locally. It's a retro game where you play as an animal - and as a bonus, it's a game that I've played MAYBE a few minutes of back in the day so it'll be a new experience for me.

[Exhuminator]

I wouldn't say it's a bad game, but it's also not a must-play hidden gem.

Blinx must have sold decently during its day though, it managed to get a sequel (Blinx 2: Masters of Time and Space). At one time I owned both of those games, but I sold them off before even playing them. The time mechanic concept seemed interesting, but watching Youtube videos of the actual gameplay left me nonplussed. But who knows maybe I jumped the gun there.

-

I've got about six hours in Sonic Unleashed on Wii now. I think I'm starting to reach the end finally. I've probably got another two hours left, because I know the end has a lot of werehog levels, and those levels are slow. This game has some serious issues with button press detection at times (only in the werehog levels). I've clearly hit jump or grab multiple times and yet the game refuses to acknowledge the button presses, leaving me hurtling to my doom undeservedly. Maybe the laggy button register issue is just a Wii version thing though.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Our long national nightmare is over... prfsnl_gmr has finally beaten Ecco the Dolphin (with gratuitous use of save states at the end of the game).

It is a brilliant game with COLOSSAL design issues that render it needlessly frustrating and, at points, entirely too difficult. (It looks like the Sega CD version remedies some of these issues. Is this true?) It is a game I respect drastically more than I enjoy, and while I am glad to have finally beaten it, I don’t think I will ever play it again. (That said...how is the sequel? Is it as hard as the original? If not, I may give it a shot sometime.)

[Exhuminator]

It's been eight years since I last ripped a disc from a console and broke it into pieces. Congratulations Sonic Unleashed Shit Fest, you've managed to push me to that limit once more. I put about eight hours into this pile of putrid dog puke, but a man can only take so many failed button registers, falling through the floor, and sadistic quick time events before he's just had enough. I've had enough folks.

I'll find something else for my final TR entry here.