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Post by toei on Dec 29, 2019 15:27:14 GMT -5
^ That one looks pretty rad to me, killer production. Unlike you two I'm a huge fan of mecha and especially 80's Sunrise, but even for me just glancing at the SRW series is daunting to say the least. I've known some people online into mecha that were super big into them though. All I know is that there's two big branches in the series, original content, and then the ones that combine a bunch of IP's with crossovers. I bet those would be a licensing nightmare to get localized and probably why they never did I don't think. But yeah, SRPG's... either way you cut it, I only play like one of these a year, if even. And for now I'm focused on Front Mission. There's some really detailed information about the series on wikipedia, but with nearly 60 games and a bunch of different story arcs/subseries the whole thing is extremely complex to figure out unless you have a ton of experience with the games. From what I gather almost every game except the very first one feature *some* original characters, but there's a whole Gaiden sub-series that only features them, while most of the other games focus more on the licensed properties, the core of which are Gundam, Getter Robo and Mazinger. All the games officially released in English are from that Gaiden series, due to licensing issues as you guessed. To complicate things further, I think there are two or more "sets" of original characters, each of which appear in a ton of games. The anime Cybuster was based on the first set of original characters, on which the game I posted a video for focuses on. Anyway, SRW Gaiden was created to be a point of entry into the series for people who hadn't played the previous games or where afraid they wouldn't be able to keep up with all the references to the various mecha franchises. I almost want to try it myself, even though I'm not a mecha fan. It's a 1996 SNES game, and SNES games from '95/'96 just have a special type of class to them.
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Post by Sarge on Dec 29, 2019 18:31:53 GMT -5
It looks really good, at any rate; I did give it a shot for a bit when the translation dropped. It's an SA1 game as well, interestingly.
Oh, right, I also ended up importing a copy. I dunno, even if I don't play them, there's something really cool about owning the Japanese originals sometimes.
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Post by Ex on Dec 29, 2019 21:31:26 GMT -5
there is one Super Robot Wars game I feel you might like The Youtube video you posted looked pretty good, maybe for Mech Madness month... And for now I'm focused on Front Mission. The far superior choice.
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Post by Xeogred on Dec 31, 2019 16:15:48 GMT -5
62. Tomb Raider (PSX)
12h05m*
I've always joked to others that my initial experience with the first Tomb Raider back in the 90's was playing a demo for mere minutes, walking into an icey cavern, and dying to wolves with no clue what I was doing or how to control Lara. I am not sure if that demo didn't include the Lara's Home tutorial or as a kid I ignored it, but playing that section this time remedied everything. The interest remained for me, as I played Legend, a few of the reboots, and was often exposed to Tomb Raider throughout the years from friends who were fans and all the coverage she got in magazines back in the day. It was only a matter of time before I finally sat down and gave the original its due. Still, nothing could have prepared me for how visceral and wondrous this dense experience would be. There was always an allure to the classic Tomb Raider games to me and from longtime fans they still harbor a strong reputation to this day. This is 1996 and it'll always be hard to re-adjust to a single joystick with limited camera control but once I sunk my teeth into this one, I adored everything about it and could easily see how Tomb Raider became such a household name over the years. There is something very special here. I discovered that it wasn't always Crystal Dynamics, it was Core Design who started it all and I'd like to believe that if you chisel around their logo, you find that their full name was HardCore. Because that's exactly what the original Tomb Raider was, balls to the wall. Of all the games I played in 2019 across modern and retro, I'm absolutely confident that Tomb Raider killed me the most this year alongside Sekiro.
I often love being thrown into a dungeon with little exposition and venturing through a huge adventure all on my own. I never could have predicted that Tomb Raider would carry this weight so confidently and often made me think of the likes of Demon's Souls or the Thief series, with its mysterious and powerful atmosphere. Outside of the opening minutes, 99% of this adventure was spent in the hollow world beneath Earth with barely any sunlight, a crushing and dangerous vibe much like some of the Metroid franchise. Music was extremely sparse and most of the game was just that cold slicing silence or some crackling cavern sounds in the distance. I basked in the silence for awhile but will admit, I started adding my own ambience to the game after a few levels in.
While there are a few human enemies throughout the game, 99% of the enemies are predator beasts from wolves, lions, bears, bats, and later on apparently demonic and otherwordly creatures in the final act that went places I never expected. Enemy types that just further emphasis how alone and lost you are. And while this constant oppressive closed in atmosphere might sound like it could be repetitive, visually it never was. There are about four major arcs throughout the game with a few short cutscenes in between every few levels when Lara travels to a new location, but even level to level, the settings, textures, colors, architecture, it all constantly changed and evolved. This game was a joy to look at from start to finish and always varied. Probably one of my favorite and most impressive things about the game all around.
The controls are often what turn people away nowadays, it even did for me back in the day! You really need to play the tutorial and spend some time with just getting a feel for the game early on. The difficulty curve felt consistently fair to me overall and naturally, you can expect that mastery of Lara's moves and everything you learn through the game will be ultimately tested by the end. After a level or two picking this game up afterwards felt familiar and I'm sure jumping into the sequels down the road will be easier to adjust to as well. Either way you cut it, the controls are complex and navigating this game is nearly a puzzle in itself. Every move and jump must be calculated, because of the traps, or severe fall damage that easily gets you killed. My guess was that this game would be like a 3D Flashback / Another World and it really was. A set of continual running jumps is what I took issue with the most and seemed extra finicky, however there was literally only one room with a timed puzzle and fire trap platforms that required a set of quick and precise running jumps in a row. So luckily that problem was never a real issue. Once you get into the groove of the intricate controls and mechanics, I actually think what Core did here for 1996 holds up very well in a fascinating way.
Save points are sprinkled throughout the levels and much like finely crafted classics of the old, merely seeing a checkpoint from afar was such a huge sigh or relief. They are however, finite and can only be used once. In the massive levels with branching paths, it was often smart to try and get some work done before using a checkpoint. That was always a risk though. You will die a lot in this game, a LOT, and have to backtrack a lot of extra work at times. That's the * next to my playtime noted in the beginning, all levels added up to 12 hours worth for me, but I would wager it was realistically about 20 some hours in between all my deaths and nailing down some trial and error sections.
It was interesting how the game was level based. Across the four main arcs there are often exits and entrances chaining levels together that make it feel like one huge area, along with a part or two backtracking to an old level, but for the most part the level system worked very nicely and these areas still felt massive. The only items you really come across are small and large medpacks, along with ammo for your various guns. Items carry over between the levels and your save file. You'll definitely want to take your time and hope to find some secrets along the way for some extra stock. I did have over a dozen medpacks per type to spare in the end though with what felt like unlimited ammo for my powerful weapons, so my pace paid off. Combat is actually pretty fun with Lara's acrobatic abilities, dual wielding pistols, magnums, or uzzi's while she can back flip and side flip all over the place while raining down bullets was always fun. Early on there's some nasty traps that throw animals right in your face, then later on the demonic type enemies can start shooting you with projectiles. A few bosses were just bullet sponges. Overall, the combat and gunplay is obviously secondary to everything else and Core seemed to know that with the first entry here. The majority of this entire game is navigating these dangerous and huge dungeons. If you ever wanted an "Oops all Dungeons" variant of Zelda, this is practically that.
The final act did bring things down a smudge. There was one level that'd I'd call a "human" level in a game like this (Natla's Mines), Lara loses her guns and you have to navigate this big mining cave that was also the least interesting visually. There were some weird new things in this level that you never saw before, so it seemed a bit more experimental and not in a good way. Then the final two levels looked like they took place in hell! A fleshy tomb chalk full of tricks and traps along linear paths with plenty of demons to fight. I actually loved how these last two levels looked. But they were far more linear than the rest of the game and action heavy. Not surprising for a final stretch, but not the best levels to me. Hardly weak enough to hurt the overall journey though.
I was pretty optimistic going into this game but never dreamed I would end up loving it this much. This was a rich experience I'll remember for sure. Now I look forward to checking out the other classic Core entries, some that even sound harder than the original, but there is a lot that I see from those that don't look quite as appealing. More of the "human" levels and less tombs. Who knows, either way the very first 1996 adventure here was amazing for me. It requires a lot of patience and re-learning to adapt to its dated nature. Thus I think this one could be a hard sell for others to go back and play it fresh or maybe even for fans to revisit. There's a lot to love and respect here though, paving the way for 3D game design, with plenty of elements that would still be nice to see more of today. I'm glad this was more than a historical viewing and really took me be surprise.
Stats: Caves Kills: 13 Pickups: 4 Secrets: 0/3 Time: 14:01
City of Vilcabamba Kills: 24 Pickups: 9 Secrets: 1/3 Time: 27:43
Lost Valley Kills: 18 Pickups: 24 Secrets: 3/5 Time: 50:41
Tomb of Qualopec Kills: 7 Pickups: 3 Secrets: 0/3 Time: 25:46
St Francis' Folly Kills: 31 Pickups: 22 Secrets: 0/4 Time: 55:10
Colosseum Kills: 23 Pickups: 9 Secrets: 1/3 Time: 46:58
Palace Midas Kills: 67 Pickups: 22 Secrets: 2/3 Time: 1:33:17
The Cistern Kills: 40 Pickups: 25 Secrets: 1/3 Time: 1:12:45
Tomb of Tihocan Kills: 36 Pickups: 63 Secrets: 1/2 Time: 1:19:44
City of Khamoon Kills: 18 Pickups: 28 Secrets: 2/3 Time: 1:00:56
Obelisk of Khamoon Kills: 14 Pickups: 35 Secrets: 1/3 Time: 58:14
Sanctuary of the Scion Kills: 13 Pickups: 26 Secrets: 0/1 Time: 50:40
Natla's Mines Kills: 4 Pickups: 29 Secrets: 0/3 Time: 1:37:02
Atlantis Kills: 48 Pickups: 66 Secrets: 1/3 Time: 57:50
The Great Pyramid Kills: 11 Pickups: 11 Secrets: 0/3 Time: 31:22
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Post by Ex on Dec 31, 2019 22:02:50 GMT -5
XeogredI like what I see in the screenshots, and your review made the experience sound intriguing. Maybe there really was more to Tomb Raider's initial success than simply providing a large breasted Indiana Jones.
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Post by Sarge on Dec 31, 2019 22:19:12 GMT -5
Well, interestingly, Toby Gard left Core Design after the first game, mainly because he didn't like the way they were marketing the games. All the emphasis on boobs and sex appeal, whereas he had a different vision (although still obviously having an attractive main character). He apparently came back on with Crystal Dynamics when they took over, though. Apparently he wanted to break some of the expected norms of games at the time, so he went British heroine with American enemies to change the formula a bit. EDIT: Really interesting stories from behind the scenes at Core Design: www.eurogamer.net/articles/2016-10-27-20-years-on-the-tomb-raider-story-told-by-the-people-who-were-there
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Post by Xeogred on Dec 31, 2019 23:11:15 GMT -5
Gonna need a bit to read that novel Sarge , haha. Nice find though. Some other reviews/articles about the game in general that I want to get through: www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/187601/untold_riches_the_intricate_.phptombraiders.net/stella/tomb1.htmlvgalmanac.com/reviews/retro-game-review-tomb-raider/Ex : I'm surprised I got through that without any Double D polygon jokes, but yeah. I think this came across decently enough, but I probably could have spelled it out even more with an emphasis on how surprisingly dark this game was all around. Dark as in, just really oppressive and super "serious", outside of the few sparse campy old CGI cutscenes. Those were goofy and I'm not going to lie, I have no idea what the little storyline was about but I didn't care at all. The experience aligned closely to all the game comparisons I dropped there. Lara herself seems pretty badass back in the day too. No denying they went hard on the fanservice marketing though, ANY gamer who grew up through the 90's had to have known about her. Sounds like that's what even turned Sarge away back in the day? I think it's hilarious to wonder if some people who bought the game based off the sexy character / cover art, were in for a very rude awakening when they played the game though. I dabbled into 2 today as well. They smoothed out some polygons and graphics. The first level was around the Great Wall of China I think haha, outdoors, and visually looked really impressive. I could see the franchise never capturing the dreaded vibes of the original again though, which maybe goes along with some staff changes Sarge dug up. But who knows.
That said, I definitely need a break. Maybe I'll flip flop tomorrow like I do sometimes, but I did kind of push myself to finish this on my vacation and before New Years. For the rest of the classic games when I get around to them, I'll probably only do one level at a time. This game definitely pushed my patience after some long sessions, but that was my fault.
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Post by Sarge on Dec 31, 2019 23:14:30 GMT -5
Yeah, it took me a bit to digest myself. But it's fascinating to know what goes on behind the scenes.
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Post by Xeogred on Dec 31, 2019 23:20:44 GMT -5
It's almost like... imagine how sprite swaps were back in the 8bit era, maybe this is the real main character to Tomb Raider, but they swapped in some chick for America? On a random note, it was kind of odd how there was only one T-Rex in the game. I mean yeah, it's hilarious there was a T-Rex, but I'm surprised there was only one and it was way early on. That moment is still funny to think about, one of the first parts I got stuck on for a bit.
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Post by Sarge on Jan 1, 2020 23:53:57 GMT -5
First beat of the new year. As you might guess, it's Brain Lord.
So, let's get this out of the way right now: I'd always thought that the game was extremely puzzle heavy, but if I'm being honest? There's not that many interesting riddles in the game. No, more of the puzzles are more of the navigation and block-pushing kind. You know, basically Sokoban, with a few twists along the way. Thankfully, I've also played a lot of games with this conceit, so I was able to solve most of those puzzles with a little thought. There were a few tricky ones, though!
I only consulted a guide a couple of times, mainly to figure out if I was on the right track because I'd doubled back over and over in a particular area, thinking the progression should be there, but nope, way back at the start or whatnot. And one in particular was really dumb - the rocks constantly move. I thought I needed an alternate route to a door, but no, I just needed to leave and come back. Anyway, these little snafus would have maybe cost me another hour of time otherwise, so I don't feel too bad about it.
The last area has some of the more annoying navigation puzzles, though. You get a completely dark room you have to work your way through. Those can be a pain. I finally figured out what was going on with the last one; there were floors that would pull you back, so you had to keep fighting the flow. This was another case, too, where once you got your last magic spell (Phaser), you needed to go back and explore at the start, as you'd get access to a new area. Using the X-Ray Glasses really helps with this, and if I'd been smart, I'd used them more often to denote where things were.
Combat is a'ight. I don't think it lights the world on fire, but it gets the job done. I liked the morning star-type weapons the best - nice power and range on them. The Jade system was pretty neat, too, even if you could overlevel in one spot. Although that didn't matter much, either, because there are multiple areas (especially the dark areas in Droog Cave) where enemies will constantly leave behind EXP orbs for your helpers. My chosen combo in the end was the Life Jade (HP regen) and the Power Jade (+20 strength boost at Level 19).
Oh, and I shredded the last boss with boomerangs. You could try to get in close with something else, but that would be dumb. The attack difference between the star and the boomerangs were six points, and I could pump in a lot more damage that way.
The graphics rate as functional. There were a few nice-looking things, but I think the MC looks a little goofy. Enemy variety also comes up short. But the soundtrack has some really cool tunes in there, so definitely a plus there in the A/V package.
The story boils down to mercenary tracking down Dragon Scales to getting caught up in a world-ending threat, so standard material. Sadly, the localization really could have used some work; I caught several misspellings and awkward translations along the way. I'm actually a little surprised, because I think The 7th Saga did a better job on that front. Must have been a B-team involved. Of course, this was only a year before Enix of America shut down, so it wouldn't surprise me if they were trying to save on some costs.
Lest it sound like I'm down on the game, I think the core loop of the game is really solid. I think it's a very good game, although not quite at the top tier of the SNES library. I like all the Quintet trilogy better, for instance, but it probably slots in just under the worst of those. So I'd say this rates a 7.5/10. Definitely a good way to spend around 11.5 hours, especially if you're hankering for an action-RPG.
(Also, just as an aside: did this feel like it had a little bit of Brandish's DNA in it? I almost felt like Falcom could have put this one out.)
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