VideoGame_Discussion

Slickriven wrote:

I'm not sure either. Like all of those brutal arcade games of that era, it's that combination of obsession and pattern recognition that gets you through the game, I imagine.

It's a shame. If you play through the console versions, you can power up your character more so that each hit/de-power isn't a practical game-ender. But then you only have five credits to get through everything.

3rd in June and in about 3 days, 37th overall, 2nd on
Hoa

I had started this about 2 months ago when I had a chance to actually play on my X1X as that TV ends up being used by my wife 99% of the time and today I got a chance to resume playing it - I had other chances since but eh the game wasn't that compelling. It's a nice, simple experience, but nothing all that great. Short enough that I wanted to, and did, finish it. I'd have to replay it fully to get 1 achievement and I missed one other. I did take a few mins to seek out the 2nd but just didn't care when I couldn't recall where I needed to go for that so uninstalled and moving on.

OP updated! I've been pretty sluggish on clears lately, since my new job takes a lot of time, and the games I'm currently playing are pretty lengthy. But I'll finish them!

SupremeSarna wrote:

Thanks for sticking with this. How does @Bleed_DukeBlue get the Destroy the Core badge twice - can we earn them twice? Or was it just a typo?

Slickriven wrote:

Thanks for alerting me. The A, C, and X keys on my keyboard are somewhat unresponsive, so copying text occasionally doesn't work. So after I pasted the Destroy the Core badge, it didn't register me copying 2nd Amendment and just pasted the Destroy the Core again. I've fixed it.

I beat Bosconian , as far as I’m concerned.
[imgt w=1536 h=2048]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GPw0rHzX0AEIjZj?format...[/imgt]
My high score was 41390, quit on round 14. It goes up to round 255 before reseting, but no one on this thread will do that. I’ve seen what there is to see, and even repeated a few of the same enemy positions.

I have nostalgic memories of playing Bosconian on my old Plug ‘n’ Play, but it doesn’t hold up as well as I remembered. The main issue is how you reset to the middle of the screen after every death. So you spend a lot of time flying back to the enemy base that killed you, only to die and have to fly back there once again. It gets monotonous quickly.

If they added a mechanic where you could move faster if you weren’t shooting, it might be a bit better. Then there’d be a risk-reward element to it at least. But as it is, eh.

#47: The Bookwalker: Thief of Tales on Xbox Series X. I would like to use this clear (alongside my previous clear of Wordtris) to claim the Brain Teaser badge. Part of the official description of the game includes:

“Solve unconventional puzzles across fiction and reality. Test your ingenuity with unique puzzles that encourage thinking outside the box, as you freely travel between fiction and reality, gathering valuable items to overcome obstacles. Using the mystical power of ink, you can manipulate objects within the books, adding depth to your interactions and unlocking new paths to explore.”

The majority of the game involves solving puzzles.
Usually, I’m not a puzzle fan, but the puzzles were reasonable in this game. I was able to solve all of them without consulting a guide, and the narrative was really interesting. Every now and then, I stumble upon a Game Pass indie that really impresses me, and this (like Immortality, although that game is very different) was one of those times. I mainly played this because it was about the leave Game Pass, and I’m glad I did. One of the most creative storylines I’ve ever seen in a game.

#48 down: Before Your Eyes on PSVR2. Could this count toward the Now You're Playing with Plastic badge? You play it entirely with the headset using eye tracking. (You don't use any controller at all. You just look at things and move your head (for example, you connect a line with your eyes across the pages to turn the page of some piano music), blink (to move forward in time and to activate certain things around the game), and close your eyes (for some scenes to advance while you listen to things happening around you)).

This is a really unique game about a kid in the afterlife preparing for his life to be retold to the gatekeeper to see whether or not he is worthy of going to a great city (with punishment on the horizon for over-embellishing). I wasn't so sure about it at first, but it grew on me, and, by the end, I had a lot of appreciation for it. It's pretty short, and there isn't really any replay value, so I'm not sure how I would feel if I had paid full price for it, but, since I got to play it through PS+ premium, it was well worth the experience. The story is pretty moving, and the way you control things is unlike anything I've experienced. In the same way that Astro's Playroom was a great tech demo for the PS5 controller's haptic feedback, Before Your Eyes is a great tech demo for eye tracking.

Date: 6/11
Number: 21
Title: Secret of Monkey Island
Time: n/a
Badge: "Guybrush Threepwood" [Close to the Sun on 1/8 & Secret of Monkey Island 6/11]

I always knew this series had left a nice impression on this style of game and was popular. Point and click just usually aren't my thing. However, I decided to give it a try due to the Retro talk shop thread. It was clever, it was funny. Definitely a few audible chuckles during gameplay. Some of the puzzles were hard to get right, and the bits with no sound/music were unwelcome. How do the sequels stack up to the original?
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Date: 6/11
Number: 22
Title: Bucky O'Hare *Arcade*
Time: n/a
Badge: none yet

As a kid, my local bowling alley had this and Cowboys of Moo Mesa. Due to the nostalgia alone those two Beat Em Ups are my two favorite to this day. Might give Moo Mesa a shot here soon.
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Game #33 of 2024

DOOM 3 VR Edition on

Game #34 of 2024

Spirit of the North on
Too bad it scored just a couple points too high to qualify for You're Winner badge.

Date: 6/15
Number: 23
Title: Streets of Rage 4
Time: n/a
Badge: "Pile Drivin'" [Bucky O'Hare on 6/11 & Streets of Rage 4 6/15]

Thanks for going free on PSN. I actually enjoyed this reboot. The art style and animation encapsulated the 80s nicely. Maybe a tad too easy in story mode by design, but challenge can be had in the other game modes.
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Game #35 of 2024

Among the Sleep on

4th of June, 38th overall, 1st
The Order: 1886

As a PS4 exclusive this was a game I wanted to get and beat even before I even got the console. It then took me a good while to get the console and then a year+ before finally fetching a copy and then maybe another 8 months before I made it my PS4 priority. As you can maybe tell, I didn't ultimately put much of a 'rush' on this but with it being relatively short, I finally wanted to just get this done and the credits are rolling now.
I can see why the game earns its criticisms and some praise. The alternative history, story and inclusion of some characters like Nikola Telsa, plus the Lycan aspect, some cool weapons and the way the game ends were all plusses. The large amount of cutscenes, the short length of actual gameplay, the generally bad 'stealth' section, some just meh gunplay and really underutilized fights against the Lycans were all negatives.
The game also left several wide open possibilities for a sequel that certainly doesn't seem like they'll ever be explored.

Ultimately I'm glad I played it and more happy to knock off my first Sony console title on the year. I had wanted to focus on my more recent consoles like the PS3, PS4, Wii, WiiU and 360 or newer Xboxes, but besides playing several on my XSX, I really haven't touched those others, so getting 1 in finally feels good. I'm now eager to move onto 1 of the following PS4 games: Uncharted 4 (to finish Drake's story), Bloodborne (after enjoying Lies of P, a co-worker strongly suggested this) or revisiting Horizon Zero Dawn to do the Frozen Wilds DLC.

#49 down: Darkwing Duck (NES)- I would like to count this toward the Heavy Machine Gun badge.

This was a somewhat fun (albeit pretty tough) run n' gun where you do a bit of light platforming but mostly just run around shooting stuff. It's pretty quick. The one really frustrating part was the final boss. It took me awhile to figure out what to do, and I died immediately a bunch of times.

#50 down: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters (NES)- I would like to claim the Street Fightin' badge with this and my previous clear of Mortal Kombat 1 on PS5.

I'm not great at fighting games, but the simplicity of this (given the NES controls) was kinda nice. It meant going back to the basics of looking for the right windows to attack and knowing when to defend and dodge. It took some practice, but I got the hang of it eventually.

#51: Ven VR Adventure on PSVR2- This, alongside my previous clear of HappyFunland: Souvenir Edition gets me the Bear & Bird badge.

I've never liked collect-a-thons, and I'm not a big fan of platformers either, but everything is more fun in VR. This is a pretty tough game. Fortunately, you can replay levels to bank more lives (which is helpful given that you die a lot in this game). Your character (who looks kind of like a Great Value Crash Bandicoot) dies if hit a single time. If you fall, you die. If an enemy hits you, you die. If an enemy projectile or a wall spike, or a laser beam, or an axe coming from the wall, or a conveyor belt with moving spikes, or practically anything else around you that looks even remotely threatening touches you, then you die. There are a some really tough platforming sections (such as a part where you're sliding down ice and have to jump at just the right times and in the right places to avoid dying from laser beams set at different heights and angles). There are checkpoints, so that helps, but, at higher difficulties, there are fewer of them (and it also takes more collectibles per extra life). The last boss was pretty tough, so I left the game unfinished and went on vacation. I just got back tonight, and, having thought a bit about a better strategy, beat him on the first try since I came back, so that was nice. Apparently, just over 7% of people who played Ven beat the final boss, so I'm feeling good.

#52 down: Metal Slug on PC. This, alongside my previous clear of Darkwing Duck, should get me the Heavy Machine Gun badge.

I never actually played the Metal Slug games, but this came up as a free game via Prime Gaming, so I gave it a shot. It would definitely be tough without the ability to specify how many continues you get. I can see how this would decimate some people's quarters in the arcade. The power-ups are fun, and this reminded me a bit of Contra.

With this down, I've got all of my clears accounted for from the last several days.

Game #36 of 2024

Escape Academy on
If I don't already have the BFFL badge, this will earn it. It can be played single player but my friend and I each only bought it to play in co-op.

#34

Ghostrunner II

For those unfamiliar with the Ghostrunner games, this is probably the most fun you will ever have dying in a video game without getting angry. It’s Mirror’s Edge meets Shadow Warrior with a heavy emphasis on finding your flow and rhythm to make it thru each section in mission based gameplay with super generous checkpoints close to each other that you can sometimes count the seconds apart from each checkpoint on one hand. There’s even mid-checkpoints during boss fights because the developers really respect and value your time and encourage you to succeed at all points in the game. The game isn’t perfect though. The platforming controls do feel a bit wonky at times and sometimes button placement for some of the key platforming maneuvers you have to use takes a bit of training your brain and undergoing a little trial and error to succeed. The combat though is air tight and as crisp as it is precise. Enemies die in 1 hit as do you for the most part unless you apply some perk or upgrade that allows you to take a fatal blow to your stamina bar while you block to allow you to have another chance at survival. Besides a sword you’re equipped with energy sub weapons that recharge on their own such as Shuriken, cloaking and even an energy push like a force push. All can be used in combat and platforming sections to unlock new areas and progress further in each mission. The music too is that catchy future noir cyberpunk techno style beat and it actually helps you navigate some areas that call for timing as you flow into the beat of the tunes. Overall I didn’t think I would enjoy dying and respawning in a game as much as I did with this series and if you’re a fan of challenging yet rewarding gameplay in an environment that favors persistence by inching you closer to your goal the more you wash, rinse and repeat then give this ninja cyberpunk game a go.