Messages

226

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 540: Reset the Metroid Clock

« on: September 26, 2017, 04:24:36 AM »

When I think of Ecstasy of Gold, I honestly think of Wild ARMS' World Map theme, which rips it off wholesale.

Seriously, I have NO Clue how Sony or Media.Vision got away with this ****

227

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 539: Y Can't Fancy Dan Crawl

« on: September 19, 2017, 10:09:01 AM »

Akitoshi Kawazu, AKA the one game developer who I'd ask to write his autograph on my fists with sharpie, and then pay him and politely ask if I could get one shot at his chin as a way of communicating what I think of his games.

228

TalkBack / Re: Metroid: Samus Returns (3DS) Review

« on: September 13, 2017, 11:09:00 AM »

I was DEEPLY worried thyat this game would be a very... Mercury Steam experience, drawing less on the series' roots, going strictly for atmosphere or orchestral stings, requiring the balance of aeon that only replenishes if you manage to defeat enemies with entirely too much HP with the melee counter, randomly inserting Patrick Stewart as a new character while we discover that Samus was actually the Metroid Queen all along as a way to forsake and stand against the Galactic Federation that had cursed her to bounty hunting this whole time...

This is a stretch. Konami and Nintendo hired MercurySteam for completely different purposes. Konami wanted a reboot which is exactly what it got. Lords of Shadow was always meant to move away from Castlevania's series roots. If anything, I felt like it didn't go far enough. MercurySteam was obsessed with little references until it just flat-out put Alucard in there because people like Alucard. I liked Mirror of Fate and reboot Alucard even if I think it hurt the story more than helped. Lords of Shadow had that major modern day plot twist then walked back on it since a large portion the sequel takes place in Gabriel's mind. All MercurySteam had to do was put Dracula in actual Hell and cover maybe Satan's march on Heaven. But nope, imagination castle...

and yes, I felt those references were shallow and had no substance to them. I was saying I don't like how Lords of Shadow Plays. I don't like that it punishes you for getting hurt at all and not paying attention to counter oppertunities. I'm saying Gabriel Belmont and the MoF protags all feel weak as **** if you're not using magic to augment their offense, and if you're not playing the game the very specific way the devs want you to play it, then you're not getting your magic back and every fight is a fucking SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOGUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Imagine if you had to say... Melee counter every Zoomer and pump 5 missiles into them to get Aeon back, and then use Aeon for another enemy in order for them to drop missiles? THAT is my problem with Lords of Shadow. That was my fear when I saw the two things Mercury Steam implimented into Samus Returns. or if the rooms sealed off for combat arena stuff with even minor enemies that somehow kick the living **** out of Samus unless you dodge very specific attacks in a specific way because OOPS you didn't notice the enemy flashed white so that means you have to dodge and not melee counter! (also, on the dueling ammo thing... that's something I didn't like about Metroid Prime 2 Echoes.)

Also, I think The Varia suit on the cover of this game looks ugly and mishapen. as does the Samus Amiibo. it's got a tiny scrawny head and a hunchback.

Speaking of Hunchbacks, I dislike that MercurySteam's attempt to inject humor or flavor through Lords of Shadow's impenetrable blandness was via trying to Minion-ize Fleamen. Castlevania's humor comes from it having very video game-y or 'anime is happening' sorts of tropes and playing it as straight faced as the Hammer style horror that took before it.


I don't know why, but Lords of Shadow always gave me this... Tolkien vibe. like... the game could be set in Middle Earth and it'd probably feel more appropriate.

229

TalkBack / Re: Metroid: Samus Returns (3DS) Review

« on: September 12, 2017, 09:21:06 AM »

I was DEEPLY worried thyat this game would be a very... Mercury Steam experience, drawing less on the series' roots, going strictly for atmosphere or orchestral stings, requiring the balance of aeon that only replenishes if you manage to defeat enemies with entirely too much HP with the melee counter, randomly inserting Patrick Stewart as a new character while we discover that Samus was actually the Metroid Queen all along as a way to forsake and stand against the Galactic Federation that had cursed her to bounty hunting this whole time...


I might be a bit bitter, and think this studio after it leaves Nintendo's guiding wing will return to complete mediocrity.

This will be a fun one to pick up. it's got a hiiiiiiigh bar to beat if I'm to prefer it to AM2R, though.

230

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 538: Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot

« on: September 11, 2017, 07:28:44 PM »

Though PS2 didn't use these as much either. More so than GC but no where near the Xbox and it's online.

I played a shitload of FF11, Smackdown Vs. Raw, and SOCOM online on PS2. Especially Final Fantasy, though. that game shaped my high school and college years, for better or for worse.

231

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 538: Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot

« on: September 11, 2017, 10:18:36 AM »

Sonic 4 is very much an example of a wolf in sheep's clothing. it wore the very plastic-y New Super Mario Bros. skin of the retro revival for the modern era, but the level design and logical sense of how things worked was gone. Bounce Pads and Dash pads are used Ad Nauseum to propel Sonic through sequences and homing attack chains were applied liberally to try and hide how fundamentally different the... everything is.

I find it interesting because The New Super Mario Bros. games also don't feel like they handle nearly as nicely as Super Mario World or even SMB3, and this is REALLY apparent in Super Mario Maker. Still, it's a close enough approximation that doesn't change how Mario fundamentally reacts with the basic building blocks of his level design.

Sonic 4 instead makes sonic feel like he is made of lead with how much friction he has on all sorts of surfaces and how letting go of the D-pad at any point in the air makes him sink like he's Mega Man. he's functionally different in a DRASTIC way, and it changes Sonic from what was a heavily physics based platformer, to more of a more mechanical one with some momentum elements that are often controlled by the game forcing you off a speed booster and spring in any moment where the game WANTS you to have built momentum.

232

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 538: Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot

« on: September 11, 2017, 06:08:36 AM »

Your welcome, MASB.


I suppose I've proven I have the devotion to take Over The Top as my spirit role.


I think it's also worth noting that seminal PC Destruction Derby/Racer Carmageddon (there's an N64 port of it that's really bad too!) was originally meant to be a DeathRace video game but the license got tugged out.

233

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 538: Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot

« on: September 11, 2017, 03:04:09 AM »

Remember that email you guys got a while back about the verbal rash thing with Pokemon?

It might just be my internet credentials talking and the sorts of communities I find myself in, but I think that applies just a tad with RFN talking about Sonic, even if James has come out the other end of Shadow the Hedgehog and Rise of Lyric (Relatively) unscathed.

Activation of Tails Copter combo while playing as sonic involves you looking up before Jumping and hitting the jump-button again in air. don't hold it though, as this will activate Drop Dash/Insta-Shield if you're playing the 3&K style sonic in NoSave mode.

Seriously, though. I'm on like... Playthrough number... 7 1/2?, I think? Sonic + Tails was my last one, but I've done...

Solo Sonic
Solo Tails
Solo Knuckles
Super Peelout Sonic
Knuckles & Knuckles + Debug mode
Using Debug + Level Select to get Sonic into Knuckles' Mirage Saloon Act 1 and deciding to play through the rest of the way just to see the bad ending since I had gotten all emeralds on all may playthroughs at that point
Tails & Knuckles playthrough that I focused on finishing up the rest of the Gold Medal Blue Sphere challenges
Sonic & Tails


... yyyyyyyyeah.


Now, for the corrections.

- Christian "The Taxman" Whitehead got his start in the SonicRetro community doing prototype disassembly, even finding an unused and undiscovered boss for the Sky Chase sections in Sonic Adventure. He eventually developed His Retro engine, and programmed a couple of basic levels into it, calling that Retro Sonic.

- He then used his retro engine to pitch a Sonic CD port/Remake to Touch Arcade. Sega saw this and were impressed, given the difficulties of just direct porting Sonic CD. This Sonic CD Port came out for iOS, Android, Windows Phone 7, Xbox 360, Steam, and PS3. it was released shortly after Sonic Generations, but before Sonic 4 episode 2. It smoothed out the special stages, added in Playable Tails, achivements, fixed the physics and funky collision with Sonic CD, runs at 60 FPS and in 16:9, fixes the spin dash  lets you listen to the US or the JP/EU soundtrack because Sega of America back in the day for SOME insane reason redid the amazing Sonic CD Soundtrack...

- From there, Whitehead brought on Simon "Stealth" Thomley, who was one of the Co-founders of Sonic Stuff Research Group (SSRG) and the project head of the excellent Sonic 1 Megamix Romhack and also made a better Sonic 1 port for GBA than Sega could ever be bothered to. Together, Christian Whitehead and Thomley's company "Headcannon Games" to which he is the only employee, worked to improve the Retro Engine further, and released Sonic 1 for iOS and Android. This version of Sonic 1 is better than whatever M2 barfed onto the 3DS, supporting true Widescreen, Smoother scrolling for the Special Stages, playable Tails, Playable Knuckles, added in Spin Dash, save features, a 7th emerald for Super Sonic, and new bits of level design to accomodate for the fact that Tails and Knuckles can fly over the likes of Marble Zone and Spring Yard zone.


-This dynamic duo continued on with a Sonic 2 port for iOS and Android. This had all of the above features along with making the half-pipe special stages polygonal, as well as adding in the fabled and cut "Hidden Palace Zone"  if you fell into a particularly infamous pit in Mystic Cave Zone. They were also poised to do S3&K, but Sega never gave them the greenlight on that... but eh, I can't complain since they got the greenlight on Sonic Discovery, although Takashi Iizuka insisted the game be called Sonic Mania.

-Iizuka-San was actually a rather big part of Mania's development. as Exec Producer on the game, he really hammered home the idea that Sonic Mania needed to be a game that would shake expectations and surprise people. Death Egg robot in Green Hill zone was a specific example of that, and I'd probably credit the thing they did with the Hydrocity bosses as being a part of the Sonic Team director's direct influence. That's not to say that this undercuts what Whitehead, Thomley, and the folks at Pagoda West like Brad Flik, Tom Fry, or Paul Veer's amazing achivement here.


Also, Jon, it's important to mention that Sonic Mania was designed to be like a SATURN game! the Special Stages are kinda a meld of Sonic R and Sonic CD's special stages. Blue Sphere is from S3&K though, so... yeah. this game has a HARD cutoff point where it specifically won't reference things after that unless it's for a dumb Meme (like Videogame Dunky's cameo, the loving tribute to deceased Romhacker PolygonJim, or & Knuckles Memes).


There are DEFENATLEY schisms in the Sonic Fanbase. I know people who are more modern Sonic fans then they are Classic Sonic fans. Hell, there's a guy who's a sometimes freelance correspondent for GameXplain who is openly disdainful of the idea that Classic Sonic is necessarily better than Modern Sonic and thinks the Classic Sonic love is just mainstream groupthink poisoning people.

One of the people who's a mentor for my art? She doesn't like Sonic video games. She was in it for the Archie Comic stuff and he might be done with Sonic if the new partnership with IDW comics doesn't produce the characters she grew up and loved like Princess Sally and Bunnie Rabbot.

There's some UK people who love the Fleetway publishing Sonic comics! There are people who love so many different and insane things about this franchise... and I'm glad that SEGA took a step back and is using this oppertunity to do the ol' Chocolate and Vanilla Ice Cream thing that Vince McMahon loves talking about in his philosophy in the wrestling business.

I'm confident that no, you can'd really sit there and compare Sonic Forces with Sonic Mania. It looks like Sonic Team is really trying. this game got a whole extra year's worth of delay. it has a tone more befitting of that sort of Shonen anime feel that Sonic Adventure 2 brought to the table. It's got the gameplay style that modern sonic fans praised from Sonic Unleashed/Colors/Generations. it's got Edgelord monster of the week antagonist, music with lyrical accompaniments by established musicians like Hoobastank frontman Doug Robb. I think when the dust has settled and we finally get to see what Sonic Forces is at it's core that it's going to be the right sort of game for it's fanbase, the traditional 'Sonic Cycle' be damned.


Also, Sonic Generations 3DS is NOT a better game than Sonic Generations on consoles. they're BOTH good.

Sonic 4 Episode 1 runs on the Sonic Rush engine. it just doesn't have the boost mechanic. Seriously, try playing Sonic 4, then play Sonic Rush without boosting. VERY similar experiences.

234

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 537: The Worst Idea in a Strategy Game since Conception II

« on: September 11, 2017, 01:36:09 AM »

Sorry to be getting around to this, but I want to point this out to Bryan's question.


Nippon Ichi Sofware's games ALL take place in a shared universe. although mostly contained to Post-game activities or DLC, characters from one NIS game will often show up in another. This includes ties to Hyperdimension Neptunia, The Wii's Phantom Brave, James Jones favorite Soul Nomad and the World Eaters (Speaking of deviant things on the level of bestiality, that game gets fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucked up if you play the special new game +) and Makai Wars, a game that got canceled but as an in joke the main character from this canceled game invades other games looking for work or her opportunity to finally shine in the light of day. she also has a different voice actress every time because nothing about her is ever finalized.


This element of crossing over started when Prier of La Pucelle: tactics appeared as an optional boss and recruitable character in the first Disgaea game. The ties are a little bit stronger between Disgaea games themselves, since the crossover elements tend to happen during the main game's plot like in cases of Etna showing up For Disgaea 2, Axel and Flonne being big parts of Disgaea 4, etc. That being said, I cannot think of a NIS developed Strategy/RPG that does not have SOME sort of cameo by Laharl looking to conquer other worlds or be the main character of a new game or... really, to just be a little prick to everyone.


That being said, a lot of these cameos are played for laughs, as most of the time these games tend to satirize rather than take themselves seriously. They're also kiiiinda a shared Multiverse, but Item World is essentially Multiverse hopping as it is within one game, so...

235

TalkBack / Re: Pokemon Sun And Moon Mega Stone Distributions To End October 31

« on: September 10, 2017, 11:47:31 PM »

that's such total garbo.

I actually think that this was the wrong way to go about distributing these stones.

That being said, I dislike Mega Evolution as a whole, so... I can't say I'm wholly broken up here.

236

TalkBack / Re: Gamescom 2017: Fire Emblem Warriors Shows More Promise Than Before

« on: September 07, 2017, 06:06:51 AM »

I hear you, Daan.

I'm quite astonished at how Nintendo has made me uncomfortably numb to one of my favorite franchises under their banner in the span of 2 years.

This isn't entirely their fault what with me getting laid off from my job coinciding with the release of Fire Emblem Echoes, which I'd really still like to play given that of the Famicom Fire Emblems, Gaiden is by far the more playable one nowdays. That being said, Fire Emblem Heroes left me out in the cold after both finding out that Nintendo bans people playing on BlueStacks or other Android emulators, I find Shin Megami Tensei unappealing, and Fates left such an awful taste in my mouth that makes me increasingly bitter every time I dwell back on that mass collection of avarice.

I'm actively sick of Fire Emblem Fates' cast. I am especially sick of Corrin's siblings. with Elise and maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe Leo maybe, they are all not very interesting or well written. I am astonished they didn't try and cram Azura into this garbage as well at this point.

I really think what they should have done for this game was maybe pick iconic units of each regularly appearing class throughout the series. Hell, you'd STILL be able to make quite a bit of that ground up between the Fates royalty, but at the very least you'd have the OPTION to like... pull out Othin and his Puji axe or Have Black Knight/Zelgus as the game's Armor Knight.

I'm still SHOCKED that they have failed to reveal more than one Akaneia character. like... We don't even have Tiki. I don't even care if it's adult Tiki from Awakening. Why don't we have a Manakete in this game yet?!? (Corrin doesn't count shut up) I'd take Harkin. I'd take Ogma, or Merrick, or heck... even Jagen or Wrys. This game needs SOMETHING to pull me in other than "Oh hey, it's a Musou game with a bunch of characters I don't like and where I'm subject to the fickle nature of the growth rates."

237

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 536: Yoshi Facts Matter to Me

« on: August 30, 2017, 04:38:37 PM »

yeah, Kobe. I actually didn't hear that bit during the live show because I muted everything while James was trying to get me into the call, and I would have called Bullshit hardcore.

238

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 536: Yoshi Facts Matter to Me

« on: August 29, 2017, 10:42:43 AM »

Screw you guys, Sunshine is the best 3D Mario game. I don't understand the control and camera complaints, I've never had any issues. In fact, I think that Mario controls better here than every other 3D Mario. The controls are so fluid yet tight when they need to be. Hell, during that secret mission in Delphino Plaza where you have to steer the lily pad down the poison river and collect the red coins, if I didn't get them all in one go, I just jump onto the ledge outside the river and run straight back to the start and get on another lily pad. That's how easy and precise this game controls. The only thing I didn't like about this game is the blue coin collectathon. Other than that, perfect game.

Pardon me if I sounded negative, I do think Mario's controls are incredible, and at the time it came out I thought the camera was incredible. it's simultaneously the inverted nature and the fact that there's almost no automation to the camera that makes it tricky. it's VERY easy to get it caught in an object or simply not have time to manage it in a high pressure situation. there's a surprising number of situations where flicking in and out of over the shoulder FLUDD aiming view became the preferred method of getting my barings quick in comparison to actually futzing around with the C stick.

Yoshi, on the other hand, drops a few of Mario's movement options for the flutter jump, which has serious issues with essentially locking Yoshi's current inertia rather than giving you more control of the jump like it does in Yoshi's Island or Yoshi's Story. his movenent speed is ever so slightly faster than what mario can run at, but not faster than even spamming belly flops, much less the slip & slide. it's just enough to throw off percise movement, especially given that yoshi doesn't do the same sort of sliding turn around that Mario does in preparation of doing a side jump. Because of the size of the model, he gets stuck on geometry or doesn't stand right on things like small ledges next to walls. it's also very easy to accidentally activate flutter jump prematurely. the whole affair makes everything a slight bit looser while riding Yoshi. This is why I referred to him as a 'buttery mess'.

I'm pretty sure i mentioned during my segment that I had clipped through the plaza no less than 5 times during my playthrough. once or twice was on purpose, granted, but the collision in this game is occasionally odd, particularly whenever you try to ground pound and there's SOME sort of roof above mario's head or you're merely nearby the corner of geometry.

I also feel like there's something to be said about the poison river Shine forcing the player to use tactics like walking across a very tiny wall in order to have a second shot at this red coins shine without being ejected back to the plaza or being forced to eat a death.

I'm not here to refute what is clearly your favorite 3D Mario game.

I'm here to say that maybe you're going about this with rose tinted glasses. Super Mario Sunshine is not a perfect game.

239

TalkBack / Re: Limited Editions Announced For Fire Emblem Warriors, Pokemon Ultra Sun/Moon In North America

« on: August 29, 2017, 10:26:22 AM »

this makes me want to vomit...

240

Podcast Discussion / Re: RFN RetroActive #39: Super Mario Sunshine

« on: August 25, 2017, 07:38:03 PM »

It's okay, Khush. Although I do urge you to listen to the recording of the podcast. it's got a fascinating duality going on, and I feel they had a  good spread of guests (myself aside).

I really enjoyed my time with the game. I've put all the gamecube stuff away now that the episode is recorded, but I certainly would not mind it if I ever got to return to Super Mario Sunshine.

241

Reader Reviews / Re: Shantae Half-Genie Hero; NOW WITH RISKY MODE

« on: August 25, 2017, 11:01:16 AM »

So, that was a thing...

Further using my backer privileged, I received my free copy of Shantae: Pirate Queen's Quest. Before I get to that though, a quick addendum to my Shantae Mode review. still haven't played hard mode...

The Backer Tinkerbat Transformation replaces Dryad dance with something that... might be helpful? you have a slower walk speed, but a double jump. it's hard to glean any real utility considering you first get access to it in Mermaid falls after you already have monkey and potentially bat Shantae.



With that out of the way, I need to talk about Risky Boots, and how I don't think she can carry a game on her own. This really pains me to say it too. I was VERY unimpressed with Pirate Queen's Quest. it should be considered a fluffy extra to the main game, and not a necessary purchase unless you are a big dumb Shantae fan like I am. in spite of superficially possessing it's skeleton, this mode will NOT hit the highs of Shantae and the Pirate's Curse. Heck, I'd play ANY of shantae's adventures before I'd play Risky's first playable outing again, but... let's just get into it.


A LOT of the rebalancing to the level design that happened here I feel was VERY misplaced. Risky Boots can access any of Half Genie Hero's 5 levels (Scuttle Town Siege, Mermaid Falls, Tassel Town, Carpet Race, and Hypno Baron Castle) from the outset, and work DID go into making sure all 5 of these levels could be completed by Risky Boots without any upgrades. Enemy placement has been remixed to provide comparable challenge through all levels in theory by adding new foes and placing far more late game foes into earlier stages.

This is 'cute' and 'quaint' in theory because in practice, it fall apart the moment one realizes that the bosses weren't rebalanced at all to reflect this. this is ESPECIALLY disappointing since the game very clearly uses HP Values for it's enemies and bosses. the game actively punishes you for trying to tackle the later levels earlier because of this. I took on Hypno Baron's castle first and found trying to brute force that boss with an unupgraded Risky Boots with the scant amount of Food items one has first starting out to be a total chore. one I was able to do through pattern memorization, but I wasn't doing the damage I needed and so I was there hacking at Hypno Baron's knees for seemingly 10 minutes while he did the really basic fly in a figure 8 thing that Dr. Wily does in Mega Man 2.

Imagine my shock when all this effort rewarded me with... The Hat. It's very clear that your reward for beating a boss is based on number of bosses beaten rather than which boss was defeated. this was a HUGE disappointment. What was even MORE disappointing was the realization that they clearly nerfed the ever loving crap out of the Hat, which hardly slowed Risky's descent and effectively was a very tiny double jump. I questioned if this was done in effort to make it not break the platforming?

The answer is no. no it was not. this nerf was done solely to justify the Dark Magic collectible so you can beef up the hat and return it to it's former, floaty glory. upgrading the hat to full power ASAP made the game FAR more easier. not only that, but it seems like some level of hat upgrading as well as upgrades to the returning Cannon seem required given some of the tight maneuvering and timing that's required there, as level design goes unvarnished at points from the Shantae playthrough. of course, these sections were balanced for Harpy Shantae...

some techniques seem super superfluous, such as Risky's ability to summon tinkerbats or the spread shot option on the pistol. the new Grapple hook is neat, if only because it's better implementation of a power they gave Shantae, which is what i felt a lot of the Pirate tools from Pirate's curse were.


I will say one thing about Pirate Queen's Quest, is that it cuts out a lot of the fat. there's no Scuttle town to go to for shopping, talking with NPCs, viewing the art gallery, or receiving side-quests. Naturally, because fo that, there's also no Gems... which seems REALLY weird when you consider that one would think a pirate would be all about acquiring ill-gotten monetary gains.

Risky Boots only has an array of food, Hearts, ammo types for her Pistol, a single main quest item type (similar to the Iron hunks from Shantae's playthrough) and the new Dark Magic items to worry about collecting. Dark Magic at any time lets you allocate it to many attributes, from Risky's health, upgrading her scimitar, upgrading items you acquire from beating bosses, upgrading risky's various ammo types or her ammunition cap in general. I think it makes it easy to tailor Risky to the challenge at hand on the fly, although focusing on upgrades for the hat, the Scimitar, Ammo Count, and the homing ammo type were enough to carry me through the game on their own.

Unfortunately, a BIG thing that's lost is the charm. Risky Boots, although a cool lady villain who we get a bit more insight into, just isn't as charismatic as Happy-go-lucky and air-headed Shantae. Her dialogue has to carry the game since the Tinkerbats she commands are all mute, and the only other thing she communicates outside of the opening and ending moments of the game is with the various bosses, whom she just threatens them. Christina Vee once again provides Risky's voice, and provides far more voiced dialogue for the lady pirate than she did for Shantae. That being said, her performance wavers between Posh evilness and trying to sound Gruff and manic and it doesn't quite mesh well between lines. She sometimes between bits of dialogue will sound like she's voicing two different characters.

There's 0 new track for the soundtrack. Did Wayforward use all their budget on new Christina Vee lines and forget to pay Jake Kauffman for a new tune or two? Kauffman bothered to arrange new tunes for the shovel knight expanded content!

Anyhow, My first playthrough clocked in at 2 Hours and 39 minutes. that's... abysmally short, especially considering the game attempts to pad itself out via the same backtracking tricks that the main campaign does. The backtracking IS required too, as a few of the Plot Macguffin sidequest items are sealed off via the last item you get for beating all the bosses, and all the levels are designed to have items that will require 4 of the 5 pirate tools to get everything.


Given the really lackluster conclusion, I really wish Pirate Queen's Quest would have maybe not been so anxious to get out there. there really needed to be something more to set it apart. as it stands, it feels like a half-step above the tacked on extra character modes of a late Castlevania game. I would personally pay no more than $5 for this DLC Curiosity, unless you are the most ardent of the lady pirate's fans.

242

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 151: Gotta Teach the Young'uns!

« on: August 23, 2017, 03:15:49 AM »

3/5. I had never heard of No. 4, but I'm LOVING that music!

also, you tease me with La Mulana and a Gameboy Rendition of my favorite song from Mystical Ninja starring Goemon?!?

also, James forgot to mention Rockman.exe 4.5 Real Operation and Battle Chip Challenge. I also have not played MMBN5.

243

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 535: Milking the Ghost Cow

« on: August 22, 2017, 01:27:16 AM »

okay, cool. someone else posted. I wanted to put  my thoughts on the series that needs the Sonic Mania treatment in a seperate post from my Fire Emblem bitching and moaning.

Now, the problem with this is that there are very few communities out there that have has passionate a fanbase that's crazy good at programming and have sat there with a fine-toothed comb and overanalyzed the crap out of it. We got your Mega Mans, your Castlevanias, maybe Streets of Rage? that have the perfect storm of Fans with strong chops for level design, artistic prowess, programming genius, and a crowd of people passionate about the product to have this sort of thing go on.

I think the easy fast ball that this e-mail was throwing people's way was Metroid and AM2R. imagine a team of Thomas Happ and Milton Guasti gotten together with the backing of Wayforward to make that long awaited 'Metroid 5' as a Zebesian adventure that has snapshots of level design and abilities from both Zero Mission and Super Metroid? I think that'd be the MAJOR project you could get away with the sort of project that Sonic Mania is.

A lot of what makes Sonic Mania worth a damn is what franchise it is, and the way it disenfranchised all of but the most ardent of fans. It's filling a pent-up demand that if you took a moment to do a lick of research and are willing to fiddle around in the world of fan games, you'd never have that problem. the thing that shocks me is how many people go into Sonic Mania, love it, and then go "oh, I don't do fan games"



now, if we weren't talking about any sort of realism to this sort of revival, I think you could do Gex and the RezFlix zone. the 3DO original actually has some kernels of greatness in there if you pulled the camera back and reigned in Dana Gould a little bit for better set-up for the endless one-liners. The idea of a 2D platformer largely based on exploring via climbing walls, ceiling, and the background has great potential, and doing it while attempting to take the piss out of pop culture is great. yeah, you could use the tropes from the old games and use them to GREAT effect. Make the horror channel have a segment of a Found footage horror movie or have the cartoon channel now feature these more serious/emotional characters that insane fan bases crop up around like Steven Universe and such. I'd probably try and cast Mike Stolklasa of Red Letter Media lend his dry humor to Gex and have him very much be a member of the creative process for the game.

244

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 535: Milking the Ghost Cow

« on: August 21, 2017, 06:57:27 AM »

RNG has a VERY important place in Fire Emblem, but I feel like reducing some of it would help. RNG is ultimately what both simultaneously enables over-extension as well as what I basically call "Risk and Threat Assessment" where you simply have to ask yourself if you're feeling lucky before you put yourself in a 'do or die' situation Vs. the safe strategy.

As for the Growth system, I like it inasmuch that it's meant to give you replay value in that from playthrough to playthrough a unit can end up vastly different and it makes you think about how to distribute precious stat-up items to ensure a unit hits a cap. I think it should change, but not entirely go away, such as maybe having a Vulnerary style item that your unit consumes and they get a buff where if they hit their level up while the buff is in effect they're gaurenteed at least 3 stats to hit a point, with a 1 stat point minimum whenever you level up. I also think they really need to bring back proper lockpicks, tourches (along with fog of war), dancer rings, etc. Also, I suppose it's worth mentioning that there's Alfa's Drops in Blazing Sword, but it's a late game item, you only get 1, and it basically increases the Unit's growth rates by 5% all around.

Honestly, I've... really disliked the way fire emblem has been mutating on the slippery slope. maybe it's because I can't afford Fire Emblem Echoes, but I HAAAAAAAATE this series becoming this entirely DLC driven festival of avarice. I dislike the writing getting stretched so thin for this rediculous 'everyone HAS to support with everyone' mentality that leads to characters repeating their character arcs through multiple units or the inconsistency between characters depending on the support (See: Anything that has to do with Xander in the campaign Vs. Xander's supports in Fates.)

I feel that megaten games are Bufu'd out the rear end, I get frustrated at Gachapon games that break my phone and ban my account if I try to play on an android emulator, and I'll play Senran Kagura if I really wanna play a musou game.

I think the greatest advantage of being talked into busting out my Wii to play Super Mario Sunshine is that I get to play Path of Radiance again because it sure as hell beats ever playing Fire Emblem Fates again after essentially paying the cost for Steel Batallion to play a game that frustrates me to no end with bad writing after bad design choice after awful garbage grindfests pertaining to any of the My Castle features.


Also, I am disappoint that we got no new business pertaining to the bonding adventures of SpaceStationSilliconValley. Oh well, I suppose Syrenne did fulfill her quota of Visual Novels I have zero interest in ever playing ever related new business.

245

TalkBack / Re: Pokemon Ultra Sun And Ultra Moon Feature Larger World, New Z-Moves

« on: August 20, 2017, 12:17:31 AM »

Mythtendo, that's not true at all.

Pokemon is easier than ever to breed up teams, and for that, you need to breed large pools of stuff and IV check them. now, before Gen 6, you could just release the chaff, but it's more ethical at this point to mass wonder-trade it. it's VERY easy to have a crazy pile of varied pokemon.


That being said, if you're going to bitch about it, just use Pokemon Bank.

246

General Gaming / Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?

« on: August 17, 2017, 02:04:06 PM »

Sonic Mania

"Whew! That was Cool!" ~ Sonic the hedgehog, @0:14

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TalkBack / Re: Sonic Mania (Switch)

« on: August 17, 2017, 01:58:47 PM »

You're in for a real treat in about-well, I suppose you're already there considering your post is a day old, but I have to question... for a guy who takes his forum name from a badnick, how did you feel about the whole of Mirage Saloon?

248

TalkBack / Re: Sonic Mania (Switch)

« on: August 16, 2017, 01:59:18 PM »

Tee Lopes is amazing, huh? he's got a TON of Sonic Remixes on his Youtube channel.

Anyhow, I really hope they patch the MAJOR problems this game causes in the switch UI.

249

TalkBack / Re: Sonic Mania (Switch)

« on: August 16, 2017, 08:09:18 AM »

tone wise, quite a few of these are on par with Sonic CD bosses, although I think the mania team here focused on subverting expectations. I'm glad they aired on the easy side, rather than say... trying to get too cute. These are devs, after all, that has seen endless permutations of the Wrecker Checker ball to make it more difficult, or sonic fan games built around having insane boss fights, and really? Sonic games really aren't so much designed around having really challenging and intricate bosses. I feel that's one of Freedom Planet's strong points thanks to the mechanics that game has over the sonic games and why I don't think the two series compare together so well.


http://shc.sonicresearch.org/sonic/history15/23 if you want to see what Sonic looks like with balls to the wall crazy boss fights? here's a good example.

oh, and good luck.

oh, and the insta-shield gives Sonic a few iFrames. that might be really helpful.

250

TalkBack / Re: Sonic Mania (Switch) Review-In-Progress

« on: August 15, 2017, 04:31:15 AM »

... whew...! <3

Like... there's no doubt in my mind that this dream team couldn't NAIL it, because I think the real only thing that held a guy like Simon Thomley alone back from greatness was a budget and a little bit of good ol' corperate conservatism to laser focus a project. you need only track the history of Sonic 1 megamix and look at the early days of SSRG to realize this.

and it's not like Christian isn't brilliant either. he's the guy who, after all, basically was like "here's a ground up fixed port of Sonic CD for Mobile! you guys like mobile, right?" and caught Sega's attention with his wealth of talent.

I've been listening to TeeLopes goodness since 2012dude knows what he's doing. Probably one of the few guys out there qualified for this sort of job outside of maybe like... I dunno, James Landino? even then, his music doesn't have that poppy jazz feel that something like Sonic Mania needed to stand on it's own two feet.



I hope Sonic Mania's rags to riches tale creates Sega a level of success even beyond the current fervor for it as a labor of love, and that certain companies learn a valuable lesson about cultivating their fanbases instead of employing their paralegal unit to salt the earth.