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Messages - kashell

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1
General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2024!!!!!
« on: March 16, 2024, 10:04:49 pm »
25. Persona 3 Reload

The first Persona I've ever finished. It's the only one the series I've had any interest in because of its sleek look and interesting themes. For some reason it kept slipping under my radar. While I'm glad I finished it, I'm so glad that it's over. The rigidness of the Social Links, some overly long cut scenes that the FF feature couldn't even help with, and most of the soundtrack were what I'll remember more than the epic story, the cool characters, and the (sometimes) fun combat. I'll always prefer the mainline SMT to this. At some point, I do want to try P5 Royal, but it'll be after a long, long time. This was a long game. If not for Unicorn Overlord being so addictive, I would likely take a massive break from RPGs.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2024!!!!!
« on: March 11, 2024, 02:41:20 pm »
24. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow - Soma

Of all the Castlevania games on the Game Boy Advance, this one is objectively the best. There's so much excellence packed in that it's easy to see why the majority of fans have it as their favorite of the three, and a favorite in general. I told myself that I would just make this a casual playthrough and not bother doing everything. Well, that idea got shot to Hell near the end when I kept discovering new things. As a result, I was able to get all of the Souls and most of the rare drops from all the enemies. At this point, I'm good on Metroidvanias for a while. I want to play Harmony of Dissonance with a cleansed palette, and beyond that, I want to eventually give Julius mode in this game a whirl.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2024!!!!!
« on: March 05, 2024, 10:49:32 am »
Another demo down. This one was for Unicorn Overlord. And, what a demo it was. I think I logged six or seven hours in it, which is just bananas for a demo. The amount of narrative covered and the amount of stuff to do in the demo topples regular games. If this is a sign of things to come, then I can see this being a very long game. But, everything presented was epic. I feel like I'm playing a combination of Brigandine, Ogre Battle, Venus and Braves, and Final Fantasy Tactics. There are probably others in there, too. All of it is backed by Vanilla Ware's looks and sounds. My only complaint is that it is tough to play while in handheld mode. I'll still play it that way, but I'm going to try to play it docked when I get it and after I finish P3R.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2024!!!!!
« on: March 01, 2024, 02:13:37 pm »
23. Etrian Odyssey

I played this as part of the Etrian Odyssey HD Collection on Switch. Full disclosure: I played on the easiest difficulty setting. This was the main reason why I was able to finish it so quickly. I didn't set the game to Picnic because I was worried about a potential challenge. It was because I wanted to see if the game, and the rest of the series in this collection, would be worth my time. The typical dungeon-crawl loop of rough beginnings, resource management, and low funds was in full effect and I didn't want to waste my time going back and forth from the town to the dungeon and back again just to keep pace. Now that I know more about the series and what to expect, I plan to play the next installments on the regular setting. In other words, the series is worth my time. There's great class variety, a pretty HD look, QoL features (which are new to me since this is my first time experiencing the series) and the addictive feeling of "what's over there". One of the biggest surprises was the truth behind the labyrinth. I'm not sure when I'll get to EO2 since Unicorn Overlord is just around the corner, but it's nice knowing that another solid dungeon crawler is waiting for me.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2024!!!!!
« on: February 21, 2024, 06:57:48 pm »
I won't count it among my finished games, but I finished the Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth Demo. I'll try to avoid spoilers in case someone for some reason still hasn't played the original FFVII and/or some of its spin-offs.

The Nibelheim section was up and down. I appreciated some of Sephiroth's quips to Cloud that were actually meant for someone else. I also liked how the screen would show static and get chopped up when Cloud was trying to remember what happened. The Shinra Manor was spooky. But, when I was actually playing the demo, I was quickly reminded of how exhausting Remake was. I don't know if I have the energy for all this. There is just so much going on in combat that it's hard to keep up. Knowing me, I'd probably want to get all the trophies. This would mean having to play the game on Hard mode. That would also mean going through unskippable areas and cut scenes again. Slow segments like crawling through small areas or scaling walls just pad the length. I didn't play too much of the Junon section. Within the first five minutes there were tutorials out the wazoo, someone named MAI shouting through my controller, and now I can apparently make items? It's a lot. So, yeah. I'm holding off on this one for a long time. I just don't have the energy for all this stuff, and knowing that the game is more "open worldy" is a major turn off.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2024!!!!!
« on: February 20, 2024, 02:31:28 pm »
22. Izuna 2: The Unemployed Ninja Returns

Thanks to Rondo of Swords, I decided to return to this. I finished the first Izuna years ago. I stopped somewhere in the middle of Izuna 2. And, after getting my ass handed to me time and time again, I remember why I stopped. This game is too hard for its own good. I may have to renege on my review comment where I said Izuna 2 was easier than the first. Sure, you have the ability to take more than one person in a dungeon, and you retain your levels. But every enemy starting midway through hits like a bus. I tried so many different combinations of gear and talisman to boost my defense but nothing seemed to help. So, the strategy was to just hoard healing items, bumrush through each floor, make it to the best, get the boss into a hallway, and hope and pray for the best. I often forget how brutal rogue-likes are, and this series is no exception. Apparently, there's a bonus dungeon that's 99 floors. Hard. Pass.

7
General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2024!!!!!
« on: February 20, 2024, 12:40:33 pm »
21. The Last Faith

My second platinum trophy for the year. I look at this game with mixed feelings. Maybe after the dust settles, I'll have a different view point. But for now, this game is...not what I was hoping for. I might have been spoiled by Blasphemous 2. Or, it just wasn't as good. Or both. I'm not sure. In terms of music, graphics, and atmosphere? Tens across the board. Everything else? It would range from 4 to 6. I am so goddamn sick of the Souls-like story telling. Why is it so hard to just tell me what's going on instead of beating around the bush and having NPCs act as puzzle pieces? The boss fights were also a major disappointment. It's not because they were too hard. It was because most of them required you to be in the air to land a hit. Eryk can't attack more than once in the air. So it's a constant dance of jump, attack, jump, attack, jump, attack. And to add insult to injury, you're given a ton of really cool weapons, spells, and firearms that do jack-crap against anything in the air. Of course, boss' HP is spongey and bloated, but that's par for the course. I'll have more to say when I get a review written. But as of now, this was an upset that I paid way too much money for since it's digital only. Lessons learned.

I’m kind of in the same boat. I finished Blasphemous 2 and it was excellent, then got The Last Faith, and it’s just OK. Only a few hours in but lost motivation to play it. I’ll get back to it eventually.
The Metroidvania I ended up getting more invested in is Afterimage. If you haven’t tried it, you might want to give it a chance. It’s not perfect, and is VERY exploration-heavy, but it looks beautiful, the combat is fluid, and the control is almost as good as SOTN.

I'll put Afterimage on my list, thanks. I need a break from Metroidvanias for a minute but will likely go with this one when it's time to start a new one. Moonscars looks too difficult and muddy to be worth trying.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2024!!!!!
« on: February 19, 2024, 09:57:23 am »
21. The Last Faith

My second platinum trophy for the year. I look at this game with mixed feelings. Maybe after the dust settles, I'll have a different view point. But for now, this game is...not what I was hoping for. I might have been spoiled by Blasphemous 2. Or, it just wasn't as good. Or both. I'm not sure. In terms of music, graphics, and atmosphere? Tens across the board. Everything else? It would range from 4 to 6. I am so goddamn sick of the Souls-like story telling. Why is it so hard to just tell me what's going on instead of beating around the bush and having NPCs act as puzzle pieces? The boss fights were also a major disappointment. It's not because they were too hard. It was because most of them required you to be in the air to land a hit. Eryk can't attack more than once in the air. So it's a constant dance of jump, attack, jump, attack, jump, attack. And to add insult to injury, you're given a ton of really cool weapons, spells, and firearms that do jack-crap against anything in the air. Of course, boss' HP is spongey and bloated, but that's par for the course. I'll have more to say when I get a review written. But as of now, this was an upset that I paid way too much money for since it's digital only. Lessons learned.

9
General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2024!!!!!
« on: February 18, 2024, 01:45:23 pm »
Yesterday, I had the chance to hit up an arcade with Cartagia. Who, naturally, was quite the cool dude. We were able to finish some classics with our co-op skills!

18. The Punisher
I don't know a thing about The Punisher universe, but this beat 'em up from Capcom was a sleek and stylish one. It only took a couple of tokens a piece to finish, too. The enemy variety got a bit samey but otherwise it was a great game that shows the staying power of the genre.

19. Area 51
I finished this for the first time of my life. Cartagia was the better shot. I was a horrible marksman. And my arm got tired by the time the credits hit. Did those guns get heavier or am I just getting older? Oh well. Solid game. It felt like I was at every bowling alley ever.

20. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Was this game always this unfair? Even with some speedrun tips and tricks, this ate the remainder of my tokens right up. It was fun to reminisce and replay this but even with two players surrounding every boss that came our way, they would just do a swing or kick and BOOM! Health gone.

10
General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2024!!!!!
« on: February 14, 2024, 08:37:47 am »
17. Castlevania: Circle of the Moon

Playing this on the Switch brought back a lot of memories, both good and bad. The good was that it reminded me of when I first got my Game Boy Advance, and the first game to play for it was this. Circle of the Moon was my salvation during a very, VERY long family car trip that same summer. I'm glad I had the foresight to bring all those batteries. But, the bad memories were from the actual playing. DSS was a flop because it was the game's standout feature, yet it relied on luck/RNG. It was cool that this version would at least let you know which enemies had Cards as a drop, but it didn't increase the odds of obtaining a good chunk of them. There was also a crapload of palette swapped monsters and zero connection to any of the Belmonts. I still have no idea who the Baldwins or Nathan Graves are, but I don't care, either. This is another entry I won't be playing for a long time, if ever. However, it really jazzed me up for Harmony of Dissonance.

11
General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2024!!!!!
« on: February 11, 2024, 10:06:12 am »
16. .hack//Quarantine

I can see why there are a few fans of this series. The characters and story were really something else. I'm going to miss the antics of Kite and his friends. I especially liked Sanjuro. His avatar is a badass samurai. Behind the avatar is a guy in South Dakota with a fascination for the bushido. It was great getting to know him and the rest of the squad. Oh, saving the world both in and out of the game was a nice perk, too. I watched the four Liminality DVDs after the game ended, just to round things out and see if there were any gaps. There weren't. But, it was a nice little side aspect of the universe. On the flipside, I can see why there are more (a lot more) haters. These four games were messy. One of the developers said that they wanted to make the games harder because they thought that's what Americans wanted. They weren't hard; just frustrating. I was in a menu constantly because the AI was dumber in this iteration. And still not having save points in dungeons added the wrong kind of tension. So, I'm glad I went through these four games. I doubt I'll go through them all again, though.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2024!!!!!
« on: February 10, 2024, 03:14:54 pm »
15. Castlevania: Dracula X

My Castlevania Advance Collection finally arrived. I thought I'd celebrate by finally, and officially, playing Dracula X. I guess I can say I got the worst out of the way. This wasn't fun. The stiff controls might have been too to playing on the Switch, but that's just one issue. Things just seem extra unfair in this iteration. I don't remember Rondo of Blood having so many "eff you" moments. Save states and rewinds were used heavily. Then, there's the lack of extras like playing as Maria and the different levels. It was just an all around unfun game. Luckily, it's short and included as part of the collection; no need to worry about dropping a couple hundred bones on that cart.


I played this game years ago and I was going in thinking it would be amazing, but in the end I just found it super frustrating. I somehow managed to beat the game, although Dracula feels damn near impossible. It's a fun novelty on the SNES, but most other 2D Castlevania games blow it out of the water.

Yeah, and another perk to it is that it'll make Circle of the Moon (next on my list/in the collection) shine a little brighter.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2024!!!!!
« on: February 10, 2024, 10:43:42 am »
15. Castlevania: Dracula X

My Castlevania Advance Collection finally arrived. I thought I'd celebrate by finally, and officially, playing Dracula X. I guess I can say I got the worst out of the way. This wasn't fun. The stiff controls might have been too to playing on the Switch, but that's just one issue. Things just seem extra unfair in this iteration. I don't remember Rondo of Blood having so many "eff you" moments. Save states and rewinds were used heavily. Then, there's the lack of extras like playing as Maria and the different levels. It was just an all around unfun game. Luckily, it's short and included as part of the collection; no need to worry about dropping a couple hundred bones on that cart.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2024!!!!!
« on: February 03, 2024, 09:45:48 pm »
14. Astro's Playroom - Platinum'd

I've been a fan of the PlayStation since the jump, and this game pays homage to that while also being a super fun, super tight, and super adorable platformer. And it's all free. There were so many trips down memory lane along with a huge number of references to favorite games. The way it all came together in such a unique, polished package that highlights gaming excellence is very impressive for a free game. I'm glad I took a break from the serious and my usual RPG battling to play this. My first platinum trophy of the year!

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2024!!!!!
« on: February 03, 2024, 09:51:52 am »
13. Silent Hill: A Short Message

If this is the future of Silent Hill, then I'm glad I fell off from the series years ago after Origins and Homecoming. Short Message shined when you were slowly exploring the building and learning about its history. I liked how the series was brought to a modern scale, touching on the Covid-19 pandemic, social media and its issues, and other triggering subjects. Sadly, those shining moments were clouded by these ridiculously frustrating chase sequences. You have to outrun a manifestation of evil that the MC created, but all you have is a smartphone flashlight. Naturally, these areas are messy. Even without those, Silent Hill was always more subtle in delivering its messages and themes. Short Message threw them right in your face, and those trigger warnings occurred frequently enough to break immersion. In the end, I'm glad this was free because I would have felt robbed.

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