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Post by Chainsaw Bilqis on Feb 2, 2021 16:10:47 GMT -5
I do not know if I will get to play/"read" them this month, but I always wanted to try out the Suikoden visual novel games that got fan translations. I think they even have "Gaiden" in their titles.
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Post by paulofthewest on Feb 2, 2021 18:37:18 GMT -5
I'll the second Zelda Fours Swords. The single player is fun, but if you ever get the chance for 4 player action it is a fun back-stabbing coop blast.
That and FFT is really one of the greats, a little sad it doesn't have a official sequel.
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Post by Ex on Feb 2, 2021 18:40:25 GMT -5
a little sad it doesn't have a official sequel It kinda sorta got one: Maybe I should check out Four Swords this month too. I bought it back in 2006 or 2007, have never even booted it up.
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Post by Ex on Feb 3, 2021 10:50:47 GMT -5
The first game I've played for this theme is Wily and Light no Rock Board: That's Paradise. This is a Famicom released developed in 1992 and published by Capcom in 1993. It only released in Japan. However, an English fan translation exists.
Rock Board is a virtual board game starring Mega Man and his cohorts. The gameplay is a business simulation, similar to Monopoly. Players and computer AI (2-4 players) take turns moving around a set of connected spaces, buying up property, and charging other participants rent when they land on those spaces. However, other characters can also buy part of the same square (they build a "lab" on it), allowing each owner to charge a smaller amount of rent. Some squares contain cards that cause various effects on the board such as raising property prices, or the development level of a building. Many boards feature a "Robot Transform" square that will change the player into one of Dr. Wily's robot masters, for one complete rotation around the board. Transformations include Guts Man who will destroy labs he lands on, Shadow Man who will steal other player's cards, and Dust Man who will steal the rent of properties he lands on. The game's winning conditions can vary depending on the set rules of its particular board. The winner may be the character with the most owned spaces, the most remaining Zenny, or the most developments. Series veteran Keiji Inafune had hardly anything to do with the development of Rock Board, he simply designed the cover art and a new character (robot bird) named Reggae.
There's not really a way to "beat" Rock Board, there's no single player campaign to speak of. So I just played one board, and was quite bored while doing so. I an ardent lover of analog gaming, and own hundreds of board games, I know a good one when I play it. Rock Board is not a good board game. This is somehow even more boring than Monopoly, the game which Rock Board clearly drew most of its inspiration from. I'm not sure who the demographic would have been for this. Kids would like the graphics, but not the gameplay. Salarymen might have appreciated the economical strategy (what little there is), but I doubt they would have been playing cutesy Famicom games. This explains why the reception was so poor, that Capcom ended up dropping the Game Boy version's development. Still, I do appreciate Capcom attempting to branch out the Mega Man franchise to such an extent. And the production values are decent. Also there's a little gambling game where you bet on Mets as they run to a goal (sadly the funnest part of this experience). But ultimately Rock Board shows that for all Capcom knew about making great video games back in the '90s, they clearly knew nothing about making a great board game.
Keiji Inafune likely put more time into this drawing, then the developers put into the game design conceptualizing of Rock Board.
Ex's time invested: 35 minutes Ex's rating: 4/10
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Post by Sarge on Feb 3, 2021 12:19:10 GMT -5
Yeah, the reputation of this game isn't good. However, I hear the Fortune Street games are solid, though.
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Post by Ex on Feb 3, 2021 14:47:12 GMT -5
Fortune Street games are solid I own the Wii one, and have played it. I've also messed with the PSP one. They are better than Rock Board, but still dry economic- Monopoly inspired stuff. However, Japan must enjoy the series, because it's been going on for a while. Considering Itadaki Street: Watashi no Omise ni Yottette released two years prior to Rock Board, one has to assume Capcom was inspired by it.
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Post by Sarge on Feb 4, 2021 0:17:40 GMT -5
Oh, that reminds me - if we aren't considering Metroid Prime as a spin-off (understandable), I do think you can count Metroid Prime: Hunters as one. It's a very different game, very much more a Quake-style FPS.
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Post by Sarge on Feb 4, 2021 19:27:55 GMT -5
Finally finished my first spin-off for this month: Golden Axe: The Duel.
Yes, I know the credits say "Golden Axe 3 Project", but I mean, really, this isn't a proper Golden Axe follow-up. Instead of remaining a brawler, the game shifts to the ever-popular tournament fighter category. The game looks really good, and it plays... well, to be honest, very much like Samurai Shodown, just with fantasy trappings. You get your light/medium/strong slash and a kick move, the usual specials, and one divergence - the magic potion system. Much like the hack-and-slashers before it, you can hit the imps and pick up potions. Collect enough of these, and you can trigger a period of increased power and the ability to pull a massively powerful super move.
Too bad I didn't look up how to use it.
Yep, I got through just on the normal moveset. Not well, mind you. Some foes were easy, and some proved to be brick walls. The big green mutant (fittingly and creatively named Green) was rough with his Zangief-like throwing abilities, and the crystal-tossing elf Keel was a giant pain. Figuring out the best way to approach each character could be a challenge, but a lot of times, it really revolved around controlling spacing. I was using the "default" guy, Kain, who very much fits the "Ax Battler" mold. His strong slashes have great range but also a windup, but can be very useful in playing keep-away against some opponents. Others were better handled sticking to medium slashes, which tended to have decent poking range and damage output.
Death Adder himself was already tough enough, and I thought that was it. Should have known there'd be a follow-up, a fight against the Golden Axe itself, an even more menacing and powerful Death Adder-like. Turns out the best move against him was to play very defensively and punish him as he tried to hit with strong slashes. At distance, fireballs were actually a bit more effective against him than some.
So, what do I think of this overall? I'd say it's a pretty good game. It really doesn't do a lot to stand out, but it executes the formula at a pretty high level. I'm going to give it a 7/10. (Final time: 1h10m)
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Post by toei on Feb 4, 2021 20:00:11 GMT -5
I owned The Duel on Saturn back in the day. It's true that it does nothing too special, but it's a solid fighter anyway, with nice visuals and some good music. I mostly played as Gillius Thunderhead, the Dwarf.
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Post by Sarge on Feb 4, 2021 20:36:41 GMT -5
That's who I started as, anyway. I should probably try out a few other characters and actually learn how to do the potion moves if I play it again.
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