Messages

1

Classic Video Games / Re: Let's Name 100 PS1 Games With The Best Graphics For The Time

« on: November 18, 2020, 08:25:25 pm »

12. Crash Bandicoot - Because even the original holds up fatastically among othe ps1 titles. Within the first few moments of the game, we see Crash pull of expression and conveyed motion better than most other 3D modelled ps1 characters. Impressive when you remember that Crash Bandicoot is one of the earliest 3D platformers released.



Andy Gavin's blog on the development of the original Crsah Bandicoot is a great read on the subject!
https://all-things-andy-gavin.com/2011/02/02/making-crash-bandicoot-part-1

2

General / Re: Frustration Of Saving A Game At The Wrong Time

« on: August 29, 2020, 10:10:50 pm »

Hmm, saving at the wrong time.

I recently played through Fire Emblem Three Houses, on one of the routes, the game tells you 'your choice will drastically effect the story'. I reset the game real quick, made a copy of the file, and continued playing. Then just a few chapters later, I accidently overwrote the pre-decision file anyway! Meaning I'll have to play through the first half of the game again to see that other route. The game is great, but that's a lot of time I could of saved myself.

I remember Wario Land 4 had autosave. Once you beat a boss, the EXACT moment you beat them, you better hope you beat them with all treasure intact. Because if you don't, you just missed the perfect ending and they are gone for the rest of the playthrough. A lot of killing yourself on the bosses, for some reason you can't quit or restart in boss stages in Wario Land 4, that was always really weird and annoying.

3

Classic Video Games / Re: Will I like Tail concerto even though I'm not a furry

« on: April 05, 2020, 10:14:30 am »

Why would summarise the game by species or these fictional characters, not the writing, no their personalities, not the gameplay.

Crash Bandicoot, Ratchet & Clank, Klonoa... Am I just not aloud to enjoy these games anymore? This shouldn't matter as much as you're implying.

4

Modern Video Games / Re: Are there any games this gen that you keep coming back to?

« on: January 31, 2020, 05:14:04 pm »

Puyo Puyo Tetris is a mainstay for me this generation

5

General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2020

« on: December 26, 2019, 11:18:40 am »

Plan on beating in 2020

• Ape Escape 2 [PS2]
• BlazBlue: Chronophantasma Extend [PS4]
• BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle [NSW]
• Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night [PC]
• Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia [3DS]
• Giga Wrecker [NSW]
• Golf Story [NSW]
• Iconoclasts [NSW]
• Indivisible [NSW]
• Kingdom Hearts 2.5 HD [PS4]
• Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories [GBA]
• Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Dream Drop Distance HD [PS4]
• Kingdom Hearts 0.2 - A Fragmentery Passage [PS4]
• Kingdom Hearts 3 [PS4]
• Legrand Legacy [PC]
• Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE [NSW]
• World Ends With You, The: Final Remix [NSW]

Games beat in 2020

• Luigi's Mansion 3 - This is the best Luigi's Mansion title, which in retrospect, it didn't have to do anything too special to beat out the original. I was concerned at the start that the mission structure of 2 had returned, but they just wanted to introduce the new tricks of the Poltergust and soon after you're left to proceed through the Hotel in peace. The touched up visuals and Luigi's expressions are great, it even diverted from 1 melody for the whole mansion, instead having unique tracks per floor which helps the audio from getting too stale. I can't think of too many criticisms... Traversing water (exclusive to floor B2) was a low point for me, mainly because controlling Luigi normally feels fine, but now Luigi is sucking and blow forward and back, borderline tank controls! I guess the final boss went down 3-hit style contrary to the rest of the bosses in the game, an odd choice. It's as if King Boo and all of the other bosses were designed by two different teams.
• Astral Chain - This was dissapointing, feels like one of the more experimental titles that they've worked on. Take all of the mobility options and tie it to a second character in battle with you. It takes a bit of getting used to and until you pick that up you will feel quite slow compared to the likes of Bayonetta, Raiden and 2B. Not to mention the story partway through is ridiculous, it's not good at being coy, character motives get muddled and confusing. Dialogue sounds disjointed, almost devoid of the situation at times. Astral Chain has some platforming and basic puzzles, through the entire run it never felt good. Whenever that platforming is thrown in mid-way through boss battles is when I suddenly feel useless at video games. A lot of tweaks to the PlatinumGames formula can be found in Astral Chain but it just doesn't pay-off for me and even still their usual weaknesses are laid bare.
• Megaman X3 [Legacy Collection NSW] - I've heard X3 had a problem with backtracking and I certianly felt, even looking up walkthroughs left my quite confused. It just feels like a cheap tactic to extend playtime. Pretty tough from the start but once I got back in the rhythm of things. That is until I got steamrolled by final form Sigma (or Kaiser Sigma) which just broke my spirit. As of now I've put X3 down because I just wasn't gaining ground, looks like the Z-Saber is potent against him so I'll try that out later.
• Megaman X4 [Legacy Collection NSW] - As a PS1 kid I'm glad I got to experience X4 first-hand. A notable increase in fidelity, character and background detail and I'm fond of the pre-rendered scenes because of the PS thing. The CD quality sountrack is taken in a different direction, more than just rock, distinct enough from the original Mega Man series (and even the previous X games) to portray a far-off future, a new era for Mega Man in every sense of the word. The Anime cutsenes and hilara-bad voice direction is enjoyable to say the least (I love quoting Sigma) Without a doubt the easiest of the first 4 X games, I still had fun buster only on a bunch of the bosses. I finished a run as X, will definitely revisit with Zero eventually, looks tough though.
• Murder by Numbers [NSW] - This is a much appreciated mix-up of the Picross formula; a murder mystery fusion. Well this was the most engaging Picross game I've played, a lively soundtrack by Masakazu Sugimori (Pheonix Wright & Viewtiful Joe). Basically it plays like a visual novel, but to uncover clues, you solve a picross board to progress. While the game won't let you go down a bad route, the characters will keep you guessing so there's nothing too cliche. The most varied cast I've see in a while, designed by Hato Mao (Hatoful Boyfriend... yes the one where you date Pigeons)
• Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep HD [PS4] - BBS addresses some issues I had with KH 1 & 2 - the command deck aims to simplify magic, item and commands management during active combat. It also swaps the magic cooldown from KH2 in favour of individual cooldown across your deck. For me personally, I can still pay attention to the action and make meaningful, situation-based inputs, quicker to pick up and adapt to. The story is not quite as intertwining as you might expect a prequel to be, I'm not familar with all of the games in the series but it's still fairly self-contained, forgive a handful of character appearences, mostly future organization XIII members.
• Animal Crossing: New Horizons [NSW] - It's great to see another Nintendo IP on the Switch getting the expansion the series needed. Improved in basically every way, as the seasonal updates is likely just the nudge I need to jump back in pretty soon.
• Ratchet & Clank 2: Locked and Loaded [PS2] - After original R&C, I noticed a mechanical shift in R&C2 to compliment the gameplay better this time, strafing being the biggest culprit as well as pausing gameplay while using quick select, giving you that little bit of leeway to pick out the best weapon for the situation. Moving Ratchet about and swinging your wrench is a bit faster now. More wacky weapon designs, including some mainstay designs: lancer, Rifle, mini-turret glove, gravity bomb. The Gravity Boot sequences don't restrict your mobility as much so they're tolerable at all. Weapon balancing is starting to slip though, earlier weapons becoming quite weak. Not sure what to say about the plot, it's alright I guess. The original game had the 'The admirer becomes the hero, while the hero they admired shows their true nature as a villian.
• Ōkami HD [NSW] - I am somewhat ashamed that I didn't check this game out when it counted. This games art direction holds up real well, and the HD treatment is all it needed to make this an easy win. It's cool to see a combat system tied more closely to the characters traits. Had some depth perception issues towards late game dungeons. Otherwise the game is pretty easy, I think maybe the HD version could have done with an extra difficulty options. A lot of really weird character designs, a lot of perv jokes too. I enjoyed my time with Ōkami which might have benefitted from just a couple quality of life options.
• Fire Emblem Three Houses -
• Mr. Driller DrillLand -
• Corpse Party: Blood Drive [NSW] -
• Donkey Kong Country [NSW online] -
• Transistor [NSW] -
• 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim -
• Kill la Kill IF [PS4] -
• Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time [PS4] -

6

Modern Video Games / Re: Collectors' opinions on Switch Joystick Drift

« on: July 24, 2019, 06:09:59 am »

I'm gonna need someone to explain this to me.  What is drift?  I don't know what it's implying, what is it doing exactly??

7

Classic Video Games / Re: N64 PAL region - what does the black frame on the box indicate?

« on: July 23, 2019, 08:01:11 am »

I've just looked up a bunch of Rareware games, that looks like it could be the case.  Banjo-Kazooie, Blast Corps, GoldenEye 007, Killer Instinct Gold are published by Nintendo and are in a black frame

Meanwhile, Conker (Published by THQ) & Perfect Dark (published by Rareware)

But if this were true, then something's wrong with Banjo-Tooie: https://vgcollect.com/item/24708 Banjo-Tooie came out a lot later that these other games right? Maybe Nintendo changed their packaging regulations / branding policies, maybe they just got more lax about the whole process. 

Pokémon Stadium & Pokémon Stadium 2 (supposedly published by Nintendo) also do not use the black frame.  These Pokémon games also came out 2000 / 2001 respectively. 

8

General / Re: Your Opinions Of Puzzle Games

« on: July 04, 2019, 11:42:38 am »

I played The Next Tetris on PlayStation 1 with a mate last saturday, just 1 minute in, we both agreed that The Next Tetris is in fact not Puyo Puyo Tetris! I've always liked Tetris, and I've appreciated Puyo Puyo in the past. Then I got hold of Puyo Puyo Tetris, I adore that game! I always bring out Puyo Puyo Tetris when I have my mates over for the evening.  Just having to block-drop puzzle games infused into one opens up so many different options of how you want to play

Bust-a-Move 2 has also also been the highlight of a few nights in the past. 

9

General / Re: What where your worst experiences as a buyer overall when dealing 2nd hand stuff

« on: May 10, 2019, 11:26:14 pm »

I was sold 2 Bootleg GBA carts of Pokemon ROM hacks (Shiny Gold & Chaos Black) for £20 I think.  I remember the exact day I picked these up, it was exactly 1 day after Pokemon Ranger released, 14th April 2007.  I was a tween but man I sure was naive

10

General / Re: Have you ever found a shiny Pokemon?

« on: April 25, 2019, 07:13:59 am »

Shiny Corsola is Emerald
Shiny Hariyama also in Emerald (It got away because it knew WHIRLWIND of all things
Shiny Plusle in X
Shiny Gumshoos in Sun

11

General / Re: Do Prefer Video Games That Have An End? Or Keep Going?

« on: December 29, 2018, 10:28:06 pm »

I find myself usually gravitating towards single player games.  But over the past year or so I've clocked up some mileage with Puyo Puyo Tetris. It's one of just a handful of games I've been able to happily play multiplayer with family and friends.  It's those games that have the extensive multiplayer and party mode features that make these games highly desirable in certain scenarios for me.  Super Mario Party has been a strong contender in that department over the past month. 

12

General / Re: Secret Santa 2018 - Part 5. DONE!

« on: December 28, 2018, 01:29:13 pm »

Also thanks for the feedback, I was gonna include some digital art myself but seeing as you were 'disappointed' I'm relieved I decided against it.  I don't I'll bother participating next year. The comment "Half-assed" I think is what hurt the most. The hours I spent digging through online listings finding the couple items I could even consider for the SS considering the budget we had.  like I didn't bloody try or something. 

Your PAL, Indenton

13

General / Re: Secret Santa 2018 - Part 5. DONE!

« on: December 28, 2018, 10:31:52 am »

I second the notion that we shouldn't assume that our SS will always be based in the US That's why I've always picked out a bunch of region free stuff so that the games will work.  (GB / GBA / DS / PS3).  I always see photographs of people with dozens of games from their secret santa.  It makes me feel like i'm being stingy, but oh wait I went over-budget, again! I usually draw something for these kinds of gifts too.

The recipient didn't share their loot in the forum threads so it felt unappreciated, even when I tried to build up the sentimental value in my own personal way.

14

General / Re: Secret Santa 2018 - Part 5. DONE!

« on: December 27, 2018, 04:46:42 pm »

If overseas buyers where still to participate in the future I would recommend them hunting for ds gba or gameboy stuff since those are the only consoles in wich case there is a decent amount of usa stuff out there since it isn't region locked from back in the day if one where to request some non exclusives.

Already been doing that for my SS this whole time Bro.  Speaking of which...

Turf was my Secret Santa this year and I got a whole goodie bag of GBA games here!



Th bottom 5 [Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge, Rayman Advance, Super Puzzle Fighter II, ChuChu Rocket, Magical Drop] were all on my list.  ChuChu Rocket was being a little finicky at first but those 5 work.  I also got a handful of other GBA games (Frogger's Adventures being the only dupe of the lot).  The Game Boy Advance was the first Nintendo console I've owned so I'm still happy to wittle away the hours on a bunch of these games for years to come.  Thank you very much Turf and hope you all had a great Christmas this year. 

EDIT: Polarium Advance was missing from the photo because it was still in my DS, as soon as I saw the 'ATLUS' logo I knew this was going to be good.  Shaping up to be a nice little addition to my collection. Thanks again. 

15

General / Re: Have You Played Or Liked Any Hunting Genre Games?

« on: December 18, 2018, 10:30:13 am »

Back in early July I was with my mate when he played Big Buck HD in a Amusement Arcade, he shot a couple deer... and a cow.  It was rather silly!