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Post by Xeogred on Dec 20, 2022 19:52:43 GMT -5
201720182019
Time for another round up!
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Do you have a top top 10?
Favorite moments and experiences in a game? Most surprising game? Biggest disappointment?
Favorite OST or select tracks?
Honorable mentions?
Tell us everything!
Feel free to throw some other new questions around.
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bosh
HRG Enthusiast
Posts: 207
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Post by bosh on Dec 21, 2022 13:16:42 GMT -5
Top 5 New Experiences
Wild Arms 3 - What a fantastic JRPG. Its combat system is fantastic, I loved exploring the open world. A true PS2 gem FFT War of the Lions: Been meaning to play this forever. While I think it has some shortcomings, building characters classes was addicting as hell. Phantasy Star Generations 1: First game I have played in PS series. Its a quick game, but I enjoyed it! Excited for rest of series Wild Arms - This very much feels like a game with all of the extras cut out of it. What is left though feels like a curated experience that I thoroughly enjoyed start to finish. Final Fantasy XIII - Very often, support moves outside of heal are overlooked for me in RPGs. MP is a valuable resource so it doesn't make sense to cast it on your party each battle. In FFXIII with how MP recharges at a bolting pace in each battle, it makes sense to dedicate on member as supporting and casting buffs and debuffs during battles and it works very well.
Honorable Mentions - Replays + NE - Hitman and Uncharted series - Did a replay of both this year and still love these games.
- - Hitman Codename 47 - Never played this one before 2022. It has a lot of issues, some of which make the game harder than it needs to be. That being said, when things go right and knowing things could go wrong at an instance makes this game have some incredible tense moments during levels. The Lee Hong Assassination was one of my favorite individual experiences this entire year. I actually preferred Codename 47 over Contracts.
- SOS the Final Escape (Disaster Report)- Its a bit janky at times and really not the best game but I honestly loved it from start to finish. Can't wait to play rest of series.
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Post by Ex on Dec 22, 2022 23:07:45 GMT -5
Sticking with games I beat that were at least 10 years old. Do you have a top 10?Best 10 retro games I beat in 2022 which I rated 8/10 or better:
Altered Beast (ARC) Apache: Air Assault (360) Choujikuu Yousai Macross 2036 (PCECD) Cyberbots: Full Metal Madness (ARC) Dark Souls: Remastered (PS4)* Dragon Age: Origins (360)
G-Darius (PS1) Mega Man V (GB) Metal Wolf Chaos XD (PS4)*
Rocket Knight Adventures (GEN)
*These were remasters of old games. But they still count as retro in my book.
Favorite moments and experiences in a game? Taking down Quelaag, finally.
"Rrrriicchhhaaarrrrdddd!"
Most surprising game?
Apache: Air Assault turned out way funner than I expected. Nothing against Russian studios, but usually their games end up being good looking messes. This one was good looking AND not a mess.
Biggest disappointment? Sonic R (SEGA Saturn) was absolutely dreadful. The legendary Devil May Cry ended up being only "OK" for me.
Favorite OST or select tracks?
Honorable mentions?Soldier of Fortune: Payback (360) was a lot better than it's made out to be. Solid no-nonsense FPS.
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bosh
HRG Enthusiast
Posts: 207
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Post by bosh on Dec 23, 2022 1:10:07 GMT -5
Sticking with games I beat that were at least 10 years old. Do you have a top 10?Metal Wolf Chaos XD (PS4)*
Metal Wolf Chaos is a really fun game! Takes some of AC, adds ridiculous humor and you get a load of high octane fun.
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Post by toei on Dec 25, 2022 2:02:07 GMT -5
Ex It's cool that Altered Beast is in your Top Ten. Seems like it always get shit on, but it's a pretty cool game. I didn't play many games this year. I kind of got back into gaming early in the year, then stopped for a while after changing jobs and moving. 01/31 - King's Knight (videogame) (NES) 02/16 - Final Fantasy VIII (videogame) (PSX) 02/19 - Exile 2: Wicked Phenomenon (videogame) (Turbo-CD) 02/27 - Mamono Hunter Yohko (videogame) (Genesis) 03/05 - Gangs of London (videogame) (PSP) 03/07 - Hakuoki: Warriors of the Shinsengumi (videogame) (PSP) 03/17 - Deadly Strike (videogame) (PS2) 03/18 - Street Boyz (videogame) (PS2) 03/22 - Wrath of the Black Manta (videogame) (NES) 03/24 - Kaizo Chojin Shubibinman 3 (videogame) (PCE-CD) 04/03 - The Ring: Terror's Realm (videogame) (Dreamcast) 04/07 - Nanashi no Game (The Nameless Game) (videogame) (DS) 09/13 - Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure (GBA) (videogame) 10/01 - Katanakami: A Way of the Samurai Story (PC) (videogame) (Real Ending) 10/10 - Doctor Hauzer (3DO) (videogame) 10/21 - Tenshi no Uta 3 (SNES) (videogame) 16 games total. Highlights... I enjoyed The Ring: Terror's Realm. A weird, B-tier survival horror, for sure, but a likeable one, with a personality. I got into FF8 as well. I like it better than 7. I don't know if I like it better than 9. I loved Disc 1 of FF9 at the time, even if the rest wasn't as good. Katanakami was pretty solid. Tenshi no Uta was okay. Street Boyz was decent. That's about it. Top 5: FF8 The Ring Katanakami Tenshi No Uta 3 Street Boyz
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Post by Ex on Dec 29, 2022 11:01:03 GMT -5
Metal Wolf Chaos is a really fun game! Takes some of AC, adds ridiculous humor and you get a load of high octane fun. I hope you took note of this second recommendation Xeogred. 02/16 - Final Fantasy VIII (videogame) (PSX) 04/03 - The Ring: Terror's Realm (videogame) (Dreamcast) 04/07 - Nanashi no Game (The Nameless Game) (videogame) (DS) 10/10 - Doctor Hauzer (3DO) (videogame) These were the most interesting to me from your gaming this year. Your praise of FF8 actually got me to finally play it it. Although I dropped it after about seven or eight hours. I don't think FF8 is a bad game, I think its beginning is a tad too slow, coupled with students/university stuff that always puts me off as a setting. Maybe in 2023 I'll pick it back up and forge on ahead. It was very enjoyable reading your takes on all three of those idiosyncratic horror games. The amount of determination you went through to get Doctor Hauzer going was admirable. And I can always respect when someone finishes a truly bizarre game like that one.
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Post by Kazin on Dec 29, 2022 16:50:23 GMT -5
Top retro games for me this year, gonna go with new experiences since a lot of the games I played this year I've played and beaten before:
1. Castlevania: Rondo of Blood - The quality of this one escaped me for years, but this year it absolutely clicked. It's now probably my favorite classic style Castlevania game. Just gorgoues from start to finish and plays great, too. 2. Sonic CD - similar to Rondo, I didn't "get" this game for years. It's finally clicked for me, and I love it (though I'd put both Sonic 2 and Sonic 3 & Knuckles above it, frankly. Probably the first game, too). Absolutely cool, weird Sonic platforming experience. 3. Dragon Warrior IV - I loved this on DS, and while I liked it on NES, not being able to fully control my party in the last chapter of the game was kinda annoying. Still, absolutely charming experience, and quite a breezy game considering the hardware it's on. 4. Adventures of Lolo 1/2 - Finally sat down and gave this series the time of day, loved it. Challenging but fair puzzles (bar very few examples of cheap solutions), cute art, sadly repetitive soundtracks. Saving the third game for 2023 most likely, just to savor it a bit since I played through these nearly back to back. 5. Rune Factory 3 - Probably my favorite in the series, though I'm due a replay of the fourth game soon since I played that first and didn't know what the heck was going on that first time around haha. 6. Blaster Master - desperately needed a save system, but fun little game with some glaring flaws mitigated with save states. Played a bit of Blaster Master Zero, as well, and that seems nearly a 1:1 remake in terms of level design, so looking forward to playing more of that.
Those are the big ones, really. I'm glad I played through the first Rune Factory and so far, most of the second, but I wouldn't exactly run out and suggest others play them. I'm pretty comfortable saying all the games above are worth playing, at least with save states if you can't be bothered to, say, perfect the bosses in Rondo or deal with some of the BS in Blaster Master lol
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Post by Xeogred on Dec 29, 2022 19:26:01 GMT -5
I don't know anything about Rune Factory, but that's a whopping 5 home runs for me! Great choices there. I'll comb over my list soon for my results.
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Post by Sarge on Dec 30, 2022 1:00:28 GMT -5
I don't guess I've updated anything here yet, probably should. Of the games I've beaten and that were new to me... wow, not many options.
Spin Master - This one really surprised me. Very much a sort of run-and-gun, but very cute, and of course it dawned on me later that there are Joe & Mac parallels. Really overlooked game on the Neo Geo.
The Last Blade - Extremely smooth and slick Neo Geo fighter. I'd played them before, but never beaten one. Gets pretty rough, but otherwise fantastic. So far I like it more than the SamSho games.
That's all that got a 8+ from me. I'll mention some other stuff I beat that was a repeat eventually.
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Post by Xeogred on Dec 30, 2022 14:58:17 GMT -5
My 2022 Retro List: 1. King's Field III (PSX) 2. Shadow Tower (PSX) 3. Parasite Eve II (PSX) 5. X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse (SNES) 6. U.N. Squadron (SNES) 7. Strider 2 (PSX) 8. Rocket Knight Adventures (GEN) 9. Earthworm Jim 2 (GEN) 10. Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga (PS2) 11. Ico (PS3) 13. Batman - The Video Game (GEN) 14. Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 2 (PS2) 15. Gate of Thunder (PCE-CD) 16. Sin & Punishment: Star Successor (Wii) 17. Hagane: The Final Conflict (SNES) 18. Lords of Thunder (PCE-CD) 19. Seirei Senshi Spriggan (PCE-CD) 20. Gradius II (PCE-CD) 21. The Legendary Axe (PCE) 22. Sylphia (PCE-CD) 23. R-Type Complete (PCE-CD) 24. The Legendary Axe II (PCE) 25. Salamander (PCE) 26. Chou Aniki - Super Big Brothers (PCE-CD) 27. Super Star Soldier (PCE) 28. Final Soldier (PCE) 29. Blazing Lazers (PCE) 31. WCW vs. NWO Revenge* (N64) 32. WWF No Mercy (N64) 33. Bomberman 64 (N64)* 34. Bomberman Hero (N64) 36. Splatterhouse (PCE) 37. Splatterhouse 2 (GEN) 38. King's Field IV: The Ancient City (PS2) 41. Panzer Dragoon Remake (PC) 45. Rockman EXE WS (Wonderswan) 48. Bioshock* (PC) 49. Little Samson (NES) 50. Kick Master (NES) I guess it really goes without saying, putting a cap on my King's Field / Shadow Tower journey stands out as the best retro gaming experience of the last year and half for me. Here's my more in depth thoughts on them all. Ico hit pretty deep. Went through a weird LDR situation/breakup while finishing that game which might be the worst combination ever. ... This was also the first year ever, that I finally beat PCE games and a handful at that. I always knew I'd enjoy some stuff on the system, was only a matter of time. Lots of great shmups, the Legendary Axe games were cool, Splatterhouse, the sound chip is really neat. Definitely more I need to dig into. Sin & Punishment: Star Successor was the final game I beat for my Wii/U, then finally boxed the thing up because I don't really have any plans on playing more. I'll probably just emulate if there's other Wii stuff I want to check out. Star Successor was a game that made the Wiimote worthwhile, but it was never my preference for controls overall. Nice time spent going back to the N64 a bit. Hitting up those still-excellent wrestling games from THQ/Aki, playing the later ones I missed out on as a kid, and both Bomberman 64 (replay) and Hero were awesome to hit up. I did hit up Bomberman 64: The Second Attack and it seems great, just felt some burnout by then. I'll check it out again someday. Parasite Eve II rocked and I think I liked it even more than the first game, despite most not agreeing with that. Glad I finally played both to completion.
Biggest disappointment was hands down Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 2. Didn't live up to all the potential the first game and first half of 2 were building up to sadly.
^ Me probably spending the next 5-10 years trying to sell someone on King's Field. Ex passed on his teachings. Now I somehow have to convince someone...
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