Messages

16

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.

17

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.

18

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.

19

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.

20

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.

21

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.

22

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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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2024!!!!!

« on: February 02, 2024, 11:22:06 am »

12. Rondo of Swords - Path A/Good Ending

Getting this ending required a lot of trial and error, and even more patience. These requirements actually apply to just about every aspect of Rondo of Swords. I have never played a strategy-RPG like this. It takes even the most basic concepts, throws them out the window, and says, "Good luck! Figure it out!" There are tutorials built in, and of course the instruction manual breaks things down a bit, but there is nothing that can prepare even a seasoned veteran for Rondo of Swords' antics. I still have no idea what compelled me to play this. The strange thing is that I want to do a replay and see how the story develops in Path B. I'm confident that there will be the same amounts of cursing, griping, "AHH COME ON!"-ing, and what have you. But dammit, the game is addictive as hell. Adorable character sprites and campy voice acting don't hurt matters, either.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2024!!!!!

« on: January 24, 2024, 06:06:48 pm »

11. Shadow Hearts: From the New World

It's been nearly 20 years since I played this and thought a replay was in order. With the strategy guide in my possession finally, I had every intention of doing everything: side-quests, collectables, etc. Well, that idea got thrown out the window when I reached the halfway point (and the battle track went from epic to awful). This was worse than I remembered. I can see myself going through the original and Covenant in years to come. Maybe there'll come a time when I do another run of Koudelka. This, however, I will never play this game again unless there's a release of the entire Shadow Hearts series on one disc/cart that includes QoL changes, trophies, etc. And knowing how borked Aruze and the Shadow Hearts IP is, that's never going to happen. The game's goofy characters and lack of barely any horror themed atmosphere aren't my biggest issues, although they don't help. It's that the game's poorly balanced to the point that outside grinding is constant necessity. Since battles take too long, doing said grinding takes even more time. Building Stock takes time. Enemies constantly get multiple turns in a row. Maybe they wanted to make things more challenging but this wasn't the right way to do it. When those credits rolled, I returned the disc to the case and the case to the shelf. Out of sight/mind.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2024!!!!!

« on: January 22, 2024, 09:17:56 pm »

10. Mega Man X6

My neighborhood was an ice rink over the weekend, so I did replay of this while being at home. I'm not sure why. Maybe so I could make my inevitable replay of X4 all the more sweeter? This game isn't good. It's nowhere near X5 levels, but it's clear the series peaked at X4. Hell, for some it peaked just at X. Yes, there were some good stage tunes and a few neat bosses, but it was just a messy, contrived entry in the series.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2024!!!!!

« on: January 11, 2024, 08:34:04 am »

9. Star Ocean: The Second Story R

This is a masterclass when it comes to remakes. I have a lot I can't wait to write about when it's review time. One of the things I'm most excited to talk about are all the little things that came together: town/dungeon quick jump, your party members following you, the Bodyguard specialty, ease of manipulating endings, the multi-use item creation, and a bunch more. And just because the credits rolled, it doesn't mean the journey on this file is over. I have a big, ol' Maze of Tribulations to go through. I just made it to the third floor. Then there are some super bosses. There's lots more star ocean-ing ahead.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2024!!!!!

« on: January 10, 2024, 10:18:21 am »

8. Lord of Arcana

This game is as generic and repetitive as it gets. Take mission. Fight monster. Build better equipment. Repeat. It was ideal for downtime during work or long meetings. I never played a Monster Hunter but I'm guessing that's what this is with a different setting and a horrible control scheme. I still don't know why dodging and locking on an enemy required so much effort. But, it's done. And it was entertaining seeing the QTE finishers since enemies would explode into Vandal Hearts pools of blood. This will likely be the only PSP game I play all year. My PSP's nub is in bad shape and staring at its screen just doesn't do it for me anymore. In other words, I need a new one. I'll always fight for the portable that never stood a chance against the DS.

29

General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2024!!!!!

« on: January 07, 2024, 11:25:13 am »

I attended a lovely game night where we enjoyed some more Jackbox Games both new and old.

4. FixyText
The idea is neat, but the execution is slightly frustrating since there is no delete key. It can get chaotic in both a good and bad way when others are texting over each other. I doubt we'll play this again but kudos for trying something new, modern, and relevant.

5. Timejinx
Trivia! And it deals with something I have a knack for: years. You simply select a year in which something occurred. The closer you are, the less points you get. Person with the lowest score wins. Some bonus rounds and moments were tossed in for good measure. I won, so that was extra fun for me.

6. Talking Points
Improv meets a TED Talk. A personal favorite of mine, especially when you're with the right group of likeminded friends that have no qualms getting into the bizarre, the filthy, or a combination of the two.

7. Role Models
This was the most fun  to revisit. You categorize everyone based on a slew of unique themes. It's fun hearing why folks categorize you in certain places. It's even more fun when someone new joins the group because it helps get to know them.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2024!!!!!

« on: January 03, 2024, 08:11:03 am »

3. Blasphemous II

Real talk. I had every intention of just casually playing this while being away from my other consoles. I had low expectations since the first Blasphemous was a semi-steaming dog pile. The low expectations might have helped, but this has become one of my favorite Metroidvanias. Nothing will outshine Symphony of the Night, but my goodness. This game shines in every department in comparison to the first: gameplay, music, graphics, story, exploration, you name it. I ended up getting both endings, completing the map to 100%, and discovering everything. Well, almost everything. Despite acquiring all beads, cherubs, spells, alters, and key items, the game is stuck at 98%. I’m guessing it’s because I didn’t fully upgrade Veridicto. But, the game said I was maxed out with Martyrdom so who knows. Either way, amazing game that I’m stoked to write about in a review.