Random Gaming Thoughts

[BoneSnapDeez]

bro do u even rogue?

Start that thread!!!

(somebody)

[noiseredux]

bro do u even rogue?

I Spelunky.

[alienjesus]

I've beaten a Pokémon Mystery Dungeon game once.

I'm not really a roguelike fan myself. I much prefer a well designed stage to the randomness of a roguelike.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Well yeah, playing roguelikes on the regular could drive one mad.

There really aren't that many Japanese roguelikes that have been translated into English. It's entirely possible to complete all of them. In fact, it's something I'd like to do someday.

[Exhuminator]

I much prefer a well designed stage to the randomness of a roguelike.

Both approaches have their strengths and weaknesses.

With a roguelike, I enjoy the spontaneous serendipity that the system can produce. Having to smartly use the random resources you acquire to overcome unknown situations every time you enter a new floor. The zero to hero and back to zero roller coaster ride of a proper roguelike can be a real thrill. I never have to play more tactical than when I'm playing this genre.

The thread should exist. I'll see if I can muster enough gumption sometime soonish to produce it.

[MrPopo]

I'd argue that roguelike doesn't preclude good stage design. Look at Nethack; the game has a wide variety of areas that have different feels to them and many require different methods to get through. There are still random layouts and the exact time you get to various areas can differ from playthrough to playthrough, but a lot of thought went into how those levels are generated.

Izuna, while fun, doesn't have interesting stage design at all. The closest it gets is some stages have stage hazards. The main draw is the enemy design is interested and varied, making tactical movement important.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Anyone play Hydlide II on MSX? The internet tells me that it has a save battery - it was released one year before (North American) Zelda, which is usually credited as being the first game to have a battery-backed save.

I've also read that Morita Shogi (Famicom) has a battery save - this was released a few months before Zelda.

The oldest cartridge I own personally that "supports" saves is The Count (VIC-20) - but it requires the Commodore datasette and a cassette tape to record the save itself!

[Exhuminator]

Izuna, while fun

I agree the game is fun too. I got a kick out of reading RPGFan's review for it though. Here are some choice excerpts:

Does sheer frustration and unending annoyance make you want to keep playing a game? Does a criminally unfair difficulty level make you jump for joy? Do you have an immortal amount of patience? If you answered yes to any of the above questions, you might be able to get far enough into Izuna to truly enjoy its gameplay.

What causes an unbelievable amount of suffering in the game is the unforgiving difficulty curve coupled with the penalty the player incurs when death befalls Izuna. In fact, even a well equipped and prepared player will die countless times over the course of the game. And to add insult and injury, whenever Izuna dies she is jettisoned out of the dungeon and stripped of ALL her items and money.

Death would presumably be avoidable if the player was careful, but the developers took the liberty of taking that into account and snuffing out that ray of hope too. Throughout the dungeons lie hidden traps that are completely undetectable to the player. (actually they are detectable)

One would think that with such an unforgiving difficulty level, the developers would have been kind enough to allow the player to save anywhere, but unfortunately that fervent hope is also denied to us.

http://www.rpgfan.com/reviews/izuna/index.html

Pretty safe to say that Ashton Liu fellow had never played a roguelike before this.

[MrPopo]

Yeah, I'm always amused by people who aren't familiar with roguelikes reviewing them. Most of their complaints are like complaining that Call of Duty doesn't support negotiating with your enemies for a peaceful surrender.

[marurun]

Well, they have a point that roguelikes aren't fair, but that's not the point of a roguelike. That said, JPN and more modern western roguelikes do make more nods to fairness than the text-based ones of old, so in a way, complaining that modern roguelikes aren't fair or balanced well is kinda like complaining that that Mount Ranier is too high and hard a mountain to climb, when it's like half the height of Mount Everest.