Messages

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

« on: February 18, 2017, 04:41:34 PM »

Two purchases this week:


(1) La-Mulana EX (Vita) - Digital sale making it convenient to play again was too good to ignore. There's been a few people talk about this game in these forums, most of whom are better at the game than I. La-Mulana is ridiculous in some of the puzzles presented, but also feels really good in a wildly unforgiving old-school way.


(2) The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II (Vita) - Couldn't turn down a relatively cheap, used physical copy of this game. Like the series well enough and Vita games are becoming harder to track down. There are still a few on my "really want" list... but this purchase makes that list one game shorter.

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TalkBack / Re: World Of Goo Switch To Have Touch, Pointer Control Options

« on: February 15, 2017, 07:51:09 AM »

Fantastic game, and nice to hear there are pointer controls available.  Wii motion controls weren't that hot, but I really liked having a pointer and found it useful in lots of games.

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TalkBack / Re: Expansion Pass Announced For Breath Of The Wild

« on: February 14, 2017, 12:50:56 PM »

Nickel and dime?  If I had a nickel every time Nintendo made a stupid decision over the past 5 years I wouldn't have to worry about the DLC cost because it would be easy to afford.  Sadly not the case, also not a surprise.


Meh, I'll wait and see. If the game is good, and if the DLC gets strong reviews, then I'll consider buying... but my usual strategy with these things is to just ignore the post-release content, and that's mostly likely what will happen here as well.

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

« on: February 14, 2017, 08:19:30 AM »

Xenoblade X

Finally, it's all over.
...

Wow, nice job!

I had started the game, but set it down and never got around to picking it back up. Lack of story hurt in that regard - although I'm still excited to play after breaking down my backlog a little bit further.

...If Monolith toned down their sidequest-padding/fetish just a bit and focused down on their character-driven sidequests (which are honestly some of my favorite parts of the game), they would be perfect. ...

That would be awesome. I love the games for what they are, but agree that some of the side quests are pretty shallow.

...I mean, who wants to talk about A Link to the Past?! ...

Also awesome! When this game first came out, it blew away expectations of what adventures games should be. While the scope now seems limited now, the game world is still packed with interesting discoveries and layers.

Nice job to finish off this classic gem.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Let's talk about the Wii library, a very underrated library imo!

« on: February 10, 2017, 09:10:21 AM »

Well, I tried to swap the D-pad ...

... I plan to NOT mess with controller Modding ever again.

...

I always have ambition to do some light modding - but none of my attempts have actually worked so far.


Have a nice GBA SP at home with hopes of transferred the screen into an original GBA body eventually... but strongly questioning if I'd be better off paying someone with experience instead of trying to do it myself.

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

« 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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Nintendo Gaming / Re: The 3DS eShop thread- This one actually does have variety!

« on: February 01, 2017, 09:09:57 PM »

A friend of mine bought a new 3DS to replace his old broken one recently and was able to transfer his Nintendo Network ID and all his digital purchases just by calling Nintendo support, no sending it in requires.

Awesome - this is what I'm hoping for.  if I do have to send them in, I'm going to press Nintendo to pay for shipping.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Let's talk about the Wii library, a very underrated library imo!

« on: February 01, 2017, 02:45:44 PM »

... A decent action-RPG with mediocre story and solid, Pokemon-esque gameplay is Spectrobes: Origins.

This is one of the remaining holes in my collection - would like to grab a copy eventually because it looks like a solid title, but it's not really a pressing need due to having a massive shelf of games already.

Well that hole (emphasis added by me) should be fixed. 
Who started this dang thread that's making me buy more Wii games?  Am I the only one or are others also still buying?

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: The 3DS eShop thread- This one actually does have variety!

« on: February 01, 2017, 07:31:12 AM »

Totally deserves a bump.


(Sadly, my 3DS is still broken and I'm waiting until I have money to replace with a New 3DS unit. Does anyone know if NoA will switch over your games by request if your original unit is unusable? Really hoping I don't lose my digital content.)  -_-

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TalkBack / Re: Options For Yooka-Laylee Wii U Backers Announced

« on: January 31, 2017, 08:44:17 PM »

That's a kickstarter risk in general though.

Sure, but video games have a long development time even if everything goes well - and there are lots of factors outside of their control or things that can go wrong.


Other products have risks, but it's rare that the platform required to use them shifts or becomes invalid. With a board game, for example, it can get delayed for a year or two and your table is still a viable platform. You expect that, as long as the product is eventually made, you'll be able to use it.

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General Gaming / Re: What are you playing?

« on: January 31, 2017, 08:56:30 AM »

Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga (GBA) - Just started the game (again) and have enjoyed the early moments. Absolutely loved Bowser's Inside Story because of the delightful presentation and humorous story, and this precursor to that adventure feels like familiar territory in that regard.


Although I've been playing through my GBA collection with an intent to get rid of it afterwards, there are a few keepers. (For example, I expect to always hold onto a GBA Micro with the Final Fantasy 4 and 6 remakes. Those games were some of the first RPGs that I fell in love with during the SNES days, and having these highly portable versions available is a point of pride for me.) This game feels like it might fall into that category? Guess I'll have to play more to find out.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Let's talk about the Wii library, a very underrated library imo!

« on: January 31, 2017, 08:47:28 AM »

I just got something a little more tame. ...

Nice! 


How does it feel? I always worry about third party controllers because I've used so many that just aren't good quality - but having the wii remote and classic controller combined this way seems like such a good idea.


Was it expensive? It must also work with anything on Wii U that supports Wii classic controller (although I'm not sure how many games outside of VC actually do).

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TalkBack / Re: Options For Yooka-Laylee Wii U Backers Announced

« on: January 31, 2017, 08:25:03 AM »

Avoiding the risk of KickStarter video games remains by far the best option.


If it's good, and if it actually gets released, then you'll be able to buy it later - probably for less.
If you really want to provide support for small indie developers, then you'd better go in knowing that your support might never net you any returns.

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

« 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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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Let's talk about the Wii library, a very underrated library imo!

« on: January 30, 2017, 08:42:35 AM »

Wow 1260 games for a single system, even if many of those looks very unappealing to me, it's still pretty impressive to be so dedicated to collecting them all. Barely recognise any of the ones highlighted in that photo series, although I do know that for that citybiker game you could connect your Wiimote to an actual stationary bike that was used ONLY for that game haha.

Now that's a challenge: to collect all of the Wii accessories (too many of which were only used for single games).
I almost bought Babysitting Mama just because of how ridiculous it was... and that's not the only time I've been tempted by foolish accessories. Probably a good thing I never saw that biking game you mention or I'd probably own it - the concept seems pretty genius and apparently it's compatible with Mario Kart.


My favorite Wii accessory is the Tatsunoko vs Capcom fight stick. It's fun to use with fighting games, SNK collections, and a bunch of other games on the console.

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

« 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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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Nintendo Switch/Wii U Indie Game Review Thread

« on: January 30, 2017, 07:56:25 AM »

... Toki Tori 2. ...

Yup, I forgot to mention this somehow, but this is one of the best puzzle games ever made in my book. Just an astonishing level of design skill on display here, essentially constructing a Metroid where the skills you acquire are made of your own thinking.

I also believe the WiiU version might be the best, as I think they updated the game when porting it to include text and hints and stuff, which sounds to me like blasphemy.

Agree that it's in the running for best puzzle game ever. Didn't bring it up earlier because I thought that Azeke might want to gush about the game - he's a big fan if I remember correctly - but definitely had it in mind when first seeing this post.


The biggest problem is that sometimes I don't know what to say about the game without giving away some of the secrets... because discovery is the biggest joy it offers. Let me just say that from the opening moments, where the game starts without a traditional start up screen and just asks you to start exploring, you know this game is trying something different. And I believe it succeeds.


The one downside was a weak story. Toki Tori 2 did such a fantastic job in every other respect that I felt like the story should have been fleshed out better than it was. Luckily my expectation in that regard is a bit lower because this is a puzzle game, and it does everything else so well that I'm perfectly ok overlooking that one shortcoming.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Let's talk about the Wii library, a very underrated library imo!

« on: January 28, 2017, 02:05:29 PM »

This was posted on a reddit: a nintendoage user has complete set of Wii games: http://imgur.com/a/5oeAN and the post from nintendoage: http://nintendoage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?StartRow=1&catid=5&threadid=170644

Wow. I have a lot of Wii games at home - just a shade over 200 titles according to my backloggery records - but can't imagine trying to collect everything. Crazy! 


(In all honesty, I'm not sure I'd want to collect everything. It's going to be many years before I can everything I've already got.)

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Nintendo Switch/Wii U Indie Game Review Thread

« on: January 27, 2017, 08:41:18 AM »

Show, don't tell. That should be the motto for Toki Tori 2. This open world puzzle game challenges players to observe the environment and use their wits to figure out (a) the goal of the game, (b) how to identify where the puzzles are, and most importantly (c) how to solve the puzzles littered across the game world.

Not everyone will enjoy this game. It's not something you can play casually or without thought, and it's not big on hand holding. But Toki Tori 2 is extremely well made and very rewarding as you progress deeper into the game.

Very highly recommended. One of the best experience I've had on Wii U - bar none.


Perhaps this is a good time to mention that all Two Tribes games are on sale right now in North America?

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Let's talk about the Wii library, a very underrated library imo!

« on: January 25, 2017, 05:32:03 PM »

I enjoyed it.  It is very low key and relaxed in pace, similar to the original.  The only thing that made me a little uncomfortable was that it leaned more heavily into the "what it's like to be a teen girl" theme.  But, aren't we all teen girls on the inside?

I dunno... I watched the entire run of Sailor Moon, does that help?

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Let's talk about the Wii library, a very underrated library imo!

« on: January 25, 2017, 01:53:18 PM »

... Another Code: R.  ...

Is this good?  I imported, and am eager to play eventually because it sounds like an interesting game. It just hasn't bubbled up to the top of the backlog yet (and probably won't for a while since I haven't finished the DS game either).

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Let's talk about the Wii library, a very underrated library imo!

« on: January 25, 2017, 01:52:31 PM »

Zack & Wiki was a game that I felt would have been better served for the MotionPlus. Obviously, Capcom didn't know that would be a thing, but so many of the gestures required just didn't work usually for with 100% accuracy, making the later levels incredibly frustrating, rage quit inducing even.

I thought the controls in Zack & Wiki were extremely good for the majority of the game, but agree there were a couple of specific actions that didn't work very well. The sword fighting close to the end in particular was rough. It forced a handful of attempts in that penultimate level before I understand what motions would and wouldn't be interpreted correctly.


That wasn't enough to turn me off from the game though - Zack & Wiki is definitely one of my favorite gaming experiences from the Wii generation.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Nintendo Switch/Wii U Indie Game Review Thread

« on: January 24, 2017, 04:22:16 PM »

Curious: why say it would appeal if you "hate yourself"?  Did you find the difficulty too high?  I mean, you've already said it's for people who like Mega Man games so this seems like an unnecessary qualifier.

Sorry, I shouldn't have said "if you like Mega Man" because you already hate yourself if you do.

That's more like it.   

..., I think it is overrated and not fun at all. ... It's fairly bland and rehashes a lot of ideas from better games.

I don't totally disagree. The game probably is overrated, and even though I found gameplay to be solid the level design was consistently middling. But as indie games go, any solid release with a retro aesthetic and reams of content is worth trying in my books - and you can't fault the developer support as they continue to release new content for the title.

Mega Man 9 was clearly better, but if choosing between Mega Man 10 and Shovel Knight I'd probably have a hard time to decide...

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TalkBack / Re: XType Plus Review

« on: January 24, 2017, 01:40:26 PM »

Note: The game was updated a long time ago to add off-TV play, which is a nice feature for a game that is so quick to pick up and play.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Nintendo Switch/Wii U Indie Game Review Thread

« on: January 24, 2017, 01:39:33 PM »

XType Plus is a lovely game for any bullet hell/shmup fans.


The premise is easy: you are a small ship able to spew a constant stream of fire or use one of several screen-clearing bombs to avoid enemy fire. Each game you will face off against a string of bosses, one after another, who unleash a varied wave of bullets across the screen. Weave and dodge as necessary while blowing those bosses up piece by piece, and see how long you can survive as each new enemy is bigger and badder than the last.


There are only two modes in this dual analog, high score chasing diversion (survival mode and time trial) but considering the paltry $3 entry fee that seems totally fair. And the way games tend to be relatively short makes it easy to pick up and play for just one more round.


So XType Plus won't appeal to everyone and is a bit of a one-trick pony - but it's a good trick, and this game definitely hits the targets it was aiming for. If you are a shmup fan, give this indie title a shot!