Messages

26

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Bayonetta 3 - gameplay impressions

« on: November 17, 2022, 03:24:54 AM »

100 hours in, halfway into Pure Platinuming Normal mode.

Finally got used to the timing of Viola's parry. Because PPKP attack string is the shortest combo with Cheshire attack at the end, spamming this combo makes Cheshire attack more often (outside of directly summoning him). For some reason, block offset doesn't work on "Kick" sword throws so that doesn't allow offsetting final hit after going into parry -- have to start PPKP inside the Witch Time from the start. Maybe it would be better to only do PPPPPP combos and offset them?..

Getting used to Viola's charged hits can be awkward especially when you don't want charged animations to take up your time when you're trying to go deeper into attack string. You need to tap buttons very lightly so they are recognised as regular hits and not slower charged hits. However, charged moves do a lot of damage -- for example Viola's fully charged sword launcher can halve bosses' HP bar -- this a huge damage output -- not even Bayonetta has anything even close to that. And while the sword is spinning you're free to mash on him with melee, adding to the damage. Regular fully charged sword throw also does lots of damage but more importantly it covers huge area, stunlocking lesser enemies and not allowing them to attack you.

Viola actually became fun to play as, especially great to fight some of the bosses in side missions.

Speaking of side missions -- the amount and variety of encounters you can pick at any moment is stupid. Side missions hide enemies, bosses, demons and unlockable weapons that are completely outside of the main campaign.

27

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Bayonetta 3 - gameplay impressions

« on: November 06, 2022, 03:17:42 PM »

Seemingly cosmetic item secretly created keys on specific areas of the game. After collecting them, the item opened a completely new game with yet another completely different type of gameplay!

Platinum Games'  priorities are really weird -- they would do and polish this kind of hidden game inside the game that player would have to run around all the levels to just unlock and not only that -- it still only opens up for 10 minutes and then throws me out... I still have to do something else to unlock it completely (collecting all bewitchements? getting all umbran tears? getting platinum on all levels?)

28

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Bayonetta 3 - gameplay impressions

« on: November 02, 2022, 01:14:41 AM »

One of the consequences or removal mix-and-match of weapons is that you can't combine speed/combo on hands and DPS on legs in one set.

Thus more often than not you will be forced to have one quick "combo" weapon on set A and big damage weapon on set B.

Additionally for "combo" weapon just speed is not enough -- the weapon also needs to be able to harm enemies from afar to keep your combo up as your demon summon pounds the big enemies. That's basically only guns, and yo-yo weapon.

I am okay with mix and match system gone, but i wished there was a third weapon set at the very least.

Weapons and demons are the highlight of this game i wished there was less cumbersome way to switch them than entering a menu UI.

29

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Bayonetta 3 - gameplay impressions

« on: November 01, 2022, 11:08:33 AM »

Finished the game and man -- rushed ending kinda sours otherwise fantastic fanservice-filled playthrough...

But the stuff you unlock by the end -- oh man... Feels like all the fun weapon are concentrated right at the end -- and beyond even...

30

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Bayonetta 3 - gameplay impressions

« on: November 01, 2022, 02:07:20 AM »

Gameplay styles is so varied, first playthrough really feels like WarioWare with barrage of random minigames. They never last more than few minutes and are very fun for how random they are but it's gotta be a nightmare to pure platinum them.

As if pure platinum wasn't already impossible enough with 30-45 seconds verse completion requirement...

It also feels like Platinum games really went out with weapons, complete insanity. They all kinda control the same -- stinger input, launcher input, 360 input, but the timings and animations and effects are very different. Just when i started to get the basics of default guns -- they throw 10+ weapons and demons at me, it is overwhelming.

31

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Bayonetta 3 - gameplay impressions

« on: October 30, 2022, 11:58:28 PM »

Started playing with Viola now. Trying to adjust to her makes my brain melt.

Her combat options being somehwat simplified (and her story arc so far) reminds me of how Nero was introduced in DMC4 -- a spunky younger character with potential to take over the series. Usually series does that when creative team series went in too deep and create soft reboot with "simpler" controlled character.

B3 is a huge game with most of the stuff having nothing to do with combat. A list of custom achievements for each chapter, collectibles unlocking side-chapters, side-chapters also have their own achievements.

The areas are HUGE, almost Xenoblade-sized. Some of the platforming challenges are harder than combat verses even. Viola having somewhat wonky jumping mechanics doesn't help too.

32

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Bayonetta 3 - gameplay impressions

« on: October 28, 2022, 06:03:03 AM »

Pure Platinuming the game feels really hard, still can't get used to new attacks. At least Bayonetta 3 has finally allowed players to select any verse and the result saves over -- so you don't have to Pure Platinum the entire chapter, nice QoL feature.

I think i unlocked the DPS feature i was looking forward, it's demonic parry (Assault Slave) and demonic combo finisher (Wink Slave) -- both are huge AoE that stop and deflect any enemies' attacks.

The more i play -- the more i notice how "weak" auto lock-on has become. In previous game lock-on would never move if held punch/kick/gun buttons, but in 3 it is too eager to change targets if you move the stick even a little bit.

33

Nintendo Gaming / Bayonetta 3 - gameplay impressions

« on: October 27, 2022, 09:54:18 PM »

Have been playing the game for few hours now.

I only have 2 demon and 2 weapons so far and lots of stuff still to unlock and learn, but it still feels like Bayonetta.

New homunculi enemies feel weird at first -- have to get accustomed to new timings and attack cues, so small archers managed to hit me more often than big guys because how subtle their tells are.

Lock-on moved to R3 (MGR style) changes surprisingle little. Commands for tetsuzanko and Stiletto are still the same. R1 bumper does the same thing -- it was just decoupled from manual lock-on and renamed "Stance change".

Demon slaves feel way too slow, but at least you can summon them for one move, buffer one move and turn yourself back to normal, so both you and demon attack at the same time.

Some Bayonetta players noticed that time requirements on verses are very short, which means you might very well be required to use demons for high DPS or else you're not gonna make it on time for Pure Platinum. That's disappointing but maybe there will be more hard hitting options further in the campaign.

34

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 793: My Colleague Bought a Novelty Fridge

« on: October 19, 2022, 12:35:37 AM »

On composers talking about their work -- Yuzo Koshiro has had youtube channel for years now and in several videos he talks his process and inspirations:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe_lUL6kLzZLS49SIdHly5A/videos

35

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Official Sales Thread

« on: September 08, 2022, 11:58:35 PM »

Strong showing for Playstation titles this week.

When is PS5 price hike happening in Japan?

36

General Gaming / Re: What is your most recent gaming purchase?

« on: September 05, 2022, 01:24:56 PM »

While walking around in the book store i found Russian translation of Volume 4 of Floran Gorge's "History of Nintendo", the one about Gameboy.



I already bought first 2 volumes in English and while content-wise they were great -- binding on those was super filmsy, it started to fall apart right in my hands as i was reading it.

This Russian edition already feels way more robust so there is that at least, but reading reviews i found complaints about bad translation? Whatever i just want the full set. Volume 3 was sold out in that store but i set up alerts if they restock it.

Update on these books: the translation is indeed wonky at places but the binding is a huge upgrade from previous Pix'n'Love editions. As far as i can tell, volume 3 and up weren't even translated to English so i guess these books were translated directly from French originals...

Volume 4 about Gameboy is especially fascinating, because apparently it was a very troublesome project that even got cancelled at some point.

Apparently volume 5 (about Gameboy Advance?) is on the way, so i am looking forward to that.

37

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 781: War Gods Is My Religion

« on: August 10, 2022, 04:29:35 AM »

Religion isn't as taboo topic in videogames as you present it to be.

In fact there is an entire genre of games where you play AS a God. Imaginatively named god-games have such obscure games like ActRaiser (featuring angelic cherubims!), Populous series (featuring a spell called Armageddon that does exactly what you expect!), Afterlife, Black and White series, Doshin the Giant and Dungeon Keeper (play as Satan!) series.

Religion is also an entire system in role-playing games, obviously.

And then there is Fight of the Gods:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aX7NiaaLZM8

38

General Gaming / Re: What are you playing?

« on: August 09, 2022, 07:44:17 AM »

Last few months i've been finishing up all the achievements on

Desktop Dungeons (Steam):

I haven't touched the game for almost a decade now! I initially gave up on it because i felt it lost the simplicity and accessiblity of original freeware game. Transition from GameMaker to Unity also hurt them, i feel. UI instead of a simple "pick your class, pick your dungeon" screen became very bloated and confusing. New quest system instead of easing in new players only discourages playing further. Added class tutorials, puzzle boxes and class challenges were too hard. Even the new music i found too loud, distracting and a bad fit despite the pedigree of Grant Kirkhope and Danny Baranowsky.

At least web-version that replcates original DD is still there -- and was even playable in Wii U browser!

So this year i got back into Steam version to finish it off. And even if all my complaints are still true, coming back to it i kinda started to see what they were trying to do with quest system and building up your kingdom idea and slow-rolling unlocks. Late game unlocks in this game are kinda insane and require very intricate knowledge of game's systems. Back then i didn't even know how "burning" effect works, but it's basically mandatory to take down some of the later bosses.

Many of the class challenges and puzzle boxes i just gave up on and had to look up the trick or the exact sequence of steps you need to replicate to beat them. Deviating from that sequence, misclicking away even on one wrong block means failure. And that's kinda my general problem -- at harder difficulties game constantly requires to teeter on the edge where one wrong click -- and you're dead ending 30 minutes-1 hour run. I guess i can somewhat fix it by setting to only attack on right-clicking, but you can still fail by just "moving wrong" if you left-click somewhere you're not supposed to.

So as i was finishing this game (only 4 achievements left!) i see that they're redoing the game (again) with 3d graphisc and new gimmick of rewinding turns -- which addresses my criticism of sudden deaths by misclicking:

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

I am cautiously excited.

39

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

« on: July 27, 2022, 04:05:26 AM »

Metroid Prime (Wii, as part of Trilogy)

Super Metroid and Zero Mission at times had wistful, almost mystical atmosphere. Metroid Prime took that atmosphere and remade into 3d, walkable environments.

Game is more of an action-adventure game than FPS, the closest similarity would be Half-Life 1, which also has a lot of platforming and wandering around despite billed as pure linear first-person shooter.

Getting used to controlling game with wiimote and nunchuck took me a while -- and the problem isn't even in aiming. Having shooting on A and jumping on B (trigger) seemed backwards but it makes more sense once you start playing because you occasionaly need to mash shooting and that's harder to do on wiimote's trigger button. As game goes, all kinds of new finger tangling button combinations are introduced. Even for map or options you have to press 1 and 2 which is cumbersome when holding wiimote vertically.

Because of lack of buttons beam and vizor switching were relegated to wiimote flicks and they can be unreliable. Every once in a while game wouldn't recognize my flicks or i was getting confused and pressing vizor button when i wanted beam or vice versa. To add to frustration beam switching animation also takes a bit of time. Animation of shooting a rocket also wastes time because it switches arm cannon to rocket mode and you need to press shoot button an additional time to revert to blaster mode. It's a difference of 0.5-1 seconds but it starts to matter later in the game when you're swarmed with enemies.

Designers of this game really, REALLY thought the vizor is important. The UI, rains drops on the vizor glass, even occasional reflections on it -- they really wanted to keep reminding you that there is a piece of glass between you and the world. Many enemies LOVE to mess with your vizor, they spit on it, jam it, overload with flashbang explosions. Getting blinded for several seconds isn't even that bad but vizor shenanigans also interrupt your shot charge and drop lock-on, messing up combat.

To justify vizor's heatvision mode some rooms are completely dark. These are easily the worst parts of the game. One specific part in Phendrana drifts is a sequence of completely dark rooms filled with space pirates and drones. That part frustrated me so much i made a point to never return there again.

As much of a nightmare that was, dark rooms in mines are worse still. You have to deal with darkness, platforming AND combat metroids! You need to look at metroid outside of heatvision to determine which beam kills them, but then you have to go back to heat vision to stay on a platform, and also keep switching beams while you're doing all that. Absolute nightmare.

Bosses also get frustrating, especially when you run out of rockets during the fight. Game in general is starving for rockets and power bombs are even more rare. But they're worth it, because power bombs can triviliaze encounters and bosses that you'd rather nuke than fight through which is often a slog.

Rocket deficit is very deliberate it seems, one puzzle is even designed so you're forced to spend 36 rockets and if you leave the room -- puzzle resets. The reward for it is wavebuster -- proton pack looking beam great for destroying pesky drones (for pun's sake i also tried to bust some Chozo ghosts with it -- but regular charged shot works better against them). However wavebuster consumes lots of rockets so now you're even more starved for rockets, yay.

At least in big boss fights game has a mechanic where game reorients you towards the boss automatically after you uncurl -- really helpful, especially with wiimote turning being as slow as it is.

Final challenge of finding artifacts ended up my favourite part of entire game. Figuring out the puzzles just gave me another chance to enjoy atmosphere and location design. By that time rooms are filled with annoying enemies but at least you can just run past them or use x-ray visor for ghosts.

I actually got several artifacts before game allowed me to read hints for them, so when i came to artifact plaza, statues activated and when scanning it just said "artifact obtained". Now i kinda wish to know what the hints were.

Also while running around i was wishing Phendrana Drift had direct access to main hub on Tallon surface because having to get there through Magmoor Caverns got old. Because of that Magmoor Caverns feels more like a corridor between zones than a proper area.

In fact most of the rooms are just linear corridors with no additonal exits. It is probably this way because of 3d design but it leads to longer time traversing between levels especially with Samus not able to speed boost or even run in Metroid Prime.

My first playthough with 67% took me 16:17 hours but real time was a lot longer because of restarts -- a lot of them on Omega Pirate and last sequence of bosses because they to so long and i died on them several times.

I don't think i can go for 100% on this one -- in modern 2d Metroid games map indicates if room has an item or not and these games are the only i got 100% for. Prime doesn't do that so there goes that.

Metroid Prime music is more techno and ambient which i often use as synonym for "generic and unremarkable" but tracks in this game are very memorable. Phendrana Drifts is a classic and Magmoor Caverns is a great remix of Norfair theme from Super Metroid. I wished Metroid Prime Trilogy still had original menu select theme but for some reason it was replaced with generic choir.

Overall: Prime is a fantastic conversion of Metroid atmosphere and gameplay into 3d, great art style keeps it looking great even 20 years later, the best musical score since Super, but dark rooms suck and boss design is aggresively tedious.

40

General Gaming / Re: What is your most recent gaming purchase?

« on: July 24, 2022, 11:42:19 AM »

I kinda ended up with several 8bitdo accessories.

First i bought their GBros -- their Gamecube/Pro Controller adapter for Switch/PC. I only used it several times to connect SNES Mini controllers on some SNES games on Switch, but then i stopped paying for Switch online.

Last year i bought their wireless controller Pro2 and it was such a disappointment, i like the feel of it, but it has a very bad lag and is unusable no matter how i set it up. Apparently it is a lottery and sometimes you just get defective ones like that. It was also a hassle to sync it through bluetooth each time i want to use it, because it was losing connection.

Also another reason i wanted this controller were buttons on the back but a) you need special mobile app to set them up, andi can't be bothered b) theses button are distracting when holding the controller and i end up pressing them randomly

I bought their wireless adapter too hoping it can fix the issues but it nope.

To justify the purchase at least somewhat i now connected that wireless adapter to GBros adapter and now i can play games with SNES controller on PC. I still have to resync this setup each time so it's not ideal but whatever. Playing AM2R with original SNES controller feels nice.

41

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

« on: July 20, 2022, 01:41:22 PM »

Metroid Dread (Switch):

Ranking highly replayable games is two-fold: on the first playthrough you just go through story and and on consequent runs (fast or 100%) you truly start digging into level-design and combat design. Sometimes one harms another. Fusion puts so much emphasis on it's story it removes exploration and reduces next playthrough to just retreading the exact same path. On the other side -- Zero Mission's first playthough is kinda messy due to uneven last part, but next playthroughs are great revealing the true brillance of design that was completely obscured on first run.

Metroid Dread has a very good first playthough, probably the smoothest series ever had. It's linear as Fusion but isn't as restrictive and reaches  the highs of Super Metroid -- and then some.

You are being led along "golden path" with items spread like crumbs. Usually as soon you get a new unlock -- there is an item just lying nearby that you can now pick up and it always leads you further down the story.

Game doesn't lock you in as completely as Fusion does and you're usually free to go eplore somewhat. Adam still occasionally requires to be activated to progress further but you're never locked down and forced to finish the game like in Fusion, even Super Metroid does this on the last save room.

Pacing and level design felt great during the first run. All the bosses were fun to figure out and the final boss was challenging, capping a fantastic first playthrough.

In-game time for my first run was 9:46. Then i went for 100% on the same file and it only took me just 4 additional hours. That's on the low side because Dread doesn't have as many collectibles. QoL features also help save time: map marks if there are secret items in each room and shows competion percentages for each area. Also when you reach final area, game additionally unlocks all teleports so fast travel is even easier.

During 100% collecting it was kinda hard reading map UI, it's functional but probably should have been more schematic and less detailed to make it more readable. As it is now, it is kinda busy and makes things hard to find occasionally.

As usual, most time during 100% item hunt was spent doing shinespark puzzles. Shinepark mechanic keeps evolving: Fusion introduced shinepark stop and restart on slopes, Zero Mission added ballspark, and in Dread Samus can keep shinepark while sliding and bouncing off walls. You can even spark down and combat is designed so you can use shinespark offensively to kill some bosses faster.

Game has fantastic movement, best in the series. Samus Returns had great controls and MercurySteam evolved them even further in Dread. One of my favourite tricks in Samus Returns was using touchpad to instantly morphball and now it's a separate button. I also used counter button to stand up from morphball quickly. Dread's morphball button does both and it is a great option when you need duck/uncurl in the air or during action moments.

New abilities are great introduction. Flash shift is mandatory to dodge fast bosses and for traversal. Grapple beam also speeds up moving around levels because you can pull yourself towards any blue surface on a wall or ceiling -- especially useful underwater and in EMMI sequences.

Parries are even better than in Samus Returns and new dash parries feels good. Special cutscenes on parrying bosses' attacks are great even if they stay the same same on repeat.

Cutscenes have even more "Samus is badass" moments than in Samus Returns. Action direction and camera work is brilliant.

Areas don't stay cold, metallic and soon enough into the game you will be exploring new environments. Game makes great use of parallax and background details. Walls and blank spaces in 2d projection are pitch black and create nice contrast on my OLED tv, and i'm guessing on OLED model too. Moments when game plays with darkness and foreground shadows look stunning.

After doing 100%, i started a run for speed and it was surprising how much i got lost at first. Game still allows the player to get lost when you veer off polished "golden path" or look for speedrun shortcuts, like i did. Most i could find was long corridors you can zoom through with shinespark and it seems like it was intentionally designed that way. You even get special cutscenes for shinesparking in special spots. But apparently there are a several fully intended sequence breaks and the game is a great watch for speedrunning.

Zero Mission and Fusion had a run timer if the run was on New Game+. For some reason Dread doesn't have it, so the only way to check the time is to save and exit into main menu. In fact, there isn't much of a New Game+ at all, all you retain on save file is mark of completion and unlockable gallery art.

My "fast" playthrough was 3:41 and after that i immediately restarted on Hard. Hard mode made surprisingly little difference: just like in Samus Returns enemies and bosses hit very hard destroying several energy bars in one hit even on Normal, so it depending on the mode you will be dying in 2 or 3 hits, which doesn't matter as much. Enemies and bosses also drop lots of items and health so you will be replenishing constantly. Also while speedrunning you will be constantly running around with low health so damage numbers matter even less.

Hard fast run took me 3:21 and with that, save file was completed. Unlockable art was great but my favourite piece was Metroid Fusion-themed wallpaper.

Overall -- Metroid Dread looks great, plays well, has great level design, fantastic movement options and satisfying combat, fun bosses. Only the music feels somewhat generic and too ambient for it's own good. The best musical moment was Super Metroid remix.

If ranked within the series, Dread is better than Zero Mission and Fusion both for first/one playthrough or for repeated playthroughs. Just last year after playing Super Metroid for the first time, i couldn't believe a modern game can be as good and Dread isn't, but it's a very sold #2 and a great game in it's own right.

42

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 327: The E3 Where Nothing Happened

« on: June 26, 2022, 09:59:44 AM »

Puppets probably cost them pretty penny, considering they were from Henson company:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ANzA2fQ8Gc

43

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 302 - I’m Taking the Goose Down

« on: June 26, 2022, 03:29:39 AM »

Pronouncing "caesar" as "kae-sar" is the correct Latin pronunciation.

44

Podcast Discussion / Re: Feather the Crank!

« on: May 22, 2022, 07:33:40 AM »

"Who would look at Dante's Inferno and think it would make a great videogame?"

Imagine if someone made a game with main character named Dante meeting a character named Vergil and going to hell to save his love interest Trish (short of Beatrice) a full decade before Dante's Inferno...

45

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 292 - That's a Spicy Poll

« on: April 15, 2022, 04:18:48 PM »

New Super Mario Bros U is the best 2D Mario

That's outrageous because obviously NSMB Wii is the best one. But U is close second.

46

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

« on: April 06, 2022, 05:07:28 AM »

Metroid Zero Mission (Wii U Virtual Console):

I want to reiterate how much i like SNES controller i got from SNES mini. Because Wii U still treats it as Pro Controllers i was able to play Super Metroid, Zero Mission and Fusion with it. The whole setup wiring Wiimote to SNES controller and then playing on Wii U gamepad was kinda awkward but i really liked it.

In general, i like Zero Mission, but not as much as Super. Because it's less moody maybe?.. The most enjoyable part for me was when Zero Mission veered from remaking Metroid 1 and added an original segment with unknown items and power grip. That segment really came out of nowhere and was kinda creepy.

Otherwise ZM follows the pacing of all Metroid games where you keep upgrading as you play, eventually becoming a powerhouse by the end. But the ending breaks that pacing so after peaking at the original ending you're dragged back and stripped down to nothing. Emotionally going from the high of killing Mother Brain and then having to scurry in air vents hiding from everything is too constrasting and destroys pacing. I kinda stopped caring at that point and didn't play the game for several weeks because of that.

Level design in Space Pirate ship also becomes kinda bad, with prolonged sections that are meant just to slow you down and annoy. Tunnels with dozens of bomb blocks for no other reason just to be a hassle, robots that just stands there blocking your way and gates closing if enemy sees you.

Even the final final ending annoyed me because i thought i was supposed to somehow get into the area where escape pods were so i was looking all around not realizing there will be yet another, final boss. And even after that i couldn't understand how to get into the escape pod so i died some more on final escape sequence because i didn't understand i was supposed to jump in there.

Another annoyance was defeating Mother Brain the first time and i also got kinda lost in Ridley's Lair because i was supposed to go back and forth between Norfair and Ridley on a detour through some caves to kill a wasp boss.

Once you actively start optimizing your gameplay and going for completion game becomes better. Even Mother Brain becomes easy once you understand the "secret" trick of "don't shoot the brain when it flashes".

Only then true design of Zero Mission is revealed and players realizes how the map is riddled with shortcuts like swiss cheese. First playthrough only pretends to be linear and guided by Chozo statues, but there are skips and fake walls to circumvent almost everything. Pointlessly long corridors can be zoomed right through and even seemingly random slopes can be used to chain sparkshines.

My first playthrough was 5:55:40 with 76%. First run feels weaker than in Super Metroid but second playthrough is more enjoyable due to Quality of life changes like showing area item completion percentage and map showing the presence of items.

On second playthrough i tried to "speedrun" it and got 1:41:03 with 70%. I arrived at the last area when it was already 1:30 and didn't want to spend too much time risking going over 2 hour mark, so i got less items.

Third playthrough was my 100% attempt. It took me 5:38:55. Because the game shows most items on the map, the remainder are hidden in secret rooms behind fake walls and these are the most tricky ones, including notorious puzzle rooms.

Since Fusion, shinespark puzzles became my favourite part of the series because they push the movement system to the fullest. I liked shinespark puzzles in ZM too, but overall they weren't as ingenious as the ones from Fusion. The hardest puzzle rooms in Zero Mission are the ones about Power Grip and precise twitch jumping. Adding shinespark in ball form is pretty fun but doesn't really change much.

To date i only 100%-ed Samus Returns and Zero Mission and this time i knew that final boss will be way harder than usual because of this. Back when i played Samus Returns i was really frustrated how tanky the final boss turned out to be, not realizing it was because i fully completed the game.

So far, Super is still easily the best Metroid game while Zero Mission would be #2. Onto AM2R and Metroid Prime!

47

TalkBack / Re: Dragalia Lost To Shut Down After Its Story Concludes in July

« on: March 24, 2022, 03:36:34 AM »

Not according to this chart:



but feel free to make your own chart in which it is Nintendo's highest money-making game ever. 

So this indicades that

War Waifus >> Road Rage >> Dog Waifus >> Generic Waifus >> Healthcare

48

TalkBack / Re: Dragalia Lost To Shut Down After Its Story Concludes in July

« on: March 23, 2022, 09:14:41 AM »

4 years to tell a story?! Clearly, this is the War and Peace of the video game world.

GRRM: hold my beer.

49

Nintendo Gaming / My Nintendo memories for 3DS and Wii U

« on: February 16, 2022, 05:02:20 AM »

For a limited time Nintendo launched a site to look on your gaming stats on 3DS and WiiU:

https://my-nintendo-3ds-wiiu-memories.nintendo.com/en-US/index.html#top

My stats

3DS:
Total Play Time -- 693hrs
Total Titles Played -- 128

Most Played:
Kid Icarus: Uprising -- 96hrs
StreetPass Mii Plaza -- 53hrs
Luigi's Mansion 2 -- 31hrs

Wii U:

Total Play Time -- 4822hrs

Total Titles Played -- 80

Most Played:
YouTube (lol) -- 3301hrs
The Wonderful 101 -- 261hrs
BAYONETTA -- 197hrs

That's actually very low time spent on these systems, Youtube excluding. Still great times were had.

50

General Gaming / Re: La Mulana 2 announced

« on: January 24, 2022, 02:31:59 AM »

DLC for La-Mulana 2 -- Tower of Oannes is out!

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/835430/view/3142950850540601010

Launched it yesterday and spent several hours roaming around re-remembering how game works.

Couldn't even find the dang level! Welp.