The Gamer's Quarter

helicopterp · . Joined: 13 May 2006 Posts: 1435 Location: Philadelphia

how much japanese do i have to be able to read in it?
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dessgeega · Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 3:47 pm Post subject:

none.
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helicopterp · . Joined: 13 May 2006 Posts: 1435 Location: Philadelphia

well that's nice
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JasonMoses · . Joined: 15 Oct 2004 Posts: 407

Hospital Zone · Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 8:49 pm Post subject:

Scratchmonkey · . Joined: 02 Mar 2005 Posts: 1439

Finally, I got through Ravenholm(es).

Only to immediately fall down the entrance into the mines. I fractured something about halfway down and then plummeted to my doom, which led to the touching moment of me crossing the great divide while my suit helpfully informed me that it was administering some morphine.

dessgeega · Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 12:17 pm Post subject:

JasonMoses · . Joined: 15 Oct 2004 Posts: 407

Curiosity!

Anyway, I've since realized that the numbers are actually just related to the BGM that plays on each stage. I thought they might have been related to the rate multiplier, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

Harveyjames · the meteor kid Joined: 06 Jul 2006 Posts: 3636

Holy shit, COSMIC LUIGI

what a bitch

I really liked how they handled Luigi meeting himself in the Ghost House Galaxy: obviously the best way would have been to just make Mario the person you have to rescue, or even a third character (Daisy?), but I guess they'd resolved to change as little as they could for the second quest. Anyway, the whole thing is explained with a single, elegant piece of dialogue: Luigi says something like 'Thanks for rescuing me, ..ME?! Well, I suppose in an infinite universe there must be at least one person with my face' and then no more is made of it. Smooth!

elvis.shrugged · . Joined: 10 Jan 2006 Posts: 108 Location: Stratford, CT

So, I finally figured out to how use DOSBox today.

Impressions:

Rebel Assault II is so bad, holy shit. I had the PSX version and sold it several years ago. I downloaded the PC version out of boredom and ran through the first two levels. Terrible game.

X-Wing seems awesome and all, but I don't know how to configure my Saitek joystick with DOSBox, so...yeah.

Llamatron is amazing, oh my god oh my god. I love Minter. I keep opening this one up for another quick game. I love how using the "Human+Droid" option compensates for using the keyboard.

I keep having a problem with PC games--older ones, like the DOSBox games and The Neverhood. Whenever I play them (in full-screen, generally), the colors invert, creating a psychedelic effect that renders them unplayable. At times, it seems to only appear on certain textures/pixels, but often it's the entire screen. Does anyone else know what I'm talking about, or how to fix it?

Are there any DOS games I should be playing? Preferably something I can play with a mouse and keyboard. I still need to play more ScummVM, but I've been thinking about checking out Lemmings, the Gabriel Knight games, Civilization and some others.

bleak · . Joined: 22 Oct 2007 Posts: 258

Elvis.Shrugged I do this at every possible opportunity but since you're on a DOSBOX binge I suggest Stonekeep. It's available on theunderdogs with full CD audio. It's one of my favorite games of all time.
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jjsimpso · . Joined: 27 Feb 2007 Posts: 94 Location: USA

Man, Stonekeep! I remember eagerly anticipating that game's release for -possibly- years. I still have the original CD, manual, and novella from when it was released. I eventually threw away the sweet box it was packaged in though. It was a game that sort of missed its window of greatness. It would have been huge if it was released on time.

About 6 months ago I got it all set up in DOSBox. Runs pretty well. I never finished it when it came out, but I plan on returning to it someday.

helicopterp · . Joined: 13 May 2006 Posts: 1435 Location: Philadelphia

Dementium: The Ward. It pushes so much to power the 3d engine that the rest of the game suffers considerably. I played through the first two chapters, fought lots of identical zombies who all disappeared in mid-air when they died, found plenty of ammo but no gun, and explored two identical floors of a hospital. The game works the setting as a "best of horror game tropes" which falls awfully short.

However, I loved the peculiar little piano puzzle in the child's room. It wasn't a hard puzzle if you know anything about music, and it was pleasingly intuitive on the DS. I probably will send this one back to gamefly pretty quickly.
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helicopterp · . Joined: 13 May 2006 Posts: 1435 Location: Philadelphia

Professor Layton is a sweet little game. I don't know that I can say anything more than has already been said here, but i do enjoy it.
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sediment · Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 7:32 pm Post subject:

Conan was something of a disappointment.

Its action is decent - but that's really all it has, and compared to other action-focused offerings (God of War, for example) Conan falls short.

Upside: You're CONAN.

Downside: You're CONAN with the voice of a chess team member!

If You're Into That: you can rescue women whose clothes have mysteriously gone missing.

One of the only really cool things Conan has is that you can pick up and use practically any weapon your enemies use. And if you're not getting much mileage out of it you can always chuck it at them and pick something else up. The stage design somewhat meanders and secret areas are really obvious.
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Fred · . Joined: 18 Apr 2006 Posts: 99 Location: Iowa

dhex · Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 10:20 am Post subject:

so my plan is something like finish nwn, then start nwn2 and then play mask of the betrayer, and at some point before or after this i will get into baldur's gate 2.

and by the time that's done with, clear sky will have dropped.

perhaps i have tilted my last windmill.
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sediment · Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 10:49 am Post subject:

don't play nwn2 without mask of the betrayer installed

even then the core nwn2 campaign is kind of blah, imo. they really made it quite easy and the plot is nothing fab enough to merit a sappy prance-along with a shallow nod at gameplay.

be prepared for crash bugs.

BG2 is pretty good though!
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dhex · Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 10:51 am Post subject:

it's all installed and updated. the updating was hilarious! there were 13 of them!

i just can't get into bg2. part of it is the voice acting, but i don't think it's a huge part. maybe i'm just shitty. or i can't decide on a good build. any game that features a giant bald guy whose best friend is a rodent should be my favorite of all time, just cause.

and yet, no.

it's just hard being me, i guess.

maybe i'll just play some more crysis. mmmmmmmmmm crysis.
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dark steve · . Joined: 17 Jun 2005 Posts: 1110

I think the best trick I figured out building a character in that game was to set up a kensai with int 18 and one-handed proficiencies and immediately dual-class him into a mage once the game started. That way once you hit your starting level again (pretty quick; there are ways to speed this up too, like going alone with yojimbo into the thieves guild and having him pick all the locks while you soak up the XP, make everyone take a walk when you learn spells off scrolls, etc.) you get a (good, all the provided ones are weird) magic user with all the kensai combat bonuses AND you get to wear wizard armor.

(also you can give yourself a really low charisma score because you get a ring that gives you cha 18 off the boss of the quest in the circus tent right at the beginning)
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jjsimpso · . Joined: 27 Feb 2007 Posts: 94 Location: USA

kensai/mage dual is definitely the powergaming way to go. Plus, it's incredibly fun! BG2 really nails the high-level wizardry aspects of D&D like none other. You've got contingencies, spell triggers, all that cool stuff. And the NPC mages really make good use of it as well, with loads of protective spells going off on certain conditions, etc. Probably my favorite aspect of the game.

dessgeega · Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2008 7:08 pm Post subject:

legend of kage 2 is the latest taito arcade reimagining for the ds. it's an absolutely gorgeous and fast run jump slash ninja adventure.

it makes great use of the dual screens' vertical space. if you've played kage you know that the game is all about kage's distinctive super-high jump. this fits the ds perfectly, since you can see what's way over your head at all times. one of the bosses chucks bombs up to the top screen, and you have to glance up to see where they're going to land. (the bosses are great by the way.)

and there's wall-running and option ninjas. and a new character to play as i havn't tried yet.
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dessgeega · Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2008 2:39 am Post subject:

i think this was my favorite sam & max yet.

also, the spider boss in legend of kage 2 is fucking rad.
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dessgeega · Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2008 4:22 pm Post subject:

i appreciate all the little references to the original in kage 2. like fighting a flame-spitting priest before you can move on, or two priests dressed in white (those would be from the nes port!). some of the stages are clear nods to the original kage's narrative.
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Harveyjames · the meteor kid Joined: 06 Jul 2006 Posts: 3636

You sure love you some videogames, Dessgeega.

extrabastardformula · . Joined: 08 Feb 2007 Posts: 295

Is that an import or do I have the chance of getting my mitts on it at ye locale game shoppe?
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dessgeega · Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 1:49 pm Post subject:

import. it could be crossing the seas at some point, though. i think arkanoid and space invaders are.
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aderack · . Joined: 15 Jun 2005 Posts: 1105 Location: San Francisco

Though it means well, Space Invaders Revolution is... kind of boring. Full of busywork, to amuse people who like sorting paper clips. I thought this was the pseudo-Mizuguchi/Pac-Man CE-esque souped up zany thing from a few months back. It's not! Apparently!

Oh well. At least there's Zuntata inside.
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dessgeega · Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 8:10 pm Post subject:

Lasa · . Joined: 26 Nov 2006 Posts: 128

I recall hearing about a Simple 2000 game for the DS that was a spiritual successor to Assault Suits Valken. Does anyone know how that turned out?

JasonMoses · . Joined: 15 Oct 2004 Posts: 407

Winged Assassins (1984) · Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2008 3:37 am Post subject:

SuperWes · Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2008 7:46 am Post subject:

Hey, why didn't anyone tell me No More Heroes was fucking amazing? I kept putting off buying it because I hated Killer 7 so much, but it's really the total opposite. Where Killer 7 reveled in being totally annoying, No More Heroes revels in being totally awesome. There's a huge difference here. I've taken down two of the bosses guys so far and I'm totally blown away by how all of the nutty "game deco" art/game design fits together. I guess I can see how it might get old, but so far I'm very, very impressed.

-Wes
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Lestrade · Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2008 8:04 am Post subject:

"Game Deco" — nice one! How are you enjoying/not enjoying the fake-open-world sections between hits, Wes?

I haven't played NMH yet, though I still want to. I caught the XBLA bug last weekend and purchased N+ and Triggerheart Excelica. I am immensely enjoying both, especially N+. I can't wait to make my own levels (I'm thinking a big, blocky Shaper face a la the Metroid II commercial).

dessgeega · Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2008 9:01 am Post subject:

Scratchmonkey · . Joined: 02 Mar 2005 Posts: 1439

Played Passage.

Boring and heteronormative.

Ethoscapade · . Joined: 30 Oct 2005 Posts: 276

fuck off; so aren't the majority of ueda/miyazaki works (heteronormative, that is) because this is a means of working with established storytelling conventions. it's not trying to offend you.

dhex · Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2008 1:34 pm Post subject:

actually, i was offended by the insipid hallmark card presentation. well, perhaps not offended, but worried, because so many people saw depth in a puddle and i feared for their eternal souls.
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Scratchmonkey · . Joined: 02 Mar 2005 Posts: 1439

JasonMoses · . Joined: 15 Oct 2004 Posts: 407

SuperWes · Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2008 2:59 pm Post subject:

[quote="Lestrade"]"Game Deco"
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Harveyjames · the meteor kid Joined: 06 Jul 2006 Posts: 3636

Cycle · Mac daddy Joined: 08 Sep 2006 Posts: 2767

The girl dies first in Passage? I thought it was the guy!
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Scratchmonkey · . Joined: 02 Mar 2005 Posts: 1439

I've always had the girl die, then you wander around more slowly and then "you" die.

And then it craps up your desktop because you were running it in windowed mode. That might be a multiple monitors thing though.

Cycle · Mac daddy Joined: 08 Sep 2006 Posts: 2767

What does everyone think about Photopia? Too sentimental? It was one of the first games I played that moved me, years and years ago.
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dessgeega · Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2008 4:00 pm Post subject:

photopia made me cry.
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kuzdu · Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2008 4:08 pm Post subject:

I believe Passage is heteronormative because it's quasi-autobiographical.

I actually like Passage a lot, I think it's genuinely sad and also a little clever in its use of traditional video game iconography. I especially like its scope. It's just as long as it needs to be to tinker with it in a couple of plays and then move on with your life.

Scratchmonkey · . Joined: 02 Mar 2005 Posts: 1439

I don't mind sentiment, mind you. Passage just didn't flip my switches that way. And it's not like I don't believe something simple can't say something profound either.

In other news, I'm at the final battle in Half-Life 2. Even if it treats jumping a lot better than other FPSs do, I'd really like to see more games that get rid of the "jump" button altogether*.

* - Hell, in non-FPSes as well. There's no good reason for one to be in Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance either.

Cycle · Mac daddy Joined: 08 Sep 2006 Posts: 2767

I wish more FPS characters bent their knees when jumping.
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Scratchmonkey · . Joined: 02 Mar 2005 Posts: 1439

Perhaps I feel this way because I am bad at jumping, regardless of perspective -- there's something fair about falling down a pit in Super Mario Bros. because well, that's the point and I'm not good at it and I can move on with this. In HL2 there's an extra level of frustration just because I can point a gun into the pit as I plummet into it.