DoctorEncore

Such a bummer. Was really looking forward to playing this in co-op with my brother and friends. Turns out there is no co-op progression for the guest player, so you lose everything when the session ends. I can't believe they're still making games with that kind of ridiculous restriction in 2023. It's pretty obvious that this was meant as an online, games-as-a-service title that took a heavy pivot sometime during development.

I hope MS gives them a year or so to work on it to see if they can turn it into something better. If not, I hope they immediately trash it and go back to what they do well.

Enjoyed it as a kid but haven't watched in ages. Will rewatch this summer with my son. 7/10 for now.

3 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

I finally went back last night and tried this one for the first time.  Spent 30 minutes trying out some ideas, but none of them were quite panning out.  I can't tell if I have the right concept, or if I'm doing it completely wrong.

I'm near the end of the game, but spent a very long time not making progress, so I took a break to work on two new games:

Xenoblade - I can already tell I'm going to prefer the worlds of Xenoblade II, which are jam-packed full of little secrets and treasures.  And I got really used to the crazy convolutions of 2's combat.  But it's a nice game to play while watching movies or Netflix, and I'm always in need of those.

Ghost of Tsushima - Maybe 2 hours in.  I'm digging it, and I could see myself doing all of the side stuff since it seems like it will be a chill experience.  But it feels like more of an 8/10 and won't be threatening Elden Ring on my year end list.  But that's still pretty good.

House of Fata Morgana - Restarted after getting an hour into it last year.  It's hard though, because I'm also reading a couple books right now, so it's hard to have time to dedicate to those and this.

Man, that level kicked my butt. Took me so so long to finally find a viable solution. Also, if Baba has another 150 levels beyond the 170 I've already completed, then I'm gonna call it complete and cross it off the list. I'll keep picking away at it, but if I stopped now, I'd happily call it done haha.

Gave my brain a rest for a couple days and came back and almost immediately solved the two standard puzzles I was missing. Maritime Adventures solution I came up with was bonkers, while Coronation was actually really simple. On to the bonus world!

17 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Shit, youre making me feel bad about all the levels I didn't solve and left behind.  Maybe I spend tonight revisiting them...

Well, I've been addicted to the game and we've had nonstop visitors for the past month blocking me from my Xbox/PS5, so it's all I've been playing. Plus I get annoyed when I can't solve a puzzle so I just play more. It's probably not healthy.

44 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

I'm at 140ish clears and probably over 50 hours in.

I needed "nudges" on a few:

• there was one level where I needed to 
    Reveal hidden contents

  Stack words on one another

  which I'm confident I wouldn't have figured out

• a level that utilized "fall" in a manner that was very devious and tricks the player

• There was one level where you need to do a very long and very specific set of text moves that was beyond my capabilities.  Conceptually I knew what needed to be.done, but executing was a problem.  In hindsight I think this level was optional.

It also took me forever to figure out how to unlock a late-game world, and when I did it was by accident.

Anyway, my progress is very slow now (I figured out 2 levels last night while watching Better Call Saul) so I don't know when I'll beat it, and I don't know when I would get around to the remaining optional levels.

I feel you, man. Some of the levels are pretty dang convoluted, although I've found that most of the time when I struggle, it's because I'm actually overcomplicating things. I'm at 60 hours and 161 clears total and probably half of those hours were spent on about ten levels. Similar to you, I kind of bounce around different ideas while watching TV since it's not particularly fun to give the game your complete attention just to bang your head against the wall.

The only standard levels I have left are 05 - Maritime Adventures in Flower Gardens (World 7) and Extra 1 - Coronation in Volcanic Cavern (World 8). I'm saving the one bonus world I have unlocked until I finish the standard levels.

On 5/2/2023 at 4:46 PM, Tabonga said:

Talking about the Landmaster made me think of the many interesting vehicles I have seen in scf fi movies.  (Let's stick to land vehicles and not get into spaceships etc.)

I completely glossed over your instructions, but I have no regrets!

I think the Nostromo from Alien is probably my all-time favorite. Not so much for the exterior design, but instead for the amazing interiors. So much thought and care went into the layout, accommodations, tech, and signage, making it feel real and lived-in. It is functional, yet still serves the story amazingly well.

Still working on Baba is You. My opinion hasn't changed much as I approach the end, although the game got drastically easier for me in worlds 9 and 10. I think I solved every puzzle in them in under thirty minutes, a few of them I even cracked on the first try. I've got a couple stragglers in worlds 7 and 8 which have been haunting me for a while and I only briefly touched the bonus world (not sure if there is more after that).

As I said before, it's a very cool game with unique ideas, but deciphering the rules sometimes feels like more work than fun. The good puzzles are some of the best I've ever played in a game, but the "bad" ones can be painful.

Still, I highly recommend it to everyone who likes puzzle games. It's worth experiencing the good stuff and the world-gating is pretty light, so you can skip puzzles that frustrate you if you don't care about completion percentage.

10 hours ago, TDIRunner said:

I'm just glad no one has posted a picture of their kids yet.  

While they did cost a lot of money, I didn't technically purchase them, so...

On 4/28/2023 at 6:48 PM, a3quit4s said:

 

On 4/28/2023 at 6:53 PM, MrWunderful said:

I think that’s the PAL version, but that’s just my opinion. Usually the NTSC has a po box address of south San Francisco, California. I may be incorrect, however. I do know that the PAL  versions are region free and will work on an NTSC system.

@Kobun Heat has you covered. 

This is why VGS really needs a more accessible, collector focused version. A collecting guide for every console should be easily accessible.

This is a tough one. Based on the 8 bit era, I'd lean towards Capcom just because of nostalgia and my familiarity for those games, but Konami has some serious bangers too. I abstain.

1 minute ago, Jynx said:

Then I go down to the water stage with the bone dragon boss, because it has the best song in the game.

I absolutely love that this is your justification for going to the water stage. So many cool points for this.

I've never put any significant time into the older Castlevania games, but maybe I'll find play this some day when I get a time machine.

I think Ocarina is great and still holds up today, so I'd love to give this a shot at some point. Does this play well on Switch Online or is the input latency as bad as the NES/SNES games?

25 minutes ago, RH said:

Lol, it's time to bring up my hot take that Legend of Zelda is nothing more than a horizontal/top-down Metroid game.

It really does have a lot in common in terms of overall structure and open-world nature. I think the dungeons kind of save it from the monotony of Metroid, but it's definitely similar.

1 hour ago, RH said:

It is out in Japan.  Surprisingly did not do as well as I expected but again, I really don't know the Japanese market in scope or rabid fandomness of things like this.

https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl1077838593/weekend/

(There's a drop-down that says  "Domestic".  Select Japan from there, and you'll see how it did on opening weekend for them.)

1 hour ago, ThePhleo said:

oh! I thought they weren't getting it until June.

Also, WTF Bangladesh. You just have like what, one theater showing?

Actually it did quite well in its opening weekend in Japan. It debuted to $13.7 million from only 372 theaters for a per-theater average of $36,994. Opening weekend in America was a $38,331 per-theater average, so just slightly better.

It's is Japan's 23rd biggest opening weekend ever (https://www.boxofficemojo.com/chart/top_opening_weekend/?area=JP&ref_=bo_rl_rr).

I won't go so far as to say it's boring, but it's not a particularly interesting game either. At a certain point you have to just bomb every wall and floor to find your way to the end which is just lazy game design. If you have the original manual, there is a very stylized map that actually does provide a general layout of the world, but otherwise you're on your own.

There is a reason you don't really hear people going on and on about how amazing this game is like you do with SMB or Zelda (which has similar design issues, in my opinion).

On 4/29/2023 at 11:18 AM, flan said:

It's hilarious to me that the trend of Special Editions that don't include the game started so long ago and still continues. Nice pickups.

After they sell 1000 digital copies, they take the computer that contains the source code and push it off a bridge into an oncoming train. LIMITED.

1 hour ago, Splain said:

Been playing Cuphead. Made it through World 1 EZPZ, feeling pretty confident. The World 2 fights are taking me a lot more tries to beat, it's making me worried about what World 3 is gonna be like.

I loved that game. I didn't find it to be quite as hard as others and I think it's generally fair; it's not like NES games where the difficulty is due to bad design. I really need to give the DLC a playthrough.

I'm still working on Baba, Deathloop, and FFX. I'm about 110 levels into Baba and only have one stage I haven't cleared yet (Skull House in world 5). As I mentioned previously, it's kind of lost it's charm for me. I don't love the word puzzle format and feel like it's a little prone to frustrating design decisions. Other than that just sitting in a little competitive Halo and Rocket League whenever I find time.

It just means the game is open, but complete. See here for more info:

Or here: https://cgagrading.com/faqs

"What is eligible for the Qualified Scale?

Qualified Scale refers to items that show signs of previously being opened or items with autographs on. We are looking for the following criteria: 

AFA/ CDA/ DCA: tampered factory tape (cut, re-glued, double-tapped, etc.). Signs of previously opened boxes.

VGA : reseals (aftermarket shrink wrap, re-glued cellophane/sticker, etc.). Signs of previously opened games.

CGA is offering the option of inspecting the contents of the item. If the contents are found to be in new and complete condition a Qualified Certificate will be released stating this information and a grade will be assigned under our Qualified Grading Scale. If this option is chosen then the item must be processed accordingly in order to receive a grade. If not, the item will be subject to refusal and the refusal options will apply."

11 hours ago, Hammerfestus said:

Is this any good?  Is it scary?  Trying to determine if I should take 5 year old.  

I took my six year old and three year old and both seemed to enjoy it. There are a couple spooky/intense moments, but both of them did great. Three is probably a bit young (although mine didn't have any problems), but five is perfect.

I'm starting to enjoy Baba is You less and less as I get further into it. I still think it's an interesting, unique concept, but the execution leaves a bit to be desired.

My biggest complaint stems from the fact that the rules are often unclear and unintuitive. There's no real way to know what some of the new words will do without a significant amount of trial and error. That means you spend more time combining different words to figure out the rules of the level than actually applying the rules to solve the puzzle. The puzzle solving is great, but the hours spent just pushing words around in a different combinations is more frustrating than fun.

I know it's a small indie game, but a couple more passes at the overall design concept would have improved it greatly. As it is, I still think it's a game all puzzle fans should play, but I would recommend people temper their expectations, especially as you approach the back half of the game.

I am going to try to see it through to the end and solve all puzzles without a guide, but I'm just going to play it on the side instead of as my main game. It loses a lot of its appeal during longer sessions, so it's better for me to play it in small bites.

I'm one of the remaining few who still use this service. It was a fantastic way to get new releases before they hit streaming or rent more obscure titles  that just aren't available to stream. Super sad to see this service shut down.

10/10. One of the top five greatest games of all-time and perfection of the Mario formula.