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Post by Ex on Dec 9, 2019 12:51:55 GMT -5
Well, I could definitely cheat a bit and play through Hitler no Fukkatsu. Absolutely a top-tier game. If you've never played through the original incarnation, by all means I encourage you to do so. There's plenty of subtle differences, besides the obvious uncensored stuff.
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Post by Xeogred on Dec 9, 2019 14:57:43 GMT -5
Is Sarge's "comfort zone" a bit of an inside joke between you two? Though Sarge yourself, always brings it up too. It's definitely a little funny at this point. But yeah Sarge, you've clearly fleshed out the 8bit era and sidescrolling platformers. I think the 3D space is where you have some more work to do, heh. I'm not sure if I have a genre specialty myself, rather I've just kind of mastered a handful of franchises here and there probably. Sarge is the min/maxer.
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Post by Ex on Dec 9, 2019 15:14:32 GMT -5
Is Sarge's "comfort zone" a bit of an inside joke between you two? Not really. I've been trying to get Sarge into flight sims for a few years now off and on. At least he likes Descent though. I did eventually convince Sarge to play through Thief and King's Field: The Ancient City - and he very much enjoyed both. Maybe we can get him to play through the original Deus Ex someday! Sarge if you want to play a good action-RPG before year's end, I still recommend Soma Bringer, Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection, and at this point would recommend Forever Kingdom.
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Post by Sarge on Dec 9, 2019 15:44:45 GMT -5
Yep, Ex has consistently pushed me to play some games outside of my usual genres. More often than not, it works. Even if I don't love them quite as much, I feel edified for having made the attempt. Also, don't forget about Ghost Trick and Brandish: The Dark Revenant! I don't want to say I'm a "min-maxer", but I've definitely figured out over the years the sorts of games I really love, and probably more importantly, what I don't usually like. Or do like, but not enough to see them through to the end. For instance, I want to love SRPGs, but find that I usually tap out before I hit the end. That's why I was happy to finally finish Fire Emblem this year, though. RTS is another genre I don't play much. And there's no question I have gaps in my FPS lineage, although I find myself really enjoying the older games in the genre. I've got Zwei: TII queued up for when I get a new PC. Soma Bringer would be a good one to play, though.
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Post by Ex on Dec 9, 2019 15:53:28 GMT -5
Soma Bringer would be a good one to play, though. I honestly think you'd quite enjoy the game, once you got into it. The beginning is a little slow, and the first area you play though is not all that interesting. But the game snowballs from there into something really great. Some of the game mechanics have a lot of similarities to Xenoblade, due to sharing the same developer around the same time period. Honestly Soma Bringer is Monolith's answer to " Xenoblade for the DS". (I still don't understand why Nintendo of America balked at localizing it.) In all seriousness, I enjoyed Soma Bringer more than Xenoblade. I don't want to get your hopes too high (or anybody else's), but I do think if you finish Soma Bringer you won't regret it, and will probably feel it's at least an 8/10. If nothing else the OST alone is SOOOOO worth it. Definitely use high quality headphones/earbuds! PS Don't forget about this gem either, so damn good!
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Post by Sarge on Dec 9, 2019 16:01:57 GMT -5
Ha, I did forget about it! I forget about a lot of games these days... so many options.
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Post by Sarge on Dec 10, 2019 15:04:10 GMT -5
So this year, none of the new-to-me titles went above an 8/10. But in the interests of putting together a top 5, here we go! In my top spot, it's a fight between a cult classic and an actual classic, and... honestly, I'm not going to pick between them. I like them both! So the co-champions are: Blaster Master rocks, and making that repeat, legit run makes me feel accomplished. It's a little too fiddly when you get the wall-running power-up, and the overhead sections could have been better, but it still deserves those good memories. Shadow Hearts follows a very typical RPG structure (outside of the Judgment Ring), but the plot is anything but. Definitely a cult classic worth playing. Next, a surprising entry from Master System Month. It took some doing, but I finally found a platformer that really spoke to me. Very fun, with some exploratory elements. Now, a recent beat from a series that needs no introduction: I'd read that Mega Man X3 wasn't as good as MMX2. I think that's wrong. Both were fun, but I give the edge to MMX3. Rounding out the top 5, I'm going with... It was either this or Mushihime-Sama, but there were points where I almost felt like I could get through Progear on limited quarters. Mushi takes my honorable mention slot. For repeat games: - Demon's Crest always gets top billing from me. Pity there isn't more like it. 10/10 - Gargoyle's Quest similarly ranks highly. Incredible atmosphere for an early Game Boy title. 9/10 - Devil May Cry absolutely holds up, and now that I've beaten a Resident Evil game, I can see the roots. 9/10 - Batman: The Video Game could be the best superhero game on the NES. 9/10 - Ape Escape was creative in its time, and it still has charm now. Outside of the era's technical foibles, the game holds up masterfully. 8.5/10 - TMNT: The Arcade Game might be a mostly-mindless quarter-muncher, but dang if it isn't fun after all these years. 8.5/10 - Operation C translates the Contra experience to GB better than it ever should have. 8/10 - Castlevania II: Simon's Quest has its rough edges, but stands out as a fun exploratory platformer. The retranslation fixes a few cryptic elements from the official release. 8/10
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Post by Xeogred on Dec 10, 2019 18:55:21 GMT -5
Glad to see Blaster Master leveled up for you. I recall you being a little lukewarm to this replay initially. And heck yeah, DMC!
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Post by Xeogred on Dec 23, 2019 14:55:50 GMT -5
And one more!
The Misadventures of Tron Bonne (PSX)
A supplemental spinoff in between the two Mega Man Legends releases, this time featuring the bad girl pirate Tron and her lego robot Servebots. I had a friend obsessed with this game back in the day, when I had only played some of the Legends games. I took awhile to get to this one since I always heard it had a weirder format and was just "minigames". Somewhat true, but most of these modes are pretty fun and it's still got shades of the Legends games in there. More Legends is a good thing and it'll always be criminal that this series didn't continue into the PS2 era. While not as grand as the Legends games to me, this one has a lot of personality with Tron being pretty colorful and aggressive, along with the goofy Servebots. I wonder what parents thought of one of the opening stages being about robbing a bank? Heh. Any fan of the Legends games definitely needs to check this one out too.
I mentioned the "cargo/harbor" puzzle missions being tough for me in the Now Playing thread, though just to be clear, I enjoyed them a lot all the same too. The Farm action stages were the weakest part to me, but probably only took about 20 minutes total.
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Post by Ex on Dec 23, 2019 16:52:23 GMT -5
Xeogred I'm glad you played through The Misadventures of Tron Bonne, and also enjoyed doing so. I think far too many Legends fans ignored this great game. Sure it wasn't Mega Man Legends 3, but Tron Bonne's game was still a fantastic gaiden all its own. A lot of Legends fans missed out on something truly special by ignoring it. This was my review if you're bored: gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ps/197949-the-misadventures-of-tron-bonne/reviews/164986
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