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Nintendo Gaming / Re: NSO November 2023! (AKA Not Another Forum Event!)

« on: November 14, 2023, 01:15:45 PM »

I'm always up for some online games! When I have the time at least... matching up my schedule with someone else's could be tricky, especially several someone else's.

I have the expanded NSO catalogue so I'd be down for any of it. I've played N64 the most, but would still be willing to join any group for that since it's full of fun multiplayer titles. I've already played through Kirby & The Amazing Mirror with my friends, but it's a fun enough game that I'd join an NWR outing. I've played a lot of the games from the other system apps as well, but would still be willing to jump in and give someone a hand with a game.

I should probably try to be a presence on the NWR Discord but I dunno... things just move so quickly there, I can't keep up! It kind of feels like the people there just sit in there 24/7, which isn't something I would want to do even if I had the time. It's very easy to miss something and have something get buried before I'd even see it.

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General Gaming / Re: Shocktober 4: The Final Chapter

« on: October 24, 2023, 04:07:37 PM »

I did actually complete DooM Eternal last week, just haven't sat down to write about it. Though, reviewing what I said earlier, I'm not sure if there's much else to say about it, as my earlier impressions seemed to cover most aspects of the game.

I did encounter a few glitches, though they were minor and not stuff that impedes progress. A few times, an enemy got stuck walking in place. Sometimes the map rotation noise would get stuck in a loop upon closing the map screen, but could be fixed by opening it again and spinning the map.

What's up with the weird platforming segments and moments of "spot the climbable wall"? What does this game think it is, Metroid Prime?

Whereas I rated DooM 2016 an 8/10, I don't think I can give this followup any more than a 7/10. It does have some interesting ideas in it, but I never felt like I reached a point where things meshed together very well, and it also made a couple of weird missteps that the original seemed to consciously avoid. This is probably splitting hairs, but I also feel like, even moreso than the first one, Eternal feels much more like something out of the Quake series than DooM. I s'pose that Quake became far more known for multiplayer than anything, which is why they stuck with DooM for these. Not that a franchise can't try new ideas and I've enjoyed plenty of games that strayed from an original formula, but I don't particularly feel like this pair of games contain the quintessential elements I enjoy from the classics.

Are you playing this on XBox or Switch?

Oops, sorry! Xbox (Series X)

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General Gaming / Re: Shocktober 4: The Final Chapter

« on: October 16, 2023, 11:26:26 AM »

I've been playing DooM Eternal, and boy do I have some mixed feelings about this one.

First off, let's just get this one out of the way: I don't care for how overly violent it is, it's unnecessary and disgusting. I s'pose this is still sort of like playing a horror game, as I often find myself closing my eyes or looking away!

There are way too many tutorial popups! I eventually discovered that there is an option in the menu to turn these off, I wish I checked on that sooner.

It's been a while since I've played DooM 2016 but I think this is the same set of weapons, just with some mods to unlock for more functions and firepower. I like the variety on offer here, it offers a bit of a way to customise weapons for my own playstyle.

However, all of the different weapons and tools mean that every button does something, and there's no less than four different cooldowns to monitor. I've been getting better at remembering the more important functions but I still fumble with the controls now and then because of how complex they are. I wonder if they could be handled more intuitively but at the same time, I don't have an idea what would be better.

Considering that the original game kind of poked fun at exposition in AAA games, I'm surprised at how many cutscenes and dialogues there are. The one that frustrated me most so far was when the player character utilises a huge turret; why don't I get to control this?!

There have been some fun set pieces in some of the stages. I like that there are secrets to discover in the levels, although I'd prefer if progress in a level was saved so that I didn't have to do the whole thing again on replay just for one or two items I missed. I s'pose the cheat codes to unlock can help mitigate this somewhat.

Again, it's been a while since I played the original so I'm not sure about what all is new here, such as enemies. I will say that, at times, it feels a lot like playing a "Brutal DooM" source port of DooM 2016.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: The OFFICIAL Big N rumor thread *bring your own salt*

« on: September 15, 2023, 12:24:05 PM »

Rumor: It prints money.

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TalkBack / Re: Princess Peach: Showtime Launching March 22

« on: September 15, 2023, 12:17:46 PM »

This game looks fun and cute and amazing. Amazingly cute? Either way, I'm definitely there for that!

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TalkBack / Re: Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door Remake Announced For 2024

« on: September 15, 2023, 12:12:41 PM »

It's okay to leave some doors closed.

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TalkBack / Re: F-ZERO Returns Today as the Next 99-player Title

« on: September 15, 2023, 12:06:55 PM »

It's nice to see the forum's biggest F-Zero guy in here laying down a history lesson.

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TalkBack / Re: Mario vs. Donkey Kong Remake Scampers onto Switch This February

« on: September 15, 2023, 11:52:25 AM »

This seems like a pretty random game to remake, especially since they could have just put the original on NSO.

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General Gaming / Re: Backlaugust 2023! (Forums Aren't Dead Yet?) Edition

« on: September 03, 2023, 01:07:32 PM »

Oh, I s'pose I forgot to be mentioning on which platform I played some of the games! A Short Hike is an Xbox One game, and Tunic is either Xbox One or Xbox Series, I'm still unclear how to tell if a game was technically released on Xbox Series or if it's an enhanced Xbox One release, so I'll let you decide which one. Also, it's a small thing, but Shadow Dancer and Shinobi III are not currently on the Genesis NSO dealie; I played them in the Sega Genesis Classics collection on Switch.

Out of curiosity I was browsing a little of the reception for Tunic, curious what others had thought. A lot of people seem to compare it with a game titled Death's Door, with many saying it's the better of the two. This one's also on Game Pass, so I'll have to put it on my list and check it out! Maybe for next Backlaugust... although it may leave Game Pass before then so will probably have to sooner...

Anyhoos! Here's the score breakdown for the games I played this time:

A Short Hike - 8.5
Tunic - 8
Pokémon Trading Card Game - 7
Castlevania Bloodlines - 7
Shinobi III - 7
The Revenge of Shinobi - 6
Shadow Dancer - 6

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TalkBack / Re: Online Play Confirmed For Super Mario Bros. Wonder In Direct

« on: September 01, 2023, 11:23:14 AM »

I have mixed feelings about this. I s'pose this feature has its merits in terms of sociality, but it's no replacement for proper co-op and should exist as just one mode of online. They already figured this out in two prior Mario games. At least it has some form of online since the first trailer made it look like it could just be local only, and maybe I'll get lucky and they'll add proper online co-op in a future update...

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General Gaming / Re: Backlaugust 2023! (Forums Aren't Dead Yet?) Edition

« on: August 31, 2023, 01:29:33 PM »

These games show an issue with the Genesis controller having only three main buttons, as whether or not Shinobi tosses a shuriken or slashes with his sword is based on distance to enemy, but it feels inconsistent and often still throws a shuriken at slash range. Having a separate sword button would have been ideal.

So jump is one button and shuriken/sword is another. What is the third button used for?

Magic! There are a few different spells, but it can be used only once per stage. They're not particularly useful, but can help at certain spots.

-----
    
Closing out Backlaugust is Tunic, just in time! It sometimes reminded me of one thing I liked about Outer Wilds, where sometimes progression is tied to simply gaining knowledge of how to do something or get somewhere. Collecting game manual pages is a unique and interesting way of tying puzzles together. I liked exploring the world and figuring things out, though the final set of puzzles was too technical for my liking, similar to stuff like sudoku. Conversely, I disliked the slow and tedious combat. I don't think I'll elaborate any further, so as to not invoke the wrath of its fans any more than I may already have!

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TalkBack / Re: Super Mario Bros. Wonder Direct To Air in Two Days

« on: August 30, 2023, 12:34:16 PM »

I'm still holding out hope for online play!

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General Gaming / Re: Backlaugust 2023! (Forums Aren't Dead Yet?) Edition

« on: August 30, 2023, 12:33:05 PM »

Rounding out the series is Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master! Three games into this franchise and I still haven't quite figured out the timing of the double jump. Shinobi has learned some more ninja moves for me to mistime, such as a wall jump, and climbing across ceilings and pipes; this game really makes you feel like an incompetent ninja. Moves like a drop kick can be very useful. Compared to the previous, the stage design is generally easier and more fair, and I hardly used rewind at all until the final stage which is a ridonkulous gauntlet. Rigauntulous. These games show an issue with the Genesis controller having only three main buttons, as whether or not Shinobi tosses a shuriken or slashes with his sword is based on distance to enemy, but it feels inconsistent and often still throws a shuriken at slash range. Having a separate sword button would have been ideal.

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General Gaming / Re: Backlaugust 2023! (Forums Aren't Dead Yet?) Edition

« on: August 29, 2023, 02:51:28 PM »

Another Genesis title in the bag, Shadow Dancer! I thought it was a sequel to Revenge of Shinobi, but apparently the arcade version released prior to it, and just took a couple of years to show up on Genesis. This one feels even more akin to a scroller shooter ala Contra, with infinite shurikens allowing for mindless rapid fire, and one-hit deaths. Fortunately the enemy concentration is lower than in Revenge, but it still results in a more difficult game. Shinobi now has a dog following him around that constantly barks whenever an enemy is on-screen, adding a robust annoyance factor. The bonus stage between rounds is surprisingly easy to perfect and earn three lives. With just four sets of stages it's shorter than Revenge, though it would have of course taken longer if I had to master it to clear it; some of the bosses would have been a real pain on actual hardware.

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TalkBack / Re: Excitebike 64 Taking Green Flag For Expansion Pack Next Week

« on: August 25, 2023, 02:06:30 PM »

That is a very 90s ad, love it.

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TalkBack / Re: Nightdive Studios Announces Star Wars, Turok 3 Remasters

« on: August 25, 2023, 02:02:37 PM »

I was surprised to see this happening, since it didn't have a PC version, and am glad it is! I hope this one also has online multiplayer since it was a real laugh riot.

Considering the port of Turok 2 for Switch did not include the multiplayer (unless it was patched in and I missed it)

I guess you did miss it, because Turok 2 does have multiplayer on Switch now. I'm not sure when it was updated, but I played quite a few online matches when it was populated, which unfortunately was short-lived. But fun while it lasted!

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General Gaming / Re: Backlaugust 2023! (Forums Aren't Dead Yet?) Edition

« on: August 25, 2023, 01:56:07 PM »

I completed The Revenge of Shinobi in the Genesis collection as a nice break from Tunic, with liberal use of rewind of course. I never really heard anything about this series so I wasn't sure what to expect, thinking maybe it was Sega's answer to Ninja Gaiden, which it isn't. With all the shuriken-tossing action, it sometimes feels more like a side-scrolling shooter. For a ninja, this dude sure moves slowly. A weird quirk of the game is that colliding with an enemy itself doesn't cause damage, only knockback, so I would sometimes use this to avoid being hit by their weapon. With some of the mean setups in later levels, this almost feels required. I find myself wishing I had more Castlevania games to play instead...

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General Gaming / Re: Backlaugust 2023! (Forums Aren't Dead Yet?) Edition

« on: August 17, 2023, 02:16:28 PM »

Pokémon Trading Card Game
I was always mildly curious about this game, but never ended up getting the cartridge. Its inclusion on NSO is a nice addition. Now that I can finally try it out, I've gotta say...

...It's a card game all right! While there is a simple structure of progression for the title, it does very little to game-ify the card game, delivering it pretty straight. No grand adventure, no storylines, no real characters, not even something cool like having the Monz pop out of the cards, it's literally cards in the context of the game as well. I've never played the physical card game and have no interest in it, so I don't know what, if any, changes were made to this video game incarnation. I get the feeling it may be simplified over the real thing however, seeing that there are just 7 types.

Being a card game, luck is of course a big factor, especially starting out with a standard deck. As I went along and defeated more opponents to collect more cards, I was slowly able to add some better cards into my deck to mitigate the luck aspect and have useful cards pop up more often. The standard opponents seemed easy enough to tackle them with a wide variety of deck setups, but the final bouts required me to figure out some more specific ones to handle what they throw out.

Overall, while I didn't particularly enjoy the game itself, it was an interesting curiosity to learn some things about the card game and how things work. I would imagine that any fan of the card game would be satisfied.

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General Gaming / Re: Backlaugust 2023! (Forums Aren't Dead Yet?) Edition

« on: August 14, 2023, 03:20:15 PM »

A Short Hike
This was recently added to Game Pass, and I remembered some people speaking highly of it as a nice breezy, relaxing time. And I've gotta say...

...It's one of those games that delivers exactly what it promises on the tin, nothing more, nothing less. I was worried when I first opened it up and was greeted by images that are a mess of undefined chunky pixels, but fortunately I quickly found the option to smooth out the graphics and then it looks fine. This is generally my ideal type of open gameplay: a small, condensed area with a focus on exploration and clear goals. I also appreciate any game that's able to deliver an engaging experience without containing violence or dangers.

I felt compelled to complete all the tasks (including the cheevos) since moving around the island is quick, easy, and fun, becoming moreso the more golden feathers collected, and the race minigame challenged me to improve my gliding skillz to get around even faster. There are a few niggling issues here and there; a largely static camera which doesn't always show what I want to see; switching tools should be assigned to buttons instead of having to open the menu; and some presentation choices I don't care for, but they're minor enough to not hinder the experience. All in all, I enjoyed the hike.

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TalkBack / Re: Quake II Now Available On eShop

« on: August 14, 2023, 03:16:45 PM »

I've been hoping for this since the first game released, glad to see it happen! The game is still great, fast 'n furious action with an interesting level structure, and similar frantic multiplayer. It also has a left-handed character option, a true rarity! This game also handles the N64 game's levels better than the first one did: it's now listed as one of the expansions rather than a separate add-on, so it's available with the full suite of options and no forced ugly low-res CRT filter.

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General Gaming / Re: Backlaugust 2023! (Forums Aren't Dead Yet?) Edition

« on: August 09, 2023, 03:48:13 PM »

Castlevania Bloodlines

Looks like this is the only game left on the Anniversary Collection that I hadn't yet played, and apparently this is the same one that's included in the Genesis NSO dealie, so I s'pose there will just be one Castlevania game this year for me. To round out the collection, I still played it there, even though the NSO version has better emulation features. I don't know if I ever really heard about this game, so I didn't have expectations for it. And I've gotta say...

...It's a'ight. There's always a bit of a disconnect when I play a game like this: the controls and physics are still the same as the NES titles, but now with Genesis graphics and sound. Thanks to advances in hardware, games during this era tended to improve on things like smoother controls and more dynamic physics, so it's always jarring for me to play a game that looks 16-bit but plays like something much older. Although, at least this guy learned how to whip upwards, even if only while jumping; still surprised me to see that! There's a fun variety of visual tricks across the stages, including reflective water, and a real mindfunk of splitting up the screen in a late stage. Relatively speaking, the tone of this one feels a little goofier than is typical, including a boss that is some sort of grouping of metal gears that dances across the room.

Moving past that however, the stage design here generally feels easier and more fair than the NES titles. There are usually less enemies in each screen, and it relies less on infinite enemy spawns, though there are still a few such sections. There are also a fair amount of bosses and sub-bosses, relatively speaking, and their patterns are typically slower and more predictable than the erratic ones in previous games. This one felt shorter than the previous ones, though I dunno if it actually has less stages, or just feels shorter due to the much easier difficulty. I'm actually kind of surprised at how breezy this game is, since it was released during the height of the rental era where many games were made more difficult to combat rentals.

It's increasingly clear to me that Classicvania just isn't for me. I don't know if there's necessarily anything wrong with them, and I can see why they're popular as they often had great presentation for the era. They look good, they sound good, but I just don't care for the stiff and rigid gameplay, even when the game is overall easier like this. I played a couple stages to try out the second character, but seeing that they seem to have the exact same levels, I think I'll call it here.

And thus, the Castlevania Anniversary Collection is also complete! Now I know that won't count as its own completion for this, ha ha, but I can still mark it as such in my own backlog.

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TalkBack / Re: Online Service For Original Splatoon And Mario Kart 8 To Be Restored Soon

« on: August 04, 2023, 03:42:15 PM »

I'm honestly surprised they bothered to bring these two games back online, especially since with the eShop closure, they're no longer being sold. I guess it's a sign of goodwill towards, uh... the... three people still playing Wii U...?

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TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Downloads - August 3, 2023

« on: August 04, 2023, 03:37:24 PM »

While it's the forum main that I have bookmarked, I do usually click on the links to articles, since I'm unsure if viewing these threads still counts for the site's view counter on an article.

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TalkBack / Re: Pokemon Presents To Air August 8

« on: August 04, 2023, 03:35:03 PM »

Do they announce new games at these things? C'mon, PokéPark 3...!

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General Gaming / Re: Backlaugust 2023! (Forums Aren't Dead Yet?) Edition

« on: August 04, 2023, 03:30:48 PM »

Last year was extraordinary circumstances for me for various reasons, so I don't think this year will be anywhere close to it! I may still focus on some classic games though, as they tend to be breezier completions. I think I still have one or two more Castlevania games to get to, and there are a few titles in the Genesis collection that I haven't yet tried. Switching gears, I was also considering giving Tunic a go for this due to its positive reception, though I'm unsure of the length of that one.

Recently I've started Dragon Quest XI, but I hear tell it's a looooooong game so I won't be attempting completion in August. I'll probably be putting it on hold from time to time to tackle this event.