VideoGame_Discussion

Hahaha at the least two comments... Welcome to the wonderful world of badges, @SupremeSarna!!

I'm fine with 1 or 2, but don't think it should be more.

I wouldn't mind more badges being added. There is allot of games that dont qualify for any of the current badges. So it would be nice to see something added.

I really don't see a problem with adding more badges for the few of us that actually try and complete them. I see no down side to adding as many badges as we feel necessary. I'm not really sure why so many are against the badges, they are fun to try and earn for some of us and for those who dont care adding more wouldnt matter to them anyway. So my vote is add as many as we can think of.

My OCD can’t take it lol.

WithinTemptation wrote:

I’m going against the grain and adding a few that have unconventional unlock requirements. Without giving one of them away, has anyone here played Mega Man 9?

I think some could have unique reqs, like for rpg based ones, maybe only require 1 clear since they take so long generally to complete? Then the quarter muncher one make that require 3+? Ditto the 1v1 fighting game - I had already requested you beat any arcade like mode with 2 characters since they can be quick. I don't think they have to be locked at 2 clears each.

#29 (and my last for the year) Kirby and the Forgotten Land

Great game. Reminded me a lot of Super Mario 3D World/Land in an isotopic style 2.5D platformer. Some pretty cool boss fights and a neat little soundtrack. I think Kirby games should stick to this format moving forward. 2D Kirby platforming is good. 2.5D Kirby platforming is great.

#49 is Horizon: Forbidden West on

I'll try and knock out one more game before the year ends so it's an even 50

------ OP Updated

Been meaning to get an update completed but been busy with pre-Christmas stuff and at work. This should be my last big update as I'll try to do small updates more regularly with only ~8 days left in the year.
December leaderboard so far:
1. @SupremeSarna 28 clears, pushing for the 2nd and just 1 shy now
2. @ErickRPG 7 clears, almost to 125
3. @DemonAlcohol & @Renaissance2K 5 clears
5. @benstylus @Best1989 @incubus421 @PizzaTheHutt @Slickriven 4 clears
10. @Bleed_DukeBlue 3 clears

As stated I'll try to make OP updates more often across the next week. We're at 1574 total clears already blowing past last year by 124 clears. I wonder if we can get 26 more to crack 1600 - suppose that'll come down to if @WithinTemptation drops a few handfuls on us... but I'm working on 2 as I'm trying to get 100% of my consoles and with work done until next year I'm hoping to squeeze in a couple beyond the 2 I'm pretty far into.

I would've had 200 already if Pushmo hadn't dropped three bonus worlds on me after the credits! I'll post it as cleared when I've beaten the last remaining stages, though I technically qualify now since I reached the story's official end last week.

If anyone knows how to beat the Campfire or Moai Statues puzzles, I'd like to hear it. I'm trying to win every stage without looking at a guide, but I wouldn't say no to friendly tips by folks online.

Finished #129! After beating Wario Land 2 on Tuesday of this week and hearing the complaints about Wario Land 3's final boss from SupremeSarna, I decided that had to be my next game.

For the record, the last boss was probably one of the easiest of the bosses to beat. Possibly one of the easiest bosses of all time (not counting joke bosses like Bob the Goldfish in Earthworm Jim) I reloaded my save from before the boss and then then tried to get kill't and was able to do it by getting smooshed in a clap. But they are slow and super easy to dodge.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/NJbEqHu6PmoGuwiB8

Overall, although the gameplay mechanics are similar to Wario Land 2, the structure of the game makes this s a very different experience from the previous game. Unfortunately, my opinion is that it is a change for the worse.

Instead of a series of sequential levels, you now have a world map that opens up bit by bit as you get new items and powers. There are 4 chests on each level to find, and opening any chest ends the level (kind of like getting the stars in Mario 64).

Much of each level is initially inaccessible as well, slowly opening up as you gain new poweup items, or other items that change some things around in the levels (for example, you get a flute that charms snakes in three other levels to come out of their pots and let you access a higher area in those levels). Sometimes clearing a level will open things in multiple other levels. And then the next level may open one or two more, etc. Hope you remember all the levels with new access opened up! Essentially it's an overly long and complicated metroidvania. Thankfully you can always go to the temple for a hint on where to go next, but that can be long trudge back across the map to the temple to gey a hint where to go especially if you have to keep going back there.

As far as level design, it's generally pretty good, although there are a few frustrating points. Timing issues with clearing some of the "Wario on fire" walls (you can only break the walls while fully covered in flames, but prior to that you are autorunning and only able to reverse directions when you hit a wall); needing perfect aim on some "flat wario" floaty parts; and several one hit fail areas. Thank goodness for save states in those parts.

Boss fights are still frustrating, often with a single hit from their signature attack booting you out of the boss area so you have to redo the fight (just like in Wario Land 2).

Total clear time (with save states used to not have to redo long stretches of instafail areas) was just under 9 hours. Probably would have been double that if I had to keep redoing stuff. Actually scratch that. Probably would still have been under 9 hours but I would have just Rage quit at some point due to having to repeat the same stuff so often.

So in short, this game is designed for people who are the opposite of me. I can see how a lot of people might like it, but without savestates there would be far too much trial and error retreading for me.

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@benstylus ‘Ey, no need for hyperbole! Maybe I was worse at gaming in high school, but I was definitely less patient back then. I had also gone back to do more of those extra things you said you’d rage-quit over, and then I found out the final boss has a game-defying kill moves that force me to rewatch a cutscene whenever I mistime that jump. I was all out of patience back at that point.

I did eventually pick it back up and beat him in a few tries. Since I haven’t formed any good memories with WL3 since 2014, that clown is the first thing I think of when the game is mentioned.

At least we can all agree that Wario Land 4 is vastly superior.

SupremeSarna wrote:

It's really not hyperbole. It was what, 4 hits and he was out? I'm having a tough time thinking of easier bosses in other games... maybe Super Mario Bros Bowser if you get to him while big or fire mario since you can just eat the hit and cut the bridge


And Wario Land Shake It.

But not Touch My Wario. It's still the worst of all of them.

benstylus wrote:

IMO, any boss that has a 1-hit-kill move is automatically on a higher rung than one without.

My #56 is Chicory: A Colorful Tale.

https://ibb.co/0tbnWvf

#68 and #69 down: Family Guy and Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows on PS2. With that, I’ve beaten something on every system.

Family Guy was funny in places but the attempts at humor fell flat in others. It was pretty tedious with some awful difficulty spikes in a couple of places (the Black Knight fight had the worst QTE thing ever). It looked pretty good for a PS2 game though.

Gauntlet was OK. The gameplay is repetitive, but that’s not rare for a Gauntlet game. It had a bit less depth than some Gauntlet games I’ve played. The final boss was neat.

#131 is Super Mario Bros Deluxe via

I beat the NES version back in mid February. This is an expanded remake of the game with new challenge stages that have you search each for 5 red coins and a yoshi egg, snd there are stages where you race against boo as well.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/qoVzmxGuVG5bDvff9

They kept all the same size sprites from the original game as well as most of the exploits (including the infinite 1up trick).

However, due to the large sprites this game is significantly more difficult than the original. You can scroll the screen to see where you need to go, but with the screen resolution being less than 40% of the original NES, there are a lot of very difficult moments due to needing to act quickly but also needing to know where you are going to land.

I like it, but just barely. And that's probably just my familiarity with the original talking.

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benstylus wrote:

Toldja.

I just got past Thor's sons in God of War PS4. That was a fun fight with the dark mechanic. My opinion overall hasn't increased at the moment. It likely won't with the plodding combat.
Still a 6 or 7. If the boss fights make it worth it, the score might hit 7.

#24 Beautiful Katamari X360 via

It’s a Katamari game. Gameplay: Satisfying, but certain levels are a pain. Soundtrack: Excellent. King of All Cosmos: Still sucks.

So it was just my AC Adapter for my . The 3rd party one works fine and the powers on again. I checked and there are no signs of damage on my OEM adapter. The 3rd party replacement is 3' shorter so I use a small extension cord. Now I can get back to beating my expensive mint PS1 games. Heheh.

Dun-duh-duh-DUUUUN! I just cleared my 200th game, which was a Christmas gift that I technically purchased myself. This is Chalvo 55 ! (The honor would've gone to Pushmo since I beat the story mode days ago, but it decided to be annoying and throw in three ludicrously hard bonus worlds that I want to finish first.)
[imgt w=1536 h=2048]https://i.imgur.com/yZdauEk.jpg[/imgt]

Anyway, Chalvo 55 is a unique 2D platformer. It sees the robot hero from the cancelled game Bound High! --that's how this game got on my radar-- defeating an invading alien mothership from within. You can roll into a ball and bounce around each stage, smacking enemies and collecting crystals to advance to the (usually easy) boss. Sometimes you unfurl and push blocks around like Link, but it's nothing too fancy. Spikes and hazards kill you in one hit, so watch out for that.

Game's great, with the exception of two things: The bosses and Stages 6 and 8. The bosses are typically mindless affairs where you smack a button or the alien himself, then move to dodge a slow-moving hazard, and continue. Best boss is the one that requires you to actually bait an enemy to move out of the way, hit the button, then flee to bait him again. As for Stages 6 and 8, do you like dark rooms full of invisible blocks, or stages loaded with spikes and do-or-die platforming? Former to former, latter to latter. Stage 8 ends with an obtuse puzzle I had to look up, since the game never teaches you this mechanic previously: Apparently if you collect an invincibility power-up while you're invincible in a specific room, the room you just left changes to delete its spikes and reveal the boss door. For the record, the last boss was probably one of the easiest of the bosses to beat. Possibly one of the easiest bosses of all time (not counting joke bosses like Rudy the Clown in Wario Land 3).

image

Welcome back my friend. So glad to see you. So happy it was just an AC adapter that just stopped working. Easy Fix.

ErickRPG wrote:

This is now the "start a game" thread from that screen hahaha

I'm gonna post this now. I ran out of steam on the three bonus worlds, but at least I beat a lot of those stages.
[imgt w=1536 h=2048]https://i.imgur.com/8yUV7GO.jpg[/imgt]
I beat Pushmo's story mode. Awesome game, but it does get frustrating later on. You can pull blocks three steps outward in this, which Stretchmo nerfed down to two. I swear your movement is much better here than in Stretchmo as well--counted a number of times I made a jump that I couldn't in Stretchmo. The first bonus world also contains double the number of Zelda II-themed puzzles, with a whopping two.

What I'm trying to say is, despite the fact that I quit early, Pushmo is the superior game. Maybe we'll get open-world Pushmo or RPG Pushmo someday.

Got my 5th of Dec, 77th overall, 1st
Nerf N-Strike

I'm down to 2 consoles remaining and I should just need 1 more short session on my to beat what I've been working on. This was, I thought, going to be a quick hitter of sorts, but the controls were NOT great, especially on a larger screen, but I eventually got used to it enough to push through the very lame story/dialog of this 2008 EA/Hasbro title aimed at teens I think. Some stages got pretty nuts with so much happening on screen and the physics they used for foam darts was questionable at times. The final mission was pretty decent, but otherwise it was nearly all challenges against robots or just shooting certain blocks and you had to score higher than 1 of 4 other kids you were facing off against. I might've counted this one towards You're Winner, though it has a 66 score on Metacritic. It was just meh. I have the sequel to possibly play next year - lucky me, and it scored a whole 1 point higher...

I finished ElecHead on Switch.

----- OP Updated
Got all games added up to EB's most recent post.
18 more and we'll get to 1600.

My #57 is Saint's Row.

https://ibb.co/RSqbYH1

Not terrible. Solid 7/10. Lots of bugs and graphical issues but it was a decent shooter.

I think I'll finish 2 more before end of the year. I don't know what i would even play on my Atari systems. I'll have to check them out in a bit.

#132 might be the finale for me for this year.

As you know, Pokémon games typically release in pairs. I beat Violet on switch late last month, and so this month I beat my other November Pokémon pickup...

Naturally, it is Learn With Pokémon Typing Adventure for !

This game has its own bluetooth keyboard accessory. It's smaller than I'm used to and the \ key is not where I am used to having it (Thankfully you don't use that key very often). But by gum, if you want to remember and then quickly type the names of Pokémon, this is the game for you.

Technically you can play without the keyboard accessory and just tap the letters on the on the touch screen keyboard, but only if you really hate yourself.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/jWJjrZjA8kVXb6e78

It starts out pretty basic. So basic in fact that you only need to type the first letter of the Pokémon name and it will type the rest for you. But as you progress you will be typing more, and then typing other random letters to trigger effects or bonuses through that stage, or to block attacks from bosses.

All in all, it was a pleasant jaunt. Getting to the end credits didn't take all that long, but there are still a bunch of side missions and Pokémon still to catch next time I go back.

If you can get it at a good price, it's a fun one to play. It may not be able to compete with The Typing of the Dead, but I have yet to find the educational game that can.

It never got a US release, but it did come out in Europe and Australia. Unlike most DS games, I believe each European version is language specific, so if you want it in English look for the UK or Australian version. (Mine is from down under).

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While not a new clear, I did just earn all 270 stars from the racing game Gravel. I beat the 19 series, plus 5 head-2-head section story mode earlier, but I think I finished with around 190-210 stars and level in the 60s. After beating the stupid gate-crash events I largely skipped initially and just now a handful of 3-event series, I climbed to level 87 and earned all 270 stars, of which 3 are on offer for each event. Game was pretty fun and I was 75% or so towards this from playing the main campaign so I figured, why not.

Might be my final clears of the year, unless I play another quick game or 2.


Wizard Fire - MAME/atgames cabinet
image


Megadimension Neptunia VII -
I was planning on paying $80 - $100 for it but then it was available on Amazon again for $40 new so snatched it up. Loved it.
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Here's a small update. Played the phone games over Christmas, allot of fun.

Knowledge is Power
Knowledge is Power Decades
Hidden Agenda
Goat Simulator
Goat Simulator - GoatMMO DLC
Goat Simulator - GoatZ DLC
Goat Simulator - Goat Simulator: Payday DLC
Goat Simulator - Goat Simulator: Waste Of Space DLC
Goat Simulator 3
Watch Dogs 2 - Human Conditions DLC
Watch Dogs 2 - No Compromise DLC
Dojoran
Goosebumps: The Game
Styx: Master of Shadows
Styx: Shards of Darkness
Batman: Arkham Origins
Batman: Arkham Origins - Cold, Cold Heart DLC
Batman: Arkham Origins - Initiation DLC
Syberia
Syberia 2

I squeezed out one more before the end of the year.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3

Took around 50 hours with a mix of main story and side quests. Lovely game. 9/10

I am trying to finish Final Fantasy 7 Remake before the new years. About half way done.

Final call for 2023’s participants! If you haven’t announced your participation by New Year’s Day, I’ll assume you’re not playing and remove you from the spreadsheet. (Though you can get back on it in January if you ask nicely )

Game #22: Need for Speed Unbound

I finished Callisto Protocol for PS5.

EB wrote:

Worthy spiritual successor to Dead Space?

Heavyd814life wrote:

Haven’t played Dead Space (unfortunately. Very excited for the remake).

Pretty bummed how this one turned out, to be honest. Was super hyped going in. When the combat gets going it can be fun, but the campaign is pretty unimaginative overall and is a slog at times. Probably a 6/10 for me.

I acknowledge that others have enjoyed it more though.

1 more console down, just 1 to go
Alien Hominid for the - is also 6th of Dec, 78th overall

I picked this up a LONG time ago and never really got into it, have had it available for a while but a part of me didn't want to trade/sell and I haven't. When looking for a GC title, I noticed this was pretty short on HL2B so I jumped in. I think I had beat the first 2, maybe 3 levels, but I started over. I wasn't in love with this, too dang much going on on screen at times and terrible controls made this frustrating. I ended up dropping to easy and plowed through all but the final 2 levels across like 3 play sessions before the controller drove me nuts - sorry the GC controller is not great.
I was using the non-default control scheme, but that had the shoot on the L-trigger (which felt backwards) and grenades on R-trigger and you couldn't just hold down the shoot button, so with the spongy triggers on the GC controller I really disliked my time. Before my last session I decided to go back to the original scheme and found it to be a good bit better as you fired with the B button and that was a lot easier to mash for rapidfire. But still the game wasn't great. I did learn to slow myself down a little and took on the next to last level and boss much more effectively. Then the final boss's first 2 phases weren't terrible, but weren't the best. The final phase was a PITA as too often the screen was again too busy with clouds blocking view frequently and the playing field was on fire and rocking back & forth, this game was sensory overload at times. At least the music and hand drawn graphics were pretty good on my 24" Tube. I'm glad it's over, I got credits to roll and the game is available for sale/trade