The Gamer's Quarter

[rye]

are you talking about the GBA or PS2 astroboy? because I have been thinking about picking up the GBA game for a while, but wasn't sure.

[Ethoscapade]

gba.

everybody loves it for being "as good as the old school!"

it is pretty good, and goes without saying that if anybody's going to gripe about a game with that particular merit, it's us, but, um... get ninja five-o instead?

i would say get gunstar advance, just sticking with Treasure, but while certain aspects of that are beautifully refined over the original (seven force, free/fixed shot) the vast portions of the game that are anything but run 'n gun (easily a quarter, closer to a third) just don't make sense.

there's a lot of love for AGH here, too.. not from me, but, from people.

[Cycle]

[Hot Stott Bot]

Hey Cycle, you fuck, tell me your impressions of Little Big Adventure.

[player 2]

Holy shit Neo Contra is fucking cool.
_________________
Wii #: 8749 9109 9732 3653

"It is a peaceful way of understanding life, to play"
_Marcel Duchamp

[Winged Assassins (1984)]

I am playing my second favourite first person shooter ever Rise Of The Triad. ROTT is friggin' hilarious, you really can't stop laughing once you are totally in the thick of it and bad guys are exploding like ballons filled with entrails and other are getting caught on spinning blades which move along pre-set paths. It's fast, the 90° level design makes it seem faster than other games of its ilk and if you're playing as a female character the game is even faster still. If you are trying to complete the levels as fast as possible it is a complete rush. There's buckets of gore, lots of things to shoot and you can kill enemies by standing on their heads. I also think it has the best AI ever since one of the enemies does the most logical thing by stealing your phat 'zookas if they manage to get close to you. Now that is thinking. That was only copied once in the first Quake mission pack, why don't more games have weapon-stealing enemies, I will never know that.

Excalibats at the ready.

EDIT: Mention should be made of the music, which is excellent. This is some of the best MIDI I've heard from a game, it totally suits the game down to the ground and even sound great out of context, like if you are one of those people who are into listening to VG music outside of games.
_________________

[D-A-I-S]

[Cycle]

[Six]

Rise of the Triad is pretty glorious. I seem to remember a few really dumb jokes, though. Isn't one of the playable characters named Ian Paul Freely or something?

[Winged Assassins (1984)]

[dessgeega]

so i discovered that there have been some additions to castlevania rl since last i played it: tile graphics, a playable "prologue", a battle arena, and a simon's quest-style town outside of the castle.

the castlevania roguelike is, i feel, much more faithful to its source than, say, the doom roguelike. the game is all about keeping enemies at a distance with your whip, avoiding getting hit, and moving forward. the stages have multiple layers and you can jump between platforms. and check out the town at night. it's good stuff. very buggy at the moment, though.
_________________

[Wall of Beef]

Just completed Little Samson (NES) for the first time today...on Easy. Now I have to beat on Normal. But beating it on Easy was well worth it, at least I am assuming so, because during the credits the game interupts with a neat little animated sequence that suggests I did not truly beat it and that Normal is the true path. Either way I get to play through it again, which is a joy.

One level down in Whomp Em' (NES) before I move onto whatevers next. Im going to guess some sort of evil fortress. In case you are wondering Whomp Em' is essentially a Mega Man clone, but you play as a Indian (native american), in world that contains nothing related to Native Americans. You select from a bunch of different levels that have no real concrete theme other then having totally bizarre/awesome backgrounds. Each level has a boss that gives you a power that enhance your spear that you can use for other things that usually arn't obvious or neccessary (use Web to grab fan-dancing manequins).

Oh and I am also trying to beat Legend of Zelda all the way through for the first time. I am playing the version on that special edition disc for the Cube. So far Levels 1-4 are done, and I have done things in 5 and 6. Have not found where any other Levels are however.

[dessgeega]

front valkan: i got some satisfaction out of clearing the helicopter battle without using any curative items. it took me a while, because the helicopters' attacks are pretty cheap, though not wholly unpredictable. but i'm a little unnerved by the fact that the game doesn't seem designed to be played that way. maybe i just want another valkan. i should track down a copy of leynos.

zero mission: finished, in an hour and forty-seven minutes. but i can't start a game in hard mode! this seems weird, since i clearly remember playing hard mode on my nintondo cartridge. what's the deal?
_________________

[Toto]

[silentmatt]

[Ethoscapade]

i bought shattered soldier and hated it more for the lack of powerups or spontaneity than anything else (although to that end it is definitely very contraesque; had to remind myself that, as much as i love run 'n gun, the only contra i ever liked was the original on nes).

played the demo of neo and didn't think much of it. should i really give it another go?

[player 2]

Neo Contra:

a) I really like games I don't have to play obsessively for a week to get to the parts I enjoy.

b) I really want to get good at the game.

What really strikes me as awesome about it is that it's just about shooting stuff. I wish there were like 50 thousand different weapon loadouts and maybe that the dodge button was more useful (either that or I don't really know how to use it)... but maybe that's just me and my love for extravagance.

Also, I've been playing a lot of PS2 games lately... and it's kinda showing me that, well shit, graphics don't really matter.
_________________
Wii #: 8749 9109 9732 3653

"It is a peaceful way of understanding life, to play"
_Marcel Duchamp

[Ethoscapade]

i think the more important distinction there is shit hardware..

because, whether or not it's because of market dominance (it is), it's pretty tough to claim that the ps2 isn't the best console since the nes.

[silentmatt]

On point about graphics... I was slightly worried going into the Wii with all the reviews shitkicking the system from the get-go.

But, playing Zelda last night... I totally came to realize: I don't need better graphics than these. They get the story across and, in some situations, are stunningly beautiful. I think it depends more on the style the game is going for but, really, it think it comes down to the designer's ingenuity about how to use their chosen hardware more than how lifelike they can make everything look.

Re: Neo Contra, Ethoscapade, you probably should give it another go. SS was all about extremely strict memorization and classic Contra twitches - which is why I love it and you hate it. Neo Contra is another beast entirely - it is, really, just about blowing shit up. There are some patterns that you need to recognize and utilize but it is much more loose and forgiving than SS.
_________________
PSN: Twitch_City ||| Wii: 8083 5371 5767 6700
"Jadis, si je me souviens bien, ma vie était un festin où s'ouvraient tous les coeurs, où tous les vins coulaient."

[Machine Gun Heart]

I am addicted to Beatmania.
_________________

[Pijaibros]

That fight against Fafnir in the blizzard mountains of FFXII was pure bullshit. I lost 3 hours worth of adventure because I believed I can strategize myself out of yet another Mark. Had to redo so much to get back to that point.

More of an endurance test than strategy on that one. That battle took forever. Ended up cheesing it at the end out of frusturation and I was out of MP and Phoenix Downs. At least I thought that last minute plan of mine was cheese.

[Ethoscapade]

[silentmatt]

[Pijaibros]

Neo Contra rocks because it's the only shooter I can play co-op with anyone off the street and have a rocking good time.

All other shooter type adventures require some degree of familiarity. In this one, you just advise your partner to pick Weapon Set D and go nuts.

[Swimmy]

[silentmatt]

[JasonMoses]

[Isfet]

so many people have commented on Neo Contra that it may be redundant at this point but i love the game so...

Neo Contra is probably closer to the original Contra for the NES than any other game released in the series afterwards. what's interesting is that the PS2 has the two extremes of Contra: serious, hard, obsessive and cold on the one hand, while the other is bizarre, over the top, easy to play and more fun with two people. they're both great even though they're almost in direct opposition with one another.

i always loved playing games in co-op, but i hated when games seemed to be harder with two people. i don't mean when the game makes it so that bosses or enemies need to take more damage before you beat them, but in instances where you know the game so well and what to expect, but your partner doesn't. your partner's lack of understanding of what's going on around her or him ends up screwing up your whole flow, etc.


a sequel to Neo Contra on the Wii would be pretty interesting, i think. it would eliminate the need for holding down the L and R buttons, and if they wanted to include the spinning attack from Contra 3, you could make house guests look ridiculous.

[Kipple]

I'm playing Zelda, the NES version, for more or less the first time on the virtual console.

Could somebody tell me what the deal is with the arrows? I bought arrows for my bow and started using the bow to kill stuff, but occasionally the bow just stops firing. Then I wait a little while, kill some things with my sword, and somehow there are arrows again.

Can you only use a specified number of arrows before you run out, and then they regenerate after a short time? Or what?


EDIT: Nevermind, the internets just told me. They added, "lol stfu n00b."
So that's where all my rupees went.

[JasonMoses]

Arrows = Rupees

[Kipple]

[silentmatt]

Not about Zelda but regarding the Virtual Console... I just spent the last 3 and a half hours in the Game Type "B" of Wario's World. I made it to Level 68 before succumbing to the relentlessly falling blob-things & Wario's legion.

And it is all forgotten: no saves, no high score... nothing is kept track of. Meaning: if and when I want to kick that sucker's ass, I have to start from Level 1 all the way over again and survive until Level 99.

I never realized how much I missed / loathed NES until this exact moment.
_________________
PSN: Twitch_City ||| Wii: 8083 5371 5767 6700
"Jadis, si je me souviens bien, ma vie était un festin où s'ouvraient tous les coeurs, où tous les vins coulaient."

[player 2]

[JasonMoses]

You should be able to return to the stage you were at before you died. VC saves your data, and Wario's Woods lets you skip levels in 5-stage increments.

[Lasa]

I beat Rainbow Six Vegas on "Realistic" and am playing the first Wild ARMS now for whatever reason.
I still like the soundtrack and the dungeon design!

[dessgeega]

front valkan: cleared the second mercenary mission. nothing was quite at the same level as that helicopter fight, but there were some interesting scenes, like the autoscrolling stage and the race back to the wanzer while under pursuit from enemy mechs. caves are a nice alternative to flat stages. i did use curative items while fighting the boss because, shit, it's an rpg battle. the boss has too much health and it's impossible to dodge all of its attacks.

castlevania rl: reached stage 15! astro boy: black looks are infuriating.
_________________

[silentmatt]

[Lackey]

I am going to play Knytt today.
_________________
| Little bird fighting against a bat sect game |

[purplechair]

Phoenix Wright 2 is much the same as Phoenix Wright 1, except with two or three times as many infuriating moments where the game can't understand your perfectly fucking reasonable arguments.

[internisus]

I don't see the problem.

[dessgeega]

i discovered last night that the motorcycling in super mad champ is actually modified from the motorcycle scenes in kunio-tachi no banka. it's too bad that game's motorcycle scenes are so cheap.

also i played through the first chapter of violinist of hamelin twice, first in the original japanese and then in english. it may be the most self-consciously sexist game i've ever played. it's kind of amazing. i wrote a poem about it, cus i do that sometimes.

i think i'm giving up on front valkan. it's getting really cheap in the third merc chapter and i really don't want to start relying on health-up items over skill.

speaking of cheap games, i finished all seven initial stages of astro boy my second time! so are the enemies all twice as powerful the second time around or are all those upgrades just useless? actually, if the enemies are twice as hard even with the power-ups then i guess the power-ups are useless! i feel like i'm the only person who does not get this game.

i think i'm going to go play mario's picross 2 and froth about the upcoming ds picross.
_________________

[helicopterp]

I grew angrier with Okami a couple nights ago than I can remember being at any game I have ever played.

I was in my 36th hour of play, and had just finished the Oni Island section, which had been the best part of the game so far. It was fast-paced, there was virtually no dialogue, and the gameplay changed up everytime I entered another room. I was really pleased with Okami at that point, since the lead-in to Oni Island is a bunch of forced dashes across the map, during which you are not allowed to do anything but go where the game tells you to go. During all of this constricting and unimportant-feeling running, there are probably twenty minutes of cutscenes/dialoge sections. The cutscenes in this game are usually very tiresome. They last way too long, it's impossible to speed up any dialogue, and none of the plot engages me as much as running around to feed animals does.

Anyway, I got through that, and then I played through Oni Island and loved it. I took care of some loose ends around the various areas I had played through, growing clovers I couldn't grow before, finishing one really fun puzzle/digging section that had been too difficult for me the first time through, finding a few more secret holes, and clearing out some demon gates.

Because I had just sort of been in the groove, I didn't stop anywhere to save. I decided that I would open up the next area (which is some sort of alien structure leading into the north, which is, of course, the snow area) and then save as soon as I could once I got there. Apparently, saving my game there was just too much to ask.

One annoying random battle, an inordinately long dialogue/cutscene/plot thing, and a forced battle during which the guy I was fighting changed forms after I killed his first form later, I finally made it to the main field area of this snow place. I still couldn't save my game because the place had been shrouded in a cursed zone, which means that I'm not allowed to walk through most of it. After a few minutes, I figured out how to get the cursed zone out, so it cleared away and I thought I was finally ready to save my game so that I could make dinner and hang out with some friends. I set off in search of the save point, only to encounter ANOTHER RANDOM BATTLE. Okami is not an RPG--why do I keep getting attacked by invisible enemies from whom I am not allowed to escape?! Bottom line, I couldn't beat the damn thing. I tried. I tried really hard. And it's not like it could kill me either. I got a 99-hit combo on him (which is as high as the game will count combos) and it didn't damage him at all. I couldn't damage him in 25 minutes. By this time, I was so mad at the game that I hit the power switch.

It's so frustrating because so many sections of the game are so good. The premise of being a wolf works. The premise of using a paintbrush works. There was a lot of thought put into how the game appears--not just in terms of style, but in how greatly varied the environments are, and how interestingly the levels are designed. I still can't say enough about the Okami's stunning sense of height: if the leap from the floating island in the sky to the ground doesn't show you how well the creators understood vertical level design instead of just horizontal, then you probably don't like roller coasters. The playable portions of the game really make me understand why I should be playing them in terms of motivation and objective. So much of the game works together to be a really, really good, if not great, experience.

But so much of the game works against that, too. Combat is convoluted. Why do we need a combo system exactly? Why do I need 12 different weapons to choose from? Why do I have to buy upgrades to my moveset? I still don't know what the hell my 'godhood' refers to, but I have items that can make it better. It tries to give the player a lot of choice in how to upgrade Ameterasu, but this game does not need upgrades. Why does it want to feel like a gimped RPG instead of a solid adventure game?

The dialogue is pathetic and frequently offensive. And the 'story' is filled with so much chaff that I don't know what to do with it. I was forced to listen to 15 minutes of dialogue about why a character I just met had a sword. There was no indication that the sword was anything special, and isn't it natural that warrior-looking folks in feudal/fantasy Japan have swords? He also repeated himself word for word four times in his explanation. Issun is more annoying than Navi, and seems hell-bent on extending any conversation well past my tolerance level.

Okay. That was a lot. I'm going to go play more Elite Beat Agents now.
_________________
Like you thought you'd seen copter perverts before. They were nothing compared to this one.

[JasonMoses]

[dark steve]

I liked it ;_;

I feel like you guys aren't using the moves properly or something. I mean it felt pretty straightforward once Antarctica forced me to learn how to play!
_________________

[Swimmy]

Dude, helicopterp. You walked right by a save point on the way to wolf-dude's house. It's just outside the entrance to snowland, on the left.

Godhood is a shield you get after getting several hits on an enemy. If you get hit while your godhood is high, you won't take damage. Ever notice how a circular icon appears in the corner when you get into battle, and it's either green, yellow, or red? Red means you have one-hit invincibility. Really you should just sell the items that increase it. In fact you should sell all but your healing items because do you really need that other shit?

By the way, I quit playing Okami after a while into snowland place. The whole area is just boring as hell. Oni Island desperately needed to be the final dungeon. I'll finish it eventually, just. . . gah, what were they thinking?

[purplechair]

Winter really does sound like RPG season, huh?

So far today, I've had sudden urges to play NWN 2 some more, and to restart my game on Morrowind, and to have a go playing Fable as a bad guy, and also anticipation for Zelda.

[JasonMoses]

[Lackey]

I am playing Soul Caliber 3 at my friend's house. Randomly generated character battles are very amusing. So is the absurd amount of unlocking items that occurs no matter what you're doing.

Actually I really like Sould Caliber as a fighting game, it's one of the few I can make some kind of logical sense out of.
_________________
| Little bird fighting against a bat sect game |

[dark steve]

[internisus]

helicopterp, I really sympathize, because I felt exactly the same way about Okami as you explain in that long post there. Exactly. And I love that you actually called the dialogue "offensive." It is.