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Post by Xeogred on Mar 9, 2021 18:39:38 GMT -5
I have Brood War along with the base StarCraft game. I tried getting into it last year but had trouble doing so because I felt as though it was an isometric science fiction reskin of Warcraft II without any of Warcraft II’s humor or charm. However after spending so much time with Warcraft II, I have newfound respect for those wizards who play StarCraft competitively online. During this play-through I began running into situations where I wanted to make my troops perform certain actions, but I couldn’t move my hands to use the keyboard and mouse quickly enough to make them do exactly what I wanted. I considered looking up keyboard macros for what I was trying to do but I managed to win without taking things that far. lol Yeah I actually never knew about the macros and other quick keys growing up on Starcraft haha. Does Warcraft II even have those?
It's funny how Total Annihilation would let you create unlimited units and other custom settings in comparison to the Blizzard stuff. Yet a long running game with so much going on was probably disaster for CPU's and old PC's back then.  |
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Post by toei on Mar 15, 2021 7:32:38 GMT -5
A friend suggested we try out Fightcade, so I thought I'd practice on my own with a 2D fighter first. I went with Art of Fighting 3 because it takes a few mechanics from 3D fighters - you have attack chains with the punch and kick buttons - say, punch, punch, punch or punch, punch, kick - you get different types of punches and kicks by using directions along with them (rather than having 3 different buttons for each), and you can hit enemies on the ground. I also prefer SNK's 4-button layouts because I use a PS2-style Logitech controller, and I don't want to have to assign strong attacks to L and R or some nonsense.
It's a cool little fighter with great sprites. Art of Fighting seems like SNK's least popular VS. series (not necessarily counting World Heroes, which was made by ADK), and I guess it rapidly became a bit redundant with both Fatal Fury and King of Fighters around, hence its last entry coming out in 1996, but this one stands out among 2D fighters with its hybrid mechanics. Too bad it never got any sequel in that style.
Supposedly, the final boss is much easier than regular SNK final bosses, but it still took me a million attempts. I could tell after a while that the only way to beat him would be through countering him and using the dumb openings he sometimes gives by Taunting you, because he 100% reads your inputs and will punish every offensive attempt you make perfectly.* I just had a hard time getting myself to actually do it. In the end I beat him by being super cautious and keeping my distance as much as possible. He's probably not that hard to people experienced with the (2d) genre, depending on how comfortable you are with playing very defensively.
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Post by Xeogred on Mar 15, 2021 7:37:57 GMT -5
Yeah it was interesting digging into KOF98' and seeing the roster split into three main groups, per series. But it definitely seems like KOF just became the main game overtime haha. KOF14 didn't look that great but I'm getting excited for KOF15.
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Post by EasyHard on Mar 15, 2021 14:53:27 GMT -5
I've only beaten Brood War once, and in the last mission you have a Zerg base in the middle of the map and the enemy Terran and Protoss forces come from all sides rather rapidly. I recall having to save constantly and reload whenever there was an attack just so I would have enough time to properly set up my defensive forces. I think I also turned the gameplay speed up and down as need to give myself additional advantages.
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Post by Sarge on Mar 16, 2021 16:45:07 GMT -5
I've barely played Starcraft in any form myself... but I have like four copies of the base game, and two of Brood War, which I find hilarious. One is even the big boxed "Battle Chest" with the guides. |
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Post by toei on Mar 16, 2021 18:33:58 GMT -5
It's the second time in two days that I write a post and find out it didn't post.
I beat Art of Fighting this morning through sheer perseverance. Taunting is actually very useful in that game, since you can deplete the opponent's Ki gauge pretty quickly, and they need it to use special moves. Even more useful, especially against Mr. Big, is the wall jump, where you bounce off the edge of the screen to give your jumps more height, speed and distance. My whole strategy to beat him depended on it. I thought I had beaten the game at this point, but there was still Mr. Karate. I ended up beating him a lot quicker, though he did kick my ass for a moment. It was fun fighting a crazy, overpowered version of my own character. His only weakness is that he's so aggressive that ends up giving you openings. Otherwise, there'd be nothing you could do. He even has a projectile attack that does like 70-80% damage is you don't block it, and it's huge so you can't easily dodge it. You're supposed to be able to use it too as a Desperation move, but the input is way too difficult. While I think it's one of the best fighters of that immediate post SF2 wave ('91-'92), that's the game's greatest flaw; the buffer for special moves is too harsh. I could only get two of mine to come out regularly, and basically had to do without the other two, not to mention the Desperation move. Supposedly it was a little better on a Neo Geo joystick, but still, both the HG101 article and a random review I skimmed through yesterday mentioned this issue, so I know it's not just me.
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Post by Sarge on Mar 20, 2021 17:58:05 GMT -5
No idea how long it actually took, so I'll just roll with the average "20 hours" time I see around for Dragon Quest II. In the end, I ground up for two Falcon Swords (completely unnecessary), and didn't even stick around Rhone shrine (probably should have) to grind more. Went right in with one singular run. I managed to make it all the way to Malroth (or whatever they called him in this translation), and lost. Because I've been save-stating to be safe, I restored at the start of the battle, and whomped him the second time. I still wish I'd taken a small amount of time to grind - he was absolutely pounding me when he busted out his hit-all flame attack, and just a few more HP would have helped. What else would have helped was the bug in the NES version that lets you get two Water Flying Cloths, which give a ton of magic resistance (and flames).
Anyway, it's done, and while I appreciate the rebalance here, I don't know that it really significantly improves the experience over the original other than making it quite a bit more accessible overall. Which, of course, for some, will be a massive improvement. It was nice being able to just jaunt right through that final area with limited difficulties, and I assume it's because of the equipment and other boosts for the spellcasters. Plus, Explodet seems incredibly powerful in this one. I'll still give this a 7/10. Not the best in the series, not the worst, but still good.
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Post by Xeogred on Mar 20, 2021 19:34:31 GMT -5
Nice beat. I could easily see how original fans might prefer the NES versions. Outside of the rebalancing, the SNES facelift isn't a whole lot for DQ1-2 so it kind of comes down to the aesthetics and music preferences.
But yeah, they were the fun ideal versions for a new player like myself to cruise through. I'm glad I played them too, since it made those key moments in DQ3 all the better.
I've actually been seriously fighting off an urge to play DQ6 in recent weeks, when I started up Suikoden 4 and fell off that one. But now I've got Front Mission 4 and The Outer Worlds going, so I think another huge long game on top of those would be overkill. But DQ6 might be next when I knock one of those out.
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Post by Chema on Mar 21, 2021 15:46:18 GMT -5
Finished Twilight Princess HD! I've been playing on the Wii U at the family home in Barcelona, and since I have been living the last years abroad mostly, it took me more than two years to reach the ending credits. I played every time I visited my family, which has not been very often. However, it's good I took months-long breaks. I can see why the game's later part could outstay its welcome. By the time I finished the second to last dungeon, I felt the story could have ended at that point. The Twilight Palace wasn't as good as the previous dungeons. And let's be honest: Hyrule Castle is an underwhelming, unfinished dungeon. Nevertheless, I have enjoyed this game so much more than when I played it on the WII. I didn't realize it back then, but the motion controls sucked so much. Playing it with the Wii U Pro Controller, enjoying the full HD visuals, was a treat. It is incredible what Nintendo was able to do with the GameCube hardware graphically and gameplay-wise. Truly a fantastic console that deserved better. Now it's back to Final Fantasy Tactics. I had to drop it because I was on a trip to Rome, and when I came back I wasn't in the mood of remembering how I was trying to beat the final boss of Chapter 1. But I finally did it. I booted my Vita again and defeated the boss  Now I'm hooked again. |
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Post by Xeogred on Mar 21, 2021 16:52:42 GMT -5
Nice one Chema . I too played TP via the Wii version the first time around, an awkward experience to say the least but I still loved it. Had an absolute blast revisiting it with the HD version and normal controls a few years ago myself. I'm not the biggest fan of the wolf sections, but they weren't as bad as I remembered, yet I still appreciate that they become less the further you get into the game. All around, TP's definitely one of my favorites. Hyrule Castle seems like it's consistently been a very bizarre experimental, gauntlet kind of dungeon whenever it pops up. I too tend to find myself wishing it was more, even through BoTW. It's such an iconic section in Link to the Past and the revisit later on before the reveal of the Dark World, still kind of feels like Hyrule Castle peaked there. After that I don't think there's a single case where I'd rank a Hyrule Castle above a normal dungeon in the games that it appears in. |
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Now I'm hooked again.