What are you currently playing?

[Strange | 1,700]

I’m finally finishing the first Phantasy Star. Quarantining myself gives me time for an RPG again.

Edited March 18, 2020 by The Strangest

[cj_robot | 542]

I'm playing a new game. It's called "Toilet Paper Quest." I'm not doing well so far. It's extremely frustrating and not really any fun at all. Unfortunately I have to play it, despite not being a fan of these battle royale games.

[Sumez | 2,950]

17 hours ago, TDIRunner said:

Wow, that's the first time I've ever heard DKC referred to as "unfair."

"Unfair" is basically my attempt at justifying all the people who claim DKC1 is a hard game. I always found it incredibly easy, but I'll admit that when playing it after many years of not having spent any time with it, I did die a lot of times simply due to being taken off guard by the horribly ineffective camera. It's really remarkable how well that issue was fixed for the sequels.

[Sumez | 2,950]

double post

Edited March 19, 2020 by Sumez

[Californication | 1,477]

21 hours ago, Sumez said:

I'd avoid the NES version of Ghosts n Goblins, it's really wonky, and a lot of really good ports have come out since (like in the Capcom Generation or Classics Collection discs). The NES version might put you into situations where you can't avoid getting hit, I don't know, but I wouldnt' say that ever happens on arcade, even though that game is also a little archaic at places. If you know what you're doing, you can always react to what's coming up. With exception of one enemy in one of the PCB revisions on stage 6, where two unicorns (the cyclops thing) spawn across from eachother. The best way to handle those is always to just take an intentional hit and run through one of them, picking up the armor that appears almost immediately after.

The arcade is a classic. Though both NES and arcade are definitely up there in terms of difficulty, I think the PSP game is absolutely the hardest in the series, at least in the arcade-like "Kai" revision. It's super long, and every single checkpoint takes a ton of practice and memorization to get through.

Interesting. I feel like I can get better at NES version, I mean if other people can do well why can't I? The PSP version is at the top of my list after buying a PSP, maybe next year, I didn't realize it was so highly regarded. Do you know if there is really a dif. between the ntsc and jntsc versions?

[Sumez | 2,950]

Not to my knowledge, but if you can pick up the Japanese Kai version, it comes with both the arcade-style Kai "remix" of the game and the original version included.

The original version has a lot of special equipment, and secrets and stuff that might be easier to understand with English text, though.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,523]

Started Slay the Spire.  Only got 10 minutes, but I can tell it's gonna be a keeper.

[Galdius | 1,514]

Started to play Animal Crossing: New Horizons today.
This is my first time playing any game in the series and I'm having fun so far (2h30 played).

[Estil | 1,264]

On 3/18/2020 at 10:02 AM, The Strangest said:

I’m finally finishing the first Phantasy Star. Quarantining myself gives me time for an RPG again.

Interesting how Nintendo offers the first game with a female protagonist (Ms Pac Man doesn't count) and Sega says, "I see your Samus, and raise you the first ever RPG/quest game with a female "quarterback"!

IIRC, it would not be until Final Fantasy 13 that another major RPG would star a female character as the "quarterback" of the party?  By quarterback I obviously mean the leader, who more often than not you're never allowed to switch out of the party or position.

Edited March 23, 2020 by Estil

[Estil | 1,264]

On 3/19/2020 at 3:29 AM, Sumez said:

"Unfair" is basically my attempt at justifying all the people who claim DKC1 is a hard game. I always found it incredibly easy, but I'll admit that when playing it after many years of not having spent any time with it, I did die a lot of times simply due to being taken off guard by the horribly ineffective camera. It's really remarkable how well that issue was fixed for the sequels.

While we're on that subject, in the ending Cranky boasts how if he had been playing he'd have found everything and would've done it in under an hour!  Is that even realistically possible?  Remember, you must show your achievement with a picture of both the screen and the console to prove you're not using a cheating device or noooooooo Nintendo Power Stamps for you!!

[Estil | 1,264]

On 3/18/2020 at 2:50 PM, cj_robot said:

I'm playing a new game. It's called "Toilet Paper Quest." I'm not doing well so far. It's extremely frustrating and not really any fun at all. Unfortunately I have to play it, despite not being a fan of these battle royale games.

Does it star Cornholio?

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1gmv66

Edited March 21, 2020 by Estil

[Strange | 1,700]

16 hours ago, Estil said:

Interesting how Nintendo offers the first game with a female protagonist (Ms Pac Man doesn't count) and Sega says, "I see your Samus, and raise you the first ever RPG/quest game with a female "quarterback"!

IIRC, it would not be until Final Fantasy 13 that a major RPG would star a female character as the "quarterback" of the party?  By quarterback I obviously mean the leader, who more often than not you're never allowed to switch out of the party or position.

I was going to say Terra, but you clarified party members that can’t be switched out. You may be right.

[Sumez | 2,950]

Well... What about Phantasy Star?

If that's not "major" enough for you (in which case I'd guess anything that's not FF isn't major??), Dragon Quest 3 (1988) at least gave you the option of a female main character that can't be switched out.

Edited March 23, 2020 by Sumez

[Estil | 1,264]

15 minutes ago, Sumez said:

Well... What about Phantasy Star?

If that's not "major" enough for you (in which case I'd guess anything that's not FF isn't major??), Dragon Quest 3 (1988) at least gave you the option of a female main character that can't be switched out.

I meant to say, "that a major RPG would again star a female character"  I was in fact counting Phantasy Star as the first.

Edited March 23, 2020 by Estil

[SpoonMan Abrams X | 697]

I just picked myself up a Switch and have started playing Pokemon Shield.

I also got Smash and my buddy loaned me his copy of Breath of the Wild

[DefaultGen | 5,401]

I started Candelabra Estoscerro. I can’t tell whether I like or don’t like the combat system yet. I can’t multitask so I end up attacking with fighter guy and only defending with the other guys. Maybe it will click though. I haven’t played many 8-bit dungeon crawlers though. It’s a lot easier to just dive into than something like Wizardry.

[Gloves | 11,777]

Old School Runescape, natch.

[Strange | 1,700]

As mentioned before, quarantine has given me time to finish some more RPGs. Right now I’m finishing Final Fantasy 7. That’s right, I’ve never managed to stick through it to the end but I’m going to this time.

Okay, I’m at the Temple of the Ancients (I think I know what’s coming...) and I’m just overall puzzled. I like the game. But I don’t think the story is as good as I was led on to believe. The gameplay is top notch. I’m having a lot of fun, the battle system is great, it’s as classic as a classic JRPG can be. 10/10 gameplay. But I’m finding the story to be a little convoluted. It’s not bad, but I’m finding the way it’s told is a little messy and character motivations are suspect. Maybe I need to finish the game before I make a verdict, but I think for all the hype I was expecting to be absolutely blown away the entire time. I’m finding I enjoyed the story of FF6 more.

Again, I’m still enjoying the game and the story. But I guess after hearing about how it’s the greatest RPG of all time I was expecting a flawless storytelling experience and in my opinion that’s not the case, so far.

Am I wrong?

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

41 minutes ago, The Strangest said:

As mentioned before, quarantine has given me time to finish some more RPGs. Right now I’m finishing Final Fantasy 7. That’s right, I’ve never managed to stick through it to the end but I’m going to this time.

Okay, I’m at the Temple of the Ancients (I think I know what’s coming...) and I’m just overall puzzled. I like the game. But I don’t think the story is as good as I was led on to believe. The gameplay is top notch. I’m having a lot of fun, the battle system is great, it’s as classic as a classic JRPG can be. 10/10 gameplay. But I’m finding the story to be a little convoluted. It’s not bad, but I’m finding the way it’s told is a little messy and character motivations are suspect. Maybe I need to finish the game before I make a verdict, but I think for all the hype I was expecting to be absolutely blown away the entire time. I’m finding I enjoyed the story of FF6 more.

Again, I’m still enjoying the game and the story. But I guess after hearing about how it’s the greatest RPG of all time I was expecting a flawless storytelling experience and in my opinion that’s not the case, so far.

Am I wrong?

The story is pretty good when you finally have all the pieces and the orientation needed to assemble it. Unfortunately, it is very easy to miss some important events that fill in the backstory and there are some other issues with the method of the storytelling that I won't go into (to avoid spoilers). I will say that it felt epic and grandiose and emotional in 1997, but I think we can all agree that standards have been elevated dramatically since then. I'm really excited to see how the Remake handles character development since Cloud was relatively uninteresting, even back then.

[profholt82 | 60]

Speaking of RPGs, I was all in on the first Dragon Warrior as I have never actually sat down and played it for real. At this point, I have put in countless hours, but still feel as though I haven't leveled up enough to make a serious run at the final castle. I've collected all of the parts I needed, and traded them to an old man for a rainbow bridge which connects to the island the final castle is on.  But I noticed that as soon as I cross over there, the random battles kick my tuchus enough to wear I'm burning through health spells just to stay alive.

So I've cooled off on it for now. I want to say I'm level 15 right now, and I think to seriously have a chance to beat the game, my guy will need to be level 20.  And let me tell you, grinding is a major component of this game. I couldn't even tell you how many hours I've had to wander around certain areas to rack up experience points in fights, and to get to level 20, well, that's just daunting at this point. I'm not saying never, but I'm taking a break.

[a3quit4s | 4,097]

E.V.O. Search for Eden, wtf is happening in this game lol

[Hammerfestus | 3,837]

56 minutes ago, a3quit4s said:

E.V.O. Search for Eden, wtf is happening in this game lol

Science my man. Science.  Pretty sure beating that game earns you a BS in Biology. 
 

I’m currently trying to get into Zelda 2 for the 72nd time.  It’s enjoyable but I get so far and then I die a bunch and then put it down and don’t pick it back up.

[Tanooki | 4,933]

Biology or UFOlogy, something of the sort.  I beat that one close to 10 years ago maybe now or a bit less, it's an oddity.  I want to say it's well done, and in theory it is, but EVO is kind of crappy on the boss fights, overall lacking and due to some oddities with it you have to game the system in evolving repeated to stay alive long enough while pounding on your target.

[Sumez | 2,950]

12 hours ago, The Strangest said:

But I’m finding the story to be a little convoluted. It’s not bad, but I’m finding the way it’s told is a little messy and character motivations are suspect. Maybe I need to finish the game before I make a verdict, but I think for all the hype I was expecting to be absolutely blown away the entire time. I’m finding I enjoyed the story of FF6 more.

At the time, I found the story to be the only major improvement over FF6. It followed most of the exact same story beats, right down to an "empire" soldier being recruited by the rebels etc. etc. but it has a lot more mystery and twisted stuff going on, which probably appealed to my teenage self.

I've always been a much bigger fan of FF6, but nowadays looking back at both games I recognize exactly what you're saying, especially in the wake of all the games that would follow FF7 and do the same thing. Many elements of the story are needlessly convoluted just for the sake of being convoluted, and twists and secrets are introduced with no real genuine explanation (though it's easy to write everything off with "planet energy" and "power of friendship"). It's basically the birth of the Kingdom Hearts thing.

In comparison, FF6's story is much more straight forward, but still manages to make the cartoonish characters feel like humans with a heart, and I think it's extremely appealing to this day, even with the original lambasted Ted Woolsey translation. A lot of FF7's humanity (which is still there, and handled very well) gets a little lost in the mess.

[Sumez | 2,950]

10 hours ago, profholt82 said:

I want to say I'm level 15 right now, and I think to seriously have a chance to beat the game, my guy will need to be level 20.

Yeah. I think it's doable on level 19, but if you want a reliable victory go for level 20.

Yes, the lack of stuff to do towards the end of the game, makes Dragon Warrior 1 extremely grind heavy. People complain about that aspect in the second game, but simply exploring the world got me where I needed to be in that game outside of the final grind which was honestly still fairly smooth.

Dragon Warrior 1 will, as you say, have you wandering in a circle in the same area for ages. Fortunately, the battles are extremely quick in this one, but the repetition really makes the grind feel like it takes a lot longer than it really done. In reality, this game can be beaten in only a handful of hours.