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Post by Tross on May 19, 2019 20:54:37 GMT -5
Wow, that sounds really impressive! Congrats on compiling a collection of that caliber. Where do you plan to start? Well, I already have since I've been getting these collections one or two at a time and went months without investing in any, and have played at least some of the games in each of the ones I had prior. I just made a point of playing at least something on each of the new ones I got. I wish I got the King of Fighters: The Orochi Saga collection sooner though. Samurai Shodown is a really frustratingly difficult series to the point where although I like the setting and backgrounds, I despise the series for being next to impossible to complete (meaning it takes retro hard even beyond the levels of classic Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat). I assumed King of Fighters would be more of the same, but it's actually more like Tekken in terms of difficulty, and I appreciate that. I mean, almost every fighting series I've tried makes me appreciate Tekken that much more as there are so many pet peeves I have with the classic fighting games that are retro hard. Supers that are difficult to pull off, ranged attacks that are difficult to pull off and the fact that the AI can usually pull off both quite easily, and grab/throw moves that the AI can just pull even if you're in the middle of an aerial attack come to mind. Tekken's grab/throw moves at least require some kind of opening to pull off. In any case, King of Fighters is one series that's actually pretty comfortable and way less cheap in comparison to most, and I'm almost through all the games in that collection. I guess learning the ins and outs of a fighting series isn't all that different from learning a martial art (although is less time consuming). I probably earned my black belt in Tekken ages ago, but this journey through other classic series is giving me some context for why I appreciate Tekken, and an indication that I should probably stop avoiding Tekken 7 on principle and just bite the bullet on getting that knowing full well that I will enjoy it. I don't know what the likelihood of me actually playing through every game on that memory card is, but it's probably similar to the likelihood of me playing through every game I own. That said, I'll probably occasionally play through one or two if I'm ever in a retro mood. In the meantime I've returned to Zanki Zero (although I've now hit another point where I have to look up how to progress).
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Post by OttselHero on May 26, 2019 10:37:07 GMT -5
I see a light at the end of the tunnel in my platinum quest for Kingdom Hearts III. I really just need to synthesize every item in the game and get Sora up to LVL 99, which should require very little grinding, shockingly. I'm already at LVL 84, and that's without even attempting to grind up until now.
I'm also very close to finishing the original Legend of Zelda. I have most of Dungeon 9 mapped out; I just need to figure out where each secret passage leads because there are so many branching paths that it's easy to get lost in. This may be one of the few times that a game has ever required me to take out a piece of paper and a pencil for any reason. My plan is to draw a mock-up of the dungeon map and mark the locations of secret passages and where they lead so that I can determine where I've been versus where I haven't. I have accidentally entered the room where Ganon resides, but I had no clue how to beat him. He just disappears and starts hurling fire balls from random points in the room. If I had to guess, I'd say that there's maybe a silver bow somewhere in the dungeon, but that remains to be seen.
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Post by Tross on May 29, 2019 2:17:07 GMT -5
I see a light at the end of the tunnel in my platinum quest for Kingdom Hearts III. I really just need to synthesize every item in the game and get Sora up to LVL 99, which should require very little grinding, shockingly. I'm already at LVL 84, and that's without even attempting to grind up until now. I'm also very close to finishing the original Legend of Zelda. I have most of Dungeon 9 mapped out; I just need to figure out where each secret passage leads because there are so many branching paths that it's easy to get lost in. This may be one of the few times that a game has ever required me to take out a piece of paper and a pencil for any reason. My plan is to draw a mock-up of the dungeon map and mark the locations of secret passages and where they lead so that I can determine where I've been versus where I haven't. I have accidentally entered the room where Ganon resides, but I had no clue how to beat him. He just disappears and starts hurling fire balls from random points in the room. If I had to guess, I'd say that there's maybe a silver bow somewhere in the dungeon, but that remains to be seen. So, you've caught the retro bug too. What are you playing that on? I think I have that on my 3DS, but I never got that far into it (as it's the only Zelda game I've played that's a bit too archaic for me), but maybe one day I'll get through it. I'm seriously considering getting the new Castlevania collection and starting a playthrough of the 8 and 16-bit Castlevanias (and one, maybe two of the 32-bit titles). I may pass on getting the Requiem collection as I have Dracula X Chronicles on the PSP that includes the remake of Rondo of Blood. Of course I'm also debating returning to my Assassin's Creed playthrough and doing a run of the mid-era titles, which are IV, Rogue, Unity, Syndicate and Chronicles (I'll have to double-check if I missed any). I also want to start my own Kingdom Hearts playthrough. I don't think I'll go for the platinum in any of the games (I suppose I can play that by ear), but it's definitely on my to-do list. I plan on finishing Zanki Zero first before I commit to anything. I'm making a lot of progress with it and am about halfway through stage 7.
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Post by Tross on May 31, 2019 14:30:30 GMT -5
There are a couple visual novels on Steam that I really like, which are The House in Fata Morgana, and a prequel called The House in Fata Morgana: Requiem of Innocence, and these games were just ported to the PS4 and, with the Vita version releasing just this week, and the PS4 version due in a couple weeks I think. The PS4 and Vita port includes both games in one download (on Steam they are separate purchases), along with supposedly including a brand new exclusive sequel, and some other short stories.
What's fascinating about this particular VN is that it has a very distinctly European style to it. I mean, it is set in Europe, but although I'm of the opinion that anime style characters look white anyways, the character designs for this particular game have more detailed faces that make them look distinctly European, and while the traditional anime eyes are present here, they're toned down considerably to the point where it often doesn't even cross my mind that I'm playing something Japanese developed. Moreover, it doesn't have voice acting, and the soundtrack is for whatever reason mostly in Portugese, with some French and Latin here and there, which helps give it a distinctly European flavour. For a bit of a non-spoilery synopsis, you wake up as the new lord of a manor with no memory of who you are or how you got there, and a maid introduces herself and leads you around, and tells you about the misfortune of the previous occupants of the house throughout four different ages in history, from medieval times to the mid 1800s. In any case, I've been finishing reading through the prequel on the side (I'm still playing Zanki Zero) in prep for this new release.
I also thoroughly enjoyed this VN and its prequel enough to try and snag an expensive physical collector's edition from Limited Run Games. I had to make sure to have my computer on and be on the website for 7 AM PDT. The website said that there would be only 1000 copies in total produced of both the PS4 and Vita collector's editions, as well as only 2300 standalone physical copies of the Vita version and 2000 of the PS4 version. They would also be released in two batches, but unfortunately, the second batch will be released when I'm at work, so I had to make sure I was in line for the collector's edition for the first batch. I'm also assuming 50% of stock would be sold in each batch. I went for the Vita version as I think VNs feel better on the Vita or another portable device than on a console and TV. Alas, I had to click out of the site and come back after putting the collector's edition in my cart as it wouldn't load up, and although it worked then, that burned a couple minutes, and then I needed to put in my information. Long story short, before I was able to finalize my purchase I got the message that the collector's edition for the Vita was sold out...in a matter of minutes. That's 500 copies of the Vita version of a game I didn't think most people even knew about. Oh, and presumably 1150 copies of the standard Vita version too as a sold out sign appeared over that not long after too.
It worked out though. I just went over to the PS4 version of the collector's edition, which is identical other than that a PS4 copy will be in the box instead of a Vita copy. Thankfully the site still remembered my information, so I was able to go through the process and order the collector's edition. It was just in time too, as after I did, the sold out sign appeared over the PS4 collector's edition, which was about 10 minutes in, so 500 copies of that are gone too. For some reason the standard PS4 physical release isn't saying sold out yet, so maybe others were thinking along the same lines as me, that the game would be more ideal on the Vita. Oh well, that's good news for people who want it. I mean, the digital Vita release is out now with the PS4 release out soon enough, so this is more for collectors anyways.
Oh, there's also a "May 31st Mega-Bundle" that's $345 USD, includes both collector's editions (excessive much?), along with the soundtrack bundle of a VN called London Detective Mysteria for the Vita (which is the game and its soundtrack), some other miscellaneous stuff for a game called Trover Saves the Universe, and 7 Limited Run brand trading cards featuring those games and possibly others. It's unclear whether that bundle eats into the already limited stock of the individual releases, or if it is its own stock, but it's worth pointing out, and no, I did not buy that. Just imagining what that would be in Canadian dollars after tax and shipping is almost enough to faint, and I only came for one game. TBH I don't often read visual novels, but The House in Fata Morgana enticed me enough to check it out, and I'm glad I did. By the way, that Mega-Bundle sold out too. All of this is available worldwide and can ship anywhere, but imagine ordering something like that and having it shipped to Europe or somewhere else really far away (not to mention converting the cost to Pounds or Euros or some other currency). There's no way to determine where people who ordered all this stuff live, but there must be a lot of people with excess money to burn. Even if you live in the US $345 plus shipping is a lot of money.
In any case, while I didn't get the version I wanted, I'm still glad I got the collector's edition and a physical copy of the game, and I own something that there will only be 1000 of in the world (unless that Mega-Bundle is its own stock). As it turns out, between tax, shipping and the awful exchange rate, that $85USD collector's edition actually ended up costing me $135CAD (ouch). That's not something I can afford to do very often, but I had to have the experience at least once of owning something that rare. It will come in a nice box and not only include the game, complete with a case and disc, but also a 6-disc soundtrack, a 64-page artbook and a double-sided poster. If I feel inclined I suppose I could drop more money and just get a digital copy of the Vita version, which has unlimited quantities. Then I would own the game on every device it is available on in English (apparently there's a 3DS version that for some reason wasn't localized). I'm in no hurry to do so though, and should probably wait for a sale if I want to do that. Granted, I also have to wait a couple months as the Limited Run website says these games won't ship until July as they haven't actually been produced yet. Oh well. I don't think I'll make a habit of ordering from that site due to shipping costs, the exchange rate and the fact that all purchases are non-refundable and cannot be canceled once they are made, but I'm glad to cross that experience off my bucket list.
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Post by OttselHero on May 31, 2019 19:28:14 GMT -5
I see a light at the end of the tunnel in my platinum quest for Kingdom Hearts III. I really just need to synthesize every item in the game and get Sora up to LVL 99, which should require very little grinding, shockingly. I'm already at LVL 84, and that's without even attempting to grind up until now. I'm also very close to finishing the original Legend of Zelda. I have most of Dungeon 9 mapped out; I just need to figure out where each secret passage leads because there are so many branching paths that it's easy to get lost in. This may be one of the few times that a game has ever required me to take out a piece of paper and a pencil for any reason. My plan is to draw a mock-up of the dungeon map and mark the locations of secret passages and where they lead so that I can determine where I've been versus where I haven't. I have accidentally entered the room where Ganon resides, but I had no clue how to beat him. He just disappears and starts hurling fire balls from random points in the room. If I had to guess, I'd say that there's maybe a silver bow somewhere in the dungeon, but that remains to be seen. So, you've caught the retro bug too. What are you playing that on? I think I have that on my 3DS, but I never got that far into it (as it's the only Zelda game I've played that's a bit too archaic for me), but maybe one day I'll get through it. I'm seriously considering getting the new Castlevania collection and starting a playthrough of the 8 and 16-bit Castlevanias (and one, maybe two of the 32-bit titles). I may pass on getting the Requiem collection as I have Dracula X Chronicles on the PSP that includes the remake of Rondo of Blood. Of course I'm also debating returning to my Assassin's Creed playthrough and doing a run of the mid-era titles, which are IV, Rogue, Unity, Syndicate and Chronicles (I'll have to double-check if I missed any). I also want to start my own Kingdom Hearts playthrough. I don't think I'll go for the platinum in any of the games (I suppose I can play that by ear), but it's definitely on my to-do list. I plan on finishing Zanki Zero first before I commit to anything. I'm making a lot of progress with it and am about halfway through stage 7. I'm also playing it on 3DS, but I think I may consider myself done with it. Despite having mapped out the final dungeon on a physical piece of paper and marking the locations of every secret passage, and absolutely tearing that dungeon apart, I did not find what I needed to beat the final boss. Turns out that item is underneath a room that I assumed was a dead end. I'm so mad that I don't think I'll even bother to finish it. It's an interesting experience, but if you get into it, don't make any promises to yourself that you'll get through the game without a guide. You'll feel much less inadequate that way. I accepted the fact that I would need a guide to find some of the dungeon entrances, but I also endeavored to solve all of the dungeons without help. That was a mistake. I only hope that it hasn't ruined the entire series for me. Whoah, congrats on snagging a limited edition copy, even if it wasn't on the platform you had hoped for. It's sad that those tend to get scooped up by scalpers before people who genuinely want to the game have the chance to get it. Limited Run Games has been gradually putting out physical releases of the Jak and Daxter games lately, which I have found tempting, but I really only would have wanted them for the soundtracks more than anything (plus the games aren't in HD, as they are the PS4 ports that we got last year). They also did one for Dust: An Elysian Tail on Switch, but I have it on PS4 or else I would have gotten it (if I were quick enough, that is).
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Post by Tross on Jun 1, 2019 1:49:22 GMT -5
So, you've caught the retro bug too. What are you playing that on? I think I have that on my 3DS, but I never got that far into it (as it's the only Zelda game I've played that's a bit too archaic for me), but maybe one day I'll get through it. I'm seriously considering getting the new Castlevania collection and starting a playthrough of the 8 and 16-bit Castlevanias (and one, maybe two of the 32-bit titles). I may pass on getting the Requiem collection as I have Dracula X Chronicles on the PSP that includes the remake of Rondo of Blood. Of course I'm also debating returning to my Assassin's Creed playthrough and doing a run of the mid-era titles, which are IV, Rogue, Unity, Syndicate and Chronicles (I'll have to double-check if I missed any). I also want to start my own Kingdom Hearts playthrough. I don't think I'll go for the platinum in any of the games (I suppose I can play that by ear), but it's definitely on my to-do list. I plan on finishing Zanki Zero first before I commit to anything. I'm making a lot of progress with it and am about halfway through stage 7. I'm also playing it on 3DS, but I think I may consider myself done with it. Despite having mapped out the final dungeon on a physical piece of paper and marking the locations of every secret passage, and absolutely tearing that dungeon apart, I did not find what I needed to beat the final boss. Turns out that item is underneath a room that I assumed was a dead end. I'm so mad that I don't think I'll even bother to finish it. It's an interesting experience, but if you get into it, don't make any promises to yourself that you'll get through the game without a guide. You'll feel much less inadequate that way. I accepted the fact that I would need a guide to find some of the dungeon entrances, but I also endeavored to solve all of the dungeons without help. That was a mistake. I only hope that it hasn't ruined the entire series for me. Whoah, congrats on snagging a limited edition copy, even if it wasn't on the platform you had hoped for. It's sad that those tend to get scooped up by scalpers before people who genuinely want to the game have the chance to get it. Limited Run Games has been gradually putting out physical releases of the Jak and Daxter games lately, which I have found tempting, but I really only would have wanted them for the soundtracks more than anything (plus the games aren't in HD, as they are the PS4 ports that we got last year). They also did one for Dust: An Elysian Tail on Switch, but I have it on PS4 or else I would have gotten it (if I were quick enough, that is). Well, as much as fans of the original Zelda say it holds up to this day, I've personally felt that A Link to the Past is where the series really starts, as it's the first that has all the staples of a great Zelda title. Not only is it much more aesthetically pleasing as a 16-bit title, but it has great writing and the dungeons make a lot more sense. I respect the first Legend of Zelda for starting the series, and am glad I got to play a little bit of it, but although I may revisit it in the future, it just makes me wish I were playing another title in the series. I don't think it's worth letting it ruin the series for you since it's all uphill from there...aside from maybe Zelda 2. Hats off to you for getting farther than I did though. Getting a limited edition was just as much about the experience as it was about actually snagging a copy of the edition I wanted. Life would have gone on had I not succeeded, but I'm glad I did. I've never played a straight-up visual novel on my PS4, so it will be a different experience seeing it displayed on my TV screen. Limited Run Games actually has a limit of two per customer on the items I mentioned, but I think it probably should have been one per customer. I mean, most people probably weren't buying one copy for themselves and one for a friend, but I could see someone who's quick snapping up two copies, keeping one and waiting until that product is sold out, then selling the other for something like $500 USD on eBay. Scalpers are why some people can't have nice things. I clearly underestimated just how quickly a product like that would sell out. I assumed its relative obscurity mixed with the much more limited Vita userbase would have rendered Vita copies fairly easy to snag, but I was wrong. I watched a brief vid on what the menu looks like in the Vita port of The House in Fata Morgana, and what's included. It appears that in order to unlock the prequel, sequel and extra short stories, the player has to go through the first game, and it's highly likely that the other content has an order in which it's unlocked, meaning that there's a good chance I'll have to go through both the titles I've already played through once again, just to unlock the new stuff. I heard something about a password to skip ahead to what's new, so I might have to look into that.
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Post by OttselHero on Jun 2, 2019 11:53:33 GMT -5
I'm also playing it on 3DS, but I think I may consider myself done with it. Despite having mapped out the final dungeon on a physical piece of paper and marking the locations of every secret passage, and absolutely tearing that dungeon apart, I did not find what I needed to beat the final boss. Turns out that item is underneath a room that I assumed was a dead end. I'm so mad that I don't think I'll even bother to finish it. It's an interesting experience, but if you get into it, don't make any promises to yourself that you'll get through the game without a guide. You'll feel much less inadequate that way. I accepted the fact that I would need a guide to find some of the dungeon entrances, but I also endeavored to solve all of the dungeons without help. That was a mistake. I only hope that it hasn't ruined the entire series for me. Whoah, congrats on snagging a limited edition copy, even if it wasn't on the platform you had hoped for. It's sad that those tend to get scooped up by scalpers before people who genuinely want to the game have the chance to get it. Limited Run Games has been gradually putting out physical releases of the Jak and Daxter games lately, which I have found tempting, but I really only would have wanted them for the soundtracks more than anything (plus the games aren't in HD, as they are the PS4 ports that we got last year). They also did one for Dust: An Elysian Tail on Switch, but I have it on PS4 or else I would have gotten it (if I were quick enough, that is). Well, as much as fans of the original Zelda say it holds up to this day, I've personally felt that A Link to the Past is where the series really starts, as it's the first that has all the staples of a great Zelda title. Not only is it much more aesthetically pleasing as a 16-bit title, but it has great writing and the dungeons make a lot more sense. I respect the first Legend of Zelda for starting the series, and am glad I got to play a little bit of it, but although I may revisit it in the future, it just makes me wish I were playing another title in the series. I don't think it's worth letting it ruin the series for you since it's all uphill from there...aside from maybe Zelda 2. Hats off to you for getting farther than I did though. Getting a limited edition was just as much about the experience as it was about actually snagging a copy of the edition I wanted. Life would have gone on had I not succeeded, but I'm glad I did. I've never played a straight-up visual novel on my PS4, so it will be a different experience seeing it displayed on my TV screen. Limited Run Games actually has a limit of two per customer on the items I mentioned, but I think it probably should have been one per customer. I mean, most people probably weren't buying one copy for themselves and one for a friend, but I could see someone who's quick snapping up two copies, keeping one and waiting until that product is sold out, then selling the other for something like $500 USD on eBay. Scalpers are why some people can't have nice things. I clearly underestimated just how quickly a product like that would sell out. I assumed its relative obscurity mixed with the much more limited Vita userbase would have rendered Vita copies fairly easy to snag, but I was wrong. I watched a brief vid on what the menu looks like in the Vita port of The House in Fata Morgana, and what's included. It appears that in order to unlock the prequel, sequel and extra short stories, the player has to go through the first game, and it's highly likely that the other content has an order in which it's unlocked, meaning that there's a good chance I'll have to go through both the titles I've already played through once again, just to unlock the new stuff. I heard something about a password to skip ahead to what's new, so I might have to look into that. I can see that, since I think Link to the Past incorporated elements that they couldn't work into the original thanks to the NES' limitations. If you ask me, the original should be wiped from existence so that no one else would have to experience crippling worthlessness.
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Post by Tross on Jun 2, 2019 21:35:54 GMT -5
Well, as much as fans of the original Zelda say it holds up to this day, I've personally felt that A Link to the Past is where the series really starts, as it's the first that has all the staples of a great Zelda title. Not only is it much more aesthetically pleasing as a 16-bit title, but it has great writing and the dungeons make a lot more sense. I respect the first Legend of Zelda for starting the series, and am glad I got to play a little bit of it, but although I may revisit it in the future, it just makes me wish I were playing another title in the series. I don't think it's worth letting it ruin the series for you since it's all uphill from there...aside from maybe Zelda 2. Hats off to you for getting farther than I did though. Getting a limited edition was just as much about the experience as it was about actually snagging a copy of the edition I wanted. Life would have gone on had I not succeeded, but I'm glad I did. I've never played a straight-up visual novel on my PS4, so it will be a different experience seeing it displayed on my TV screen. Limited Run Games actually has a limit of two per customer on the items I mentioned, but I think it probably should have been one per customer. I mean, most people probably weren't buying one copy for themselves and one for a friend, but I could see someone who's quick snapping up two copies, keeping one and waiting until that product is sold out, then selling the other for something like $500 USD on eBay. Scalpers are why some people can't have nice things. I clearly underestimated just how quickly a product like that would sell out. I assumed its relative obscurity mixed with the much more limited Vita userbase would have rendered Vita copies fairly easy to snag, but I was wrong. I watched a brief vid on what the menu looks like in the Vita port of The House in Fata Morgana, and what's included. It appears that in order to unlock the prequel, sequel and extra short stories, the player has to go through the first game, and it's highly likely that the other content has an order in which it's unlocked, meaning that there's a good chance I'll have to go through both the titles I've already played through once again, just to unlock the new stuff. I heard something about a password to skip ahead to what's new, so I might have to look into that. I can see that, since I think Link to the Past incorporated elements that they couldn't work into the original thanks to the NES' limitations. If you ask me, the original should be wiped from existence so that no one else would have to experience crippling worthlessness. Well, the original game does deserve credit for starting the series. There would be no Legend of Zelda had it not been made. I personally just approach really old games like that as interesting pieces of history, and I don't get too angry at them as I can just as easily switch to something else if I'm getting too frustrated. First games in series often have sequels that build on them and do things much better. At least the first Zelda beats the first Street Fighter. Seriously, that game is just awful IMHO. I watched a vid showing what's included in the PS4 and Vita release of The House in Fata Morgana, and it supposedly has a "Back Door" feature that lets the player access everything by asking three questions, the answers to which would presumably be known by those who have played through the original game. That's good because I recall even just the first game being quite lengthy, and the prequel isn't short either. That's two games for the price of one, plus an extra new sequel, and some additional short stories. That's like 3 and 1/2 full games, assuming the sequel is anything close to the length of its predecessors (I have my doubts, as it sounds like it just helps tie things up that have already been completed in the previous two titles). The sequel is also apparently voiced, but while I appreciate the extra effort, I think I'll have to disable voices, not because I dislike Japanese voice acting, but it's not only set in Europe; the previous games have a less animeish style to them, the music isn't in Japanese, and with the previously unvoiced characters who return in the sequel, I have my ideas of how they all sound and I just don't think Japanese voice acting fits them. Maybe that's not fair as even if there were English voice acting I'd be extra critical of it if it was too far off from what I imagined each character sounding like. In any case, I just haven't approached this as an anime series at all, and it barely occurred to me that it is a work of Japanese origin when I played through the titles on Steam. At least I can just turn off voices though and I appreciate having new content to peruse. The additional short stories appear to be unvoiced just like the other two games. Here's a rundown of the Vita version, and I presume the PS4 version will be virtually identical: Oh, and a video of this girl raving about it. I mostly agree with her, aside from her pronunciation of Fata Morgana (although I suppose I'm not an expert on how loan words from languages I don't speak should be pronounced), but I think I would classify it first and foremost as a tragedy with some horror elements:
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Post by OttselHero on Jun 10, 2019 9:07:36 GMT -5
For failing to solve the last dungeon on my own, I'm punishing myself by playing Zelda II. No guides, and no other games played until I finish it. Is it a bad idea? Probably.
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Post by Tross on Jun 11, 2019 14:49:08 GMT -5
For failing to solve the last dungeon on my own, I'm punishing myself by playing Zelda II. No guides, and no other games played until I finish it. Is it a bad idea? Probably. Good luck with that, lol. Hats off to you if you can pull it off though. So, I'm taking another short break from Zanki Zero as I spent my budget and then some, and decided I couldn't wait two months to play the sequel to The House in Fata Morgana (and I just really wanted the game on Vita), so I ended up buying a digital Vita copy (which apparently entitles me to a digital PS4 copy too, but I'll hold off on that until I get my physical copy, presumably in August). I did wait for my next Visa cycle before I did it, but I'm still not going to be buying anything else entertainment related for another month (it was totally worth it though). I of course opted for the back door. The three questions asked each consist of choosing between two possible answers, and a wrong answer will just kick the player back to the main menu, but with the option of going back in and trying again. As such, it's easy for newcomers to "break through" the back door, but it's not recommended since stuff is unlocked overtime for a reason, not the least of which is that practically nothing would make sense without having played the first game, even though doing so comes with two free silver trophies (the only two in the game) and a gold one for "beating the first two games". This release is trophy heaven though, with one silver being handed out just for starting the first game, the fact that there are zero bronze trophies, and a few golds are even handed out just for accessing certain menus or content, and other than the one that requires seeing all the main endings in the first game, none require any skill, making for an easy platinum. I didn't buy it for that though. The new content is great, the faster skip function (as well as the ability to skip entire scenes via the top menu) and new quicksave and auto-save features are awesome (with 20 slots for each kind of save, plus 120 for standard saves, which I've only used one of), the menu system is cleaned up (with some content even being easier to find now), and everything has new art assets. I personally have instances where I prefer the old art, but it varies from background to background and is probably only an issue because I'm used to the original art. I do miss the "Backstage" features for the first two games though, as they're not included here. An exclusive sequel and 15 more short stories to go with the existing 3 help ease their absence though, and I do still have the Steam versions. This is a near-perfect package that otherwise includes the series in its entirety.
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Post by OttselHero on Jun 17, 2019 9:39:30 GMT -5
Zelda II is going all right so far. There is a huuuge difficulty spike between the first 2 palaces, but on the other hand, it is not required to clear the palaces to advance the story (until you want to attempt the final palace, that is). You only need to find the dungeon item in order to progress through the overworld. I did manage to solve a roadblock on my own by pure luck and wouldn't fault anyone for using a guide to find out how to get around it. We'll see how the rest of the game plays out. While the game plays differently from any other Zelda, I don't hate it. In fact, I think the original Final Fantasy may have been an influence when it was made (at least from an overworld/random encounter perspective).
Were there any standouts at E3 for you this year? Of course, the Final Fantasy VII remake has me gushing right now. It looks very promising so far. The announcement that a direct sequel to Breath of the Wild was also quite a surprise. I was this close to saying that Sony won despite not being present until Nintendo came out swinging with that teaser trailer.
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Post by Tross on Jun 20, 2019 13:05:01 GMT -5
Zelda II is going all right so far. There is a huuuge difficulty spike between the first 2 palaces, but on the other hand, it is not required to clear the palaces to advance the story (until you want to attempt the final palace, that is). You only need to find the dungeon item in order to progress through the overworld. I did manage to solve a roadblock on my own by pure luck and wouldn't fault anyone for using a guide to find out how to get around it. We'll see how the rest of the game plays out. While the game plays differently from any other Zelda, I don't hate it. In fact, I think the original Final Fantasy may have been an influence when it was made (at least from an overworld/random encounter perspective). Were there any standouts at E3 for you this year? Of course, the Final Fantasy VII remake has me gushing right now. It looks very promising so far. The announcement that a direct sequel to Breath of the Wild was also quite a surprise. I was this close to saying that Sony won despite not being present until Nintendo came out swinging with that teaser trailer. I have heard that some people really like Zelda II, so maybe it's only considered a black sheep because it's different. I'm certainly curious enough to give the remake of Final Fantasy VII a try at some point, but as I've always been considerably more meh about VII than most people seem to be, I'm actually way more excited about the remastering of FFVIII. Oh, and I'll be looking forward to Persona 5: Royal, because I've already played Personas 3 and 4 twice, so why not 5? I finally got through all the content in my fantastically depressing visual novel (and even took time to read another short depressing VN called Lily of the Valley on Steam), so I'm back to Zanki Zero and making quick progress, although there are rooms in the last stage that are kind of annoying, and I'm certain it's going to take a good while to get through it all.
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Post by OttselHero on Jun 24, 2019 9:15:48 GMT -5
Zelda II is going all right so far. There is a huuuge difficulty spike between the first 2 palaces, but on the other hand, it is not required to clear the palaces to advance the story (until you want to attempt the final palace, that is). You only need to find the dungeon item in order to progress through the overworld. I did manage to solve a roadblock on my own by pure luck and wouldn't fault anyone for using a guide to find out how to get around it. We'll see how the rest of the game plays out. While the game plays differently from any other Zelda, I don't hate it. In fact, I think the original Final Fantasy may have been an influence when it was made (at least from an overworld/random encounter perspective). Were there any standouts at E3 for you this year? Of course, the Final Fantasy VII remake has me gushing right now. It looks very promising so far. The announcement that a direct sequel to Breath of the Wild was also quite a surprise. I was this close to saying that Sony won despite not being present until Nintendo came out swinging with that teaser trailer. I have heard that some people really like Zelda II, so maybe it's only considered a black sheep because it's different. I'm certainly curious enough to give the remake of Final Fantasy VII a try at some point, but as I've always been considerably more meh about VII than most people seem to be, I'm actually way more excited about the remastering of FFVIII. Oh, and I'll be looking forward to Persona 5: Royal, because I've already played Personas 3 and 4 twice, so why not 5? I finally got through all the content in my fantastically depressing visual novel (and even took time to read another short depressing VN called Lily of the Valley on Steam), so I'm back to Zanki Zero and making quick progress, although there are rooms in the last stage that are kind of annoying, and I'm certain it's going to take a good while to get through it all. "Fantastically depressing" is exactly how I would describe Season 2 of Telltale's The Walking Dead. Hopefully it wasn't too much of a downer. I think it was because of how bleak The Walking Dead was that I have yet to check out the sequels. I keep telling myself that I will someday, yet I never do. I cleared the first 3 palaces in Zelda II and am chipping away at the fourth. The enemies are starting to get super tough, mainly on the road to the palaces more than palace enemies themselves. Some of them are impervious to sword swipes. I learned a fireball spell that would probably get the job done, but that costs MP that I would rather conserve for the palaces. Then again, I may save more MP by using the fire spell as opposed to consuming a whopping 50MP to heal up somewhere along the way. It'll be something to test out, for sure. While I have said I wouldn't touch any other game until after I finish Zelda II, that doesn't count toward multiplayer games when friends come visit. So we tried a hand at Lord of the Rings: Conquest for the first time. If you don't recall, it's essentially classic Star Wars: Battlefront set in Middle Earth. We only played a little bit, but I'm liking a lot so far. It does take liberties with some of the lore, however. For instance, the first campaign setting is Helm's Deep, at which the player is required to prevent orcs from blowing up the wall, which is canonically supposed to happen. And then it blows up anyway in a cutscene despite succeeding in that endeavor. And then there was a Moria level that had cave trolls, except the models were clearly Olog-hai (better known as the trolls that drove the siege towers on the Pelennor Fields in Return of the King). So I feel like a little more research could have been done when the game was made, but I suppose the point was never to be a definitive retelling of the story. The point is to be fun and that's exactly what it is.
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Post by Tross on Jun 24, 2019 15:27:17 GMT -5
I have heard that some people really like Zelda II, so maybe it's only considered a black sheep because it's different. I'm certainly curious enough to give the remake of Final Fantasy VII a try at some point, but as I've always been considerably more meh about VII than most people seem to be, I'm actually way more excited about the remastering of FFVIII. Oh, and I'll be looking forward to Persona 5: Royal, because I've already played Personas 3 and 4 twice, so why not 5? I finally got through all the content in my fantastically depressing visual novel (and even took time to read another short depressing VN called Lily of the Valley on Steam), so I'm back to Zanki Zero and making quick progress, although there are rooms in the last stage that are kind of annoying, and I'm certain it's going to take a good while to get through it all. "Fantastically depressing" is exactly how I would describe Season 2 of Telltale's The Walking Dead. Hopefully it wasn't too much of a downer. I think it was because of how bleak The Walking Dead was that I have yet to check out the sequels. I keep telling myself that I will someday, yet I never do. I cleared the first 3 palaces in Zelda II and am chipping away at the fourth. The enemies are starting to get super tough, mainly on the road to the palaces more than palace enemies themselves. Some of them are impervious to sword swipes. I learned a fireball spell that would probably get the job done, but that costs MP that I would rather conserve for the palaces. Then again, I may save more MP by using the fire spell as opposed to consuming a whopping 50MP to heal up somewhere along the way. It'll be something to test out, for sure. While I have said I wouldn't touch any other game until after I finish Zelda II, that doesn't count toward multiplayer games when friends come visit. So we tried a hand at Lord of the Rings: Conquest for the first time. If you don't recall, it's essentially classic Star Wars: Battlefront set in Middle Earth. We only played a little bit, but I'm liking a lot so far. It does take liberties with some of the lore, however. For instance, the first campaign setting is Helm's Deep, at which the player is required to prevent orcs from blowing up the wall, which is canonically supposed to happen. And then it blows up anyway in a cutscene despite succeeding in that endeavor. And then there was a Moria level that had cave trolls, except the models were clearly Olog-hai (better known as the trolls that drove the siege towers on the Pelennor Fields in Return of the King). So I feel like a little more research could have been done when the game was made, but I suppose the point was never to be a definitive retelling of the story. The point is to be fun and that's exactly what it is. Those stories are downers in a good way. I'm starting to find that there may be a high possibility that I like tragedies, or at least some tragedies. Personally, my definition of a tragedy doesn't necessarily mean all the characters die in the end, or that the ending has to be bad for everyone. At least one of the stories I read has a better ending, but it's still bleak and depressing throughout. Maybe I should give Shakespeare another shot, although maybe not because I still don't speak Early Modern English and I still have bad memories from high school English class. I do still have to play through The Walking Dead again and like you I ended with season 2 (mostly because I originally played the games on the Vita and that line of games ends there). So, I'll have to replay the first two seasons and then play through the subsequent ones. I checked out a few of the comics, but I don't think this is the kind of series I would like to follow as a comic or show. I guess even as far as tragedies go, I prefer when I can get attached to characters throughout the story rather than not wanting to get invested in any of them outside of the main character (and even then there's the twist at the end of the first season of the Telltale games). I can make an exception for the games because player choices make me feel more immersed, and it's not like I find the series intolerable. I just don't think it's something I can get into longterm. I haven't thought much about the Lord of the Rings for a while, but it's good to know Conquest is decent, if flawed from a story standpoint. I know my friend was a big fan of The Third Age back in the day, but it felt like bad fanfic to me. So, I'm taking a bit of a break from Zanki Zero again, as that last dungeon is just plain annoying. Interestingly enough I decided to take up The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth once again, and this time I bought the Afterbirth and Afterbirth + DLCs. I think after taking a break to read something as simple as a couple visual novels, I needed the opposite kind of simplicity; something that's light on story and heavily gameplay focused that's simple to play but difficult to master, that I can pick up and play for a short session. I was between Isaac and revisiting Sayonara Umihara Kawase, but I chose Isaac. It's so addicting and also frustrating that I now remember why I stopped playing it. Apparently there's a final DLC pack due out this year, so I'll look forward to that.
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Post by OttselHero on Jul 9, 2019 8:39:12 GMT -5
I think I may take a break with Zelda II myself. My goal is to have the 6 preliminary dungeons completed (still have 2 to go), and then I'll leave the Great Palace for another time. The road to getting there is treacherous at best, and is nearly impossible to traverse without losing all 3 lives. When I eventually pick it up again, I plan to utilize the 3DS' save state function (I can hop out of the game at any time by pressing the Home button and pick up precisely where I left off later) to grind for lives. Once your Strength, Magic, and Defense stats are maxed out at 8, subsequent level-ups give the player an extra life. So I thought maybe I would take the time to grind until I have, say, 40 lives, that way I'll know I have enough lives to survive the journey to the Great Palace, and hopefully enough to clear the Great Palace itself.
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