Key-Glyph wrote:Hey AJ, nice work with Tides of Time so far! I hope you're still able to enjoy the game despite playing on Difficult difficulty. That mode exists as an unbalanced extra challenge to folks who have already beaten it, which is why I recommended against starting there. That, and Normal difficulty dynamically adjusts to how you're doing -- so if you keep getting thrown out of the autoscrolling sky levels, for example, it'll eventually slow down the scroll speed for you. That makes things less frustrating while perhaps being less of a blow to players' egos, since the game is only giving you a reprieve when you need it until you get back on your feet (fins?) again.
It's not that I don't think you can do it, but more that I'm sad to think you might not have a chance to have fun with the game. It's tiring to be aggravated the whole time... which is often what Difficult mode does to a person. I just played through on Difficult a month or two ago myself and even I, a key gyph, was tempted to take a ragequit break from the last level.
Well, you'll be please to know that I have, in fact, completed it now. I'm interested to hear about the dynamic diffculty on Normal, that's the first I knew of that.
1. ActRaiser (SNES)
2. Conker's Bad Fur Day (N64)
3. GoldenEye 007 (N64)
4. Fire Emblem: Fuuin No Tsurugi (GBA)
5. Mother 3 (GBA)
6. Ecco: The Tides of Time (MD)
7. Shenmue 2 (DC)
8. Jet Set Radio Future (XBox)
9. Resident Evil HD Remaster (PS3)
10. Mega Man 8 (PS4)
Bonus: Crazy Taxi
Anyhow, I finished Ecco 2 this morning, and one thing I noticed about the difficult setting is that it makes the game feel more like ecco 1 - some levels are longer or more convoluted, and some of the harder ones are removed entirely (that said, some of the extra levels were nothing special, so no idea why they were locked away).
Ecco 2 was a compelling game, but like the first, I hesitate to say it was a fun game per se. I love the atmosphere and how unique it feels, and I feel like the ideas and invention in this one make it the superior game of the 2 on the platform, but it's still very much an acquired taste which requires a lot of patience from players. Thankfully nothing in the game quite reached the frustration of the tubes of medusa, although a few stages were still a pain.
I also beat Mega Man 8 this evening. Like Mega Man 7, I also feel this game is unfairly underrated, as it's pretty well made and fun. Unlike Mega Man 7 though, I didn't feel like this one was as consistently good - the jump, jump, slide, slide sections can bite me, as can Astro Man's god awful stage - easily the single worst robot master stage in the entire series. Thankfully, the rest of the game is pretty solid, and it has some fun new ideas in the rush expansions and the items purchasable at the shop. Definitely glad I played it.
I'm also occasionally playign some Crazy Taxi, although I'm having some loading trouble with my disc that has kept me playing as much as I'd like. Still, I'm having fun even though I've definitely not master it by any means.
Up next for me is likely to be Shenmue 2 (even though I keep saying that!) or maybe Jet Set Radio Future. I have some time on holiday I plan to start the portable titles and I was hoping to finish up with the N64 stuff as a nice way to relax with one of my favourite consoles towards the end.