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ElkinFencer10
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Re: Games Beaten 2023

by ElkinFencer10 Mon Mar 06, 2023 6:45 pm

Games Beaten in 2023 - 13
* denotes a replay

January (5 Games Beaten)
1. Banner of the Maid - Switch - January 2
2. Silver Falls: 3 Down Stars - 3DS - January 8
3. Silver Falls: Episode Prelude - Switch - January 8
4. The Pathless - PlayStation 5 - January 12
5. Modern Combat: Blackout - Switch - January 14


February (7 Games Beaten)
6. Fire Emblem: Engage - Switch - February 2
7. Dragon Quest Builders 2 - PlayStation 4 - February 15
8. Silver Falls: Undertakers - Wii U - February 16
9. Silver Falls: White Inside Its Umbra - Wii U - February 18
10. Silver Falls: Guardians and Metal Exterminators - 3DS - February 22
11. Silver Falls: Frontier Fighters Mini - Browser - February 22
12. Silver Falls: Ghoul Busters - Switch - February 24


March (1 Games Beaten)
13. Red Colony - Switch - March 5


13. Red Colony - Switch - March 5

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Red Colony is the first in a trilogy of ecchi horror games that plays like half Resident Evil and half Sakura Swim Club with a pinch of Senran Kagura for good measure. Well, for measure, at least; the game certainly isn't what I would describe as good, but it's not awful, either. It's solidly "meh."

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The game takes place on the Martian Red Colony, a communist colony bordering Mars's capitalist colony, Blue Colony. You play as Maria, the CEO of a major research company on Red Colony and wife of the colony's mayor, during a zombie virus outbreak that has ravaged the colony. The game is 2D, so you'll make your way through the game in a generally left-to-right manner with the occasional backtracking. The zombies are a pain to fight, but they're not hard, per se; if you have a good feel for controls, you can kill them all with the knife and never draw your gun or take any damage (although if you take damage, your clothes tear like in Senran Kagura, so who wants to avoid damage?). This is good because ammo is in frustratingly short supply. You can craft ammo, but the crafting materials are frustratingly scarce. The scarcity is done in a way that, thanks to the knife, the game isn't hard, it's just irritating.

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The story is actually pretty decent even if totally and utterly cliché. You can zip from start to finish in under an hour if you want, but if you take the time to explore and dig through the various lore drops, it's a fairly entertaining albeit unoriginal narrative. I'm hoping the two sequels improve the story because while it wasn't boring by any means, it also wasn't exciting. It was a resounding okay.

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Unfortunately, that also describes the entirety of Red Colony - "okay." The game is inoffensively bland and safely uninspired. If you like Resident Evil style stories and 2D games with big titty anime girls, then you might enjoy this. If that sounds as contrived and worn out as it does to me, then maybe skip this one. It's not a bad game, but you'll certainly not miss anything by not playing it.
Exhuminator wrote:Ecchi lords must unite for great justice.

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ElkinFencer10
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Re: Games Beaten 2023

by ElkinFencer10 Tue Mar 07, 2023 10:58 am

Games Beaten in 2023 - 14
* denotes a replay

January (5 Games Beaten)
1. Banner of the Maid - Switch - January 2
2. Silver Falls: 3 Down Stars - 3DS - January 8
3. Silver Falls: Episode Prelude - Switch - January 8
4. The Pathless - PlayStation 5 - January 12
5. Modern Combat: Blackout - Switch - January 14


February (7 Games Beaten)
6. Fire Emblem: Engage - Switch - February 2
7. Dragon Quest Builders 2 - PlayStation 4 - February 15
8. Silver Falls: Undertakers - Wii U - February 16
9. Silver Falls: White Inside Its Umbra - Wii U - February 18
10. Silver Falls: Guardians and Metal Exterminators - 3DS - February 22
11. Silver Falls: Frontier Fighters Mini - Browser - February 22
12. Silver Falls: Ghoul Busters - Switch - February 24


March (2 Games Beaten)
13. Red Colony - Switch - March 5
14. Hentai World - Switch - March 5


14. Hentai World - Switch - March 5

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I have played a lot of bad games in my life. I have played a lot of shameless cash grab games in my life. This may not be the worst game I've ever played, but it is the worst cash grab I've ever played. I'll go ahead and give you a tl;dr right now - this game sucks and should not be bought for any price above $0.00.

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You remember those sliding square keychain puzzles from when millennials like me were kids? The ones where you slide the squares around to restore the image? That's what this game is. That's literally all this game is. A sliding square puzzle with generic anime girls who progressively take off more clothes as you solve more puzzles. Ooo, uncensored boobies. How scandalous! That's literally the only reason this game exists, which is baffling since porn not only has more than just top nudity but also is both free and more accessible than this game.

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I genuinely cannot fathom why Nintendo allowed this game to release, and I don't even mean the uncensored tits. I paid $1.99 for this, and I genuinely feel that I paid $2 too much. It doesn't matter how cheap this game is, absolutely do not buy it. If you really want to see low-effort anime boobs in a crappy Switch game, play Hentai vs. Evil. At least that game lets you shoot orcs and zombies.
Exhuminator wrote:Ecchi lords must unite for great justice.

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Re: Games Beaten 2023

by prfsnl_gmr Tue Mar 07, 2023 9:52 pm

ElkinFencer10 wrote:Image


Were you able to solve this puzzle? If not, I’ll give you a hint:

PRO-TIP: Move the block on the right up one space.
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Re: Games Beaten 2023

by marurun Tue Mar 07, 2023 10:16 pm

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Re: Games Beaten 2023

by Markies Wed Mar 08, 2023 10:30 pm

Markies' Games Beat List Of 2023!
***Denotes Replay For Completion***

***1. Dragon Valor (PS1)***
2. Breath Of Fire (GBA)
3. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge (NS)
4. World Of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse And Donald Duck (GEN)
5. XIII (GCN)
6. NES Remix Pack (WiiU)
7. Dr. Mario (GBC)
***8. Bully (PS2)***

9. Dragon's Crown (PS3)

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I beat Dragon's Crown on the Sony Playstation 3 this evening!

In my eyes, Vanillaware makes the most beautiful games in the entire world. When I first played Odin Sphere on the PS2, it absolutely blew me away in its artistic ability. I then played GrimGrimoire a few years later and I was blown away again. The hand painted and 2D aesthetic is so jaw dropping and stunning to me. One of the main reasons I wanted a PS3 was to play Dragon's Crown, so I was disappointed I couldn't find it in my initial haul. However, while walking around a local Retro Gaming Convention, I found a pristine copy that I had to have. Looking for a PS3 game to play this year, it jumped out at me immediately and I became incredibly impatient to finally play it.

Dragon's Crown keeps the Vanillaware title and is one of the most beautiful games I have ever seen. The settings, background, art style and detail in every single little scene is unbelievable. You really feel like you are playing a painting. And I for one love the character art style as well. Everything is over-exaggerated, so of course the characters are as well. Also, for once, we have a Vanillaware game that is not stuck with slow down. The game runs smoothly and is crazy with the amount of characters and stuff on the screen. The game has a wonderful feel of you going on a classic D&D Adventure with your party. And with gameplay that feels like a mixture of Golden Axe and the Capcom D&D Arcade games, it also plays great as well. With stunning music and addictive gameplay, the game is a blast to play.

I just wish it was a little bit better. There are many scenes and moments of the game showing off how much can be on screen at one time. The problem is, you lose yourself rather quickly and just begin mashing away. It's particularly annoying on boss fights, which is the heart of the game. Also, the game's first half is much better than the second half. There are some annoying choices and the boss battles become more than just kill a giant monster, so they become a bit annoying too. Also, there is some weird Vita pointing stuff that just doesn't work at all.

Overall, I still really enjoyed Dragon's Crown. The visuals alone make it a blast and just a fantastic game. Seriously, I could play the game for 100 hours and still be blown away by the graphics. However, the game play has some shortcomings, but if you can look past those, then there is a great looking and playing game!
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Re: Games Beaten 2023

by ElkinFencer10 Thu Mar 09, 2023 6:04 pm

Games Beaten in 2023 - 15
* denotes a replay

January (5 Games Beaten)
1. Banner of the Maid - Switch - January 2
2. Silver Falls: 3 Down Stars - 3DS - January 8
3. Silver Falls: Episode Prelude - Switch - January 8
4. The Pathless - PlayStation 5 - January 12
5. Modern Combat: Blackout - Switch - January 14


February (7 Games Beaten)
6. Fire Emblem: Engage - Switch - February 2
7. Dragon Quest Builders 2 - PlayStation 4 - February 15
8. Silver Falls: Undertakers - Wii U - February 16
9. Silver Falls: White Inside Its Umbra - Wii U - February 18
10. Silver Falls: Guardians and Metal Exterminators - 3DS - February 22
11. Silver Falls: Frontier Fighters Mini - Browser - February 22
12. Silver Falls: Ghoul Busters - Switch - February 24


March (3 Games Beaten)
13. Red Colony - Switch - March 5
14. Hentai World - Switch - March 5
15. Silver Falls Gaiden: Deathly Delusion Destroyers - 3DS - March 9


15. Silver Falls Gaiden: Deathly Delusion Destroyers - 3DS - March 9

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Silver Falls Gaiden: Deathly Delusion Destroyers is the latest entry in the Silver Falls series and the last one to release on 3DS before the closure of its eShop. Envisioned as a swan song for the system, this game was designed specifically to maximize the uniqueness of the 3DS systems and, as such, wouldn't really work well on any other system. That reason alone makes it a perfect system finale in my opinion as well as being enough by itself to justify giving a game a purchase. It's also technically a 2-in-1 deal; not only do you get Silver Falls Gaiden: Deathly Delusion Destroyers, but you also get Silver Falls: Ruby River. I'm not going to say how since it spoils one of the cool narrative reveals in the game, but the games directly connect to one another not only in narrative but also in mechanics. All screenshots are courtesy of Sungrand Studios.

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Deathly Delusion Destroyers tells the story of Gus, a long-time Silver Falls resident, who is looking for someone very important to him who went camping in the woods but hasn't been seen or heard from since This takes place around two weeks after the events of Silver Falls: 3 Down Stars, so Gus is naturally worried about the mutated and highly aggressive animals that people had reported seeing in the woods around Silver Falls. Gus is aided in his search by his friend, Dodger, but he's not comfortable asking other townsfolk for help. Over the course of the game, though, more and more people show up to the campsite to help search, and Gus has to confront some of the misconceptions about the people in town that he had. The storytelling and character development is really superb here, and it's really the highlight of the game. My only gripe with the story is that it doesn't conclude definitively; the game intentionally leaves whether the rescue is successful or not up to player interpretation. There's a lot of artistic merit to that, but for me personally, I just want to know how it ends.

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As good as the characters and story are, though, the gameplay for Deathly Delusion Destroys is what makes the game stand out, though. You hold the 3DS sideways like a book; think BrainAge if you ever played those games. The gameplay consists of battles between story events. Your characters - there are three dozen playable characters, but you can only use up to four at once - are on the right side of the bottom/right screen, and enemies make their way towards you steadily from the left side of the top/left screen. Each character has a specific type of weapon that they use, and each weapon type has its own range. Some weapons, like the rifle and shotgun, can shoot in a narrow line but have incredible range; some weapons, like the bow, have moderate range but can hit enemies in a wide angle; some weapons, like heavy melee, have almost no range but hit hard and stagger enemies. Combining the right characters in the right place is the key to victory so that you can hit multiple enemies at once. You can choose how difficult a battle you want to do from the super-easy-you'll-never-lose Casual missions all the way up to the giga hard I'll-literally-never-beat-one Titan and Multiboss battles. Regardless of difficulty, you get a new story scene afterwards until you've seen them all at which point you can just play infinitely for fun.

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Ruby River is a very different sort of game from Deathly Delusion Destroyers. Whereas DDD is heavily story focused, there's almost no story in Ruby River. You're alone along the bank of Ruby River with just a few items in your inventory. The only real story that you get are the text boxes that appear from repeatedly interacting with those items. Other than that, it's pretty much a survival game. Using the real time clock, the game changes depending on the time. During the day, enemies are fairly infrequent, not nearly as strong, and mainly consist of mutated animals. This is when you'll want to gather resources and build a shelter. At night, enemies are much more frequent and are significantly stronger. They're also grotesque creatures like you'd see in Ghoul Busters. You'll not want to play much at night until you're sure you're ready.

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The cool part about this 2-in-1 is that you can send resources from Ruby River to Deathly Delusion Destroyers to help you improve your weapons in armor in that game, and then you can send weapons and armor from Deathly Delusion Destroyers to Ruby River to help you survive the horrors at night in Ruby River. I'm not a big fan of builder survival games, personally, but I absolutely love the integration between the two and can definitely see myself playing Ruby River just to farm resources for Deathly Delusion Destroyers.

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ilver Falls Gaiden: Deathly Delusion Destroyers is a pretty unique game, and it provides something that gaming often lacks - well written gay characters that don't just pander to folks for the sake of having a gay character. I love Gus, but Gus isn't the only great character here; Slim gets a ton of great development, and a handful of other Silver Falls denizens get some development to build up their characters. The gameplay in DDD and the connectivity with Ruby River are great, but honestly, it's the character development that made this game amazing for me. Add to that the fact that it's an amazing swan song for the 3DS, and I really can't recommend downloading this game highly enough. Don't miss out on this game.
Exhuminator wrote:Ecchi lords must unite for great justice.

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Re: Games Beaten 2023

by prfsnl_gmr Fri Mar 10, 2023 11:02 am

1. Kirby & The Forgotten Land (Switch)
2. Kirby’s Dreamland 3 (SNES)
3. Earthbound Beginnings (NES)
4. Super Mario Bros. - The Lost Levels (NES)
5. Tuff E Nuff (SNES)
6. Star Fox 2 (SNES)
7. Rival Turf (SNES)
8. Brawl Brothers (SNES)
9. The Peace Keepes (SNES)
10 Arm Champs II (Arcade)
11. All-Night Nippon Super Mario Bros. (FDS)
12. Super Mario Bros. Advance 4: Super Mario Bros 3 - World e (GBA)
13. Vs. Super Mario Bros. (Arcade)
14. Super Mario Bros. Special - 35th Anniversary Edition (NES)


Happy MARIO Day!

One of my goals is to play through every platformer in the Mario series, and I took a break from Earthbound to play through some of Mario’s more obscure adventures. The first three of these are, basically, official ROM hacks of earlier Mario Bros. games, and the last one is an unofficial ROM hack that ports Mario’s most obscure adventure, Super Mario Bros. Special, to the NES. Accordingly, and along with The Lost Levels, I like to think of these games as the Super Mario Bros. ROM hack series

All-Night Nippon Super Mario Bros. was a promotional release for the Famicom Disk System that is basically Super Mario Bros., but with two significant changes. First, and most obviously, a few of the background and enemy sprites have been replaced with Japanese celebrities from the 1980s. Similarly, the Mushroom Retainer in each castle is a Japanese celebrity, and Princess Peach has been replaced with a woman in more traditional Japanese clothings. Additionally, a few of the levels have been replaced with levels from Super Mario Bros. - The Lost Levels. This includes Level 8-4, which means you have to complete “the jump” to beat the game. (If you’ve beaten The Lost Levels, you know what I’m talking about…). There are also a few small differences in enemy behavior that make the game a bit easier: Hammer Bros. move forward constantly, making it easier to jump over them, and Piranha Plants won’t come out of pipes when you’re close to them, making it easier to complete the jump in 8-4. Otherwise, the game is pretty much the same as Super Mario Bros., and there’s no need to seek it out unless you’re either curious or a completionist.

One of Nintendo’s weirdest peripherals was the e-Reader for the GBA. That device allowed users to scan paper cards to unlock extra features for GBA games. (A few cards also allowed you to play classic NES games.) Although there are, apparently some pretty cool Pokémon mini games available only through the eReader, it was put to most effective use in Super Mario Bros. Advance 4: Super Mario Bros 3, where it unlocked World e. World e is, basically, a game’s worth of remixed Super Mario levels, incorporating elements from two of the previous Super Mario Bros. Advance games. This means you can, within the space of a single level, use the fly with the raccoon tail from Super Mario Bros. 3, throw vegetables from Super Mario Bros. 2, while navigating platforms and hazards from Super Mario World. This makes a bizarre, engaging experience, and it really allows Nintendo to cut loose with the level design. Most of the game’s levels are relatively easy to complete, but each stage features between three and six Advance Coins, and completing the level perfectly requires you to obtain all of them in a single run, which is frequently incredibly challenging. A few levels also feature well-hidden e-coins, that unlock bonus games, and completing each game require you to play through every level as Mario and Luigi. This adds a tremendous amount of replay to
World e, and really stretches it out to game length. I enjoyed this game tremendously, and I really can’t recommend it highly enough to fans of the Mario series. It’s a must-play Mario game which, thankfully, is included in both the Wii U version of Super Mario Bros. Advance 4 and the version of Super Mario Bros. Advance 4 available through the Switch Online service.

Vs. Super Mario Bros. is the arcade version of Super Mario Bros. It is mostly the same game as its console counterpart, but with a few significant changes. First, the color palette is a bit brighter, and the reds really pop on Mario’s shirt and in each castle level. Secondly, a few of the levels have been replaced by levels from levels from Super Mario Bros. - The Lost Levels. Finally, all of the levels have been changed slightly to make the game more difficult. 1up mushrooms are more difficult to find; there are fewer power ups; there are more pits and traps; you can’t do the infinite lives trick in 3-1, etc. There are also a two sections, in 5-2 and 6-3 where the already enhanced difficulty spikes up into “good luck” territory. Otherwise, though, it’s a fun challenge for seasons platforming veterans, even if it’s a bit redundant for everyone else.

Super Mario Bros. Special was an officially licensed port of Super Mario Bros. for Japanese home computers. These machines were incapable of scrolling from one screen to the next. Consequently, the entire game was played one screen at a time, requiring Hudson, the company that developed the port, to rethink the level design. Hudson, therefore redesigned the levels almost entirely, adding in a few new enemies, power ups, and background features. The new enemies include barrels and fires from Donkey Kong, and crabs, flys and icicles from Mario Bros. The new power ups include the hammer from Donkey Kong, a P-Wing, and, of course, the Hudson Bee. The 35th Anniversary Edition is an unofficial ROM hack of the original Super Mario Bros. that recreates Super Mario Bros. Special’s levels and features for the NES, and since it reintroduces scrolling, is the best way to play the game today. (In addition to a lack of scrolling and downgraded graphics, the original game was riddled with glitches and prone to crashing.) The game is really fun, and significantly easier than Super Mario Bros. The levels also feature more branching pathways, and the unique powers ups are well-hidden. You therefore have to play through the game multiple times to see everything. In all, Super Mario Bros. Special - 35th Anniversary Edition is a really well-made ROM hack that makes Mario’s most obscure adventure accessible to people without vintage Japanese PCs, and I highly recommend it to any fan of the Mario series.
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Re: Games Beaten 2023

by Ack Fri Mar 10, 2023 12:38 pm

1. Northern Journey (PC)(FPS)
2. Hatchpunk (PC)(FPS)
3. Might and Magic IX (PC)(RPG)
4. Star Wars: Empire at War (PC)(RTS)
5. Chasm: The Rift (PC)(FPS)
6. Real Heroes: Firefighter HD (PC)(FPS)
7. CULTIC (PC)(FPS)
8. Consortium (PC)(FPS)

9. Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 (PC)(FPS)
10. Forgive Me, Father (PC)(FPS)

11. Teomim Island (PC)(FPS)
12. Regions of Ruin (PC)(Action RPG)
13. Void Bastards (PC)(FPS)

14. Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad - Single Player (PC)(FPS)
15. Quake: Scourge of Armagon (PC)(FPS)
16. Quake: Dissolution of Eternity (PC)(FPS)


Quake received a major overhaul and a new expansion a couple of years ago. I've beaten all of it at this point, but one thing I hadn't done was return for runs on Nightmare difficulty, supposedly Quake's biggest challenge. I say supposedly because originally Nightmare difficulty featured some interesting tweaks to enemy aggression, resulting in certain foes consistently relying on range attacks instead of melee. This led to some discussion over whether Nightmare was in fact harder than Hard difficulty, because Nightmare enemies were now more predictable in their behavior. Bethesda apparently decided to settle the debate by instead removing the old Nightmare difficulty and simply making Hard harder: Nightmare is now Hard difficulty, but with max health at half of what it normally is, thus effectively removing the slim margin of error you already had for playing beyond the Normal difficulty.

I decided I would start running through the expansions with this new altered difficulty. How tough is it? Well, at "max" health of 50 and no armor, certain bosses can one-shot you. Even the weakest enemy can pose a threat, so you better come correct and understand who the threats are and how to minimize them. Also, since I'm playing expansions, it's the opportunity to see how well these hold up under stress. Now that I've knocked out the original two expansions, I can say this: Dissolution of Eternity is superior to Scourge of Armagon in many ways, though it is also a tougher beast.

The additional weapons in Scourge of Armagon include a laser cannon and a hammer to do area lighting damage. I found neither of these work particularly well, especially in comparison to Dissolution's alternate ammo versions of nail and explosive weapons. In Dissolution, I can get a rocket launcher firing a line, perfect for clearing a hallway. Scourge's weapons tend to self harm way more easily, such as the laser bouncing around to connect. In a mode where self damage is damn near fatal, this makes it a no go. Scourge also starts off by emphasizing basic soldier enemies, which means you're facing hit scan foes from the start. You would think this means it's harder, but no, it just feels cheaper. In comparison, Dissolution will throw harder arrangements of enemies and traps in tandem, thus making you work as opposed to being killed by a shotgun blast from a guy across an open field.

Then again, Dissolution has cheaper new enemies. I used to actively dislike the new scorpion enemy in Scourge because of its mobility, but in Nightmare, I had little reason to both not immediately blasting it with a spray of rocket fire. Turns out they don't dodge as well as I used to think. Dissolution throws slime enemies that bounce around a lot, are a pain in the ass to hit, and explode on death. Suddenly the scorpions are looking even easier. Also, Dissolution loves the Wrath enemy, a floating ghost that also explodes on death and shoots seeking explosives that move too fast for you to dodge effectively. Your best option is to drop them fast from cover. So, Dissolution has a tougher level design, exploding enemies, and a lot of new weapons, which include explosives that will kill you if used improperly...so don't use them improperly, think about how to approach each new room and level, and don't panic.

These expansions also have bosses. Scourge's boss, Armagon, can be beaten by circle strafing and trapping him on geometry. Dissolution has multiple bosses and mini bosses to defeat, as well as different areas to fight them and with different support which require you to get creative in your approach. Simply try circle strafing, and you might live...but probably not. There is also the dragon waiting for you, and it is the one-shot boss I was talking about. I fought him by picking my times to run out of hiding and fire away while his back was turned, chipping him down, though that level also features regular earthquakes to disrupt your ability to run and maneuver. The dragon is a tougher, more interesting battle than Armagon ever was.

While I already leaned towards Dissolution of Eternity being the better Quake expansion, my Nightmare run cemented it. At some point I plan to try out a Nightmare run of Dimension of the Past and see how it compares.
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Re: Games Beaten 2023

by PartridgeSenpai Mon Mar 13, 2023 12:10 am

Partridge Senpai's 2021 Beaten Games:
Previously: 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
* indicates a repeat

1. Super Hero Operations (PS1)
2. Lil' Gator Game (PC)
3. Disco Elysium: The Final Cut (PC)
4. Dragon Quest VII (PS1)
5. Dragon Quest III (SFC)
6. Dragon Quest VIII (PS2)
7. Dragon Quest Monsters (GBC)
8. Mario Party 6 (GC)

9. Last Bible 3 (SFC)

After playing the first two Last Bible games a couple years ago, I had been meaning to get around to their Super Famicom successor ever since then. But then I got kinda burned out on SMT and monster collecting games, and I got super addicted to Super Robot Wars games for nearly a year straight, so that didn’t end up happening until now XD. Still on my RPG kick, I decided to finally complete the old LB trilogy, and I’m really glad I did! It took me about 40 or so hours to beat the game in Japanese on emulated hardware.

The story of Last Bible 3 follows a young boy named Ciel, growing up in the tiny secluded village of Raga. He has his best friends Mochowa and Aaron, and he has his little brother Rudy, and they live a relatively normal life, going to school and playing together. But then one day, a few wild things happen in quick succession. They stumble across some ancient ruins, they find and revive an ancient warrior android named Duu, they hatch the egg of a baby Tetradragon, and they learn the government is going to ban the use of Gaia (the sort of magic/life force thing they practice at school). No sooner have their teachers left to petition the Senate to reverse their decision when a government-sent drop ship full of troops come to wipe the village out in their efforts to kill Ciel’s father, Glen. Fighting off the attack, the villagers all decide to flee the village rather than stay, and that’s only the too-short summary of the beginning of a much wider and deeper story than I would’ve ever expected on the Super Famicom.

The writing in Last Bible 3 genuinely blew me away in just how well it’s done, and it really feels like a video game version of a fantasy OVA from the period. Not only are the character interactions very funny and well done, but god damn does this game have a political narrative I’d consider daring even for a game now, let alone nearly 30 years ago. A story in a console RPG from this era being in some greater or lesser terms about how unjust hierarchies are worth toppling is one thing, but I was hella surprised at just how bold LB3 goes with it. Not like so many other games of then and now does it use a religious institution as the stand-in for real-world institutions, but the game’s secular government itself. It even goes so far as to make it a democratic institution, a Senate, rather than some kingdom or what have you. It really goes out of its way to show the disinterest of the state in anything other than its own survival, and holy crap are they not shy about racking up a body count in pushing that point.

I don’t want to give away too many spoilers here, but even for an Atlus-published game of the time (as they didn’t make it, the guys who made the other LB games did), this game is really pushing the boundaries of the kinds of stories video games can tell. It isn’t perfect, sure. I think the way the game handles race (Duu, a nearly speechless android, being the only person of color in the game) is certainly less than ideal by modern standards, but in both lacking any villages/locations based on racial stereotypes as well as having a person of color in the main cast at all puts this well above most other RPGs of the time in many respects. All in all, this is easily one of the best, if not the best full-stop, written RPGs on the Super Famicom, no question, and absolutely one of my new favorite games on the system.

The mechanics are where LB3 starts to get really decidedly less than perfect, however. It is an evolution and refinement of the SMT-lite turn-based RPG system of RPG + monster recruitment that the previous LB games use, but it also maintains some of their most strange and frustrating design choices. You can recruit monsters who can fight for you via dialogue in battle. In a nice improvement from previous games, you actually get an affection meter for just how well you’re convincing them, as well as an emotion indicator for how they’re happy, angry, or neutral towards you. It’s kind of a more simple system of what the PS1 Persona titles would do for their monster recruitment very soon after this. They also keep the system previous LB games use where monsters will never deceive you like they will in SMT. If a monster asks for money to join you, they mean it, and paying them will make them join you 100% of the time. The one rotten new addition to monster negotiations is that you have a time limit of only a few seconds to decide a reaction to what they just said, which can make negotiations kinda frustrating if you misread what they’re saying or get distracted for a moment (not to mention it’s a real pain in the butt for a language-learner like me ^^;). Very much two-steps forward, one step back.

Monsters can also still use equipment, and damn is that valuable because the inventory management is not only nowhere NEAR as bad as past games (like how monsters no longer just absorb the equipment they’re wearing if you fuse them with another monster while they have things equipped, like LB2 did), but monsters are also once again your biggest heavy hitters. While they mercifully don’t make you fight the final boss with a party of only humans like LB2 did, the most frustrating aspect of LB2’s larger design is still here: Humans are pitifully weak and useless compared to monsters you can get. Thankfully, LB3 is never a terribly hard game. I had to grind for a couple hours to be strong enough and have monsters strong enough to beat the final boss, but outside of that, most bosses and encounters will likely be pretty trivial. Humans being weak is a frustrating aspect of the design, but it mercifully never makes the game feel particularly difficult as a result.

Another annoying Old RPG Thing this game has is that magic is VERY weak and far too expensive most of the time to justify using compared to just saving your MP for healing magic. This makes virtually all random encounters pretty quickly just an exercise in pressing the auto battle button and letting it resolve over the course of a few seconds. Conversely, enemy magic is often VERY powerful, but as long as you either befriend monsters with particularly annoying spells (so you can just tell them to leave you alone, just like SMT) or use the accessories that neutralize the element of magic most commonly used in that dungeon, you can avoid the meanest of enemy magic pretty safely.

This random encounter rate is also pretty high, but that does thankfully mean that you pretty rarely feel under leveled or underfunded as a result. Dungeons are also thankfully nice and short, with even the final dungeon not being terribly long either. Between that and the relatively easy difficulty, the narrative is always moving at a brisk pace, which I definitely appreciated. I don’t think the faults in the system make the game particularly worse to play or are particularly unique or noteworthy for RPGs of the time (of the mid-/late-SFC era or early PS1 era), and the strengths definitely outweigh the weaknesses for me, but the mechanical stuff is definitely where the game is at its weakest, unfortunately, even if that “weakness” is still like, 7/10 quality for a SFC RPG.

The presentation of the game is very nice, and Atlus really gave MIT (the development studio, not the university :b) the budget to make a game that looked *and* felt like a late era SFC game. Monster sprites are a wonderfully detailed collage of parody of familiar SMT monsters, and the environments and NPC sprites area also very well done. The NPC stat screen full portraits also have a ton of character to them, and they communicate the art style very well. The music isn’t particularly great, but it’s still pretty darn good to someone without a particularly tuned ear for music like me. They use it well to underline scenes, and they also introduce new musical scores for battles and locations to help set new atmospheres well. You can really tell these devs have made plenty of RPGs before, since their comfort with the genre really shines through with just how finely tuned an experience it is.

Verdict: Highly Recommended. As I said before, this is easily one of my new favorite SFC RPGs. I get why these devs never made any more of them after this for the PlayStation or whatever, as the introduction of Pokemon the following year really changed the face of monster collecting games, and Atlus as a whole really began shifting gears after this with how their Devil Summoner and Persona series began evolving. But even if there were never any followups, MIT really gave us an exemplary game for the genre and the console with LB3. It does have an English fan translation, and while I can’t speak to the quality of that (or lack thereof), it does at least exist! If you’re a fan of turn-based RPGs of the era, this is absolutely not one to miss out on, because there isn’t much better to be found on the SC as far as I’m concerned.
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ElkinFencer10
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Re: Games Beaten 2023

by ElkinFencer10 Mon Mar 13, 2023 5:53 pm

Games Beaten in 2023 - 16
* denotes a replay

January (5 Games Beaten)
1. Banner of the Maid - Switch - January 2
2. Silver Falls: 3 Down Stars - 3DS - January 8
3. Silver Falls: Episode Prelude - Switch - January 8
4. The Pathless - PlayStation 5 - January 12
5. Modern Combat: Blackout - Switch - January 14


February (7 Games Beaten)
6. Fire Emblem: Engage - Switch - February 2
7. Dragon Quest Builders 2 - PlayStation 4 - February 15
8. Silver Falls: Undertakers - Wii U - February 16
9. Silver Falls: White Inside Its Umbra - Wii U - February 18
10. Silver Falls: Guardians and Metal Exterminators - 3DS - February 22
11. Silver Falls: Frontier Fighters Mini - Browser - February 22
12. Silver Falls: Ghoul Busters - Switch - February 24


March (4 Games Beaten)
13. Red Colony - Switch - March 5
14. Hentai World - Switch - March 5
15. Silver Falls Gaiden: Deathly Delusion Destroyers - 3DS - March 9
16. Silver Falls: Galaxy Bound Curse - Game Boy Color - March 12


16. Silver Falls: Galaxy Bound Curse - Game Boy Color - March 12

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Silver Falls: Galaxy Bound Curse takes you back to the 1990s both stylistically and in setting. It's a Game Boy Color game made as a free distribution game by Silver Falls developer Jerrel Dulay that can be downloaded at a .gb file at no cost on the Silver Falls website. I've tried it out on a variety of systems and can confirm that it works flawlessly with PC emulators, on an actual Game Boy system via a flash cartridge (I used my GBA Everdrive to play it on my Game Boy Advance SP), as a 3DS Virtual Console file when made into a .cia file and injected into a hacked 3DS, and via the mGBA emulator on a hacked Switch. Jerrel has confirmed that, if you have the necessary cartridge, it will work on an old-school DMG-01 Game Boy.

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The game stars Fred, the sheriff of Silver Falls, and a host of other townsfolk you can recruit on a manhunt for Eli Goodwin, a well-known scoundrel in town who has kidnapped a young boy for some nefarious purpose. While there are a large number of playable characters - some with fairly obscure recruitment methods - you can only use two at a time, one "Lead" character and one "Partner" character controlled by AI. Each character has their own primary weapon - for example, Fred has a handgun while Wirriam has a hammer - but you can also equip a secondary weapon. These can bring some balance to your chosen character by giving a ranged character a melee secondary weapon, for example, but they can also be used to solve puzzles, like using an axe to remove a log blocking your path.

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While you know who kidnapped the child, you don't know where Eli has taken him. Fortunately, Dodger's tracking dog, Samba, can help you out, but for Samba to get the kid's scent, you have to find seven of his toys scattered in and around Silver Falls. Complicating your toy hunt is the fact that there are vicious animals and strange creatures roaming in the wilderness around town, so stay alert, and be ready for a fight. The game is still in beta, and with his focus naturally being on commercial titles more than a free title, Jerrel has had little time to improve Galaxy Bound Curse, so player feedback is super important; my playthrough helped him identify and fix major glitches in the late-game and get the game to its current actually beatable state; if you play the game and see any bugs, definitely let him know via Twitter, Facebook, or Discord so he can continue to improve the game!

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The sprite work is great, and the music is absolutely fantastic. It's obviously fairly simple music being a literal Game Boy game, but it's wonderfully nostalgic, and when playing on a color-capable system, the sprites look great, and the various environments use great color variety. Like a lot of Game Boy adventures, the game isn't too long if you know what you're doing and where you need to go, but you'll probably spend five or six hours on your first playthrough. There's definitely some replay incentive, though, because each character has unique dialogue when confronting Eli, and some of the dialogue in the game - all parts, not just at the end - are directly referenced in later Silver Falls games, building a story continuity that I absolutely adore.

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Silver Falls: Galaxy Bound Curse is, hands down, the most impressive GB Studio-made game I've personally seen, and while it is a little rough in places due to being a public beta and pushing the limits of what a Game Boy ROM can realistically hold, it's a fantastic experience. There is a full HD remake, Galaxy Bound Curse DX, in the works for Switch, but that's probably between six and twelve months away, and while it's supposed to be a faithful remake, it won't have the same nostalgic feel that an authentic Game Boy game does. If you've been wanting to see what the storytelling in Silver Falls is like but don't want to commit money yet (or don't have a 3DS or Wii U), then Galaxy Bound Curse is a great place to start and see what the world is all about. I definitely recommend this to any indie game enthusiasts or Game Boy fans, no doubt.
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