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Exhuminator wrote:I'll try to post March's TR voting poll on 2/5.

All the Rest of Dragon Quest
A spin-off of a spin-off draws near! People liked the idea of Final Fantasy spin-offs, but did you know Dragon Quest has plenty of spin-offs too? And lots are over ten years old. If it's a DQ spin-off, and it released before 2009, then play it 'til the slimes come home! More about Dragon Quest spin-offs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_D ... #Spin-offs


Classic '90s RTS
The 1990s were a boon for Real Time Strategy. (Lament the many mice destroyed via furious clicking of Surge addled RTS fiends.) Let us revisit the golden era of this genre. If it's an RTS game released between 1990-1999, it counts. Observe. Plan. React! Obvious choices: Command & Conquer, StarCraft, Warcraft, Dune II, Total Annihilation, Dark Reign,, Myth: The Fallen Lords, Herzog Zwei (released 1990 USA) and many more.


Eighties' Ladies' Night
You might think back in the '80s video game females didn't get too many protagonist gigs. Well, you may be surprised at how many video games actually did feature females in the lead. Take a break from the sausage parties, and play some of these muliebrous milestones! If it's a game from 1980-1989 and features a female protagonist, it counts. Obvious choices: System D.P. AKA Milia in The Guardian Legend, Samus Aran in Metroid, Alis Landale in Phantasy Star, Princess Rosella in King's Quest IV, Laura Bow in The Colonel's Bequest, Reika Kirishima in Time Gal , Mary in Quartet, Apple in Zillion, Konami Lady in Wai Wai World, and a whole lot more.


Koei Klassics
Everybody's who played games in the '80s and '90s has heard of Koei. They made those boring looking strategy games you always passed over at the video rental store. Guess what? You're older now. You may presently appreciate Koei's level of strategic complexity in your old wiser age. Why not be Genghis Khan? Or sail the seas as a savage pirate? How about running your own airport? Or winning the battles Napoleon lost? Maybe you'd just like to squash a roach? Koei has made a LOT of games. Any Koei developed title at least ten years old is solid for this TR choice. Chances are you haven't beaten any of them anyway. (Me either.) It's finally time to fix that!


Premillennial Mech Madness
Before 2000 many amazing mecha games were made. Some action oriented, some strategy oriented, some simulator oriented, and some were even fighter oriented. Everybody loves giant robots, right? EVERYBODY WHO'S AWESOME THAT IS. You'd have to be dead inside not to want to crush foes beneath giant metallic feet of doom. If it's a game about controlling a mech/robot (big or small), and it released before the year 2000, than said game counts for this TR. Let your geek flag fly high, and strap into some hard hittin' mecha action! Obvious choices: Assault Suits Valken, MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat, Front Mission, Metal Warriors, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Endless Duel, Future Cop: L.A.P.D., Tech Romancer, Armored Core, Cyber Troopers Virtual-On, Thexder, and a bajillion others.

You get two votes. You can change your votes. This poll will run for two weeks.

I like how each description tries to lock in choices to a specific time frame.

*tries* being operative

My thoughts, and my initial votes (subject to change):

1. Dragon Quest spin-offs
pretty cool, but perhaps a bit much after a month of FF spin-offs too? Also, not many DQ games even made it here, and I have a feeling quite a lot of people on the forum probably haven't even played much of the main series.

What would I play? - I don't have any unbeaten right now, so I'd invest in either the first Rocket Slime game, or Dragon Warrior Monsters for GBC, which we did get over this side of the pond.

2. Classic 90s RTS -
This is a cool one, I'm personally a big fan of Command & Conquer, which I chose for a TR a few years back.

What would I play? - I have Herzog Zwei sitting on my shelf mostly unplayed. This would be as good a time as any to give that one a shot.

3. 80s Ladies Night -
This is a good theme, but I've played a lot of the listed games already. I'd be looking to play something new. I wonder if I have anything that fits already?

What would I play? - A quick scan through my unbeaten games shows I only have 1 that qualifies, and it's a tough one. Legacy of the Wizard has 2 female protagonists out of 5, so that should count.

4. Koei Classics -
Yeah, sorry, but this is the one I really don't want to win. These games are hard to find here (no PAL releases for most or all of them), and don't interest me at all, even as a strategy fan. They look too dry for me!

What will I play? - God knows

5. Premillenial Mech Madness
I'm not the biggest mech fan ever, but I'm generally open to this theme. I've played a few of the obvious choices (Cybernator, Virtual On) and a few of the less obvious ones (Faselei!), and I think I don't have any unbeaten mech games left to play. Except for Zone of the Enders, which unfortunately misses the pre-millenial designation by just over a year.

What will I play? - Well, I could either slightly break the rules (sorry, Ex!) by playing Zone of the Enders or I could dive into Hyper Dyne: Side Arms Special for PC Engine CD, which I don't want to do because it's so damn tough . There's also the equally tough but perhaps more enjoyable Teleroboxer for Virtual Boy.


Currently my votes are for 90s strategy and 80s ladies night, but the mech option is tempting me in place of 80s ladies night. These are all themes I have games for already, which is a win in my books

I’m locked in at RTS and Ladies. Mechs come in at a distant third.

I’m not sure DQ or Koei offers a big enough variety to stray far enough from the large chunk of FF Tactics Advance that I’m wrestling with right now. Looking for something with a bit more fluid action next month.

I voted RTS and Dragon Quest, but I've really only got qualifying games for RTS.

I'll have to do a bit of research on what games I might actually have access to that fit these categories. I think I'll def put a vote towards mechs. And probably the ladies night, I guess.

noiseredux wrote:I'll have to do a bit of research on what games I might actually have access to that fit these categories. I think I'll def put a vote towards mechs. And probably the ladies night, I guess.

those were my picks

I'm a huge Dragon Quest fan, so I'm hoping that one wins. I own almost every US-released spinoff but haven't played them all. I'd probably pick Torneko: The Last Hope or Rocket Slime for March if this wins.

Mecha games are my next pick. I'd probably play Metal Walker; the mecha-Pokemon-ripoff by Capcom that I played a large portion of and enjoyed but never actually beat.

alienjesus wrote:Also, not many DQ games even made it here, and I have a feeling quite a lot of people on the forum probably haven't even played much of the main series.

By "here" do you mean in Europe? In the USA pretty much every mainline DQ game has been officially localized and released. For USA on the spin-offs, we've received:

Dragon Warrior Monsters, Dragon Warrior Monsters 2, Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker, Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2, Torneko: The Last Hope, Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime, Fortune Street, Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors (and Dragon Quest Builders, though it's a bit new).

If you get into English fan translations, all of these spin-offs are available fully translated: Dragon Quest Monsters: Caravan Heart, Torneko no Daibōken: Fushigi no Dungeon, Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy in Itadaki Street Portable.

All together best I can tell there's at least eleven English Dragon Quest spin-offs to pick from should this TR choice win.

alienjesus wrote:They look too dry for me!

Even this one?:

alienjesus wrote:a few of the less obvious ones (Faselei!

Nice. I've beaten Faselei! and enjoyed it. Proper shout out.

Omerta wrote:I'm not sure Koei offers big enough variety / looking for something with a bit more fluid action

I want to mention that Koei has made real time action games. Here's just a few:

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I see a lot of folks picking categories based on what games they already own. That's understandable. But it's also understandable to consider buying a game just to play for a TR. Part of the point of TR is to get folks to branch out from what they usually play, and engage in new experiences suggested by others. A personal example is I bought FFXII:RW solely on the premise of February's current TR. Turns out I'm really enjoying the game. I wouldn't have bothered buying or trying it, if that TR wasn't picked. Just a thought!

Myth: The Fallen Lords and its sequels were more of real-time tactics games than real-time strategy. There was no base or unit-building, no resource gathering, or any of that. It was all, "Here's your units. Go fuck shit up. And don't get everyone killed doing it, OK?"