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Post by spiffsneed on Nov 6, 2023 16:54:40 GMT -5
Ex If it piques your curiosity any further, I really liked Little King's Story when it came out - enough to later pick up New Little King's Story for Vita so I could play it without the hassle of setting up the Wii. It's a double favorite of mine because it's not only a Cing joint, but it's also directed by Yoshiro Kimura. The gameplay is kind of a cross between Pikmin and the loop of a typical Kimura/Kimura-influenced game (e.g. Moon, Chulip, Chibi Robo). Thumbs up for sure! Xeogred A couple shmups I can recommend: - Big Bang Mini (DS) - This is a pretty non-traditional shmup and flies pretty under the radar as a budget release from a no-name publisher and developer, but it's one of the hidden gems for DS that I will endlessly advocate for. The core game conceit is that you move your 'ship' on the lower screen around with the stylus, and you swipe upwards to fire your ammo at enemies on the upper screen. The twist is that your ammo, if it misses its target, will explode and send shrapnel back down toward your ship, so you need to be judicious with your firing and balance shooting and moving your ship.
- Space Invaders Extreme (DS/PSP) - I haven't completed this one, but I played it and enjoyed it greatly upon release. It's a pretty intense game for something carrying the Space Invaders name
- Salamander Portable (PSP) - A collection of Salamander/Life Force games, but I'm recommending it because it also contains the only home port of the arcade game Xexex, a superb shooter that was unfortunately butchered in its international arcade release.
Made it to Chapter 15 in Ghost Trick (looks like there are 17, so I imagine I'll finish up in the next couple of days), and it pretty much gets better and better as the game progresses (aside from a sole sticking point for me). Great game! I'll be giving my full thoughts soon
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Post by Sarge on Nov 6, 2023 17:34:21 GMT -5
Ghost Trick was the one specifically I wanted Ex to recommend, because he's the one that recommended it to me a while back. I put it off and put it off, but was wowed once I finally got it. Fantastic adventure game.
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Post by Xeogred on Nov 6, 2023 19:09:03 GMT -5
- Salamander Portable (PSP) - A collection of Salamander/Life Force games, but I'm recommending it because it also contains the only home port of the arcade game Xexex, a superb shooter that was unfortunately butchered in its international arcade release.
That's a nice deep cut. I've played most of the Gradius/Salamander games and their various ports, but never Xexex. I'll give it a look!
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Post by Ex on Nov 6, 2023 21:13:44 GMT -5
New Little King's Story for Vita Thanks for the input on Little King's Story. I considered getting one of its ports (Vita or PC), but there was some significant graphic and gameplay changes after the Wii original. Not saying the Vita/PC version isn't possibly better, but I want to play the Wii original because that's the one CiNG had the most direct influence over. >Ghost Trick / Great game! The ending is really wild, hope that hasn't been spoiled for you. I put it off and put it off, but was wowed once I finally got it. I wager you'll say that about Last Window someday.
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Post by Ex on Nov 6, 2023 23:11:14 GMT -5
Title: NanostrayPlatform: Nintendo DS Region release played: USA Year of release: 2005 Developer: Shin'en Publisher: Majesco Graphics: 4/5 Audio: 4/5 Challenge: 4/5 Fun factor: 3/5 Quick Thoughts: Nanostray is an overhead (well slightly skewed) 3D shmup that plays like the classical vertical scrolling variety. The same developer previously created the Iridion shmups on GBA. Being a DS game the bottom screen is shoehorned in but just barely, relegated to weapon select and status info. There's a multiplayer mode for two players to fight competitively for highest points -just as boring as it sounds- but only requires a single cart. I wouldn't call Nanostray an ambitious shmup, but given the dearth of good shmups on DS, it still manages to be one of the best on the system (if you are unaware of Ketsui Death Label: Kizuna Jigoku Tachi as most are). Enjoy that crystal clear dozen year old video compression technology!
+Strong 3D pixels for an early DS game. +Eurosynth OST manages to be pleasant. +Controls are tight and auto-fire is available. +Some good multi-stage boss battles. +Unlimited continues that you will need to finish 8 stages. -It's a tough shmup but not always in fair ways. -You can only select your primary weapon by using the touchscreen, and yes that is completely stupid. -You have to manually scan the boss upon their intro cinematic by using the touchscreen, otherwise a warning siren never stops blaring. -The bullethell becomes bit monotonous and out of balance at times. -The radar on the bottom screen seemed superfluous, when I tried to watch it I usually crashed. Ex's time to beat: 45 minutes Ex's rating: 7/10
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Post by Xeogred on Nov 11, 2023 18:06:42 GMT -5
Got a chunk into Soma Bringer today, unlocking more stuff. Definitely digging it. It seems like some of the "Log" entries in the menu aren't translated at all or something though, Ex? There isn't even text or anything. So I'm just wondering if that's a graphical glitch on my end or what.
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Post by toei on Nov 11, 2023 18:23:06 GMT -5
Xeogred How do you have the screens set up? Are you playing with both on top of one another in fullscreen like that? When I emulated a couple DS games in recent times I would usually have the One LCD option most of the time (so top screen alone, fullscreen) but then I'd have to switch to two screens every 10 minutes. And that was with games that don't make heavy use of the second screen. I don't think that'd work with Soma Bringer... I probably need to mess with those options again. Something about emulating two screens on one just looks wrong for me.
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Post by Xeogred on Nov 11, 2023 19:31:29 GMT -5
Yeah, I'm still kind of adjusting it as I play so far. I did try your idea with just one of the screens fullscreen, but it doesn't seem ideal for this game at all with all the info on the bottom screen. I think by making the dual screens horizontal I get a little more real estate with the two screens, so I'm liking that more than vertical I think. But it's odd.
I'm getting some weird graphical glitch when I fullscreen too, a frozen frame of the screen will be in top left there. If I try vertical mode, it does it on the left as well. I don't think this was happening when I fullscreened just the top screen alone. Not the worst thing in the world but it is weird. At least it's a frozen static frame, so I move around in the two big main windows just fine and that isn't happening in the glitchy top image... if that makes any sense.
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Post by toei on Nov 11, 2023 19:52:20 GMT -5
Oh yeah, there's a fix for that. I think you just have to set it to OpenGL.
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Post by Ex on Nov 11, 2023 22:06:30 GMT -5
It seems like some of the "Log" entries in the menu aren't translated at all or something though, Ex? I think those are translated if you're using the latest patch (version 2009.02.02): www.romhacking.net/translations/1612/ Cutscenes: 99% translated. Library and menus 94% translated. Misc data and NPCs 99% translated. Overall 98% translated. When I played SB many years ago, the thing that wasn't translated I remember was the library stuff, but now that is, or at least 94% of it is apparently. I'm not trying to be a dickwad or anything, but I don't understand why you and toei have such a hard time emulating DS stuff. Whether I'm using desmume or melonDS, I don't have these issues. Granted I don't try to play these DS games full screen, as graphics designed to fit on a 3.12" screen won't look good blown up to 17"+ IMO. I just set the window screen sizes to 3x or 4x, and have them stacked on top of each other like a DS normally is. With a plain black background behind them. No issues doing that in my experience. And if you're having a hard time with desmume don't forget melonDS exists.
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