Summer Games Challenge 2018 - begin when ready!

[Key-Glyph]

All right, I can kinda dig it. I prefer more nuanced villainy, but put that way, I can kind of see the draw.

I've been thinking about this more and more and I've thought of something else. I too love nuanced villainy, because I love any characters that are real enough to be understood. I also love using my imagination to fill in the gaps of weak writing to come to an understanding of characters that the scripts gave little thought to. So on the one hand there's well-written nuance, and on the other there's shallow writing that gets nuanced out of necessity by imagination.

The thing with Kefka is that I don't feel like his one-noteness is a result of the writers not being thorough or not having a clear vision as to what his motivations are. He's a purposeful sociopath, and because of that, I'm not compelled to apply headcanon to fix a perceived story deficit. What we wind up with is the kind of character disturbs and fascinates me most: the one that can't be reasoned with or understood. He's like his own eldritch horror. He's Q. He's a person with no humanity, who feels nothing strongly nor takes anything seriously, and isn't tormented about it. Not even a little bit. So you can't even get the catharsis of his regret or hesitation or sadness anything. There's no closure to be had because he's never going to have an introspective moment that will allow it. All you can do is fret about the unpredictable scope of what he's capable of. So I loved that -- a character conceived as purely destructive who doesn't even value the destruction he visits upon others.

But I do get your perspective for sure. I think my favorite antagonist of all time is Magneto -- at least as he's presented in the movies. You see him getting separated from his parents on his way to a concentration camp and you get it. You understand the validity of his worldview.

On Metroid Fusion: Okaaaay. This game is creeps as hale. Like I'm actively creeped. For the first time in playing a Metroid game I don't feel alone, and it is not the good kind of not alone. It is the oppressive and over-your-shoulder kind. Actually, it's a bit like Return of Samus in that regard. But UGH. I watched the SA-X patrol by with a flashlight in an adjacent corridor just now and I was like NOPE!!

This is going to be fun.

[Ack]

You guys realize he's also the first Magitek experiment, right? There are a few hints that the first experiment was unsuccessful and caused the patient's mind to snap before Celes had her turn. Kefka is the other general with magic, so he's the unsuccessful experiment. He is the direct result of what is effectively gene splicing gone horribly wrong.

[MrPopo]

On Metroid Fusion: Okaaaay. This game is creeps as hale. Like I'm actively creeped. For the first time in playing a Metroid game I don't feel alone, and it is not the good kind of not alone. It is the oppressive and over-your-shoulder kind. Actually, it's a bit like Return of Samus in that regard. But UGH. I watched the SA-X patrol by with a flashlight in an adjacent corridor just now and I was like NOPE!!

This is going to be fun.

Oh yeah, Fusion is the deadliest of the Metroid games and that adds to the tension. In addition to the SA-X being a Nemesis that you can't even put down for a bit everything in the environment will kill you fast if you don't treat it with respect.

[pierrot]

You guys realize he's also the first Magitek experiment, right? There are a few hints that the first experiment was unsuccessful and caused the patient's mind to snap before Celes had her turn. Kefka is the other general with magic, so he's the unsuccessful experiment. He is the direct result of what is effectively gene splicing gone horribly wrong.

It's a couple pages back now, but yeah, I did find this out while playing. Quoted below:

https://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtop ... 0#p1134022

I also just feel like touching on Kefka, again. He's completely one-dimensional. I just can't abide this type of antagonist. It was kind of interesting hearing from a guy in the pub in Vector, that Kefka was the first person in the Empire to be experimented on by Cid, and while he gained the power of magic, the experiments destroyed his mind/soul (literally the guy said that it broke Kefka's heart, but that's why literal translations are no bueno). This is such an easily missed bit of information, though, and it still doesn't do anything for Kefka's character other than check a box, certifying that he technically has a reason for being just a purely demented individual. That's all he is though. His psychotic persona entirely defines him, and there's nothing else. I don't know how people couldn't get tired of him as a character, because he's recurring throughout, and he's the same deranged thing at each point. This is kind of why I would prefer some big-bad popping up at the end of the game, because why does it matter? Someone like Kefka may as well just be a conduit for the final enemy. If they're just acting as a moving goal post, what's the point of pretending the antagonist is interesting at all.

The thing with Kefka is that I don't feel like his one-noteness is a result of the writers not being thorough or not having a clear vision as to what his motivations are. He's a purposeful sociopath, and because of that, I'm not compelled to apply headcanon to fix a perceived story deficit. What we wind up with is the kind of character disturbs and fascinates me most: the one that can't be reasoned with or understood. He's like his own eldritch horror. He's Q. He's a person with no humanity, who feels nothing strongly nor takes anything seriously, and isn't tormented about it. Not even a little bit. So you can't even get the catharsis of his regret or hesitation or sadness anything. There's no closure to be had because he's never going to have an introspective moment that will allow it. All you can do is fret about the unpredictable scope of what he's capable of. So I loved that -- a character conceived as purely destructive who doesn't even value the destruction he visits upon others.

Yeah, I think taken in isolation, he has that merit, but I just don't see enough there to elevate him from the trope of typical JRPG Mega Bosses, which tend to be so roundly--and probably rightly--criticized. Kefka is basically just the Emperor from FFII, but given more stage presence. He's also sort of competing with the Emperor of Vector at the same time. They could almost be the same character through most of the game, with the Emperor being perhaps a bit more scheming and conniving. I guess, for instance, the Cloud of Darkness from FFIII is celebrated by almost no one (except maybe the FFXI staff), but essentially represents everything Kefka does. The part that I see separating Kefka from the pack is that he was technically human, but despite the fact that he's a focal point for the adventure, that part about him doesn't seem like it really mattered to the writers.

Again, I feel like mentioning Luca Blight as sort of the natural genesis of Kefka's archetype, but the first three Suikoden games are also really good at assembling a cast of worthwhile characters, and producing chapters, as well as an overarching story, that are more tenderly crafted. Generally speaking I feel like Suikoden is a masterclass in how to write antagonists for an RPG.

But I do get your perspective for sure. I think my favorite antagonist of all time is Magneto -- at least as he's presented in the movies. You see him getting separated from his parents on his way to a concentration camp and you get it. You understand the validity of his worldview.

Magneto's not a bad call. I like him for sort of representing Malcom X's methodologies, even if I can't agree with them. Those are the sort of layers I like to see; 'A character should be as an onion.' (I feel like I picked that up from some literature class.)

On Metroid Fusion: Okaaaay. This game is creeps as hale. Like I'm actively creeped. For the first time in playing a Metroid game I don't feel alone, and it is not the good kind of not alone. It is the oppressive and over-your-shoulder kind. Actually, it's a bit like Return of Samus in that regard. But UGH. I watched the SA-X patrol by with a flashlight in an adjacent corridor just now and I was like NOPE!!

This is going to be fun.

Fusion was the first Metroid game I played, and that SA-X made my life hell. Also the space pirates. Sounds like you're about to have a ball, Key. I'm looking forward to reading about it.

[marurun]

Pierrot, your thoughts really are similar to mine on FFVI. I was mostly OK with the first part of the game because of all the stuff with the Empire. Once the Empire was gone, the characters and the fight mechanics simply couldn’t sustain what was left of the game.

Key, Fusion is SUCH a blast. It takes a lot of heat from purists for being so much more linear, and for lacking that sense of ambiguous direction and exploration, but the successful environments and tone make up for it. Consider that Metroid II was also much more linear. Fusion and Prime were released same day, and that makes Fusion just the 4th 2D Metroid game and 4th/5th Metroid title. So being more linear wasn’t really breaking an existing mold. With Fusion the 2D entries were 50% open exploration and 50% linear. Further, Fusion does environmental storytelling as well as any Metroid title that came before it. Music, background elements, graphical details; even without the brief conversations with Adam most of what you need to know is there in what happens on-screen.

[lordb0rb4]

I spent almost my entire week setting up one of my ps3 and now it is able to install and play pirated games, now, i'm a proud ps3 collector, i own more than 100 physical games and a lot more digital. The whole point is that now, it is possible to run games such as Outrun Online Arcade and MAN, have i played it...

Max Payne
Castlevania Chronicles
Mafia
Altered Beast
Metal Slug 4
Turbo Outrun
Fatal Fury
Art of Fighting



OutRun 2006 C2C ----------> OutRun Online Arcade
OutRun 3D
OutRunners

From what i read , OutRun Online Arcade is a port of Outrun 2, released on Arcades and Xbox and then on PS2 and PC.
After some sortcomings that almost ruined the OutRun franchise, Outrun 2 was highly anticipated mainly because it was being produced by it's very former team and legendary Yu Suzuki, which is understable because the first OutRun is amazing to this day.
Outrun, as Yu Suzuky, describes, is not about beating another racer nor setting times, but all about enjoying the ride and the scenery, and it shows, the game is a dream to play in every aspect, visuals, sound and controls give the game that "just another go" feeling and it is very light-hearted.

I'm playing both OutRuns for sure next week and finish by Summer Challenge once and for all.

[pierrot]

OutRun 2006 C2C ----------> OutRun Online Arcade

Ooh! Nice! I love Outrun 2 and Outrun 2 SP. I actually like them more than even the original Outrun.




I started up Dragon Quest VI. I wasn't totally feeling it at first, maybe because the music so far just doesn't meet the standard set by DQ I through V (especially V, especially on the PS2; so beautiful). After gaining a few levels, and chatting a bit more with the citizenry, it's been pretty good. There's some mystery afoot, and I've made my way to the Kingdom of Laydock, after falling into a crater in the earth that took me into the Land of Illusion--I think I just had an epiphany about what's going on, actually--or more accurately, I was dragged into it while saving the old man who was supposed to make a Sprite's Crown for me to take back to the village for the festival. I felt a little guilty about spending most of the money that I got at the bazaar for hocking the village's wares (I played some brothers against each other to sell it all for a whopping 480 gold). I had kind of foreseen the old craftsman being in danger when his daughter mentioned that he had to go far afield to find materials, and hadn't been back in three days. Fortunately, I was able to find a way back from the Land of Mirage, and return to the village just in time to be accosted about fulfilling my destiny, by a spirit using the hero's sister as a vessel during the ceremony.

I also have to mention this kid, Lando. He's kind of a lazy, oaf, who refers to the hero as if they're brothers-in-law, because he has a thing for the hero's sister. All the while he's praying on the village chief's daughter, and promising to make her a wood carved pendent. I had a laugh at his expense when I got back from the Land of Illusion, because he promised the chief's daughter that he'd give her the pendent before the festival. I can't remember exactly how the exchange went when I was talking with him in the woodworking building, and I've looked at about six jikkyous, but not one of them actually went in there to talk with him. Anyway, basically he tries to say that he's only making the pendant because Judy (the chief's daughter) is in love with him, and that he's really only interested in Tanya (the hero's sister). I chose the options that kind of shut him down, and the rhythm to the conversation was just perfection. Then later I went to talk with Lando's mom, who offered puff-puff. I'm not sure why I'm enjoying messing with him; his name is Lando, he should be cool, right? I've also never been entirely sure how I feel about puff-puff in Dragon Quest games, but that's sort of a separate issue.

On the topic of "coolness," it's apparently a stat in this game. I assume it must work sort of like Charisma, or something, but I was horrified to see my "coolness" drop to almost half of what it was after I put on a wooden helmet. (Well, okay, I guess it kind of makes sense.)

So, yeah. This is going well so far. I think I'm going to try to beat Streets of Rage real quick, before jumping back into DQ VI, though.

[lordb0rb4]

Where are you playing it on Pierrot?
I thought it was a SFC exclusive at first, but after some research i see it was released on NDS as well...
Next year i'm going to pick one of these rpg, the single fact that i have never beat a FF or DQ for the matter is quite a shame.

[pierrot]

Where are you playing it on Pierrot?

Super Famicom. Same as Final Fantasy VI. I play most games in Japanese, if they were developed for the Japanese market. I was taking a look at the DS version a little bit, in some of the jikkyou plays I was passing through yesterday, and I think the game looks a lot better on the SFC, actually. Hearbeat's PS1 engine doesn't look too great on DQ VI, I feel. I was reminded of when I was working in Tokyo, though, and DQ VI had just released for the DS; I was looking over this one guy's shoulder as he was playing the game, on a crowded train. At the time I had only beaten VIII, and I may have been playing the DS version of IV then, but I don't recall. Now I'm closing in on completing the series--sort of.


I gave Streets of Rage two attempts last night, and couldn't even make it the the hallway, which was where I had gotten to the last time I played it. Could I have been playing the Sega CD version? Could that version possibly be easier? 'Cause this time I was getting really pissed at some of the bosses. I pretty much have always just used Blaze in SoR, but I decided to try Axel, because the game said (lying right to my face) that he and Blaze have equivalent speed, but Axel has higher power. Well, I got stonewalled by the Blaze-lights on Round 6. After that I went back to Blaze, and made it pretty far into the elevator, but at one point the game just said, "no," to my tactic of hanging out on the right side of the screen, and just dropped me off the right ledge, through the guard rail. (Not that that one life would have allowed me to beat the game, or get even close.) I was going to ask if anyone knows of any differences between SoR and Bare Knuckle, because I have the Japanese version of the Sega Classics Arcade Collection for the Sega CD, but it seems that that just has the US version on it. Peculiar.

[lordb0rb4]

I might be wrong but dificulty-wise, only SOR3/BK3 has differences.
Do NOT be ashamed to set the game to easy and crank up the lives until you get the hang of the game, crowd management is a must.