VideoGame_Discussion

nonamesleft wrote:

Thanks, it was tough but worth it, so I'm glad I beat it.

Currently charging my so that I can continue Cuphead.

Congrats!


Slickriven wrote:

Might be in slight trouble with my current weapon choices in island two. I bought Charge, the aiming weapon, and spread.

Spread is very powerful, Charge is somewhat tricky but packs a punch, and aim is weak but you don't have to do anything but hold the button and dodge attacks.

Using charge, I didn't stand a chance against the candy boss or the clown. Those battles have too much flying/moving around to effectively use Charge.

Aim isn't bad, but it's weak. So it's a matter of endurance if you're using that.

Spread is great, but you have to risk being up close.

I think I'm going to try these battles with Spread, see what happens.

I could opt for the standard weapon though. There's always that.

Looking back at my previous playthrough, that boomerang shot would have been the way to go. But I already spent the coins. Wanted to try something new.

We'll see what happens. I hope it's not too difficult.

Spread is my favorite, by far. Even if you have to toggle it when you're running away, it still tends to be worth it.

It's especially fun using it again the squid on thr Pirate Ship level. It makes him "NOPE" right out nearly instantly.

Just got out against the candy battle in the same place multiple times. I think that the Frisbee weapon would be great here but I don't have it.

Slickriven wrote:

Well done!

Pirate ship be swabbin' Davey Jones locker, yar.

Beat the genie. He beat me a couple times, but I was able to get a bunch of parries in and hit him with the super once or twice. Helped a lot.

Back to that wacky clown. Couldn't yet get to his last form this time around.

Take that, Grimm Matchstick!

That was close. 1HP. I took it out with Charge. It really packs a punch.

image

Anyone have any tips or advice for the Perilous Piers run-and-gun level? I can make it to the octopus at the end without getting hit, but I'm having trouble after that. Dodging both the legs and the pearls gets me into trouble, and the spread weapon doesn't seem to kill the former with enough consistency.

@Renaissance2K I hated that section of that RnG level. I took the spread shoot and kept shooting constantly - a tactic I used in just about all levels, and while on the octopus I shot up mostly, but also up-right/right. I would jump back to the left and then land back on it's head. I didn't bother shooting the pearls fired from behind me and jumped over them, but by shooting up I generally took out the shrimp or whatever was coming from the right. I also did my best to only bother dealing with him with at least 3 hits to take (I used the +1 heart charm 95% of the game). I had tried the frisbee weapon with him and that wasn't too bad since firing it either direction would allow it to hit on the return path, but I found it to fire too slow.
I'm sure I failed at that section a good dozen or 2 times
By paying less attention to what was coming from the left, I could better hit the shrimp and focus on parrying his pink gem to throw his attack. I actually would parry that thing every time it was active and I don't recall worrying about his 2 legs hitting me, only the pearls or shrimp.

Got it done. The extra heart point helped, as did aiming upward at the shrimp instead of to the right.

I didn't make the connection between the pink jewel and the cannonballs, so I was trying to trigger it constantly, which made dodging the shrimp difficult. When I only hit it a few times, avoiding the obstacles felt less chaotic.

I'm on the mermaid now. We're not getting along swimmingly, heh.

BY OUR GAMES OF THE MONTH COMBINED...

https://twitter.com/StudioMDHR/status/162591801599...

Renaissance2K wrote:
Cool. I don't need it, but I kind of want it.

I don't think this game is great for a calm mental state. Can't play anymore of this today.

I just got out against that birdhouse a bunch of times. Got so close that last try. Basically right there, probably needed maybe 3 more hits.

Anyone else thought the following?

Cuphead Funfair Fever

https://youtu.be/rBU8wRCnaUM

What plays starting at about 30 seconds sounds to me very similar to the beginning of the athletic theme from Super Mario World

Super Mario World athletic theme

https://youtu.be/XF2fA1epvLE

nonamesleft wrote:

They are definitely the same keys in that section. I wonder if it was a classical chord that both Koji Kondo and the Cuphead audio producer sampled, or if Cuphead just wanted to a nod to one (if not the) best 2D platformer of all-time.

Wait... Are the two theater levels on the third island just copies of each other?

This birdhouse!!! The last portion of that battle is giving me a difficult time. The last time around, the dragon was the most difficult for me on isle 2. Now I'm finding the bird boss to be really difficult.

2 theaters??? I don't recall a 2nd one.
The bird fight's final stage sucked more than any of his other phases. I 100% had to switch to the bombs for that and it was still a challenge dodging so many projectiles.

Slickriven wrote:
Well, after getting out so many times, I decided to try the easier mode for the birdhouse. I figured since I did beat this game, and this is my 2nd playthrough, I owed it to myself to take it easy a bit. Well, I beat the birdhouse on the easier mode and, surprise surprise, King Dice appears and says that you have to beat it on regular mode to receive the contract

Hahaha yeah King Dice is a jerk with that 'you need to beat all contacts on regular difficulty'.

You mentioned a genie trick? Time to use it?

1. Is it on the Nintendo Switch?

Slickriven wrote:

My bad. I mistook a level I already beat as the last level on the island.

King Dice is my new archnemesis. No worse feeling than making it all the way through his gauntlet and then - SURPRISE!

Renaissance2K wrote:

Yeah that one sucked for me initially, I found a few of his gauntlet foes to be rather easy while a few others were crap. I now forever hate roulette.

You need to be rather good with parry timing and well I never really got there so I switched to the auto parry (first time only) charm as that also helped with nailing his spinning die to get the spaces I wanted, it also helped a little with that surprise you mentioned. Frustratingly, but not entirely shocking, if you try the good old pause and restart method you will reset his gauntlet. Some time that actually was preferred still for me if I took some unnecessary hits and then got a bad die roll or terrible luck with RNG. That go back space scared me but thankfully cleared spaces remain that way.

Automatic Parry is my default charm. For a few levels, I swapped it for something different (I went for extra health on that final Run & Gun), but I'm bad enough with timing that going for pink items is suicide without it.

I'll hopefully do better next time. I sandbagged the final fight a bit thinking I wouldn't need my remaining health, and I won't have a heart attack when "WALLOP!" appears on screen afterwards...

nonamesleft wrote:

1. Yes. It is available on Nintendo Switch.

I think I'm going to throw in the towel on this one. As nice as it would be to have the Cuphead badge, this game is feeling a bit too frustrating at this point. I think I had my fill beating it once.

Congrats to everyone who beat it. Not an easy challenge. Though I would play the DLC which I haven't yet.

The fact that it's a badge gives me the incentive to give it another shot "one day" but I honestly decided early on this month that I wasn't even going to attempt it.

Gentlemen, I am pleased to announce that finished Cuphead.

The final boss' first phase is the one that gave me the most trouble. Once I got the hang of that, his secondary phases were no problem at all, despite how scary the dude looks. The whole ordeal probably took twenty minutes.

I gave the Devil his due. I'm still probably going to Hell, though.

Nice @Renaissance2K I think I was the opposite vs the final boss. After a handful of attempts I could breeze through his first phase with zero or maybe 1 hit taken. But his later phases cooked my bacon. I kept missing the falling chips onto the platform I was on and the dang axe. Later I would get tagged by the things that were added to the sides. Granted I think in total it also only took me around 20-30 mins I suppose, he was easier vs King Dice.

Renaissance2K wrote:

Is that a Mario Kart steering wheel cover in the bottom left?

Oh and good job my guy!

It's actually a Mario Kart windshield shade!

Renaissance2K wrote:

Equally as awesome!

Renaissance2K wrote:
Great job! Makes me want to retrieve the towel I threw.

Very nice joycons by the way. :)

nonamesleft wrote:

Thanks. I switched to the D-pad since it was a 2D game, but something about the engine made it feel a whole lot better with an analog stick. I didn't end up using the D-pad much.

Renaissance2K wrote:

Modded yourself or bought that way? I've been considering doing one or the other myself, but at this point in the Switch's life, I might hold off for the next generation Nintendo

Bought. It's this guy: https://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&lo...

Oh I remember those!

I want it for docked play. I have sealed split pad pros that I never used. I don't play handheld much

Since interest in 20 Questions died, I'll just reveal next month's game...

Metroid Prime.


Although sadly I think I will be out this month as well, as I can't fudgein find a copy at retail!

Frank wrote:
I would have asked more questions. I was just waiting for someone to ask the next one, since I had asked the previous one.

Metroid Prime? Hmmmm.

Are both and good? Maybe you can play the version.

Prime is easily my favorite title and I haven't played it since originally playing back then. I don't have a but I think I could play it on my since I've homebrewed it and if that's the case, playing on a big 4k screen could be awesome... But using the WiiU controller could stink. I really need to get a pro controller, or consider just playing on my with the Wavebird.
I have wanted to replay it and then finally get into 2 and 3 which I own but never touched.

nonamesleft wrote:

Yup, GC or Switch is fine!

I'm honestly only willing to play on Switch at this point. The graphics aren't the issue at all, but the quality of life improvements done to the controls... That's my main draw for picking it up on Switch.

I think a lot of the QoL improvements to the controls are available through emulators.

Looks like @EB @Renaissance2K and @Slickriven are the only three to complete Cuphead. Since EB is the one giving away the gift card, it comes down to two...

Congratulations to all three of you for completing this challenging game... and @Renaissance2K for winning the prize!

Awesome! @Renaissance2K I’ll PM you to get you your prize!

I totally forgot that there was a giveaway last month! I 100% beat it b/c it was a challenge I wanted to overcome and that was worth it.

Hey, everyone. Thanks to @EB for donating a prize last month.

Since paying it forward is cool, I'm going to do the same for Metroid Prime. Frank will draw the name of someone who gets the Metroid Prime badge this month, and whoever wins will get a $10 digital game store card of their choosing.

Good luck!

Renaissance2K wrote:
You gotta love GTZ. People being generous are part of what makes this a great place. Willing to give, whether it's time, an item, a joke, a recipe, etc. Not just all focused on one's self.

Mir_wan hooked me up with a copy, and I started it this evening. So far I'm at the Chozo Ruins. Enjoying it so far!

Just defeated the

boss, and aquired the

.

I'm not going to lie, I had to look up a guide. I totally missed picking up the

and had to figure out where to go to get it.

The game is difficult (first playthrough and I'm playing the normal/default difficulty) but I'm really enjoying it. When I get stuck, I take a break and come back to it later.

Got mine in today. Just acquired the morph ball.

bonham2 wrote:
I was confused a second because I couldn't find your name

Congrats on being the first to complete and welcome to the club!

Also totally forgot to grant @EB his contributor badge for last month. Also giving @Renaissance2K his for this month as well, so I don't forget.

Thanks for giving back to the community!image

Frank wrote:

Thanks

Woah, I'm finally playing the game of the month! Thinnking I'm at least half a day done or so. Got the varia suit and just made it to the Phazon Mines.

Finally started this tonight and played the first intro mission... Dear God those Wii controls are rubbish. I'm no big fan of the GC controller especially with the goofy overly long travel of the triggers but man I didn't like the setup so far. I loved Prime on the GC but while I've owned both 2&3 for a long time I really never touched them and am thinking I want to play them all in close succession... So I think I'll have to try to stick with the controls since 3 only supports them, vs trying to play this on either the GC or Wii with that controller, vs where I tried tonight on the WiiU.
For some strange reason with 2 basically independent controllers in my hands like the wiimote and nunchuck I don't link them together great for shooters like this in my head... It just feels very odd. Anyone else playing with the Wii control scheme?

Just got 100% items, ready to go to the end. Yet, I came in at 87% scans?! Damnit! I don't even remember what you get for this... But kinda bummed. I'd assume some were missables on bosses.

Done, 100% items, 90% scan

https://imgur.com/a/b392OOv

I just got to the Phazon Mines. I missed a wasp enemy during one of the boss fights, so I won't be getting 100% either.

https://ibb.co/TvcWsDk

I missed one scan (wasp enemy during incinerator drone boss fight), so didn't bother looking for the missile expansions I missed. I started over on hard and was pleased to see that you don't have to scan everything all over again. Good to know for when I decide to fully replay it.

Alright, everyone who completed Prime should have the badge. I finally finished it this afternoon myself...

I didn't do as well as you guys, but this was my first time ever playing it and I feel accomplished. Prime has been a game on the backlog for so many years! I guess being bed ridden for a week has had it's benefits

RE4April

I just picked up the remaster, had a little birthday money. I was 10 when the original came out and played it not all that long after, so I was probably too young to appreciate it fully because holy crap what little I've played so far absolutely fudges.

RE4 came out when we were in 4th year clinicals vet school. I remember talking about it as the world went to hell around us. The surgeon was like “yeah that is badass” as the EKG flatlined. ( slightly dramatized)

Thanks to my recent acquisition of a PlayStation Classic (and a little tampering ), I am now playing MediEvil. This game is quite fun so far!

MrBean wrote:

I'm too broke to pick up the remaster right now, but since I've been sick I neglected to pick a game for next month, so it COULD be RE4.

I would definitely be up for RE4 next month.

Frank wrote:

I just beat Metroid Prime Remastered 2 days ago with 100% scan logs and 100% items... great game! Fingers crossed they remaster Prime 2 and Prime 3!

https://imgur.com/a/nZZzpdh

@SMY36738 Woohoo! welcome to the club

Frank wrote:

16 hours? Wow, you really explored.

EDIT - I don't think I have the badge. Do I need to do anything to get it?

bonham2 wrote:

Nah, I kept getting lost and stubbornly getting further lost until finally looking up a guide for assistance.

You have the badge. If you click on the Members spoiler tag, you're down the line alphabetically. I added you in on the 11th when you posted your screenshot

Frank wrote:

It's been a while! I was part of it back in 2019 when I beat Super Mario RPG haha.

Speaking of Metroid ... F4F is offering $50 off their Ridley statue. JESUS CHRIST is it huge ... but wow do I want it!

https://www.first4figures.com/meta-ridley-exclusiv...

SMY36738 wrote:

I'll have to double check. At some point I must have somehow removed you from the list.

Frank wrote:

No worries - don't waste time looking, it's all good

I will send in my completion photos as time permits!

So, I checked the OP, and these are the names that have a Metroid Prime badge next to their name.

BloodPuppetX
bonham2
Frank
MrBean
SMY36738

Did anyone else finish it during March? I didn't scroll back in the thread, so I may have missed someone.

Renaissance2K wrote:

I believe you got them all!

I will update the OP for April later this evening or tomorrow

Congrats, @bonham2!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRQK2fUiW7Y

That's awesome. I won a prize just for playing one of my all-time favorite games. Thanks so much Renaissance.

@Frank Was something picked for April or do we get another double make-up month?

Slickriven wrote:

Since 6 days have passed, I'll save what I was thinking for this month for next, so yes!

This month will be a double make up month.

@Frank

I'd like to contribute something for next month. I'll put the names of whoever completes next month's game into a hat or random name generator and the name picked will get a $10 Amazon gift card card code.

I was going to do this month, but since it's already halfway through the month, I figured next month is better.

nonamesleft wrote:

That would be great! Next month works best anyway, since this month is just a double makeup.

Would you guys like to do another vote for next month?

Feel free to DM me suggestions, and I'll set up a poll in the next few days.

Frank wrote:
This one is tricky, with Tears of the Kingdom coming out. I'm sure at least some of us will be playing that next month. I'd say we should play something relatively shorter.

nonamesleft wrote:

For sure. Tears of The Kingdom is honestly my plan for the month.

So far you're the only one to send me any suggestions for the month.

Frank wrote:
Maybe tag everyone who's part of the game club?

I suggest Tears of the Kingdom!

I won't finish it next month, but I'll definitely be playing Tears of the Kingdom.

Not to complain, but if you pick a brand new console exclusive you're omitting anyone who doesn't own said console and anyone who can't afford, or doesn't want to buy that game at launch.
I think nearly every participant in this thread owns at least one of - so would picking an exclusive from all 3 be more fair? Like maybe TotK, Horizon's new DLC and Redfall - 3 of the latest big exclusives from each system?

Like nonamesleft said, a shorter option would be good. Maybe something like Mega Man 2 or some other NES/SNES game?

I think I've decided on a game! Care for a game of 20 questions??

BloodPuppetX wrote:
Great suggestion, but that would be pretty challenging (at least for me) to finish that in just a month.

Frank wrote:
Is it a strategy game?

nonamesleft wrote:

1. No

2. Does it rhyme with "Smell Pho"?

Renaissance2K wrote:
2. no

3. Can it be played on a Nintendo system?

bonham2 wrote:

3. Yes

4. Was it released on a handheld Nintendo system?

nonamesleft wrote:

4. Yes (Hint, the Switch IS a handheld )

5. Is it a 1st party Nintendo game?

Frank wrote:
:) That's where I was wondering how to phrase it. It's like a hybrid.

bonham2 wrote:

5. No

6. Is it part of a series?

Month has started, sorry 20 Qs didn't pan out... what's the selection @Frank ?

Slickriven wrote:
😅

Whatever it is, I just hope it's a game that I can beat before Tears of the Kingdom is released.

This month is Just Shapes & Beats! I'll update the main post later today.

Heh, never heard of it, but it looks cool.

This is a good pick. Never heard of it either.

Frank wrote:
And can you also update the post to include the $10 Amazon gift card for the person randomly chosen from completers of this month's game? Maybe add it to the thread title if there's room? (Might get more people to participate)

I might check this out next time it goes on sale and if my friend wants to play it too, because we're always looking for new co-op games. Not sure I'd finish this solo.

@nonamesleft Totally forgot, that's my bad. I added it in, and appreciate your contribution

Frank wrote:
Happy to contribute.

nonamesleft wrote:

I made sure to give you the special badge as well image

I considered making more animated badges... maybe in the future

Frank wrote:
Sweet! Thanks.

Man, that first boss fight is a real gut check.

Just finished the game's story mode a few minutes ago. According to Steam, it took me about 2 Hours.

There were some head against the wall inducing stages, but overall I'm glad this ended up the last minute choice

Frank wrote:
Wow. You already beat it? Nice.

I hope a nice amount of people beat this month's game. The more the merrier to potentially win that gift card.

nonamesleft wrote:

I didn't anticipate beating it so quickly. I had a couple hours that night, and decided to start it.

Little did I know that would end up being me plaything through the game in 1 sitting.

I won't be participating this month... got WAY too many already owned games to buy this for $20. At $5-10 I might have jumped. I put it on my Steam Wishlist so if a deal pops down the line I could make it a make-up option.

Slickriven wrote:

@MasterAMP might actually have a steam code he could sell for Extra Life. Not sure if he has any left though.

At this rate, looks like @Frank will get that 10 to Amazon. Though I think maybe @Renaissance2K is in middle of the game? (Your comment about the first boss being a gut check)

And with Tears of the Kingdom incoming, who has time to play both?

I started it. I'm not very far yet, and I doubt I'll beat it (no pun intended) before Zelda comes out, but I'm still making an attempt.

I'm thinking June should be another short game as well, since many of us will be knee-deep into Zelda.

Done!

Well, I know what soundtrack I'll be listening to tomorrow...

@Renaissance2K Good job! Now I know what soundtrack I'll be listening to :)

Anyone else playing this? The more people the merrier, on that 10 to Amazon gift card.

As much as I love the chance of winning a prize, I has almost no time to play on my vacation and will most likely be putting a pause on God of War to start playing Tears of the Kingdom with what little time I have.

I'll be off work next week, so I think I'll take some of that time to play this one.

SwiftJAB wrote:
I don't plan on winning the prize I myself put up for this month, but I have a similar situation, where I'm putting aside what I'm currently in middle of to play Tears of the Kingdom.

Enjoy your vacation!

citizen_zane wrote:
Go for it.

Now you guys know why I beat it quickly. Now nothing has to compete with TOTK

Frank wrote:
Ha. Yeah, you beat it in less than a day.

nonamesleft wrote:

If it's any consolation, it's been in my Steam library for 1-2 years.

nonamesleft wrote:

And done!

image

I'm a bit mixed about this game. Firstly, I am not big fan of bullet hell games, which is kinda what this feels like. The rhythmic aspect and simplistic graphics remind me a lot of the Bit.Trip games, which is a plus for me. While there was a lot of music, it all had a club vibe to it, which wasn't that bad, but the tracks didn't really stand out to me. What I did really enjoy was the level design. Every level was distinctly different and not boring at all. My favorite part would have to be the overworld map. So interactive! I thought the ending was done very well.

I'd say that the story mode was a bit tough for me, so thank god for the casual mode, which wasn't too casual, but just right. Still died a few times.

If all you're going to play is the story mode, then it definitely isn't worth $20. However, it looks like story mode is only half the fun. I figured I'd check out the multiplayer mode. Since I played this at like 4 in the morning, no one in my house was awake, so I thought I'd try to play online. I truly didn't expect to find anyone to play with, but boy was I wrong! I played one level with another player right away, which was pretty cool! You can rescue each other if you lose all your health, which is nice. When we played the second level, we were joined by another player! The levels we were playing were different than the ones I played in story mode. Another interesting feature on the Switch is that you can scan up to 5 Amiibo a day to earn points, which seemed to be earned through playing challenges and other modes on the game. With these points, you can unlock other songs and levels, so it looks like there is more reason to keep on playing.

citizen_zane wrote:

I kept saying that to myself during my playthrough. "This is a bullet hell shooter without the shooting."

citizen_zane wrote:
Awesome. Good job. Nice pic, with that paper.

3 people beat it so far. Any more to potentially be entered for that 10 to Amazon?

We have exactly 2 weeks left. Plenty of time for people to jump in and beat it!

Renaissance2K wrote:

It's kinda funny, I've never really played a true bullet hell game but I really enjoyed this (and Project Arrhythmia). Maybe I'd like bullet hell shooters?

I was thinking of using this as a make up month for Death Stranding which I've had downloaded for at least 3 months now, but any time I am ready to start it I end up choosing to play something else instead.

PizzaTheHutt wrote:

DS has been on my backlog for a couple of years now

I only have about two more months to play it. Then I've gotta decide if I want to keep PS+ Premium, downgrade to PS+ Extra, or just go back to the regular PS+ Essential (I'd lose free access to the game with this tier).

Frank wrote:

Same. Someone got it for me for Secret Santa and I couldn't get into it. It's just wild.

I just spent a lot of this month playing Dead Island 2 and I'm not quite done with it, but I'm wanting to try to do some make ups at some point, unless next month is on my list, lol.

C'mon people! We need more people to be eligible for the Amazon egift card. Free. Well, you'll need to beat the game, so you are spending time.

Great timing, the game just went on sale on Steam, down to $14 from $20.

Slickriven wrote:

It's currently on sale for the same price in the eShop as well. I feel like that might still be a little on the pricey side for how short it is.

Slickriven wrote:
Are you playing it? Any chance you'll qualify for the Amazon egift card? Would be great if yes.

nonamesleft wrote:

Sorry, it's still too pricy IMO for how short it is, like Pizza said. Plus I'm busy this evening, so I couldn't get to it if I wanted before the end of the month. It was a bit too obscure of a pick from Frank this time... Oh well not all selections can be bangers.

Slickriven wrote:
All good.

I think this month was tricky, since we all knew that Tears of the Kingdom was incoming. I'm thinking that Frank probably "had to" choose a shorter game in order to keep things manageable for those who would be playing Zelda.

Could just move the gift card to next month or say we need to make sure we have at least X number of people complete it to be eligible for this giveaway or it moves to the next month?

sinnie wrote:
Good suggestions.

Although, I don't think we necessarily need to have a minimum in order to qualify for a giveaway. That kind of takes away from the fun. Those who beat the game qualified by putting in the time/effort. Why add extra rules to it? That's just my thoughts on it.

I don't know. Maybe if there was some sort of mega prize, like a brand new console or something really sweet like a Chrono Trigger SNES cartridge, there would be some sort of minimum participant requirement. But I think if someone were to offer a prize like that, the prize alone would draw in a bunch of participants without even needing to specify any requirement.

My thought is that the gift card should go to one of the people who has the game beaten before June 1st. After all, they put in the time/effort. (It's not like I had specified any requirement when I offered the gift card)

Agreed @nonamesleft

Do we know what we're playing next month yet?

Next month will be Mirror's Edge month. @PizzaTheHutt suggested the first one years ago, but I figured Catalyst as an option opens it up for anyone who's already beaten the first.

Nice!

I like that pick... It's one of those, I have the games, been meaning to play them, but this should give me the final light shove to actually finally play at least the first one, maybe both. Nice choice Frank/Pizza

Awww crap
Since 2013 I've been playing through Mirror's Edge every year some time between February and April...except this year I didn't do it. Now I feel like I must. The last couple of times I played through it I did it in one sitting. I think it's barely a 6-7 hour game on the first playthrough, so it's still a fairly short game for those still busy with Zelda.

I played through Mirror's Edge: Catalyst once, I did enjoy it but not as much as the first game. Maybe next year I'll switch it up and play through that one again.

I actually would be up for trying a Mirror’s Edge game and have them in my backlog, but it’ll be tough to get much else done with Diablo IV and FF XVI. I’m so excited about this month.

I enjoyed the first one! I need to play the sequel... hmm..

Yeah I grabbed Catalyst on Steam for $20. Here's the time to beat for anyone on the fence. I'm gonna try to not be a completionist on it (unless I get distracted and just enjoy it too much.)

How long to beat?
about 8½ Hours
When focusing on the main objectives, Mirror's Edge: Catalyst is about 8½ Hours in length. If you're a gamer that strives to see all aspects of the game, you are likely to spend around 33 Hours to obtain 100% completion.

I wish EA would retroactively add in achievements to their old games on Steam, like Mirror's Edge and Dead Space.

Has anyone other than @citizen_zane @Renaissance2K @Frank beaten May's game?

I wanted to pick the gift card winner. Just want to make sure all the names are in. (Will randomizer it or something like that)

Finished up Mirror's Edge. I wanted to do this yesterday just to already have it done on the first day of the month, but the 2nd day is good enough. Once you've beaten it enough times you can get it down to like 4.5 hours (probably much less than that if you're one of those crazy speedrunners).
This is at the tail end of the ending cutscene just before the credits start to roll. I've been playing more PC games than usual lately and it has made me realize I desperately need a new monitor.

image

I'm glad this game got selected. I've had this game for so long. I just looked at it and it's still shrink wrapped! It looks like I picked it up on clearnace from Target for $10 lord knows how many years ago now. This club gives me a reason to play it now!

Started Catalyst this morning. I hate wall running and the load time sucks if you die. These games would be awesome in VR.

image

F = Frank
R = Renaissance2K
C = citizen_zane

You won, @citizen_zane. I'll message you with that 10 to Amazon egift card.

Started on the first game tonight - not loving it so far - first person view is not a favorite of mine for platforming so I've missed a few too many jumps already. Also LB for jump and LT for slide feels goofy, might change that to A and X or something. Not loving the lack of direction either. I'm playing on PC with an X1 controller for now. I'll surely give it some more time and the change to controls could help, having a slight headache doesn't help.

nonamesleft wrote:

Awesome! Much appreciated.

Another play session down and my opinion has barely moved. This game is hard to get to grips with for me. I couldn't change the input settings, so LB/LT are jump/crouch and thus I'm forced to get more used to that. They finally showed me, or I finally noticed that holding down B will aim Faith in the correct progression direction, so that helps a little. I'm still not great with timing of hitting the jump button, especially close to walls and I get you need to build a little momentum at times, but it's also been a touch difficult for me to sense that properly.
I did go back and redo the tutorial stage to better lock in some buttons like Y for disarm and RT for melee attack. I got to a section with 5 dudes with shotguns and they wrecked me until I redid the tutorial and knew what buttons to hit. Since I've had this game for SO long, I'm really glad I've waited to play it until this thread's selection, b/c I suspect that I would've already given up now as it's just not my cup o' tea.
But I did just pull up a walkthrough and see that I'm 36 mins into this guy's 106 min run, so I'm right around 33% and I surely won't keep up that video's pace, nor do I want to use it unless I get stuck but I am encouraged and a touch surprised that I'm already 1/3 in. I mean I knew it was short, but it's shorter than I expected - my game timer shows I've played 84 mins as I'm surely not as swift or focused as this video is. I've only collected like 3 of the clearly optional bags of at least 9 that I believe were present in the levels I've played, but I'm not interested in those currently.
I do feel a bit crummy again after playing, as the camera bob and FPS perspective doesn't jive with me. I don't think I could ever own an VR set, I'd get sick too easy. I guess I'll seek to limit my play sessions to short bursts to avoid this feeling and the checkpoint system is good as I've fallen or been shot to death likely 2 dozen or more times already.

I started Catalyst tonight. I can already tell that the game is going to drive me crazy by de-mystifying the abstract setting of the original and EA-ifying all the game mechanics, but it's nice to be running, sliding, and zip-lining again.

But not wall running. I never did get very good at it.

Renaissance2K wrote:


Easily my most hated feature. I also am not a fan of the timed crap, or stuff you have to execute perfectly to proceed in the game.

As much as I want to play this game, I'm having a real hard time pulling myself away from Zelda. Maybe my obsession will die down a bit as the month progresses.

I think I hate this game... controls, or my grasp of them suck, I had to turn off the physics Engine for the game to not crawl to a halt in the one office chase and broken glass, so little lack of direction, so many times replaying sections, first person and precision platforming IMO, never work together, just vomit all around... but I'm committed now and nearing 45% complete, so I'll stick it out.

haha same... I'm trying to power through. The controls and physics are awful. I really enjoyed the first one but I'm struggling with Catalyst.

@sinnie I'm playing the first one :(

Slickriven wrote:

I don't remember having issues with the first one, but I don't think they changed much. I guess I just am worse now.

I haven't had issue with the physics in the gameplay, but the game became unplayable in the 1 office scene and really rough another time with 5 foes. I turned off the physX engine and that helped. I also had dropped the performance to the floor and the quality didn't go down which was odd.

As for controls I'm sure lots of that comes from my timing and me sucking at hitting jump when I can't see Faith's feet. I also couldn't get to grips with jumping up one section that was like a hallway and needing to wall jump up that hallway-like area to the ceiling/roof. I did it on my first try the other day but failed to progress much after that and took a break. Then last night I started back up and failed in that area so many times I nearly just gave up.

With that iffy physX engine now turned off, maybe that'll help me not get held up with performance related headaches. I'm sure I'll hit more frustrations from my control struggles and the game's lack of good direction, but I'll keep pushing through.

Thank. Goodness. That's. OVER.

I've disliked games that I've pushed through in the past, but ME was one of the worst I've ever played. I don't think the port helped as it looked identical if I ran it or highest or lowest graphics settings, but beyond that the FPS view for a precision platformer is a terrible decision as it got me feeling sick at times and surely led to TONS of failed jumps/falls to death b/c I wasn't sure where my feet were to time jumps. Plus it was very challenging to know if a fall was or wasn't going to kill you. Add in a handful+ places that I actually knew what to do, but kept failing at for a myriad of reasons, plus the lack of overall direction and yeah this one is at the near top of my most hated games list. I could go on, but eh.

That said, thanks for picking it Frank b/c if you hadn't I would likely have not tried it and surely wouldn't have spent the 5.6+ hours to complete it.
Proof, sorry my username on paper was hard to read, the game was SO bright and oversaturated: https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZN5pLFNSKPEpHaVn9

I went to see The Flash tonight. High on whatever drugs that movie was pumping, I decided to come home late and finish Mirror's Edge: Catalyst.

As somebody who loved the original for its simplicity, I hated how Catalyst crammed a whole bunch of filler into the game: more plot, more characters, more collectables, side missions, a tiny skill tree (more of a skill shrubbery), debris and neon lights everywhere, unnecessary online integration that will abruptly go dark one day...

But once you get the movement upgrades and you bring yourself back to OG Mirror's Edge movement levels, it's still a pretty damn sweet parkour experience. I loathed any time the game forced you to fight somebody, but other than that, when you're just a runner doing her thing, I found it pretty damn sweet.

I started up Death Stranding. It's a game I had little interest in, but is available via PS+ Extra/Premium and I started it specifically to earn the badge for it for this thread because it doesn't look like anyone else earned it.

I've played games specifically for this thread before and ended up liking them a lot (Horizon: Zero Dawn for example) but that's not the case this time. I believe this is the first time I've started a game for this thread but will not finish it. I'm maybe 5 or 6 hours into it and I don't know what is going and I'm not having much fun playing it. I have beaten plenty of games that I thought weren't fun, but they weren't 40 freakin' hours long.

Let's do a 20 Questions for July!

The questioning may begin.

1) Is it 3-D?

Frank wrote:

Bleed_DukeBlue wrote:

Clarify what you mean by 3D

Does the game feature 3D support through glasses or a special screen (or both)?

Was the game first released on or after January 1, 2015?

Lol. Umm…are the characters not flat?

Frank wrote:

benstylus wrote:
Renaissance2K wrote:
|Bleed_DukeBlue wrote:

No all around, except bleeds question still muddies things.

Is it 2.5D?

Graphically or gameplay? That's what I was trying to hint at pin pointing.

It's a 2D game

Gotcha. Thanks!

Frank wrote:

benstylus wrote:
3. One of them does

Renaissance2K wrote:

4. No

Was the game released before Jan 1, 1996?

So, it's a game franchise with 2D glasses, but that supports stereoscopic 3D. It's either a really old 8-bit title with glasses compatibility (I don't think any of those were part of a franchise...) or a more modern franchise that had a 3DS entry.

There's quite a few of those...

6. Do the game's graphics use a hand-drawn or cartoon style (Rayman, Shantae, Binding of Isaac, etc.), as opposed to a pre-rendered (early Donkey Kong Country, Super Mario RPG, Killer Instinct) or pixelated (Shovel Knight, Cave Story, VVVVV, etc.) style?

Renaissance2K wrote:

6. Pretty sure it's a no. (I know the first used pre-rendered, but later entries might have gravitated away from sprites specifically, but retained an almost identical art style (free bonus)

It could be a DKC game, DKC Returns did have a 3ds entry and the early games were prerendered.

Is it a Donkey Kong Country game?

Having trouble thinking of other series that started as pre-rendered but moved away from it while also having an entry with stereoscopic 3d visuals.

benstylus wrote:

MY MONKEY IS READY.

benstylus wrote:

7. Nope

Frank wrote:

MY MONKEY IS NO LONGER READY.

This cracked me up lol.

Renaissance2K wrote:

Mamma Mia!

Is it a New Super Mario Bros. game?

PizzaTheHutt wrote:

image

I figured for July, any of the New Super Mario Bros. games will apply. I personally think I'm going to play 2. Since it's the most lackluster of the 4, it's also the only one I never went back to replay.

I might choose New Super Luigi U. I 100% completed it back in the day but it is the only one I haven't revisited. With all of the Super Mario Maker I play I know it's going to take me time to adjust to the weird Luigi physics again, but all of the troll levels have made me a better player than I was back in 2013 when it originally released, so I'm curious if some of these levels will still feel as difficult as they did back then.

Oh boy. I've beaten literally every game in the series (except for the Switch re-release, if that counts) and am super pumped to have a reason to pick them up again.

I might be up for this. So New SMB Wii and New SMB U are different? I paid so little attention to the latter part of the Wii's life and really the whole of the Wii U's life that when I scored a copy of the Wii version from a relative offloading their system and then got the U title with my recent Wii U console pick up (also with Luigi U), I didn't really pay much attention and sort of thought they were the same game, only with the Luigi bit added in.

New Super Mario Bros. - The O.G.

New Super Mario Bros Wii - Smooths out Mario's moveset; adds Yoshi, multiplayer, and a whole lot more content. And waggle. Probably the most challenging game in the series, but not exorbitantly so.

New Super Mario Bros. 2 - Turns out collecting coins wasn't as fun as Nintendo thought...

New Super Mario Bros. U - Similar mechanics to Wii, but all new, extremely well-designed levels. People compared this one to SMW at launch. Also, the first official appearance of Mario in HD.

New Super Luigi U - Remixes of U's levels with a 60-second time limit. And Luigi.

New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe - U + Luigi U on the Switch. I vaguely remember them adding a new Easy Mode character, too maybe?

Nice! Good excuse for me to finally beat New Super Mario Bros U.

High on Life went 50% off on Steam so I'm probably gonna use July for a make up month if I can find some time for it!

Thanks @Renaissance2K for the breakdown. I've got the Wii U and Luigi U options to pick from then.

I got a jump start on... now this month's title since it's ~20 mins in. I started the Wii version and progressed far enough to beat the first world's boss.
I recall playing this many years ago and only getting like 2-3 levels in b/c I didn't love it, but also was playing with my maybe 10 year old niece at the time and she wasn't into it much either. Then she went home and I just didn't seek to play it more, but by then the Wii was an afterthought in my gaming preferences.
Holding the Wiimote sideways like that wasn't too fun. I know other games used that control scheme, but it cramped up my hands pretty good. Also having to go back and 'help' Toad trapped in ? blocks wasn't fun as I would get hit, drop him and then he would take damage and all of a sudden he was dead and I'm like why am I replaying this stinking level - would've been nice if you could get him from another block or not have to carry him, I might just ignore his cries for help.

All that said, I'm going to stick with it b/c it was still largely enjoyable and brought back plenty of NES and SNES Mario memories from my childhood. Plus I'm seeking an N titled game and a Wii game to beat this year/soon for the 'Beat a Game' thread and some personal goals.

I remember the Bowser boss fight from NSMB Wii being one of my favorite Bowser battles in any Mario game.

For holding the Wii Remote sideways, I went and bought one of these shells that you put over the Wii Remote and it was so much better. I think they were like $10 at GameStop at the time.
image

I have a pack of those I never opened. I’m pretty sure there’s a green one and a pink
One? Intended to use them for just that.

PizzaTheHutt wrote:

There have been quite a few Mario games released since then, and this is still true. It's epic in a way Mario rarely is.

I got the jump on New Super Mario Bros. U on Switch and am sitting outside The Final Battle right now, so I'll take care of that later. In the meantime, while I wait for a chance to use my capture setup, I restarted the original New Super Mario Bros. on DS and used warp cannons to reach 8-1 fairly quickly.

If I wasn't about to go on vacation, I'd say that this month was starting to smell a little turtley.

I had no idea such a Wiimote cover like thing existed, thanks Pizza, might seek to pick one up.

PizzaTheHutt wrote:

I still have a sealed one of those floating around my controller drawer

First! Finished New Super Mario Bros. U on the Switch.

I remember this boss fight vividly from when I first played it on the Wii U. I remember being absolutely stumped about how to deal any damage, and I remember looking at Bowser's scales and thinking how great the game looked in HD, even though the design language hadn't changed all that much.

It's not quite as impressive ten years later, but it still looks nice on the Switch's OLED or - if you're a weirdo like me - on a CRT.

If I have time today I will update the OP, give out Mirrors edge badges, and make the Mario badge.

Happy birthday, @Frank!

Happy birthday, @Frank!

#2 is my mission for the month, the original New Super Mario Bros. on the DS.

Way easier than I remember, but still a lot of fun. I was really missing Mario's spin move to lengthen jumps, though.

@Frank You shouldn't update the OP on your birthday, do something fun instead.

Happy Birthday @Frank! And I agree. Go do something fun!

Happy birthday Frank!

Just pushed through world 2 of the Wii title and similar to when I tried SMW on the SNES not to long ago, 2D Mario games just aren't my bag anymore. World 1 wasn't too bad, outside of the few times I tried to rescue Toad and revisited levels, but world 2 was annoying. I did the effectively optional level 1 and died like 7 times before giving up. Then level 6, I think, wasn't too fun either. They're far from bad games, we all know this, but my frustration boils over way to easily in my 40s it seems with them.

I think my best bet is to do what I'm doing and only try 1 world at a time. I almost stopped after the first boss fight, but survived that. Fighting all the bosses so far has been relatively easy because they haven't really changed since what SMB3? I'm into the ice world 3 now. The controller isn't too bad if I stick to these shorter play sessions.

Thank you all for the birthday wishes. It was actually a really bad day, but I made it.

Really sorry to hear that. Birthdays definitely suck more and more as you get older. Source: I'm old.

#3 is New Super Luigi U on the Switch

I'm out of games for which I don't have completion saves. I can either play through the same U games on the Wii U, which is kind of silly because they're identical, or I can revisit some of the other New Mario games that I've already beaten and go for 100%. I'm leaning towards the latter.

So to be clear, were @PizzaTheHutt and @Renaissance2K the only two to complete Mirror's Edge last month?

@Slickriven did as well in post 187

Thanks @PizzaTheHutt, yes @Frank I beat my head against a wall and beat ME which I didn't like.

Slickriven wrote:

Slamming into a wall is a key feature of Mirror's Edge.

Everything should be up to date. If anyone's missing a badge, please lemme know.

Also, Happy 4th of July!

Thanks Frank.

Played some more NWMB-Wii and accidentally found the hidden exit door in World 3-Ghost to the canon and shot myself to World 6. Pretty stoked about that since while I wasn't hating this, as mentioned before 2D Mario lost it's shine in my view and generally just frustrates me now. So jumping to 6 should let me finish sooner and with less frustration and hand cramps from the Wiimote in landscape mode.

Slickriven wrote:

As somebody who's played at least a little bit of every game in the series over the past week or so, there's something about NSMB Wii that makes it more frustrating than the other ones. I can't really pinpoint what, though. It might be control or physics related.

Renaissance2K wrote:

I think part of my hang-up with 2D Mario stems from using emulation and save states a bit too much the past 2+ years. I've got into a place where I really dislike failing and with save states I can and would use and abuse them preventing deaths and even taking almost any damage. When I played SMW for this thread back in December, within a few levels I was just so annoyed with taking damage and the slippery controls/feeling in that. I was playing on my SNES mini and it has save states but I think I wasn't using them a ton.
With NSMB-Wii, I'm up to 25ish lives from collecting 100s of coins and the 8 red coins often and so forth, but still dying gets pretty annoying to me. World 1 I did reasonably well in, World 2 (sand world) a few levels ate several lives, but thankfully 1 of them was basically optional and I just went to the other. World 3 (ice world) got a little annoying with the penguin suit and sliding/falling around resulting in damage taken or deaths, then the bullet-Bills started to show up. So frustration crept in some, but had I not found the shortcut, I was about to visit the mid-world castle and would've stopped playing for that session likely after beating it.

For sure the controller's cramped holding position doesn't make playing it for too long too much fun as my hands get sore. The recommended BOSS controller thing could be decent, but I haven't sought one out. For now I'll stick with the Wiimote and just limit sessions to only a few levels.

From memory, all of the game's physics are identical, minus the first game and the 3DS variant.

Good grief I just love rage quitting a friggin Mario game @!#%@#$^%$@^!!!!!!!!!

World 6-6 rather sucked, taking a good 6-8+ tries and stoking the fires of annoyance and then the 6-Final-Castle wasn't bad until after the checkpoint with these tilting platforms that tilted into lava which is an instant death and then there's these spike balls rolling above you banging around and every 10 seconds or maybe less they can optionally and basically randomly drop from some spaces in that ceiling.
I got so pissed and sick of dropping lives that I just straight held in the Wiimote power button and shut the Fk'r off. I realize that means I'll need to replay 6-6 again, but this is EXACTLY why I stopped playing Mario games basically after SMW, just way too infuriating.
I guess I should have stopped either after the 6-Mid-Castle or after 6-6, but after 6-6 was just a small Bullet-Bill type interaction designed to give you 3x mushrooms and then it was on to the castle, which before this I only needed 1 or maybe 2 tries to beat the boss, and generally would reach him without too much difficulty. Also the game wants to save for you after those castles, but if you want to save just after a standard level it's some quick-save thing that says you can only do that once - whatever the heck that means.

I will beat this... I will slowly and surely start hating it more and more, but I will complete it. Bah.
EDIT - So I wanted to know if 6-6 was the only level that I would need to redo, and annoyingly I'll have to redo 6-5 as well which wasn't that bad, but had a huge spiked fish that would come at you and a few places jumping to avoid it, if you didn't take it out with a fireball, were royal PITA areas thanks to rising/lowering water levels or the 'cliff-edge' sections. Then on the wiki I was looking at, I noticed that 6-6 has a secret exit to world 8... so now I'm going to try for that and end this sucka asap.

Gave it another try and that went a lot better. Only needed 1 shot at 6-5 and stumbled upon a vine to get out of the level a bit earlier, which let me skip 6-6 and go right to the final castle. Initially I was thinking that I should go back because I wanted to warp to World 8, but figured I should try the castle at least twice and sure enough I beat it on my 2nd try. Then I beat the sky pirate ship and made it to World 7. I wisely quit while I was pleased with that progress. The sky pirate levels were always my favorites from SMB3, especially the music, so I'm glad I got to do that one.

I think I’ll participate this time. I’m gonna bring NSMB on vacation next week to play multiplayer with the fam, so I’ll do it then.

Started a new NSMB, finished NSMB. Thanks, Warp Cannons!

image

Yeah, these games were made to be portable...

Another evening, another session, another F@#$ Y*@ Mario.
Level 7-1 wasn't very fun, 7-2 and 7-3 were alright, then 7-Mid-Castle. The slowly rising tiltable platform was just annoying in the first section, but it's second appearance with the walking bombas dropping on you was hot garbage - 8+ attempts often starting with a mushroom and I only reached the boss like 50% of the time and each time he got me b/c I was already small by then. I don't know how a platform that rises that slow can be so stressful.

2nd F-U quit via holding down the power button in as many nights. I hate this game. I'm considering returning to World 6 and shooting for that 1-way ticket out of there to 8 via the warp cannon.

Slickriven wrote:

I'm glad to hear someone who isn't complaining that Mario games are too easy/for babies.

@benstylus thing is, I really wouldn't call the levels hard. Annoying for sure, but even after dying that many times and getting pissed, I still had like 24 lives remaining. It's more like they know certain level designs are BS so they give you a ton of lives and expect you to keep ploughing through the garbage... It's a 'challenge' via s#itty design.
Most levels take 1-2 attempts, and some times a level can frustrate me a bunch, then I take a break and come back and beat it on the first or second try, so I'm sure plenty of this is on me. Also like I said prior, I think the use and basically abuse of Save States by me on many similar platformers has messed up my expectations of my own progression.

More updates - y'all sick of me yet?
Played today (have the day off) and decided to put the condom thing on my Wiimote and the fat bit around the D-pad was actually helpful, so that was a plus. I decided to go back to 6-6 to warp to World 8 and that wasn't too bad. I beat 6-5 on 2 tries and actually got out the secret exit in 6-6 without losing any lives. In World 8 I made it to and beat the Mid-Castle all without losing more than 2 lives on any level.
I then took on 8-4 and the dark swimming was crappy, so after just 1 failed attempt and knowing the game saved after the Mid-Castle I quit. Am happy with my progress. My next update should be about me beating this.

Well I would've loved this update to be me claiming I beat it, but that flarking lava in the fight against Bowser S U C K E D !
Pleasantly I got 8-4, 5 and 6 without even dying, then I beat the final air pirate ship after I think 3 tries and it wasn't too bad, though the boss I was doing the ground pound wrong the first time and shaking the stupid controller vs. just holding the down direction. Bowser's castle wasn't too bad and took me like 3 tries to reach the checkpoint right before him... but then that final (I think) chase sequence just sucked. I got to the propeller hat most times, but I'll be a SOAB if I didn't just land in that lava like 7 times. Thanks to the coins, I only net lost maybe 2 lives before just giving up. So I'll need to redo the first part of the castle when I try this again. But that Dpad is too small, and my thumb is sore.

So close to ending this painful and frustrating romp.

Renaissance2K wrote:

That sexy beast belong to you?

Thank Goodness that is finally over!!

It took a bit longer than I wanted, but I finally beat Bowser. Just getting to the checkpoint this time took close to 10 times, and I am recalling that it surely took me closer to that many tries last night too. I know for sure that I get too antsy or impatient after seeing an area a few times and want to push through it and by pushing/rushing only make more mistakes and further frustrate myself. So dumb on my part... 100% did that in this game, especially in the final stage. After I got to the checkpoint I proceeded to fail a good 10+ times <sigh>. I failed so much that I got the Luigi block to show me how to beat the level (got this last time too). I decided to watch it to see how far I had yet to go in the level and yeah I hadn't even reached a whole section past the final vertical wall obstructions - anyhow I also noticed that the Luigi tutorial thingy, he never ran or did any momentum jumps, while I did them endlessly. I didn't take much from that only trying to slow myself down some... and about my 3rd time after watching that I FINALLY reached the end and saved Peach.

So all in, I did the majority of Worlds 1, 2, 6, & 8. I unintentionally (but happily) warped from 3's Haunted House to 6, then beat most of 6 and advanced to 7 only to get frustrated with the Mid-Castle in 7. I quit and lost that progression, but decided to backtrack to 6-6 and take the warp to 8. Overall 8 wasn't too bad and I beat most of the levels in 1-3 lives. But that final was just a bear. My left thumb is sore again with that darn small d-pad.

I think more than any other game you've selected, @Frank, I earned this one via the most frustration and perseverance.
Proof: https://photos.app.goo.gl/i7sXHoDVx3tgz81Y6

New Super Mario Bros 2. for 3DS completed.

The warp cannons stages in this one are my favorite part.

image

There's a Target circle offer up now for $30 off certain Mario games, and New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe on Switch is included. If you have a store with one nearby, you can get it for a little over $20 ($19.99 + tax).

Bleed_DukeBlue wrote:

Go Check your stores. Lots of sales, some toys at 70% off too.

https://twitter.com/wario64/status/167803930869379...

Feeb wrote:

Any other games on sale besides It Takes Two?

My store has 5 copies of It Takes Two available. I can pick up a copy for someone, if the price is accurate, but I don't want to stop if that's the only game.

Most EA stuff. Super mega baseball 4 is like 16$- it’s a new release. PGA is like 27$. Tons of stuff. Mostly sports of course. The Twitter thread is best place to check. They were updating it pretty quickly.

Someone on Twitter found Wild Hearts for $16 on PS5. I don't know how common that is, but there was photo evidence.

Feeb wrote:

I saw it at my target. Both consoles.

Nice. It's not a big deal, but I'm kicking myself a little, as I recently bought it for $30 used from GameFly =).

Feeb wrote:

Bleed_DukeBlue wrote:

It’s often not worth that to drive to target honestly. Not for me for sure.

benstylus wrote:

Welcome to the club!

After totally not enjoying NSMB-Wii I just started Yoshi's Woolly World on the WiiU and it was just endearing. Clearly a different vibe, but the lack of clock and general lack of challenge is more my speed it seems - gosh am I getting old and soft?

Join the club. We'll save a spot on the Rascal for you.

Slickriven wrote:

To be fair, Wolly World was a really fun game. Such a shame all we got on Switch was the disappointment that was Crafted World.

I beat New Super Mario Bros. .
[imgt w=2048 h=1536]https://i.imgur.com/OqzXtsd.jpg[/imgt]

This game was a big part of my childhood. I loved the stages, the powerups, the minigames, the 1-on-1 mode, all the new gimmicks, and everything! Going back to it now, it's still an excellent time... but these stages are way easier than I remembered. I beat everything and got every Star Coin and secret exit, but I'll admit, I found myself kinda bored a few times. It doesn't help that the game frequently puts an obstacle in your path that requires the Mini Mushroom or Blue Shell to conquer--the Mini Mushroom is always found in 1-4, but the Blue Shell has no guaranteed spawn point. You'll have to trial-and-error it whenever you need one. That gets to be a pain pretty quickly. Otherwise, the controls are great and the adventure is pretty memorable. But NSMB2's "story" mode is superior to this one, even if it's less original.

I'm way late but finally started New Super Luigi U today. Got through the first two worlds and stopped mid-way through the ice world. The Luigi physics are as weird as I remember, but once you get used to them you can breeze through it. 1-ups still seem plentiful, and with Luigi's high jumping ability it usually isn't difficult to earn an extra 1-up by reaching the top of the flagpole. I'm currently playing a couple of other games, so I already decided before I began that I'm not going for 100% in this playthrough, so that certainly helps. Most of the challenge in my original playthrough came from going for 100% because you only get 100 seconds per level and there are no checkpoints which meant when you died you'd lose any star coins you had collected. That's not to say there is no challenge to this game at all, this is kinda "The Lost Levels" compared to how easy the other games in the series are.

I also started it with the Pro Controller. It's odd, but on Switch I bought a Pro Controller specifically for Super Mario Maker 2 because I prefer using a d-pad with 2D platformers and the poor excuse for a d-pad on Joy-Cons wasn't cutting it. However on Wii U I just could never get used to using the Pro Controller with Mario games (2D or 3D), so I always stuck with the GamePad because that d-pad already felt pretty much perfect (I'd even use it over the analog stick in Mario Kart 8 sometimes). But now the Wii U Pro Controller just feels natural and I don't know why I couldn't get used to it back when I'd regularly play Wii U (I did use it fine with non-Mario games).

EZ PZ
image

I'll probably play this on my DS. I can do this on my breaks at work!

Do I count as a member because I beat NSMB? Or is this one game an outlier?

Playing NSMBU on the Switch. I agree with someone else's comment about the Mario being floaty. I was able to get through most of the game on my flight home last night. I died a lot, haha. I tend to rush levels, but that approach failed me quite a bit.

Frank wrote:

Woolly World isn't too bad, but my progression has been slow. I hadn't noticed before, but using the standard Wii-U gaming pad, my hands get a bit warm while playing YWW at least. So partly from that (maybe it's just the warmer nature of July) and some of the levels are starting to get a touch frustrating, thus my progress has been slow. I only just completed World 2 and beat 3-1. I've been generally doing 3-4 levels each session, but the console is also slow to launch the game, it's likely that I'm so used to my XSX and Quick Resume, but it takes a well over a minute with a few screens to sit there and wait for them to just basically time out while the game loads up.
I've not come even remotely close to collecting all of the stuff and that's been lame. I went back and redid level 1-1 to get the stage star for maxing the 4 challenges I suppose you'd call them. Other than that, I've only got all of the flowers and/or all of the yarn in maybe 5-6 other levels (for flowers and yarn, each) of the 19 I've now completed, and nearly none with all stamps nor health. Too many of the main 2 collectables, and even the gems and thus stamps are hidden and I'm not trying very hard to hunt them all down. I've also simply missed plenty b/c I missed a jump or didn't have yarn balls to throw or missed the target. Oh well, it's still largely enjoyable, though in the 2nd half of World 2, the stages started to get more difficult, but that just slows progression since you don't have lives. I also didn't realize I could 'eat' the fire in the 1 stage, nor stick my tongue out straight up. I also met the dog and wish I could control him better. I'm not sure if I will revisit levels once I've finished them all, I doubt it, but maybe if I get bored... and maybe with a guild or something to not miss things and just push though seemingly every single level an 2nd time - vs. a 3rd or more.

I beat New Super Mario Bros. 2 on the 3DS last night.

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Although it's rather short and very easy, it was still fun. It's actually a rather silly Mario game. The whole emphasis on coins is an interesting take on the Mario series. The only real challenge lies in finding the three gold star coins in each level, but even that isn't very difficult. It feels definitely more geared to younger players, but I still enjoyed it.

After a long dry spell, finally participated in the game of the month and completed the game. It helped that I had NSMBU in my backlog. Overall, I enjoyed the game. I've learned that being too aggressive in some levels lead me to die way more than I should have.

Are we about due for 20 Questions, Sir Frank?

I've been chipping away at New Super Mario Bros. Wii for the past few weeks. I already beat the game back in 2020, but I wanted to work on a 100% run that unlocked every Star Coin and every exit.

I've been banging my head against the wall with Star Road the past few days. I earned the last coin this morning to somewhat of an anticlimax. Mario told me I had found every coin, but I was still missing a shining profile star.

Turns out I missed one innocent exit back in World 2. Took care of that with the help of a Propeller Hat, and I earned my reward.

I'm going to see if I can do the same with New Super Mario Bros. 2 on the 3DS next, but I doubt I'll finish that before the end of the month, considering how long the Wii game took.

@Frank do you have something picked for August?

SwiftJAB wrote:
Was just thinking about that. It's been awhile since I've beaten a game. Could go for something good.

This month will be...

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Does the original count too, or just the remake? I own both, but was thinking of replaying the original before I start the remake.

Tempting.... I got the original way back in the day and just never got more than like 1 session into it a few times. I then actually played the 3rd game co-op with a friend, but have yet to get through 1 and 2. This could finally push me over the hump to try and beat it. I have it for the 360 and PC now, but only the original and not remake.

citizen_zane wrote:


No badgypoo?

@Frank

citizen_zane wrote:

Same #279

PizzaTheHutt wrote:

All 3 of the original, or the remake of 1. It'll be another franchise month.

As for the missing badges, I'll get to those asap.

I finally went back and beat Super Mario World from December 2022. The nostalgia definitely kicked in. It was fun:

https://imgur.com/a/bc7DYML

Is anyone playing Dead Space for this month? I've been wanting to, but just haven't really made much effort yet. I did try the PC port of the original game last night from my EA-Origin library. It looked pretty good at 1440p and 144hz but I only watched the intro video and walked to the first objective. I think I want to play the 360 version on my instead. I got the physical game way back for the and have always wanted to beat it that way for whatever reason.

Guess I should just dive into that, especially since I've finished Halo Infinite and TimeSplitters Future Perfect on my XSX recently, so I'm 'looking' for my next game to play on there.

I was going to ask that too. I haven't started it yet, I have the 2008 version installed on Steam, just haven't gotten around to it yet. I had Covid early on in the month, so that was like a little over a week where I couldn't/didn't want to play anything. This late in the month, with how little I play on PC it is unlikely I'd finish before the month ends (not that it really matters since it'd just count as a make up and I'd still get the badge). I could always just jump straight into the PS5 remake instead, but I really wanted to play that afterwards and compare the differences because it probably has lots of improvements the original is lacking that'd make it difficult to want to play that version second.

I've been caught up in life. I intended to play the remake this month, but it just hasn't happened.

I'm missing the badge for my New Super Luigi U clear in post 273

PizzaTheHutt wrote:

Fixed

20 Questions for next month's game anyone?

1. Is it 3-D?

Frank wrote:

So what is the plan for October? I always try to play a horror game leading up to Halloween (not that it matters because I play them all year long anyway) I'm thinking of finally getting around to Dead Space, just skip the original and go straight for the remake.

edit: Oh, just noticed Frank is taking a break, I hope everything is alright.

Hope you're ok Frank

I'm still quite consumed by Baldurs Gate 3 when I have time but my backlog is ever growing. The only horror game I haven't played are Resident Evil Village and the Quarry. Of course I need to do God of War Ragnarok too and MK1 has arrived...

Sorry folks. I was planning to take a month off, but I decided to come back early.

Vote with +/- system

+ if you want me to pick a game this month (3 days in)
- if you want this to just be another double makeup month

I'd say pick a game, even with a slightly shortened timeframe to beat it, it can become future month's makeup candidate.

6 to 1 said they'd like a game, so this month will be...

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The original release, HD remaster, VR version, and this year's remake are all eligible. I'll update the op with info, and I'll make the badge sometime later this week or weekend.

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