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What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?

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azeke:
A small update:

--- Quote from: azeke on November 20, 2022, 09:45:56 AM ---AM2R (PC, version 1.5.3):

--- End quote ---

Today, i got recommended a video about the current state AM2R which i think very detailed and largely reflects my thoughts on remake:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gu37NDqxtH4

It's rare for video about AM2R not just go deeper than "DMCAd AM2R vs Samus Returns" debacle but also describe major updates game has been receiving over the years.

Ian Sane:
Pokemon Scarlet

I completed the Pokedex yesterday.  I don't have online but my brother does and he has Violet so I was able to get the version specific Pokemon by linking with him locally.  The one tricky one was the third starter, but he got it from a co-worker and bred a new one for me.

This is the only Pokemon game I have ever filled the Pokedex in.  Now I don't play every game.  When I get a new Nintendo handheld I tend to get the first Pokemon that comes out since then and then generally lose interest and never get others until a new system.  So I've had Blue, Ruby, X and now Scarlet.

Lots of focus has been on Scarlet's bugs and general jank.  It's a shame because there's a reason this is by first complete Pokedex and it's because this feels like the Pokemon game I imagined as the logical progression of the series, when I assumed it would get a console release back on the Gamecube.  You explore the world and can see Pokemon out in the field doing their thing in their natural habitat.  This is what I always wanted.  It's what I hoped X would be as a proper 3D Pokemon and was disappointed to find that it wasn't.

Now regardless of that and the bugs, it still has some clear design issues:

* Tera Raid Battles do not provide experience so they're not that useful.  They do give you items and you can catch Pokemon using them but since you can't level up your Pokemon with them, I find I didn't do them often despite them being all over the map.  Grinding to fill my Pokedex was a chore at the end but if I could have used the Tera Raids to do it I think that would have been more fun.
* Area Zero has no map.  That makes it very difficult to find your bearings when you're in there.  That just seems unfinished to me.  Also when linked with my brother we could not see each other in Area Zero.  That's just an unacceptable bug and without a map it made it even more difficult to tell each other "hey, there's a rare Pokemon over here.  I'm, uh, near the big rock I guess."
* There is no way to mark anything on the map aside from one destination.  A few times I found something I knew to come back to later and I couldn't remember where it was.  Part of the game includes finding ominous stakes around the world.  There is no indication where they are, which I'm fine with because I want to look over the whole map to find them.  The problem is there is no indication of where they WERE.  So I need 8 but I've found 6 or 7 but that was weeks ago and I don't remember where I already found them.  So I see on the map areas where I think they likely would be and I find nothing.  Was there one already here and I should look somewhere else entirely?  Can't remember.  If I could have marked the areas where I already found one it would have made it so much easier to narrow down where else to look.
* I barely used the sandwich system which seems like something they focused on that isn't that useful.  The shops in the towns tend to focus a lot on this so the towns just aren't that interesting.  There are lots of buildings that you can't access and the shops are the same sandwich shops or item shops that you find everywhere.
Still it's a great game but one that seems half-baked and unfinished.  In that sense it shows how strong the Pokemon concept is that if you make a halfway decent open world game out of it, it's a lot of fun.  I can't help but think that a later game building off of this will be really amazing.  So if you're interested but don't intend on jumping in right this minute, it probably makes sense to see what the next Pokemon game has to see how it improves.

Mop it up:

--- Quote from: Ian Sane on March 06, 2023, 01:51:16 PM ---Tera Raid Battles do not provide experience so they're not that useful.  They do give you items and you can catch Pokemon using them but since you can't level up your Pokemon with them,
--- End quote ---
The raids are mainly something to do in multiplayer, but they can still be used to catch quite a few Monz instead of doing trades, which is nice. They are used for weekly events to offer extra challenges and sometimes catch a new Mon not available elsewhere. Also, one of the rewards for completing them is XP candies, so the raids can be used to level up your Monz and is generally a faster method than fighting Monz out in the wild.


--- Quote from: Ian Sane on March 06, 2023, 01:51:16 PM ---I barely used the sandwich system which seems like something they focused on that isn't that useful.
--- End quote ---
I hear it's mainly useful for shiny hunting but I never tried to figure out the effects meself. This is another thing that's fun to do in multiplayer, as having four players attempt to build up a big sandwich without any of the ingredients falling off is quite the challenge!

Evan_B:
Inscryption is not the last game I beat, but it is the best game I last beat.

It’s difficult to discuss as a full experience, but the roguelike loop is one where you can trick yourself into hyper-fixating on “progression” without actually learning anything. I stumbled into a broken mechanic that made me realize how fully-fleshed out each segment of this game really is, and that’s a welcome surprise. I’d argue Inscryption, much like Anodyne 2: Return to Dust, features the best kind of surprise that a game can implement: gameplay twists. The knowledge that a game won’t just fall into a predictable loop from a gameplay standpoint can be fertile grounds for engagement, but to know that the formula will be given a twist multiple times during an entire playthrough is a triumph for any developer, let alone an independent one. It is a beautiful thing, and while it might not maintain its momentum throughout its s three-act structure, it still manages to triumph.

azeke:
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (Wii U, as part of Prime Trilogy):

This game is weird. Different artstyle hits immediately with Samus's new-ish suit and ship with unnecessary weird ridges and other details. Starting environments, also, looked like B-tier sci-fi post-apocalyptic movie with dusty tents in the desert. Dark suit that you spend most of the game in, looks even more gaudy

Majority of rooms in MP1 were glorified corridors (Magmoor Caverns for one is literally just a line) sequel's level design is more condensed and grouped together. Now all 4 hub-like locations are connected with each other in a Mercedes-Benz star logo pattern. Unlocks' progression is mostly localised to one level until you're done with it and go to the next one. Because of a more compact layout walking distances are reduced greatly.

More complex level design, doubled again with light/dark worlds makes the map UI even more important. But sometimes map shows a door or a portal but doesn't show it is behind a fence or pile of denzium, so you can go all the way there only to get disappointed once you see you can't get in there.

You have to plan out your expeditions into Dark world and because 3d map can't show both variants at once you will need to memorize your path in and out before your set out. Because of this i spend way more time staring at the map than with the first game.

Both times i got stuck, were kinda map's faults too:

1. Finding seeker missiles in Hall of Honoured Dead. Hint showed me i have to go back from back to Temple grounds and insisted i must go to the room directly under Great Temple but no matter how i looked at the map i couldn't figure out the way how to get in there -- all i could see were 3 elevators up to Great Temple but not to the room under it.

2. Getting Power Bomb from Torvus Bog. The stupidest thing was -- hint was showing the place where i could get it -- but the room was behind Power Bomb-locked door! So i had to have the item to get the item?!.. Eventually i figured out there must be another way to get in there and arrived there from the Dark side but it took me a while to realize that this is correct and there is a trick to it.

Apparently i wasn't the only one who had problems with these 2 unlocks.

First trips into Dark world felt scary at first, but as you get more energy tanks life loss gets increasingly mitigated. Dark and Light concept is also represented in ammo system which simultaneously feels too restrictive but also pointless -- why even demand to open door with light/dark ammo if you can still open them with charged shots even if empty? Similarly why make player fight enemies in closed rooms if they eventually disappear and doors unlock by themselves? The implementation is so half heartedly done it's like developers weren't sure in their ideas themselves.

Guardian bosses are frustrating at first, but i got to appreciate their design afterwards. Some really inventive uses for Metroid abilities. By comparison, Dark Samus boss encounters feel dumb -- you just shoot it with regular beam occasionally switching visor.

UI styles designed as solar system is annoying to use. I constantly kept messing up the direction i need to spin menu items.

Screenshot tool costing a bunch of achievement badges is so stupid. Judging at how many badges it costs, i would have to complete all three games and potentially even play multiplayer and do the whole friend codes thing just for the privilege of being able to take screenshots.

If Nintendo/Retro ever get around to remastering Prime 2 the biggest improvement would be removing cutscene of going into the portal. I presume Switch must be able to load and keep both worlds of 20 year old Gamecube game in it's memory. That alone would cut ~20 minutes off playthrough time because you have to go back and forth hundreds of time. One room in Sanctuary Fortress alone has four portals inside it.

Once again, game blocks the last story bosses behind key hunt. I liked artifact hunt in MP1 because it was all about exploration -- best part of these games. Sky temple key hunt feels better in MP2 because the map is more interconnected and the puzzles are a bit more involved. Game no longer spells out name of the room, so i had to actually roam a bit based on A-Kul's hints to find last 2 keys.

I finished the game with 80% completion at 22:21.

MP1 was a trailblazer, they had to invent so much stuff with controls, lock-on, visors, morphball, boostball and all kinds of camera modes. MP2 has good guardian bosses but artstyle and ammo felt like misses to me. I liked Retro trying to incorporate space jump into 3d levels but it felt janky and unfinished -- hitting a corner or a ceiling trying to get into some room was annoying. Same with Dark/Light worlds concept and most of the combat. I wasn't keen on combat in MP1 either but i enjoyed the atmosphere and levels of the first game way more.

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