Summer Games Challenge 2016

[prfsnl_gmr]

Ninja Gaiden is done. It only took 25 years. Holy shit that penultimate boss was driving me insane. Next Summer game is likely Fire Emblem though I may take a break from this Challenge and play a few other things first.

Congratulations! It is definitely nice to have that one under your belt. Be sure to play Ninja Gaiden II sometime. It is a much better game, and it is quite a bit easier.

[Exhuminator]

Congrats on Ninja Gaiden bone. That one is just as hard today as it was 25 years ago.

Also fucking hawks.

---



So I spent 2 hours with Shadow Tower last night. Here's a few screenshots I took:

You star off descending into the tower, and it's easy to die just trying to navigate to doors.


One of the first enemies you encounter, a boney aggressive spider.


All pieces of equipment have detailed stats.


You can equip a helluva lot gear. Unfortunately said gear breaks easy.


Most game's slimes are simple blobs of goo. Not Shadow Tower's. Also these things vomit armor eroding acid at you.


I found a key on his dead body.


You can often find cheerful motivating messages scrawled in blood on the walls.


The areas you enter are named on screen, unlike in KF games.


What were you doing around 11:30PM EST last night? I was nervously making my way through a pitch black cave full of human bones. That red X on the side of the screen means a piece of equipment is about to break. Not that I could do much about that then.


This is the kinda shit you come across in said black cave. This thing sucks your life force out through the ground you stand on. And makes horribly creepy noises while it does it.


Eventually I found a black smith who would repair my equipment. Unfortunately he's some kind of goblin vampire dwarf thing that requires my life points to be spent per repair. Yes, you have to bleed out to repair your equipment in Shadow Tower.


More pleasant things I saw while exploring barely surviving.


Reaching that door without falling off the ledge into a black abyss was harder than it looked.


This wouldn't be a From Software dungeon crawler if there weren't empty chests to find behind secret doors.


Just traipsing about torture chambers as you do.


Shadow Tower has a really detailed beastiary.

So a few things I can safely say about Shadow Tower after only 2 hours with it...

Shadow Tower is not just King's Field by another name. Oh no. Shadow Tower is its own thing entirely. This is a horror dungeon crawler that truly hates weak gamers and wants them dead immediately. With no apologies.

The King's Field games are challenging yes, hard at times even. Shadow Tower starts off rough and then quickly turns absolutely brutal. So far this is WAY harder than any of the King's Fields. And that is saying something folks.

Shadow Tower is rather graphically impressive for a PS1 game. The technology on display here is leaps and bounds above what KF3 did. The audio, as in sound effects, is phenomenal. I've been unnerved a few times from creepy ghost chatter emanating from the shadows.

A lot of the things I've read people complain about concerning Shadow Tower, totally make sense within the game's world and inherent design. This is a detailed matter of discussion though that I will save for the review.

Despite what prfsnl_gmr says, I think Shadow Tower is pretty damned awesome so far. However, I can totally, completely, fully understand why someone would not enjoy Shadow Tower. This game does not give half a shit about simply entertaining let alone coddling its players. It's legit scary, super difficult, and mean as piss.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Despite what prfsnl_gmr says, I think Shadow Tower is pretty damned awesome so far.

I'm just kidding, BTW. I actually haven't spent much time with Shadow Tower, and given its pedigree, I suspect it is a pretty cool game once you get into it. The sequel looks fantastic, and I am disappointed that it never received a US release.

Also, based on your description, it sounds a lot like Demon's Souls. (I've said it once, and I'll say it again...you really should play that game ASAP. )

[Exhuminator]

Demon's Souls. (I've said it once, and I'll say it again...you really should play that game ASAP. )

Oh I fully plan to. I wanted to play From Software's dungeon crawlers in sequence though. Well I've beaten all four King's Fields*, so after I finish the two Shadow Towers, I'll finally be ready for the Souls series. I plan to finish both Shadow Towers this year.

*Edit: Plus I even finished Eternal Ring.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Oh I fully plan to. I wanted to play From Software's dungeon crawlers in sequence though. Well I've beaten all four King's Fields, so after I finish the two Shadow Towers, I'll finally be ready for the Souls series. I plan to finish both Shadow Towers this year.

How do you plan on playing the sequel? I would really like to play that one.

[Ack]

It's legit scary, super difficult, and mean as piss.

Now THAT sounds like fun.

Anyway, I managed to hop in and play a bit more Turok: Dinosaur Hunter last night. Levels 1, 2, and 3 are now completed entirely, with all keys and the piece of the Chronoscepter discovered. I'm currently saved in level 4, but I have already found all keys available there(including my first for level 8 ), so now I just have to find the super weapon piece before heading on. I have a pretty good idea of where to look, but it involves a guessing game with numerous portals that may also teleport me into bug-ridden lava. Guess there's only one way to find out. Once I wrap this up, I'll finally plunge into level 5 and start clearing it out.

Really, I really love the speed of this game. It is absolutely awesome, and the level design compliments it and challenges you with some platforming segments that will make your palms sweat. Level 4's layout has probably been the most interesting so far, since it acts like its own big hub area from which you can go in different directions to find all the keys. I'm really excited to see what else this game holds for me.

[Exhuminator]

How do you plan on playing the sequel?

Well firstly Shadow Tower Abyss was English fan translated not too long ago. So playing it in English is easy thanks to that. I'll PM you a link to download it. As far as actually running the patched ISO, there are multiple ways to do that. I guess the easiest might be to use PCSX2?

Personally I plan to play the game on PS2 with real hardware (thus no sketchy PS2 emulation glitches). To do that, I'm using FreeMcBoot to boot the ESR patched ISO burned to a Taiyo Yuden DVD via IMGBURN at 4x speed. I've already tested this burn, and the game booted and ran flawlessly.

A few screen shots for fun:







Not so fun fact: From Software wanted to publish Shadow Tower Abyss in USA but Sony wouldn't let them.

[Sarge]

Akumajō Dracula (Famicom Disk System)
Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Tsurugi (Famicom)
Guardian Heroes (Saturn)
Hikari Shinwa: Palutena no Kagami (Famicom Disk System)
Moon Patrol (various)
Ninja Gaiden (NES)
OutRun (various)
Super C (NES)
Wonder Boy (Sega Master System)
Zaxxon (various)

Ninja Gaiden is done. It only took 25 years. Holy shit that penultimate boss was driving me insane. Next Summer game is likely Fire Emblem though I may take a break from this Challenge and play a few other things first.

Good ol' Jacquio. Man, it took me forever to finally figure out his pattern. I never did as a kid, but I totally nailed it after a while as an adult. I don't even use the jump-slash move or fire wheel, it's all about clinging to the wall at the right time, then flip-jumping off of it and slashing when he gets close. That keeps you from jumping way too high and getting smacked by him, and it gets you out of the way of his fireballs really quickly.

Kudos for finishing it, it's a brutal, brutal game. And that stupid "go back to 6-1" glitch sucks even worse.

Now, go play Ninja Gaiden III.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Now, go play Ninja Gaiden III.

On the Famicom...without the artificial difficulty...and where it is actually the easiest game in the series.

[BoneSnapDeez]

I was totally stumped but then read up on the game on StrategyWiki and took their suggestion. I'd wait until the instant the fireballs had vanished off the bottom of the screen and then jump on a platform and jump and attack the boss as quickly as possible. This wasn't always feasible, depending on his/my positions on the screen, but with patience I was able to do it well within the time limit. Final boss was a pushover in comparison.

The warp back to 6-1 thing was atrocious. It's a cruel prank straight out of the Ghosts 'n Goblins playbook.

I don't have part III, sadly, but I do have II. I enjoy what I've played but didn't want to sink my teeth into it until I had the first game under my belt.

(By "first game" I mean the first NES game of course, the one I just completed. I still have yet to play the original beat 'em up. The fact that it wasn't included on Tecmo Classic Arcade is downright criminal. I could get dat Atari Lynx port I suppose!)