Post by: Jonnyboy117 on May 25, 2008, 01:50:30 PM
Three games have dominated my attention over the past week... and all three are just $20 each, brand new. Here are my current recommendations for gamers on a budget.
Mercury Meltdown Revolution - This trippy puzzle game hasn't even been marked down; it was $20 on launch day, so it's always been a great value. Reviewed very favorably by WindyMan, Mercury is similar to Super Monkey Ball without all the cuteness, and with a stronger emphasis on single-player action. The tilt controls work perfectly, and the physics are solid. The tricky part about Mercury is that your "ball" isn't solid, so it can drip over ledges, split into two on a sharp corner, etc. Despite the low price, there's nothing casual about Mercury. This is a very challenging and surprisingly complex game, full of strange contraptions that change how your dollop of liquid metal behaves. If you have been disappointed by other Wii games like Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz or Dewy's Adventure, I think you'll be much happier with Mercury.
Zack & Wiki - It's been discussed a lot on recent episodes of Radio Free Nintendo, but for those who haven't yet discovered our podcast, I'll write about this gem too. Zack & Wiki is a fantastic and beautiful adventure game in the classic PC "point-and-click" style, meaning that it's heavy on puzzle solving. GameStop and EB recently marked it down to $20 for new copies; I ordered mine from their website on a day when Wii games had free shipping. Although it's sad to see a wonderful game achieve "BOMBA" status, this is the perfect opportunity for fence-sitters like me to pick up this game and start loving it. It's also great to play with a friend or significant other!
Penny Arcade Adventures, Ep. 1 - Although it's not a Wii game (until Nintendo fixes the storage problem), Penny Arcade's RPG/adventure hybrid should run on most computers displaying this blog. It's the shortest game of the three, but at five hours long, I still think it's a fine value for $20. (I do think the subsequent episodes should be longer or cost less, though.) This is one of those games that caused me to lose track of time. The battles are based on Japanese RPGs like Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger, and they are really fun. The PC-style adventure elements are very simple, mainly serving as a vehicle for the outrageous humor in the game. Be sure to click on every sign for Hayward's Ginger Ale!
Post by: TheYoungerPlumber on May 26, 2008, 12:38:22 AM
Post by: Flames_of_chaos on May 26, 2008, 12:58:45 AM
Post by: Jonnyboy117 on May 26, 2008, 02:58:59 AM
Post by: Mario on May 27, 2008, 11:26:12 AM
Post by: KDR_11k on May 27, 2008, 04:38:17 PM
BTW, I somehow prefer Toki Tori over Z&W, there's many elements in Z&W that you simply have to try to know their function or requirements (especially switches usually have to be flipped to show what they do), in TT everything is predictable and you can clearly see where you can use which item (well, except for the bubble maybe), with some experience you could develop a solution for a level just by seeing a screenshot of it. I prefer my puzzle games predictable so I can develop a solution without having to test all objects whether they behave the way I think they do.
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on May 27, 2008, 06:17:37 PM
Post by: Halbred on May 27, 2008, 08:04:27 PM
I'm just unsure of whether it will run on my computer. It's just a standard desktop PC--no fancy graphics cards (just an integrated one--my brother claims it's all drivers).
It will run all of my old games, though, like Grim Fandango, Croc, Earthworm Jim, and SimCity 3000. I'm sure none of those are as graphics-demanding as PA, though. Will the game (or the website I download the game at) tell me if my computer isn't up to speed?
Post by: Caliban on May 27, 2008, 08:19:03 PM
Will the game (or the website I download the game at) tell me if my computer isn't up to speed?
From the site itself:
Windows:
Windows® 2000/XP/VistaTM with latest updates
Pentium® III, AMDAthlonTM 1.0 GHz or better
ATI RadeonTM 9500 or better, NVIDIA GeForceTM FX 5200 or better, Intel® GMA 950 or better with 64 MB of video memory (shared or dedicated)*
512 MB of available system memory
OS-supported keyboard and mouse OS-supported sound card
350 MB of available hard drive space
*video cards require latest drivers supporting OpenGL.
Mac:
Mac® OS X 10.4/10.5 with latest updates
PowerPC® G4, G5 or Intel® based Mac 1.0 GHz or better
ATI RadeonTM 9500 or better, NVIDIA GeForceTM FX 5200 or better, Intel® GMA 950 or better with 64 MB of video memory
512 MB of available system memory
OS-supported keyboard and mouse
OS-supported sound card
350 MB of available hard drive space
Linux
Linux® 32-bit x86
Pentium® III, AMDAthlonTM 1.0 GHz or better
ATI RadeonTM 9500 or better, NVIDIA GeForceTM FX 5200 or better, Intel® GMA 950 or better with 64 MB of video memory (shared or dedicated)*
512 MB of available system memory
OS-supported keyboard and mouse
OS-supported sound card
350 MB of available hard drive space
*video cards require latest drivers supporting OpenGL.
Post by: Jonnyboy117 on May 28, 2008, 03:35:33 AM
Post by: Rize on May 28, 2008, 01:19:52 PM
I tried Zack and Wiki though, and I don't really like it much. The art style isn't really appealing to me, and the gameplay starts out rather easy. Maybe I should try to force my way into it a bit to see if I like it better.
Mercury sounds right up my alley though... I ought to pick that up some time.
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on May 28, 2008, 01:32:36 PM
to defeat Ganondorf, roll to WIN. GOTY material, RIGHT??
Post by: KDR_11k on May 28, 2008, 04:31:53 PM
Quote
Anyone who likes RPG's whatsoever had better not miss DQVIII. That game was phenomenal.
For which definition of RPG? I prefer my RPGs without grind, I heard DQ8 is the opposite of that.
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on May 28, 2008, 04:44:14 PM
Post by: Rize on May 28, 2008, 05:15:13 PM
Anyway, DQVIII may have a bit of grinding, but it's well balanced and the grinding doesn't seem to come up often (or in an obtrusive manner). Frequently, instead of grinding, you can succeed by using intelligent combat strategies. Anyway, I can't see how any self respecting RPG fan could possible call himself such and not play Dragon Quest VIII.
Post by: Yoshidious on May 28, 2008, 07:13:44 PM
Zack & Wiki is a must. Whatever you do, don't use the hints. It's a serious gaming challenge that doesn't hold your hand
Having just finished the game, I couldn't agree more. Solving the puzzles without hints proved to be one of the most satisfying game experiences I've had in a long while. I managed to get this on import for under $30 US (the Freeloader has paid for itself now by a wide margin), so $20 is a total steal. Even if you've never played adventure games before (which I hadn't), this merits very serious consideration for purchase.
Post by: GoldenPhoenix on May 28, 2008, 07:33:00 PM
Post by: KDR_11k on May 29, 2008, 03:12:27 PM
It's impossible to have a real RPG without at least a tiny bit of grinding here and there. If there is never any grinding, then that means you're always strong enough to beat the enemy, which means the game isn't really challenging you.
Or maybe that grinding isn't rewarded and whether you grind or not you're going to have the same hard or easy time? Not all RPGs have to involve levelling or let levelling have such a big influence on your strength.
Post by: Rize on May 29, 2008, 03:23:06 PM
The problem with leveling is that it does make difficulty balancing a serious pain (if not a downright impossibility). What's to stop the player from over leveling and making the game too easy?
Post by: GoldenPhoenix on May 29, 2008, 04:02:33 PM
You might consider a turn based strategy game like advance wars a form of RPG without leveling.
The problem with leveling is that it does make difficulty balancing a serious pain (if not a downright impossibility). What's to stop the player from over leveling and making the game too easy?
Well you can also look at this way most games only last 10-12 hrs, but if you are leveling up all the time an RPG could take over 60hrs. You still get your gaming time regardless plus LOTS more.
Post by: Plugabugz on May 29, 2008, 04:17:37 PM
Zack & Wiki is a must. Whatever you do, don't use the hints. It's a serious gaming challenge that doesn't hold your hand
Having just finished the game, I couldn't agree more. Solving the puzzles without hints proved to be one of the most satisfying game experiences I've had in a long while. I managed to get this on import for under $30 US (the Freeloader has paid for itself now by a wide margin), so $20 is a total steal. Even if you've never played adventure games before (which I hadn't), this merits very serious consideration for purchase.
I disagree. I was getting too itchy with the ending because i wanted to get onto No More heroes.
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on May 29, 2008, 04:23:57 PM
Post by: animecyberrat on May 29, 2008, 04:48:22 PM
Post by: D_Average on May 29, 2008, 06:13:13 PM
Post by: KDR_11k on May 30, 2008, 03:29:49 AM
Level grinding is what makes and epic RPG so epic, it prolongs the game and if you are really into the game you don't wanna rush to the end.How does running in a spot and repeatedly clobbering the most EXP giving monsters constitute "epic"?
Post by: Rize on May 30, 2008, 03:26:15 PM
Level grinding is what makes and epic RPG so epic, it prolongs the game and if you are really into the game you don't wanna rush to the end.How does running in a spot and repeatedly clobbering the most EXP giving monsters constitute "epic"?
Seriously. What makes a game like DQVIII epic is the environment and story, not any grinding that may or may not occur.
I think in most well balanced modern RPGs, if you don't run to avoid fights, you should never have to do level grind. However, if you run a lot to maximize your exploration time, you'll have to pay for it later by grinding a bit.
Post by: KDR_11k on May 30, 2008, 03:36:40 PM
Post by: animecyberrat on May 30, 2008, 05:23:39 PM
Take Super Mario RPG, when you get to a Boss, the first two or three bosses if I remember correctly, if you run through and justf ace the guy right off, you will die. But if you take the time to beat every enemy in the level leading up to the boss, the fight will be a piece of cake. I know there are better RPG's but that one came to mind for some reason.
Post by: KDR_11k on May 31, 2008, 01:48:23 AM
Paper Mario doesn't really have much grinding, for one the gains from levelups are fairly small and enemies drop in value very fast so you can't go more than a few levels over the intended level.
Post by: ShyGuy on May 31, 2008, 03:11:12 AM
Post by: animecyberrat on May 31, 2008, 03:37:34 PM
I guess it is cuz I played a lot of D&D and we used to play to level up so we would do all kinds of crazy stuff just to try and get the DM to award us extra XP.
Post by: KDR_11k on May 31, 2008, 04:40:10 PM
Post by: animecyberrat on May 31, 2008, 11:12:21 PM
Post by: Jonnyboy117 on July 11, 2008, 10:24:55 PM
