Games General

[alfonso_rd_30]

still on the goddamned wartune: now with 97% more kids and rejects of DOTA/LOL

[Chocofreak13]

@pent: i'm thinking i should get more Steam games, or find a way to make AC interesting again. :\

[Nichi]

Get Chip's Challenge. You can get 1 and 2 in a bundle on Steam for $5 (The same price as buying 2 by itself, strangely enough) :3

EDIT: So, on a quest on PSO I do not remember from the Dreamcast version, and was likely one introduced for Gamecube\Xbox...and for the love of Alis, why did Sonic Team decide a quest with a stealth section was a good idea? Maybe if they changed to an overhead camera angle like what Metal Gear Solid used, or you had a free-moving camera like in .hack, it wouldn't be quite as bad.

EDIT2: That quest, while it was very long and had a lot of frustrating parts (Likely due to the fact they expect you to be at least level 50 or so, based on the levels of my party members, and I was level 23), it does have a surprisingly emotional ending, even if you barely get to know the character in question. Also, the story in this quest is presented with traditional cut-scenes, with the same in-game graphics and text-only dialog; which gives it a feel almost like an older RPG (I wouldn't quite say like Phantasy Star IV, which used comic book style cut-scenes for major story stuff, but more like Final Fantasy VI or Chrono Trigger)

[Bella]

This glitch is legitimately scarier than any creature I've run across so far.

[Nichi]

What the fuck is that!?

So, since I plan to ship my Cube in with my Wah U when I move, and my Genesis will be going into storage, I've decided now is the time to take a break from PSO and actually finish Phantasy Star IV. Maybe I can finish it in about 2 months?

[alfonso_rd_30]

Spider-man on drugs?

[Bella]

Started playing Portal Stories: Mel today.

It's a little early to tell where the story is going, but overall it looks well-designed for a fan-made game, the graphics/art direction fits well with Portal canon, the puzzle mechanics seem about on par with Portal 2 (though I've heard people complain they get hard as the game progresses - we'll see if this is a bad thing since I thought the mechanics were too easy in Portal 2), and overall seems to capture the feeling of enormous, vertigo-inspiring scale that I loved so much in Portal & Portal 2.

Bonus points for finding a VA who can do a decent JK Simmons-as-Cave Johnson impersonation.

[LeaflameSD]

used to play this all the time before my iphone 5c got stolen
-insert racial slur here-

[Nichi]

@Bella: I saw something mentioning that game on the Vinesauce forums last night. I might have to look more into it *w*

Since (hopefully) I'm going to move out in a few months, I've made the decision to try and beat Phantasy Star IV before then...but, as I learned, I'm not near as far into the game as I previously thought ^^;

Phantasy Star Offline 4: End of the Generations of C.A.R.D. Revolution & Knuckles: ShowHide

First off, I've only fought Dark Force (Better known as Dark Falz) once, and according to what I accidentally spoiled online (Although, I swear it was printed on the back of the box), you fight it 3 different times during the course of the story. However, I am close to the second one...although, by my own stupidity last night (I personally blame the influence of that margarita I was drinking), I didn't save immediately after the fight with Lashiec, and decided "I'm going to get myself to directly in front of the next dungeon, and then save"...and promptly got killed on the way.

So, going to attempt that again tonight; hoping I can pull that off a second time...and then make sure to save before I do anything else -w-;;;
The moral of the story is: don't drink and drive the Ice-Digger in PS4, or if you do, please save your game first

[Chocofreak13]

@leaf: used to see ads for that all the time. is it any good?
@pent: that thing bells posted is likely a human. was watching Steve play in the past week and a dead bandit went flying off, team rocket style, due to a glitch.


my sister gave me her login details for Origin and so i downloaded The Sims 4 and a childhood favourite, Theme Hospital. that was yesterday and i'd estimate i've already played TH for close to 10 hours. i forgot how fun this game was, and the dark humour is only funnier now since i can actually get it now...

[Nichi]

Nice :3

I got past the aforementioned fight on PS4. Going to attempt to take a stab at the next area sometime tomorrow; likely after work

[LeaflameSD]

@leaf: used to see ads for that all the time. is it any good?

it's alright. i feel the story is shoehorned in some places, but if you start playing for a bit you'll get hooked. you can join guilds and there's pvp and stuff like that

[Pitkin]

Theme Hospital

Brilliant! That's one game that only got better with time.

[LeaflameSD]

still have that game... really used to sink time into it ^^

[Nichi]

I might have to try that sometime -w-;

...and now, to kinda mix things up from the usual talk about PS4, I'm going to talk about PSZ instead

Penti's Late Nite Thoughts on: Phantasy Star Zero (DS): ShowHide

One of these days, I'll start talking about a game that doesn't involve that Sega RPG franchise that gave us such wonderful things as TOTAL ADVENTURE ROLE PLAYING and

a cheesy anime intro I still make fun of. Today is not that day, however, as I talk about Phantasy Star Zero; the confusingly-named DS installment of the series.

As some might think, the title seems to imply this is the a prequel to the first game...but that's not the case; it has as much to do with the earlier PS games as FF6 has to do with FF7. If anything, this borrows more heavily from PSO...but it's not a prequel to that, either. Apparently, the developers chose to call it "Zero" because they wanted to indicate this was a "new beginning" for the series...but it never really went anywhere; it had a cult following, but long-time fans of the franchise weren't so keep on the generic anime art style, in contrast to the older titles using a more unique style.

I remember when I first heard of this game, back in the year 2009. With the series being a favorite of mine, having plenty of experience with PS1 and PSO under my belt, and longing for a more PSO-like experience than what PSU offered, I preordered it. Then, the reviews came in, and one random GameFAQs user said the magic phrase that single-handedly killed my interest in it: "long load times from cartridge". Immediately, I had flashbacks to the remake that should not be, that drained me of my sanity and nearly caused me to give up on the DS as a whole: Diddy Kong Racing DS. Thus, I cancelled my preorder and decided it was for the best if I never play this game. In retrospect, it's kinda stupid that I let a single review ruin it for me, but oh well.

Jump forward 6 years later, as I find myself getting interested in the series again; replaying PSO once more, attempting to finish one of the classic games (Phantasy Star IV), and considering trying to do a Let's Play of PSU just to make fun of it. It was around this point I began to think back to that DS game I never played; perhaps it was unfair for me to pass judgement on it based solely on the word of a single GameFAQs user? However, the game had become fairly rare; a used copy with the original case and manual run about $40 at minimum unless you get lucky or just buy the Japanese version and awkwardly fumble through the menus, like I did with MapleStory DS. Thus, I did what I did to experience EarthBound without breaking the bank: "do what you want 'cause a pirate is free; you are a pirate~". Now that I've finally played it, how do I feel about it?

The game actually did feature online play...although, Nintendo Wifi Connection shut down, limiting me to just offline play (Which does offer local multiplayer with friends; should you find someone that actually owns this game). As for the offline single-player, it has a story mode...and thankfully, it's not as obnoxious as PSU; it does have a lot of cut-scenes and dialog, but in terms of presentation, it's a bit more like PS4, but with brief anime cut-scenes replacing the comic book panels. Also, from what I've read, depending on what race your character is (Human, Newman, or Cast), you get a different story; to encourage you to play it through more than once.

The gameplay is what you'd expect; it's PSO, in your pocket. It does have some stand-out differences, like not being able to move while the menu is open (Granted, this was built for the original DS; they had no choice there, lest they awkwardly shoehorn in touch screen usage beyond chatting with your teammates), or how I have to relearn the timing for the 3-hit melee combo (It feels a bit off compared to PSO, and you can't just mash it like PSU and get the same result), but it does manage to capture the feel better than PSU did.

The one thing that does mildly irk me is the way the areas are setup; each room is a small block with a set number of monsters, with it loading the next area when you exit (Which, thankfully, is near instant like the old Genesis PS games, and nothing like DKRDS). Also, while character creation is still present and does offer more freedom than PSO in some regards  (You can more freely choose your character's race, sex, and job, instead of being locked into a pre-determined selection), it's also more restrictive (You're limited to just alternate colors for the costume, 3 different skin colors, and a few different hairstyles). Admittedly, there wasn't a way they could pull off something on as grand of a level as the original PSO on the DS without severe downgrades, so I guess it does make sense that they had to make some sacrifices.

I admit, I got myself killed on the first boss, which is where I decided to break for the night, but otherwise, it's not too bad. I wouldn't spend more than $25 on it, though; there are far better DS games you can grab around that price.