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Post by Sarge on Oct 4, 2020 22:20:15 GMT -5
I just finished off a run of Akumajou Dracula. On Easy mode. Yeah, I'd say so: double damage against bosses, no knockback, 30 hearts at the start of the stage, and no losing Double/Triple Shots. Even with the Stopwatch! I did not die even once.
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Post by Ex on Oct 5, 2020 12:00:49 GMT -5
I've messed around with some Castlevania stuff myself so far for this theme... I first played a bit of Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest, via its popular improvement hack. The hack itself definitely enhances the quality of the experience. That said, this is a game I've beaten before. The last time I did so was around 2001, but I still remember most of the experience, due to playing it so much as a kid. You all know I'm not much for replaying games I've already finished, even superb classics like this one. For now I'm putting it away, but I enjoyed revisiting C2 for an hour. And I definitely endorse said hack, especially if you've never played through C2 before... this is the new standard. A great hack for a great game. I then decided to play Haunted Castle, a 1988 game I've seen a lot of confusion about on internet forums before. Most tend to think that Haunted Castle is just Castlevania for arcade. As in, it's the same thing as the NES original. But that is not true at all. Haunted Castle is more of a reimagining of the original 1986 Castlevania... albeit with superior graphics. And it is hard. Although Haunted Castle is an arcade game, it does not support credit feeding to victory. It uses a sparse checkpoint system, meaning if you die, you lose a lot of progress. And you will die, a lot, because this game wants you dead. Still, if you're a fan of Castlevania games, busting out MAME for Haunted Castle is worth your time. This is a solidly made action-platformer. That said, I personally don't have patience for this kind of overtly punitive game design right now, so I mothballed it. Going beyond those two, there's a list of horror games I'm considering playing. Some are on DS, some are on Wii, some are on PS1, and some are on N64. Tonight I plan to pick something up and stick with it.
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Post by Ex on Oct 6, 2020 0:27:59 GMT -5
Did some Wii stuff tonight. Started out with Calling originally released in Japan in 2009. After spending an hour with it, I don't have much positive to say about this one. I like the way the game uses the Wii Remote like a cellphone, and it captures the vibe of modern Japanese horror a little bit. That's about it for positives. This game's Metacritic score of 49 is well deserved. I then check out GhostSlayer (2010) on WiiWare. I'll say that this game's use of MotionPlus for its swordplay is well implemented. However the gameplay became extremely repetitive before I'd even finished the first stage. The second stage was instantly more of the same. Yawn... I moved on. Lastly I gave 2009's Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth a crack. I finished the first stage, and found myself having a good time. So I plan to revisit this one soon, and maybe even finish it.
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Post by Sarge on Oct 6, 2020 13:17:08 GMT -5
It's actually a bit ridiculous that they kept it tied to Castlevania: The Adventure, because outside of a few elements, it's an entirely new game, and far, far better than its namesake.
It also sucks that it's still tied to the Wii Shop, which of course is now shut down. Come on, Konami, you're porting everything else in place, put a ReBirth collection out there.
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Post by Ex on Oct 6, 2020 15:06:05 GMT -5
ridiculous that they kept it tied to Castlevania: The Adventure, because outside of a few elements, it's an entirely new game, and far, far better than its namesake. ReBirth seems a whole lot better than the GB original so far, that's for sure.
Are you planning to play anything special for this theme Sarge ? Gonna finally beat a Silent Hill or Fatal Frame?
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Post by Sarge on Oct 6, 2020 15:14:41 GMT -5
Don't know yet. I've actually got something on tap, just don't know if I'm going to stick with it. It's a GBA game, though.
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Post by Xeogred on Oct 6, 2020 15:46:17 GMT -5
Don't you still need to hit up RE2, Sarge? I thought I recalled last Horror Month (why does it weirdly feel not that long ago?) it was kind of a flop, some here realizing they don't like the genre much in general. Maybe this year will go better for some. But throwing N64 into the mix could be good. I played and beat Castlevania Rebirth. I can't compare it to any of the GB games, but I thought it was just okay in the end. Not a CV I'll be revisiting. I guess I feel the same about Contra Rebirth. I still need to play Gradius Rebirth... probably another 7/10 or so if it's anything like the other two, quality wise, for me. I'd like to get to Parasite Eve sometime this month, but I've been pretty busy and FF12 is still an awesome time sink that's sapping away a lot of game time lately.
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Post by Sarge on Oct 6, 2020 16:04:45 GMT -5
I do, we'll see if I'm up for it, though. It might be a good month to try the N64 port, although I don't think it would be quite accurate since I'd need to emulate.
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Post by Ex on Oct 6, 2020 16:07:49 GMT -5
Don't you still need to hit up RE2, Sarge ? Oh, yeah, if Sarge has not done that one yet, I'll recommend it too. I beat the PS1 version of RE2 myself, absolutely had a good time with it. I just thought it'd be cool to see Sarge play through an actual "scary" horror game like Silent Hill 2, Fatal Frame, or maybe Amnesia... something like that. I can't recall if I've ever seen him finish a serious horror game of that sort. 🤔 Still glad to see that you are loving FF12. It'll be nice not to be its only champion around HRG. You've beaten PE1 before right? Or just listened to its OST a lot? I can't remember exactly.
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Post by Xeogred on Oct 6, 2020 16:27:57 GMT -5
Ah yeah. I remember vicariously exploring REmake through Sarge's playthrough (last October?) was fun and interesting. I think RE2 will be more to his liking, as the item management isn't nearly as tough. RE2 is one I frequently replay almost at least every other year thesedays, since it's so easy to blast through in a sitting or two. Stone cold classic that holds up for sure and it's a nice big step up from the original in ways. Though if we threw REmake into the mix, that is my #1 overall. REmake, RE2, RE2R, RE4, RE3R, RE5, RE1, Revelations 2... all top tier in my book, with RE3, RE0, and maybe some others still being great. I love RE. But yeah, they ain't scary. Sarge playing Silent Hill would be very interesting, any of them.
Parasite Eve - I've put probably 2-3 hours into both games back in the day. I dig a lot about them but recall wishing they were more fully committed to being a pure action game like RE, or more complex RPG wise. I can never shake the comparison between PE1 and Vagrant Story, with that spherical grid turn based thing going on, but I felt it just kind of slowed things down in an uninteresting way in PE1. Who knows though, I want to give it another look and maybe it'll resonate more with another try. PE2's the weird one, I don't care about score/points in stuff like this or Dino Crisis 2. lol
Ex : If FF12 holds up as it has been, I think it might end up being my favorite Matsuno game period. I definitely didn't expect that. I beat Exodus the other day. I'm in the Tchita Uplands, still trekking towards the Imperial city. Glancing over a walkthrough it looks like I still have quite a bit left to go, but I don't mind. It's definitely doing that "big adventure" vibe very well, such an awesome world to be in and explore.
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