VideoGame_Discussion

I beat Red Alarm. Virtual Boy Month is going well!
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One of the better VB games, though nothing stellar. The vector graphics are decent, and quite unique for the system. Even on Easy, this game doesn’t pull its punches. Higher difficulties are too extreme.

To everyone in the thread: Of the games you've beaten this year, which one do you know the best? Just curious.

#73 down: The Legend of Tianding on Xbox Series X. The art style for this is really nice, and it feels like you’re playing a comic book. The storyline (you are a Taiwanese thief subverting the invading Japanese empire) was atypical and interesting. The final boss fight is frustrating, but the rest is pretty fun. This was a decent Game Pass game.

SupremeSarna wrote:

Probably River City Ransom. It's definitely something I can play again and again. With me owning portable emulators now, even more often. But funny enough Ys VIII Lacrimosa of Dana might be the next one. I played it once on Vita, and Once on Switch. It's a great game, but seriously by the time I got near the end of the switch version I was ready to move on, lol. It's fairly long.

I think I like it better on the small Vita screen. And ironically I bought a Vita again and now I definitely don't want to play it again.

SupremeSarna wrote:

Hands down Heroes of Might & Magic II for me. This was one of the first PC games I remember purchasing as a kid. I played it for countless hours, and still go back and beat handfuls of maps and the campaigns every few years or so. My siblings and cousins would play hot seat mode, where each takes a team and we'd play the cooperative maps for hours on end. If I had to venture a guess, I'm well into the hundreds, and probably creeping up on 1000+ hours of total play time on this game.

#38
The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes

This was probably the best one in the series I’ve played out of the 4 (Devil in Me is next when it’s on a sale) as it didn’t really feature much fake outs or super crazy silly plot twists like the first two games in the series did. Or maybe I’m just a sucker for a good tale about creepy demonic forces. Plus the whole setting and time in history made sense for the atmosphere. Taking soldiers in place of a post 9/11 war torn Iraq and putting them deeper down into the poop was interesting as was the lore that followed within the ancient Sumerian culture. But the usual complaints remain as we’re with the previous titles as in its very limited in mobility when moving around as there’s no real sprint button. Movement still feels clunky and the contextual timed button presses are still a bit passé for this day and age but I guess it still works if you’re just wanting to sit back and enjoy a story more so than use your hands constantly as with most other games. Overall though it’s a solid story with some decent performances I thought throughout its 5-6 hour short journey that once again begs to be replayed to see the numerous different endings. Preferably with someone else for a coop experience.

I beat Call of Duty Ghosts on the xbox1

Thanks, @incubus421 and @ErickRPG . What about the rest of you? Which game that YOU beat this year do you know best?

Probably Marvel’s Midnight Suns, as I spent a ton of hours on it and tried lots of different setups with various teams. I still have three DLCs to play but I’m not rushing to them just yet, since it looks like it didn’t sell well, and we probably won’t get a sequel. It’s really too bad, as it got strong reviews and is a great game.

SupremeSarna wrote:

Oh that’s an easy one for me. KOTOR II. I used to eat, drink and poop those old BioWare games back in the day. Almost played this with my eyes closed.

My #43 is Baldur's Gate 3.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/TrtbmTWwgPsb9YLN6

Great game, took me 75 hours.

@DemonAlcohol Which system was that on? And which game from this year's conquest do you know the best?

PC. What do you mean?

DemonAlcohol wrote:

Of all the games you beat this year, which do you have the most experience with? If someone were to, hypothetically, quiz you about it?

Prob Resident Evil 4 Remake

I beat Mega Man: The Wily Wars (originally Genesis).
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It's a solid remake of MM1-3, but its main appeal is the unlockable Wily Tower segment. You can choose eight weapons and three items and then fight through stages made up of hazards from the three games. There are several weird bosses, like ones based on Journey to the West. The big boss has two health bars!

I was a little let down by Wily Tower, TBH. It's bizarrely easy, even if you don't use your weapons. It also takes too long to unlock it compared to the mode's actual length. On the bright side, you can copy save files, so I just filled out my save slots with ones that have Wily Tower unlocked from the get-go. So I can return to it whenever.

Updated!

Two more games made the list; one for the birthday extravaganza, and the other took me completely by surprise.

Number: 64
Full Title: One Must Fall: Battlegrounds
Platform Played: Windows
Collection: N/A
Native Platform: Windows
Original Platforms: Windows
Applicable Badge: Street Fightin' (already earned)

Battlegrounds takes everything great about One Must Fall 2097 and throws it out the window, save for the fighting robots. Gone are the incredible soundtrack, polished presentation, sense of scale, sharp fighting engine, and clever character profiles. In its place are a handful of oversized, buggy, unoptimized third-person brawling arenas where two or more "giant" robots clumsily wail on each other until one fighter - and your PC hardware - is exhausted. This isn't my first time playing through Battlegrounds, and while there is a part of me that appreciates the original did ultimately get a sequel, I was hoping for something that'd do it more justice.

And now for something completely different...

Number: 65
Full Title: Mario Kart Arcade GP DX
Platform Played: Arcade
Collection: N/A
Native Platform: Arcade
Original Platforms: Arcade
Applicable Badge: Race Drivin' (already earned)

Any time we see a Mario Kart arcade machine in the wild, my four-year-old son usually gets me to throw a few bucks at it. (Let's be honest here... He doesn't exactly have to twist my arm.) Being the world's only Toad fan, he usually picks him as our driver and one of the green, happy tracks to race on. Today, since he's been binging the Illumination Mario movie lately and developed a fascination with Bowser, he opted to play as Peach this time around and race in Bowser's Castle in the Expert Circuit. It was a tough race, especially considering I'd never played on it before, but we squeaked out a photo finish against Mario and pulled ahead at the last second for the win.

My son then insisted that we move to the left and play again on the 1P cabinet (Toad on Peach's Castle, as usual) but as we were doing the weapon roulette, I looked back at the 2P cabinet and saw that the credits were rolling, which doesn't usually happen. Apparently, you can watch the ending if you finish in first place on Bowser's Castle. I snapped a photo for Internet points, and here we are.

I've started MDK 2 for the Birthday Extravaganza, though I'm also rapidly approaching the end of the GRIP: Combat Racing campaign, so it's hard to say which will be finished first. I'm hedging bets on the latter, given MDK's average playtime and the difficulty with which I've gotten through MDK's first two levels.

@Renaissance2K Have you posted all the birthday games you’ve beaten so far? I recall you beating MM8, but for posterity’s sake, you should officially submit it here before I catalog it.

SupremeSarna wrote:

I remember writing a post about Mega Man 8 and Twisted Metal: Black but I don't know what happened to it. Probably posted it in the wrong thread or something.

Those should be the only games missing from this thread. Black should be 2/2 for Mass Destruction.

Virtual Boy Month continues. I beat Nester’s Funky Bowling .
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It’s an okay bowling game. I think ranking on the leaderboard counts it as beaten, since topping the leaderboard requires nothing short of excellence that isn’t realistic for a Virtual Boy game of this caliber. I bowled quite a few games, too, so I didn’t stop as soon I got that score.

After a lot of tries, I beat Gunstar Heroes (originally Genesis).
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It's like Cuphead, but released in 1993 and with less buttons to work with. The graphics and animation are fabulous, and the challenge is relentless. Definitely a fun time, though the boss gauntlets can be a bit much.

I beat my highscore on Jetpac and Lunar Jetman both on the xbox 1

Another birthday extravaganza game crosses the finish line. Literally.

Number: 66
Full Title: GRIP: Combat Racing
Platform Played: Windows
Collection: N/A
Native Platform: Windows
Original Platforms: Windows
Applicable Badge: Race Drivin' (already earned)

GRIP is a spiritual successor to the obscure Rollcage franchise, a futuristic combat racing game with huge-wheeled cars that can keep driving, even after they've flipped over. At high speeds, cars can drive on walls and ceilings and still keep on truckin' even after they're out of runway. GRIP started out as a disappointing follow-up; the physics engine and complicated track designs missed most of the sense of fun for which the original was known. A few patches later, however, and the game is back on track; pun intended. It took quite a while to get through the game's long, 11-tiered campaign, and a few of the events - especially the Speed Demon races, which take away weapons - were real tests of skill and patience. But overall, it was a blast that paired well with a Steam Deck or VR headset.

I'm saving Warhawk as a palate cleanser, so there's nothing standing between me and MDK 2 any more, for better or for worse. We'll save the world if I can manage to not kill Dr. Fluke myself.

1st in several weeks, 68th overall, 1st
Rollcage
Might as well claim for Race Driv'n and that earns it along with Aqua GT

Did this one for Ren2K's bDay celebration. I was going to try for a Twisted Metal first as that's on my PS1 classic, but I'm still in the midst of the remodel and my setup is still down from that. So instead I found I had some ROMs on this PC and Rollcage and Warhawk were in that set... well Warhawk wasn't something I could jump into quickly so I did Rollcage and knocked it out pretty quick. I might try the 'hard' difficulty after getting through the default easy set, but the controls and ease of getting spun around sort of stunk, so I'm not crazy about that idea.

It does get me to 24 consoles @SupremeSarna

Slickriven wrote:

So it does...
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Took me almost 22 hours on the dot, but I finished Resident Evil 4 (2023) on Xbox Series X. Despite fond memories of playing it, I never beat the original on GC or any of the subsequent remasters.

I'm looking forward to playing Ada's DLC sometime soon.

#19 - Final Fantasy XVI

After griping about the first 25-35 hours of this game...and I stand by those gripes...the second 25-35 were much better. Great boss fights in the later half of the game, the character development comes full circle, and it has an awesome ending.

image

Frank wrote:

Which system?

SupremeSarna wrote:
Xbox Series X. I also just rolled credits on my game of Inside, also on Xbox Series X, which I've been casually playing for what felt like a year.

My #44 is Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales

https://photos.app.goo.gl/RujFRhfbAPGE2HLz6

Didn't care for this one as much as the original. I think the venom powers are kind of unnecessarily flashy. The main antagonist and plot feels a little out there, even for superhero games. Still fun to web sling through New York and beat up bad guys.

2nd this month and 2nd for Ren2k's bDay event, 69th overall, 2nd on
Mega Man 2

Was never huge into this series, but I actually won/bought MM2 and MM3 carts a few years ago in an auction, had thought about trying to beat them on my old console, but ended up going the ROM route for this and realized that save states is the only way I would have beat it. I wouldn't say I abused them, but they were helpful to me for sure. I also followed along with a wiki or guide on how best to face the bosses in terms or order and which weapons work best. I didn't follow that 100% as I found some weapons more to my liking, but obviously some simply don't work on certain bosses, so that was helpful to avoid too much trial & error (i.e. frustration).

I beat Curse of the Sea Rats on Switch. About a 10 hour long Metroidvania. Pretty good despite the reviews making me hesitant to buy it at first. (Only pulled the trigger when Amazon had it for $15.)

Number: 25
Full Title: Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
Platform Played: (GOG)
Collection: N/A
Native Platform:
Original Platform:
Applicable Badge: Vault Boy (1/2)

image

The timing of this one was great, because it highlighted how much better a game Cyberpunk 2077 is than Starfield without ruining Starfield for me. For context, Cyberpunk 2077 is the best game available on the PS5 and Xbox Series, though you shouldn't play it on them. It's not particularly close with the one significant caveat that I still have not played Elden Ring (but hope to this Christmas). The only other comparable contemporary games are Half-Life: Alyx and Tears of the Kingdom. Phantom Liberty's story is even stronger than the main game, and the 2.0 patch made it all feel new again.

Yoshi wrote:

I'll have some of whatever you are smoking.

OP updated! (grits teeth) Enjoy your cake, @Slickriven ...

#7 *Miitopia* I probably like this game more than any reasonable person should/10

I like Miis, but y’all knew that already. When Miitopia originally hit the 3DS, I was all in. And yes, I bought it again. But this time, you get a horse! I named her Epona.

My main character was Mr. Iwata, the kind Chef. Joining him on this epic journey were the cool Cleric benstylus, the cautious Mage Neorune, the kind Warrior Phoenix, the cool Thief Edgeworth, the energetic Princess Maya, the cautious Scientist Layton, the energetic Flower OMG Guy, the kind Cat

Chiyo-chan, and the energetic Pop Star Mitsuyoshi.

The combination of classes and personality traits of the Miis, along with the friendship mechanic, can make a big difference in battle. The interactions between the Miis in your party is one of the best parts of the game, but it’s also frustrating when your Miis are butting heads. The Tank and Imp classes can actually contribute to antagonistic situations between your party members, so I honestly don’t like to use them.

The good: Woolly Armor, Epona, getting in a really awesome attack on a tough group of enemies, lots of content
The bad: Fiends, Miis getting into arguments, not having enough money or grub, the Tank and Imp classes
The ugly: some of the Miis that might pop up if you go online

1 point towards Level Up!

sailorneorune wrote:

I wasn’t sure if you were going to beat another game this year. Glad you liked Miitopia so much—it’s quite the unique RPG, even for Nintendo. I played the 3DS version in 2018, when the Somebody Toucha My Spaghet meme was going around, and I did my best to recreate that character in Mii form. That was fun.

Virtual Boy Month rages on, and so I beat a game I’ve never managed before: Mario Clash !
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Mario Clash is like a 3D version of the Mario Bros. arcade game. It’s interesting, but I’ve got mixed feelings about it. Supposedly, it was intended as a mini game inside Mario Land VB, but was then hastily turned into a full game when that title got scrapped. As such, it’s a score attack game with brief coin-catching bonus stages to break it up. There are 99 floors to the Clash Tower but it goes infinitely, as far as I know. There are no boss fights, no save files, not even a reveal of Wario like the manual implies. It feels quite lacking as a result.

Unlike the arcade game where you hit enemies from underneath to flip and then kick them, here you bop Koopas and then hurl their shells as projectiles. You can throw shells left or right, or into the background/foreground. You usually have to hit enemies the latter way to defeat them, but the game doesn’t convey which enemies have that requirement and which don’t. Regardless, it’s quite satisfying whacking a bunch of baddies by lobbing Koopas at ‘em, especially when the shell returns to you.

Sadly, it’s cumbersome getting from one plane to another. Unlike the superior VB Wario Land, you can’t jump effortlessly across planes—you have to enter a pipe on either side of the screen, but only one of the two pipes takes you there in most stages. The other pipe takes you to a higher elevation. So you have to constantly juggle which pipe to take to get a Koopa shell, then determine which plane and elevation you need to be on to snipe that enemy over there, all while the enemies are bumping into each other and turning around. They even enter the same pipes you do, so good luck keeping it straight.

It’s fun enough to be one of the better VB games in my 13-game collection. But it’s got problems that make it an incomplete experience. I’m considering this beaten because I topped the default high score, which takes some practice to do.

SupremeSarna wrote:

Iron Chef Iwata is best Mii though.

On to #8 Detective Pikachu Returns A Softboiled detective story/10

I played through this game about a week ago, and it was a good time. Pokémon games’ lore tends to get pretty dark. It took me some unexpected places emotionally. Come for the fun mystery solving, stay for the story of the origin of the Goodman family’s unusually gifted Pikachu (not a spoiler, it’s on the case). Gave me warm fuzzies for the trippy feeling of early Pokémon anime episodes and movies. Bring your favorite warm beverage (Pikachu likes coffee; I prefer hot cocoa myself).

The good: CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!, Detective Pikachu’s interactions, the buddy Pokémon

The bad: like Phoenix Wright, the story is only truly enjoyable the first time through, no amiibo functionality making the Detective Pikachu amiibo the least useful to be released in North America
The ugly: (not really related ) the eBay prices of the Qbby amiibo, the least useful amiibo to not be released in North America. I have one because benstylus bought the Box Boy trilogy set for me a while back. But seriously, eff that noise.

3rd in Oct, 3rd for Ren2k's bDay celebration, 70th overall, 8th
One Must Fall 2097
Earns me the Street Fightin' badge with Virtua Fighter

I beat the 1player mode twice, initially on the Rookie difficulty which didn't allow you to fight the final robot and a second time on Veteran difficulty that did allow that fight - which was brutal and I took way too many cracks at it. First time I used
Steffan in the Jaguar frame and the second run was Raven in the Chronos frame. Game only has a punch and kick button and no moves list present and I didn't look them up - but it tells you and you can figure it out, that back+punch does something different vs just punch. Having to figure that out on my own wasn't all that enjoyable and I'm sure I missed plenty of moves. You also jump with up and block by pushing away. I'm WAY too aggressive in most fighting games and that hurt me some here as I rarely blocked since I was often pushing or jumping forward. I was also trying out my Stadia controller wired to my PC and I'm not certain it wasn't a little iffy at times via the Retroarch and DOSbox-Pure emulation setup - <shrug> The game had some pretty cool music and a oddball 'story' that was told after you beat the final dude.