#this is my way of saying I beat Metroid Prime Remastered

[likeadragonfruit]

There’s something so satisfying yet baffling about finishing a game you never beat as a kid as an adult.

I’m not that good at playing these games now. But I don’t feel like I’m any better. But I can manage to progress further regardless? I can get to the end regardless? What’s so different now?

[less-than-three-3]

played metroid prime just like everyone else on the planet, apparently

it was ok (for a metroid game) (that means it is still pretty damn good)

But I can’t lie, given the reputation this game has, I was somewhat disappointed. For transparency, I did play it m+kb on my microsoft wii, though if I had shelled out the price for the remaster I doubt my experience would have been much different lol. Explanation below, with spoilers?

I’ll start with what it does well though, and that’s being Super Metroid but in 3d. In terms of exploration, how the world is presented, how you progress, etc. was translated to 3d pretty perfectly. Having pretty much no guidance and a full map, but still having one or maybe two actual correct ways that, if you just keep going forward or think about what you’ve seen before, you can find really easily. Honestly, in many ways, it just kinda feels like a really really big zelda dungeon. Or maybe zelda is a mini metroidvania. You decide! You can really see the bones of this game in so many modern metroidvanias. There’s not even really things you need to shoot a million times because of scan visor! 

And yeah, the scan visor is really cool. Being able to just scan to find out how to approach enemies, or how (or when) to get past obstacles, or learn stuff about the world is pretty neato. The other visors, though, were... ok, I guess. They aren’t interesting to use or anything, just *necessary to see certain enemies*, which I guess is fine just not nearly as interesting as scan visor. (They are also sort of an eyesore, and I imagine the remaster does improve on that)

Speaking of needing a thing to beat certain enemies, I just really hate the space pirates and drones and metroids that have a certain element that they can be hit by. This might just be some bias but I feel like they just take way too long to kill compared to their 2d counterparts, and being forced to use, say, ice beam (which shoots slow as hell) is just a slog. It kinda leads into my first major gripe, being that the combat feels like it takes a little too much of a spotlight for how... admittedly boring it can be. And this is with m+kb controls making aiming a lot better. I don’t really know if it’s actually just later enemies having too much health but the shooting doesn’t feel *that* fun or fluid, like in the 2d games, or out of the way, like in ori 1. Like if it was just a minor thing you just don’t have to think about I wouldn’t complain, but since fights take so long I can’t help but just be a little underwhelmed. 

It is definitely exacerbated by my second gripe, which is just that enemies, and especially bosses, are not that interesting? Like they have 1 or 2 attack patterns that you can recognize and dodge, and then you have your turn and you shoot them in the weak spot or with the weak element, rinse and repeat for however long. I think I can give it a little bit of a pass for how old the game is, but I just didn’t really feel that engaged by the bosses. Maybe that’s just a boss design thing and not the combat? I don’t know. Something in there just felt underwhelming.

One last thing to complain about, I promise, but I felt pretty much the entire last “act” was kind of... eh? I didn’t really care for the artifact hunt, it felt a little annoying (especially having to go through the space pirate research base again...). And then the back to back to back of Meta Ridley, Metroid Prime, then Metroid Prime again just really made a point of showing me the totally awesome boss fight design. Especially the final Metroid Prime form which I thought would be like Dark Beast Ganon like oh cool I super zap it to deal a ton of damage.... and then it dealt like maybe 1/10 of its health bar. And then it started summoning more metroids, some of which were the annoying ones. So it was just a really really... fun.... “I have my turn (for a full minute) and then you have yours (for 10 seconds)”. And to then top it all off, I don’t even get an evacuation sequence?? :/

This one’s a more minor, personal issue, and that’s just that I really don’t care to read so much lore. Environmental storytelling and worldbuilding, and ambient mood setting are things that I think Super Metroid perfected and nothing has really met, and that’s something I still believe even having played Prime. If you want to deliver story beats/developments/realizations in a game like this, you show don’t tell. I’m not delivering like a crazy revelation here, any writer knows this lol. But like, for example, to show that, say, the space pirates experimentations of phazon with metroids, instead of a bunch of space pirate data logs to read, there could have been like, idk, some metroid encounters or you see a metroid escape that looks unstable and oozing with phazon. And the chozo artifacts could definitely have been better tied to the phazon stuff too. It’s why I’ve always really enjoyed Fusion and Dread, even if they are departures from the way things are presented in Super, because they actually commit to narrative telling. Maybe I’m off base here, idk, but I just really wish there were less lore tablets and more intuitive things or like even straight up character interactions to show me what’s going on. I hope Silksong improves on that, but I doubt it. Wait what game are we talking about again?

Ok but enough negativity, I really enjoyed everything up to then. Like I said the actual metroidvania parts of it were really excellent. As good as Super Metroid? Not quite, but I do consider that pretty much peak metroidvania performance, so that’s a very high bar. It emulates it super well, and I was definitely really enjoying the full loop of unlocking and going further into the planet. The music too, was really good -- but again Super Metroid’s soundtrack is simply a masterpiece that I think even the 3DS and Switch’s adaptations/remasters of the same tracks don’t hit the same. 

All in all I think that’s pretty much a really good way to put it. It adapts Super Metroid’s strengths very well, but not quite to the extent of it, and some things do just get lost in the transition to 2D and 3D, I guess. It’s different from Fusion and Dread because those games are unabashedly more straightforward experiences, while still maintaining pretty much all the Metroid backbone and blood. It’s trying the same thing, but in a different form. I can respect it, but it’s definitely not my favorite. Which is a high bar! For reference I still end up rating this game pretty much a 9/10 - which may seem odd given all I’ve said, but I think for the most part this really hits the mark, and Metroid has just a really super good backbone, there’s just some.. growing pains? idk. I’ll definitely play the rest of the trilogy. I did see Dark Samus escape from metroid prime so... I think the next 2 games will definitely up the ante. Or maybe they won’t. We’ll see.

[ghostielj]

Nintendo Direct Thoughts! Part 4 The Best Part

Where do I even start with this? I am going to try my best to sound coherent in this post but just as a warning there may be a lot of screaming like this AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

This isn't in any particular order but it kinda is lol. Save the best for last.

Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe

Okay so I am a horrible Kirby fan, but in my defense I am more of a casual player compared to others. I love me some Kirby, mmmmm. My favorite form is I guess the Link form with his Link hat and master sword just destroying enemies. And man talk about his sucking abilities and blowing too. Can I say that on here?? Eh it is tumblr after all lol. I think I am going to pick this up for sure, maybe not right away because you know I am broke and all but eventually I will. I still need to download the demo...I'll do that right now actually. It's downloading...alright good to go! My understanding is that this is a remake of the Wii game. It's not a remaster because there are additional things added. Overall the graphics look great and Kirby is always a good time so I don't think people will be disappointed.

Metroid Prime Remastered

I really wish I was more into the Metroid series. Alien monsters and space, what more could you want. I still haven’t made my way through Metroid Dread I am ashamed to say. It has been sitting on my shelf just staring at me, judging. Maybe some day, maybe some day. But this looks amazing and it’s been long awaited so I’m happy it’s finally come out and looking forward to seeing what lies ahead for this IP.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

I mean what’s there to say? It’s fucking Zelda!!! My mouth hung open the entire time and it felt like I was in a trance and when the teaser trailer ended I just wanted more. Now Breath of the Wild was incredible. I still remember playing for the first time. I was a little late to game, I bought my first switch two years after it had already come out and the first game I purchased with it was Breath of the Wild. I was so nervous to boot up the game because I had already seen plenty of game play and saw how so many of the enemies could be a little difficult to beat along with learning a whole other control system. Loved every minute of it and I’m sure this will be no different. This game is going to be on a whole other level and I can’t wait. Only a few more months to wait. Now I’ve heard a lot about people not too happy with the price. It’s going to be a $70 game. I am a little surprised it’s that much, but also not surprised at the same time. Like I said earlier “it’s fucking Zelda,” and you and I both know people are going to pay whatever Daddy Nintendo wants. I have yet to pre order it and I know I should soon. But overall this is my most anticipated game of the year, but obviously behind Pokémon. That is if a new game comes out holiday 2023. Maybe a let’s go johto perhaps?

Fantasy Life: The Girl Who Steals Time

I own a new 3DS (Pokémon Edition) and I love that thing to death. The 3DS catalog was fantastic, so many hidden gems. FANTASY LIFE was one of them. So much so I bought that game twice. The first time I bought it was a physical copy from Gamestop. Now I can’t remember if I bought it brand new or used, nonetheless I was able to find it after failing to find it anywhere else. I stumbled upon a random YouTube review video and knew I had to get it. Now how would I describe it? It’s an rpg but so much more than that. This is why I know the gaming company Level-5. It’s this tiny open world fantasy game filled with dragons and knights and magic. You can customize your own character and you chose what life you want to live. Anything from being a chef to being a paladin. You fight monsters and dragons and it’s just fantastic! There is so much to do and the best part is that you can master all 12 of the life paths available to you. So maybe you want to take a break from being a magician well how about trying your hands at being an angler. You can be known as a legend in each path and there is a dlc where you can basically become a god. Now the second time I bought it was me being foolish. I didn’t care for it the first time I played. And I ended up selling it back to GameStop. A few months later I saw another review about it and thought “I’m stupid, I need to really give this a chance.” And from that moment I couldn’t put it down and I completed every life and every task possible. I loved this game so much and when they announced that a fantasy life 2 was coming I was ecstatic. But it was too good to be true. It was going to be a mobile game and only being released in Japan. So almost 10 years later, they’re finally releasing a new game. Now I’m still trying to come to terms with this game being it’s own thing. From the direct trailer it looks a lot different from the original and maybe not being the open world game I was hoping for. I am still going to give it a chance and hopefully it’ll live up to his predecessor. *fingers crossed*

Game Boy and Game Boy Advance NS Online

I cried, I literally cried on my way to work and screamed in the car. So much was leading up to this and I’m so happy it’s finally true. Now I won’t go into each game announced for the launch, but I do want to talk about the games I’m excited for.

So first some honorable mentions

Super Mario Land 2- 6 Golden Coins

So I love its predecessor. Played it over 100 times. This game maybe once or twice, but looking forward to really sinking my teeth into it.

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening

I have played this maybe once but never got too far. I love the remake and if you haven’t already checked it out, you should.

Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare

Never heard of it, but looks interesting. Will have to check it out eventually.

Wario Land 3

This game pissed me off so much as a kid, so enough said.

Kirby’s Dream Land

We love a queen who loves food.

Tetris

The game that started it all for me. I am a Nintendo handheld fan boy through and through. I own the og Game boy, the game boy that my dad gifted me when I was like 6 or 7. And with that game boy came Tetris. I could entertain myself for hours, trying to get that top score. And the music, oh the music. Nothing like it now. I’m looking forward to wasting time away playing this like I’m 6 all over again.

Pokémon Trading Card Game

Yes! Only played it twice and failed hard so I want to give it another go. Too bad we have to wait some time.

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap

I lost my absolute shit when they announced it. This is by far my favorite Zelda game of all time. I don’t know, there’s just something about it. The art style, the vibrant colors, the story and just the overall creativity is AMAZING! I got emotional when I booted it up for the first time and I don't know I may just cry again as I go further along in my journey. I’ve never had the opportunity to own this game in physical form so this will have to do for now. The cartridge alone is going for like $100. But I will get it…grrrr.

So there we go, my thoughts on the last Nintendo Direct. Took 4 separate posts lol. Maybe next time I’ll just comment on the things I liked. Oh well. This was a nice little challenge for me because I’ve never really done anything like this. It feels good. Whether people read this or not, still enjoyable. Feel free to share your thoughts by messaging me.

[scope-dogg]

Long post about Mass Effect below

I noticed that there’s a big mass effect trilogy remaster coming out and it just made me think back on how badly the ball was dropped with that series. When the first game came out it immediately became perhaps my favourite game of all time, it was the kind of game where I was tearing up at the ending and then immediately started up a new playthrough the instant the credits got done rolling. The game was extremely jank and rough around the edges and it ran like total shit on the 360, but I loved it anyway because I fell in love with the lore of the universe, the characters and the story. It was one of those games where I’d play it in the most obsessively completionist manner possible, doing every singe sidequest possible, talking to every character on the ship after every mission, browsing the ingame codex for hours on end and dosing up on lore. When it was confirmed that Mass Effect 2 was in development I had such high hopes, of course I wanted to see the gameplay tightened up and the technical side of things improved, but more than that I just wanted to see more of the universe, get more of the universe to explore and learn more about it, and I was especially excited at the possibility that the choices I’d made, especially the massive ones in regards to the council at the end of ME1, would carry forward and really shake up the way the fate of the universe would pan out in the long term.

When the game finally came out, I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t really what I was hoping for. While the combat was much improved over ME1, I couldn’t help but feel like everything else was pared back too much - like, levelling and loot in ME1 weren’t all that well done but I was still really disappointed to see how they were all but stripped out in the sequel. I especially hated how crap sidequests on uncharted worlds were, they were basically just short combat sections with almost nothing in the way of meaningful dialogue or choices to make. Like, don’t get me wrong, uncharted worlds in ME1 felt like the maps were procedurally generated and the Mako had wacky controls, but they still managed to pull off the right atmosphere of going to these dangerous and remote places on alien worlds, and there was some legitimately intriguing stuff going on in some of those sidequests, and it was honestly a little infuriating to see all that basically get the axe entirely instead of getting some polish. I also just felt like the additions to the lore and story were disappointing. I was excited to find out about how society in the Terminus systems was different from Citadel space and meet some new alien races, but that didn’t really happen - I guess they tried with Omega, but that just felt like a mildly edgier version of the Citadel. The only new alien race aside from the Collectors they introduced were the Vorcha and I guess the Batarians if you didn’t play the DLC for ME1, but neither ended up being all that interesting. People remember ME2′s story fondly because of the characters, and I agree that the characters are great, Legion and Mordin especially stand out though all of your squadmates and major supporting characters on the ship are great (except maybe Jacob I guess) as are each of their accompanying stories that get resolved through their loyalty missions, but I think that the actual core plot of ME2 isn’t good at all. The whole thing about you dying and coming back to life seems like it was done just to have the excuse of having a timeskip happen, and I never felt particularly compelled by the Illusive Man or Cerberus as a faction - they were in a sidequest chain in ME1 technically but I still felt like they kind of came out of nowhere and never really fit into the grand scheme of things properly - there’s nothing that they really enable Shepard to do differently that wouldn’t have already been justified by you being a Spectre. The revelations about the Collectors and ultimately what they were doing with the colonists they were kidnapping felt really stupid and pointless apart from giving you an excuse to have a really cheesy and out-of-place final boss. The final mission was only exciting because of the tension of potentially losing one or more of your squadmates than because of what the actual consquences of failure for the galaxy were if you failed. There was no compelling antagonist to square off against like Saren in ME1, and ultimately the whole thing felt kind of pointless - it wasn’t until later after the trilogy was done that I realised that you could take ME2 out of the equation entirely and it wouldn’t make that much difference, but even in those moments as the credits were rolling after I beat the game for the first time, I was struggling to make up my mind about whether I’d actually enjoyed the game or not. I mean, it wasn’t like the game was bad or anything but I was thinking more about the opportunities that they missed rather than the good things they added. I was really missing that sense of discovery and exploring an alien galaxy that the first game had and got left by the wayside for the second. I did start up a new playthrough after that like I did with ME1 but IIRC I didn’t bother finishing that playthrough.

Then along came ME3. Everything about that game is depressing. The whole path of the plot and just the unrelenting apocalyptic tone of the game in general feels like it’s actively punishing you if you actually like the setting, characters, lore and so on and so forth. I know a lot of people like the Citadel DLC that they released because it lightened the tone a bit, but even with that I find it hard to set aside the fact that the universe is literally ending while you’re trying to take a break from it all with how hard the rest of the game beats you over the head with it. How bad the endings were even with the “fix” DLC that got added is a horse that’s been thoroughly beaten to death by now, but it’s not just the endings either. I already didn’t like the Illusive Man or Cerberus and had a hard time buying them as an organisation with the kind of reach and pull they had as portrayed in ME2, but seeing them turn into the Hellghast in ME3 not only betrays that portrayal of them as an org that works through subterfuge but also stretches my disbelief beyond breaking point, plus it brings you into contact with Kai Leng who has to be up there as one of the most obnoxious rival characters in any videogame ever. Otherwise, it did a few things that ME2 did slightly better and some things slightly worse, and didn’t really do anything to recapture the stuff that made ME1 so memorable to me that ME2 skipped out on. And then there was the way that Javik, the game’s most interesting new squadmate by far, was preorder DLC, and then there was the multiplayer that you were kinda forced into playing if you wanted the best ending in the singleplayer (for all the difference that made) and was riddled with lootbox microtransactions (the first major implementation of that in a AAA game IIRC.) The coup de grace for me was when dipshit vidya journalists circled the wagons around Bioware and were taking a dump on angry and disappointed fans who were demanding a change to the ending. Like, looking back I think there was a lot of histrionics involved with that from the fanbase, and let’s just say that the Bioware fanbase has earned a reputation for being particularly turbulent, but even so I really couldn’t stand the attitude that they were taking and it made me hate the game itself by proxy that much more. (I honestly think that entire saga set the stage for Gamergate two years later.)

Eventually when ME Andromeda ended up being a stillborn flop, it didn’t even really move the needle for me that much because ME3 had already set the bar so low. Worse though is that the first game was retrospectively ruined for me. Like I said earlier, I was a hyperfan for that game when it came out, but now I can’t go back to it without thinking about the disappointments that followed it, and its flaws stand out extra hard now. After I beat it for the first time it was my number 1, now I’m not sure it’s in the top 10. There’s probably the added factor that I played it to death and know it almost off by heart which takes the shine away, but that’s also the case for some of my other all-time favourites like Metroid Prime 1 and 2, Ace Combat 2, or Command and Conquer Red Alert 2, but those never really dropped in my estimation the way Mass Effect did. Honestly to this day I’m still waiting for someone to do another star-hopping sci-fi RPG in the same vein as Mass Effect and to pull it off well, because at this point I’m all but certain that it’s not going to be Bioware that does it, not with the new one they’ve got coming in the works or the trilogy remaster.

[bbs-backlog-challenge]

BB’s Games Of 2019

2019 as a year felt like it lasted two years, and a lot happened in my personal life. Got a new job, learned to drive, got my first car, moved out of the in-laws’ basement into our first real apartment, started my first long-term game of DnD (which in itself has involved a new relationship and an emotional breakdown)- and between it all I somehow managed to play 77 games. Backlog’s down to 35 titles, lads- at this rate, I’ll be down to zero by July 2020. (Not gonna happen.) In 2020, I’d like to explore the SNES catalogue a little more, but before that happens we have to review everything 2019 brought me, in a somewhat chronological order.

- Near A Tomato Carry-over from last year’s post since I was in the middle of playing it at the time. I definitely never quite got a handle on the combat and I think some of the themes went over my head, but I still had fun here, and the 9S hacking minigame never got old. It was a gift from an old friend who I miss. Was nice to reconnect. - SSBU With my new main Zelda, I cleared all of WoL and got every spirit on the Spirit Board. I never really used her before but she’s cute now! Really liked the attention to detail in the spirit encounters. Unfortunately, Cloud is still in the game. - Mega Mans 1 2 and 3 I actually spoke about my experiences with the Mega Men in my BBLC post for Mega Man Eggs, so you should read that right now. - Metroid Samus Returns It’s Good. Like, a solid Good. Never Great, never Bad, just Good. It’s nice to see one of the least accessible games in the series get a remaster, but it feels very disposable, if that makes sense. Like they just needed a Metroid to keep people busy while they reboot Prime 4 development. AM2R is vastly superior, go play that. One point of amusement- the game tells its story without narration, and also seems to pre-suppose you know Metroid lore. I was entertained by the thought of a newcomer to the series being completely mystified by the sudden space-dragon that comes out of nowhere to wreck you at the end of the game. - Khimera: Destroy All Monster Girls You can click here to download it, ‘cos it’s free, which is almost criminal. This is one of the higher tier games I’ve played this year. A little bit Mega Man, a bit Metroid, with hints of Touhou and Undertale, it’s pretty tough at times but never to ‘precision platformer’ levels. It’s a lot of fun and the dev deserves your support. - Steve And Ollie RPG Oh, I made this one. Making something else next year? Question mark? - Prof Layton 3 Feels like these are getting weaker as they go along. The story has always been absolute boohockey, but the puzzles feel like they’re degrading in quality too. With over 200 in each game, that’s not super surprising, and I’m glad they didn’t bulk it out with a load of the awful block-slider puzzles. Still, it’s Layton, if you liked any of the other games you’ll like this cos it’s the exact same thing. - Fault Milestone Two Yo, there ain’t a damned thing I can say about Fault, so go play the first one and then play this and you’ll understand. - Full Throttle I never bothered to finish it. The obtuse old Sierra puzzlers were hard enough to deal with back in the day, and just feel kind of inexcusable now. I don’t have the patience for it. - eXceed 3rd Slick and fun bullet hell with a nigh-incomprehensible story and great music. Touhou fans will like it. Music by SSH who is relatively well known in doujin circles. - ASAMU Finished it before writing my BBLC post! - Eternal Senia Everything I said in my post rings true- do your best to look past the wonky translation, because there’s a heartfelt story underneath it. Very accessible gameplay, by design. - Inivisble Inc You have never before been, nor will you ever again be, so aware of having left a door open. I fully expected to hate Invisible, but I got hooked pretty hard. Quite tempted to do another run of it once the backlog is clear. - Pyre GOTY. Supergiant’s best game so far, and that’s not an easy thing to say for this Bastion veteran. I sobbed by the end. I’m not being dramatic- literally sobbed. Please play it. Music and writing and, just, heart, are all top tier. All the Nightwings are the best, but Hedwyn is the best best. - Ellipsis Finished it before writing my BBLC post! - Just Cause 2 I found myself getting bored very quickly. The main missions are all identical (really, they are) and the side missions are very uninspired. Blitzing around in a jet or grappling around a mission target is a lot of fun but it feels very shallow. There’s a lot to do but not really any reason to do any of it. I dunno, it’s a kind of hollow experience, that I nonetheless had fun with. - LiEat It went over my head a little, but that’s more on me I think. These horror-esque, eccentric japanese RPG Maker games usually do. But, it’s neat, and short. If this sort of thing usually sticks on you, I think this is a good title. - Shantae Pirates Curse These games always felt non-essential to me; I’m not sure why they never stuck. They never really go below or above Good. Entirely enjoyable but I don’t feel like I’d have really missed anything if I hadn’t played them. It is, however, absolutely worth investing in for the utterly superb sprite work. That doesn’t sell a game by itself, I know, but Shantae is a pixel art masterclass. - FF5 I’d more or less finished it by the time I wrote my BBLC post, so I don’t have much to add. It’s a refreshingly goofy entry in a series known for taking itself too seriously, even compared to its predecessor. Look forward to my entry for this game in my Games Of 2020 post, having played the Four Job Fiesta! - Touhou 17 It’s mid-tier in the touhou hierarchy, IMO. Didn’t set my soul alight but I did enjoy it. Playing as Wolf Marisa makes the final boss too chaotic to really enjoy, but playing through again with Reimu made it more fun. I beat Extra on my third run through, which gave me false confidence that after 10 years I might actually be good at these games- to then be quickly humbled by attempting Th11’s Extra. Final Boss’ theme song has one of the greatest lead-ins of all time, especially given you start the fight by running away from her! Also really loved the Stage 4 theme as you barrel head-first into Hell (the real one this time), and the haunting, calm-before-the-storm serenity of Stage 5, overlooking the City Of Beasts. - HackNet + Labyrinths GOTY. (Yes, I know I already said Pyre was GOTY; it’s my post, I can have two GOTYs. Make your own damned post!) It’s hard to say what I loved about these games without spoiling too much- just know that they play very much like investigation games, and figuring out the puzzles feels great. Labyrinths technically takes place during the events of Hacknet, with a somewhat more Black Hat approach to things- despite this, play all of Hacknet first, and then play Labyrinths. The expansion introduces a lot of new stuff and much trickier challenges, such that going back to the base game afterwards to finish that would leave it a little hollow- a disservice to how great the ending is. - Mega Man X I said everything I wanted to say in my BBLC post, and anything I didn’t cover was better said by Egoraptor. - Octodad Finished it before my BBLC post! - Chroma Squad The final mission is disappointingly poor, but everything up to that point was pretty good. Huge variance and creativity in the bosses. However, the most fun I got from it was when I realised the game allowed me to customise my team name, transformation name, and other such terminology. Dave, Dayve, Davy, Davina, and Dehve shouting “It’s time to Chromatise, Chroma Squad!” very quickly became “It’s time to shit, you bunch of fucks!” and it was funny every single time. (Personal favourite bit of dialogue- “I tried to shit! It worked!”) - Pyrite Heart Finished it before my BBLC post! - Starfox 2 Finished it before my BBLC post! - Burly Men At Sea Finished it before my BBLC post! - Disc Room Finished it before my BBLC post! - Kokurase Finished it before my BBLC post! Should have broken these ones up a bit! - Metroid Rogue Dawn Very, very impressive romhack let down by a distinctly un-fun final section. They managed to fix so many of OG Metroid’s problems, I’m surprised the gauntlet of terribleness that is Tourian escaped with only a cosmetic change. Nonetheless, it’s free, and the other 95% of the game is superb, even from a purely technical standpoint. - Wuppo I dunno what happened here! I was full of praise for Wuppo when I played it, but somehow I just couldn’t stick with it and just never felt like playing it. It’s a very aimless game, and I wonder if that might be why? It’s a shame, I feel disappointed in myself for not seeing it through, but ultimately I play games to have fun and I just wasn’t quite there with Wuppo. - Super Mario Odyssey I loved it, obviously. I wrote my BBLC post towards the end of my time with Odyssey so most of that stands- I do want to add that the controls always felt a little loose, like I wasn’t quite as in-control as I was in Galaxy. Also Mario prioritises walljumping over ledge-grabbing and it’s super-hard to unlearn that instinct after 20 years. Finally- Long Journey’s End is just bullshit. - Secret Of Mana Dropped it pretty soon after Finning it. There’s some logic to the way the game works, some kind of hidden turn-order system, that I could not at all figure out. My AI companions (useless, btw) would hit an enemy which meant I couldn’t, except sometimes the hit would still register but only actually go through 3 seconds later, without any way to tell which way it was going to go. It takes like 7 months for your character to get back up after taking a hit. It’s just, wonky, and I couldn’t solve the puzzle of how to make the game do what I wanted to do. - Pokemon Shield Still working my way through it. It’s- yeah, it’s pokemon. Get a similar vibe to Sun/Moon with it that it’s kind of unfinished- lots of small (and some not so small) parts of the game just feel like there were bigger plans that couldn’t be realised in time. I’m still enjoying it! They did a great job of making the gym battles, and the whole process of 8-badges-then-champion, feel like a spectacle. I think only the anime has managed it to this degree before. - Earthbound Man, I really, really want to like this game, but the battle system is terrible. I need to play through the game again buffing my party up with cheats or something, because it’s so unbalanced and cheap. Everything else about the game is wonderful, but I got so frustrated with the fights! - Mario Kart 8 Didn’t play any of the single player this time, it was midgi’s christmas present so I just joined a couple of multiplayer games. Absolutely baffled that the game features F-Zero style anti-gravity courses, has Mute City and Big Blue, and even has the Blue Falcon as a selectable vehicle, but they haven’t put Captain Falcon in it. Like he’s ever going to get another game of his own? Let him have this! - Carmageddon 2 It’s pretty clunky by now, being 20 years old, but still plays well enough. The physics are super loose so you slide around like your tires have been buttered. It was more fun when they were zombies instead of just normal people. Missions are brutally hard and should be skipped with cheats. - Neopets After 15 years of playing, I finally got a Ghostkersword. The site as a whole has gone through a lot, and certainly its heyday is long gone, but there’s no other game quite like it. I’m playing the Food Club every day, still. - SIF New phone can’t run the actual gameplay section well enough, so I just log in occasionally to grab free scouts. Here’s another one whose golden years are behind it, sadly, but I certainly still have a lot of affection for SIF. - FF1 Mobile version, which fixes a lot of the bugs with the NES original. This year I completed a solo run with 1 Red Mage, a 4-black belts run, a low-level run, and a 4 White Mages run (which ended up being a lower-level run than the low-level run). I’m fairly comfortable in calling myself an expert in FF1, now. There’s still not really any other games like it- build a party as balanced or imbalanced as you like, and see how they fare. I’d like to build my own game in a similar style, one day. - Re: Live Gacha games and RPG just don’t mix! Both gacha and events do not gel with core RPG mechanics of your character(s) developing in strength as the game goes. It seems impossible to balance the game well- do you cater to the whales who spend and spend until they have the strongest teams possible, meaning the free players or the terminally unlucky can’t stand a chance, or do you cater to those players and give them no reason to spend for the more powerful characters? It’s a shame, because the anime was baffling but in that enjoyable way where you just kind of go with whatever it throws at you, and exploring that in a non-freemium game with a solid beginning middle and end would be really interesting. - Tiny Thief Mobile game that’s not available any more, I think my BBLC post covered it well enough. - F-Zero One of the criticisms most commonly levied against F-Zero is that it wont hold your attention for long. While that’s true, it’s not like you have to make a purchasing decision about it any more- it comes bundled in with the other games you’re buying, so the only investment is time. Ignoring that, it’s still fun to burn around the tracks, and the sense of speed hasn’t ever diminished. The music, too, is underappreciated, with Port Town being my personal fave. - F-Zero GX I can’t believe Nintendo hasn’t done anything with this ridiculous universe for 15 years now. The cutscenes are so hilariously overwrought, and the cast of characters is huge! It could so seamlessly intersect with the Starfox universe, too. There were rumours of a Starfox Racing title some time ago, and I really hope that’s the case. It’d work so well (by which I mean, a particularly enjoyable kind of awful). Anyway, the game still plays great, Story Mode is WAY too hard, Dr Stewart’s theme is a Tune. - Stratosphere This game is from 1998! Build a flying fortress, deck it out with fortifications and weapons and power supplies, then use it to destroy other fortresses. I only ever played the demo as a kid, never got the full game. Took some cajoling to get it to work on modern hardware, but eventually I got in and it wasn’t worth it at all. Wow, that performance, apparently it was designed to run at a terrible frame rate and it wasn’t just a result of my 1998 PC not being up to the task! A shame, but I guess it put one of my ghosts to rest. - DKC 2 The best of the three SNES games, despite the inclusion (and protagonism) of Diddy Kong. Lots to love here, but the OST is top notch. - DKC 3 Not as good as 2, but IMO better than 1. There was a much heavier emphasis on gimmick levels in 3, not all of which hit their target, but does provide a great deal of variety. Consensus is that 2 is better, but if someone claimed 3 was the best DKC, I’d let them get away with it. - King Arthur’s World (SNES) Speaking of putting ghosts to rest… We somehow always managed to get this game whenever we got a SNES, and kid!Beebs most certainly didn’t have the patience for it. Adult!Beebs barely does, either. It’s a very ambitious attempt at some sort of RTS/Puzzle hybrid, somewhat comparable to Lemmings? King Arthur must make his way from his starting position to the throne elsewhere in the map to claim it as his own, using the myriad abilities of his soldiers to get him there in one piece. I decided this year that I was finally going to play through the whole damn thing, start to finish, for the first time ever. With copious use of save states and rewinds, I was finally able to slay this demon. For as fiddly and frustrating as it is, I would still say people should check it out if they have the tools to do so- there’s not really anything else like it, on SNES or otherwise; you’re guaranteed a unique experience, if nothing else. - Oscar (SNES) Terrible. - Spanky’s Quest (SNES) With a name like that, how could I refuse? It’s a weird little puzzler, aping (wahey!) Bubble Bobble and Parasol Stars a little. You’re a monkey who can blow bubbles that stun enemies, but if you bounce the bubble on your head it gets progressively larger and can be burst to send a barrage of similarly-sized sports balls at your opponents to knock them out. You know, just like real life. - Addam’s Family (SNES) This easily-dismissible movie tie-in is actually a very competent platformer with some very, very light metroidvania exploration involved. Gomez has to go through Addams Mansion and rescue the members of his family who have been kidnapped by… something. There’s hidden secrets everywhere and the family can be rescued in any order you like. Genuine recommendation. - Panel DePon/Tetris Attack The only vs puzzler I enjoy (yep. Not even puyo puyo. I know.) I played the HECK out of this in my teenage years, and got crazy good at it. Tendonitis says I’m not allowed to do that any more, but once I shook the rust off I was still pretty strong! It was released as Panel DePon in Japan and was fairy themed, but for the western release they replaced all the fairies with Yoshi characters and renamed it Tetris Attack despite having nothing to do with Tetris at all. Up to you which you prefer- language isn't too much of a barrier here. Soundtrack is killer. - Subsurface Circular Finished it before my BBLC post. Still not decided if I liked the way it ended. - Master Of Orion 2 C’mon. After playing three other pretenders to MoO2’s throne, I had to give the real deal a couple of spins too. It’s Civ 5 in space. Customisable race builds. A whole galaxy to bring peace to, by whichever means you prefer. Would love for someone else to get into it. - Touhou 8 Last minute entry I just played yesterday ‘cos I wanted some Touhou and I haven’t played this entry in a long while. A Solo Marisa Normal Final B run, if you’re interested. Kaguya beast-mode tearing apart the Spell Of Imperishable Night at the end of the game is still an awesome moment, but it’s a shame you can miss the last couple of spells if you take some unlucky hits. - And here’s the list of Bins, which are all covered in their BBLC post: No Time To Explain MoO Skyborn Jumpjet Rex StH 4 Ballistick Munch’s Oddysee Outland Project CARS RiME Magicka Waking Mars Urban Chaos Divinity: Dragon Commander Strike Suit Zero Hell Yeah! Lambda Wars Beta Stranger’s Wrath MoO 3 XCOM Lots more Fins than Bins this year! Good to see!

[kingoftheflood9]

#1 yes, unless I'm hopelessly stuck, I really try to not use walkthroughs

#2 I think it might actually be 343i, as much as I may complain irl about certain games (halo 5) from them, I've still tried them all, and still play many many halo

#3 untitled goose game, it was a great experience the whole way through

#4 halo spartan strike/assault, just not for me at all

#5 probably GTA, I've played bits and pieces of different GTAs over the years, never bought my own copy, never played it myself

#6 I've never personally played it but i watched a playthrough of "That Dragon Cancer" and man that fucked me up, it was a fantastic game, 100%

#7 metroid prime believe it or not, used to watch my dad play it on the GameCube and whenever he died I could not watch the death cutscene, it was literally the scariest thing I had ever scene in my life, cause I was a little baby bitch boi

#8 I've fallen asleep to Halo 3: ODST many many times all thanks to the smooth jazz and rain

#9 can't say I have one, I really love sound in games

#10 hasn't been many lately but I tried to play fable when I was younger and from what I remember I basically locked the game by killing everything in sight and I haven't played since

#11 definitely Doom eternal, especially the 2 DLCs

#12 I beat 85% spring season in forza in a single day, then it took the rest of the season to finish the daily challenges but I don't think those count

#13 I'm still paitently waiting for lego star wars the Skywalker saga...maybe someday

#14 can't think of any

#15 hear me out... Forza Horizon, and Microsoft Flight sim

#16 I have an absolute HATRED for "MISS NAVAL INTELLIGENCE" Veronica dare from Halo 3:ODST and if enough people want to know why, I'll post a whole ass rant

#17 any lego game 😭 I've loved them since I was a kid and I will never not love them

#18 either of the halo wars games, the people online are straight up hard-core and it's not fun at all

#19 it sounds tacky but I think I would love to see a Halo 3 Anniversary as long as it was handled like Halo 2 Anniversary, that is a top tier remaster

#20 I've been playing crappy computer games for longer than I can remember but I distinctly remember sneaking onto Halo 2 whenever I could because I wasn't allowed to play it

#21 young enough to not remember, probably like 5 maybe

#22 honestly minecraft, I have so much fun building creative builds and adventure maps and such

#23 halo 5 in its entirety was a big let down for me, my stance is that in terms of gameplay, it's a pretty good GAME, but in terms of everything else, it's not a good HALO game at all

#24 I'm pretty casual, sometimes I can get quite competitive and aggressive, but usually quite casual

#25 I use cheat codes in lego star wars games, but that about it really

#26 totally console, I have a switch but I much prefer it docked than handheld

#27 That Dragon Cancer certainly brought on the waterworks a few times actually

#28 I'm not much of a clothes guy, but I'd die to have a set of ODST armor hands down

#29 I think story is a bit more important but bad gameplay can hinder a great story, I still play halo 5 once in a while because I really enjoy the gameplay, but I couldn't care less for the story, it's just awful

#30 I think I would've loved to try out Halo online or Eldewrito but they never released

RIPS SHIRT OFF TALK TO ME ABOUT VIDEO GAMES

1: Do you try to stay away from walkthroughs?

2: Company you’re always loyal to?

3: Best game you’ve ever played?

4: Worst game you’ve ever played?

5: A popular series/game you just can’t get into no matter how much you try?

6: A game that’s changed you the most?

7: A game you’ll never forget?

8: Best soundtrack?

9: A game you turn your volume off every time you play it?

10: A game you’ve completely given up on?

11: Hardest game you’ve played?

12: Shortest time you’ve beaten a game in?

13: A game you were the most excited for when it wasn’t released yet?

14: A game you think would be cool if it had voice acting?

15: Which two games do you think would make an awesome crossover?

16: Character you’ve hated most? From what game?

17: What game do you never tell people you play?

18: A game you wish your friends knew about?

19: Which game do you think deserves a revival?

20: What was the first video game you ever played?

21: How old were you when you first played a video game?

22: If you could immerse yourself in any game for one day, which game would it be? What would you do?

23: Biggest disappointment you’ve had in gaming?

24: Casual, Hardcore, or in the middle?

25: Be honest; have you ever used cheats (like ActionReplay or Gameshark)?

26: Handheld or console?

27: Has there ever been a moment that has made you cry?

28: Which character’s clothes do you wish you owned the most?

29: Which is more important, gameplay or story?

30: A game that hasn’t been localized in your country that you think should be localized?

[grabey]

Horsing around

After watching the Darksiders III trailer I’m surprised Gunfire Games didn’t take the opportunity to retcon out Vigil’s bizarre decision to rename Famine and Pestilence. Instead we are left with a game featuring that famed horse rider of the Apocalypse, Fury (the other one is Strife).

The series has always seemed weirdly reluctant to make full use of the cool premise of the Four Horsemen battling against Heaven and Hell. Darksiders II was set largely in a fairly generic fantasy world with the Apocalypse pushed into the background and Death portrayed as an elite warrior rather than the actual Grim Reaper.

I don’t know if they’re just worried about stirring up religious controversy, but I can’t help but feel the setting would be more interesting if it went deeper into the Book of Revelation inspirations. TGN Professor

GC: It’s almost certainly the religious aspect, particularly with regards to the American market. As you imply, we can’t help but feel they would’ve been better off making up their own fantasy universe from scratch.

Stuck in time

Hooray!

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been playing through Darksiders, having enjoyed the sequel a few years ago. I was just thinking about what they could do for a third entry then saw the news about the new game which is great. Although watching the IGN reveal trailer I’m a little disappointed to see that the story doesn’t seem to have moved on at all.

Darksiders has you as War trying to clear your name. Darksiders II has you as Death in a concurrent story to the first game – trying to clear War’s name. The trailer for Darksiders III starts with War in chains, so it looks like his name is still not cleared yet?! Don’t tell me Fury now has to clear his name!

I was also thinking the format might have changed slightly. It’s probably a bit ambitions for a smaller studio (assuming Gunfire Games are smaller studio compared to a company like Bungie) but maybe they could have or will do something like a four-player co-op where you each play one of the horsemen and have to take on Destiny style raid dungeons. Anyway, can’t wait to hear a bit more info.

If Darksiders III does OK, it’s pretty certain we’ll eventually get a fourth staring Strife but let’s just hope it’s not all about clearing War’s name again! PsillyPseudonym (PsillySeudonym – gamertag)

GC: According to IGN it’s ‘set around the same time as the events of Darksiders II’, so we think you’re right. It certainly doesn’t look like War’s name has been cleared in the trailer.

Big impression

Can I just say what a wonderfully creepy game Little Nightmares is. I think walking through the dark with all the mannequins around toward the end was great/nerve racking!

But I’d also like to draw people’s attention to the PS Store, where, if like me, you were happy with the news of a third Darksiders game there is a bundle of both remastered games for £16. Which considering it’s £16 for the first one alone is pretty good! Liam

Furniture land

Thank god Bethesda chose to release a Prey demo, indeed. Wanted to write in to defend against Phil’s point. I was always planning on getting Prey based on the premise, alone but was probably going to wait for some sales first.

After playing the demo on hard difficulty I was not disappointed by the previews suggesting it was ‘a thinking man’s game’, which is undoubtedly a dig at the Call Of Duty crowd. It was a challenge of nerve and mind, like a cross between Garry’s Mod prop hunt and The Thing. I raised my wrench against any and all mugs and chairs. Playing with headphones on, even mop buckets I knew were black spiders made me touch cloth because of that damn music sting!

After multiple playthroughs of the demo I now have a good idea of what skill trees to level up (hacking seems like a very useful starting point) and have now pre-ordered the game (£40 on Amazon Prime). Really looking forward to exploring the rest of the game and I hope it’s not too short. And I’m really glad Bethesda decided to release a demo.

They got extra money out of me by doing so, as the demo convinced me to buy as soon as possible because it is so different from the majority of other first person shooters available now. I never got round to playing Dishonored 2, so I can’t comment how much of a clone Prey may be to it but I like Arkane and hope they do well. Beware the chair! Stretchy Grunt

The second year

I’m seriously beginning to wonder whether the Nintendo Switch could be a hit on the scale of the Wii. Every time we hear a new story about it the situation seems even more positive than before. And despite what it seemed like before launch I think the release schedule is working out pretty well, with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe clearly off to a great start and Splatoon 2 likely to do very well too. I’m not so sure about ARMS, but I’m beginning to think it won’t be ignored as others were predicting a few months ago.

But of course with E3 approaching it only makes me wonder more about what Nintendo has coming up next. Super Mario Odyssey should be the perfect way to end the year but what about after that? We know about literally nothing at the moment and they’ve already used up all their biggest franchises: Zelda, Mario Kart 8, and Super Mario. If Nintendo think they can follow that up with second-stringers like Pikmin and Kirby then I would’ve hoped they’d learned their lesson by now.

Maybe a new Metroid, since it’s been so long since we’ve had a proper one, but they need to keep with the new franchises. Splatoon worked out great and ARMS might do too. That’s what we need more of, not diminishing returns with a new Donkey Kong and a new Star Fox, until they get down to franchises not even their biggest fans care about. The Switch in 2017 seems to be working out great but it’s the Switch in 2018 I’m worried about now. Goose

You get what you pay for

Well, I just bought one of them retro game controllers from Argos with 200 games on it (you know the one where it’s in the shape of a joypad the size of a matchbox, priced at a tenner). However, I wasn’t expecting much for the price. Unfortunately, I will never know because my two-year-old LG 4K UHD smart telly hasn’t got the phono plugs to plug the game controller in so I can play it.

Now I not what you’re all going to say – why didn’t you go and get a converter to play the Damon thing? So off I went to my local Maplin store, only to be told it would cost me around £50 to buy a converter so I can see it on my screen. Or go and buy a new telly with the phono jacks already built into it. I wouldn’t mind but the whole gaming box only cost me a tenner in the first place.

So my question is how do other people manage to have all these other retro gaming devices like your new retro Ataris, Mega Drive, and the Nintendo gadgets to work on their tellies, because mines at least two-years-old now and surely any newer telly made after mine is just not compatible for these latest retro-crazed gaming devices to be played on due to the phono plugs. JAH

GC: We don’t know about the others but the NES Mini uses a HDMI cable. We assume you bought this, but it doesn’t seem to contain any real retro games – just a bunch of cheapo Flash games (there’s a PDF list here).

Oldest school

All this talk of remasters from gaz be rotten has got me thinking. I’d like to see much older games put onto games consoles, ones that were invented long before video games.

When I was growing up in Mevagissey many years ago my mates and I used to enjoy a jolly game of Poohsticks. I sure that some sort of video game could be made out of that.

Here’s hoping for some Inbox magic The Dark Fud

Catch up on every previous Games Inbox here

Making the list

I have just finished playing Titanfall 2 and although it’s a great game, it doesn’t quite beat the other multiplayer shooters I’ve played in recent years.

My list goes in reverse order: 4. Titanfall 2 3. Overwatch 2. Star Wars: Battlefront (controversial!) 1. Splatoon (of course)

I’ve got a feeling not everyone will agree with that list. One thing I’ve noticed in all four games is the lack of emphasis or downright absence of a free-for-all mode. Titanfall 2 obviously has one, but the wait for a match was 10 times longer than the team modes – making it very unappealing to actually play. Free-for-all used to be the only game in town, with several different variants, but slowly it is being wiped out by team modes/games.

It seems a real shame as I am naturally a lone wolf player and free-for-all is a much more fitting mode for me to play. Not that I don’t enjoy team games at all, with Splatoon my favourite game ever, but I miss the more cutthroat and chaotic play of having everyone out to get you. Free-for-all is something I’d love to see as an option in Splatoon 2, I’m sure they could find a way to make it work. Ryan O’D PS: I know some would cry foul that they weren’t included already, but I hope they release new DLC tracks for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

Inbox also-rans

What’s everyone assuming Bethesda’s two new games at E3 are? Wolfenstein must be one of them, but what’s the other? The Evil Within 2 by the sound of the rumours I’d say. Ollie

Do you know what Link’s favourite song is? A Good Heart These Days Is Hard To Find by Feargal Sharkey. DMR

This week’s Hot Topic

The subject for this weekend’s Inbox was suggested by reader Steiner, who asks how much money do you spend on gaming a month?

Do you have a specific budget that you stick to, or some other kind of system to make sure you don’t spend too much at once? What do you do when multiple games come out at the same time? And do you try and have money in reserve for the launch of new consoles and other hardware?

What percentage of your games do you buy for full price and how much do you take advantage of sales? Do you resell your games or buy second-hand, and how are your habits changing as digital downloads become more prominent?

from Blogger Darksiders III reaction, Titanfall 2 free-for-all, Nintendo Switch