Topic: What are you playing?

[ejamer]

...

You've convinced me to keep an eye open for the game. When I find one at a decent price, will definitely pick it up.
(It's $7.50 on eShop now, but I'd rather get a physical copy and figure it shouldn't be too hard to find one for $10 or $15 eventually.)

[Adrock]

Paper Mario
I wanted to play something lighthearted, Paper Mario has been sitting there on the Wii U menu screen for months. I haven't played the game since 2001, and I barely remember any of it. I also wanted to play through it before starting The Thousand Year Door which I'll get to after The Last Story and Snake Eater 3D.

Anyway, the graphics are dated yet they surprisingly hold up for an N64 game thanks largely to the art style. The prologue isn't great if only because you don't have the Lucky Star item yet which is what makes the entire battle system interesting and fun. After going through Dry Dry Desert one screen at a time, I finally got to Dry Dry Ruins before switching over to...

The Last Story AKA Side-Quest: The Video Game
I'm still on Chapter 4. I've been actively avoiding Dagran to explore Lazulis City which is super-daunting. I'm still having some trouble getting around. Generally, this is where I stop playing RPGs. While I realize that they take time to get going, I get impatient, plan to go back to them then never do. Surprisingly, I didn't mind this errand chapter. First, it's Chapter 4 and the game gave you a taste of the battle system and actual gameplay before this. Second, unlike Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword for example, running around talking to people and collecting stuff was largely optional and I always knew what I had to do to advance (Dagran finds you while you're wandering the city and you can either go with him immediately or putz around some more then meet up with him later). I think the point of and much of the charm in The Last Story is that the main hub feels like a bustling city with people rather than mere NPCs living in it. The game largely succeeds here though it may be limited by the budget and (potentially) what the Wii allows. Some people have voice clips and others don't. While it's hilarious and at least thus far, pointless than you run into people and they react, the voices repeat. Also, you can shoot banana peels at people's feet, and they fall. Why? It was a funny little detail that didn't go unappreciated like hitting your head on low signs.

I still have a couple things to do before actually advancing the story. It requires me to Seek things on the ground. I need to give this guy iron and copper (I have the former). I'm not a huge fan of finding things on the ground because you have like a second before they go away. I don't get that. Despite doing very little in this chapter besides running around and getting lost, I'm enjoying The Last Story so far. As far as criticisms, the world and inhabitants could use more color, and the character designs are nothing to write home about (not terrible, just not particularly memorable or distinctive). Zael and Dagran's designs are rather boring. Syrenne is the only one that stands out, due mostly to the large tattoo and having some color to her design. She's the most interesting character so far since everyone else is either a sock puppet or generic anime trope. Even then, Syrenne falls into anime trope territory, but at least she has some personality. I don't know if this gets grating further into the game. Right now, I don't mind the tough girl/heavy drinker type. I'll give the game more time before I form any definitive opinions about the characters.

[Evan_B]

The characters will really grow on you. Trust me. Also, you've barely met some of the more interesting characters, in terms of design. If you're looking for color, I have some good news for you, but I don't want to spoil the surprise. Needless to say, you'll be getting it soon enough.

Also, the seeking system might feel a bit weird and uncomfortable at first, but once you find the prime seeking spots (there's a few alleyways that are built really well for chaining drops), you'll find how ridiculously easy the system is, and how you can really achieve material grinding for a number of quests and such in two or three minutes. I'm not sure if the game explains it, but if you continuously spot seeking points on the ground within close succession, the more rare the materials become.

I'd recommend, after every "story-based" chapter, trying to look around for townsfolk and such, because some of them offer "side quests" that are actually full chapters based around neat combat gimmicks. As I said, you won't fully obtain the best parts of the combat system until around chapter 10.

UGH I want to replay this game now.

[NWR_insanolord]

Lately I've been hooked on Story of Seasons for 3DS. I got this when it came out and played it a bit, but drifted away despite enjoying it. Now that I'm back to it I really don't know how that happened.

For those who don't know, this is the new Harvest Moon game. Marvelous, who always made the series, decided to start publishing them in the west themselves, but couldn't call it that because Natsume still owns that trademark. This game is a fairly natural evolution of the previous game in the series, released here as Harvest Moon: A New Beginning, but it fixes a lot of the issues I had with that title.

My biggest complaint with the previous game was that it took too long to get going. The series has traditionally been somewhat slow-paced, but that game took it to too much of an extreme. This game gets you going at a considerably better pace. Like A New Beginning, this game is heavily based around customization, with the ability to craft dozens of different items to improve and alter your farm.

Only being able to buy and sell things (with a few exceptions) on certain days when various traveling sales caravans are in town starts out as an annoyance, but I've come to really enjoy how it makes you rethink your approach to the game. If they're going to be here on Thursday, you have to base your schedule for the few days prior to that around maximizing what you get out of that opportunity. It's a nice way to add variety to a series that can sometimes feel like just doing the same thing over and over on an endless loop.

This is my favorite game in the series in a long time, if not ever. It offers the right mix of depth and accessibility, streamlining aspects that needed it without feeling dumbed down in any way. I'm interested to see what they're going to do with the recently announced sequel, as for once there's nothing I can really point to that needs to be changed or fixed.

[Evan_B]

I'm simultaneously playing Mutant Mudds Super Challenge and finishing up Elliot Quest in preparation for Chronicles of Teddy: Harmony of Exidus launching soon on Wii U. As I've stated before, I'm a huge Mudds fan, and the difficulty of Super Challenge doesn't bother me all that much. Playing without checkpoints is how I did the original, and I find that utilizing them really strips the game of most of its challenge.

Only just started playing World 2 (made sure I unlocked everything in World 1 before progressing), and the only weak point I can really cite was the boss of World 1. It just felt a bit haphazard and the mechanics and animations were a bit too punishing without being able to use pure skill to maneuver around them. That's disappointing, especially after the very decent boss battle(s?) of Xeodrifter, which had really tight, but well-telegraphed attack animations. Hoping this improves slightly as the game goes on.

Speaking of reading boss animations, Elliot Quest continues to frustrate and delight with its massive overworld, varied stage design, and surprisingly deep side quests. This is a more polished version of Adventure of Link with lots of charm and brutal boss encounters. I'm only attempting a 100% completion because of the karma system, though I may stop before getting all the heart pieces- then again, maybe not, because you need as much health as you can get in this game. Dr. Metts talked about this before he departed RFN, but I highly recommend it as well.

[stalfo]

Like Evan I'm also playing Mutant Mudds Super Challenge and man what a super fun game. It is a difficult title and you'll die a lot (don't worry it reminds you exactly how many times with the death counter), but I'm still having a lot of fun. Most of the challenge is tough, but fair although the one boss I've encountered so far was the only thing that has really gotten me frustrated so far.


I just wrapped up Conquest yesterday afternoon and enjoyed it a fair bit more then I did Birthright. Going to give myself a week or two, time to jump into Hyrule Warriors Legends before coming back to wrap up Revelations. Then I'll likely ping pong between Revelations and Legends and hopefully wrap them both up for the release of Bravely Second.


Also been jamming out on some Pokken Tournament and liking it a lot. I said in another thread, I'm shocked at how much my sister and GF are loving the game despite not being very big into gaming at all. Hopefully I can practice up and play some other forum users! If you do read this and want to battle hit me up! Prob respond quicker on twitter @case_jets.

[ejamer]

Has anyone else played The Swindle?  Picked it up during the (ongoing) Curve Games sale on Wii U and am completely engulfed by it.  This is the first time in a long time I've exhausted the GamePad controller in an evening, and feel bad that I can't keep playing.


Procedural levels, a pretty big set of unlockables, a need to figure things out yourself... it's not an easy game so far, but is incredibly entertaining. My only complaint is that I feel like the controls are a bit wonky, but as you upgrade your character that gets better so I'm assuming it's mostly intentional during early levels.


I like how spectacularly I can fail in this game. It's slow paced most of the time, as you plan and observe. Then has tense moments of quick action and (if you set off the alarms) desperate escapes. Getting just a little bit more money, even though you know you should cut and run with the loot you've already gathered, is always so tempting.


Anyway, thought it worth posting about. People should check out the trailers and consider giving this game a shot. Well worth the low asking price right now!

[Soren]

I thought about buying it on the last sale but I had too many games on my backlog to justify getting it. I really want to play it though.

[Evan_B]

It's on sale right now? I might have to get it. I heard mixed things about it (namely, that is was too difficult) but the premise seemed super cool to me, and difficulty has rarely stopped me before.

[NWR_insanolord]

Instead of playing one of the multiple Fire Emblem titles I own but haven't started, I've been going back and playing Advance Wars: Dual Strike. It's really good, but my god, the CO powers are just ridiculously unbalanced in this game. This game got a little too complicated for its own good, with certain concepts either not fleshed out enough, or, in the case of those powers, fleshed out too much. Despite all that, though, I'm really loving that, and wishing Nintendo would have Intelligent Systems take a break from the stream of Fire Emblems to crank out a new entry in this series.

[ejamer]

It's on sale right now? I might have to get it. I heard mixed things about it (namely, that is was too difficult) but the premise seemed super cool to me, and difficulty has rarely stopped me before.

It is on sale now until (I believe) the end of the month.  I think it was something like $5.

The game is difficult, and some people will probably really dislike the way it's structured. The trick is that you have 100 total attempts to pull off the ultimate swindle - but before you can even attempt that mission you need to do a bunch of smaller jobs to earn cash, buy upgrades, and unlock new levels. Every run you go on counts towards that 100 limit, whether you are successful and earn a bunch of cash or fail and come back empty-handed (or worse).  There is also a definite learning curve, which means you'll probably have to start from scratch (ie: no power-ups, stealing from the slums again) at least once.

In addition, the game punishes taking too many risks pretty harshly. You build up a multiplier for every successful swindle but that bonus value gets reset (in addition to earning no money and getting one step closer to the end of the game) every time your thief gets caught or dies. You don't lose any cash previously banked, and purchased upgrades carry over to your next thief - but since money is required to unlock everything, you really need to decide when to cut and run or it will cost far more than you'd expect.

Summed up: This is a game where you can't slowly grind to a win. That flat out won't work. You must continually improve and minimize mistakes to be successful. You need to spend time with the game and (most likely) start over at some point before you'll have the skill and knowledge required to win.

Neither of those detract from the high points for me, because I enjoy each stage individually and don't yet feel a need or expectation to win everything. But I can see how some people would get frustrated with those design choices.


Update: Almost done the game, I think. With roughly 50 days left (after using the hack station to buy some time extensions) I've got all power-ups and am ready to hit the final stage - but am running into some problems.  On more than one occasion, my console has frozen playing late-game levels. It makes me pretty nervous to pony up for the final approach, since you essentially lose a level when it happens.

Ugh... after having similar issues with Telsagrad I was really really hoping for this game to play smoother. Still loving the overall experience (despite mildly clunky controls and a few frustrating bugs) and recommend the game, but this is a real bummer and needs to be mentioned along with any sort of recommendation.


Update #2:  Giving up at this point. One in three runs seems to end with my console hard-locking, which the game treats the same as dying despite me not doing anything wrong. Very frustrating to do a successful Bank run to earn enough cash only have the game freeze during the opening room of The Swindle... twice, in immediate succession.

Still like the game, and want to play more... but the technical issues are inexcusable and frustrating enough to overwhelm my desire to see the end. It's a real shame too - but 8+ crashes over the course of today (and a few earlier) is too much to just overlook and forgive.

Really not feeling much love for indie games right now.   


Final Update: Beat the game properly after multiple attempts.

Seem like the crash is related to hacking drones (maybe) while in a really busy level? Or maybe related to remote detonation? Ok, I still don't know what's causing the crashes... but I did report my issues to customer support with Curve Digital and they were communicative and very pleasant. Doesn't get rid of the problem, but my fingers are crossed for an eventual patch.

Having finished the game, I've gone back several times for more.Still think it's a heck of an experience, despite my excessive complaining about the bugs.  (Oh right, one other bug to report. Sometimes when you blow up certain sections of the level, spikes aren't visible but still exist. Yep, that sucks too.)


I still recommend the game cautiously, as long as people are aware that this (in my opinion) wonderful game is hampered by some unfortunate coding issues unless a patch arrives.

[broodwars]

I've been playing a lot of Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2, which I picked up a few days ago. Didn't care for the 1st game due to the extreme lack of SP content and the really forced microtransactions, but the upgrade was only $8 after some trade-ins and the reviews were good. So far, I'm really digging this version. Calling the non-MP content in the game "single-player" is a bit much considering so many of the missions are just variants on the wave-based Garden Ops, but the fact that you now have this large open area to run around; explore; and get used to the characters makes a big difference to me. The microtransactions are also gone. Plus, I love the character design and the whimsical style of the game's flow. One thing I don't understand, though, is why the game requires an online connection to even get past the title screen.

[Shaymin]

Modern gaming, everyone!

[TOPHATANT123]

Final Fantasy XV Platinum Demo
You'd think the demo for the next Final Fantasy would be a big deal, but it's kinda buried in the PlayStation store. Anyway the demo it's self left me impressed, you get to play around with a few tech demo-y stuff and get a feel for the combat. You assign items to four slots that can be equipped with the d-pad and hold circle to attack or square to dodge/defend, then later in the demo you get the ability to with triangle throw your sword and teleport to it's location. It's fairly simple but I think I'm going to have to play some more to get a better feel for the timing which is where I think the nuance of the combat will lie. Two touches that I really appreciated were the rain that looks and sounds wet, and the animations for going up and down stairs.

[Mop it up]

Instead of playing one of the multiple Fire Emblem titles I own but haven't started, I've been going back and playing Advance Wars: Dual Strike. I'm really wishing Nintendo would have Intelligent Systems take a break from the stream of Fire Emblems to crank out a new entry in this series.

At least the "casual" setting in the recent Fire Emblem games makes them play a little more like Advance Wars.

[ejamer]

...
I have been playing pass the controller co-op with the story mode of Job Island: Hard Working People also known as Help Wanted: 50 Wacky Jobs. It's a Hudson Wii Minigame collection, on the surface it would sound to the common man that this is just some bargain bin kusoge, however that is not the case. This here is a bona fide diamond in the rough, a Wii hidden gem.
...

After TOPHATANT123's mini-review convinced me to buy this, I have been playing the game with (and sometimes without) my kids.


Totally agree that it's a hidden gem.  Single-player (or "pass the controller") mini-game collections won't appeal to everyone, and if you hate the concept then stay away... but it's a really well made mini-game collection and wonderfully cheesy. Some of the games devolve into just finding the right motion to be consistently recognized, others into flailing silliness, while a good bunch use motion in very limited ways or not at all. Some are easy, some are hard, some are fun and others a bit lame - it's a really good mix overall, and there is no shortage of variety. (I'm a fan of the dairy farmer job personally. It totally cracked me up.)


Thanks for bringing it up previously, because otherwise there is no way I would have bought in. Totally worth the $8 or $10 bucks it cost to get a copy shipped across the border from eBay.com.

[ejamer]

Started playing Persona 3 Portable (PSP Go).  Still too early to give any meaningful comment, but so far I like it.  It's been a while since I really felt drawn into an RPG this way.

[ThePerm]

Right now I am playing Stronghold Kingdoms. I want NWR people to play. I think we can take over a certain portion of the map if we work together. I am making a thread for it.

[ShyGuy]

I visited an arcade last week for the first time in awhile, felt good.

Played:
Time Crisis 5, - still don't like the foot pedals

Star Wars Battle Pod - That was a great experience, the screen wraps around you.


Batman Arcade - Letting you choose your preferred version of the Bat-mobile is a nice touch.


Tetris Dekaris - That was weird, giant joysticks that rumble when you get multiple line.


School of Ragnarok - It was all in Japanese, so I don't know what it was about, but it was an interesting... fighting game? My cousin really liked it, so anyone know if it is coming to the US consoles or PC?


Mario Cart DX was busy.

[Stratos]

What?!? No DDR machine? Arcade fail!

_{Though it still looks like a fun time.}

[ShyGuy]

It's kind of in your neck of the woods, Stratos. It was on top of the Westfield SouthCenter in Tukwila.

[Stratos]

Oh! I think I've been there before! I had some leftover tokens kicking around for the longest time.

[Stratos]

My favorite game crass of clan, other wise igi1,igi2 and everything
if you need any online service ,you can visit this site

Crass of Clan must be a new game. Probably hiring Kate Upton for their ad campaign too.

[Triforce Hermit]

Kirby Return to Dreamland: Bought it on Wii U VC. I love it. This is one of my absolute favorite Kirby games since Super Star Ultra. Great fun with other people, the difficulty curve is slow, but steady. The gears are easy to find which isn't nearly a bad thing. The game looks beautiful as well.

Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards: Good game, neat idea with the ability combining. Shards are well hidden. Not one of my favorites, but certainly a very good game.

No More Heroes: Are framedrops normal or is it just because I'm running it on the Wii U? Anyways, this is a unique game, probably Suda 51's best. Motion controls work naturally with the game. I don't like many games of this genre, but this is one of the best games I've played.

[Evan_B]

As I mentioned in the "last thing you purchased" thread, I picked up Chronicles of Teddy: Harmony of Exidus and I've been chipping away at it for a few days. If you like great atmosphere, lovely sprite-work, and Adventure of Link, this game is right up your alley. It has an Ocarina of Time-ish musical mechanic, called the Musicon, that's actually used to speak to characters and interact with the game world- sometimes, it works spectacularly, other times, it's a bit wonky. But the way they utilize dungeon "unlocks" as well as the Musicon is really novel and it gives the game a unique feel. It is a sequel, but they explain the plot of the first game at the beginning, and the first title is a point-and-click adventure, so you're not missing anything iterative.

However, I began to encounter a number of game-crashing bugs about halfway through the title, which is extremely aggravating. The only thing you can do, at least until Check Out My Game releases another patch- is save each time you do something you think is important so that you don't lose that progress. The bugs occur randomly and are usually caused by screen transitions.

I would recommend this game without hesitation if it weren't for its buggy state. The Wii U now has two great Adventure of Link indie titles (this and Elliot Quest, which coincidentally used to be just as buggy) that are reminding me of how much I love that game. If people continue to mimic that formula, it might overtake Metroidvanias as my favorite type of game design.