Summer Games Challenge 2017 - Begin when ready!

[prfsnl_gmr]

I beat BOTW his morning, and I dove head first into Clash at Demonhead right after rolling the crews. I ave made several attempts at it in the past, but it is finally clicking with me. I think I am going to end up really liking it.

[Raz]

The past few days I've been playing Advance Wars and Castlevania: Circle of the Moon, and today I've started Dragon Warrior III. Advance Wars has been a great strategy game so far. I've enjoyed all of the missions so far except for one that felt like there was only one way to complete the mission. Castlevania: Circle of the Moon is my second Castlevania game and my first of the "Metroidvania" kind of Castlevania games. I've only started Dragon Warrior III, so all I've done is created a party (Hero, Fighter, Cleric, and Mage) and grind for a few levels. I also decided to keep a journal for Dragon Warrior III, that way I can jot down information and access it quickly when I need it. I think I'm going to try and focus more on Advance Wars and Castlevania the next few days and try to beat those, and just play Dragon Warrior III a little bit each day over the next few months.

[Sarge]

Fighters are definitely a good choice. They're equipment-limited, but that also make 'em cheap to outfit so you can save your cash for the rest of your crew. And even though they have limited armor, they get enough hit points, and since your defense is based on half your agility, they also can take a hit. You just have to get them past the early bits for them to shine.

[CFFJR]

Played a bit of Star Fox tonight and cleared the first path. Good fun, and the obstacle course design of Venom makes for a cool level.

I am not a fan of the stages that force you into a cockpit view though. Makes it really hard for me to dodge stuff. Probably just me, granted, but it seems sluggish and I feel like I don't have a proper sense of the size of the Arwing. It leads to a lot of damage.

Hopefully I'll adjust, because this style made up half of the stages in the first path and are clearly a big part of the game.

I'm glad they don't exist in Star Fox 64.

[alienjesus]

Played a bit of Star Fox tonight and cleared the first path. Good fun, and the obstacle course design of Venom makes for a cool level.

I am not a fan of the stages that force you into a cockpit view though. Makes it really hard for me to dodge stuff. Probably just me, granted, but it seems sluggish and I feel like I don't have a proper sense of the size of the Arwing. It leads to a lot of damage.

Hopefully I'll adjust, because this style made up half of the stages in the first path and are clearly a big part of the game.

I'm glad they don't exist in Star Fox 64.

If you press select in those levels, you can put the camera back to the normal position. I'd highly recommend doing that, as some of those space levels have a lot of obstacles to dodge and it really helps to be able to see your wings.

[MrPopo]

By contrast, I wish I could use cockpit view in the non-space missions.

[CFFJR]

If you press select in those levels, you can put the camera back to the normal position. I'd highly recommend doing that, as some of those space levels have a lot of obstacles to dodge and it really helps to be able to see your wings.

Heh, I kinda feel like a dummy. Thank you for telling me dude, I will definitely be switching the camera back. I know it will save me some grief.



Edit:

Finished path 2 tonight. Sector X and Sector Y would have been a huge pain for me in first person. Hell, Y was still a huge pain, and the boss was a bastard. Venom 2 felt easy after that.

Tomorrow I think I'll be able to finish the final path and complete the game.

[Key-Glyph]

This is useful for me, too -- Star Fox is on my list of alternates! If I get to it, I'll enjoy comparing notes with you, CFFJR. I have a huge processing problem with these Space Harrier-type games. It's as if I don't know what I'm looking at. I know it'll just take practice, but with almost no prior gameplay experience to build on, it might be tough!

And lo, Key's adventure through Britannia continues.

Fed up with aimlessly sailing the seas and watching her party mow through their Pop Tart rations like bored teenagers, our ascended Avatar turned her thoughts away from elusive whirlpools to yet other types of depths. She was hoping to tie up dangling quests above before spelunking the dungeons, but she did feel her party was ready. Her companions were much improved; Mariah and Shamino had actually started hitting things with their slings and arrows, and it had been ages since she last found herself lugging Iolo's dead body around. Jaana was also pleased to retire from melee duty in favor of Dupre, whom they'd recently recruited from the bottom of an ale tankard.

As the six ventured into the earthy bowels, Key discovered she would require new tools for her cartography efforts. She briefly traveled back to her former reality to buy graph paper and sharpen some colored pencils. Before her crew noticed her departure, she was back to work.

After their first stone was found and victory secured, all agreed that Dupre deserved the MVP award for running about and shepherding countless bats and rats out of battle with his bare hands. Key's compassionate heart spared many non-evil creatures with this Dequipped Dupre method. Also, Dupre is constantly drunk, so who wants him handling sharp objects anyway.

All also agreed that perhaps a dungeon should have been plundered earlier, because holy moongate did they emerge filthy rich. Key was finally able to splurge on gems, keys (no relation), and magical reagents for spell mixing and experimentation. She also bought a bunch more Pop Tart rations, this time in flavors even beyond strawberry. Ah, ye olde goode life!

The party was feeling so good, in fact, that they tackled another dungeon, solved a few more mysteries, and splurged on goodies again.

The windfall of reagents and subsequent spells led Key and her spellcasters to an interesting undertaking: to get to a secluded village without the absentee whirlpool that was torturing them so. Could they triumph without the mysterious hand of nature? Was it possible? After trudging about in the rugged foothills and enduring the side-eyes of her companions, Key successfully goaded her mage to blindly land them all on a tiny four-by-four square rumored to be reachable only by boat. Moral: Anything is possible if you have the cash to burn on persistent clueless wizarding. The six then wandered about a village, had a chat with Paul and Linda McCartney, and spoke to another ankh. Did you know ankhs speak? Totally normal in Britannia.

The crew capped off this recent chapter by following up with some other villagers and, finally, by staying the night at a haunted inn. As they freshen up for the new day they meditate upon the dungeons. With few other pieces to connect (so they believe), this has now become their most important and immediate undertaking.

[alienjesus]

I started up Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time as my 2nd summer challenge game. I'm 33% through according to the save file, I just got a new sword and unlocked the original Prince of Persia, which I plan to never ever play because I hate that game

The lighting of the game gave me issues early on - the whole game has really bad contrast that made it kinda hard to see on a bright day like yesterday was. The platforming gameplay is pretty fun, but the combat is really bad. You basically use the 'vault over their head and stab them in the back' combo on everyone vulnerable to it, which is about 80% of enemies, and the other 20% use the 'knock you down and wail on you incessantly with no opportunity to escape without reversing time' strategy on you. Neither is very fun.

Still a way to go on this one, but I'm already planning to go for Pilotwings 64 as my next game after this - trying to take out the softer targets of short, easy games first so that I can devote some time to the tougher and longer ones.

[Sload Soap]

Legend of Zelda
Chrono Trigger
Ninja Gaiden
Mega Man
Virtual On

First game down. Honestly I found Mega Man a slightly trying experience, although at least it doesn't have an elongated Wily sequence like some of the later titles. It's a very playable but also a bit basic which is fine considering its age. Overall I found that it just made me appreciate Mega Mans 2,3 and 6 more. Still, it's a fine game that got the ball rolling on a very venerable (if bloated) series.

I'll probably move onto Virtal On and Ninja Gaiden next. I will have to play NG on PS3 as my Xbox has breathed its last. Sniff.