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Post by toei on Apr 9, 2022 20:40:26 GMT -5
Sarge I didn't think those files would work since they're Action Replay saves, but it turns out DESMUME has an option to import those (Import Backup Files), so I'm good. I've tried the shmup, Star Prince - it really is a convincing Compile imitation. They used the exact same powerup icons, too. It doesn't feel like a NES game - too fast and smooth - but that's not a bad thing. It's really too bad about Rally King, I would've liked to beat the game properly, but oh well.
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Post by Xeogred on Apr 10, 2022 20:12:41 GMT -5
I jumped back into FF8 today, giving it another few hours worth. Racking in 20 hours total and hit disc 3. But I regrettably think I'm going to permanently retire FF8 now. This is like the third time I've failed to fully replay FF8. I just can't deny, even when I was having more fun with it this time around again, it still made me sleepy pretty often. In a strange way this feels like the equivalent of problematic game design in modern cinematic titles for my tastes that have so many forced walking segments, strip controls from the player, etc. In FF8 you are constantly having to run around the same big buildings and "dungeons" time and time again. In this last stretch I did with the big Garden vs Garden scenario (which still comes off goofy to me), the game forces you to walk back and forth through the Balamb Garden for the thousandth time, constantly swapping out your characters, and literally nothing is happening gameplay wise between these points except you walking to X to trigger the next cutscene. This entire section would have been far more enjoyable to me if it were actually just one longer single cutscene. FF8 does this trick a lot. The pacing of this entire game is strange. The dungeons are annoyingly mazey for all the wrong reasons. They tend to repeat the same hallway ten times over, which was again the case with this other Garden school. I love how I beat Seifer again, then the game explicitly tells you Edea goes "directly down under this room to the Auditorium". It is anything but that when it comes to backtracking to find the auditorium again. I just can't stomach the walking simulator portions of this game anymore. The music is amazing, but aids in my sleepiness, it's just all too chill. This game has barely any urgency. The combat is weird, the Junction/Magic systems are annoying. The devs must have thought they were simplifying things for the masses and more general appeal but it just doesn't hold up in that regard.
The absolute total lack of real adventure, exploration, and painfully bad dungeon design nosedives this game for me now in 2022. People can say what they want about FF7's more primitive graphics and wonky pacing, but at least I'm not backtracking through the same hallways a thousand times over just to move the story bits along.
Feels bad. I still hold no ill will towards FF8 in general and like things about it. Loved my first full run back in my teenager days. But this is probably it for me and FF8 henceforth. The divorce papers are in. I have other games to play and there are so many FF's I could replay instead of this one. Now I really have to give FF9 another shot someday, because it might be more fun to actually play. But I'm sure I still won't like those characters much.
Maybe I'll just watch a movie cut of the rest of FF8 to bring this replay to some closure. I was kind of rolling my eyes with the story by this point though. But the characters are still cool. At least I won't rant on Rinoa going forward now, she was fine.
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I don't see myself getting back to Threads of Fate either at this rate. Put about 3 hours into that IGT, but I think it was more like 6 hours real time. It was charming, but the gameplay is just too thin and boring for me.
Front Mission 3, Vagrant Story, Parasite Eve 1-2, now that stuff still holds up for me, concerning other 32bit era PSX games I played in recent years and really enjoyed.
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Post by Ex on Apr 10, 2022 20:36:36 GMT -5
I only made it about 4 hours into FF8 before the lackadaisical boredom destroyed my impetus entirely. I don't think FF8's a "bad game", but it was a bad game for me. I really enjoyed Threads of Fate, but that was via Mint's arc. I think you were doing Rue's arc, which is considerably less interesting. Front Mission 3, Vagrant Story, Parasite Eve 1-2, now that stuff still holds up for me, concerning other 32bit era PSX games I played in recent years and really enjoyed. What about KF1-3 and ST?
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Post by Xeogred on Apr 10, 2022 20:49:56 GMT -5
I was just name dropping Square games.
I played Mint's campaign this year. Made it further than I did years back with Rue's arc, which isn't say much. But that's two misses on that one for me. I like the aesthetic and music a lot, but the combat/platforming is boring.
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Post by toei on Apr 10, 2022 21:24:13 GMT -5
Threads of Fate is a surprisingly unambitious game, considering Square made. I did enjoy Mint's side, but it's true that gameplay wise, it's nothing special. Still a lot better than Brave Fencer Musashi.
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Post by Xeogred on Apr 10, 2022 21:31:29 GMT -5
Threads of Fate is a surprisingly unambitious game, considering Square made. I did enjoy Mint's side, but it's true that gameplay wise, it's nothing special. Still a lot better than Brave Fencer Musashi.No argument there.
And yeah, no shade at Mint herself. She was pretty likable.
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Post by Sarge on Apr 11, 2022 16:06:31 GMT -5
I've always run out of steam on Threads myself. And yeah, I was on Mint's side as well.
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Post by Ex on Apr 11, 2022 18:02:31 GMT -5
I ended up beating both Mint and Rue's sides. Rue's side was pretty boring, because he was a boring character. Mint's crazy personality and her antics made her side much more entertaining. In retrospect, I finished Mint's side because I liked her character and dialogue, moreso than the actual gameplay. I ended up finishing Rue's for completions sake back when I cared about such things. These days I'd just have done Mint's and called it good. If you guys think Threads of Fate is boring, I dare you to play Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure.
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Post by Xeogred on Apr 11, 2022 20:13:56 GMT -5
I ended up beating both Mint and Rue's sides. Rue's side was pretty boring, because he was a boring character. Mint's crazy personality and her antics made her side much more entertaining. In retrospect, I finished Mint's side because I liked her character and dialogue, moreso than the actual gameplay. I ended up finishing Rue's for completions sake back when I cared about such things. These days I'd just have done Mint's and called it good. If you guys think Threads of Fate is boring, I dare you to play Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure. Haha oh no, I had that one on my Steam wishlist for ages... brain dead gameplay?
I just keep thinking, if I truly want an early 3D cel shading fix, I should probably just replay Mega Man Legends / Tron Bonne again and again haha. Those games have 11/10 charm AND awesome gameplay.
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Post by Ex on Apr 11, 2022 20:17:34 GMT -5
I just keep thinking, if I truly want an early 3D cel shading fix, I should probably just replay Mega Man Legends / Tron Bonne again and again haha. Or play Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection (originally released 2008) and experience something fresh and new (to you) and great. store.steampowered.com/app/427700/Zwei_The_Ilvard_Insurrection/
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