What are you playing?

[Xeogred]

Super Mario Galaxy 2

Somewhere on world 5 I just ran out of steam playing this. For one thing I don't find the level designs to be as good as the first. I prefer the planetoid style levels, and SMG2 is rather sparse on those. Also there's a lot of star gating going on which I find annoying. As in, you can't progress until you have X amount of stars. So you have to go and backtrack through levels till you reach whatever star blob guy you missed, and fill him up with coins or starbits, until he explodes and opens up a new star path. I mean it's not a huge deal, but it still feels forced and contrived. I'd rather just play through the levels sequentially, and if I feel like going back to get the rest of the stars, so be it, but that should be optional. I will finish this game though, it's not bad or anything. SMG2 is well made. I was just expecting it to outclass SMG1 and that's not the case thus far. But 'eh we all have different tastes, fair enough.

I guess we disagree again. SMG2 removed all the fluff from SMG1 and just got right to the levels. I thought it was a lot better. You make it sound like you're having to grind or something, none of that rings a bell to me... and each time you replayed a level it opened up in some different area. Backtracking seemed way more rampant in SMG1 from what I recall. 3D World simplifies things even more and feels like something straight out of SMB3 in the best of ways, I might even like it more than the Galaxy games.

Gauntlet IV (MD): I play this fairly sporadically because I'm working through it in co-op with my girlfriend. We're halfway through the final castle, so next time we play we should be able to finish this one off.

I just realized I should finally hit up the Hitoshi Sakimoto composed Genesis games soon since I'm in the mood for old stuff lately.

[Xeogred]

Well fellas... I was apparently one boss from HR Giger Alien world in Hard Corps tonight! Getting it down pretty well and Sheena kicks ass, I definitely like her more than Ray. The VIRTUAL ZONE boss still gives me a little trouble, namely the helicopter form near the end and if you don't have any seeking weapon you can't do much against the tank except wait it out. The baseball twins is annoying too, since sometimes he'll spawn in that form and instantly gravitate towards the lower left (where I usually hang out). From there, the end boss of the fourth level that you have to chase around can be a pain early on mostly because the very first attack it does seems to be entirely random, so there doesn't seem to be any guaranteed safe spot at all when it spams those beams. At least I've gotten this level down pretty easily. In fact I have levels 2-4 down quite well now, it's just the bosses that are tough. And the first 10 seconds of level 1 is still a pain, I usually go for a reset if I don't get through that initial starting area without getting hit.

Seems like Mike Matei went for this path too and I skimmed around the last level "So this is where it gets really hard". Can't wait.

I kind of want to say this one is the toughest for me. But it has a very different feel and some new mechanics, like the sticky on/off directional aiming which is useful for bosses, and the slide which I have a good handle on. So it took a little more adjusting. The explosion of 90's cheese is amazing and this game is hardcore as hell and legit heavy metal, but on the flipside Contra 3 kind of feels more legitimately imposing, dark, and evil. If that makes sense. I mean it still feels like Arnold Commando basically, but that one without the story bits or the VIRTUAL ZONE, etc, it feels like it was more serious, whereas Hard Corps feels a bit like by this point Contra was becoming humorously self aware.

There's something I really love about Hard Corps and Castlevania Bloodlines, but I can't decide if I like these more than Contra 3 and Super Castlevania IV, and vice versa. I just love how different they are, but the Genesis games definitely have this cool rougher edge to them.

For contrast last week I beat Contra, Super C, Contra 3, and Operation C, but Hard Corps is definitely taking a bit longer haha. I want to mess around with Contra 3 again on hard, but that's after I beat Hard Corps. I'll also want to check out some of the alternate paths with this one.

Wouldn't mind some easy games after this for a bit.

[Exhuminator]

SMG2 removed all the fluff from SMG1 and just got right to the levels

I'm glad you enjoyed the game.

[PinkPanzer]

I am playing The Last Story for Wii. Pretty happy with it so far and I think I will see it until the end. I bought a Wii classic controller just for this game and love how I can just play 30min or so a day without feeling overwhelmed. I think the game is about 20 hours or so which is great.

[dunpeal2064]

I loved that game. And yeah, its around the 20 hour mark, doesn't overstay its welcome at all.

[Exhuminator]

I think the game is about 20 hours or so which is great.

If you skip (or unknowingly miss) hidden areas and optional bosses, then its around 20 hours. If you do the hidden/optional stuff, it's more around 30. The 20-30 hour campaign was something The Last Story got perfect (in regards of it being a modern JRPG).

[alienjesus]

I did all the extra chapters but skipped the Arena battles and I was closer to 20 than 30 I think.

[Exhuminator]

I did all the extra chapters but skipped the Arena battles and I was closer to 20 than 30 I think.

I just checked my HLTB. I did every optional thing in the game (including Arena battles) and my time was: 29h 40m 30s

I do tend to play RPGs more slowly than most though, admittedly.

[dunpeal2064]

I was at 23 hours when I finished. I recall doing everything, but its been a while so I dunno.

[Sarge]

I did everything and am pretty sure I was close to 30 as well.