So, what you playing at the mo? Retro Edition

o1s1n

Retr0gamer wrote: »

I started FFX on the Vita. I'm not liking it as much as I used to..

Finally coming round to see the truth, it's a load of ****e :pac:

Well I thought it was a load of ****e when it came out, haven't played it since. I doubt my opinion would have changed much since though.

Retr0gamer

Did you beat it? I remember it getting a lot better the further you got into it. However it is very linear and the random battle encounter rate is maddening.

johnny_ultimate

I'd love to see a new Final Fantasy game with the same sort of controlled schizophrenia as VII (and IX). That amazing sense of discovery and fun, where it feels like a genuine adventure on a vast world map full of secrets, one-shots, distractions, wacky asides and worthwhile subplots (forget the main story - it was each character's individual narratives that made that game sing). Each new town felt like an exciting and distinct place, which is something I haven't felt about any of the subsequent games (even the more open-ended XII). Hopefully XV will be more willing to have some fun, and not end up just another sprawling game of near endless fighting and po-faced storytelling (although that sadly seems near inevitable). The trailers so far make it hard to call.

o1s1n

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Did you beat it? I remember it getting a lot better the further you got into it. However it is very linear and the random battle encounter rate is maddening.

I gave up at the 3/4 point as the linearity was pissing me off so much. I think by that point, the only thing keeping me interested was Lulu's chest. Unfortunately even that began to bore me.

Absolutely monumentally annoying cast. I didn't think it could be beat in that regard - then FF XIII came along and did the impossible.

Edit - actually you know what, I went off gaming quite a bit during the PS2 generation. Originally I thought it was down to beer and young ones, but now I think it might have also been influenced by the combined huge disappointment that was FF X and MGS2. I think they were released quite close together.

STG.Otaku

Talking of PS Vita, is that Curry God game any good? Thinking of picking up a copy.

megaten

STG.Otaku wrote: »

Talking of PS Vita, is that Curry God game any good? Thinking of picking up a copy.

I like my games on the easy side, but Sorcery Saga was way too easy. Stopped playing it around the second dungeon. I might pick it up again when I need something low stress though.

Retr0gamer

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

I'd love to see a new Final Fantasy game with the same sort of controlled schizophrenia as VII (and IX). That amazing sense of discovery and fun, where it feels like a genuine adventure on a vast world map full of secrets, one-shots, distractions, wacky asides and worthwhile subplots (forget the main story - it was each character's individual narratives that made that game sing). Each new town felt like an exciting and distinct place, which is something I haven't felt about any of the subsequent games (even the more open-ended XII). Hopefully XV will be more willing to have some fun, and not end up just another sprawling game of near endless fighting and po-faced storytelling (although that sadly seems near inevitable). The trailers so far make it hard to call.

FFVII is anything but controlled, it's a miracle that game came out in a playable state.

Mass effect has a lot to answer for when it comes to making FFXIII bad. Both had a codex filled with boring fluff that was in no way interesting. Mass Effect at least had the decency to make it unnecessary to understand the game. FFXIII on the other hand didn't even make sense if you spent the time reading it.

It would be nice to get that sense of discovery, FFVII and IX were just as linear as FFXIII but the pacing was right and it gave the illusion of discovery and being non linear. Your reward for going through a dungeon was a new town to explore and once you got bored of that you were back in a dungeon again. FFXIII was just a big dungeon. It would also be nice to bring the wacky back. FFVI was a very dark game but it also had Ultros. Sometimes you just need a bit of comedy or bizarreness to break things up.

o1s1n wrote: »

I gave up at the 3/4 point as the linearity was pissing me off so much. I think by that point, the only thing keeping me interested was Lulu's chest. Unfortunately even that began to bore me.

Absolutely monumentally annoying cast. I didn't think it could be beat in that regard - then FF XIII came along and did the impossible.

Edit - actually you know what, I went off gaming quite a bit during the PS2 generation. Originally I thought it was down to beer and young ones, but now I think it might have also been influenced by the combined huge disappointment that was FF X and MGS2. I think they were released quite close together.

FFX actually has an amazing cast. Some real top quality voice actors there. However the direction they were given and the script was so poor that they gave really lousy performances. Tidus and Yuna in particular are voiced by two very talented actors and yet come across as awful, Yuna in particular. Compare Yuna to Hedy Buress's performance as Rosie in Valkyria Chronicles, it's hard to believe it's the same person.

Los Lobos

Picked up another gba sp today with a few games, still no ags 101 but sure feck it.

Realised i have two copies of supermario advance, and a link cable, so first time to play some two player gba original mario bros! Good craic

Mr.Saturn

Los Lobos wrote: »

so first time to play some two player gba original mario bros! Good craic

Would love to give that a crack at some stage. Ninty went through a mad phase by plopping it on every Mario Advance entry, so it goes 3 times unloved in my case.

Los Lobos

I have a dedicated mario bros cab i bought a while back, remake of course, running mame, mario bros is great fun when ya get a few levels in!

Andrew76

After seeing o1s1n's posts about his monitor handywork, I fired up my AWSD Friday. Swapped out Strikers 1945 II for Raiden DX - very rusty and not able to get any of the secret bonuses on the first play.

CiDeRmAn

Those winking medals, it's hard to swoop in at the right moment, before they go dull, and snatch maximum points!
According to O1s the PS version is pretty spot on as conversions go, and that's the one I have, an amazingly fun game.

Andrew76

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

Those winking medals, it's hard to swoop in at the right moment, before they go dull, and snatch maximum points!
According to O1s the PS version is pretty spot on as conversions go, and that's the one I have, an amazingly fun game.

Ah I usually leave trying to time the medal grabs, usually end up dead otherwise. I was talking about the gold radars in the training level - I can usually get 3 out of 7 of them on a good day.

Aye the PS1 port is very good, nabbed that myself. Might be a little be speedier but has the added bonus of saving your replays.

BGOllie

Never played it properly so decided to give Megaman 2 a run...



my wife is learning a lot of new french words at the moment

Shapey Fiend

Road Redemption, aka Rogue Rash. It's still in Alpha so a bit rough around the edges. They've got the feel spot on anyway. The whole Rogue style XP structure is nice. Also the huge car accidents. Sticky bombs are class. The guns feel a tiny bit too much but they don't have a ton of ammo so I suppose it isn't that big a deal. Not really feeling the rooftop levels either gets it a bit far away from the core Road Rash experience.

o1s1n

Just finished Mother 3. I'm absolutely blown away. Everything about it is perfect. From the incredible, hilarious dialogue (some of the best I've read in a game) to the utterly amazing soundtrack and out there character design - but to top it all off, the pure emotion conveyed in the game, far surpasses anything else I think I've played.

And it's not contrived 'oh here's when a main character dies, time to feel sad' emotion, it's far more mature and genuine.

Just to note, the translation is really something else. I believe one of the guys involved is a professional localizer and the care put into it resulted in something probably far better than Nintendo could have put out.

Retr0gamer

Yeah it's an incredible game. I found it spelt out it's themes more than earthbound but was no less great. Even one thing that kind of annoyed me was handled really well in the end,

one of the bad guys identities being very obvious but right near the end you ask the dad and he says he knew who it was all along, just like the player did, but just refused to accept it.

Ultimately I feel the whole thing is about accepting the past and moving on with your life and not letting it dictate your life. Most of the problems stem from that and it fits nicely in with the ending

the destruction of the world but ultimately for it to be rebuilt anew.

I loved that ending so much I can't put my finger on why but I choke up thinking about it.

o1s1n

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Ultimately I feel the whole thing is about accepting the past and moving on with your life and not letting it dictate your life. Most of the problems stem from that and it fits nicely in with the ending

the destruction of the world but ultimately for it to be rebuilt anew.

The post ending part (where it literally says 'end?' and you can walk around in darkness, only to discover all the characters are still alive) sums up exactly what you mean about moving on with your life and I think you're spot on. All the characters are wishing you well (as in YOU, the player) you don't want to let go of them and finish the game (and 'move on' with your life) but they help you along and reassure you... it's really not something I've witnessed before in a game and would definitely leave you with a lump in your manly throat!

Spoiler alerts aside, I was really pleasantly surprised with the battle system in the game. It's a huge improvement on Earthbound's. Some of the boss battles were quite tricky!

CiDeRmAn

My son is playing Earthbound now and loving it.

Mr.Saturn

As much as I love Mother 3,

it always bothered me that they went and buried Hinawa whilst Flint was still locked up. Still, I love how casually the game confronts the player with most likely fighting the reanimated corpse of your mother; it's just a random encounter like any other

.

Retr0gamer

Well what I got from that was

as Leder explained the villagers were all brainwashed and never had to deal with such a violent event before.

Mr.Saturn

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Well what I got from that was

as Leder explained the villagers were all brainwashed and never had to deal with such a violent event before.

Aye, I've heard that one before, but it still niggles at me slightly. As you know, barely even tints, let alone taints, the story.

Kinda adding to your point about closure and letting go, I like how they frame the Earthbound/Eagleland references into Pokey's characterisation; the obscuring view of nostalgia and the not all too subtle hint at it being a run-off of full-on mentalism, like 'Tunnel of Earthbound' near the closing of the game and Pokey outright jettisoning any reference to what he put the Eagleland crew through.

Mr.Saturn

Anybody a survivor of the original Rayman? I'm playing the GBA version, which is not the best from the off, but wow, for something so consistently cheap (unforeseeable pitfalls, wonky hit-detection and whatnot), it still manages to stay playable throughout.

CiDeRmAn

The Playstation and Saturn originals were just as cheap.
For a game that looked like a kids cartoon it s incredibly hard.

Mr.Saturn

Hmm, just finished it there a couple hour ago. Wasn't sorry I played it, nor that it ended. It's dogged by a lot of those token statements that get thrown at slightly iffy platformers; trial-and-error, left-field difficulty spikes and an engine that sometimes can't even abide by its own physics. Are the 3D sequels worth a bash? Yanno, personal recommendation? Origins and Legends seem like the series zenith thus far. I'm probably trolling someone with that sentence, I'm guessing.

Moved onto a GBA game called Lady Sia, which is a nifty action-platformer. Seemingly there's a 90s/Early 00s European gaming theme going on at the moment.

CiDeRmAn

Rayman 2 is probably my favourite 3d platformer after Mario 64, and though it appears originally on the N64 it also is available on the DS and in spectacular form on the 3DS.
Really is well worth picking it up.

Retr0gamer

Rayman 2 is best on the dreamcast and PC. Rayman 3 is great as well.

o1s1n

Jaysus my right arm is killing me this morning (oooh errr Matron etc :pac:)

Yesterday I loaded loads of PS2 lightgun games onto the HDD and spent a few hours playing them all.

Time Crisis 2
Time Crisis 3
Crisis Zone
End Game
Gunvari Collection (Point Blank Jap release, also comes with the original Time Crisis!)

In the meantime, also got my hands on;

Biohazard: Gun Survivor 2
Virtua Cop Elite Edition
Death Crimson OX
Gunfighter II - Revenge of Jesse James

I didn't realize the PS2 had so many lightgun games! There are still a few more I haven't got yet.

TechnoFreek

Check out Vampire Night

o1s1n

Thank you sir will get it now.