The Gaming Thread

[Chanlin]

I remembered a few titles that I have not mentioned

Y's - great series of action RPG's.

Dragonview - Another very good action RPG.

Okage: The Shadow King - This RPG was brilliantly hilarious and had some rather amusing characters. The gameplay was a bit clunky but the humor and story more than made up for it.

Winback - For some reason despite the horrid story I really liked the arcade style feel of this game.

Crimson Sea: 1 and 2 - This game was a great title. The stories were a bit out there but the fast paced shooting and sword combo action was just plain intense.

Body Harvest - Probably some of the worst graphics ever to come out of the N64, but the story line and the intense battles were over the top. This game had some really pulse pounding moments and had enough lulls in the action where exploring was alot of fun. The only major downside is it was not always clear what your next objective should be and once you made it to the 4th area (I think 1964) the game was nigh on impossible to complete because you literally get swarmed not only by the insectoid aliens but by waves of Zombies with almost no rest or down time.

Dragon Quarter (AKA Breath of Fire 5) - I really loved the way the pulled this game off. The replay value alone was awesome and the story really sucked me in from the get go. I really hated 4 because the change to the dragon transformation, but even though the same transformation in 5 the story and the innovative combat system really made the game. Plus the whole save system and having to start over repeatedly really added a whole different aspect to the game. One would expect restarting again and again to be tedious, but the fact that you get slightly more storyline each time is what really made the game.

Lost Kingdoms 1 and 2 - 1 was really clunky but had a decent story line to it. 2 I think really imrpoved on an already good game. The story was a bit lacking overall in both games, but again the combat system really made the games.

Geist - Again a fairly innovative game in that you are a disembodied Ghost spirit trying to get back to your own body. The story line in this is awesome and the boss fights are quite interesting when you have to pay attention to what you can possess.

[gunsage]

Heeeeeere we go...

BUT FIRST YET AGAIN!...!!!....?

I recently got Visual Pinball working. Good stuff. It's pinball emulation, folks. Yes, it's great...when it works. Very hit or miss, but still very fun, nonetheless.

NOW THEN...!...~

Ys was AWESOME. Here's the irony part...I played Ys 3 first for the SNES. The ironic part about that is it seems the be the one that everyone hates, but I'd love to see a GOOD remake of it. In fact, I had plans to do an unofficial remake of it, but I lack the development tools necessary...well, that and the motivation.

Dragonview was also a pretty bad ass game, but I never got very far in it. Drakkhen not so much, but Dragonview (it's sequel) is pretty great. Haven't tried the Lost Kingdoms, Crimson Sea 2, or Geist, but the others were pretty cool. By the way, did you try Megaman Legends 1 & 2? Good stuff, that. And I'm not saying FF8 was horrible, but well...it could've been better.

By the way, Chrono Cross wasn't meant to be a sequel to Chrono Trigger, but rather, Radical Dreamer. RD was, well...basically a text style adventure. More of an interactive fiction than anything. And yes, it was for the Super Famicom. I've tried it and I didn't really like it all that much. I would still like to see a sequel done to Chrono Trigger and really, they've got enough to work with that it could be done. Hopefully it won't turn into a revisit of Valkyrie Profile 2, but I think it'd be worth it to try at least.

All this said, I have the next days off (Thursday's an in lieu of day because I worked MLK, though I feel that's not necessary). I plan on buffing out Maximo, Virtua Fighter 4, and Wizardry before returning home. What I'm really wondering is what I should concentrate on for that time off. I may continue on LOTR, but I'm not sure.

And it looks like there's one I missed. Yes, Terranigma's VERY cool, but I crapped out on the last boss. Ah well. By the way, regarding Winback, which I also enjoyed because it reminded me of Time Crisis at the time but as an adventure, ever tried the sequel? I haven't and mostly because I've heard NOTHING positive about it.

[gunsage]

Wow...I'm surprised this got pushed back as far as it did, but anyway. I did something...interesting on my days off. I went and started back up Dragonquest 8. Yeah...I hadn't played it in such a long time that even though I was fairly well into it (just after the abbott incident and somewhere around Yangus' hometown), I decided to just start over. If you haven't tried it, let me tell you...it's phenomenally great. Very old school and yet, a lot of excellent newer elements a la Level 5.

Besides that, it's not rare, so it's actually easy to come across and cheap. Now the guide, I'm not so sure, but I have both, so I don't care. And yes, you might want the guide for all the little collectibles, alchemy pot recipes, etc. This is one of those games where you really don't want to sell much of anything because you may end up using it later. Yeah...one of THOSE. On top of this, I made a little bit of progress with LOTR, some more progress on Rune Factory, and contemplated returning to Shadow Hearts...but didn't.

The only thing I hate about how many games I own is making a decision on what to play. For example, there are so many games that I'm either right at the end or very close that it's ridiculous and I should just up and beat them, but for whatever reason, I'm not interested. In fact, here's just off the top of my head...

- Front Mission 4. I don't know exactly how long the game is, but I'm pretty sure I'm within the last few missions.
- Kingdom Hearts 2. Beat the first one and I'm right at the last boss fight on the second...but I really hate the final parts of that fight and I've been completely unmotivated to try it again.
- Arc the Lad: Twilight of Spirits. I'm almost certain I'm right at the last area...but I have no idea how long it is, I know I've missed stuff in the game, and ultimately, I'm debating going back and getting it (restarting), but I'm not sure what I want to do.

Granted, that's not a lot of examples, but it shows you my general mindset with different games in general. It doesn't help that I'm highly indecisive. In any case, I'm wondering if I should do what I had been doing...keeping out one game per system and concentrating ONLY on those. I was actually able to make pretty good progress like that, but I stopped doing it for whatever reason (probably because I had either rented stuff or bought stuff and decided to end it).

Does this happen to anyone else? How do you keep yourself motivated to finish something?

[drunkenwildmage]

Ok.. A little late on the thread, but I'll throw my stuff in to.

I havn't games in a while, but when I did


Table top

Played

AD&D (2nd mostly, a little bit of third)
Battlelords
Shadowrun
Heros unlimited
Played in a traveler campaign that lasted all of 30 mins.
nightlife
Warewolf/Vampire
Battletech

Ran

Deadlands
Battlelords
Tales from the floating vagabond

Since then, the group went down from twice a week, to now, once every couple weeks or so, and I havn't had the time to get over there.



I have an 1st gen X-box, but don't play much on it... Maddan 07 from time to time, but that's about it

PC

Mostly RTS games

Age of Empires
Empire Earth
Roalroad Tycoon 2

And a EXTREMELY Modified version of NASCAR racing 2003

[gunsage]

"Extremely modified" how? I hate Nascar, but I'm still interested because of the description. Over the weekend I put in 15 hours on Dragonquest 8. Here's the strange part...I'm just about to where I was previously. I think that's primarily because I'm using the guide more liberally as far as what I can or can't/shouldn't sell, how to effectively distribute skill points, etc. Unfortunately, I still have problems with enemies that have completely unbalanced attacks.

Unbalanced how? Well, for example, there's a deritive of hammerhoods (hammerfaces or something) that will often go into super high tension in one turn. So, the basic tactic is to try to wipe him out quick before his next turn comes around. Yes, that's wonderful, unless a number of your allies get cursed, put to sleep, etc. and he up and takes out one of your characters (often Jessica) while your characters corndog about. GRAAAARRR!!

It especially infuriates me because these enemies aren't that hard, actually, but just plain bad luck, not tactics, will often net them an unfair advantage the likes of which would cause aneurisms to any Vegas gambler. Beyond that, over the course of Saturday alone, I managed to pave my way into the first summer on Rune Factory with the first cave almost completely full of spring stuffs, just about completely plowing through the second caves "fields" and all monster huts with about four of them full.

I'll say it again...if you like Harvest Moon, there's a VERY good chance you'll like Rune Factory. And in more annoying news, I made a sale on Amazon. Why's that annoying? Well, in my rush to get out the door this morning, I remembered the game, my food, my supplements, my granola stuffs, pop...but not the money necessary for shipping. DAMMIT!!

The worst part is I sold this one for $40, so I want to get it out quick so as to keep my feedback high. Ugh. That's about it for me. But yes, I'm interested in hearing the modified how of the Nascar game.

[lordlundar]

yeah, the Dragon Quest series never was known for being easy (heck, they're known for the very same reasons that you mentioned) but still one of the best out there for old school RPG goodness.

[gunsage]

Yeah, definitely. Of course, one of the reasons I love it is because yet another oldschool concept...dying = half GP. A lot of "modern" RPGs are harsh in this to make up for their lack of difficulty. Harsh how? Harsh in that you die, IT'S OVER. You get to continue at your last save point. Now, true, most of those have save points right before bosses, multiple save points per dungeon, able to save on overworld map, etc. And that's where DQ8 is also oldschool in a very old, cheap way...absolute lack of save points, heavy emphasis on grinding, can only view exp to level up at churches, no auto-battle...you get the idea.

I mean, sure, it's not that big of a deal if you're an oldschool RPG fanatic, but newer gamers may be turned off by it, even with the flashy graphics and awesome story. In any case, I enjoy it, so ya'll can go blow goats.

[Chanlin]

MMM Old school RPG's

Speaking of I really liked some lesser spoken of titles

7th Saga

Dual Orb 2

Most if not all of the Tales series esp Tales of Phantasia and Tales of Symphonia.

DQ8 is actually the only out of the DQ games I've played and it was so so for me. My only complaint is that it seemed extremely slow at times. But it was otherwise well done.

And I know they have been mentioned many times, but I use these as an example. I recently picked up the Ace Attorney games again (IE Phoenix Wright) and started playing back through them in anticipation of the new one coming in February and I have to say what I think I like most about these games, aside from the challenge of solving the mysteries they present, is that the Games did a good job of using music to set the mood of the scenes. I still remember the first time I played the first one and got to hear the first cornered theme and how exciting it made the moment.

I still get the same type of chills/excitement every time I play through Crono Trigger and Crono steps into the teleporter to go and rescue Marle, or when you first see the destruction that Lavos reigns down on the world and you decide that against all odds you are going to do something about it (those that have played the game should know what I mean) These are really the defining moments of games.

For a long time I've considered making a blog about these moments and writing up reviews/articles of games that really make this feeling happen. I just don't get to game as much any more between work and school

Anyway I like to call these Kill Shot moments (mostly because they happen during victorious or heroic moments when you have just done something spectacularly difficult) but they are not always "Kill Shots" so to speak.

So heres a good question for those who follow the thread. What moment sticks out for you as really defining or exciting moments in a game?

[lordlundar]

My big two "Kill Shot" moments:

KH2: The final action in the final fight. When it pans around and you're going "Oh ****!" Then the frantic button pressing to end it.

Zone of the Enders 2: I had two moments. One was the second last boss fight. The camera was arranged in just the right position where it was over the boss' shoulder as my final strike right across the boss' face. One of those "My kingdom for a screencap option!"

The other is the final fight. It's pretty much popping around so the fight is confusing at best. Delivering the final blow in the fight itself is absolutely a blast.

[gunsage]

Here we go. I loved 7th Saga, but never got very far in it. If I remember correctly, I maybe got one rune and the world map and that's about it. It was fun, but VERY repetitive. I like the concept of it, though, and the fact that while the plot itself doesn't stray too much per character, the development, friends/enemies, etc. does. Fun stuff. Never tried the first Dual Orb, but did the second. Didn't like it very much because of how ridiculously hard it is.

Tales is awesome, but I was a bit disappointed with the latest ones. I think my favorites are the Destiny ones...simple and done very well. PW is awesome and I'm looking forward to the next one. Can't remember when it's due out, but I'll be waiting in anticipation. If I had to list kill shots, it'd be a little difficult, but I'll certainly try...

- The first time I beat Resident Evil 2. I mean, come on, it's you, him, and whatever you may have salvaged at the end. And if I remember correctly, aren't you also being timed?

- The same thing could be said for any Metroid game, really. You don't often have a save point right before the final boss...and then you typically have a mad dash to the surface, your ship, or whatever and, of course, are timed.

- Castlevania 4. If I remember correctly, you have to fight a few bosses in a row...THEN Dracula. Nice. Fortunately, I believe there are checkpoints between each, but still VERY tough.

- Final Fantasy 1. You know, I can't even remember the ending because it was that crappy and not worth it. However, the entire Chaos Temple and finally leading up to Chaos? The ending could've been a midget licking his own asshole and it wouldn't have mattered because it was just the fact that you FINALLY BEAT IT. And yes, the same could be said for MOST other FFs.

- Beating just about any boss on the new Ninja Gaiden game. Ugh.

Concerning DQ8, I enjoyed the original DQ, never really played/got into 2-4, 5 is okay, 6 is pretty cool, 7 was kinda lame...8 was just badass. Now granted, it can be a bit slow, but that's primarily because of how long it takes to get everywhere, how grinding intensive it is, etc. Again, I think it's more for oldschool fanatics than anything and if you never played any previous DQs, I'm not surprised with the fact that you thought it was slow. The original DQ? Yeah, THAT'S slow.

And further concerning DQ8, I'm at the emo king's place. And yes, this is when I yet again complain about the lack of savepoints (working on getting to wisher's peak at dark). Ugh.

[gunsage]

Still DQ8ing away. I think I knocked out about 5 hours yesterday. The best part is since it's bright, flashy, and cartoony, my daughter LOVES it. In fact, I think it'd be fun to start a list of games that kids are interested in watching. Now remember, my daughter is less than two, so obviously it's flashy stuff and cartoony stuff that she enjoys. Anything that appears to be "too adult" (too much talking, too much drama, lots of text, etc.), she gets very bored with to the point of being fussy and just wanting to watch her cartoons instead. So far, here's what I've learned I can get away with...

- Okami
- Dragonquest 8
- Pretty much anything for the N64 (most of the games were relatively colorful and same thing applies with GC titles)

Okay so I guess I can't think of that many off the top of my head after all. But hey, it's win win. She normally watches a pretty decent amount of kids' shows anyway (Doodlebops, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Handy Manny, etc.), so I just substitute with something she'll actually watch AND I get to play a game at the same time while also having her in my direct line of sight! And you might say "Ah but you could just let her watch what she wanted and play on the computer."

No, not exactly. Not if I wanted to keep her in my line of sight, anyway. Really, that's the most important thing. There are times where she's being so good I can nap on the couch while she watches TV and there are times where she's energetic enough that I could never get away with that and often have to make up stuff to do with her. It's not that it's not fun, it's just that personally, on my days off, I'd rather chill and relax. Sure, I'd love to go to Gameworks, too, but she's just not old enough for me to not have to push her around in a stroller there. I'm thinking maybe once she's 5 it'll be better for places like that.

Anyway, since we've been talking about more oldschool titles lately, I'd like to recommend a few deliberately obscure ones. Warning...shameless plugs ahead.

- Brandish
- Parasite Eve 1 & 2
- Final Fantasy stuffs
- Front Mission and Gun Hazard
- Monkey Island 1 - 3 ONLY
- Breath of Fire 2 - 4 ONLY

I think that's good enough for now. You get the idea.

[Shangri-laschild]

Yay! My best friend just finished my new computer and so I can now play NWN2! Can't tell you how long I've been waiting for a decent enough computer for this.

[gunsage]

How is Neverwinter Nights, anyway? I never got on that bandwagon, but I've heard good things.

[Shangri-laschild]

Dear god amazing. I don't like online games where I have to work with other people because I like to be able to do my own thing more than I can on an online game. It's really good. There are so many options and it's got a great storyline and graffics.

[Chanlin]

My only rant with the Original NWN, and I'm gonna add D & D online (DDO) sort of separately here is that even with all of the options there are some parts that just did not translate well.

I unfortunately can't put into words what it is that bothers me about NWN so much, but being a hard core tabletop RPG fan I just couldn't really get into NWN.

As for DDO I can be a bit more specific. I have to say they did a very very good job with DDO in terms of areas, traps, etc. What bothered me the most is playing with other people, which eventually becomes needed. What I ran into trying to play a Rogue (my favorite class) is that I was really only needed for my ability to remove traps. I didn't have to search for them because the people I was with had already beaten the quest we were on and knew where all the traps and secret areas were so they did not need my ability to scout ahead or find the traps and secrets. And some of them would even just plow through the traps that weren't so bad and just get healed afterward. In other words my character was useless, and again there was no real D&D feel which boiled the game back to a glorified version of Diablo in my mind. Not to say Diablo is a bad game, but its not what I wanted out of DDO.

I will say I did have a lot of fun playing through the provided story line in NWN with a buddy of mine, it was essentially Diablo, just different story and more in depth character abilities.