Games Beaten 2017

[Ack]

I think Pop'n Twinbee is fantastic. Very accurate port for its time, running fairly smoothly too.

--"Port"?

It was better than the Pop'n Twinbee Chardonnay.

[BoneSnapDeez]

To The Moon (iOS) is, basically, a four-hour visual novel styled like an interactive cutscene in a 16-bit JRPG. The story might be deep or touching if you had never seen a movie, read or book, or interacted with another human. If that sounds good to you, go for it. I thought it was pretty horrible, however, and the few hours I spent with the game seemed longer than the 125 + that I spent with BOTW. Not recommended.

Never seen prfsnl_gmr bring the heat like this. Damn son.

[pierrot]

Pop'n Twinbee Chardonnay.

Does that come in a box?

Edit: Oh, damn. That's clever, Ack. I just got your joke--.

[Exhuminator]

You gotta play the Xak games, Xumy

They are in the queue. My respect for Micro Cabin is on the rise.

[dunpeal2064]

I think Pop'n Twinbee is fantastic. Very accurate port for its time, running fairly smoothly too.

--"Port"?

shit, you got me, its not a port. Apparently I was thinking of Detana! Twinbee. Admittedly, I get all of Konami's big shooters confused (I can't tell a Parodius or Gradius apart, unless its Sexy/V).

It sure runs like a coin-op though!

[dunpeal2064]

Cave Story+ - Switch (11-29-17)



I'm rather late to the party with this one, and thus almost didn't end up writing anything for it. However, I'm wanting to improve both my participation in this thread, and my writing skills in general, as well as keep a to-date list of all the Switch games I've completed (Since its all I play now). Anyways:

Cave Story is a game that was developed by one person (Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya), and released on PC in 2004. Nicalis ended up porting the game to various Nintendo consoles, and later as an enhanced "Plus" version on Steam, which is what has been ported to the Switch.



First, the physical game. As far as I know, this release marks only the 2nd time the game has been available at retail, and if you are someone who enjoys physical media, this is the definitive version to pick up. As with the other Nicalis releases on the Switch, a ton of love was put into this release, packing not only a full color manual, but a soundtrack disc, and a (Gamestop exclusive) baggie and keychain! If you've seen a Switch case, you know how tiny they are, and cramming what has to be one of the smallest retail cases to date so full of fun stuff just makes my heart warm.

Now then, onto the game. Cave Story is a 2D side scrolling action game, with just a hint of adventure/exploration. I often hear this labelled as a Metroidvania, but I don't think thats fitting, as the player will rarely get lost, or even have much of a choice as to where to go. Basically, you have a hub, and you enter levels from there, though the game masks this in such a way that the world still feels very interconnected.



The presentation and atmosphere here are wonderful, and are able to fluctuate between calm and frantic while holding together a consistent vibe. The story, similarly, is overall cute and light-hearted, but with some very serious moments mixed in, all without breaking immersion. The execution here is key, with the sum being greater than the parts, as everything just comes together so tightly.

The gameplay here is fairly standard, primarily consisting of jumping and shooting. The game uses a sort of level up system, in which the player gains xp by picking up these little dorritos that drop from enemies, which are then applied to your currently equipped weapon. Taking damage lowers the level of your weapon very rapidly. I think this is a brilliant system, as it makes the player fear damage without immediately resorting to death as punishment, since there is an innate desire to keep your weapons at full charge. The jump in this game is quite different from most well-designed platformers, and might initially send out red flags, as the lack of gravity means you jump like you are on the moon, with plenty of floatyness in tow. However, your air control is still tight, and as you gain more powerups, the movement in this game goes from carefully planned jumps to soaring, blasting badassery.



The difficulty here, like just about everything else, is fine-tuned. The game rarely gets insane (Other than end-game stuff, which is appropriate), but also constantly threatens. An aware player will feel just challenged enough to avoid boredom, but you can't just Sonic-tank your way through here. Supposedly the True End offers some insane challenge, but I did not obtain that, as it requires some fairly obscure things to be done (Fun fact, the included manual here has some esoteric hints about how to achieve the best end, which is neat).



The Switch port here offers quite a bit of bonus content as well. There are several challenges you can do, which usually amount to "Beat this short area under X circumstance". There are two different display options, letting you swap between the cleaned up Switch version and the more chunky, pixel-y original. There are probably a half-dozen different BGM options, ranging from the original tracks, to remasters, to orchistrated, to even a Famicom chip tune sound. There is certainly plenty of variety available in the game's presentation. Oh, and the game now offers co-op! I haven't had the chance to try this out yet, but I certainly will in the future.

Overall, Cave Story is a game that gets a lot of love. It is immensely popular from my understanding, and, in my opinion, the game is very much deserving of its popularity. It might not ever blow your mind, but its surprising to see such a balanced and thoroughly planned out effort, especially from one person before being "Indie" was what it is today (Remember, 2004 even predates Youtube!). For $29.99,

[dsheinem]

To The Moon (iOS) is, basically, a four-hour visual novel styled like an interactive cutscene in a 16-bit JRPG. The story might be deep or touching if you had never seen a movie, read or book, or interacted with another human. If that sounds good to you, go for it. I thought it was pretty horrible, however, and the few hours I spent with the game seemed longer than the 125 + that I spent with BOTW. Not recommended.

Never seen prfsnl_gmr bring the heat like this. Damn son.

Indeed. I really liked To The Moon and thought it had a compelling story for a video game. I’d still say that it is one of the better short stories told in an indie game in the last four years (or whatever it has been since it came out)...it is certainly a top game in that subgenre of “short modern story-driven games with retro-style pixel-based graphics”.

Comparing the writing and storytelling (especially in a game of this type) to novels or films is always going to yield an unfavorable result, so I consider that specific critique to be a bit of a non-starter.

[prfsnl_gmr]

To The Moon (iOS) is, basically, a four-hour visual novel styled like an interactive cutscene in a 16-bit JRPG. The story might be deep or touching if you had never seen a movie, read or book, or interacted with another human. If that sounds good to you, go for it. I thought it was pretty horrible, however, and the few hours I spent with the game seemed longer than the 125 + that I spent with BOTW. Not recommended.

Never seen prfsnl_gmr bring the heat like this. Damn son.

I usually play games I think I will like. To The Moon was a massive miscalculation, though.

I need some more storage space on my iPad, and I am clearing out some of my biggest apps. To The Moon was one of them. The Executive is another, and I am playing that right now. It is much, much better.

[Flake]

Now just imagine it back on OG Xbox where you didn't have secondary shoulder buttons, so not only could you not lock on, you also couldn't adjust the camera (without also doing another move, as that shoulder button also activates a super as well as centers the camera) without using the right stick XD

The were the best of times, they were the worst of times, but I still looove Dynasty Warriors 3

My next Warriors game will either be Dynasty Warriors Gundam Reborn (assuming Elk get his copy and it has better online content) or Fire Emblem Warriors - so I expect a similar jump in design.

[Exhuminator]

The difficulty here, like just about everything else, is fine-tuned. The game rarely gets insane (Other than end-game stuff, which is appropriate), but also constantly threatens.

I thought Cave Story was "okay", it didn't live up to the hype for me, but it was certainly an obvious labor of love. The only big problem I had with the experience was the last 5% of it. Like the final boss and stuff around it. Pixel just threw the balance straight out the window, and Cave Story stopped being fun at all for me at that point. Unique art style and awesome music though, I give it props there.

The Executive is another, and I am playing that right now. It is much, much better.

The Executive is great. I beat it myself not too long ago, very fun beat 'em up.