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Messages - Pixelated Pixies

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1
TalkBack / Re: Shovel Knight (Wii U) Review
« on: November 08, 2014, 04:43:51 PM »
I've only completed around 4 or 5 levels so far (with the game having only recently been released in Europe), but I'm shocked that more people haven't commented upon just how very slow and sluggish the titular hero is. It is no doubt something that I will adjust to in time, but at the moment it's really affecting my enjoyment of the levels. The sluggish pace was one of the first things that accured to me when I played it for the first time, but it has become increasingly apparent, especially when facing the bosses who move far more quickly and are much more agile.

My criticism isn't that the pace of Shovel Knight increases the games difficulty, I haven't yet had to take more than 2 attempts at any one boss. My major gripe with the speed of the character is that everything feels just a little bit off; and as someone who has had to deal with 50hz versions of NES games, I know a thing or two about games just feeling wrong.

Pace issues aside, however, Shovel Knight truly is a lovingly created piece of NES nostalgia.

2
Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 402: Witch Time Zones
« on: October 19, 2014, 08:31:34 PM »
Craig-way!

3
General Gaming / Re: Destiny
« on: September 11, 2014, 06:49:34 PM »
I agree with most of the criticisms I've read of Destiny, I can for instance see it eventually becoming repetitive, but I'm still finding the combat and upgrade loop to be really satisfying. Also, it doesn't hurt that it sounds, looks and controls great.

I'm currently only level 7, so I'm still playing through the stuff I already saw in the Beta, but I'm looking forward to seeing what else the game has to show.

If you're looking to fill out your Fire team my PSN name is 'MartySmyth'.

4
General Chat / Re: The Dedication thread
« on: August 23, 2014, 04:24:22 PM »
I don't have one particular poster I'd like to thank, but I would like to thank the NWR community as a whole for offering so many varied and interesting perspectives on the culture of video games. You might think that because the people who frequent this site are all Nintendo fans, they would be a relatively homogeneous group; but the discussions and debates spawned by the NWR community prove that there's a lot of diversity and knowledge amongst the broad group we call 'Nintendo fans'.

Anyway, that's enough self aggrandisement. Let's go back to bickering!

5
General Gaming / Nintendo Dry spell - Give me hope
« on: August 16, 2014, 03:56:40 PM »
The last game I bought on a Nintendo platform was The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds; Which is an awesome game to be sure (sorry Mr Jones, You're wrong), but that's a long time to go without something to play on a Nintendo platform. It is true that I don't have a Wii U, and that those games released on 3DS in recent months haven't exactly appealed to me, but still; this is probably my driest Nintendo spell since N64.

Wii U still hasn't offered up something which makes me want to buy it, and as a Smash Bros detractor I kind of don't see that changing anytime soon. On the 3DS front I'd love to be playing Shovel Knight, but unfortunately it's not yet released in Europe.

I guess I'm just hoping to find something on Nintendo's platforms that I've missed or something to look forward to. Give me Hope!


6
Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 392: Xenodachi Life
« on: July 28, 2014, 01:27:31 PM »
On the question of Summer gaming, I'm just going to steal from the thread I created last year about the same topic.

"...for the last week or so we've being experiencing a spell of unseasonably sunny weather. The mornings have been getting brighter, the afternoons longer, and people's antipathy towards one another, if not dispelled completely, has at least become less acute. As for myself, I've been running more, visiting the park, and taking my pint outside to read a book. All of which is great.
 
The problem (if you want to call it that), however, is that I find it very difficult to get motivated to play video games in such conditions. Currently, it's still getting dark at about 5 - 6 PM, so there's still plenty of time to get some gaming done during the dark hours. As the days get longer though, I seem to lose the ability to play games for protracted periods of time (which is going to be a problem given that Awakening is released here in April)."

7
Movies & TV / Re: Rate the last movie you've seen
« on: July 26, 2014, 06:46:20 PM »
Boyhood

I have a love/hate relationship with Richard Linklater. Well, maybe hate is a strong word, but there are definitely elements of his films that make my eyes roll. I love his naturalistic style of directing, and admire the fact that he imbues his characters will real feeling and heart, but sometimes the words he puts in the mouths of his actors are downright pretentious. Take Boyhood for example, in which the following line is uttered,

"You know how everyone’s always saying seize the moment? I don’t know, I’m kind of thinking it’s the other way around, you know, like the moment seizes us.”

While I love the 'Before' trilogy, I could point to any number of similarly bogus lines from those films which made my skin crawl . Maybe it's a question of upbringing, social class, or cultural difference, but the people in Linklater's films bear little resemblance to people in the real world (or rather my world).

I find it much easier to accept the preternatural when it's not trying to evoke realism. I have fewer issues, for instance, with a director like Wes Anderson because his films are so very stylised; while Linklater's films strive to render realistic portrayals of people at given times in their lives. It's for that reason, because Linklater does deal with things like relationships and feelings so deftly, that when his characters say something that feels unnatural or forced, it pulls me right out of the film.

That, however, is just a personal gripe. My only other issue with 'Boyhood' is that the 'boy' at the centre of the story wasn't a particularly interesting character. Like some of Linklater's protagonists he's passive; things happen to him, he experiences events, but takes little action in them. In some ways I guess that's a fairly realistic portrayal of many of us (myself included), but as a result I found myself gravitating towards the lives of the other characters in the film. In fact, by the end I was pretty much ready for Mason to go to college just so the story could move on to the lives of other characters, who were much more interesting.

Those issues aside though, 'Boyhood' is unlike any film I've ever seen. Even if you were to ignore the logistics of putting a film like this together, you can't help but be impressed by this director's devotion to his characters. I very much look forward to seeing this film again and I suspect that, as was the case with the 'Before' films, I will appreciate 'Boyhood' more with each subsequent viewing.

8
TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Download - July 24
« on: July 25, 2014, 05:25:58 PM »
Blaster Master is a fine, but Ufouria is definitely the better game. I only got around to playing it on Wii, but it's already one of my favourite NES games.

9
General Gaming / Re: Destiny
« on: July 25, 2014, 03:17:31 PM »
Thanks for the info guys.

I guess it just wasn't clear to me that the 'Devil's Lair' mission was distinct from the others. It was just another selectable point on the map, so I thought it was a story mission like the others. I went on to beat it with another group and thought it was pretty fun.

10
General Gaming / Re: Destiny
« on: July 24, 2014, 04:56:23 PM »
So, I've experienced something in Destiny since my last post and have a question about it. A question that is make or break as far as my getting this game is concerned.

In what I believe to be the last story mission of the Beta I was thrown into a Fireteam with two other people, and at the end of the level we had to fight a boss. We got creamed the first time, and did much better the second time. Then the other two guys quit. Now I'm left fighting the thing on my own, but the game does not seem to have scaled accordingly. There's still a ****-tonne of enemies and now the boss's cannons are constantly trained on yours truly.

Up until this point my understanding of Destiny was that it was more fun to play with other people, but that it was possible to play through solo. So my question is this: Was I wrong? Will Destiny require me to play with others in order to complete it's campaign? I don't necessarily have a problem playing with people online in order to get past certain missions, but I really don't like the idea of making it all the way to the end of a mission only for them to piss off, leaving me unable to continue.

11
General Chat / Re: Nintendo's Biggest Hunk
« on: July 24, 2014, 03:46:22 PM »
I think Nintendo's biggest hunk of junk is clearly the Wii U, I mean come on! It's so...oh, that type of hunk. Never mind.

FYI, it's clearly Shibata.


12
General Gaming / Re: Destiny
« on: July 24, 2014, 02:33:46 PM »
So anyone know where I go to do the PVP?

That would be the 'Crucible' which is accessible on the 'choose a destination' menu page. I've only jumped into PVP the once, but it seemed fun.

If anyone is interested in creating a Fireteam/partying up on PS4 let me know.

13
General Gaming / Re: Destiny
« on: July 21, 2014, 08:26:32 PM »
I've put a few hours into the Beta and have mixed feeling about it. The shooting feels great, the game looks good, and the speeder bike you can summon is a lot of fun to ride around on. Unfortunately the missions themselves are kind of boring. Maybe those missions would be more fun played with other people, but the only other players I bumped into were busy doing their own thing and didn't necessarily seem to be directed by the same prompts as me. It might be a cool game, I just don't feel like I've got a good grasp of it yet.

I did, however, play some competitive multiplayer on the Moon map and thought it had a lot of potential.

14
It's not that 'Don't Starve' is a bad game. Neither is it the case that 'Child of Light' is a great game; A good one certainly, but far from perfect. Yet, I extracted little enjoyment from the former and deeply embraced the latter. I'm sufficiently self aware to know the reason why. I can't deal with games that make me feel weak, or are highly stressful.

With films and books, it's different: to an extent I can extricate myself from a film like 'Hunger', or a book like 'Darkness at Noon'. With games, however, you're not only asked to experience their narratives, you're tasked with pushing them forward, and that can be problematic for introverts and people who already feel ill at ease. It's for this reason that I will never be able to truly appreciate horror games (Shattered Memories being a notable exception - perhaps in large part because it establishes a sense of general unease, without turning the 'stress' nob up to 11).

Academically, I really appreciate games like 'Cart Life' and 'Papers, Please'; they, in fact, touch upon topics which interest my greatly. However, in practice playing those games leaves me feeling very drained (no doubt by design), and I invariably find myself gravitating back to games with satisfying mechanics, beautiful music, or spectacular worlds. That's not to suggest that the categories described above are in any way mutually exclusive, but it is true that I am less likely to make progress in games which instil in me negative feelings.

It's all about temperament and mood, and in my current mood? I'll take 'Child of Light' over 'Don't Starve'.

15
TalkBack / Re: New Smash Brothers Characters Revealed
« on: July 14, 2014, 08:52:32 PM »
...Chrom will merely be an assist trophy (or possibly a Final Smash). You now have one less sword-wielder to worry about.

Ah, ok. Fair enough.

I still maintain, however, that FE has a deep catalogue of characters to pull from. For instance, I was kind of hoping that Donnel would be included. In Awakening, I spent so much time keeping that guy alive just because I liked his down-to-earth perspective, and eventually he became one of my strongest characters.

Man, I really need to play Awakening again. That game was incredible.

On a related note...what the hell happened to the 3DS? I haven't enjoyed a 3DS game since ALBW.

16
TalkBack / Re: New Smash Brothers Characters Revealed
« on: July 14, 2014, 08:23:58 PM »
I'm conflicted.

First, It's great to see more females represented in Smash. As someone who chose to play as a female in FE: Awakening, I'm particularly happy to see the inclusion of female 'Robin'.

While I've only played 3 of the Fire Emblem games, I now consider myself a fan of the series, and am happy that it's getting represented.

On the other hand, I really don't need this much Fire Emblem in Smash. I always thought the FE characters in Smash were too similar and, honestly, a little boring. So the thought of having Ike, Marth, Chrom, and Lucina, all sword-wielders, seems like overkill. At least 'Robin' seems to be bringing something Unique with his/her Tomes.

It's a bummer, because Fire Emblem's characters are actually pretty diverse. I'd have loved to see a Cavalry character on horseback like Frederick, an archer like Virion, or a Axe-wielder like Reyn...I mean Vaike. Or better yet, throw a shape-shifting rabbit in there.

17
TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Clarifies Bayonetta Distribution Confusion
« on: July 14, 2014, 07:51:48 PM »
Don't own a Wii U yet, but this is really promising news. More of this please, Nintendo!

'Cross-buy', third-party console exclusives, intelligent use of digital distribution; these are the things which will cause me to buy a Wii U...that or Metroid.

18
Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 389: Best Practices
« on: July 09, 2014, 07:59:09 PM »
Awesome episode guys!

I'm really looking forward to Shovel knight being released in Europe. I think I'm going to really DIG that game...

On the point of Smash Bros and this on-going tension between 'casual players' and 'competitive players', I've got nothing. Smash Bros is a series that I've never found to be satisfying, either as a casual party game or a competitive brawler. In concept the idea of gaming's greatest icons fighting it out is super appealing, but Sakurai's approach to the mechanics of fighting have never worked for me.

19
I'm pretty sure the boat was left on the north shore. Sawyer and Kate used it to make their way back to the main Island, and after that Sayid used it to scout ahead of the main group in the finale. Then at some point Mr Eko used it to go back in time and save a polar bear from drowning.

20
Haha. I'm loving this Avatar!

It's almost worth dying for.

21
Time zones aren't kapp'n's friend and I be needing me sleep, so this will have to be my last comment for the night (and possibly for good). *Gulp*

Kapp'n now feels a little bad about his previous accusation. So apologies Nicky. I might be a Captain, but I don't always be havin' the answer. In me defence, I'd rather try to kick a few rocks in an effort to lure the Fox from it's hole than sit back and let more animals be put down. Partly in the interests of self-preservation (both for myself and the townies) and partly because it's a convincing argument, I'm willing to buy into Stratos' idea and vote in-line with Toruresu.

Vote Dan Laser

As I say, Ol' Kapp'n here will be sailin' to slumberland and won't be around 'til mornin'. All I can do is assure you that me heart is 'Townie' and urge you not to throw me to the sharks. I'll leave it up to you fine animals to decide, but I caution you Townie's out there not to cut me fishing line lest ye be one lure short.

22
To be honest little fella, that's all I could scrape together. I got nothin'.  :-\

Until I figure a better reason to send this letter to someone else, I gots to stick with me gut, and me gut is telling me two things right now. A) Have a delicious cucumber milkshake, and B) vote Nickmitch.


23
Kapp'n has been trawling the backwaters o' this 'er town (i.e. going back through the actions of participants in previous days) and based on those musings Ol' Kapp'n is pointing his webbed finger firmly in the direction of that ruffian Nickmitch.

In day 2 of this ordeal, that upstart tried to pin the blame on our beloved mayor Tortimer (Crimm to his friends). *lifts pipe up to mouth* I now believe this was an attempt to divert votes away from lolmonade, who we all know to have been one o' the Fox scourge plaguing this 'er town.

With the plan to save lolly having failed, those dastardly foxes still needed to remove ol' Tortimer, posing a threat as he did, and so Crazy Red himself called a hit on the ol' shell. Sure that salty ol' tortoise sought to outlive us all, but I'd take ol' crusty shell over these deadly foxes any day.

The sequence o' events seems pretty clear to ol' Kapp'n, and it's for that reason that I be dropping this 'er vote into the mail.

Vote Nickmitch.


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NWR Mafia Games / Re: Mafia LXII: AC: New Leaf, Old Feuds. Day 5.
« on: June 20, 2014, 02:31:15 AM »
*Removes hat in respect of the dead.

Ol' Kapp'n here 'ill avenge ye!

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