marurun wrote:I agree with you guys. I love Zelda II and I love CV II. I mean, look at how directly CV II influenced the creation of Symphony of the Night and derivatives. Without CV II, I don't think any of those later games would have ever come into existence.
I keep seeing Civilization II. I was like, how does Civilization II influence Symphony of the Night?!
Ack wrote:I don't know, chief, the haunting feeling of lust I feel whenever I look at your avatar makes me think it's real.
-I am the idiot that likes to have fun and be happy.
1. Painkiller - PC 2. Front Mission 4 - PS2 3. Wasteland 2 - PC 4. Arcanum - PC 5. X-COM Terror from the Deep - PC 6. Military Madness - TurboGrafx-16 7. Unreal - PC 8. Shadowrun - SNES 9. Warcraft III - PC 10. Dungeon Keeper - PC 11. Final Fantasy X-2 HD - PS3 12. Descent - PC 13. Quake Mission Pack 2 - Dissolution of Eternity - PC 14. Quake 2 Mission Pack 2 - Ground Zero - PC 15. Sokobond - PC 16. Hybrid Heaven - N64 17. Sonic the Hedgehog - Genesis 18. Castlevania - NES 19. Super Castlevania IV - SNES 20. Castlevania III - NES 21. Castlevania II - NES 22. Castlevania Rondo of Blood - Turbo CD
And now Bloodlines is the only console Classicvania I have to beat. Very solid game with some awesome graphics, though Maria is a massive game breaker. And that's before you learn her special move that does a shitton of damage. The biggest problem I had with the game is your total lack of invincibility time when you take a hit. This is most noticeable when you fight the giant eyeball; if you get caught in a corner when he uses his flame attack that's going to take you from full to dead before you can react because you end up in a constant chain of hits.
The game gives you a bunch of branching paths that extend what was done in CV3 and adds a save system so that you can more easily go back and unlock those paths. I did everything and got 100% on my file, and it was interesting seeing the different stages. One thing I thought was cool is that there are several points where you fall in a pit and instead of dying you get to a different part of the level. It's a nice touch that makes the stages feel more like real locations rather than video game locations.
Blizzard Entertainment Software Developer - All comments and views are my own and not representative of the company.
IMO, Akumajou Dracula X is truly the single best classic-formula Castlevania game made. I love 3 a lot as well, but X has such attention to detail and such personality, not to mention enemy designs and animations that would be kept and copied well into the post SoTN era.
I'd played it a touch before, but now that I've experienced most of the Classicvania I realize that the opening stage has a section that's a massive homage to CV2's towns; it even has the same style boundaries at the edge of the screen.
Blizzard Entertainment Software Developer - All comments and views are my own and not representative of the company.
I don't think it's actually that great of a game, but I loved Akumajou Dracula X and I wrote waay too favourably about it back in the day. I think it has one of the strongest opening sequences in video games and generally feels retro enough that all its flashiness seems genuine.
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Can't believe i haven't finished a game since January! Lately, i've started various games, but then given up due to control bullshittery, or general dislike of their core gameplay, and have been moaning about it throughout the "Games NOT beaten" thread. I'm therefore pleased to report that i have actually reached the end of one!
1) Dead Space Extraction (Wii); January 3 2) Resident Evil 4 (Wii); January 11 3) Disaster: Day of Crisis (Wii); January 13 4) Sin and Punishment: Successor of the Skies (Wii); January 16 5) Shadowrun Returns (Android); January 25 6) Gravity Rush (PS Vita); April 4
Played through and reached the end of the story campaign. I loved the aesthetics and soundtrack of Gravity Rush, and the way in which the world and its mysteries were introduced and unveiled was really good. I personally also liked the way that some plot threads were left unexplained. There were a few moments of annoyance due to the gravity shifting mechanic, such as enemies turning away when you're trying to dive-kick them, but this was eventually managed by good positioning and a bit of grinding to level up your powers. The good thing about the latter was that it went hand in hand with exploration of the game's areas, as it was through doing this that you'd find crystals in various locations which were used to power-up. The way in which you manipulated gravity to 'fly' around was truly mesmerising, and it really did feel like a fresh mechanic, supported by a great art style which also gave you a sense of scale of the environments. The storyline was good to play through, and various events that unlocked during gameplay, such as races, object throwing using gravity powers, trying to beat waves of enemies etc, all felt like nice opportunities to add the score-attack replay value to the game once the main story was completed. That said, the world felt a little bit empty due to a lack of a) sidequests, and b) interaction with the people living in the world - they're literally mobile objects and the only way they acknowledge you're there is ducking when you crash down from the sky near them, and screaming in terror as your gravity powers lift them into the air (they don't die from being accidentally flung around in this way, though). The game has some purchasable DLC packs that give the excellent main character, Kat, new costumes and a few new missions, but for the moment i've had my fill and enjoyed it.
Right, now continuing through my backlog! I'm trying to get through PSOne Alundra, PS Vita Soldner X2, replay of Wii Twilight Princess, and other miscellany.
