Games Beaten 2014

[ExedExes]

Okay, I'll stop rambling. TL;DR : Metroid II is great and I really miss Nintendo RD-1.

That was a good post. It makes me want to go get it. I wish more people here would be as descriptive of a game experience. I try my best, but not as good as you did there. I come to this thread to find new games to play.

[Xeogred]

1. Dead Space 3* + Awakened (PS3)
2. Legend of Zelda Wind Waker HD (WiiU)
3. Super Metroid* (WiiU)

* = replay

And just beat Super Metroid for the 1,000th time myself! Kind of a yearly thing... maybe even more than once.

That said, I think it's time to give this one a break for awhile. It's at that point where I play the entire thing without even thinking or stopping, I just automatically do and find every single thing there is in the game. I used to do this with Link to the Past as well, but it hit me that I think it's actually been years since I played that one and I'm fuzzy on remembering my programmed playthroughs, so I'm stoked to replay that one.

But man, Super Metroid. Still one of the most atmospheric games alive. I also have to say, that control design wise this has got to be like the most complex game out there. The hyper dash jump maneuvers, the walljumping, the dozens of combinations and secret tricks you can accomplish with various weapon setups, it's endless. I almost have to believe they designed sequence breaking to be entirely possible in just about any area, yet knew when to cut that (reaching lower Norfair, etc). The small set pieces, the Metroid coming to the rescue and taking a blow gets me whenever I play it now, the littlest things wondering who that soldier is dead before Kraid's lair, and knowing you can save the little nice aliens during the final sequence. The game has no words, and is easily one of the most dense gaming experiences out there. It's like my only complaint going back to the game thesedays is that I wish it were 5x bigger and longer. But those early runs and getting completely lost in the game, scanning every single room for hidden secrets, was a timeless experience I'll never forget.

An execution of mastery perfected game design. I give it 9000 SSJ's.

Better than Link to the Past? I can never decide, but always find myself oh so very slightly leaning towards Zelda on this one. But pretty much since the 90's when I first played these two, they've remained to be my absolute top favorites and that'll never change.

[BurningDoom]

Better than Link to the Past? I can never decide, but always find myself oh so very slightly leaning towards Zelda on this one. But pretty much since the 90's when I first played these two, they've remained to be my absolute top favorites and that'll never change.

I feel exactly the same when it comes to these 2 games. Masterpieces that set the bar.

[BoneSnapDeez]

My brother, who's mostly a "current gen" type of gamer, decided to play Super Metroid on the Wii U. He's been calling me every day and raving about it.

[pierrot]

Still one of the most atmospheric games alive.

My god, it's finally happened; They've finally become sentient.

I'll be in my bunker.

[Flake]

Okay, I'll stop rambling. TL;DR : Metroid II is great and I really miss Nintendo RD-1.

It was a great ramble.

May have missed it, but on what platform did you use to play Metroid II?

3DS. Nintendo's GB emulator is really smooth.

[isiolia]

1.) Beyond: Two Souls (PS3)
2.) Remember Me (PC)
3.) Mirror's Edge (PC)
4.) Jumping Flash! (PS1)
5.) Run Saber (SNES)
6.) Heavenly Sword (PS3)
7.) X-Blades (360)
8.) Blades of Time (360)
9.) Trapt (PS2)
10.) Hunted: The Demon's Forge (360)
11.) Final Fantasy XIII-2 (PS3)
12.) Venetica (PC)

Thoughts:

Another game fished from the bargain bin. I’d thought it looked interesting in previews, and at this point it fetches a princely $6 or so, for a DRM-free physical copy on PC (it’s not even on Steam or GoG).

In it, you play Scarlett, daughter of Death. Well, a Death anyway. His chosen successor is up to some shenanigans, and she's the only one who can stop him. There’s some amount of player choice, morality, guild selection, and so on.

It was also lucky to receive average reviews on US release, mostly getting panned. Despite that, I elected to at least try it, and wound up finishing it.

So, yeah, it’s definitely got some rough edges to it. My PC copy already was the last version (1.02) released, which apparently fixed a bit. I still ran into a few bugs, though only one that really impeded progress. During a boss fight, you’re supposed to goad the guy into destroying a couple pillars…which didn’t take damage. Reloaded the game, and one took damage. The second time he hit it, the game hard crashed (the only time it did). Then I reloaded and they wound up being invincible again…but the fourth time was a charm!
Other issues were relatively minor. A few quest markers tagged with Missing: hex code, a couple spots with missing textures, that kind of thing.

My main complaint would really be with the combat and general mechanics. According to the credits, it’s based on a “Terra Magna” RPG system with a 1999 copyright…but a brief Googling resulted in nothing. /shrug.
In general, it’s actually kind of a simplified version of what the Witcher uses. Combo by timing follow-up hits at the apex of swings, and multiple weapons suited for different enemy types…but no multiple stances. What was frustrating, first, was that I tried using a 360 pad. The game was made for PC originally, using mouse and keyboard. That scheme has its flaws. The gamepad scheme is worse. The biggest thing is that with the controller, you have to hold L-trigger to lock on an enemy to roll around them or target well. With mouse and keyboard…there’s no lock-on…you can just circle strafe. Yet, the keyboard is missing things like Auto-Loot (actual looting requires sheathing your weapon)… maybe it can be configured, but, it’s not in the control config (nor are half the keys for that matter).

Combat is fairly clunky anyway. Against one enemy, the system works decently enough, with the main problem that enemies tend to combo you as well…so getting hit can quickly mean being “stuck” and getting hit several more times. When there’s a group of enemies, well, expect to get trapped and dead if you aren’t careful.

The RPG growth is largely wasted. On the one hand, basic things like, I dunno, being able to block need to be trained. Combat was a struggle early, but once a few things like that or HP drain magic were learned, much of the rest was superfluous. MP recovered too slowly, and casting took too long to make much extensive use of it, much less special weapon attacks (which also use MP).

The story is…meh. Considering Deck13 usually made Adventure games (their game since is another action RPG though), I thought it’d be better. The better voice acting is passable, but mostly it’s below average (perhaps the German is better). Graphics aren’t that great, for the most part, but are fairly stylized, which saves them a little. I mean, most of it still comes across as an Xbox era title, but still, the main problem is comparison to other games in 2011, not being hard to discern or otherwise problematic.

Despite all those criticisms (and probably more, if I wanted to dig), I felt like there was some credit due. Deck13 is a small company. Wikipedia says 24 people. The credits had few people listed, many in multiple roles. Yet, the more ready comparisons to Venetica are probably made by much larger teams.

While the look is more Fable, the parallel that came to mind to me by the end was Dragon Age II. Reason being, Venetica takes place in and around Venice, and in turn isn’t that big so to speak. But, it was probably the reasonable limit of what the developers could do. Areas were unique, or at least, not obviously reused.

DAII also took place all in or around one city, but it was from a bigger team and budget. Yet, it shamelessly (and obviously) reused environments a lot. The story, characters, production, and so on were far better in it, but the scale/scope of DAII wasn’t passable for Bioware, in my opinion.

So, where I felt like DAII was a big company cutting corners, Venetica felt more like a small company trying to break out of their niche market and biting off a little more than they could handle. I’d still have a hard time really recommending it over stacks of other games, but I found it hard to entirely dislike either.

[Luke]

Anyone else playing pretend Super Bowls?

[noiseredux]

1. King of Fighters R-2 (NGPC)
2. Dead or Alive 2 (Limited Edition) (DC)
3. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles In Time (PS2)

My wife said "wanna play Turtles In Time?" I said "Yup." So we ran through the arcade port on PS2. It looks great on PS2, and controls better than I remembered. The sound is a bit off - and of course some of the music is different cuz of licensing - or maybe cuz of the tie-in to the cartoon series at that point? Whatever. Still fun.

Anyone else playing pretend Super Bowls?

I was going to at some point today/tomorrow, yeah. Though I'm kind of enjoying Metal Gear right now. I had meant to try to pickup a DC football game before this weekend, but dropped the ball. But if I get a chance I'll probably throw in Madden 05 on PS2 since I have that "Championship Edition" that I haven't played much of.

[dsheinem]

Games Beaten 2014
Primal Rage - 32X
Golden Axe - Genesis
To the Moon: Holiday Special - PC
Need for Speed: Rivals - PS4
Halo: Spartan Assault - Xbox One
Kolibri - 32X
Motocross Championship - 32X
Shank 2 - PS3 *new*
Colassatron: Massive World Threat - iOS *new*

Total: 9

Games Beaten: 2013 2012 2011 2010

Shank 2 is fun, though easier than Shank 1. The throwing knives are overpowered.

Colassatron is a nice pick up and play game - Halfbrick hasn't disappointed me yet!