Messages

46

General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2020

« on: February 17, 2020, 07:51:22 pm »

Demon's Souls is well worth a go fellas, it's no more clunky than Dark Souls, the only real difference is the splitting of the game into stages and being able to stockpile restoratives rather than having a limited estus flask. (There's probably lots of differences in the item and equipment mechanics, but from a distance it's basically Dark Souls 0.5 with those two exceptions).

47

Video Game Database Discussion / Re: Category/Platform Requests 2.0

« on: February 17, 2020, 07:47:27 pm »

If I'd realized it was whether or not they existed which was causing the problem, I'd have found a way to offer up a photo - I'm not going to mess you about by making up silly things like non-existent games, how often do you help me out with things here?

I think EU is probably safest, the 'official shop' uses £ currency. In these circumstances do you normally create a download category and a physical one or leave them both in the same cat?

If you don't mind me asking, could you create an entry for Software Amusements in both the developer and publisher boxes on the database please? I'll upload front and back scans of the boxes and details, not sure about the release dates, will try to get an SD card scan too, but my scanner isn't exactly fantastic (Canon printer/scanner).

48

General / Re: February 2020 - Recently Added to Collection/Recently Purchased

« on: February 13, 2020, 03:32:12 pm »

Quite chuffed with myself, NIS Europe sent a sale code through email and it halved the cost of a few items they had on sale, so they had 4 Switch games on sale that I wanted for £10 each. While I was there, I used the full purchase allowance (15 games), spent £155 including postage, sold 11 of them to CEX today for £143, so I've spent £12 to get brand new copies of:

Happy Birthdays
The Lost Child
Fallen Legion: Rise to Glory
The Princess Guide

49

Video Game Database Discussion / Re: Category/Platform Requests 2.0

« on: February 13, 2020, 03:08:43 pm »

Physical games for the Next already exist and have done for months - when I first requested the Next to be added it was because I had 2 individual games and a pack of 3 to add to the database, that's when you said to wait until the Next is out, hence why I'm back now. I'm not trying to be 'first', it's just that there's games I want to add to my collection.

Edit: To clarify, if you go to http://www.softwareamusements.com/ , there's 5 Next games listed, each of which was released individually on SD card in PS Vita cases with inlays, SA also released a 3 pack of the first three games then a 5 pack of all of them, these were sold directly on Ebay UK, the listings seem to have timed out since i can't find them with searches any more. I own Bubblegum Bros., Dweebs Drop and the 3-pack (Montana Mike, Dungeonette and Delta Star: Earth Defence).

50

Video Game Database Discussion / Re: Category/Platform Requests 2.0

« on: February 12, 2020, 02:27:22 pm »

It's software categories I'm asking for tripredacus - Spectrum games will play on the Next, but Next SD cards and downloads are for the Next only.

51

Video Game Database Discussion / Re: Category/Platform Requests 2.0

« on: February 11, 2020, 12:21:26 pm »

My last request was premature, but ZX Spectrum Nexts have started to be sent out to Kickstarter backers:

https://www.specnext.com/first-zx-spectrum-next-delivered/

So would it be possible to create catgories for download games and physical releases on SD cards please?

52

General / Re: Do You Have A Hard Time Picking A Game To Play?

« on: February 06, 2020, 03:01:30 pm »

I always did, and still do now. It's difficult because most of my games are unbeaten and a significant are unplayed, so instead of thinking "I fancy playing.." it's "OK, let's find another one to try..".

It helps clear the backlog bit by bit, but with my gaming time so restricted ATM I begrudge trogging through games with irritating foibles or giving sub-standard ones any leeway.

53

General / Re: What are you playing?

« on: February 06, 2020, 02:18:02 pm »

Evil Within 2 does sort of expand and contract Kashell, but there's set pieces which resemble the original more to help keep it more cohesive, it's a great game IMHO.

At the minute I'm playing Mount & Blade: Warband on the PS4, again, this one's a surprise go-to game for this console generation, almost replayed it as much as BioShock 1/2. Also playing through Chaos Break on the PS1, which is a condensed RE clone which seems OK but tough, Eve of Extinction on PS2, which seems far too simplistic and is likely to be a trade-in, as well as Warriors Orochi 4 on Switch, which is dandy.

54

General / Re: Your top 10 Favorite horror games

« on: February 05, 2020, 07:32:15 am »

what, rank them? cruel! Can't do that, but here's 10 I lurrrrve:

*Resi - obvious, 4/5/Revelations 2 in particular.
*Silent Hill - ditto, 2 in particular.
*Haunting Ground - always, a real gem.
*Clock Tower - SNES game (emulated) or CT3, we didn't get 2 over here and haven't played the first PS1 game.
*Dead Space - just the first and the Wii shooter, hated 2 and 3 with a passion.
*I Have no Mouth and I Must Scream - never actually played it, but the longplay on Youtube has been my go-to for relaxing or even going to sleep for something like a decade.
*Space Gun - gorgeous light gun game.
*Rule of Rose - Genuinely unsettling survival horror.
*Gregory Horror Show - comedy horror, tastes a lot like survival horror gameplay, a real gem.
*Dante's Inferno - Horror slash em up, featuring lots of genuinely horrifying things, not least Satan's wobbling meat and two veg 

There's loads more, I love horror games, but they're probably my fave 10.

55

General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2020

« on: February 04, 2020, 04:17:35 am »

I started it up last night and so far its everything I could have wanted! SO GOOD!

Really pleased that's the case    It was one of those games where I was thinking "well, this looks great but it'll probably not be as good as I'd like", but I was wrong, so deliciously wrong

56

General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2020

« on: February 02, 2020, 12:39:13 pm »

I think you're going to love LM3 Justin! 

57

General / Re: Should I sell?

« on: January 28, 2020, 03:18:06 pm »

Hoshichiri put it better than I could. All I'd add is to treat the sale of anything other than ultra-common titles as a potential cut-off - you might not be able to re-source it in the right condition/price-range for your liking in the future, so is it something you're genuinely done with or something which you might want in the future?

Yesterday I sold some items to a national chain of resale shops (CEX) for cash, some rare games, which nonetheless I'm happy to be without, but I'm never going to be able to access them again because of their rarity/price. (Price also depends on whether you're earning a fat salary measured in the tens of thousands, in which case money wouldn't be an issue, but presumably we wouldn't even be talking about money if money was no object).

58

Off Topic / Re: What are your thoughts on Reddit?

« on: January 27, 2020, 03:19:38 am »

Social media? I'd rather shave my teeth.

59

General / Re: What's your focus area?

« on: January 24, 2020, 01:40:42 pm »

My focus is current-gen, there's plenty of obscure and quirky titles to chase, as well as noughties/nineties PC CD-ROMs (available for a song).

I'm pretty much done with 360/PS3/Wii, only a few stragglers left for those (like I lost my copy of Shadow of the Damned). The PS2 era is similar, probably a few more PS2 games (but they're increasingly getting the very hard to get titles which never appear in CEX) and if the chance arose things like Fire Emblem for the GC. Apart from that, any interesting looking PS1 games would be a bonus. Older systems are no longer of much interest in terms of acquiring them, if I ever get the chance to get some cheap or trade for them at a good rate then fine, but I've dialled it right down, they're not available any more.

60

General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2020

« on: January 24, 2020, 01:29:40 pm »

Collection of Mana - Switch - 2nd abandoned game (traded in)

This one's been a bumpy road.

Final Fantasy Adventure/Mystic Quest Adventure is a game I have a lot of good memories about and playing through it again has been a real buzz. The quick-save feature on the cartridge was a real help because there's time this one tested me and I was left having to backtrack, I also needed to consult gameFAQs a few times. It's seriously dated but remains a cracking adventure for such a basic system as the original gameboy, nice soundtrack too!

Secret of Mana is where the wobble begins. The overall package is as good as I remember it, in terms of graphics, 'feel' and soundtrack, but there's a stark difference between the game's size and scope compared to how I remember it. The early stages of the game see you getting lead back and forth through the same few areas, then when the world does open out it's just a few different zones like 'snow' and 'desert', along with a couple of others which very quickly disappear in the rear view mirror. The tail-end of the game features a few large dungeons which help give a sense of exploration, but it's too little too late. Something else the game suffers with is the lack of rewards for exploring - you can find a few weapon upgrade orbs, but that aside there's nothing to actually gain. Several endgame enemies drop equipment randomly, though not often, but for the rest of the game it's only restoratives you'll find in drop chests. It's another way the game saves something for the end which should have been there from the start. Not an unpleasant trip down memory lane, but certainly a case of a game not being as I remembered it. Wouldn't call it 'rose tinted specs' so much as things moving on, YS VIII for instance is a massive departure from SoM in terms of scope, and that's comparing a retro triple-A with a modern double-A.

'Trials of Mana' (Seiken Densetsu 3) is where the wheels came off for me. The senes of scale is considerably ramped up from the previous games (SoM in particular), but it's far worse in terms of the sense of exploration and characters. I couldn't give a damn about ToM's characters, they're completely cookie-cutter. It doesn't feel like 'The World's in DANGER', so much as the world's about to be mildly inconvenienced. Different baddies appear without rhyme or reason ("it's Spiteful Sylvia, oh noes, and there's Knoblord Dread, ruler of Cakeland"). Seriously. Weapons just come from shop upgrades, as with SoM's armour and accessories, but this time there's not even weapon orbs to find. So, with zero loot to find, traversing the game's larger locations often devolves into running from the end of area into the next in simple mazes. It gets extremely boring. Then there's level-grinding just to make sure you're not KO'd by an overpowered enemy's sneeze. Even the combat itself - no more waiting for the bar to charge to 100% before striking, but instead mashing attack produces a short combo, after which your character just sits there a second or two before they'll attack again. It just doesn't feel like the mechanics work very well.

So yeah, got a good bit through ToM before deciding I really don't care any more and want to play something fun or at least compelling.