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Post by Ascended Mermaid on Jan 10, 2013 23:18:10 GMT -5
It's surprising that it's already been that long ago. I've played through both the GameCube and Wii versions, so I find it odd that after two playthroughs, I still don't understand that part of the story. It's very tempting to play through it again since it's been so long. Plus I kinda don't want to spoil Skyward Sword on myself. I have a nasty habit of playing and replaying Zelda games until I'm worn out. See also: Faxanadu (I... honestly have no idea how many times I've played through it from start to finish! 10 minimum playthroughs.), Ys I-III, Ys V, and anything Ys since 2006. Topic: The last game I finished was New Super Mario Bros. 2. It borrows heavily from past Mario games, and aesthetically appears to have the same graphics as the Wii and DS games (with slight alterations; instead of polkadot textures, we have zig-zags). The level types are the exact same as its predecessors. I love the Coin Rush mode, the Golden Flower is awesome, the return of the Raccoon Suit was a wonderful touch. (Although the propeller hat was fun too, it's just not as awesome.) The new cannon travel sequences are pretty fun. The return of extra/optional worlds was also pretty nice! The level design is also, IMO, some of the best since Super Mario World, in contrast of my opinion for New Super Mario Bros. DS (which had IMO the worst design in any Mario game). The physics are also much improved, as well. Mario doesn't run like he's wearing his brother's lubed-up shoes -- as opposed to the poor physics in NSMBDS which had completely ruined the experience for me. Yes, I can still say that after getting 100% in NSMBDS, NSMBWii, and NSMB2. I haven't played any of the DLC yet. It requires you to spotpass before you can buy any of the packs, and I'm just too lazy and cheap to deal with it. The boss design was lazily ported from the Wii version. Justifiably so, many complain that this game is more of a "rom hack" -- and in reality, it is. That doesn't make it any less fun or enjoyable IMO, as the improved level design, power-ups and coin rush are all worth it. The boss arenas are different, so as not to make the experience too similar, and another familiar foe makes another appearance. I also think that the final boss was better designed in this, compared to the Wii version. It still doesn't *feel* like a final boss, since you never can attack it directly, but it's not as disappointing. I think that about covers it. NSMB2 may be Nintendo's cash-in title, but it's still a damn fun title if you don't tire easily of "more of the same".
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Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2013 10:03:21 GMT -5
New Super Mario Bros. 2 sounds worth checking out if I had a Nintendo DS. New Super Mario Bros. Wii on the other hand was a fun game, but it felt like it lacked something. I would have loved to see an online component, being able to play with others from around the world would have been a nice touch. I found the music bland after awhile, there were no arrangements that really stuck in my head. Yoshi should have been playable in every stage like Super Mario World. In short, I think it needed more variety and crazy ideas, but they kept it simple. These new age mario titles are fun to play, but I feel they're missing the magic that made the classics special like Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, Yoshi's Island, to name a few. Maybe it's just me since I'm more of a classic gamer The Dragon Quest series has always interested me. I played Dragon Quest VI for the SNES couple of years ago and I found the game superb. I played Dragon Quest VIII for the PS2 3 years ago and that game is easily in my Top 10 RPG's of all time list. I was extremely disappointed to find that the latest Dragon Quest game due for the Wii/Wii U was an MMO. I really feel like going back in time to play Dragon Quest III for the SNES and Dragon Quest VII for the playstation, that's on my to do list in the near future.
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Post by Ascended Mermaid on Jan 11, 2013 10:24:29 GMT -5
I feel the exact same way about every Rayman game after the original. Origins definitely tries its best to recapture the old magic and succeeds in very many ways, but even still, no game in the series afterward is nearly as colorful, as pretty, as musically catchy or pleasant, and gameplay-wise they all seem to be a rapid departure.
The "lum singing" and cartoony nature of Origins feels like a step in the right direction, and gameplay-wise it's the closest (and most enjoyable) we've got since the original. All in contrast to the Rabbids titles, which suffer (at least, Rabbids:TiT did) from buggy gameplay and bland level design. Plus it seems they really tried to capture similar level types to the classic; a forest area, a music area, peaks, caverns, and food (though not candy this time) areas. In addition to the themed areas, there's also water areas, since Rayman can swim this time around.
// I'm also glad I had the chance to demo the 3DS version first before deciding on a platform. The camera tends to zoom out WAY too much, making it very uncomfortable to play. For the Wii, it's just fine, particularly if you have a decent-sized screen to play it on.
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Post by schlagwerk on Jan 11, 2013 12:37:31 GMT -5
Finished Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4 with my girlfriend. She has now 1000/1000 a retail game before I ever have ;P
Also I got to introduce her to the wonderful world of shitty modern programming in video games and game-stopping glitches! We had to restart our entire save once when we were about 60% done because of a glitch that only activates if you are playing 2P at a certain point
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Post by Ascended Mermaid on Jan 11, 2013 15:12:53 GMT -5
Yeah. LHP 1-4 is *full* of glitches, but it was fun enough that I didn't mind redoing everything.
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Post by Gamemusicfreak on Jan 16, 2013 11:31:24 GMT -5
Played and finished コテ・DE・メクール via Project EGG in one sitting, thanks to unlimited continues. Great music in this short game! I want to get better at it, because I couldn't properly finish any of the bonus stages.
Still a lot of fun!
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Post by ParanoiaDragon on Jan 16, 2013 12:59:41 GMT -5
I feel the exact same way about every Rayman game after the original. Origins definitely tries its best to recapture the old magic and succeeds in very many ways, but even still, no game in the series afterward is nearly as colorful, as pretty, as musically catchy or pleasant, and gameplay-wise they all seem to be a rapid departure. The "lum singing" and cartoony nature of Origins feels like a step in the right direction, and gameplay-wise it's the closest (and most enjoyable) we've got since the original. All in contrast to the Rabbids titles, which suffer (at least, Rabbids:TiT did) from buggy gameplay and bland level design. Plus it seems they really tried to capture similar level types to the classic; a forest area, a music area, peaks, caverns, and food (though not candy this time) areas. In addition to the themed areas, there's also water areas, since Rayman can swim this time around. // I'm also glad I had the chance to demo the 3DS version first before deciding on a platform. The camera tends to zoom out WAY too much, making it very uncomfortable to play. For the Wii, it's just fine, particularly if you have a decent-sized screen to play it on. My wife n I are absolutely loving Origins! Frankly, I think it's better then the original. I've played thru most of the Jaguar & PS1 versions BITD, though, I've never been able to beat it sadly. I think my wife n' I will be able to beat Origins though. And man, just the music in the treasure chase levels(& the levels themselves) is reason to absolutely love Origins IMO
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Post by Ascended Mermaid on Jan 16, 2013 15:06:10 GMT -5
It's definitely a great game and one of the best new platformers within recent years! The final time trial, the last couple of the treasure chase levels, and the secret level are all extremely challenging, sometimes reaching Super Meat Boy difficulty. I do wish they stuck with the (scrapped) storyline, however. While I never liked the aesthetic, the sound, the new characters, the level design, or the story post Rayman vanilla, this is hands-down their best work since the original! I really like it, but the fanboy in me does feel that it tries too hard to incorporate the elements of Rayman 2 and 3 into a more classic style -- such as turning the Magician, the upbeat Rayman-creature introducing the classic story, into a Teensy. The return of Betilla (and the inclusion of her sisters) was a nice touch. With that said, I hope Rayman Legends will be ported to other systems. I'm not too keen on the WiiU exclusive bit isolating their market, although the system itself does to have more exclusive titles to sell, so it's completely understandable. I hear that someone "dear" to the Rayman universe will be returning, and I'm really hoping that it's a character from the first game. Skops, Mr. Sax, Space Mama, Tings (I know they're collectibles, but I prefer them to lums), the Great Protoon (missing since the first Rayman), the gigantic rock creature, the photographer, the miniature pixies, and especially the evil Mr. Dark are all characters (and stuff) I'm quite fond of. We need more limbless characters. // The treasure chases (and the electoon 'bridge' areas) are definitely the closest we've come to the bonus levels from the original Rayman, which is definitely something I'd like to see more of; fast paced, frantic, optional time trials. If there's going to be more returning characters, I'd like to hear some remixed / returning music as well. Rayman had a damn fine soundtrack back in its day. // Aw, man. I realize I tend to be extremely critical whenever I review *anything* (I'm just over-sensitive to generally anything I could perceive as negative), but I really do like this game. As stated, it's definitely one of the best platformers in recent years! I would've loved to play this one again co-op sometime.
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Post by Ascended Mermaid on Jan 20, 2013 1:46:43 GMT -5
I just finished playing Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. I didn't finish it in the traditional sense. I finished it in the "I can't play this anymore" sense. I didn't put it down because I didn't like it (I LOVED it!!!). I put it down due to problems with either the hardware or software. I got stuck on Bryyo. After successfully using the Grapple Lasso on the first try within every opportunity ever presented to me prior to Bryyo, it came as a shock when Samus refused to pull the Grapple Lasso. At first, I thought it might have been my positioning, so I would try and retry from different angles. I even entered Hyper Mode, thinking "man, this has got to be some heavy duty crap!". I've tried everything, casting, stabbing, pulling, flailing, shaking -- but no matter what I did, no matter how big or small my motions, no matter how hard or soft I would try, Samus would NOT pull with the Grapple Lasso. She would cast and latch onto objects with it with GREAT ease, but she wouldn't pull! I've tried two different nunchuks. I even made sure that the instructions said specifically to use the nunchuk. I've tried the different sensitivity settings, from Basic to Advanced. I've tried enabling and disabling free aim. I've disconnected and reconnected the nunchuks. I've even reconnected the Wii Remote via the Wii Remote settings menu with different nunchuks. It didn't matter. I was trapped on a cliffside after a morph ball section, unable to return. The only way forward was to Grapple Lasso a shield on a statue, and yank it away from the wall. Nothing I did would motivate Samus to pull that stupid statue. Dammit Samus, I bought fresh batteries for you, and this is how you repay me?! Whatever, it's over between you and I. We're done. What I *did* get to play was nothing short of awesome! Getting stuck and having to shut off my Wii? Not so much. :\ So yeah, like I said. I've totally finished this game. Just not in the traditional sense.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 20, 2013 10:07:02 GMT -5
That's unfortunate. My brother owned Metroid Prime Corruption, however, after he gave his Nintendo Wii to me, I sold corruption and purchased Metroid Other M. It is a good game, but after reading reviews and players personal opinions of the game, I was surprised to find a large majority hated the game, particularly the voice acting. I enjoyed it though. I've been away from the Nintendo scene since the N64 era, so it was cool playing games like Other M, Skyward Sword, Super Mario Bros. Wii. Those beloved Nintendo games sure have come along way since the NES era.
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Kuro-chan
Limendy
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Post by Kuro-chan on Jan 20, 2013 10:20:24 GMT -5
I played Corruption all the way through, even the Hypermode difficulty and loved every minute of it. I found no such issues with the Grapple Lasso. Also, on Bryyo, you need to get the next level up, The "Grapple Beam", to swing around to various places.
I played Other M and absolutely loathed it. I could not believe they were so obsessed with such character sabotage. It was quite distasteful.
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Post by Ascended Mermaid on Jan 20, 2013 12:16:43 GMT -5
Indeed. There was a Grapple Beam point at the cliffside where I got stuck, but I don't have the Grapple Beam, and was unable to retrieve it, since I got stuck. Failing to lasso the statue out of my way after hundreds of tries, the last thing I did was try to combine the ball jump (shaking the Wii remote) with a bomb jump out the same way I crossed over -- but I just couldn't get the timing down. Eventually I gave up on that as well, thinking that they may have programmed a lock to prevent bomb jump abuse (by extension, sequence breaking).
I have read up on Grapple Lasso problems and have only found two topics on it. The issue is typically with a faulty nunchuk (which is why I tried two different nunchuks) -- and failing that, usually it'd be the end-user doing something silly like trying to use the Wii remote instead of the nunchuk for the lasso, with people explaining different ways to make the motions necessary to cast / pull with it. I've tried numerous different lock-ons with different variations on swinging, stabbing, punching, pulling, yanking, flailing, shaking, etc. at different speeds with different amounts of force applied. Either both nunchuks are faulty, or something's wrong with my Wii remote's add-on slot. The four things I *didn't* try were a different Wii remote, resetting the game, rebooting the system, or trying to play it on a different Wii altogether.
While I *did* like Other M, Prime 3 is hands-down the better of the two, (IMO) ranking among the top Metroid games. I don't blame the game for what could easily be chalked up to a hardware malfunction. Before that point, the programming and responsiveness of the controls appeared to be spot-on, so I don't think it's the software.
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Kuro-chan
Limendy
Clones are awesome! ... Even with the wrong hair colour...
Posts: 228
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Post by Kuro-chan on Jan 21, 2013 9:27:59 GMT -5
I know from online venues, you can get a replacement nunchuck for cheap. You should not be spending $20 on it or you are getting ripped. It's too bad you did not get past Bryyo. There is a lot more explore in the game.
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Post by Ascended Mermaid on Jan 21, 2013 10:00:59 GMT -5
It really is a shame, but it'll just have to wait until I get my act together and find a job.
// You weren't kidding! They have some pretty cheap $0.01 aftermarket nunchuks on Amazon.
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Post by ParanoiaDragon on Jan 21, 2013 20:44:21 GMT -5
That's unfortunate. My brother owned Metroid Prime Corruption, however, after he gave his Nintendo Wii to me, I sold corruption and purchased Metroid Other M. It is a good game, but after reading reviews and players personal opinions of the game, I was surprised to find a large majority hated the game, particularly the voice acting. I enjoyed it though. I've been away from the Nintendo scene since the N64 era, so it was cool playing games like Other M, Skyward Sword, Super Mario Bros. Wii. Those beloved Nintendo games sure have come along way since the NES era. I loved Other M. It was a breath of fresh air compared to the Prime series for me. That's not saying it doesn't have flaws, it does! I mainly hated it when it forced you to find something at some point, & there was nothing else you could do, you'd just sit there in 1st person mode searching your brains out. In general though, just the gameplay alone is closer to classic Metroid. I've always been baffled about peoples complaints about the story. She's a flawed character, she's not Superman, & even he is flawed in various ways in this day & age. I see no problem with her experiencing any kind of fear at times....that's just life, it happens, sometimes when we least expect it! Sometimes things that we were strong about previously, we get weak about later on. It just happens. So if anything, I find the story(based on my memory) being more realistic to what we all deal with thruout life. Now, to clarify, I want to like the Prime games. I've tried, & will continue trying. I origially had the GC versions, couldn't get into them. So I got the trilogy, thinking it might be easier to get into them that way....but now I'm absolutely tired of motion gaming & especially the Wiimote. I get overjoyed when a Wii game comes out, that allows a regular controller, like the classic or GC controllers. I think it's mainly that I hate having to hold 2 controllers in my hands, rather then just one. Ofcoarse, I still loathe the idea of playing Metroid in 1st person. I've always been opposed to playing it as an FPA. I still think it'd work much better in 3rd person mode, if not done in 2D(which is my preference). I know I'm in the minority, but, meh, it's how I feell. But, as I say, I'm still gonna keep on trying to get into the Prime games, as the Metroid series is one of my favorites!
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Post by Ascended Mermaid on Jan 21, 2013 21:13:40 GMT -5
The thing I didn't like about Other M was the Deleter I felt that this part of the story was poorly developed. They never really go into detail about who he is. Plus he escaped So it just seems unresolved. As for the Prime series, 1 was pretty awesome, but I do see why it isn't for everyone. Even I was skeptical of the fact that it's a FPA. It does have *some* things I didn't like, such as the pacing. Echoes was even more horrendous in that aspect, but somehow I came to have a love/hate relationship with the dark/light world concept. Then comes Prime 3. This one is engaging from the start; From the assault on GFS and the planet Norion, to the epic awesomeness that was the Ridley fight and everything leading up to it it just feels right. The pacing doesn't set you back any, and when you die, OMG you don't have to rescan everything! I'm on the ropes when it comes to motion control gaming, touch screen gaming, and any other GIMMICK gaming. I love and hate all forms of it. I *especially* hate it when gimmick gaming is enforced. If Ocarina of Time 3D enforced 3D and motion/camera control, I would *hate* it -- but I don't. Hell, I even think the gimmicks work to the game's favor, but I also like the fact that I can turn it off when I feel like it -- which is pretty much 75% of the time. The fact that I *can't* turn off the touch screen controls and opt for a completely button-driven system, however? *seething hatred* ... I really want to play Prime 3 again. With a different Wii remote on a fresh boot, at least for conclusive testing. I'm thinking "I'm going to be very disappointed". // I echo your sentiments about the forced first person sections of Other M. I really despised that aspect. The one thing that brutally murdered the experience, however, was the fact that I wasn't playing a game. I was playing a movie. The game sections are incredibly short and linear, and after playing for what seems like 5 minutes at a time, you have to sit through hours of cut scenes. Switching between FP and TP perspectives is not seamless, (at least it wasn't for me), which didn't help the frustratingly awkward end battle. It was an *incredibly* short boss. Even though it was the Metroid Queen from Metroid II , any chance it had to be epic was subverted by the fact that you had to constantly switch to FP to fire missiles -- and QUICKLY. If I could've fired missiles in TP, I wouldn't be so grouchy. After that, you're treated to a forced FP section with a bunch of oversized beetles. you would think that the objective would be to kill them, but the true objective was to clear them out of the way so you could lock on to MB . It didn't feel like a true endgame. It felt tacky, it felt ridiculous, and the whole time I was wondering "how the heck was I supposed to know that's what I was supposed to do?!" Also, most enemies have WAY too much HP. If they had less HP and better AI, I would probably whine less. I just hated going through corridors with enemies that don't really put up a fight, they just stand there, let you shoot them, and you have to boringly hammer the fire button until the room is cleared so the shutters unlock. ... Yes, when it comes to pointing out anything I like about games, even games that I like/love or have enjoyed to a great extent, I fail in every way. I'm so glad I don't review games for a living.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2013 10:58:24 GMT -5
I wonder what direction Nintendo will take the Metroid series now. I would love to see another Metroid utilize the same gameplay as Other M with more emphases on exploration.
The thing I liked most about the original Metroid was getting lost in its expansive world, discovering hidden power-ups, the atmosphere. That being said, I should probably give Corruption a go in the near future.
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Post by Ascended Mermaid on Jan 22, 2013 11:49:39 GMT -5
Thankfully games like Adventure Time (ridiculously easy, short even in comparison to Shantae, and overpriced as it was) tell me that 2D gaming isn't quite dead yet on the Nintendo front, so maybe there's room for one more 2D Metroid game.
This is subverted by the fact that we're talking about Nintendo here, they're going to want to use the Wii U, make the game 3D, and use all of the gimmicks the hardware offers. (and of course they won't make it optional.)
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Post by Deleted on Jan 23, 2013 10:50:45 GMT -5
I finally achieved my goal for The Last Story. I'm among the top 10 on the NTSC leaderboards after maxing my reputation points to 99999. The game itself is short, but the online component offered a lot of replay value for me, even though is was bare-bones. So I decided to play the fully translated version of Ys IV: Dawn of Ys and I must say, I was impressed with the voice actors, much better than the Wanderers from Ys voice acting no doubt. I hate to say this, but the only voice I didn't really like too much was Lilia, especially with her scene in Darm Tower. Aside from that, the fan translation was superb. I never thought this game would receive a full translation, but I was wrong. I've been tempted to make another run at Mask of the Sun, but I don't have too many fond memories of that version. The last and only time I played that game was roughly back in 1999. I just know Dawn of Ys dominates in every way
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Post by Deleted on Jan 29, 2013 12:36:08 GMT -5
Ys IV: Mask of the Sun
I encountered a few glitches and incomplete text in the latest patch, but nothing serious that stole from the enjoyment.
As stated in my previous post, I last played this game roughly around 1999, it was the un-translated version. I didn't think I would enjoy it that much but I was surprisingly hooked. I found myself not wanting to put the controller down, it was certainly a nice trip down memory lane.
It was interesting seeing the differences between Dawn of Ys and Mask of the Sun in story, gameplay, overall execution of both games. The combat felt rough around the edges compared to Dawn of Ys, maybe it was just me but I'm sure people prefer one over the other. Mask of the Sun definitely had it's strong points, but I'm all for Dawn of Ys.
One more thing, I did eventually get temporarily lost in the Silver Citadel, but nothing compares to the sheer size of Solomon Shrine in Ys II Special.
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