Author Topic: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?  (Read 509303 times)

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Offline Soren

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #600 on: December 05, 2016, 10:54:48 AM »
Fire Emblem Fates: Revelations (3DS)

I finally did it. Officially 38 hours on Birthright, 34 on Conquest and 33 on Revelations. 105 hours for someone who doesn't have the time as he used to have is crazy. My complete playthrough off all games went from March until yesterday.

Revelations felt more like a victory lap than anything else for me. I had plenty of chances to level up the numerous characters I kept getting with every chapter. Even then I couldn't keep up. I tried marrying everyone, making sure to mix up the royal houses liberally. I rolled up to the last chapters with a pretty good, slightly over-leveled powerhouse team. It meant that the final battle wasn't overly difficult, but it still provided a fair challenge. I don't want to comment to much about the story because it never really strayed the normal tropes of the series. Some story beats seemingly came out of nowhere (Gunter's revenge story, for instance) and therefore felt clumsy and not properly fleshed out.

I loved Fire Emblem Fates. I love all Fire Emblem games. It's a formula that is fairly entrenched in me. I've said before that I have an irrational love with the series and therefore my opinions on the series have to be taken with a huge grain of salt. I don't expect everyone to play all three games, but having a full year with my favorite series was a real highlight.
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Offline NWR_insanolord

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #601 on: December 06, 2016, 12:01:37 PM »
There's still a lot of stuff left, but I hit the credits of Picross 3D: Round 2. This game is my 2016 game of the year. I never would have guessed this, but 3D picross may be the perfect video game puzzle, and is amazingly addictive. The tweaks for this version from the original add good depth and make the things you're chiseling away actually look somewhat like they're supposed to look. My only real complaint is that the controls are fairly clunky, and I was still tripping over them until the end. I'm not sure there was a great way to fix that, but it's still kind of annoying.
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Offline ejamer

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #602 on: January 06, 2017, 09:03:48 AM »
The holiday season hasn't been particularly good. Not horrible, but busy in a way that simply hasn't been enjoyable or fulfilling.  But I did manage to play video games for 3 or 4 hours, which was enough to see the credits of And Yet It Moves (WiiWare).


So this was one of those indie titles that generated some buzz many years ago and has since been almost totally forgotten. It's also a game where the WiiWare version is likely the definitive version.


The goal is simple: get your little man to the end of the level. What makes the game interesting are the controls. Using your Wii remote as an NES-style controller, you can run and jump like in many platform games - but the novelty is being able to push the 1 button, pause all movement, and rotate the controller until you have a new screen orientation that suits you better. Ceilings become floors and vice versa, but in the WiiWare version you can also stop rotation at any point you desire (unlike the strict 90-degree rotations of the original release). All momentum you might have had prior to spinning the world is carried over, which can be dangerous or benefiical depending on what you are trying to do.


Did I like the game?  Yes, or else I would write so much about it. The design is interesting and it was enjoyable to play through to the end credits. The main game is quite short, and the difficulty low enough that you will always make steady progress towards that goal, but the game doesn't end there. A list of achievements encourages you to try new things, extra levels get unlocked for you to explore, while time trials urge you to revisit levels looking for short-cuts and efficiencies (if that's your thing). There are other modes also, although I haven't explored them yet.


Nothing here is going to blow you away, but it's a pleasant experience and offers plenty of content. Anyone interested in physics-based platformers would do well to check this game out - either on WiiWare or via other platforms.
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Offline Soren

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #603 on: January 06, 2017, 11:23:11 AM »
I finally finished Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE.  After Chapter 3 I had to bump down the difficulty to Easy, and after another particularly tough boss fight the game almost wanted me to go full on casual. But I held steadfast, and even with DLC grinding I still had a tough final boss that lasted just over an hour. I finished all the side missions and feel satisfied by the conclusion. It's honestly a great game and a nice time capsule of a time and place for me. I know there will probably never be another game like this so I'm extra glad I got to play through it, even if it was a bit aggravating at times.
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Offline Order.RSS

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #604 on: January 06, 2017, 06:30:37 PM »
I finally finished Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE.  After Chapter 3 I had to bump down the difficulty to Easy, and after another particularly tough boss fight the game almost wanted me to go full on casual.

Nice, congrats! Any chance you remember how many hours you ended up with? I'm currently just past chapter 3 and have already lost so many battles/bosses the game unlocked "Friendly" mode for me and suggested to continue on that haha. I have zero shame about it though and I'm having more fun now; really like how the game constantly tells you stuff up front like what level you should be, whether something is a request or longer sidestory etc. Feels like it has more respect for the player's time than many RPGs do.

Offline Evan_B

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #605 on: January 08, 2017, 12:26:48 AM »
As a masochist (A.K.A. someone who likes his JRPG difficulty right around "SMT Hard Mode"), I'm surprised to see people having so much trouble with Tokyo Mirage Sessions. I will admit that the chapter 3 boss is pretty difficult and requires some heavy planning in order to pull off in Hard mode, but after that, the game opens up a great deal in terms of Session and strategy design.

Either way, I'm glad to hear people got through to the end of it, no matter the difficulty. It's just such an amazingly joyous game to behold and it's unlikely we'll ever get another like it.

I finished off The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD today in preparation for Breath of the Wild, and being the first time I've ever fought the final boss (I've played up until the final dungeon on GCN), I was a bit underwhelmed. I went in prepped with three fairy bottles and I found the next-to-last boss (Puppet Ganon) more difficult, if only because the method of damaging him wasn't as clear. While the Twilight Princess Ganondorf battle isn't really difficult itself, it at least has a very powerful soundtrack and lots of variety in how you are meant to approach him- in Wind Waker, it's pretty obvious by the end of the game that the combat system is pretty weak, turning even Darknut battles into a bit of a joke, but I just hacked away at Ganondorf unless Zelda told me otherwise and, hey, I won.

Wind Waker does a lot of daring things in terms of aesthetics, travel, and setting, but it's everywhere else that the game lacks substance. Many sidequests are tedious even when factoring in the improved travel, and the dungeon design is very uninspired, with only the first two (and Forsaken Fortress) offering much of interest. Despite this, the game leans heavily on its charm and that's the big selling point, although I'd argue that sailing is more fun and rewarding in the eventual sequel, Phantom Hourglass.
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Offline Soren

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #606 on: January 08, 2017, 10:31:45 AM »
I ended up with about 45 hours total. The first 3 chapters on Normal and the remaining on Easy. Completed all the side-quests and did additional grinding in the DLC dungeons. I do agree that the game respects your time, although there were two times where I forgot to save and lost a considerable amount of progress. So I guess I'm closer to 50 hours if you count the progress lost. I guess I'm just too used to autosave at this point in my life. I also don't think I can put more than 50 hours in a single-player story game.
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Offline Order.RSS

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #607 on: January 08, 2017, 02:29:05 PM »
As a masochist (A.K.A. someone who likes his JRPG difficulty right around "SMT Hard Mode"), I'm surprised to see people having so much trouble with Tokyo Mirage Sessions. I will admit that the chapter 3 boss is pretty difficult and requires some heavy planning in order to pull off in Hard mode, but after that, the game opens up a great deal in terms of Session and strategy design.Either way, I'm glad to hear people got through to the end of it, no matter the difficulty. It's just such an amazingly joyous game to behold and it's unlikely we'll ever get another like it.


Can't speak for everyone here of course, but perhaps Tokyo Mirage found an audience slightly outside of the usual SMT games? I've certainly never played any of those, but Tokyo Mirage looked so bizarre and "nobody will make something like this ever again" that I wanted to give it a shot.
I'm pretty bad at games in general though, so no surprise to see that occur in quite a complex RPG too.


I ended up with about 45 hours total. The first 3 chapters on Normal and the remaining on Easy. Completed all the side-quests and did additional grinding in the DLC dungeons. I do agree that the game respects your time, although there were two times where I forgot to save and lost a considerable amount of progress. So I guess I'm closer to 50 hours if you count the progress lost. I guess I'm just too used to autosave at this point in my life. I also don't think I can put more than 50 hours in a single-player story game.


Oh nice, that's reassuring! I'm at like 25~ hours I think and while it is a fun experience I wouldn't want to do it for another 75. So knowing I'm roughly halfway there is nice to know, thanks! :) Totally agree that spending upwards of 50 hours on a single game is pretty ludicrous. I know people like long games like Skyrim, Fallout etc. but that's not something I can understand entirely. Much prefer my games to be 10 hours max, I mean that's an entire season of a Netflix show.

Offline BranDonk Kong

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #608 on: January 10, 2017, 02:58:20 PM »
Super Metroid (SNES)
Awesome game. Had never really given it a serious go until a couple of weeks ago. Took 10 hours exactly (according to game timer) to finish with 80% completion - missing 2 reserve tanks and a bunch of middle upgrades. Ending is very cool but pretty predictable. For being nearly 24 years old, this game really holds up today. Makes me want to go back and finish Metroid Fusion and Metroid 2.
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Offline Order.RSS

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #609 on: January 17, 2017, 01:42:41 PM »
Finished up Blek (on Wii U).



So this is a touch-controlled puzzlegame about handwriting that moved over to Wii U from iOS it looks like.
What you do is draw a black line (as seen above) that needs to touch all the coloured dots, but none of the black ones.

Where it gets tough is, you can't just draw one long line that touches all the dots and be done with it. Instead, as soon as the line touches the first dot or you let go of the stylus, the line you've drawn will repeat itself. Ultimately you can make some very complex movements that repeat each other several times. Pretty charming because it makes you feel like you have a very elegant handwriting, and seeing it replicated exactly has something appealing to it.
Presentation in general is great, smoothly fading in visuals with appropriate sound effects and charming voice samples whenever you mess up. You should really see this in motion, it's quite soothing.

At 60 levels this has a lot of content, but I have quite a few nitpicks. The difficulty really skyrockets around level 40 into incredibly precise and complex stuff. There's no level-skip or hint system, and since there's no easy way to go to a previous level you liked (you can only go back one level at a time, there's no level select), you can really easily hit a brick wall.

It also outright doesn't explain much; there's a way to draw two exact circles that turn into warp portals, but it's never explained. Found that out by looking at a youtube walkthrough for when I messed up a level for the 20th time. That and the difficulty ramp combined made the last 10 levels into a real chore for me, spent a lot of time trying to replicate youtube walkthroughs but not quite managing.

Overall, Blek is a neat lil' game going for 5 or 6 bucks I think. Is it more suitable for phones or perhaps 3DS? Possibly yeah, but the Wii U version is competently put together and plays well for the most part. The lack of a level select or a way to skip too hard levels really hurts it however. Maybe I'm just too dumb for these puzzles, but it really undermined the amount of fun I was having. Rating: 6.5/10




Offline Evan_B

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #610 on: January 17, 2017, 10:33:13 PM »
BOX BOX BOY! (Nintendo 3DS)

With the recent announcement of BOX BOX BOX BOX BOX BOX BYE, I decided to finish off the bonus puzzles from the first BOX BOY! and move on to the sequel. I actually almost wish I had held off on those bonus puzzles from the first game, seeing as the last world pretty much introduces the mechanic of the sequel.

Anyway, what else is there to say about this monochromatic puzzler? Not much, honestly. It's pretty straightforward, and the difficulty of the puzzles really doesn't ramp up until you get to the post-game. I found this especially true in the first title, although I pretty much just powered through the sequel without many problems. I found most of the crowns to be quite easy to get in BOX BOX BOY!, mostly because of the absurdly high box limits they place on the majority of levels. There's tons of ways to be economic with you box placement, so I rarely had any trouble.

I know many people are a fan of the simplistic presentation and how it has dictated the puzzle design, but I find both titles pretty bland and I could really only play them in short bursts. Likewise, my main issue with the games are how they treat free-floating blocks and positioning- if you want it to be primarily block- and/or grid-based, why are there a number of puzzles that I felt I "cheated" because I put a block at an awkward halfway point? It kind of directly conflicts with the snapping mechanic that happens when Qbby hooks a ledge or creates two blocks vertically next to him. I don't know if others exploited this system, but I was confused as to whether it is supposed to be exploited.

The redeeming part of BOX BOX BOY! was actually the new shop item available for purchase- the comics! They're absolutely adorable and give a lot of charm to the characters, and while it is pretty much a straightforward puzzle game, I wish you saw more of the humor fond in those illustrations within the actual game. I could see a Ms. Pac Man-ish sort of intermission in between worlds to accentuate this. Anyway, both BOX BOY games are cute and never test your patience too much especially thanks to their really redeemable checkpoint system, but neither is a game that I think I'll return to in the future, and that's colored my opinion of them a great deal. While a lot of eShop games are designed to be played through once, there's a number that are much more satisfying because I can see myself going back to them, and BOX BOY just doesn't cut it. I'm not sure if this will color my opinions on whether or not I purchase the final game in the BOXY BOY trilogy.

7/10
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Offline Soren

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #611 on: January 19, 2017, 07:10:48 PM »
SteamWorld Heist (Wii U)

Holy cow this game is really really good. I think I've discovered a personal pattern in which if I have a great, fun final boss fight, I can almost forgive any criticism of the game. This game definitely fits that bill. The early rounds are a bit of a struggle as you try and power through with low level characters and inferior weapons. But as you get your bearings the missions become more and more fun, and there's a certain level of strategy required for the boss battles. The final one was something special because once the process of beating it clicked, I was able to cooly create and execute a plan almost to perfection. It definitely left a good impression.

Now I'm going back and wrecking shop through the earlier levels to get all rep stars and complete all the challenge missions. This game is thoroughly enjoyable and I look forward to the next Switch game.
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Offline ejamer

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #612 on: January 30, 2017, 08:24:57 AM »
Drill Dozer (GBA) - This game has a certain amount of quiet hype behind it. Developed by Game Freak, this game released pretty late in the GBA lifespan - well after the DS was available. Drill Dozer reviewed pretty well but didn't seem to sell many units, and is now often listed as a hidden gem for GBA.


So what did I think about the game? Well.... it definitely looks good. Graphics have a lot of charm and it feels like they really knew how to get good mileage out of the GBA hardware. Controls are tight and feel good, which is crucial because each level is quite long and would start to drag if the movement and pacing didn't feel good. Enemies and boss fights are creative enough and have some interesting patterns, although could have used a little more difficulty (or at least less hand-holding).


Despite many positives, I'm not sure that I enjoyed the game. It never really drew me in, either due to story or gameplay, and I could have easily set it down and just quit without feeling any regret. So despite being a technically solid release, it's hard to recommend.
 :-\
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Offline rygar

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #613 on: January 30, 2017, 11:31:29 AM »
Drill Dozer (GBA) - This game has a certain amount of quiet hype behind it...Despite many positives, I'm not sure that I enjoyed the game. It never really drew me in, either due to story or gameplay, and I could have easily set it down and just quit without feeling any regret. So despite being a technically solid release, it's hard to recommend.
 :-\

Interesting, I agree on the hype part, I feel like I've heard the game referenced quite a bit on the NWR podcasts, but I didn't know it.

Offline ejamer

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #614 on: January 30, 2017, 01:11:11 PM »
Drill Dozer (GBA) - This game has a certain amount of quiet hype behind it...Despite many positives, I'm not sure that I enjoyed the game. It never really drew me in, either due to story or gameplay, and I could have easily set it down and just quit without feeling any regret. So despite being a technically solid release, it's hard to recommend.
 :-\

Interesting, I agree on the hype part, I feel like I've heard the game referenced quite a bit on the NWR podcasts, but I didn't know it.


I feel like that verdict is too harsh because the game doesn't really do anything wrong. It's a solid game that seems to accomplish what it wants to do. But it just never felt compelling. There are a bunch of secret areas that opened up to explore now, but that's just not going to happen due to lack of interest.
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Offline Order.RSS

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #615 on: January 30, 2017, 03:56:07 PM »
Wrapped up Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE too, with the true ending too, I think?.
Don't really feel like writing much since a lot has been said about this already, but yeah it totally won me over. I think the game does suffer a bit from an unappealing first dungeon, and I ditched the first two partymembers ASAP because they were a bit annoying initially.

That said however, this is a superb RPG really. Fantastic battle system that can get very complicated on higher difficulty settings (I lost so many times in a row to one boss the game unlocked the 'Friendly' mode for me haha). Vibrant setting, pretty catchy tunes, and it doesn't waste your time too much. Before every bossfight it gives you a recommended level to be at, you can fast-travel around right from the start, the Gamepad neatly keeps track of all your important main and sidequests, maps etc...

All that convenience stuff goes a long way for me, finished it after 48.5 hours with all major sidequests done. Playing it early on I thought this would be a typical 7 out of 10 good, not great game. But past the halfway point they suddenly give it another shot in the arm, and once you can reliably dole out 6-move sessions the battles become a lot more manageable. Really really loved it, straight to my Wii U top 3; I never replay RPGs, ever, and yet...Maybe... Rating 9/10!

Offline Evan_B

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #616 on: January 30, 2017, 04:32:13 PM »
Glad you stuck with it, Steef!

I'm always on the fence with Game Freak's non-Pokemon stuff. I will admit I was quite enamored with the demo for Pocket Card Jockey, but I still haven't gotten around to picking up the full title. While I enjoyed HarmoKnight, I wasn't all that pleased with its inclusion of levels that change tempo in the middle of the game and I think the ranking system is way too punishing for the boss fights.
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Offline Khushrenada

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #617 on: January 30, 2017, 06:26:50 PM »
Drill Dozer (GBA) - This game has a certain amount of quiet hype behind it...Despite many positives, I'm not sure that I enjoyed the game. It never really drew me in, either due to story or gameplay, and I could have easily set it down and just quit without feeling any regret. So despite being a technically solid release, it's hard to recommend.
 :-\

Interesting, I agree on the hype part, I feel like I've heard the game referenced quite a bit on the NWR podcasts, but I didn't know it.


I feel like that verdict is too harsh because the game doesn't really do anything wrong. It's a solid game that seems to accomplish what it wants to do. But it just never felt compelling. There are a bunch of secret areas that opened up to explore now, but that's just not going to happen due to lack of interest.

I agree with you. I remember when Drill Dozer came out as sort of a swan song for the GBA. It got a lot of high praise at that time so I was quite excited to pick up a copy and play it. Unfortunately, maybe it was too hyped up or was expecting something a bit different but it never really clicked with me. It wasn't frustrating or broken nor was there anything technically wrong with it per say. It wasn't that compelling either. I guess it was good enough that I finished it all as well but I have a hard time remembering anything about the game. I think it had a low difficulty which could be one reason for it not being memorable. Although it tried to put forth an interesting cast of characters and create a new IP, I remember nothing about them aside from Jill being a thief and maybe battling the police a few times in boss battles. I kept waiting for the game to give me a reason to love it but it just never seemed to come. I always forget I've even played it or owned it unless it gets mentioned by someone or is referenced in an article.
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Offline Khushrenada

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #618 on: January 30, 2017, 06:36:13 PM »
Anyway, what else is there to say about this monochromatic puzzler? Not much, honestly. It's pretty straightforward, and the difficulty of the puzzles really doesn't ramp up until you get to the post-game. I found this especially true in the first title, although I pretty much just powered through the sequel without many problems. I found most of the crowns to be quite easy to get in BOX BOX BOY!, mostly because of the absurdly high box limits they place on the majority of levels. There's tons of ways to be economic with you box placement, so I rarely had any trouble.

I know many people are a fan of the simplistic presentation and how it has dictated the puzzle design, but I find both titles pretty bland and I could really only play them in short bursts. Likewise, my main issue with the games are how they treat free-floating blocks and positioning- if you want it to be primarily block- and/or grid-based, why are there a number of puzzles that I felt I "cheated" because I put a block at an awkward halfway point? It kind of directly conflicts with the snapping mechanic that happens when Qbby hooks a ledge or creates two blocks vertically next to him. I don't know if others exploited this system, but I was confused as to whether it is supposed to be exploited.

Also agree with a lot of this. After hearing so much about BOXBOY both when it came out and then with its sequel, I finally got around to purchasing the first game. While I appreciate the minimalist look in providing something different from other games, that minimalism seems to work against the game after awhile and I'd tire of the game after awhile. Short bursts is all I could do as well. It has some tricky sections but much of the game is pretty simple and the end result is I haven't felt that interested in picking up the sequel after playing the first game. Now there's a 3rd game and potential game cartridge copy of all 3 games coming but I'm just not sure if I'd even want to play more of it. It's a real push and pull of a sudden hard puzzle to solve into easy progress for awhile and back again all while having a mostly unstimulating interface. Yet, he dances at the end of a level. He dances.
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Offline Evan_B

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #619 on: January 30, 2017, 09:13:46 PM »
Oh, how he dances.

I'm having a crisis of faith because I want a Qbby Amiibo so bad, but I don't think I necessarily care enough for the series to get a third BOX BOX BOX BOY BOY BOY title. I mean, I guess Qbby is more popular than, say, Mallo from the Pushmo series, even though I hold that series in much higher regard.

Now I want a Mallo Amiibo.
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Offline Khushrenada

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #620 on: January 30, 2017, 10:15:59 PM »
That's strange. If I had to choose over which character I like more, I'd choose Qbby over Mallo also even though I like the 'Mo series more than BoxBoy. I wonder why that is. The only things I can think of are that Qbby has a bigger stakes story compared to Mallo and that Qbby just has a bit of a better design which can be changed up with costumes for different looks while Mallo... has a weird squiggly face that you can't really place as anything. His look and face are harder to identify keeping one at a distance from embracing him where as a dancing box with eyes is easier to warm up to. That's the best I can come up with.
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Offline Luigi Dude

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #621 on: January 30, 2017, 11:24:43 PM »
Drill Dozer (GBA) - This game has a certain amount of quiet hype behind it...Despite many positives, I'm not sure that I enjoyed the game. It never really drew me in, either due to story or gameplay, and I could have easily set it down and just quit without feeling any regret. So despite being a technically solid release, it's hard to recommend.
 :-\

Interesting, I agree on the hype part, I feel like I've heard the game referenced quite a bit on the NWR podcasts, but I didn't know it.


I feel like that verdict is too harsh because the game doesn't really do anything wrong. It's a solid game that seems to accomplish what it wants to do. But it just never felt compelling. There are a bunch of secret areas that opened up to explore now, but that's just not going to happen due to lack of interest.

I agree with you. I remember when Drill Dozer came out as sort of a swan song for the GBA. It got a lot of high praise at that time so I was quite excited to pick up a copy and play it. Unfortunately, maybe it was too hyped up or was expecting something a bit different but it never really clicked with me. It wasn't frustrating or broken nor was there anything technically wrong with it per say. It wasn't that compelling either. I guess it was good enough that I finished it all as well but I have a hard time remembering anything about the game. I think it had a low difficulty which could be one reason for it not being memorable. Although it tried to put forth an interesting cast of characters and create a new IP, I remember nothing about them aside from Jill being a thief and maybe battling the police a few times in boss battles. I kept waiting for the game to give me a reason to love it but it just never seemed to come. I always forget I've even played it or owned it unless it gets mentioned by someone or is referenced in an article.


My big issue with Drill Dozer is the game just plays too slow, which combined with the easy difficulty makes the game feel like a slog at times.  Now I actually 100% the game and some of the later hidden challenges are pretty difficult and a lot more engaging so I would heavily recommend anyone who's actually gotten that far in the game to at least try them since it's by far better then the rest of the game.

But yeah I can't blame people from being put off since the first 75% isn't the most engaging experience in the world.  Which is too bad since the last 25% is actually great.


Of course I must add that the thing that drove me crazy was how every time you get the 3rd Gear in the levels the music would change to the short and repetitive main theme for the rest of the stage which was bullshit since many of these levels started with great themes that were unique to each one, only to be ruined by the annoying main theme you'd have to here for the second half of them.  Seriously, who the hell thought this was a good idea?  It'd be like every time you got to the mid-point in a Mario game, you now have to hear the Invincibility theme play for the entire second half, replacing the much better and longer theme of the level with an much shorter and repetitive one that wears out it's welcome in the first 2 hours since it keeps playing in every single level.  The **** it's one of the most annoying music related choices I've ever heard in a videogame.
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Offline Evan_B

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #622 on: January 30, 2017, 11:27:26 PM »
That's the thing, Mallo is so oddly proportioned and lacking in character. I wish there was more to him. He needs that Fire-Emblem-Awakening sort of character redesign/reboot that Intelligent Systems seems to be so fond of.
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Offline Mop it up

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #623 on: February 02, 2017, 03:40:54 PM »
Last month, I got back into Lego City Undercover. Since my old file wasn't very far into the game relatively speaking, I started from the beginning in order to refresh myself on the story. I'm glad they didn't use another licence for this game besides Lego, because it allowed them to come up with their own story and do whatever they wanted instead of just retelling something familiar with Lego figures, which isn't very interesting to me. The writing can be funny at times, but can also fall very flat, but I'd still rather have them try too hard than be bland. There are even some moments which felt like they were poking fun at video games and the sometimes ridiculous tasks in them, particularly in the mine level. Chase McCain is also more my kind of hero, he doesn't have super powers and instead relies on his wits (or lack thereof...) to get the job done, and even gets beat up now and then.

The gameplay is just as shallow as other Lego games, with the combat perhaps being even moreso. The increased focus on exploration and discovery helps make up for this, so it's still fun. Therefore, I enjoyed the city more than the missions, though they did still have their moments, often related to the story. I never did much exploration in the city until later, because I would often stumble across tasks that required disguises I didn't yet have. I waited until after completing the story and obtaining all abilities before I began tackling the city. In the beginning, I wasn't sure if I wanted to go for 100%, but they tried to make it as easy to manage as possible by separating the city into districts, as well as using the scanner to find objectives, so I appreciated the interface. I still ended up using an FAQ to find a few things, most notably a couple of the objects that are scattered around the entire city and therefore have no clues to their locations.

Overall, I'd give it a solid 8/10. Gameplay is the main thing that could be improved, as well as adding in co-op. If the Switch version has co-op, that would be the only thing which would tempt me to buy this game again. There are also performance issues, which include chuggy framerates and objectives sometimes glitching out, but it's no big deal. The couple of crashes did make me have to sit through the startup loading times when booting up again though...!

Offline ejamer

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #624 on: February 03, 2017, 07:47:20 AM »
Last month, I got back into Lego City Undercover. ... The couple of crashes did make me have to sit through the startup loading times when booting up again though...!


We are also playing this game (again) around here and slowly creeping towards the 100% mark.  Just under 90% at the moment if I recall correctly... but it's been rising pretty rapidly.  One thing I'm not keen on is going back into missions to collect missed stuff there - I seem to recall that some missions had hidden collectibles that required costumes you hadn't unlocked yet, which seems like a pretty bogus way to create "replay value".


However, we are enjoying going through the city and cleaning up all kinds of little things we missed previously. As Mop It Up said, it really helps to have the scanner and any cheats for your map that help point out where you need to go. Otherwise there is no way we'd keep plugging away at the percentages (although my kids still like just exploring the world even without any specific goal in mind).


Would love to see this in a multiplayer mode, but they might have to improve how some stuff is handled in the overworld to make it work. I'm thinking about car chases, etc, where the game essentially stops and loads up a special scenario for you to do. Not sure how that would work unless you forced both players to take part any time one of those actions is started?
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