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Messages - dhaabi

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1
General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!
« on: Today at 11:57:21 am »
Game 21 - Silent Hill: Shattered Memories (PS2) - 8 Hours

But THEN the game informs that you are Cheryl while in the psychology sessions, and suddenly the delicate house of cards we had been building with this portion of the game comes crashing down. So now I’m roleplaying as Cheryl instead of Harry, but the questions still affect Harry in the story, but in Cheryl’s mind? How does Cheryl answering questions about her social life in high school make Harry’s personality different? There really shouldn’t be a connection between the two logically even though it’s in Cheryl’s mind. But because it’s in Cheryl’s mind there really isn’t any reality anyway and so nothing with the story matters. It’s inconsequential. And then at the end the psychologist is writing up an assessment about what I'm assuming is you. It just jumps around to whatever it feels like.

This is just my interpretation to make sense of it, but the player's answers to the Psych Profile while assuming the role of Cheryl may affect Harry in a corresponding way because it's Cheryl projecting herself onto how Harry, the father she lost so long ago and probably barely remembers, behaved. More than likely, she's longing for a sort of connection to Harry, and this is the only way she knows how to do that. It's definitely a messy setup, regardless.

2
General / Re: VGCollect 2025 Secret Santa!
« on: Today at 08:04:31 am »
I'd appreciate if the shipping date would be December 5th for Domestic U.S. people.  Black Friday is when all my local game stores have sales and often solid inventory for the holidays so it's the best chance to find something locally or take advantage of great sales online.  December 5th gives enough time so that if I do order something that requires shipping- it will likely arrive by then if ordered the week before.  Hopefully the 5th would not interfere with persons trying to do a group opening event later in the month.

Since the matter of a specific date when parcels should be shipped seems rather dependent on each calendar year, I'm directing conversation to this year's topic.

For context, Black Friday for 2025 is on November 28. Personally, I think it may make more sense to have a specific date when items should arrive (or be projected to arrive, as mailing systems aren't fully reliable) instead of when they should be sent.

3
I've just now received a reply from the entry creator to my inquiry. In short, the art they originally submitted to both 282204 and 282205 was outdated stock art. Art for both items only features the English-language ESRB. As a result, 282204 has been merged into 283185.

4
General / Re: What are you playing?
« on: September 16, 2025, 09:39:03 am »
Tetris [DE] (GameBoy)

127.531 points in standard mode (small rocket)

Someone here to compete?

I actually considered trying out Tetris for Game Boy, but it turns out that, after many years of neglect, neither my two Game Boy Colors nor Game Boy Advance work anymore and are in need of repair.

5
General / Re: VGCollect 2025 Secret Santa!
« on: September 16, 2025, 09:30:32 am »
Glad to see everyone's interest so far! As a reminder, all those wanting to participate will need to formally sign up to the event using the attached link in the topic post. Filling out this form gives me all the information I'm needing at once instead of it being relayed here or having to deal with PMs.

6
General / VGCollect 2025 Secret Santa!
« on: September 15, 2025, 09:55:13 am »
It's that time of the year with holiday spirit soon to be in the air! Presenting a tradition many here have come to love, I introduce VGCollect's 2025 Secret Santa gift-exchange, now thirteen years in the running! I'd like for the event to go as planned without any issues or hurdles, so I politely ask that this introduction post be read in full. Additionally, we as a community have established that all who are interested to have been members of the forum community for at least three months prior to this announcement topic alongside some sort of site activity. Generally, all are welcome, and we hope that longtime participants return and new ones take part.

Like with previous years' events, I've decided to streamline steps so that most everything I need as the organizer is supplied all at once. With that said, I've created a Google Form for those interested in participating to fill out. For those concerned, the form does not collect e-mail addresses, and completing the form does not require a Google account. Be aware that to formally join the event, the attached form below is needing to be completed. With that said, for the sake of the establishing further interest and community discussion, please be sure to also post in the forum topic if you're planning to take part.

VGCollect 2025 Secret Santa Sign-up
https://forms.gle/r3EAG9xjpvFv4kEQA

Feel free to publicly discuss what you think should be the expected budget, any updates you'd like to share with everyone participating, or anything else related to Secret Santa. As is typical, I think everyone would appreciate any and all discussion to help raise excitement and to maintain engagement. Toward the end of the sign-up period, I will publicly post what the agreed upon budget that has been selected by most participants is. If the budget becomes more than you originally were planning to spend, or if there is any reason you need to withdraw from the event whatsoever, please let me know via PM so that you are formally withdrawn. At the latest, please let me know by the end of Sunday, October 5, as wish list information will be sent to each Santa the following day.

I would like for there to be enough time for anyone interested to see this topic, so the sign-up period will run for approximately three weeks until the morning of Monday, October 6. Following the sign-up period, I will assign each participating Santa their giftee by forwarding wish lists and mailing addresses, and the actual fun will begin!

Something I will mention is the agreed upon budget. As one should assume, this budget tends to be more of a guideline. Evident from the past, many participants personally decide to exceed the budget, although no one should feel as if they themselves or their Santa are required. This hasn't been any major issue in the past, but it's worth addressing, nonetheless. On that note, many participants in the past have gone above and beyond in curating their gifts and mailing them with care, so continuing with that attitude would be fantastic to see.

In regards to how participants will be paired, the state of world trade (specifically relating to the United States) has impacted this event. As a result, participants living in the United States will only be paired with other US citizens. Here is a previous post where I've discussed the matter at some length.

2025 Santas
1. dhaabi
2. NickAwesome
3. kashell
4. Cartagia
5. telly

As it's needed, I will publish follow-up posts while also updating this initial topic post below:

As stated above, this is now the thirteenth year the VGCollect community has celebrated this Secret Santa event! Below are past topic discussions for each previous year:
Secret Santa 2013
Secret Santa 2014
Secret Santa 2015
Secret Santa 2016
Secret Santa 2017
Secret Santa 2018
Secret Santa 2019
Secret Santa 2020
Secret Santa 2021
Secret Santa 2022
Secret Santa 2023
Secret Santa 2024

7
General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!
« on: September 14, 2025, 06:43:14 pm »
58. Musashi: Samurai Legend || PlayStation 2 || 09.13.2025



While I went through my backlog to see what sort of action-RPGs on the list were present, Musashi: Samurai Legend seemed to glare at me. For twenty full years it had remained unfinished and was one of those games that was always on the back of my mind when considering what to play next. Well, not anymore.

Before anything else, it's crucial to mention that Musashi: Samurai Legend is recognized as a sequel of sorts (which is evident by the local Japanese name Musadhiden II: Blade Master) but is far more like a re-imagining or a modern retelling of the game before it. Just like the debut entry, the titular protagonist Musashi is summoned to another world to save those in peril when evil forces threaten them. And, generally, the two games follow the same story structure and gameplay, though Samurai Legend strongly emphasizes hack-and-slash swordplay. However, it is from a visual standpoint which the game's most obvious differences are noticed: the game's manga-inspired, cel-shaded art design strongly sets it apart from other games like it at the time, and Tetsuya Nomura imparts his distinct character design through characters' unrealistically long, spiky hair together with giant hands and feet. Reinforced by humor and flashy action (which is admittedly at its strongest in the opening cinematic cutscene), all of the combined elements complement one another that's reminiscent of '90s and '00s anime.

In short, gameplay revolves around swordplay achieved through two swords: a light, easy-to-use katana and a slower, albeit stronger, broadsword. A returning featuring is also an ability-duplicating mechanic that requires utilizing the focus meter that simultaneously acts as the target lock-on function. At this time, I'll reiterate how I chose playing Samurai Legend based on its marketed action-RPG gameplay. Unfortunately, that promise wasn't fulfilled. Personally, the RPG halve to action is abysmally sidelined as all that's really present is a level up system tied to EXP points. At the same time, there is very little incentive to utilize skills despite a sizable number of them being available to learn and use. Overwhelmingly, combat encounters are instead almost always best overcome by exploiting the standard five-button combo press with the katana. While learned combo abilities can certainly be used in conjunction to standard attacks, players who are wanting to add more variety in combat sequences are inconvenienced to use them. Nearly all learned abilities are initiated by the same button press, meaning only one ability can be active at a time and must be toggled to use another. And the reason for this is that nearly all learned skills are reliant on sword use, whereas more novel abilities that didn't prioritize damage output in the debut entry. Apart from the main gameplay, a limited number of action chase sequences are also present. Unfortunately, these segments are long and boring, and their purpose to help break up lengthy hack-and-slash sections wasn't effective.

And despite the game emphasizing hack-and-slash action gameplay, player controls are so sluggish that it feels counterintuitive. Objectively, Musashi moves at such a slow pace that progressing through the game at all times becomes a chore. To my surprise, Samurai Legend is relatively short, which I presume is the reason for why movement is designed in the way it is. Had the pace been set at an appropriate level, the game would be several hours shorter, if not halved. Platforming segments make up a small portion of the game too which, to be expected based on player movement, were not ideal or fun. Despite platforming being straightforward and simple, it's easy to miss landings or fall off. So, platforming too becomes a chore as certain sections must be retried. There is a small emphasis on carrying things too—in particular, the maidens of various magic elements and swords whom you're regularly tasked with saving. In every instance someone is saved, the player is required to carry them due to their being injured (or faking it) as they fawn over Musashi. It's a strange mechanic, to be brief. Even though something may be carried, this doesn't mean combat is avoided either. Instead, players must balance between carrying them back to town and attacking. NPCs fortunately don't have health to monitor, but they're constantly being knocked out of Musashi's grasp while also impacting his jumping performance, so carrying things is doubly worse when platforming is also required. So even though Samurai Legend far prioritizes action of RPG, its action sequences regularly feel diminished.

Equally mediocre is level design. Though there are few instances of some degree of an open-ended layout, levels are mostly linear with the path to follow simply going from room to room, down one hallway to another. Areas are relatively small, and to counteract this issue, there is a high number of enemies. When walking but a short distance away, enemies respawn with such excessive frequency to the point that I can seldom explore in one direction for a few steps before the last enemy felled has already been replaced. Items to find, including displaced townspeople whom some are required to save, are almost always in plain view too. Above all else regarding the matter, I was most disappointed that the sense of adventure was insufficient. The world isn't interconnected but instead is segregated into areas needing traveled to from a menu screen. For a lot of reasons, the world doesn't feel alive—in fact, even the bulk of enemies players face are mechanical. There are also a lot of smaller, mundane tasks to clear before the main story. To a degree they help break up monotony, but usually they're structured in a way that the player has to fully navigate through a previously-explored area; in some specific instances, the player even has to backtrack all the way to the stage start too. And, naturally, this means players will need to defeat respawning enemies once more for hopefully the last time. Regarding the town Musashi's summoned too, there are about a dozen of businesses to visit and even more people to talk to, but most places aren't worth frequenting while the people lack engaging conversation unless a specific scripted event occurs.

This is my third—and final—time playing Musashi: Samurai Legend over the course of twenty years since its release, and it's the first time that I've finally been able to play through to the end. It's a far worse game than I remember it being, and its weaknesses are definitely apparent from the very start. Despite recognizing these issues, I really wanted some closure with it since I had nearly completed it once before many years ago. More-or-less, this sequel presents the same objective, same mechanics, same antagonistic forces, and same structure, but it's less personable, less engaging, and all-around less impactful than its predecessor.

8
It almost certainly won't happen, but it would sure be something if Nintendo announced even more increased prices for hardware, accessories, and amiibo once the event has concluded like they did following the July 31 event.

Not quite what I was poking fun at, but upcoming Kirby amiibo are to be priced at $49.99 USD.

9
Mario Tennis Fever
I actually really enjoyed Mario Tennis Aces for the Switch, and this entry looks good too. It's not something I'd get right away—and maybe not ever, even—but it looks good. The inclusion of an adventure mode is interesting too.

Yoshi and the Mysterious Book
My only experience with Yoshi games is Yoshi's Story which I couldn't get into at the time, and I'm not sure if I'm really attracted to this new game's gameplay either. It looks like a relaxed game for casual players, though.

Dragon Quest VII Reimagined
This is a nice announcement for fans of the series since many other classic games (all of them now at this point?) have been given remakes of some kind. I'm not a fan of the character design, though.

Virtual Boy
Was a dedicated accessory for playing Virtual Boy games on anyone's bingo card?

Pokémon Pokopia
To me, this is the first real original game in the Pokémon series in a very long time. I don't even like Pokémon anymore but still have a faint interest in it. This sort of simulation game may be fun.

Pokémon Legends: Z-A: Mega Dimension
Of course they announce DLC before the actual game releases.

Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave
I've not played a Fire Emblem game since Fates, but this upcoming game seems like the best-looking entry since the series revival with Awakening.


I'm usually pretty forgiving on these press event / presentations, but this was awful.  90% of things mentioned were re-releases or ports.

Definitely a hyperbolic statement, but the amount of re-releases and ports doesn't surprise me considering a majority of what's been released for Nintendo Switch 2 so far.

10
General / Re: What are your least favorite boss fights?
« on: September 12, 2025, 09:19:09 am »
My least favorite boss fight has to be Nyx (the final boss) from Persona 3 FES. It's a combination of a really long tedious fight where you go through multiple boss forms, combined with the frustrations of not being able to control your party members and getting a game over if the protagonist dies.

While I opted to play Reload instead of FES, I imagine that the Nyx fight is designed the same. Fortunately, all party members are controlled by the player in Reload, so I can only imagine how frustrating this fight—alongside other parts of the game, too—may be without that capability. I actually had a really easy time defeating Nyx in my playthrough, though. Once reaching the final phase of the fight, all it really took to deplete all its health was one single use of the Protagonist's most powerful Theurgy skill to finish the battle. I had never used it before then, but it was, needless to say, quite effective.

11
With the 40th Anniversary of Mario this weekend, I'm curious what they'll do for that?

I'm thinking some sort of collection. I can see them doing "Biggest Mario Collection Yet" and putting 1, 2, 3, World, Yoshi's Island, 64, and maybe a handful of spinoff titles released between the NES and N64 era. It would sell like crazy and would be next to no effort for them to do.

I can't envision modern Nintendo doing this, but I'd welcome being wrong. It just seems like something they'd delegate to Nintendo Switch Online subscribers. I guess we'll see in just a few minutes, though I won't be watching live.

12
It almost certainly won't happen, but it would sure be something if Nintendo announced even more increased prices for hardware, accessories, and amiibo once the event has concluded like they did following the July 31 event.

I also don't know what to expect really, but I doubt Pokémon is mentioned in any depth or at all. Generally, Pokémon has its own dedicated events.

14
General / Re: What are your least favorite boss fights?
« on: September 11, 2025, 10:04:09 am »
After thinking about how I myself would answer the topic, I actually came up with a fair number of boss segments that I remembers finding quite bad for a variety of reasons.

Hoffman | Rule of Rose
Rule of Rose is notoriously known for its awful gameplay and controls, and it's abundantly evident and at its worst during the game's first boss fight. Whereas the player must be facing toward the boss at the perfect angle, the boss has a wide-range reach that's difficult to avoid and is even used when countering player attacks.

Munakata Seishirou | Yakuza 4
I don't actually remember if I needed to try this boss fight more than once, but I remember it being so irritating. All around, lesser enemies in large numbers surround the player while the actual boss runs in circles shooting bullets at you. If you go after the boss, he runs away and the enemies bombard you. And if you go after the enemies, the boss shoots. Who the player controls (as there are four protagonists in this game) is the one with less efficient combat design, so it makes this sequence far more difficult than it should be.

Orochi | Ōkami
While I don't particularly remember if this boss is even difficult to defeat, what I do remember is that it's required to fight them on three separate occasions that are nearly identical. It's one of the several reasons Ōkami is, in my earnest opinion, a bad game.

Sakura Head | Silent Hill: The Short Message
While not a boss in the traditional sense, this gameplay sequence is far more offensive than it should be. What should be a relatively simple chase sequence is anything but, as players are forced to navigate through a labyrinth of rooms and corridors that prove challenging to differentiate on its own, and especially when being chased by a monster. In a moment's notice upon turning a corner or opening a door, Sakura Head may suddenly appear. And when the distance between you too gets too close, it's an instant fail state. For a 2–3 hour game, this segment took me about thirty minutes alone.

Sephiroth | Kingdom Hearts
During the PlayStation 2 era, I played through Kingdom Hearts a lot. I've never been able to defeat Sephiroth once. I think the developers realized this once designing the sequel's boss encounter with Sephiroth once more, as it's a considerably much easier fight (meaning I was able to beat it, at least.)

Seymour Flux | Final Fantasy X
It's been twenty years since I've played through Final Fantasy X, but I remember having to initiate this fight time after time after time again. Besides the sharp spike in difficulty occurring, what makes this segment unbearable is the extended cutscene preceding it that can't be skipped. I'm sure there are ways to make this fight easier if knowing about it ahead of time, but it was quite a challenge for me as someone playing the game for the first time.

Shadow Okumura | Persona 5 Royal
Annoyingly, numerous waves of enemies that progress in difficulty must first be defeated before actually fighting the boss. And, even worse, the enemies in each wave must be defeated in a certain amount of turns (and ideally all at once) or else they flee with new enemies from the same wave type spawning in their place. Throughout it all, there's a lot to balance with main boss acting from the sidelines inflicting buffs on enemies and de-buffs on player's party. And what's worse is that this fight has a strict time limit. It's not unbearable after a few attempts or knowing what to expect far in advance (as there is also a sharp spike in difficulty), but it's such poorly-designed fight.

Wizpig | Diddy Kong Racing
The final race against Wizpig is often regarded as being quite a challenge, and that's how I remember it too. I never was able to finish the game when I played it years ago, but I'm curious just how difficult it is since I've forgotten and would probably be more skilled of a player now than I was then. From what I've seen, it's a race that requires near-perfect play and course memorization. I'm also now learning that there's actually a second race with Wizpig which I'm reading is just as difficult if not more.

15
Video Game Database Discussion / Re: Developer/Publisher Requests
« on: September 09, 2025, 10:52:18 am »
https://vgcollect.com/item/286026
Developer: Worldweaver Ltd

https://vgcollect.com/item/286027
Developer: Alternative Reality Technologies

Developer information is not stated on the item itself, so information has been submitted as Worldweaver Productions based on MobyGames data.

Where is your reference source for Alternative Reality Technologies? Developer information is not on the item itself, and MobyGames does not report this specific development team either.


According to the wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beasts_and_Bumpkins page of the game. Worldweaver Ltd is now know as DX Studio.
Also wikipedia page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Colony. Alternative Reality Technologies is now know as Rockstar Toronto.

I leave it up to you to judge its credibility  :).

While that may be interesting trivia to know, it is not relevant to the specific matter of these two items. Entry information should be specific to individual items.

Still, I've not found any definitive information or information that's sourced which confirms that Alternative Reality Technologies developed Dark Colony. So if it can't be confirmed, there's nothing wrong with leaving the Developer field blank.

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