NES Completions thread 2023 - 600/677 (bonus games - 75/100)

[PII | 1,894]

Please Bring Back Pain Points.

I've always enjoyed seeing how many of those games in particular I could knock off.

I liked seeing how many of those points specifically, myself and others could accumulate.

And I loved being able to see everyone's biggest Clears.

The hardest of the hard really should have that extra reward.  It was always just the ticket to light a fire under my ass to want to buckle down until I could beat one of those badasses.

Without pain points I'm more like: "Hmmm should I take the time to get into one of the super hard games?  ...Meh."

¡Revivez Les Points Douloureux !

[Khromak | 770]

As someone who mostly plays high point value games, I'm definitely all for pain points returning. I also really enjoy the bonus game categories, especially homebrew/hacks/famicom/FDS games. Anything to try some new games.

Next year I'd love to get recommendations from people of their "must play" games with tips to help me get going on them. I'd like to expand my horizons a little bit in addition to playing the same games every year

[Dr. Morbis | 2,091]

On 12/19/2023 at 12:21 PM, DefaultGen said:

I'm considering taking one for the team and playing Ultima V next year. Anyone have tips to make it less painful?

I'm actually planning on doing it over the Christams holidays, so my completion will be for 2023, then you can tag in for 2024.  Apparently it's not so bad if you follow a guide, as The Mexican Runner did it in less than eight hours, but if I learn anything really helpful in my playthrough I'll let you know.

[Daniel_Doyce | 477]

I'll be returning to run the Koei library at highest difficulty next year, in addition to whatever else I get around to.

Seems like the contest should just focus on the core NTSC library next year since it hasn't been beaten in several years now.

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

5 hours ago, Daniel_Doyce said:

I'll be returning to run the Koei library at highest difficulty next year, in addition to whatever else I get around to.

Seems like the contest should just focus on the core NTSC library next year since it hasn't been beaten in several years now.

Hey, since you're one of the very few others who like Koei as much as myself and @Dr. Morbis, if not more so, I wonder if you can help me with an issue I'm having on Uncharted Waters.  I'm currently working on the Genesis version, and I made the mistake of investing in too many Turkish ports in the Middle East.  My hostility is up to 53, and there's now a few fleets chasing me. Although I can usually get away for a few screens, I seem to occasionally get unlucky enough that he spawns on me and attacks immediately.  And since my ships are outfitted with the minimum crew and no guns, that makes for instant death.  Basically, I need to know how low I need my hostility to go to get them off my ass, and if there's a faster way to drop it than waiting in a port for several months (hostility appears to drop by 3 every month).  I'm not quite far enough along to desire switching to combat (I actually don't like the combat in this game, and would rather trade/explore/invest my way to victory and switch for the final mission). 

[DefaultGen | 5,426]

20 hours ago, Dr. Morbis said:

I'm actually planning on doing it over the Christams holidays, so my completion will be for 2023, then you can tag in for 2024.  Apparently it's not so bad if you follow a guide, as The Mexican Runner did it in less than eight hours, but if I learn anything really helpful in my playthrough I'll let you know.

Yeah I looked at TMR’s run and he played for like 2 hours, then spent the rest of the stream learning the speedrun strategy lol. I’m going to play it for real though. As much as I love this thread, I want to check off the NES Ultima trilogy for my own ungodly gratification.

[DefaultGen | 5,426]

13 hours ago, Daniel_Doyce said:

Seems like the contest should just focus on the core NTSC library next year since it hasn't been beaten in several years now.

Have @Gloves make a badge for beating a 10-point game. People will do anything for internet clout.

[Daniel_Doyce | 477]

7 hours ago, the_wizard_666 said:

Hey, since you're one of the very few others who like Koei as much as myself and @Dr. Morbis, if not more so, I wonder if you can help me with an issue I'm having on Uncharted Waters.  I'm currently working on the Genesis version, and I made the mistake of investing in too many Turkish ports in the Middle East.  My hostility is up to 53, and there's now a few fleets chasing me. Although I can usually get away for a few screens, I seem to occasionally get unlucky enough that he spawns on me and attacks immediately.  And since my ships are outfitted with the minimum crew and no guns, that makes for instant death.  Basically, I need to know how low I need my hostility to go to get them off my ass, and if there's a faster way to drop it than waiting in a port for several months (hostility appears to drop by 3 every month).  I'm not quite far enough along to desire switching to combat (I actually don't like the combat in this game, and would rather trade/explore/invest my way to victory and switch for the final mission). 

What country is attacking you? You put yourself into a tough bind by making friends with the Turks.

If you can escape out of the Mediterranean and lie low and invest in other ports for a while, things should calm down. But it sounds like you'll just have to arm up and blast out of the situation for the time being. Money's never really an issue in the game after you get some coral, so you can always disarm after the crisis is over.

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

9 hours ago, Daniel_Doyce said:

What country is attacking you? You put yourself into a tough bind by making friends with the Turks.

If you can escape out of the Mediterranean and lie low and invest in other ports for a while, things should calm down. But it sounds like you'll just have to arm up and blast out of the situation for the time being. Money's never really an issue in the game after you get some coral, so you can always disarm after the crisis is over.

It's Turkey that's attacking me, and I'm stuck on the east coast of Africa.  I suppose I could try sailing east and see what happens, as I've only attempted to sail west so far.  I also don't mind waiting a month or two to drop hostility, but I don't really want to burn quite so much time.

Edit: Going east did the trick.  Turkey had no presence east of the middle east, so i just hit a couple ports in the spice islands, circled around the southern  tip of South America, and by the time I got back to Lisbon, the hostility dropped below 50.  I appears that once it hits 50, warships are sent after you, but once it's in the 40s they're called off.  So killing two months taking the long route cleared things up for me, and helped boost fame further.  And now I know not to convert every damn port I come across  

Edited December 24, 2023 by the_wizard_666

[Strikezone1 | 155]

Street Cop is beaten.

I’ve been putting off beating this game for years because, let’s be honest, who wants to play a power pad game this day & age?!

The difficulty wasn’t too bad, all of the challenge lies in the physical labor required to play it. Lol.

I’ll beat it again in a week and check it off the list for the 2024 thread.

[Daniel_Doyce | 477]

15 hours ago, the_wizard_666 said:

It's Turkey that's attacking me, and I'm stuck on the east coast of Africa.  I suppose I could try sailing east and see what happens, as I've only attempted to sail west so far.  I also don't mind waiting a month or two to drop hostility, but I don't really want to burn quite so much time.

Edit: Going east did the trick.  Turkey had no presence east of the middle east, so i just hit a couple ports in the spice islands, circled around the southern  tip of South America, and by the time I got back to Lisbon, the hostility dropped below 50.  I appears that once it hits 50, warships are sent after you, but once it's in the 40s they're called off.  So killing two months taking the long route cleared things up for me, and helped boost fame further.  And now I know not to convert every damn port I come across  

Turkey will never be particularly friendly to you, due to historical reasons. You may even need to bribe to get into their ports later in the game if you need to go there for a fetch quest (saving before entering the port is a good idea since you can also get arrested).

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

2 hours ago, Daniel_Doyce said:

Turkey will never be particularly friendly to you, due to historical reasons. You may even need to bribe to get into their ports later in the game if you need to go there for a fetch quest (saving before entering the port is a good idea since you can also get arrested).

It's funny, they're allied with Spain and have been most of the game outside of the very start.  I've had a couple issues with Ali specifically...apparently even though Turkey isn't hostile anymore, he's still hunting me.  But on the plus side, I need to switch to combat for a mission anyway, so I'm just gonna do that now.  Just have to empty the goods off my ships so I can start upgrading.  From there I may just start blasting pirates to avoid going back to pure trade ships, though I'd much rather stick with trade.  Been noticing lots of ships in the Mediterranean though, so it should be feasible to either hunt Pirates or just blast Turkey until the end game.

[Dr. Morbis | 2,091]

Well, the worst RPG in the North American NES catalog is done: I spent most of my time on Boxing Day beating Ultima: Warriors of Destiny.  It really only has two problems that prevent it from being playable:

(1) terrible sound - only one short bgm track loops over and over for the entire game, no matter the situation or where you are, combined with there being no sound effects to speak of, all of which isn't really that big of an issue since you can just crank your own tunes; however, the real killer is:

(2) complete lack of scrolling!  The whole game is on a grid system, and when you press a direction, the game keeps your character still and teleports the entire surroundings in the opposite direction by one square about a second later to simulate movement!  As a result, the game essentially feels like it has a refresh rate of 1 fps (1 frame per second) whenever you're trying to move.  It's incredibly jarring at first and singlehandedly turns off most would-be players in seconds, but after forcing yourself to stick with it, you do get used to it after a while.  Honestly, if they could have fixed this one issue (by learning how to program scrolling), the game wouldn't really be that bad.  Don't get me wrong, there are a kaleidoscope of other issues to contend with (don't even get me started on the battle system), but the lack of scrolling is the knock-out blow.

Oh, and @DefaultGen I don't know if you're planning on playing blind or following a guide like I did, but if you do follow a guide, ignore all the "kill yourself to save time backtracking out of the dungeon" advice.  I don't know how the hell Aschultz missed it, but there's an escape spell that's in your spell book from the start of the game and it's free to cast from literally anywhere with no ingredients required, so no need for any suicides outside of maybe a hardcore speed-runner using it as a strat...

 

Edited December 27, 2023 by Dr. Morbis

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

I was just wondering how that was coming along @Dr. Morbis   I may have to give it a whirl next year sometime.  Was it a decent game aside from the technical problems?  I've liked every other Ultima I've played, but this one is just so damn jarring.

[Dr. Morbis | 2,091]

11 hours ago, the_wizard_666 said:

I was just wondering how that was coming along @Dr. Morbis   I may have to give it a whirl next year sometime.  Was it a decent game aside from the technical problems?  I've liked every other Ultima I've played, but this one is just so damn jarring.

The story is cool and the quests and dialog and everything are fine, it just seems like the programmers for the NES port didn't know what the hell they were doing.  So it feels kind of like watching a terrible remake of a really good movie, or the video game equivelant: putting the task of porting a masterpiece (Ultima V) into the hands of an incompetent fool...

Edited December 27, 2023 by Dr. Morbis

[DefaultGen | 5,426]

On 12/27/2023 at 2:18 AM, Dr. Morbis said:

Oh, and @DefaultGen I don't know if you're planning on playing blind or following a guide like I did, but if you do follow a guide, ignore all the "kill yourself to save time backtracking out of the dungeon" advice.  I don't know how the hell Aschultz missed it, but there's an escape spell that's in your spell book from the start of the game and it's free to cast from literally anywhere with no ingredients required, so no need for any suicides outside of maybe a hardcore speed-runner using it as a strat...

 

It's funny I saw an Ultima 3 review just posted complaining a bit about slogging through dungeons when a couple spells (rot/descend) completely trivialize that part of the game. Gotta use the right spells in Ultima games.

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

1 hour ago, DefaultGen said:

It's funny I saw an Ultima 3 review just posted complaining a bit about slogging through dungeons when a couple spells (rot/descend) completely trivialize that part of the game. Gotta use the right spells in Ultima games.

Might & Magic is kinda like that too.  Like 95% of the game is just filler, there's really only a small number of things you are actually required to do to beat it.

[nerdynebraskan | 356]

Hey y'all, 

I've been thinking about this for weeks, and I think it's time for me to prioritize other things in my life. I'll contribute next year, but I'll be much less involved with this challenge. I'll play some of my favorites, and maybe do some first-time clears or revisit some gems I haven't played in years. I'll be curious to see who comes out on top!

[Gaia Gensouki | 1,077]

7 hours ago, nerdynebraskan said:

Hey y'all, 

I've been thinking about this for weeks, and I think it's time for me to prioritize other things in my life. I'll contribute next year, but I'll be much less involved with this challenge. I'll play some of my favorites, and maybe do some first-time clears or revisit some gems I haven't played in years. I'll be curious to see who comes out on top!

Wow! This almost feels like the end of an era. After six years of being pretty much the uncontested champion you're going to take it a little bit slower. But I can imagine that this challenge took up a good chunk of your time. So I wish you the best for whatever comes next for you! It was fun taking on the challenge with you and having a bit of a friendly competition.

I'm also thinking of doing more new completions and working on my backlog of games, but I will probably still try to go for some of the less popular or "bad" games.

[PII | 1,894]

3 hours ago, Gaia Gensouki said:

Wow! This almost feels like the end of an era. After six years of being pretty much the uncontested champion you're going to take it a little bit slower. But I can imagine that this challenge took up a good chunk of your time. So I wish you the best for whatever comes next for you! It was fun taking on the challenge with you and having a bit of a friendly competition.

I'm also thinking of doing more new completions and working on my backlog of games, but I will probably still try to go for some of the less popular or "bad" games.

What Else Might Gensouki Be Thinking?

Only Joking!  

@nerdynebraskan It will be strange not seeing you around here as much for sure, but real life happens as I'm sure everyone knows.  Glad to hear you won't become a total stranger though.  You've had a Hell of a Run!

[Gloves | 11,818]

11 hours ago, nerdynebraskan said:

Hey y'all, 

I've been thinking about this for weeks, and I think it's time for me to prioritize other things in my life. I'll contribute next year, but I'll be much less involved with this challenge. I'll play some of my favorites, and maybe do some first-time clears or revisit some gems I haven't played in years. I'll be curious to see who comes out on top!

Take care of yourself, and don't be a stranger! You're a staple around here! 

[nerdynebraskan | 356]

I'll have some time right away, so I'll be around for the "gold rush" season that comes with the new year. 

[Daniel_Doyce | 477]

Paging @scaryice... Where are ya bud?

[DefaultGen | 5,426]

[scaryice | 589]

On 12/22/2023 at 10:24 PM, Daniel_Doyce said:

Seems like the contest should just focus on the core NTSC library next year since it hasn't been beaten in several years now.

 

That's what I'm planning to do. I guess I'll bring back the pain points too, since hopefully that will inspire people to beat some of the harder games.

Looks like we'll end the year with 600 licensed games beaten. Not too close to finishing the library, but it's much better than last year's 564.