Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Messages - Stratos

Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 643
1
Would love to hear your thoughts on the other SW ports, by Aspyr and others. May be worth a dedicated article to give a rundown with links to the various reviews already written? I've nabbed a few of them but truthfully I never played much of them individually. I was more grabbing them for the nostalgia and a vague hope it would encourage more titles from the past LucasArts era or even new games in a similar vein.

I knew about the issues surrounding KOTOR 2, but thought the others seemed decent enough for what they were. I played the re-released Outcast, Academy, and Podracer to my recollection. Are they all really viewed that poorly?

2
Oh boy! I had a lot of fun ideas as a kid about horror versions of Childrens shows. One of my best I thought was a Gritty "reboot" game for Dragon Tales, where the original children, now grown up, return to their childhood home to clean up after their elderly parents pass away. They find the old dragon scale and laugh about their imaginative world as kids and repeat the phase and get transported back to Dragon Land, which was real it turns out. Only its this dark barren wasteland because it turns out they were key to keeping the place happy as kids. They go on a journey to try and restore the world and run into rabid and insane versions of their old dragon friends. You could choose to spare and restore your dragon friends or slay them, and along the way you faced challenges that were metaphors for various traumas and experiences they faced growing up in real life and it would be revealed the land became a channel for them to store their trauma and that was why the land was poisoned. So it would have been like a dark and twisted version of Links Awakening and American McGhee's Alice mixed together.

I might check this out if reviews are favorable. Like you I can be a sucker for good corny B horror flicks.

3
I mean Engage was developed in tandem with 3 Houses and was intentionally following a different path. People think Engage was supposed to release a few years back but Covid really did a number on Nintendo with their backwards processes involving security and working in person.

Willing to bet the next original game will be quite different from Engage. Maybe even the next remake (please give us more, I really want 4, 5, & 6 in a console-level Echoes style).

4
Nintendo Gaming / Re: Mario Kart: Double Dash - XLink Kai
« on: March 09, 2024, 02:05:28 PM »
Sounds silly to say, but not too bad. I was afraid we would be talking 200-300.

5
Nintendo Gaming / Re: Mario Kart: Double Dash - XLink Kai
« on: March 07, 2024, 01:03:29 AM »
Dare I ask how expensive they are now? I still hope to buy some down the road. Kicking myself for not buying even one of the 4 that were sitting in a Frys years ago. Even when there was one left for $40 I had just gotten 4 complete Wavebirds and thought for sure I could get the broadband adapters later for a reasonable price.

I'm also thankful that I snagged a Gamecube player during the pandemic. It was Japanese, but I realized that I could buy a whole new Japan Gamecube, controller, and full Gameboy player for the cost of the US disc alone.

6
Bet you Pascale would have asked for a helmet-less role. He probably had is fill of that in Mando.

7
Movies & TV / Re: SPOILER ALERT: MCU Thread (Quantum-Ant-Man-ia)
« on: February 20, 2024, 01:50:57 AM »
I think Marvels was a reaction to some of the drama swirling around the actress and fan sentiment about her. Which is odd because Disney is typically a bit stronger about caving to whining fans like that, unless it was really showing in some of their metrics somehow.

It does feel like it needed a second solo film before the ensemble team up. Or, you know, they could have explored the necessary backstory in one of their TV projects instead of the dreck we got, especially with the later shows.

8
Nintendo Gaming / Re: The OFFICIAL Big N rumor thread *bring your own salt*
« on: February 20, 2024, 01:46:08 AM »
The internet went into meltdown because Switch 2 got "delayed" to 2025. Can it really be a delay when Switch 2 wasn't even officially announced? I'm being pedantic.

I'm not even disappointed. I only opened Tears of the Kingdom to claim the My Nintendo Gold Points, and I haven't bought Super Mario Bros. Wonder or Super Mario RPG. My backlog is LOL even without those games. I'm old; it'll be 2025 before I know it.

I thought that was some people overreacting about nothing. Makes me curious what will be coming this year to supplement if that is the case. Final years of Nintendo consoles tend to get some of the must unique and fun stuff because they have fully mastered the hardware, and the "flagship" games are being mostly held over for new systems.

9
NWR Forums Discord / Re: Unclebob posts bumps
« on: February 17, 2024, 06:12:14 PM »
But where is the fun in that? ;D

10
Nintendo Gaming / Re: What will Nintendo release in 2024?
« on: February 17, 2024, 06:06:34 PM »
Also we know Nintendo is very conscious of power consumption since it was one of the initial targets for the creation of the Wii U to have a very small power consumption. And disc drives are very power hungry, which would have been detrimental to a handheld system, even a hybrid one like the Switch.

11
No word on Dr Doom casting?

12
Nintendo Gaming / Re: What will Nintendo release in 2024?
« on: February 14, 2024, 12:34:35 AM »
Oh! Forgot about this! Gotta get my predictions in!

1. Switch 2 releases 2024 with Backwards compatibility
2. Switch 2 adds things for their Online/VC library, but it is still underwhelming and limited from what it coudl and should be
3. Switch 2 includes some form of achievements/trophies
4. A new Fire Emblem is announced this year, but doesn't necessarily release yet.
5. Smash Ultimate gets a refresh/new DLC for Switch 2
6. We don't get Mario Kart 9, its just a refresh/update to 8 with a graphical overhaul, even more new and retro tracks, and some new modes and expansion to battle modes
7. Switch/Switch 2 finally gets a new Star Wars game that isn't Lego-based
8. Monster Hunter Wilds isn't coming to Switch, but Capcom throws something else MH related to the system.
9. Tears of the Kingdom gets new content, and it is tied to some new features of the Switch 2, either locking it to the new system or changing in some way that could be as simple as the Color Dungeon from the GBC Links Awakening dungeon
10. We get a new Animal Crossing, either a mainline one, a spinoff, or a massive new expansion/update for New Horizons

13
General Gaming / Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« on: February 14, 2024, 12:19:39 AM »
So my daughter is turning three this month and being more aware we've started playing a lot of classic games for fun. I've been playing a lot of the Mario games from Mario 3, World, Yoshi's Island, Mario 64, Galaxy, Odyssey, and 3D World. Also the OG Donkey Kong Country.

Of these I have beat Mario 64 and 3D World. Boy what a difference of opinion I've had about these games over previous plays.

Mario 64 I am now dreading returning to in the future. I thought the N64 controller would make things play better, but it just doesn't play well for me. I struggled with finer gameplay, with some of the platforming, and after the first 1/3rd of the game I was just powering through to get to the end for her. I could NOT hit the bombs with Bowser for the life of me in the last battle.

I don't know what is wrong, the controller, the port, my age, all of the above? I still dearly love the game, but something feels off. Even versus the play I did a year or so ago when 3D All Stars came out. I started playing on the Switch Online app because I was just going through the games on the apps, then remembered I have 3D All Stars. Both feel clunky and cumbersome to me. Maybe I need to bust out the N64 and try there? Like the game runs TOO good with higher framerates? Or there could be some sort of controller latency at play?

I'd love to hear what others think or have experiences with older games. For me this seems to be relegated to the N64 3D games. 2D games on NES and SNES seem to more clearly be me losing my gamer edge at these precision games.


On the other hand, Mario 3D World surprised me in a pleasant way. I have tried to play this game so many times, but always with friends and family. Because of scheduling none of these runs got farther than the beginning of world 3. But since I was the only one actively playing with a tiny cheerleader and spectator, we ran with it all the way through. And the game ramped up into some delightfully fun and devilishly challenging levels. I went from 50+ lives to my last life in the final main world. I had never done the infinite 1-up trick in any Mario game and I actually went back and did it to get more lives! And the unique powerups were all a delight along with the classics. The way it channeled older Mario games like 3 also gave it a wonderful feel.

I've yet to try Wonder, but I may not get to it until I finish 3D world and it just seems to keep on going. I'm on the second bonus world post-Bowser and I am half wondering if this game actually does run out of levels.

14
Nintendo Gaming / Re: The OFFICIAL Big N rumor thread *bring your own salt*
« on: February 13, 2024, 11:55:26 PM »
With recent games on the Switch like Batman: Arkham Knight or Mortal Kombat 1 which had videos highlighting the drops in framerate or downgrade in graphics. Thus, it has made me ponder if some of those game might get updates that allow them to run a bit better on the next Switch or if the Switch 2 would just run them better on its own.

The problem will be if it is developer/update dependent, which will actually take the time to make the change? If a game sold poorly they may not get the clearance to work on an update. And even better selling games may not get the greenlight to update either if they are more than a year or two old unless they are still getting updates.

15
Actually... I take back my answer.

Thanos was wearing the Gauntlet with the stones.  Everyone who was dusted took everything they were wearing with them.  Clothes.  Fury's eye patch.  Bucky's arm.  It all went.

...if Thanos had been blipped, would the stones had gone with him?

Could actually be a good inclusion in the "What If...?" S3 Idea mentioned earlier. The other half are dusted including Thanos and the gauntlet, and thus instead of the intro to Endgame we got they are already dealing with the loss of the stones as well.

16
Yeah, I'm pretty sure the stone holder is immune since they are they one technically making the action. I assumed either consciously or sub-consciously the holder was actually choosing who would live and die with the enhanced power of the stones.

17
Nintendo Gaming / Re: The OFFICIAL Big N rumor thread *bring your own salt*
« on: February 13, 2024, 03:11:28 PM »
I seem to recall PS2 had that ability to "upgrade" PS1 games. It was just something like extra anti-aliasing or some other form of pixel smoothing you could toggle on or off in the menu.

18
TalkBack / Re: Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion Remastered (Switch eShop) Review
« on: December 24, 2023, 01:37:45 AM »
Bummer that this is sub par. It was the only one I missed from the N64 Turok games. I do wish the were more clear about the multiplayer and such. I completely ignored 2 because it was missing and never knew it was patched or going to get patched until someone here told me. And whats the deal with the "don't ask about Rage Wars" line? feels weird to add there like that. Surely it is a in-joke among the devs and their fans and it will come down the road?

19
General Gaming / Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« on: December 24, 2023, 01:31:28 AM »
I beat and 100% completed Mario 64 on the 3D collection earlier this year. It was much tougher either because my muscle memory was atrophied, or I was too used to the N64 with its octagonal edge for the stick to be guided by when controlling. Well I'm replaying again with my daughter and I have the N64 Switch controller...its not the controller. Either its too loosey goosey, or I got used to it back in the day and the more tight modern controls of games have spoiled me. I still really enjoyed Mario 64 when I beat it, but I'm almost through the main quest this run and I am just going to clear Bowser and be done. I may also avoid playing some other old games for a bit from that era until my daughter is older. I've moved over to Mario World, Yoshi's Island, and Donkey Kong Country. I like playing them with her, but she's not even 2. I don't want to burn myself out from them until she is older and able to actually play with me. This is just some dabbling to show her some old games and spend some time with her when she isn't absorbed in Paw Patrol or something.

20
Movies & TV / Re: Rate the last TV show you've seen
« on: December 24, 2023, 01:24:59 AM »
Don't worry, I finished Loki S2. They just quietly solve the issues in the show and the end comments about it in a way that could let them quietly cut off the Kang plot completely or redo it differently.

The time agency exists to hunt down Kang variants. there is a mention of how a "616 adjacent realm" dealt with a serious risk of a Kang insurgence, and any others popping up in the timelines would be dealt with.

I liked the theory that Mobius was actually a Thor variant.

21
Movies & TV / Re: SPOILER ALERT: MCU Thread (Quantum-Ant-Man-ia)
« on: December 24, 2023, 01:12:42 AM »
I saw an interesting video detailing how Disney+ is killing Disney. And they point out how their bread-and-butter was box office sales. Now there is no incentive to go. I might have gone to see a few of them but with them on D+ in like 3 months, and the loss of luster to MCU films, why bother? Only ones we went to see were Spider-Man and BP2. Spidey because it was clearly the best of the bunch, and the leaks all indicated it was going to be a blast and not worth missing, not to mention with Sony having a hand it would NOT be appearing on D+ anytime soon so wanted to get in while we had the chance. BP2 I really wasn't as keen to see in theaters because I just wasn't motivated without Boseman, but my wife really wanted to go so I went with her.

I can't even be arsed to watch half of the MCU films on D+. I watched every show up to She-Hulk and that was the point my wife called it quits. I never bothered to return on my own. We did watch GotG3, and the intro the Thor 4 just before that for the story, but I just can't be bothered to watch them. We tried to watch Secret Invasion, but like 1.5 episodes in and we just weren't feeling it.

We decided to watch Loki S2 but wife bailed near the end and decided shes done. I finished it and, well, it was okay. But I still felt a bit like something was off. Like they changed it specifically because of the stuff with Jonathan Majors and his criminal cases (he's officially out of the MCU now too so whether intended or not, convenient to cut it off in Loki). It also failed to give us the closure that was deserved for Loki with Thor. I was a die-hard #LokiLives believer, and I think that should have come into play somehow.

Personal highlights post-End Game for me were Spider-Man and Moon Knight. I'm a sucker for Moon Knight, and while the show wasn't AMAZING, it was still enjoyable as someone not well versed in the comics and such. It did feel a bit weighted in the end with the climax, but still something I'm happy I watched once.

Truthfully I'm struggling to remember much of the rest for noteworthy parts I really enjoyed. I remember the excitement for WandaVision, and the bad taste in my mouth from it in the end thanks to the showrunners and plot basically trolling fans.

Interestingly the same is happening with Star Wars for us. Wife really hated the end of Mando S3, and after Boba Fett being such a poor showing for her she's done. She was willing to watch Ahsoka and Andor, but now only wants to watch Andor S2. She just doesn't feel motivated to watch Ahsoka anymore since it is technically set around/in the Mandoverse. Andor is solely because she like Diego de Luna, and she did enjoy that series so far.

Disney as a whole is in a slump. I'm kind of surprised at how much of a slump it is. Typically large companies have a bad area and it balances out in another being good. Yet miraculously everything seems to be going wrong for Disney. MCU: struggling. LucasFilm: Dumpster Fire. Animation: meh. Pixar: Lost their mojo. Parks: shut down brand new attractions. Box office: worst in a long time. D+: losing subscribers (or losing the key growth).

I'm expecting leadership in a lot of Disney to be changing up here real soon because they can't keep going at this rate if they want to be relevant in the next 20 years.

22
NWR Forums Discord / Re: Unclebob posts bumps
« on: November 29, 2023, 08:45:57 PM »
I feel like this has become a version of "the game" where you try to go the longest without thinking about "the game" but then SOMEBODY goes and bumps the post.

23
I'm really feelin' it!

24
Movies & TV / Re: Rate the last TV show you've seen
« on: November 29, 2023, 08:44:19 PM »
Ando: A show we didn't need or asked for, but busted all expectations, justifying its existence and then some. Not because it's Star Wars, but because it's actually good. Would have been even stronger if we didn't know his ultimate fate, curse of the prequel.

Yeah I was floored by Andor. The end of the prison arc is one of two times I've felt a major positive emotion in SW for a long time. Its a shame the rest of SW couldn't be even half this good.

Mando: Did not stick the landing. S3 falls apart hard as it throws away it's premise and lacking oh damn commentary like Herzog or Bill Burr. Felt unplanned, the reason we don't know, executive meddling, no expectation of S3, writers ran out of ideas, forgot what Mando is about. Doesn't matter, disappointing.

Wife and I both did not enjoy S3. And we were fans of both previous seasons. We watched the "missing episodes" from Book of Boba Fett because after the Tuskens my wife wanted nothing to do with that show. I don't know if watching those back-to-back with S3 helped or made it worse. Both Grogu's arc, and pretty much everything involving Bo-Katan was not enjoyable. I'm still surprised that Disney opted to make Bo the leader/hero -- a literal terrorist that enabled Maul to take over Mandalore and lost the planet not once, not twice, but three times, with and without the Darksaber. It was like they were contractually obligated to include some things and hit some beats and the creatives were absolutely not all in on the direction.

Question: What is the sequel to Loki? Quantum of something?

Only halfway through Loki S2 and it really feels like its gotten the Agents of Shield treatment where its been quietly sidelined into not being relevant to the overarching story. Wife was not feeling it (as it has been for much of Phase 4/5 of the MCU outside exceptions like Guardians 3 and No Way Home).

If S2 takes place AFTER Quantumania, that just feels extra weak because of how Kang got defeated and trapped there. Maybe the ending will surprise me, but its been pretty predicable and basic so far. Also the whole "retro 50s Sci-Fi" aesthetic and halfhearted time traveling just doesn't feel that engaging. Felt like some weird episodes of Legends of Tomorrow, and not in a good way.

Maybe we were extra harsh on it because it has been so long since S1 and we forgot a lot of what happened, so we were scrambling to remember who was who from the side characters and how the universe worked. Did they have fake local money? Did they need to not mess with events too much? Who were those side agents that barely had screen time in S1 that now seemed overly important in S2? Just felt a little like it didn't get the memo from how things have been going in the greater MCU and should have come out much sooner after S1.

25
Nintendo Gaming / Re: NSO November 2023! (AKA Not Another Forum Event!)
« on: November 17, 2023, 12:01:55 PM »
I've been playing Pokemon TCG. Fun blast from the past. I only played a rom of this back in the day.

I'd love to play some of these games online if we can sync up schedules.

Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 643