turbografx16's recent activity
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
turbografx16 Link ParentI ended up finishing the game with 95% completion, though there was a lot of wandering around trying to remember where I saw certain things. It's been about a week since I've played and I feel...I ended up finishing the game with 95% completion, though there was a lot of wandering around trying to remember where I saw certain things. It's been about a week since I've played and I feel like I could still navigate the game world pretty smoothly.
If anyone has the patience for it, I think it's actually worth doing. There are frustrations for sure, like forgetting where merchants are or missing rooms you swear you've already been to, but it felt like I was training a skill most games try to automate. If I had been more diligent and took notes, I would have had to run around far less, so I will have to keep that in mind for Silksong. The fact that I'm pretty certain I want to do this for my first playthrough of that game says it all, I suppose.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
turbografx16 Link ParentI really came around on the original Metroid after seeing [this video] (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hbiIPnxY0ak&pp=0gcJCXACo7VqN5tD). Part of the appeal of a game like this is playing it through...I really came around on the original Metroid after seeing [this video] (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hbiIPnxY0ak&pp=0gcJCXACo7VqN5tD). Part of the appeal of a game like this is playing it through multiple times and doing a bit better each time, so it's got less in common with most modern Metroidvanias and more with time attack games. The slowdown is unfortunate, but a reality of NES gaming, and I don't think it changes the fact that this is an excellent game.
Like a lot of older games, what makes it great isn't what's literally onscreen (the layout, for example), but the sum of all its systems working together to get you thinking a certain way. It's difficult because it's supposed to feel like survival, and to encourage a considered approach before you know what you're doing. It doesn't have a map because it doesn't need one; it's a hostile alien world that doesn't care whether you make it through. The controls may seem unwieldy, but they're surprisingly precise when you get a feel for them and, more importantly, the world is designed around navigating with those controls, so it shouldn't be an issue.
The pursuit of finishing the game is more about player growth than character growth, and the contrast between earlier and later playthroughs. You have to earn the right to feel like Samus Aran, professional bounty hunter, and I think once you beat it for the first time, it's hard not to want to go right back in and do better.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
turbografx16 LinkI've been revisiting Hollow Knight for the first time in some years, with a bit of a self-imposed challenge: I'm not using any of the things that make the map useful. I've still gotten the initial...I've been revisiting Hollow Knight for the first time in some years, with a bit of a self-imposed challenge: I'm not using any of the things that make the map useful. I've still gotten the initial rough maps for each area, but I haven't bought the compass, quill, or any of the markers to help fill it out. The fact that these are all technically optional purchases made me curious how viable it was to just not use them, so in a way I'm putting the world design to the ultimate test: is it consistently distinct enough to navigate using only itself?
I'm closing in on the ending pretty soon, so I feel like I can pretty comfortably say that it's a mixed bag. Areas themselves are easy to tell apart, but regularly I've had trouble remembering where specific characters or locations are when I'm looking for them. There is some good landmarking in most areas, but it's generally separated by a lot of similar looking rooms; it's easy to get mixed up and spend a good amount of time lost, retreading the same paths, trying to remember where something was. The world itself is large, so things are quite spread out, and it can be easy to miss things entirely, even if I know generally where to look.
This has encouraged me to be more thorough, and I surprisingly haven't missed nearly as much as I expected I would, though I'm probably not going to be going for 100% completion. I feel like the fact that this was pretty doable, in spite of a good amount of wandering, is a bit of a turning point for me. I've never been a fan of the kind of reliance maps can encourage in games, and this has got me wondering how many game worlds will actually be navigable without that crutch. Again, it feels like putting them to the ultimate test. Once I finish this, I think I'll try the same with Silksong and see how it stacks up. Let's hope that isn't misguided confidence.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
turbografx16 Link ParentMedal of Honor (1999) also had the twin stick control scheme as an alternate, maybe the earliest example I can think of. That game sold extremely well, so it isn't unusual to think it may have...Medal of Honor (1999) also had the twin stick control scheme as an alternate, maybe the earliest example I can think of. That game sold extremely well, so it isn't unusual to think it may have been many players' first experiences with twin stick aiming.
If Halo gets credit for popularizing it, it's probably because that was the default, intended control scheme, and players realized how well it works when they spent a bit of time with it.
A bit tangential, but that's kind of why I always try to play games with the default mappings if possible: if you are able to adapt, you might be surprised how functional and important seemingly unwieldy control schemes can be for some games' intended experiences.
Recently finished Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate for 3DS, a game I've had for years but barely played. In essence, it's a God of War knockoff (like the original game), but in a 2.5D perspective, and as a portable game it's pretty good for some dumb fun.
I had bounced off this one as an avid Symphony of the Night fan back in the day, but it fares better when approached simply as a game about the satisfaction of hitting things. When it works, it works, and back-to-back fights can be a good time, but enemy variety is unfortunately limited, and it's rare to fight more than one type at a time. Levels are nice to look at, but all sort of blur together, and the game's attempts to incentivize backtracking didn't land enough for me to go for 100%.
It never reaches the heights of even the PSP God of War games, and it has some pretty glaring issues, but MercurySteam knows how to make a decent game, and it's at least worth it for the air combos. I couldn't shake the feeling that this would have been a great 3DS game to have back in the day, something you could easily pop in and smack some monsters around, and it kind of still works for that. No idea how the HD version differs, but I'd say play this one on the 3DS if you are interested.