Messages

51

Podcast Discussion / Re: RFN RetroActive #27: Mega Man 3 - Official Discussion Thread

« on: April 28, 2013, 01:49:55 AM »

Outside the bosses, I'm not really enjoying the game.  The game isn't bad, per se, but being Megaman just isn't a very engaging experience and I feel like I'm on autopilot, most of the time.  I'll try and finish the game up this weekend and give a final impression.

I agree, but for different reasons I think. Usually I just get stuck at one point and have to restart until I get past it. Rinse and repeat. It's just annoying having to redo the same thing over and over because of a difficult jump or an annoying enemy.

I considered using the save state on the 3DS Virtual Console, but I haven't done it yet. For now I'm just using it to save at the selection screen to avoid remembering passwords.

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Podcast Discussion / Re: RFN RetroActive #27: Mega Man 3 - Official Discussion Thread

« on: April 26, 2013, 07:37:24 PM »

One of the worst things about the Mega Man series is how you need to go through the stages in a particular order for it to be doable.

You can do the levels in a certain sequence which might make it easier, true, but you can totally approach them any way you want. It's very much doable. I've played through Mega Man 9 (my favourite in the series) numerous times and have very much enjoyed approaching the levels in various different sequences. In fact, that's part of the appeal of the series.

Mega Man 9 seemed easier than the others when I played it. I'm not sure if I got lucky and played the easy stage first but I did the flying saucer guy first and I don't think it took me more than two or three tries to beat it. Meanwhile I struggle to reach the halfway point of Top Man's stage here without dying once.

Some stages are easier but have annoying bosses so you end up having to start over until you figure out their patterns perfectly... or just beat the stages the "proper" way.

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Podcast Discussion / Re: RFN RetroActive #27: Mega Man 3 - Official Discussion Thread

« on: April 26, 2013, 12:20:38 PM »

One of the worst things about the Mega Man series is how you need to go through the stages in a particular order for it to be doable.

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Podcast Discussion / Re: RFN RetroActive #27: Mega Man 3 - Official Discussion Thread

« on: April 25, 2013, 08:27:07 AM »

3DS seems like it would be the logical choice for most people, since it's a current generation platform and it's more convenient for busy people.

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TalkBack / Re: Weighing My DS Backlog Options

« on: April 23, 2013, 08:45:22 PM »

999.

The text doesn't scroll that slowly. I'm pretty sure it scrolled about as fast, or faster than I could read, when I first played it. Going through it again CAN be a bit annoying, but you can skip the text you already read, and you can use a guide to get all the endings (or at least all the relevant ones) to save time.

While Razorkid is right in that you can say you beat the game even if you don't go for different endings, the experience is infinitely better if you complete it fully. There's nothing more satisfying than unraveling that puzzle. You can also save your progress at any point, so it's easy to pick up and pl-- read.

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Podcast Discussion / Re: RFN RetroActive #27 Poll: Epic Mega Man Showdown

« on: April 12, 2013, 05:37:16 PM »

I went with MM3 because it gets less exposure as well.

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Podcast Discussion / Re: RFN RetroActive #26: Ys Book I&II (Official Discussion)

« on: March 31, 2013, 08:25:56 PM »

I can hold down the button to charge up a bigger fireball but I didn't get an upgrade for it or anything. The only thing that "upgrades" this magic is the hawk idol.

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Podcast Discussion / Re: RFN RetroActive #26: Ys Book I&II (Official Discussion)

« on: March 25, 2013, 01:39:27 AM »

The Shrine is so confusing for no apparent reason. Really obnoxious running around trying to figure out how to get to the West or East of the entrance.

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Podcast Discussion / Re: RFN RetroActive #26: Ys Book I&II (Official Discussion)

« on: March 20, 2013, 07:00:28 AM »

I'd forgotten how each magic wand functions very differently -- it's not just a slight attack variation. In case anyone is wondering the purpose of the Light Magic, note that it slowly drains your MP while equipped (no need to press X). Another clue: it alleviates a complaint you probably had about the caves in both Books I&II up to that point.

I don't understand why they didn't make light and alter toggle with a press of the button, it just forces people to switch as soon as they stop using it instead of when they actually need another magic.

I also feel like the fire magic is useless except when you are forced to use it like for bosses. I never use it on normal enemies.

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Podcast Discussion / Re: RFN RetroActive #26: Ys Book I&II (Official Discussion)

« on: March 18, 2013, 02:24:28 PM »

Book II's world is weird. At least the first game's made some sense. This one just throws it out of the window, so if you thought the scenario was crazy before you will be blown away at how little they cared.


There's a village connected to a field connected to ruins and a mine, that's like the first game, pretty normal. Then that mine is connected to a snow land so somehow the climate shifted from temperate to polar in a few meters. Even WORSE, right past that snow land is a fire cave. There is almost no transition between them. Then after that is another grassy village.


The plot is dumb too but I get lost just trying to summarize it.


How do people have cats in the Moat of Burnedbless?


The bosses in this game are a lot more fun though, I don't feel the same kind of power curve as in the first game and it almost always takes me a half dozen of attempts to beat a boss, so it's neither too easy nor too hard. Regular enemies are the same, in Book I I would level up and suddenly kill every enemy on the field in one hit. They are more durable here.


Passive healing is really slow though so that sucks.

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Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 330: Amnesiacs Anonymous

« on: March 18, 2013, 02:04:48 PM »

XSEED should cite you on the game's Steam page.

"It's kind of like Psycho" -Guillaume Veillette
"Kangaroos are really awesome so you should play this game" -James Jones


It's too bad Alex kinda rushed through it in Easy mode though (understandable considering he was filling in) since there wasn't much talk about version differences.

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Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 330: Amnesiacs Anonymous

« on: March 18, 2013, 06:24:04 AM »

It's better that way, sounds foreign and mysterious.


After listening to the discussion about Castlevania I find it weird that frame rate problems always seem to be addressed as an afterthought. For me these are deal breakers. This happened with Bit.Trip Saga and Code of Princess too.

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Podcast Discussion / Re: RFN RetroActive #26: Ys Book I&II (Official Discussion)

« on: March 16, 2013, 01:44:25 PM »

The item in the ice ridge of Noltia makes me feel a tiny bit bad about killing demons.

The use for the Misty Ice Drops?
 
I never would have tried that had I not referred to a guide. Some times games expect me to make these leaps of logic that I'm just not capable of making.
 


It can freeze air into ice? Surely it's the water in the air that's frozen into ice? And if it can freeze the water in the air into ice, thus creating a solid platform to walk on, then why can't it freeze the trickling waterfall into ice so that I can just walk up it? Also, if it can freeze air into Ice, then how come it only works in that once specific spot? Why can't I make platforms between all other gaps also? How was I to know that I had to use it in that specific spot?

 
See what I mean? My mind just doesn't seem to speak 'game developer'.

It seemed very obvious to me. I reached the cave where the ice needs to be used, saw a weird mist but couldn't do anything about it. Then I left, got the item, read the description, and it was the only place where it seemed like something might happen. I didn't actually expect it to create a bridge but I figured I would have to use that item somewhere, and it worked. Maybe the visual indicator in the PC version is clearer.

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Podcast Discussion / Re: RFN RetroActive #26: Ys Book I&II (Official Discussion)

« on: March 16, 2013, 10:34:32 AM »

What do you mean you don't understand the point of it? If you think you might be underlevelled going into the last couple of floors then you can easily grind some levels. The great part about that particular room is that those enemies respawn so easily. If you move even slightly to the right and then back to the left all three guys will reappear and they'll even line up for you to rush through them all in one go.

I posted that before I realised that the Turbo version had a different leveling system since on the PC version I reached the level cap before the end of the mine. Because of that the enemies you are talking about were really hard to beat since I couldn't get any stronger, and there wasn't much of a point in beating them except to get more information on them for the bestiary.

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Podcast Discussion / Re: RFN RetroActive #26: Ys Book I&II (Official Discussion)

« on: March 16, 2013, 12:56:17 AM »

I assume enemies give less XP in general since for me it cost thousands to get levels towards the cap. But apparently the cap on the Turbo is really high (if there even is one) so if you really want to you could grind to the point of one-shotting bosses.

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Podcast Discussion / Re: RFN RetroActive #26: Ys Book I&II (Official Discussion)

« on: March 15, 2013, 08:37:36 PM »

OK, if that's the Turbografx-CD version I don't really know about it, I didn't realise it was so different from Ys Eternal/Complete/Chronicles. But you most likely need to level up more. When I played, some enemies would utterly destroy me until I gained one or two levels, and then I would own them.

Funny thing I found (and a spoiler unless you've reached the mine), in that version (which I presume most of you are playing), Sara (the fortuneteller) is "kidnapped", but in the other versions she is murdered.

Also (spoiler if you haven't finished book I) Dark Fact seems incredibly easier to beat on the Turbografx. For me one hit would take out a sliver of health and I often got trapped because of how many tiles disappeared.

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Podcast Discussion / Re: RFN RetroActive #26: Ys Book I&II (Official Discussion)

« on: March 15, 2013, 06:03:44 PM »

And I don't get your issue with the F8 boss if you haven't beaten it yet, are you under level 10 or missing some silver equipment? It took me maybe 3 tries when I did it and it was 100% my fault for standing right in the blades.

I don't recall exactly what level that I'm at.  I have 103 hit points if that helps.
I have the Silver Sword and Shield (but not the armor.  I had it at one point, but wasn't able to recover it yet after losing it the first time I hit L6).
Seems that I have to hit it 35-50 times to kill it (my estimation of 5% per hit was quite high) and I die in 3 hits.  So if I'm doing something wrong, I don't see it.

Are you playing the DS version? Normally HP rises in increments of 20, so a max HP of 103 would be impossible. And I was level 10 (max level) even before I beat the vampire boss so I had 255 HP. If regular enemies are tough to beat maybe you are underleveled. I found it really easy to level up even though it required a small amount of grinding.

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Podcast Discussion / Re: RFN RetroActive #26: Ys Book I&II (Official Discussion)

« on: March 15, 2013, 05:32:14 PM »

Seems silly that these items are said to "double your strength" or "reduce all damage" then.

I just finished the game and for me the most annoying parts were the final boss and the forced backtracking 10 floors back. Still was enjoyable overall, took me 8 hours.

And I don't get your issue with the F8 boss if you haven't beaten it yet, are you under level 10 or missing some silver equipment? It took me maybe 3 tries when I did it and it was 100% my fault for standing right in the blades.

• Given that the game's primary goal is to explore floors and levels of dungeons, the omission of any on screen indicator for which floor you're on is kind of weird. I found myself saving alot simply to see which floor I was on.

In the Steam version I could press the L button (on a Gamepad) to toggle an overlay that included my stats, enemy stats known to the bestiary, and the current area (including floor if in a dungeon).

• Grinding the hell out of the guys who break through the wall Kool-Aid man style on floor 20 of Darm Tower was really useful.

I don't understand the point of that, unless it is the DS version since it has 24 levels instead of 10 (or maybe my version's the weird one).

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Podcast Discussion / Re: RFN RetroActive #26: Ys Book I&II (Official Discussion)

« on: March 15, 2013, 01:47:12 PM »

Does the Power Ring change how much damage you deal vs the vampire? I tried it and it didn't seem to make a difference. I still beat it in the end but the difficulty curve there is kind of obnoxious. Gets better in the tower I guess.

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Podcast Discussion / Re: RFN RetroActive #26: Ys Book I&II (Official Discussion)

« on: March 13, 2013, 08:41:38 PM »

Is it normal that when I walk up to a Roda tree (without seed) it fades out, plays music for a split second and fades back in with nothing happening? That's on the Steam version. It seems like there are some weird bugs.

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Podcast Discussion / Re: RFN RetroActive #26: Ys Book I&II (Official Discussion)

« on: March 13, 2013, 08:40:54 AM »

If I can I want to get a version of this and finish the first part by next week before listening to the podcast.


Apparently the DS version isn't very good, so is the PSP version on PSN available for purchase on the Vita, and how does it compare to the Steam version, gameplay-wise, graphics-wise and price-wise?

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TalkBack / Re: Bit.Trip Saga Grooving Its Way to eShop

« on: December 07, 2012, 08:07:05 PM »

I bought this when it was released. All the games have slowdowns as far as I'm aware, and the worst offender is Runner, where the slowdown is present throughout the entire game, 3D or not (turning off 3D improves it but it is still very noticeable). In other games it happens sometimes when there are a lot of particles on the screen, 3D or not, but with 3D on it is more frequent. It boggles my mind that they released this collection without optimizing it. It doesn't seem that hard to me to make a game that looks like this run properly, and my respect for Gaijin Games has fallen a great deal since I purchased the game. Saga disappointed me too much. It feels like a major waste of potential and a cash-in. I'm sorry for being so negative, because they are good games, but a developer that releases a game for a specific platform and cannot make it run properly is one of my biggest turn-offs in gaming, and it is becoming far too prevalent between this, Virtue's Last Reward (which I could forgive because it wasn't an action game) and Code of Princess (which I find nearly unplayable).

Definitely worth $15 if you are into that type of game.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Code of Princess Framerate Issues -- WTH!

« on: December 02, 2012, 01:23:02 PM »

I have framerate issues in this game and it's enough to make me stop playing it. I enjoyed the little that I played of it but the game is more frustrating than it is fun because it really feels like the slowdowns are ruining my combos and causing me to take damage before I can react. The lag almost disappears when there are only 2-3 people on the screen, but how often does that actually happen?

I have similar issues in BIT.TRIP SAGA and Virtue's Last Reward. It's funny how it's always the games that look the worst that have those problems. You'd think that a game in a 2D perspective would work properly, but they managed to **** it up so badly that it runs worse than good-looking 3D games. I wish I could get refunds for these games, because some people might be able to look past this, but it renders the experience too frustrating to be worth playing for me, at least for this and BIT.TRIP. Virtue's Last Reward is just slightly annoying because it mostly happens during scenes where different images flash on the screen in the story sections.

What's weird is that when I had problems with BIT.TRIP I asked J Holmes of Destructoid about it and he said he didn't notice anything. So I've been wondering if it is due to my 3DS or the game itself.

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TalkBack / Re: Thrii Has No SD Card Slot

« on: December 02, 2012, 12:44:51 PM »

Yeah, without Internet functionality it was already iffy, but with no way to transfer data there's no way a hundred bucks is a good price for this, as attractive as the premise is.

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TalkBack / Re: Cave Story Review

« on: October 01, 2012, 03:21:38 PM »

And how much does it cost? I got the DSiWare version and I'm not feeling too good about how Nicalis is milking this game.