Games Not Beaten 2014

[dunpeal2064]

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team:

Anyone that complains about something like FFXIII having too long a tutorial has obviously never played this game. 12 hours in, and every 5 minutes the game spoon-feeds you. Its bad no matter what, but its even more offensive having played older games in the series, since they are just recycling the same moves. Oh, cool, 10 hours in and I get a spin dash. Awes.... Oh, great, you're going to explain it in the longest way possible.

The combat is fun (Not really much more fun than the previous M&L games, as the "Dream" stuff really just feels like a very slight variation on the normal game play, but still enjoyable), but everything else about the game is just grating. The dialogue between characters starts off a little charming, but quickly deteriorates. The overall story is just flat out bad. The new characters are nothing to get excited about. There is just... no soul to this game.

Unless someone can convince me that the game gets drastically better from where I am (The top of a mountain with some silly name, looking for the Dream Stone [Its not a spoiler, the story sucks balls]), I am going to just toss it to GS and put the money towards a better game. Like... Cooking Mama or some shit.

[BogusMeatFactory]

After playing through it, the game does get more difficult and less tutorially. I spent about 30 hours in the game to beat it. When I say it gets more difficult, I really mean, it becomes a basic challenge as you try to learn an new enemy's pattern and then it becomes a breeze.

I tended to enjoy the game overall, but I had never played a Mario and Luigi game before this, as Dream Team was included in my 3DS.

My major gripe is that the parts that could have been awesome, like the giant dreamy luigi fights were bogged down because they literally tell you what you needed to do in each scenario, ruining the trial and error of a boss fight and diffusing any tension.

[darsparx]

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team:

Anyone that complains about something like FFXIII having too long a tutorial has obviously never played this game. 12 hours in, and every 5 minutes the game spoon-feeds you. Its bad no matter what, but its even more offensive having played older games in the series, since they are just recycling the same moves. Oh, cool, 10 hours in and I get a spin dash. Awes.... Oh, great, you're going to explain it in the longest way possible.

The combat is fun (Not really much more fun than the previous M&L games, as the "Dream" stuff really just feels like a very slight variation on the normal game play, but still enjoyable), but everything else about the game is just grating. The dialogue between characters starts off a little charming, but quickly deteriorates. The overall story is just flat out bad. The new characters are nothing to get excited about. There is just... no soul to this game.

Unless someone can convince me that the game gets drastically better from where I am (The top of a mountain with some silly name, looking for the Dream Stone [Its not a spoiler, the story sucks balls]), I am going to just toss it to GS and put the money towards a better game. Like... Cooking Mama or some shit.

Wow, I was pretty sure the previous games did the same thing, but you could skip through the tutorial stuff if you wanted to(unless you happened to accidentally be doing the a smasher routine and had to go through it because of that)....you're one of the few I've heard of that doesn't like it even though I'm pretty sure there's probably more....but I'll probably still give that one a try just because I love the series...


Well I'm officially about to give up on Wizards and Warriors for NES...I started playing it yesterday, and at the mid-ish point of the second level where you need another 100 gems to pass, I somehow didn't know/remember that so now I'm stuck in the pit area right before it....might have to reset which would suck but kinda sad how there's no way out if you just happened to stumble upon the area in the process of going around the level....it's definitely not a must have game but it's decent if it just didn't have this problem right now...

[dunpeal2064]

Wow, I was pretty sure the previous games did the same thing, but you could skip through the tutorial stuff if you wanted to(unless you happened to accidentally be doing the a smasher routine and had to go through it because of that)....you're one of the few I've heard of that doesn't like it even though I'm pretty sure there's probably more....but I'll probably still give that one a try just because I love the series...

I would say at least 70% of the tutorial/hand-holding moments in Dream Team are not optional whatsoever. The only option is to mash "A" to get through the pandering. Of course, this means that, on the rare occasion that I am able to skip a tutorial, I end up hitting "Yes", since the cursor defaults to that.

Here is my main problem with the heavy tutorials in this game. Say, you are playing Link to the Past. You get bombs, and maybe the game tells you how the bombs work. Okay, fine. Then, a few screens over, you see a wall with cracks. Most likely one of two things happens: Either 1) You have never played a Zelda before, and you get excited as your brain realizes that maybe a bomb will blast the wall, or 2) You have already played a Zelda, but still get some excitement and nostalgia the first time you see that crack, as you know goodies lie within.

Dream Team's approach, in every possible situation like this, is to pause the game, and slowly spell out precisely and exactly what you are supposed to do. There is no mystery, no discovery. I just feel like I am walking through the motions, since the game pretty much plays itself before giving you the chance to play it.

Like you said, the other games do this too.... but Dream Team brings almost nothing new to the table.... so, having played each game in the series, I am sitting through:

"How to Jump" "How to use a Hammer" "How to smash rocks with a Hammer" "How to smash Mario with a Hammer" "How to unsmash Mario with a Hammer" etc, etc

... for the fourth time. And... the tutorials are even longer, more frequently forced, and less skip-able than before.

Add to that, that pretty much everything in this game was done, and done better, in Bowser's Inside Story, and yeah... the game just comes off as mediocre. Its not unplayable by any means, but I have Bravely Default and Shin Megami IV sitting on the shelf.... I just don't think I'm really missing anything that makes it worth another 15 hours of my time.

@BMF: Yeah, the bosses, even at this point, are pretty fun. Pretty much the only reason I've continued to play the game. But, like you said, there isn't really a difficulty. You get hit by the move once, and then never again. Its trail and error, but with no requirement of execution. In Mega Man, you "get" the sequence, and then you have to actually execute the sequence. The latter part is what I find fun, as the first is usually not very challenging. Dream Team pretty much just offers the first, from what I can tell.

Like I said above, I don't think its a trash game. Its... okay, at best. I'd say objectively worse than its predecessor, though. If it were a 4 hour platformer, I'd stick it to the end. Heck, if it had a world/setting/characters that I found interesting, I could handle the pandering tutorials. As it is, I feel like I am getting maybe 5 minutes of "game time" for every hour I put into the game.

If you say things get better from where I'm at, I'll keep the other games shelved and go further with this one, since I know that I'll never come back to it if I stop now. I'd rather complete it than not, but I swear I played this for 3 hours at work tonight, and maybe felt like I was actually gaming for 10 minutes of it.

Its all in your hands now, meat man!

[BogusMeatFactory]

Its all in your hands now, meat man!

Oh man the pressure! You can do it Dun! I have faith in you.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble

I find this unplayable. The tilt controls aren't so hot and I just end up sending Kirby bebopping all over the place. I think with no time limit the game would be a bit more bearable, but trying to rush through the levels with these unbearable controls is a recipe for disaster.

The worst part may be the fact that the game is only compatible with a GBC or original model GBA - so no lit handhelds or TV. I don't mind non-lit handhelds, the problem is that when you have to turn the GBC/GBA I completely loose sight of the game for a split second. Especially when I try to move Kirby down.

It just doesn't work. Interesting experiment/tech demo. Not a good game.

[alienjesus]

Slightly early update:

Games not beaten:
Mario & Luigi: Dream Team Bros. 3DS
Phantasy Star Online PC
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

Off the list: Atelier Totori Plus
On the list: A Link Between Worlds

Again, not much movement. I've been pretty good at sticking to one or two games at a time and playing them start to finish this year so far. Zelda is only on the list because I've not beaten it yet, it'll be off soon enough

[Flake]

Zelda: Between Worlds definitely has no place on an unbeaten list. Even temporarily.

[alienjesus]

Zelda: Between Worlds definitely has no place on an unbeaten list. Even temporarily.

I'm really not that enamoured with it tbh. It's good, but it doesn't feel particularly special to me.

[IrishNinja]

yeah, i keep hearing Between Worlds is short but i guess im taking my time exploring, ive got a ways to go. portable wise itll be either Bravely or SMT IV after that.

Beat South Park last night, which was crazy...think i'll finish Strider 3 this weekend, then back to some retro stuff!