CoN 25th Anniversary: 1997-2022
What games are you playing at the moment?

Posted: 20th August 2018 21:16

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Maniacal Clown
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...and now I am wearing a fish shirt, dyed green, with a steel rose in my hair, while riding a giant metallic bunny and being followed around by small flying minotaur, waving a bug net around to catch walking goldfish.

This post has been edited by Glenn Magus Harvey on 20th August 2018 21:16

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current games (2024-02-19):
Fairy Fencer F ADF
Pokémon Perfect Crystal

finished so far this year:
Gato Roboto
drowning, drowning
New Super Mario Bros.
TMNT 3: Radical Rescue

tabled: Lost Ruins
Post #215148
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Posted: 21st August 2018 16:25

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Black Waltz
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Picked up Megaman X Legacy Collection on Steam. I beat the 1st game easily enough, and then started up X2.

Boy, I've forgotten how insanely frustrating the X games started to get as the sequels continued to be made. I seem to recall reading somewhere about how the guy behind it was kind of frustrated that he was asked to make sequels, as he really intended the 1st game to be a stand-alone story on its own. I wonder if he decided to take his frustration out on the players, or something, because...

X2 starts out the same way as X1, with an intro stage that sort of shows you the ropes, with the added bonus of allowing X to dash automatically, instead of making you wait for the upgrade later. But from there, it starts to get a little convoluted.

After you've defeated two Mavericks (I traditionally choose Flame Stag first and then go on to Morph Moth), the X-Hunters descend into various stages that are selected based on an algorithm (I'm guessing it changes depending on which Mavericks you've already defeated). If you don't defeat them (and they are somewhat irritating to deal with), you lose the ability to recover Zero's parts.

It is kind of manipulative, in a way. The player (let's use childhood me as an example) cares about the 'best friend' character Zero enough to go after the parts, and taking away the chance to get them if you don't perform up to the game's expectations in defeating the X-Hunters makes the player feel like they have failed somehow.

In the end, however, all it really amounts to is that you face Zero as a boss right before Sigma, and he isn't terribly hard, and the game turns out the same way whether you recovered all the parts or not. The ending doesn't really change one way or the other. Zero still goes to destroy the main system and you still end up having to fight Sigma.

Now, on to other matters. The sub-bosses in the middle of levels in this game are basically way more of a pain in the butt than a sub-boss deserves to be. I recall, yesterday, playing through it and remembering the tooth-grinding frustration of dealing with them. In Morph Moth's stage there are these Reploid Insects that take over other Reploids, and you end up fighting two sub-bosses where one of them takes over a Junked Reploid. If you don't pump enough shots into them before they decide to dig back under the garbage pile for another Junked Reploid, they continue to get another one until they are destroyed during the short window where they are jumping around. Frustrating. Another annoying one is the Reploid that scans your abilities before you fight him in Magna Centipede's stage. I eventually figured out that if you just dash under the falling blocks quickly enough, you don't have to deal with your abilities being imparted to it, but even then, it's kind of an exercise in tedium dealing with the thing, as its animation frames seem keyed just so to where you are unlikely to see the shots coming until you have fought it and memorized the timing many times. I could go on about the sub-bosses, but you have limited time to read, I imagine, reader.

The stage gimmicks are irritating as well. In Magna Centipede's stage, there are these Searchlight things that sound an alarm if you touch them. I get that Metal Gear Solid was about to come out and everyone was obsessed with stealth gameplay, but in the endgame it just turns into an exercise in frustration. I feel like the connection that was forged with X as a character at the end of the first game is being exploited by the programmers to make you feel irritated every time he takes a hit, which happens many, many times.

Another stage gimmick that I found irritating was the Fish Reploid in Bubble Crab's stage. It is basically just there to get in the way and screw up your progression through the level, and it takes 40 bajillion shots at about 5-6 different sweet spots to take it down. The Giga Crush wipes it out in an instant, but that's another thing:

The Giga Crush is a really stupid weapon with very few practical applications. To charge it, you have to take damage from a projectile. So, get hit on purpose, basically, but it can't be a hit that results from colliding with an enemy (for some reason), it has to be a projectile.

I really feel like these features were put in the game simply to irritate the player, and I imagine they caused my family all kinds of grief from listening to me scream and swear at it, back when I was a kid (I wonder why they never thought to simply confiscate the cartridge from me as a punishment, but, you know, looney lefters, who knows).

As a final note, screw Wire Sponge's stage forever. That sub-tank is the most annoying hidden thing in the history of everything.

X3's music isn't as good as the first two, either, but the Intro Stage's theme gets my blood pumping every time. It's a shame the rest of the soundtrack doesn't hold up as well.

And X4? Well...you know.

This post has been edited by Spooniest on 21st August 2018 19:59

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X is blue.
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Posted: 27th August 2018 16:55

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Maniacal Clown
Posts: 5,394

Joined: 31/10/2003

Awards:
Third place in CoNCAA, 2019. Celebrated the CoN 20th Anniversary at the forums. Voted for all the fanart in the CoNvent Calendar 2015. Voted for all the fanart in the CoNvent Calendar 2014. 
User has rated 75 fanarts in the CoN galleries. Member of more than ten years. Contributed to the Final Fantasy VI section of CoN. User has rated 25 fanarts in the CoN galleries. 
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My personal favorite soundtrack from the first five X games is X3, actually.

I personally found X2 to be the most difficult of the first three X games (i.e. the SNES ones), and X1 to be the easiest.

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current games (2024-02-19):
Fairy Fencer F ADF
Pokémon Perfect Crystal

finished so far this year:
Gato Roboto
drowning, drowning
New Super Mario Bros.
TMNT 3: Radical Rescue

tabled: Lost Ruins
Post #215165
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Posted: 7th September 2018 20:52
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Behemoth
Posts: 2,835

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Celebrated the CoN 20th Anniversary at the forums. Contributed to the Final Fantasy VI section of CoN. Member of more than ten years. Member of more than five years. 
First place in the 2008  Has more than fifty fanarts in CoN galleries. Major involvement in the Final Fantasy I section of CoN. Major involvement in the Final Fantasy IV section of CoN. 
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Finally finally entered New Vegas and now I'm in the big leagues! Got the presidential suite in the Lucky 38 and grabbed up all my former companions so I could stick 'em in there and now I'm getting caught up in all these faction politics as I chuck and maneuver my way into becoming God King of the Mojave. I gotta admit, there is a certain charm to the bump in scope this game gives ya once you pass that gate.

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Posted: 8th September 2018 21:52

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Magitek Soldier
Posts: 339

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Member of more than five years. Celebrated the CoN 20th Anniversary at the forums. 
I finished my replay of Final Fantasy X! I put 65 hours into it, which is about half the time of my last playthrough. I was a bit uncertain I'd be able to do the final boss as I hadn't grinded for auto-haste and auro-phoenix, but a friend assured me it was possible without those. I did end up grinding for Auto-life and Auron's zombie attack, both of which were helpful.

I started X-2 the next night. This is my first time playing it. The feminist in me LOVES that the party is three women, but hates Rikku's default outfit (a string bikini and micro-skirt). I had problems with the game early on; there's a jumping puzzle (timed!) And I rather suck at those. You get about 5 minutes to do it, but it took me 40 because I just couldn't figure out where to go. Meh.

I also have a quibble with the order to do events. Naturally, I was attracted to hot spots, as I figured that's where the game wanted me to go next. But the second got spot is in Zanarkand, and I got wiped on my first encounter there. So I had to look up a walkthrough, which basically said to ignore the hotspot for now and retrace Yuna's pilgrimage. So I'm doing that now, and things are going well. Still in Chapter 1, but have completed 11% of the game so far.

I'm hoping to finish the game this month so I can start a play through of the Kingdom Hearts franchise. I've only played half its games, and I'd really like to finish them all by the time KH3 drops. I'll be busy these next few months!

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Watch me play games on Twitch!
Schedule:
Mondays & Thursdays: Final Fantasy XVI
Saturdays: Final Fantasy XIV MSQ & Side Quests
7:30pm - 10:30pm Central or thereabouts
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Posted: 10th September 2018 08:16

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Black Mage
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After beating Metroid Prime 2 on Hard, took a look at the save file and realized it was only a little slower than my Normal clear. So I'm intermittently going back from time to time to blaze a trail through normal with the goal of knocking off a few hours. Everything dies so fast... Something new I learned is that Bomb Guardian has a unique attack it only uses if you're in morph ball form. Guess that's why none of the guides mention it. It's painful too, taking off about 60-70 energy (out a max possible 199).

Anyways, really getting into Mana Khemia. As in enough to want to write a guide that covers some answers I'm not finding on GameFAQs. Even considering writing a bare bones walkthrough since the few guides are rather, um, busy. First impression may be of high school anime (though I haven't watched enough to tell) but the gameplay is enjoyable enough. The item crafting is my favorite part of it. Combat is really basic for the first three chapters of the game. Not many skills yet and they are expensive so just spamming attack with a heal spell when needed. More party members show up and the combat mechanics become deeper. It takes a bit of effort to not use fighting game lingo when describing battling with a larger party size.

At some point, I'll post more about my experiences with the game beyond the warmup period.
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Posted: 17th September 2018 15:23

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Engineer
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I was playing League of Legends constantly but now I'm in dire need of a break from it! I'm sitting on Bioshock (not yet finished) and The Last of Us (not yet played... for shame)

I've been into an Android game called Summoners War for the last six months. And after months of not working I've started a Youtube channel as a little creative outlet for myself. It's a long shot but if anyone was interested the channel is called: "GeraldTGiraffe"
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Posted: 17th September 2018 15:37

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Black Waltz
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Member of more than ten years. Celebrated the CoN 20th Anniversary at the forums. Member of more than five years. User has rated 25 fanarts in the CoN galleries. 
I'll sub. Why not? I'm a fellow "content creator".

Man, I hate euphemistic corporate-speak. I feel like, while it makes ideas clear, it does so in a uniformly un-poetic, dehumanizing way.

Besides, "content" can mean anything, when you think about it. The word's literal meaning is "a thing or things that are inside a container." In your case, YouTube.

Anyway. Have a subscriber. Cheers!

This post has been edited by Spooniest on 17th September 2018 21:48

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Posted: 17th September 2018 20:58

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Magitek Soldier
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I finished Chapter 1 of Final Fantasy X-2. I was enjoying the game, but then I got distracted with making Kefka and didn't play for a few days. That killed my momentum. I sat down to play it the other night, and according to the walkthrough I was following I had a quest to do next, and I just didn't wanna. So I turned it off. I'll go back to it again someday.

I went ahead and started [B]Kingom Hearts Final Mix[/B ]on the PS4 this weekend, as it was my birthday and I wanted to play a beloved game. Holy cow, is it gorgeous on the PS4! Very glad I spent the money to buy the game. I'm currently stuck on the Trickmaster in Wonderland. I have no potions left. sad.gif so I might revert to an earlier save and acquire more potions, then replay Wonderland.

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Watch me play games on Twitch!
Schedule:
Mondays & Thursdays: Final Fantasy XVI
Saturdays: Final Fantasy XIV MSQ & Side Quests
7:30pm - 10:30pm Central or thereabouts
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Posted: 19th September 2018 04:03

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Maniacal Clown
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Third place in CoNCAA, 2019. Celebrated the CoN 20th Anniversary at the forums. Voted for all the fanart in the CoNvent Calendar 2015. Voted for all the fanart in the CoNvent Calendar 2014. 
User has rated 75 fanarts in the CoN galleries. Member of more than ten years. Contributed to the Final Fantasy VI section of CoN. User has rated 25 fanarts in the CoN galleries. 
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wanting to get into Operation Abyss: New Tokyo Legacy.

It's a dungeon-crawler game.

I have a hunch that I'm wanting to play this because I actually want to play Soul Worker, the action MMO game, but I don't want to play an MMO game because I have had multiple experiences that basically taught me that MMOs are basically just giant lists of tasks that don't inspire immersion, even despite cool-looking anime art. So instead I picked up (while it was on sale) some other dark-urban-sci-fi-anime game I had my sights set on.

Also eventually I'll probably try to get my hands on Pokémon Crystal Clear (the open-world romhack) when I restart my catch-'em-all journey again. (First attempt ended unceremoniously with a lost save file.)

This post has been edited by Glenn Magus Harvey on 19th September 2018 04:04

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current games (2024-02-19):
Fairy Fencer F ADF
Pokémon Perfect Crystal

finished so far this year:
Gato Roboto
drowning, drowning
New Super Mario Bros.
TMNT 3: Radical Rescue

tabled: Lost Ruins
Post #215222
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Posted: 23rd September 2018 11:42

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Chocobo Knight
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Contributed to the Chrono Trigger section of CoN. 
I'm feeling a need to get back into Skyrim again - heavily modded of course, but there's just something about the game and the world it's set in that always sticks with you.
I've been reading Prequel (a webcomic about a Khajiit down on her luck in Cyrodiil) and that's made me want to revisit the Elder Scrolls universe. I might even go back and try Oblivion for nostalgias sake
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Posted: 24th September 2018 20:40

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My brother in law loaned me a copy of Until Dawn for PS4 quite a while back, and I played it in fits and starts for a while. I didn't really like it at first because the gameplay felt really clunky and the dialogue was really painful, but as I went more and more towards the end, the horror aspects got better and the worldbuilding started to come together, and by the end I couldn't put it down. I even started it up again immediately after finishing Friday night so I could try for a better ending. It's still pretty cringey in terms of writing, but playing it through a second time has made more of the clues make sense and also showed me something I missed in the tutorial about how to make characters more more quickly, so it's been worth it. It's a pretty solid sort of B-movie experience, with a fair number of jump scares and some influences from Saw-type movies, and a twist that seems predictable but then leads into a wildly different direction for the second half of the game.

It's $11 used and $20 new on AmaCoN, so if you're down with horror games and have a PS4 I call it a decent buy.

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"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN?
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Posted: 8th October 2018 06:11
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Behemoth
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Celebrated the CoN 20th Anniversary at the forums. Contributed to the Final Fantasy VI section of CoN. Member of more than ten years. Member of more than five years. 
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I have an SSD card on my gaming rig and it's not very large, so I try to keep the number of games installed at any one time on the low end of the spectrum...especially if I have newer (i.e. larger) games taking up space. After going through New Vegas and then installing Tacoma, I suddenly noticed that I never uninstalled my old run of Alien Isolation...which I remember being a Nightmare run I stalled out on. Wouldn't be the first time. Anyway, I was going to uninstall after backing up the save, but lo and behold, I find myself pushing through.

Nightmare run really breaks the game, by which I mean it breaks what the game is going for. The main focus of the game is on creating tension between the player and the unpredictable Alien behavior and a lot of that tension comes from the atmosphere and the carefully curated smoke and mirrors created through the design of the Alien's AI...all of which gets thrown out the window on Nightmare. See, the Alien's on a timer when he's prowling and if he hasn't found you once that time's up, he skitters up a vent and leaves, giving you time to do whatever you need in the interim before he comes back. On nightmare however, once the Alien appears in an area, he simply doesn't leave...even when he leaves. Oh, he still jumps into the vents, but he jumps right back out a literal second later. Often times he'll jump down the same vent he jumped into mere moments before or instantly teleport to another vent nearby. It renders the Alien's behavior comically artificial and as a result, absolutely obliterates the tension and replaces it with annoying frustration.

I've gotten farther in this Nightmare run than I ever had before, and cleared what I consider the biggest hurdle - the nest - tonight, so I'm willing to stick with it till the end. Then I can finally clear some space on the HDD...not sure for what else though.

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Posted: 10th October 2018 03:44

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SOLDIER
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I have been playing Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight. It is a platformer in the style of Castlevania or Metroid, where you traverse a map to gather key-items and powerups that allow you to progress, and the story revolves around a young priestess named Kaho trying to ward off a plague-like curse. The combat primarily focused on a melee weapon, but you also start with unlimited arrows and the ability to roll-dodge which comes in quite handy during the bosses. I also like that instead of relying on ammunition drops or cash stores, that expendable items are replenished by reaching a save point which is not a system I remember seeing in another game, but it works well as a means of allowing you to use items liberally, yet not too liberally and without the tedium of killing enemies until your arsenal is fully stocked.

Aesthetically, the game uses anime-inspired pixelated art that somehow manages to be both quite adorable and somber at the same time, and the game has flowing animations that help the combat feel fluid.

I should probably note that Momodora: Reverie under the Moonlightis a prequel to the of the Momodora trilogy by rdein, and the last game to be published. I have also been playing the first couple of games of the series recently, since they are free. I am not sure whether or not to recommend playing those first like I did. I am tempted to do so since the games are quite short, Momodora 2 is quite fun, and few aspects of Moonlight Reverie's mythology and gameplay development become more appreciable if you played some of the earlier installments as I anticipated.

However, the earlier Momodora games that I played (I didn't play Momodora 3) are Cave Story wannabes that are not indicative of the style of Moonlight Reverie in most respects, and since Reverie Under the Moonlight is earlier in the chronology its basic plot can stand alone from the other Momodora games. More importantly, original Momodora is a mediocre experience and I would not advise playing the second game before the first, since the second has many references to the first that are not quite as appreciable otherwise.

The main flaws with the first Momodora are weak weapons and an exceptionally unforgiving health system. You only get five hitpoints that can only be replenished at certain infrequent points in the game necessitating a very cautious approach. Much of the time the low margin of error has you trying to sit somewhere safe while, shooting away until an enemy finally manages to die with very little risk to yourself, even when the task at hand does not seem challenging otherwise. It's such a shame because before you get the first gun, it seems to have potential as a melee-centric take on Cave Story, which would have been quite intriguing and required more involvement with the game, but alas that potential would not be realized until Momodora 2, which also had health item drops and hitpoint upgrades like other games of its sort.

Anyway, I would definitely recommend that you play at least Reverie under the Moonlight if you ever get the chance, irrespective of whether or not you play the other Momodora games. It is not only the best of the series, but a great game in its own right.

P.S. I did a search for the Momodora name to see if there was another post about it and it seems like somebody may have mentioned it in this thread before, but this thread is so long that I have difficulty finding the post. XD

This post has been edited by Tonepoet on 11th October 2018 04:06

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Posted: 20th October 2018 02:36
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Behemoth
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Celebrated the CoN 20th Anniversary at the forums. Contributed to the Final Fantasy VI section of CoN. Member of more than ten years. Member of more than five years. 
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Finished Alien Isolation on nightmare for the first for the last time and in the spirit of the season, I decided to follow up with another first person horror game that I actually didn't know I had in my Steam library: Outlast 2!

I remember the first Outlast being a relatively brief but fun throwback to the kind of late 80's/early 90's schlock gorror films that games like the Splatterhouse series used to pay homage to while also paying homage to Resident Evil with a pointlessly sci-fi turn in the third act.

The game doesn't really bother fixing what's not broken. It's also keeping its feet firmly planted in grindhouse, replacing a grimey abandoned asylum with grimey redneck cultists with short bits of j-horror style flashbacks in an school smattered throughout. Replacing the wheel, it is not. I will say, the pace is certainly brisker, with baddies showing up a lot sooner and with a lot more of 'em to avoid. You also get chased a whole lot more. It also makes thing noticeably more...grisly. The first game was no slouch in the gore department, but there's still a lot more visera and you'll hear the buzzing of flies over corpses (human and...otherwise) as often as you'll heard your own breathing. It's not just the gore mind you, there's...uh...other things that make it clear hygiene has never been a top priority for these people.

Despite the change to a more outdoors location, the game actually feels much more linear. The first one had you exploring all the nooks an crannies of one location for the most part, with occasional backtracking popping up. Sort of like Resident Evil. O2 so far however, is all about pushing forward. The outdoor location actually makes things feel less open to exploration, as there's constant artificial barriers to exploration, like fences and cliffs.

So far it's offering the same cheap thrills I got out of the last one and some really impressive visual flair and atmosphere.

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Posted: 22nd October 2018 02:48

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Black Mage
Posts: 170

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Celebrated the CoN 20th Anniversary at the forums. Member of more than ten years. Member of more than five years. 
more Mana Khemia - Chapters 4 and 5

More party members which also introduce some new mechanics that I find a bit overwhelming at first. It takes a while to sink in that when I assign someone to make items during Task Sharing, I don't need to have the raw materials in my inventory. But when it does sink in, Task Sharing becomes very lucrative as I try to decide what to have my characters do to provide the biggest benefit to my game. The chapter system also balances it by limiting the amount of freebies I can have my team make.

It also makes sense know why the skill costs are so high. Regaining SP in the back row encourages more usage of skills. I find myself wanting to use just enough attack magic to finish a random fast but not more than needed for the number of enemy turns that I permit. In contrast to FF7 where sticking to basic attacks and using magic almost entirely for healing seems to be best for making my resources last, here I find myself preferring to spend my skill points on offense.

The next area to open up also features a lot more platforming than previous areas. Thankfully, the jumping isn't that difficult though I do have trouble gauging where I'll land so there's a number of times where I miss a jump and fall. Any paths required to advance don't have jumping puzzles anyways. See a save point so I predict there will be a boss battle sometime later in the game.
Harder Assignments now. I get B's on the first two which is enough for maximum possible Free Time. The chapter's boss battles still use a fixed party. Turns out there is a chapter boss fight in the same region as the save point. They;re also tougher but nothing having a few extra healing items can't handle.

Chapter 5: Seven party members now. This has an uncomfortable effect of needing to pick someone to leave out of each battle. All the characters feel like they have something unique to contribute which leads to moments of indecisiveness. Lots of new items I'm able to make now. With that comes some much wanted stat boosts, my team's HP hasn't really changed since Chapter 2 until now. Feels like I'm getting into the rhythym of the game by now. Boss knocks out a couple of characters but it's so close to defeat that it's a non-issue.
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Posted: 22nd October 2018 05:30

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Maniacal Clown
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Third place in CoNCAA, 2019. Celebrated the CoN 20th Anniversary at the forums. Voted for all the fanart in the CoNvent Calendar 2015. Voted for all the fanart in the CoNvent Calendar 2014. 
User has rated 75 fanarts in the CoN galleries. Member of more than ten years. Contributed to the Final Fantasy VI section of CoN. User has rated 25 fanarts in the CoN galleries. 
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in regards to the Momodora series that Tonepoet mentions --

Momodora I - This game is free. But it's not a great introduction to the franchise -- it's playable, yes, but tedious. The Cave Story roots are at their clearest in this game -- I think that the game may have started life as a Cave Story mod before becoming its own thing, which would explain why a number of aspects (the music instrumentation, the aesthetic design, the combat, etc.) feel similar.

Momodora II - This is free, is a metroidvania, and is also the first game definitely worth playing. Like all of the other games, it gives a snippet of the larger story that has happened within the setting.

Momodora III - The third game, self-published by rdein (a.k.a. Bombservice). This isn't a metroidvania, but a level-by-level platformer, more akin to the first game but with some options for backtracking. It's short compared to the fourth game -- you can speedrun the game in about half an hour. I'm probably in the minority feeling this way, but I actually like this game more than Reverie Under the Moonlight, because it has a clearer sense of atmospheric progression (it's very atmospheric), and I definitely like its soundtrack more (composed by Elektrobear, who didn't do RutM's soundtrack). It's got quite a few secrets, including a minor branching story path and a sidequest. A lot of characters aren't fully explained but they really do feel like part of a larger setting/story, and I really like that.

Momodora: Reverie under the Moonlight - The fourth and largest game, published this time by Playism. Like the second, it's a metroidvania. Arguably just as atmospheric as the third game, but less lyrical and more persistently dour, which I think disappointed me somewhat after the third game. Certainly not a bad game though.

Bombservice is also working on a new game that's a spiritual successor to the Momodora series -- it's called Minoria, this time published by a group called DANGEN Entertainment (which apparently includes one former Capcom guy and one person I know from Playism). I've linked the Steam page here for convenient reference, but hopefully it makes it to other stores like GOG (which also sells Momodora 4).

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current games (2024-02-19):
Fairy Fencer F ADF
Pokémon Perfect Crystal

finished so far this year:
Gato Roboto
drowning, drowning
New Super Mario Bros.
TMNT 3: Radical Rescue

tabled: Lost Ruins
Post #215257
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Posted: 24th October 2018 22:17

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Returner
Posts: 3

Joined: 24/10/2018


Lately I've been playing Chrono Trigger and Bioshock. I have a pretty early game on Final Fantasy Tactics going as well, probably go back to it eventually. Wanna play FFVII pretty soon too, haven't finished that one or Tactics in years. Also wanna play the other 2 Bioshock's.
Post #215270
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Posted: 1st November 2018 06:32
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Behemoth
Posts: 2,835

Joined: 24/6/2001

Awards:
Celebrated the CoN 20th Anniversary at the forums. Contributed to the Final Fantasy VI section of CoN. Member of more than ten years. Member of more than five years. 
First place in the 2008  Has more than fifty fanarts in CoN galleries. Major involvement in the Final Fantasy I section of CoN. Major involvement in the Final Fantasy IV section of CoN. 
See More (Total 9)
Finished O2 ages ago and it was a fun simple ride. I found its bonkers ending endearingly dumb.

I was able to get hold of a PSVR and am now knee deep in RE7. It's a fun experience and the VR is both overwhelming and underwhelming in certain respects. Resolution is down to what feels like 480p practically, and sometimes textures take so long to load, you'll bust through a door that looks like it was made for a PS2 game before it finally loads up the textures at the last minute.

But it also completely alters the sense of scale and it makes a genuinely new experience. You really do feel the change it makes.

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Post #215289
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Posted: 3rd November 2018 20:17

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Black Waltz
Posts: 900

Joined: 12/7/2011

Awards:
Member of more than ten years. Celebrated the CoN 20th Anniversary at the forums. Member of more than five years. User has rated 25 fanarts in the CoN galleries. 
Playing Final Fantasy VII again. Complacent Gamer Syndrome, yey

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X is blue.
Post #215291
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Posted: 6th November 2018 17:47

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Maniacal Clown
Posts: 5,394

Joined: 31/10/2003

Awards:
Third place in CoNCAA, 2019. Celebrated the CoN 20th Anniversary at the forums. Voted for all the fanart in the CoNvent Calendar 2015. Voted for all the fanart in the CoNvent Calendar 2014. 
User has rated 75 fanarts in the CoN galleries. Member of more than ten years. Contributed to the Final Fantasy VI section of CoN. User has rated 25 fanarts in the CoN galleries. 
See More (Total 9)
I've been wasting my time playing Shattered Pixel Dungeon since discovering a handful of Android games via F-Droid.

It's a roguelike, and a reasonably good one, seemingly a bit easier than Nethack, and a fork of Pixel Dungeon.

This post has been edited by Glenn Magus Harvey on 6th November 2018 17:48

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current games (2024-02-19):
Fairy Fencer F ADF
Pokémon Perfect Crystal

finished so far this year:
Gato Roboto
drowning, drowning
New Super Mario Bros.
TMNT 3: Radical Rescue

tabled: Lost Ruins
Post #215296
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Posted: 2nd December 2018 06:06

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Black Mage
Posts: 170

Joined: 13/7/2006

Awards:
Celebrated the CoN 20th Anniversary at the forums. Member of more than ten years. Member of more than five years. 
Didn't really think about mentioning the Zelda 3 randomizer here except for that it has several FF6 characters at player sprite options. Esper Terra, Celes, and Mog are the ones I remember seeing though I've only played with Terra so far. Human Terra is not available as a selection. Small easter egg, It is her bunny form; the randomizer does have you covered. Been trying to get a finish in under 2 and a half hours. So far, personal best is about 2:49.
Post #215423
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Posted: 7th December 2018 21:02

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Magitek Soldier
Posts: 339

Joined: 25/1/2014

Awards:
Member of more than five years. Celebrated the CoN 20th Anniversary at the forums. 
When I last wrote, I had just started a replay of Kingdom Hearts, with the hope of finishing all the games in the franchise before KH3 drops. Yeah, that's not going to happen. I'm still slowly poking at KH, but have had difficulty with bosses that has really slowed me down. I just beat Ursula a few days ago, so that tells you where I am in the game.

Instead I've been distracted by mobile games. Final Fantasy Brave Exvius remains my first love. I'm doing pretty well for being free-to-play. I've got a handle of 7* units now, including a great tank in Awakened Rain and an awesome healer in Ayaka. I failed to pull Hyoh, though, who is the most overpowered DPS unit. So far I am doing fine without him, though, since so many of my friends lead him.

I play Final Fantasy Record Keeper a bit. Mostly I try to log in and do daily missions. I haven't managed to fully complete events yet but I do okay, since I still consider myself a newcomer to the game. I spent Thanksgiving evening unlocking the ability to use motes, so that's exciting!

I got back into Star Ocean:Anamnesis because they were having a NieR:Automata collaboration, and I rather like those characters (I haven't played NieR yet myself but I'm familiar with the characters from their collaboration with FFBE). I was lucky enough to pull 2B and 9S on one 5000 gem pull! And then pulled 2B's weapon! I also got a bunch of gifts for being a returning player, and that really helped me get back into it. I've almost got 2B fully limit broken. I'm really itching to get that last level I need.

I also got back to Mobius Final Fantasy. They just started a FFVII event, and I'm going to try my hardest to play the full thing. I have to say I really missed Wol, as he has an awesome voice actor, which makes the game really fun.

If that wasn't enough gaming: a friend on Twitter started playing Final Fantasy XV and since (a) I'm a spoiler-phobe (cool.gif she's not the kind to hide spoilers, I started the game myself the other night.

First impressions: I rather suck at the controls, but I haven't died yet! So that's good. I'm in awe at how expansive the world is, and how beautiful it looks. This is my first true PS4 game,and I'm highly impressed.

I was a bit concerned I'd feel constrained by the world clock, because I noped hard off of Lightning Returns thanks to its clock, but so far it hasn't been an issue. I did get caught outside of Hammerhead after dark which scares me but we made it back to town safely with the use of flashlights, whew.

This game is making me grin a lot, which relieves me because I was rather hyped for this game way back when it was still called Versus XIII. So far the only thing that disappointed me was the fan service Cindy. Did that have to make her clothes so skimpy? But I knew of her going into the game, so I just signed and accepted it. Hopefully there will be better female characters later on.

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Watch me play games on Twitch!
Schedule:
Mondays & Thursdays: Final Fantasy XVI
Saturdays: Final Fantasy XIV MSQ & Side Quests
7:30pm - 10:30pm Central or thereabouts
Post #215434
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Posted: 19th December 2018 17:27

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Totes Adorbs
Posts: 9,223

Joined: 31/7/1997

Awards:
Second place in the CoN World Cup soccer competition, 2018. First place in CoNCAA, 2018. Celebrated the CoN 20th Anniversary at the forums. Vital involvement in the Final Fantasy IX section of CoN. 
First place in the CoN Euro Cup soccer competition, 2016. Voted for all the fanart in the CoNvent Calendar 2015. Voted for all the fanart in the CoNvent Calendar 2014. Third place in the CoN World Cup fantasy game for 2014. 
See More (Total 29)
I preordered Shadow of the Tomb Raider this summer, and then when it arrived I didn't have any time to play it for a few weeks. However, I did finish it last night with 100% of collectibles, but I still apparently have a ton of higher-level achievements I haven't gotten.

I'm not really sure how I feel about it in the end. I liked where they tried to go with the story; not to get too spoilery, but the general theme of most of the game is "should Lara be doing this, because she only seems to be making everything worse." It's an interesting shift in tone from at least the middle game in the series, but in the final third it takes a turn more toward the "Lara should be doing this because she's the White Savior!" that feels a little awkward - she's always been portrayed as that superheroine who can save everyone, but in this game, the people she's saving are indigenous South Americans. It's not egregious, but it was noticeable from time to time.

Even so, it was a good game if you liked either of the first two, which I did, a great deal. The tombs and crypts were still very well-done, though maybe not as difficult as in the previous game, which was probably a positive. It started to feel a little same-y towards the end, when I realized that every game in the series has a climax that involved Lara doing a sprint-and-climb sequence while a battle raged around her. It also felt really rushed towards the end, where there was a pre-final-boss battle that was pretty blatantly foreshadowed several times throughout the game and then never materialized, and where the final battle appeared to have been toned down some from what was originally planned too. Lara's garb changes were also mostly pointless in the core game; other than a couple times where the plot forced them, I don't think I bothered changing at all.

All in all, I'm still sad to see that trilogy end, and I can't say it ended on a truly sour note, but I also can't say that it ended with the best game in the series, just one roughly on par with the others and with slightly different strengths and weaknesses.

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"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN?
Post #215444
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Posted: 19th December 2018 20:25

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Magitek Soldier
Posts: 339

Joined: 25/1/2014

Awards:
Member of more than five years. Celebrated the CoN 20th Anniversary at the forums. 
Quote
Lara should be doing this because she's the White Savior!


Ugh. That's kind of gross.

Thanks for your review, and for keeping it relatively spoiler-free. I played the first game and really enjoyed it; I have the second game but haven't played it myself, though I watched Felicia Day play a good portion of it. I'll probably pick up Shadow of the Tomb Raider eventually, though I have other games I want to buy first.

As for me, I am flying through FFXV. Currently in Chapter 8. Really enjoying the game; I was pretty hyped for it back when it was still called Versus XIII and I'm glad it's lived up to that.

The mobile games are taking a lot of my time. I might reach out to one of the community reps for Star Ocean:Anamnesis and complain about the number of farming events we've gotten lately. There's one event now where to get everything, you need to farm over 100k currency, and I'm only at 29k, ugh. And they released a new farming event, too! It's kind of ridiculous.

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Watch me play games on Twitch!
Schedule:
Mondays & Thursdays: Final Fantasy XVI
Saturdays: Final Fantasy XIV MSQ & Side Quests
7:30pm - 10:30pm Central or thereabouts
Post #215446
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Posted: 27th December 2018 17:13

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Maniacal Clown
Posts: 5,394

Joined: 31/10/2003

Awards:
Third place in CoNCAA, 2019. Celebrated the CoN 20th Anniversary at the forums. Voted for all the fanart in the CoNvent Calendar 2015. Voted for all the fanart in the CoNvent Calendar 2014. 
User has rated 75 fanarts in the CoN galleries. Member of more than ten years. Contributed to the Final Fantasy VI section of CoN. User has rated 25 fanarts in the CoN galleries. 
See More (Total 9)
Recently beat Valdis Story: Abyssal City.

It's a metroidvania platformer with a focus on brawler combat (with combos) and a generous amount of character customization alongside four playable characters (two of whom are unlocked at the start). The setting, which I might describe as dark fantasy, puts your characters (and the various human survivors) in the midst of what appears to be a war between angels, demons, and mysterious creatures known as "ferals".

This 2013 indie PC game is very rich in lore, with the four characters' story paths revealing different sides of it. The soundtrack by Zack Parrish is also quite amazing. I definitely recommend this.

--------------------
current games (2024-02-19):
Fairy Fencer F ADF
Pokémon Perfect Crystal

finished so far this year:
Gato Roboto
drowning, drowning
New Super Mario Bros.
TMNT 3: Radical Rescue

tabled: Lost Ruins
Post #215460
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Posted: 27th December 2018 17:41
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Behemoth
Posts: 2,835

Joined: 24/6/2001

Awards:
Celebrated the CoN 20th Anniversary at the forums. Contributed to the Final Fantasy VI section of CoN. Member of more than ten years. Member of more than five years. 
First place in the 2008  Has more than fifty fanarts in CoN galleries. Major involvement in the Final Fantasy I section of CoN. Major involvement in the Final Fantasy IV section of CoN. 
See More (Total 9)
Spoderminz!

user posted image

Swinging = ˇBeuno!

Combat = ˇNo Beuno!

I honestly cannot get how people can compare this to Arkham's combat aside from the new unwritten rule that any third person game featuring combat against crowds is automatically registered as an Arkham clone. Mad Max was more like AA than this game's mechanics, although both are equally inferior. Well...Spoodermenst maybe worse actually. At least MM let you counter.

Meh, whatever. Game's still fun since most of it is THWIP'n through the city doing Open-World Collectible (OWC) nonsense. I may even have a good bead on what's in Manhattan should I ever get the chance to see it, though I'm not sure Hell's Kitchen has sidewalks which are that wide.

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Post #215461
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Posted: 27th December 2018 19:38

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Magitek Soldier
Posts: 339

Joined: 25/1/2014

Awards:
Member of more than five years. Celebrated the CoN 20th Anniversary at the forums. 
I finished Final Fantasy XV! I loved it, though I did have some quibbles with it:

  • It only took me 31 hours. That's far too short.
  • The story was kind of confusing, IMO.
  • Not enough strong women characters!


That being said, the interactions between the bros more than made up for these flaws. They were just so delightful together! I found myself smiling a lot, and I could use more smiles in my life.

I then went back to Kingdom Hearts, and finished Halloween Town and Neverland. I was going to start Hollow Bastion on Christmas evening, but my PS4 controller died. pinch.gif I'm hoping to buy a new one tomorrow, though I am rather upset because this is NOT how I wanted to spend my Christmas money!

Started FFVI for the four character challenge. It's going well so far. I'm finishing up Locke's scenario.

Trying to keep up with all my mobile games. It's tough at times. I also added Fire Emblem Heroes to my line-up, because a Twitter friend of mine plays and I was feeling left out of the conversation. We'll see if I keep up with it.

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Watch me play games on Twitch!
Schedule:
Mondays & Thursdays: Final Fantasy XVI
Saturdays: Final Fantasy XIV MSQ & Side Quests
7:30pm - 10:30pm Central or thereabouts
Post #215465
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Posted: 27th December 2018 20:18
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bye gurl
Posts: 5

Joined: 27/12/2018


Fire Emblem Heroes is fun and addictive!
It is regularly followed by developers and hosting many content every month.
Some characters can be obtained with a beautiful cinematic and the charm of the license is doing its effect.


____________________________________________________
(spam)

This post has been edited by Neal on 3rd March 2019 17:36

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Post #215466
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Posted: 5th January 2019 23:58

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Magitek Soldier
Posts: 339

Joined: 25/1/2014

Awards:
Member of more than five years. Celebrated the CoN 20th Anniversary at the forums. 
I finished the FFXV DLC! I rate them in order of Ignis > Prompto > Gladiolus. I am REALLY glad I wasn't spoiled for Ignis' episode because wow, that was really something. I now understand why he has so many fans on Twitter.

I also finished my replay of Kingdom Hearts! Going to start Chain of Memories after dinner. It'll be my first time playing the HD remake, so I'm looking forward to it.

With all the console gaming, my mobile games have gone to the side. I'm keeping up on FFBE because that is still my main game, but I've barely played any of the others. So many games, so little time!

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Watch me play games on Twitch!
Schedule:
Mondays & Thursdays: Final Fantasy XVI
Saturdays: Final Fantasy XIV MSQ & Side Quests
7:30pm - 10:30pm Central or thereabouts
Post #215484
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