|
Post by Xeogred on Jan 9, 2024 23:28:06 GMT -5
FF finally goes back to medieval and it's a DMC clone haha, as you joked (and I agree from what I've seen. I'll give it a fair shot someday on PC or something).
I'm the weirdo that loves the sci-fantasy blend of like FF7-13, aesthetically and all. But yeah they experimented maybe a little too much in the long run. At least turn based is still alive in other forms now.
|
|
|
Post by Ex on Jan 9, 2024 23:28:38 GMT -5
A lock on in Lost Planet would annoy me with the dozens of flying bug things all over. But it wouldn't annoy versus enemy mechas and the boss fights. >I try to explain and figure out your problems with the game So far you've not explained (that I can recall) what makes Lost Planet a great game. Instead you've argued that my grievances with the game are trivial or non-existent. So I understand if you disagree with me about my issues with LP's game design. I'm more interested in what you find extraordinary about Lost Planet, versus myriad other seventh generation third person shooters contemporaries. I'm not going to argue your opinions either, just genuinely curious. I don't plan to flush Lost Planet at this point, because I think I'm already halfway through it. Sunk cost fallacy kicking in? I do enjoy the goofy cutscenes believe it or not.
|
|
|
Post by Xeogred on Jan 9, 2024 23:53:00 GMT -5
Alright let me think, Lost Planet 2024:
+ Cool snowy aesthetic. Always like these vibes in modern third person games. As I think I said before, it feels like a PS2 era Capcom game but in a charming way still. Cheesy/campy cutscenes but it's fun. So much of this game feels like early Platinum DNA to me.
+ The controls seem good for my tastes. I like the roll too. I noticed I could reload the rocket launcher mid air after grappling onto some fence thing. There's weird tricks like that at times. I don't mind being limited to two guns, since ammo is aplenty. But sometimes I'm never sure I want to ditch that loaded up p shooter machine gun for a gatling gun or something you can burn through fast. The big guns are fun though. The mecha shotgun I remember being extremely good and yeah it is.
+ The grapple hook is cool and has had some interesting use scaling some buildings. Some verticality to the levels. I don't mind broken down fallout cities and factories, so all the levels are cool in my book from a visual standpoint.
+ Fighting monsters is always cooler to me than generic human soldiers. I honestly forget this game had human soldiers until mission 2 or whatever. But yeah it's cool fighting giant crazy insectoids and stuff. A lot of giant monsters and things flying in the air, it's not some generic cover action.
+ The grenades pack such a punch. Always seems so easy to stock up on 20 too.
+ Everything about the mecha feels great to me. I like how you can attach/detach the big weapons. Sometimes getting in them is a little awkward though (no I didn't want to detach the weapon!)
+ Now I'm only a few missions in but I always recall this game having crazy big bosses and they're memorable fights. Should be fun...
+ I'm the type that would hate a gimmick like the draining thermal energy thing. But it luckily hasn't been an issue at all. I don't recall it ever being bothersome but I'll see later on.
+ Missions don't seem too long. Always nice going back to a simple mission based game like this.
- Where's the music?
- The controls for the hovercraft mecha cracked me up and with the first one you discover, I instantly got it stuck after failing to ride some ramp. I just got out and left it. Now that unit sucks...
- I don't know what exactly the "Waypoints" are for checkpoints. I died twice on mission 3 stubbornly trying to kill the big worm and got one shot with it instant death attack. Put me back to the beginning of the level! I slowly remembered, I think it was an optional fight... maybe just a silly 360 achievement for beating it. I think I still killed that third time before realizing where I needed to go for the boss though. Who knows. - The menus are kind of ugly. Sums up ~2006 menus. And while I like the controls, everything could probably be explained better, maybe some more button prompts and explanations of things, etc.
All in all it's been simple fun for me. I haven't had many issues so far.
I may have kept playing more tonight but Ex suggests the big flying boss I remember is mission 4. I want to say I hated that one, or it like just takes forever to kill. I'm not sure if I should be excited or not to relive that boss. I'll find out soon!
|
|
|
Post by Sarge on Jan 10, 2024 0:48:45 GMT -5
I knocked out another one, although I've finished this one before: Dragon Fighter. An NES game developed by Natsume, this one sees you in a somewhat stiff but fun side-scroller with limited platforming that lets you transition to an auto-scrolling shooter when you've filled your bar over halfway (the titular "dragon fighter", you literally turn into a dragon). The gauge runs down as you stay in this form, so you really have to choose when to deploy it and when to save it. Killing enemies restores said bar, as long as you're on foot. You really have to go pretty slowly in the later stages, as the hazards can quickly overwhelm you. NES vets shouldn't have a huge problem with this one, though. And it even ends in a full-on shooter stage.
Visuals are a mixed bag - some stuff looks great, with some nice touches, but the game can also feel very empty at times, too. Certainly this is due to needing screen real estate for the dragon form, but it doesn't help the look overall. What does hit is the soundtrack. Natsume knocked several NES soundtracks out of the park during this era, and this one is no exception. I'm sure much of that owes to Iku Mizutani, who was part of Konami's internal sound team but moved to Natsume, creating the sound driver for this and their other games. He didn't compose the game (credited to KÅichi Yamanishi), but it has that signature Natsume sound nonetheless.
I don't want to oversell the game here - I don't think it's their best work, with Shadow of the Ninja and Shatterhand certainly besting it - but it's still a solid, B-tier game on the system. I'd say it's a 7/10, and for an NES-head like me, resides firmly in positive territory.
(Oh, and the game starts with a snow level. Totally counts both ways for the theme.)
|
|
|
Post by toei on Jan 10, 2024 1:04:13 GMT -5
Sarge Surprised you hadn't beaten that one before (from the sound of it). I went through it a few years ago when we were doing the Natsume month, it's one of the few NES side-scrollers I do like. Not extraordinary, as you said - it lacks a little something to make it more exciting, maybe it's a little too slow while on foot - but the basic concept of switching between action-platformer and shooter in your dragon form is cool and it's all pretty decently executed. One game I want to get to that would fit into this theme, as mentioned previously, is D2. I've been curious about it for a long time, but wasn't quite ready to make the jump. I played through D a few months ago, which had a few interesting ideas and moments, and while I know that D2 is probably no masterpiece, it looks like it's probably the best Kenji Eno/Warp game. Now that I've finished the Parasite Eve trilogy, I see some parallels between the two; both are Japanese horror games set in modern-day North America, during winter, in which a blonde woman fights strange creatures with guns, and both women aren't completely human themselves (if she's supposed to be the same Laura as in D, anyway). Having random encounters and exp. in what is essentially an action-adventure game is also similar to the first PE, though I don't think that part is a good thing (the random encounters, I don't mind the exp.) At least PE had seamless transitions. But I don't think I'll be playing it this month, probably later this winter.
|
|
|
Post by Ex on Jan 10, 2024 9:56:18 GMT -5
Alright let me think, Lost Planet 2024 Thanks for your thoughts on this game. Stuff I agree with you on:Cool snowy aesthetic feels like a PS2 era Capcom game Cheesy/campy cutscenes The grapple hook is cool* Some verticality to the levels it's cool fighting giant crazy insectoids The grenades pack such a punch I like how you can attach/detach the big weapons crazy big bosses simple mission based gameStuff I disagree on (but am not saying "you're wrong")The controls seem good for my tastes I like the roll I don't mind being limited to two guns Everything about the mecha feels great to me draining thermal energy thing hasn't been an issue the menus are kind of ugly*I don't like that when you're hanging from the grappling hook, if you get hit by an enemy, you instantly fall. Doesn't make sense. Also, wish you could swing on the grapple, instead of just slide up and down. >Where's the music?It comes and goes. When it's there it's typically lame Hollywood style bombast. >Now that unit sucksI agree the hovercraft VS sucks. I still plan to finish Lost Planet. I just don't think I'm ever going to like it as much as you do. But that's okay!
I don't want to oversell the game here - I don't think it's their best work I agree that Dragon Fighter is just in the "it's decent" category. It does have that snow level, though, as you said.
|
|
|
Post by Sarge on Jan 10, 2024 13:30:16 GMT -5
toei: I've definitely beaten it before, probably even did it for Natsume month as well. Just felt like a replay and some description of some stuff that worked and didn't work for me. Sometimes I need to stop being lazy when I talk about games I've played through before, haha.
|
|
|
Post by Xeogred on Jan 10, 2024 19:17:53 GMT -5
That Natsume month we did still stands out as one of my favorites. Probably because it was both the first year we started doing these these and HRG was around, and all the NES Natsume stuff I hit up was really consistently solid. Dragon Fighter was indeed one of the more vanilla ones as Sarge points out again above but yeah, it still has some charm and cool moments.
|
|
|
Post by Sarge on Jan 11, 2024 0:42:38 GMT -5
Well, didn't think I'd ever be able to say this, but I've actually beaten KickMaster on the legit cart. Fun times!
I'm honestly not sure how to grade this one out, though. The idea of getting moves along the way has certainly been done (see Double Dragon on NES), and it has that KID-developed thing where powerups just pop out and you have to go chase them. I... don't know that I love it here. It can be pretty challenging to target the exact one you want - usually the best I can do is snag the left and center one, and you also need to pay attention so you can get the higher EXP items or MP. Kick range is piddly for sure, even if it gets a little better as you get moves, but it also has the problem of locking you in place for some of them. One thing that should be used, though, are the spells. Granted, I didn't use them a lot, but there were a couple of spots where they can be very helpful, and the last one, Earthquake, freezes enemies on screen for a bit, even bosses. That means... you guessed it, I used it to shred the final boss, who is otherwise very difficult. As long as you have enough MP, you're golden.
The climb up was both as bad and somehow easier than I remember it being - I save stated through the game a while back, and I remember flying off of ledges like crazy. This time, I was very careful with my jumps, and did pretty well. Some of the areas really require you to slow down and engage enemy by enemy, both for survival purposes and to make sure you maximize your loot chances.
Graphically, it looks decent, but I wouldn't say it's a stunner. A few backgrounds look really nice towards the end, but some of the stages look very messy to me, with some pretty garish color choices. Sound design isn't anything special, either - it definitely has some driving beats, but I don't love the tonality here, so it just ends up being fine.
I really think this is a case where I want to love the game a lot more. It's a surprisingly slow playthrough, and that terrible range makes you feel quite vulnerable all the time. My heart wants to say it's a 7/10, but in all truth it's probably a 6 or 6.5/10. Decent, sometimes good, but misses the mark in some important ways.
|
|
|
Post by toei on Jan 11, 2024 1:31:22 GMT -5
It's that stupid power-up thing that slows down the game by half. Every single enemy you kill, you have to pause then jump to grab the one you want, which takes as long as killing the enemy. I'm not a fan of this mechanic where enemies drop things that you have to retrieve every time in any game, unless it's just sort of naturally in your way or you it even just comes to you like I've seen in some games. Otherwise you're just adding drudge work to a game. Is dropping a coin and having to pick it up fun in real life? No? Then why would it be fun in a game?
|
|