|
Post by bonesnapdeez on Aug 16, 2023 18:05:50 GMT -5
Hydlide series is dope in general. One prominent case where the "haters" are just 100% wrong.
|
|
|
Post by toei on Aug 16, 2023 22:16:42 GMT -5
Also historically important in the history of the ARPG. Wasn't the original Hydlide the first top-down ARPG? Super Hydlide (aka Hydlide 3) is dope too. It's ugly and you have to take weight, hunger and fatigue into account (as well as morality - trust me, you don't want to attack too many of the peaceful monsters), all things that made me avoid it for a few years, but eventually I gave it a shot, quickly got used to the graphics, and found these restrictions gave it a simulation feel that reinforced the feeling of adventure. And it takes you to a lot of wild places for a game originally from 1987.
|
|
|
Post by Sarge on Aug 16, 2023 22:41:22 GMT -5
Yeah, basically. Hydlide suffered from being divorced from its original context - by the time we got any version of it, it had been surpassed by a lot of stuff, especially The Legend of Zelda. I mean, we didn't get the NES game until 1989 - maybe it would have done a lot better in 1986.
It was indeed one of the first ARPGs, along with Dragon Slayer and Courageous Perseus, the latter of which I know nothing about.
|
|
|
Post by toei on Aug 17, 2023 0:08:02 GMT -5
Interesting that Courageous Perseus looks like the most elaborate of the three (though it's apparently the worst of them, if that article is right). A lot of the core components of the genre are already visible there, all the different types of land and monsters, etc. I'd read those Dark Ages of JRPGs entries years ago but forgot about a lot of them.
I don't know if I talked about it in this thread, but I did try to start OverBlood 2 last month. It definitely seems to be one of those ambitious games that tries to go beyond the limits of an ordinary video game, mixing adventure, third-person shooting, Tomb Raider-style platforming, and an epic science-fiction story that Makes You Think. In other words, it was both an early attempt at doing what big games do now, which I always find interesting, and at being a major game on the scale of a FF7 (which it draws some influence from) and Metal Gear Solid. It doesn't necessarily succeed at most things, from what I understand, though apparently the story is genuinely pretty good. It's by the Level 5 founder, who wrote and directed the game just before founding his company. But it's much more text and dialogue heavy than I expected, and I wasn't in the mood for all that reading and listening at the time. Looks like it's about 50% story, 50% action/adventure. Maybe 60/40. I also wish there were a subtitle option because sometimes I'll miss some words in the voiced conversations, as the English version was PAL-only and everyone speaks with a British accent. I'd like to play more of it before the year is over and see if it's worth sticking to it, though. It's certainly more interesting than the first OverBlood, which came off as a so-so Resident Evil clone with more puzzles and less action.
|
|
|
Post by bonesnapdeez on Aug 17, 2023 8:29:18 GMT -5
Courageous Perseus is trash. I've played the PC-88 version. Always cool to see an ARPG that ancient, but it plays like ass.
Hydlide II is pretty cool and no one talks about it, probably as there were no console ports. It's pretty accessible though, even in a physical sense -- obtaining the MSX cart isn't hard at all.
Virtual Hydlide is the best of the bunch though. Delightfully morose.
|
|
|
Post by Ex on Aug 17, 2023 10:44:41 GMT -5
gamefaqs.gamespot.com/games/franchise/1548-hydlideWatching some Youtube play of Super Hydlide on Genesis, it looks pretty good actually... might check it out. I'm not sure how the Hydlide lineage works out. Which games are sequels, which ones are remakes or ports, which identically named entries are completely different in internal content based on their platform... it's confusing. I wouldn't doubt this is an underrated series, though.
|
|
|
Post by Sarge on Aug 17, 2023 11:08:28 GMT -5
Yeah, I was going to mention Super Hydlide, I think it's actually considered to be the best one we got.
Also, Super Rambo Special seems to be imitating the Hydlide style.
|
|
|
Post by bonesnapdeez on Aug 17, 2023 12:01:49 GMT -5
There are really just four core Hydlide games. Some of the ports have additional content (which is why Famicom Hydlide was called "Hydlide Special" for example -- it expands on the computer versions).
If I were to recommend one version of each game, Hydlide -- NES Hydlide II -- MSX Hydlide III (Super Hydlide) -- Genesis And the final one is a Saturn exclusive...
|
|
|
Post by Ex on Aug 17, 2023 12:34:15 GMT -5
Thanks for the clarification bonesnapdeez, I'll throw the first three on my POWKIDDY V90.
|
|
|
Post by Ex on Aug 17, 2023 15:21:58 GMT -5
|
|