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Post by Ex on Nov 14, 2018 11:33:16 GMT -5
This thread is about old games you love, that you wish retro gamers would give a chance to nowadays. These are games you never see people talking about playing on forums, forgotten gems that you've known the pleasure of playing. In this thread you can shine a spotlight on such experiences, and mention why you think they deserve people's attention. - I'll go first... The Immortal | Genesis | 1993
Why people don't play it: Most people don't even know The Immortal exists. Those that do, may have played this game for two minutes, died a few times, had no idea what they were doing, then gave up in disgust. "Too hard."
Why people should play it: The Immortal is a hybrid of adventure game and action-dungeon crawler. You explore a huge dungeon, solve intelligent puzzles, fight nasty beasts, and survive with no hand holding. This game has amazing animation, gore galore, an ominous OST, tremendous atmosphere, and is intelligently designed from top to bottom. It even has a decent plot (yes there are non-violent NPCs). The Genesis version is the BEST version of this game.
A good game for: Players who value difficulty and an experience that respects their intelligence. Players who love dungeon crawling. Players who value a feeling of accomplishment after surviving a serious challenge.
Not a game for: Impatient weak players who give up easily when a game bears its teeth. --- Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War | PlayStation 2 | 2004
Why people don't play it: 99% of gamers think flight simulators are complex boring dry drivel. They've not actually spent much time with good flight simulators, so their frame of reference isn't accurate. If they have played a flight simulator, it was likely an old one that didn't have a strong story component to buoy the experience. They see that this game is number 5, so they think they'll be lost understanding what's going on.
Why people should play it: First off this game's plot is standalone, you don't have to have played the first four ACs to understand it. Secondly the simulation here is more arcade than realistic. It won't take you long to learn to fly. Thirdly, Unsung War has an incredibly badass plot - a better plot actually than nearly any JRPG I've seen. Lastly this game is tremendously fun to actually play. You haven't lived until you've dog fought an entire squadron 30,000 feet in the air while Spanish guitar shreds.
A good game for: Players who can get outside their comfort zone and bother trying a new genre once in a while. Players who value a good story, and can handle themselves under serious pressure. Players who enjoy white knuckled battles where complete attention is required.
Not a game for: Players who have difficulty navigating spatial 3D in a video game whilst trying to shoot missiles and not crash into a mountain. Players who can't read a radar or understand basic aviation terminology. --- Lost Kingdoms | Lost Kingdoms II | GameCube | 2002-2003
Why people don't play it: Most people have never heard of these games. Those that have heard of these games, read that they are card based, and got the wrong idea. They thought the combat would be turn-based, where the player manages a virtual hand of cards and has to battle an AI in a game of fantasy poker. These are GameCube exclusive RPGs, most people who loved JRPGs during the sixth gen did all their JRPG-ing on PS2.
Why people should play it: The card based combat is in REAL time. You do manage a hand of cards, but when you unleash a card it turns into a monster that helps you fight on a real time battlefield. And enemies are visible on the battlefield. By the way, these games are actually dungeon crawlers more than they are JRPGs. The player enters an area and explores it, while collecting treasure and killing monsters - via monsters. That's right you collect new monsters as you go along - it's a little like Shin Megami Tensei in that regard. Yes there are plots to both games, with cutscenes and such... but traditional JRPGs these are not. Fantastic atmosphere. Excellent OSTs. Wholly unique gameplay. THESE ARE ACTION-RPGs not card based simulations like Magic The Gathering or Yu-Gi-Oh!.
A good game for: Players who enjoy fighting through a dungeon (albeit the dungeons here are sometimes outside areas - not just in brick laden corridors). Players who enjoy collecting monsters and making them do battle. Players who don't mind solving simple environment puzzles from time to time. Players who value fresh ideas and unique gameplay.
Not a game for: Players who can't wrap their head around tactical card usage in real time. Players who expect a traditional JRPG experience and refuse to appreciate something outside the norm. Players who want non-stop cutscenes with grindy random battles starring an amnesiac protagonist and a band of teenagers saving the world from a vague big bad. - I'll post more later whether you like it or not.
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Post by toei on Nov 14, 2018 12:09:46 GMT -5
I briefly tried The Immortal many, many years ago and got the impression it was trash, like a lot of Western console games. Maybe I'll try it again soon. What makes the Genesis version the best?
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Post by Sarge on Nov 14, 2018 14:01:51 GMT -5
I've never gotten The Immortal to click for me, either, but that's on me. I've not taken long enough to grok the combat. It was originally a PC game (Apple IIgs), and was ported all over the place. I played the NES version, but whoa, the deaths are pretty gruesome in the Genesis/Apple IIgs versions. It's like Bionic Commando all over again!
EDIT: Man, I dig this track from the NES version.
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Post by Sarge on Nov 14, 2018 17:28:58 GMT -5
So, I've actually been trying to come up with games that don't get talked about much that I wish folks would play, but I'm drawing a bit of a blank. I almost feel like you have to go with games that were even overlooked back in their era, and to some degree that helps with a few choices...
...outside of the obvious, of course. King's Field plays the role of that series that, judged on initial impressions, seems like garbage. Another one that really fits well would be Brandish. While I didn't care for the original SNES game (well, port), the remake on PSP is muy bueno. I'd love for folks to dig into the series, and when I get the urge, I'll probably dive into Brandish 2 myself.
Thinking of how I felt with some games growing up, I wish more folks would have tried out more games on NES outside of the Nintendo-published landscape. Not that those games aren't fantastic, of course, but there are so many games on the system worth playing. I've been really happy with this month's Natsume theme, since I've been singing those games' praises for a while now. I also wish folks would give the NES RPGs in general more love. Stuff like Willow and Crystalis are very much worth playing still. And even with the newest Dragon Quest release, the Dragon Warrior games were criminally ignored back in the day. Dragon Warrior III and Dragon Warrior IV stand as two of the greatest 8-bit RPGs ever, and more folks should play them. They get talked about, though, so they might not quite fit here.
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Post by Ex on Nov 14, 2018 17:31:53 GMT -5
What makes the Genesis version the best? The game was released on Amiga, Apple IIgs, Atari ST, DOS, Genesis, and NES. Graphically the Genesis version stands toe to toe with the best PC versions (Amiga). The Genesis and NES versions were developed last in line, so they had the final revisions to balancing and stability. The NES version has smaller levels and lacks a level that the Genesis version has. The Genesis levels are the largest of all the ports from what I've read. The NES version completely omits the amazing death animations, whereas the Genesis revels in them, and IIRC has a few new death animations added in. The Genesis version has the best OST IMO (more low key and ominous - thus atmospheric), and has an easy control scheme. You might like this: www.nowgamer.com/the-making-of-immortal/
Here's some of the death animations:
But those are just the icing on the cake, the base experience is tremendous.
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Post by Ex on Nov 14, 2018 17:35:43 GMT -5
King's Field plays the role of that series It's only the best first person dungeon crawling series ever made. No big deal. I'll probably dive into Brandish 2 myself. As someone who has beaten Brandish 2: The Planet Buster on SFC, I can assure you, it's worth your time.
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Post by Sarge on Nov 14, 2018 18:08:50 GMT -5
You know, it used to be a bit more popular, but you almost never hear of folks that talk about Descent anymore. I love what it did with the DOOM formula, combining it with 6-degrees-of-freedom flight. Still one of my favorite series, even if the third one kinda fell flat and I've never finished it. Of course, I didn't actually play DOOM at all then, so while I might have known it was somewhat inspired in a lot of ways by that game, Descent was a sort of "safer" alternative. Plus, a demo version ( Destination Quartzon) came with my first IBM-compatible PC.
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Post by anayo on Nov 14, 2018 18:55:04 GMT -5
You know, it used to be a bit more popular, but you almost never hear of folks that talk about Descent anymore. I love what it did with the DOOM formula, combining it with 6-degrees-of-freedom flight. Still one of my favorite series, even if the third one kinda fell flat and I've never finished it. Of course, I didn't actually play DOOM at all then, so while I might have known it was somewhat inspired in a lot of ways by that game, Descent was a sort of "safer" alternative. Plus, a demo version ( Destination Quartzon) came with my first IBM-compatible PC. I've been meaning to try this one out. It looks really appealing.
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Post by Sarge on Nov 14, 2018 23:21:25 GMT -5
I'd love to see someone give it a go. It was also famous for giving some folks motion sickness back in the day. I didn't have any issues, but others might. It can be quite disorienting, since you're unchained from flat maps.
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Post by Ex on Nov 15, 2018 0:11:44 GMT -5
Eternal Ring | PlayStation 2 | 2000
Why people don't play it: This was an early release for PS2, and early adopters of the system weren't too keen on a first person action-RPG. Some folks thought it was another King's Field in disguise (it's not). Critics at the time gave this game lukewarm or bad reviews, because critics at the time cared more about graphics and well established genre showboats. (Oh my how things have changed since then. ) The cover art shows a dude holding a ring instead of a gun. Why people should play it: Eternal Ring starts with the player landing on a foreboding island, they must explore and conquer all dangers within. That means this is an adventurous experience, which focuses on exploration. The first person viewpoint proves to enhance the immersion, and the deep magic system - based on wearing rings - keeps the combat interesting. An atmosphere of persistent mystery permeates the entire experience.
A good game for: Folks who like slower paced action-RPGs and enjoy exploring a world in first person. Fans of dungeon crawlers in general (although half the game is overworld). Those who can appreciate a melancholy OST. Fans of Jewel Master. Ring fetishists.
Not a game for: People who can't handle unusual control schemes. People who get hopelessly lost when exploring in first person. People who need to be guided by the nose as to how to progress. People averse to killing alien babies.
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