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[Phase]

18. The Witcher: Enhanced Edition (PC) - 30hrs

This really is a game that gets better the further you get. I tried it years ago and put it down after a couple of hours. This time I was in a better frame of mind to give it real chance. After about 8hrs I started to appreciate it more and more, and it's a shame the first couple of areas are so drab and boring and take a while to progress through. The later areas feel more alive and interesting by comparison and I found myself getting lost in the quests just like in The Witcher 2 and 3 by then. I do understand the hate for the combat system but I didn't mind it. Plus, the skill tree is very well done. I had a great time with this game and would definitely recommend it to anyone that has played the others.

 

[Soodanim]

Resident Evil 4 (GC) was finished some hours ago and man, this was great. The village was awesome and the castles were absolutely fantastic. The island however was more of a mixed bag. The end with the helicopter and that felt more like a Metal Gear Solid game. It's like they ran out of ideas at the end and had to pad it out. It's also funny of the end boss monolouges before his fight that this isn't like your American Hollywood, yet the end part couldn't have been more your typical Stallone/Schwarzenegger flick. But I digress; Despite a tad weaker last few hours, this is still up there among the GOATS and I would love to play the PC version soon in fullscreen and 60 fps with the aforementioned mod. The letterbox and 30 fps annoyed me a bit.

Out of curiosity I booted up the PS3 port a few months ago, and it looks and feels horrible now after playing the Steam version. There's only two slight drawbacks I know of, which are that some reload animations are 30fps and feel choppy, and some QTEs become more difficult. Outside of that? Better resolution, no letterbox, and smooth 60fps. Easy trade.

 

[UnNamed]

My 2021 so far (Switch) :

Completed
The Witcher 3 CE I bought in May/June 2020, 352 quests;
South Park FBW all DLCs;

Current: Streets of Rage 4 (end 2020) all characters one coin

Next: Team Sonic Racing bought at launch, yet to be fully completed.

 

[VidKid369]

Finished Alundra yesterday - 100% got all the Gilded Falcons and everything. Working Designs is great.

Dunno what, which RPG to take on next: Xenogears, Tales of Destiny or Suikoden? Or something else random? lol

 

[InfiniteCombo]

Resident Evil 4 (GC) was finished some hours ago and man, this was great. The village was awesome and the castles were absolutely fantastic. The island however was more of a mixed bag. The end with the helicopter and that felt more like a Metal Gear Solid game. It's like they ran out of ideas at the end and had to pad it out. It's also funny of the end boss monolouges before his fight that this isn't like your American Hollywood, yet the end part couldn't have been more your typical Stallone/Schwarzenegger flick. But I digress; Despite a tad weaker last few hours, this is still up there among the GOATS and I would love to play the PC version soon in fullscreen and 60 fps with the aforementioned mod. The letterbox and 30 fps annoyed me a bit.

Glad you enjoyed it!

Also whenever you get around to the PC version, you'll be in for a real treat; besides the campaign and Mercenaries (which are already in the GameCube version), the PC version has the additional content from the PS2, most notably a (much shorter) complementary campaign called "Separate Ways," which is the events of RE4 seen through Ada's eyes.

 

[InfiniteCombo]

Finished Alundra yesterday - 100% got all the Gilded Falcons and everything. Working Designs is great.

Dunno what, which RPG to take on next: Xenogears, Tales of Destiny or Suikoden? Or something else random? lol

Probably Suikoden, from everything I've read, it's a very highly regarded series.

 

[VidKid369]

Yeah. lol I was thinking about finally running through the Suikoden series and doing everything right, including all the things that transfer from previous games, I dunno why I haven't yet.

 

[InfiniteCombo]

My work has ramped up like crazy and I'll be pretty busy with that for the next few weeks, which means I may not be as fully active on NeoGAF as I had been. But checking in here I can see the awesome backlog crew is putting in work, especially Phase , Bakkus , and our resident JRPG expert VidKid369

Stay strong, backlog crew! I'll try to get a few minutes of Link to the Past here and there, I may be able to beat it within the next couple of weeks. But being this busy means: ( Soodanim , the stuff we've been talking over on DMs has been put on hold for just a bit.... sadness.)

Has anybody heard from our fearless leader DunDunDunpachi lately?

 

[VidKid369]

Haha thanks for the mention but I am hardly the RPG expert around here so glad you noticed it's pretty much one of the only genres I play!!

I actually took a 2-day break in between games and I'm finally about to start Xenogears. I've been waiting for this one just because it's always been talked about a lot online since I was young. Can't wait to dive into it!!!

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

InfiniteCombo I’m just grinding on stage 5 of DOJ, and playing some Ghost of Tsushima on the side, nothing much to report.

 

[Mr Hyde]

Knocked out a couple of more games in the backlog. Feels like I'm on a good streak now.

Super Mario 3D World + Bowsers Fury
The Sinking City
Star Ocean First Departure R

I know Mario is a new 2021 release, but technically you can call it an old release since it's a remaster (except Bowsers Fury, which is an excellent add-on, which feels like a full game, so I kinda fail anyway)

 

[Guilty_AI]

Finally finished Deus Ex HR.

Spoiler

Overall, its a great game. Gameplay-wise its better than the original - due largely to the fact that Deus Ex 1 mechanics didn't age very well, though i liked the levels of the original one more.

Story-wise its also good and well written, however the story themes don't hit as close home. Trans-humanism is interesting and all, but I still have doubts if we'll ever reach a reality where that type of discussion wil be relevant. Or rather, its main-points like abuse of power, privacy, control are all already talked about even if people don't walk around with cybernetic limbs.

Can't say i liked the "choose a button and watch a cutscene ending", but its not like the original was that much different.

 

[SpiceRacz]

Watched a retrospective on Unreal and decided to give it a go. I'm 20+ years late, but what an amazing game. Very impressed with the level design & environments, and how there's really no transition between areas. Only gripe is the weapons feel sort of uninspired. Going to play through Quake II and see how it stacks up.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Booted up my first new-to-me 2020 game over the weekend, Ghost of Tsushima. It's a good "summer blockbuster" so far, with all the expected tropes and action. It's definitely a looker when the sun comes up (I think the introductory nighttime missions undersell the graphics). Main villain was all like

but by the end of the game I expect I'll be like

 

[Ascend]

So... We're gonna have lockdowns starting tomorrow... Maybe I'll find myself gaming a bit more after all... We'll see.

 

[Bakkus]

I beat Rocket Knight Adventures on Genesis some hours ago. That was a fun ride. The platforming with the jetpack and the combat still holds up. Sure, it's a bit janky by today's standards, but it works on it's own merits. The visuals are also some of the best the 16-bit generation has to offer. The only real complain I have is no save file, but the game is less than an hour long anyways. 8/10.

 

[InfiniteCombo]

Nothing much to report. Making slow but steady progress on A Link to the Past. I just finished the 3rd dungeon in the Dark World (out of 7 dungeons), and it's all going pretty well. Minor frustrations but, even as I haven't finished the game -- this is crazy, because I never thought I'd see myself making this statement, but:

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past may very well be the best game on the Super Nintendo. Not my favorite, but certainly the best. Based on what I've experienced so far, it would be easy to make that argument.

I have no idea when I'll finish, or when I get to the writeup for it in this thread, but of course I'll be elaborating on the point above when I do the writeup.

(PS: As I mentioned before, my current intense work schedule is what's largely responsible for my slow progress in burning through my backlog. Unfortunately for me, that's gonna be the case until about early June or so...)

 

[stn]

Nioh 2. Finishing up the last DLC on the Dream of the Demon difficulty, so I can get all the trophies. After that its back to Sekiro and Tekken 7.

 

[Ascend]

Well... I played quite a bit of Pokemon Sword after the lockdown since last Wednesday. Made some great progress, and finished the main game. I'm currently doing post-game content, and there's quite a bit of it. There's even a small post game story which had a plot twist I did not expect. A nice surprise, especially since I normally see plot twists coming.

I'm gonna focus on building a competitive battle team soon, after I finish the additional story, if I manage to do it before the lockdown ends. Otherwise, I'll simply leave it be. I also have the DLC to go through...

All by all, this is one of the best Pokemon games I've played. Not quite up there with Pokemon Platinum, Pokemon Soul Silver, or Pokemon Black/White. But despite the controversy, it's one of the games that is worth playing. It's definitely better than X/Y. If anyone decides to play this one, it would be hard to recommend playing any of the prior games, other than to get some Pokemon that are unavailable in this one. I already saw also that there is an easy way to create competitive Pokemon without having to actually breed them, but train them to have the correct stats, and using mints to get the correct nature, effectively. It's a lot easier than prior games, which is great.
Don't play this for the story though. It's pretty much similar to other Pokemon games, and although the characters are better than previous games, generally, the story is not the strongest suit of Pokemon, except the Black/White games.

If there is one thing I don't like, the game is simply too easy. Maybe that's from the perspective of someone that has played pretty much at least one game in all existing Pokemon generations... But leveling is extremely easy, where your own Pokemon will be way higher in level by the time your reach the Gyms. And the Gyms were not really a challenge, to the point where I didn't even need to Dynamax to win. Maybe it is a side effect of the grindy nature of previous Pokemon games; I built the habit of knocking out every single Pokemon I encounter. I think that is simply not necessary anymore, which is a positive, but for me, with my old habits, it made the game too easy.
It does come with a benefit; If you want to swap a Pokemon at any time, you can level it up and use it in no time. The grind would have been atrocious in previous games. It will be great to build a competitive team also, since you can reach level 100 relatively quickly.
At the same time, I did find myself googling a few stuff in preparation with breeding Pokemon, because the game itself doesn't really explain things. I knew for example, that having an egg next to a Pokemon with the Flame Body ability, basically cuts the hatching time in half. But there are many other details that would take you ages to find out on your own. The game can do a better job at explaining those things.

tl;dr
I'd say an 8/10 is a proper score for this game. And I'm (theoretically) not done with it yet, simply because I always wanted a competitive team, and this seems to be the game to do it the most efficiently.
It would score higher if the story was more interesting and if it was less easy.

 

[Phase]

19. The Division 2 (PC) - 32hrs

After finally building my new PC it was great to get into the Division world again. It's an entertaining gameplay loop. I think I prefer The Division 1's setting of snowy NYC to this, but 2's world is beautiful as well. Weather in this game is very well done. I had dust storms, heavy rain and wind, very foggy environments, light rain, and intense lightning storms. Fighting in these environments really pulls you into the world. Overall, though, 1 seemed to have more meaningful variety in its gameplay and customization - in engagements, mods, clothing, skills, etc. The miniscule improvement to your gear from mods in 2 seems almost pointless. Solid game nonetheless.

 

[Ryuji Goda]

Just started Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag on PS4. Really cool so far.

Almost finished Resident Evil: Director's Cut on the PS1 with Chris. Is it me, or is the flamethrower useless?

[edit]

Finished RE1 a 2nd time, this time with Chris. Really good game. The Tyrant came back for seconds!

On to RE2

 

[Bakkus]

Finished with a friend both Goof Troop and Pocky & Rocky on SNES. Good times. I'd give both a 7/10. The latter especially felt really good to overcome. Tough game.

 

[Ryuji Goda]

Good lord. RE2 is so fucking good. Also, since it's the US version; that framrate! So smooth.

 

[Phase]

20. Unreal Tournament GOTY (PC) - 6hrs

Ah, back to the perfect shooter for me. Simple, fast, quick kill times. I played through to Champion of each game mode and beat Xan in the one on one finale. This game is up there with my favorite games of all time, and arena games will always be my love in the fps genre. Tribes come back please! Coming back to this 20 years on (jesus lol) gave me good perspective. It's not that I'm getting older or losing interest in gaming, rather it is a dislike with the convoluted unfocused mess games are these days. I've tried to like BR's but I'm simply not a fan of them, or the unbalanced nature of a game like Tarkov. I like equal starts. I like constant action and team modes like CTF, Assault, Domination. I like that the only thing that separates good players from bad is skill and map knowledge, and I love how we used to be able to just drop in and out whenever without falling behind those who spend all day playing grinding gear or unlocks. I really hope we see a resurgence of arena shooters sometime soon. The fps genre needs it.

Edit: I just checked the online servers in-game and there are still a few ppl playing (in the middle of the day on a wednesday)!

 

[DiscoHippo]

Picked up Brutal Legend for the 360 for five bucks. Have been playing it nonstop for the last week and a half. It's so damn good, I regret not picking it up sooner. Am also determined to find another copy, just so I can LAN play the multiplayer someday.

 

[DelireMan7]

20. Unreal Tournament GOTY (PC) - 6hrs

Ah, back to the perfect shooter for me. Simple, fast, quick kill times. I played through to Champion of each game mode and beat Xan in the one on one finale. This game is up there with my favorite games of all time, and arena games will always be my love in the fps genre. Tribes come back please! Coming back to this 20 years on (jesus lol) gave me good perspective. It's not that I'm getting older or losing interest in gaming, rather it is a dislike with the convoluted unfocused mess games are these days. I've tried to like BR's but I'm simply not a fan of them, or the unbalanced nature of a game like Tarkov. I like equal starts. I like constant action and team modes like CTF, Assault, Domination. I like that the only thing that separates good players from bad is skill and map knowledge, and I love how we used to be able to just drop in and out whenever without falling behind those who spend all day playing grinding gear or unlocks. I really hope we see a resurgence of arena shooters sometime soon. The fps genre needs it.

Edit: I just checked the online servers in-game and there are still a few ppl playing (in the middle of the day on a wednesday)!

Man it brings back so many memories. I loved this game. My brother played it and then he introduced it to me.

I spend countless hour on it online. I loved the dash and how each weapons has a unique secondary fire. My personal favorite was the shock rifle which with you can combine its primary and secondary fire to create a powerful explosion.
Now that you mentioned it, I really miss its capture the flag mode.
Toward the end, I shifted to instant GIB (if I remember correctly the name) which is a mode where you die in one hit. No a fan at first because losing the variety of weapon but get used to it and enjoyed it a lot.

Thanks for the nostalgia trip !

 

[InfiniteCombo]

Original Post

By shooting his last Silver Arrow, my character, Link, defeated his nemesis, the evil Ganon, restoring peace to all of Hyrule and thus ending my first playthrough of what is probably the greatest game ever made for the SNES.

+1. Current backlog completed count: 12.

The Legend Of Zelda: A Link to the Past. Played on an original SNES.

Pros:
+ A fantastic soundtrack. Literally, from the very first note when you turn on the game, the music here is sublime.
+ A true sense of adventure.
+ A truly top notch, fantastic, (I'd almost say unrivaled, at least in the SNES) level design. There's not a single room in a single dungeon that is out of place.
+ S-tier puzzles
+ Each item brings something to the table, and most of them feel great to use.
+ Lots of secrets to uncover
+ Beautiful looking game. Very colorful and vibrant.

Cons:
- Sorely missing some much needed QoL features
- Enemy damage output is pure bullshit. When you first transition from the Light World to the Dark World is especially jarring, as enemies have a whole step-function increase in difficulty, patterns, and damage output
- Some of the items and secrets to uncover can be quite obtuse at times. While I finished the game on my own, and played upwards of 95% in that way, the other 5% I did have to look up guides. I consider myself a decently skilled gamer, and I honestly have no idea how a lot of people beat this game back in the day, let alone 100%'d it. I think that on a first playthrough it's almost impossible to 100% without a guide, unless this was the kind of thing where you bought the game and spent literally all summer playing it. Well... I ain't got "all summer for one game" kind of time. I haven't had that kind of time since I left for college.
- Some rooms in some dungeons are A-grade, Ford-built-tough, Organic, Certified... bullshit. Like, you'd walk into a room and there'd be laser-shooting enemies, enemies that "mirrored" your movements, enemies that were not harmed by your sword, etc. And you had to clear the room before progressing. Sometimes it could be a royal pain in the ass.

Even with all of that, this game is an unquestionable bona-fide masterpiece. One of the greatest video games I have ever played, for sure.

Because I always like adding pictures, here are some. They are not as "clean" as pictures for games I play on my PC. Since this was on an actual Super Nintendo, I had to pause the action, get awkwardly in front of the TV, take the picture, load it to my computer, crop it, etc. In all of these cases below, the pictures don't do justice as the actual image on the TV was something to behold. Anyway:

Well, the guy on the left is freaking useless. Dude... you had one job, to protect the princess. And you failed at that.

I absolutely love the map. This is the map of the "Light World"; the same layout is mirrored in the Dark World with a few minor exceptions:

Getting the legendary Master Sword felt like such an incredible accomplishment. Little did I know that it was just the beginning:

All of the hard work in the Dark World led to a satisfying final battle:

And defeating him was even more satisfying:

Bonus:
As a joke, this is how I react when a coworker tells me something nonsensical:

 

[InfiniteCombo]

Noncanon Ship check out my post above, I wonder how this game ranks among your favorites.

 

[Noncanon Ship]

Noncanon Ship check out my post above, I wonder how this game ranks among your favorites.

You absolutely captured it precisely. What astonished me is how many secrets and entirely optional things there were to find. It felt so unlike many modern on-the-rails Zeldas. It truly had a sense of adventure and discovery. And yes, incredible dungeon design. And so intuitive – it felt like you had stumbled into exactly where you were supposed to go and found the key at exactly the time you needed it.

For anyone looking to play it now, I'd say yes one of the main downsides of the game is indeed the combat - it can be very hard with a side of bs. But every con listed is ameliorated by playing it on the Switch's snes emulator. This allows you to make save states wherever you like and rewind mistakes. It really makes those balls hard nes/snes games with bad save points (restart the dungeon!) far more playable today.

It'd take a lot to displace my favorite game of all time, Okami. It doesn't quite hit those heights for me but it's definitely one of my favorites ever, and easily the best Zelda game ever. While I was playing it, I couldn't stop remarking to people how good it was, and how continuously surprised I was by how good it was still as I kept playing. It just got better and better the more I played, and that's an extremely unusual experience for most games these days where the end of the game for you is when it wears you out from asking you to do the same thing over and over again.

I can't get over how well LttP holds up today. It's a remarkable achievement. I'm normally annoyed when someone says 'everyone should play this' because people have very different tastes and things can hit differently for people with different experiences but... everyone should play this game.

 

[Bakkus]

You absolutely captured it precisely. What astonished me is how many secrets and entirely optional things there were to find. It felt so unlike many modern on-the-rails Zeldas. It truly had a sense of adventure and discovery. And yes, incredible dungeon design. And so intuitive – it felt like you had stumbled into exactly where you were supposed to go and found the key at exactly the time you needed it.

For anyone looking to play it now, I'd say yes one of the main downsides of the game is indeed the combat - it can be very hard with a side of bs. But every con listed is ameliorated by playing it on the Switch's snes emulator. This allows you to make save states wherever you like and rewind mistakes. It really makes those balls hard nes/snes games with bad save points (restart the dungeon!) far more playable today.

It'd take a lot to displace my favorite game of all time, Okami. It doesn't quite hit those heights for me but it's definitely one of my favorites ever, and easily the best Zelda game ever. While I was playing it, I couldn't stop remarking to people how good it was, and how continuously surprised I was by how good it was still as I kept playing. It just got better and better the more I played, and that's an extremely unusual experience for most games these days where the end of the game for you is when it wears you out from asking you to do the same thing over and over again.

I can't get over how well LttP holds up today. It's a remarkable achievement. I'm normally annoyed when someone says 'everyone should play this' because people have very different tastes and things can hit differently for people with different experiences but... everyone should play this game.

What do you think about Kyle Bosman's opinions on it?

 

[DelireMan7]

Thanks to InfiniteCombo and Noncanon Ship , I am really hyped to play LttP. I play it a bit on emulator a long time ago. Should get back to it.

Small update on my progress on Hollow Knight :
I am 30 hours in and this game is a masterpiece. I have the feeling I still have a lot to do but I enjoyed it a lot. The exploration is so good. And the bosses are really satisfying and some pretty challenging.
I just beat the Nightmare King Grimm and this was most challenging boss so far. Pretty intense.
Also the soundtrack is still amazing. Charming and mysterious but breathtaking and epic when needed.
I want more !

 

[Kazza]

Original Post

By shooting his last Silver Arrow, my character, Link, defeated his nemesis, the evil Ganon, restoring peace to all of Hyrule and thus ending my first playthrough of what is probably the greatest game ever made for the SNES.

+1. Current backlog completed count: 12.

The Legend Of Zelda: A Link to the Past. Played on an original SNES.

Pros:
+ A fantastic soundtrack. Literally, from the very first note when you turn on the game, the music here is sublime.
+ A true sense of adventure.
+ A truly top notch, fantastic, (I'd almost say unrivaled, at least in the SNES) level design. There's not a single room in a single dungeon that is out of place.
+ S-tier puzzles
+ Each item brings something to the table, and most of them feel great to use.
+ Lots of secrets to uncover
+ Beautiful looking game. Very colorful and vibrant.

Cons:
- Sorely missing some much needed QoL features
- Enemy damage output is pure bullshit. When you first transition from the Light World to the Dark World is especially jarring, as enemies have a whole step-function increase in difficulty, patterns, and damage output
- Some of the items and secrets to uncover can be quite obtuse at times. While I finished the game on my own, and played upwards of 95% in that way, the other 5% I did have to look up guides. I consider myself a decently skilled gamer, and I honestly have no idea how a lot of people beat this game back in the day, let alone 100%'d it. I think that on a first playthrough it's almost impossible to 100% without a guide, unless this was the kind of thing where you bought the game and spent literally all summer playing it. Well... I ain't got "all summer for one game" kind of time. I haven't had that kind of time since I left for college.
- Some rooms in some dungeons are A-grade, Ford-built-tough, Organic, Certified... bullshit. Like, you'd walk into a room and there'd be laser-shooting enemies, enemies that "mirrored" your movements, enemies that were not harmed by your sword, etc. And you had to clear the room before progressing. Sometimes it could be a royal pain in the ass.

Even with all of that, this game is an unquestionable bona-fide masterpiece. One of the greatest video games I have ever played, for sure.

Because I always like adding pictures, here are some. They are not as "clean" as pictures for games I play on my PC. Since this was on an actual Super Nintendo, I had to pause the action, get awkwardly in front of the TV, take the picture, load it to my computer, crop it, etc. In all of these cases below, the pictures don't do justice as the actual image on the TV was something to behold. Anyway:

Well, the guy on the left is freaking useless. Dude... you had one job, to protect the princess. And you failed at that.

I absolutely love the map. This is the map of the "Light World"; the same layout is mirrored in the Dark World with a few minor exceptions:

Getting the legendary Master Sword felt like such an incredible accomplishment. Little did I know that it was just the beginning:

All of the hard work in the Dark World led to a satisfying final battle:

And defeating him was even more satisfying:

Bonus:
As a joke, this is how I react when a coworker tells me something nonsensical:

Nice photos, reminds me of the kind of photos you would get in magazines back in the 90s.

I would defend the difficulty spike when entering the Dark World. I think it fits well with the narrative (building a "we're not in Kansa anymore" feeling, as shit begins to get really serious).

Speaking of old-style Zelda, I've been playing Links Awakening:

I had access to a Gameboy when I was a kid (I think my brother must have bought it, as I was way too much of a Sega fanboy back then to buy one myself), but could never get into it too much because of the blurry, smudgy green screen. Playing on a Vita however is a different experience altogether, as the graphics look really nice and crisp. I have a 3DS too and initially wanted to play it on there, but they only seem to have the colour version, which I don't like the look of as much.

LA is a super impressive game for the little Gameboy, it really does feel like a full console experience on the go. I personally think that it's even better than LttP (the world just feels more alive and the NPCs are more charming). That said, I stopped playing LttP two dungeons into the Dark World, and quit Link's Awakening with 2 dungeons left to go. I don't know why I always seem to quit the Zelda's before the end, I enjoy everything up until the point of quitting (no frustration etc). I guess that I always have my fill before then. I don't believe on forcing myself to finish things, I'd prefer to keep the good memories of what I did play.

I also played Mario Land 2 for the first time. For me, it's the perfect "bathroom game" (I don't want to give too much info, but you know what I mean), with each level being a fun 2-3 minute romp. I had the first game on the Gameboy back when it first came out and have a lot of nostalgia for it, but this sequel really was a massive jump (just compare the Mario sprites!):

It really got me into the Mario mood, so I decided to continue my Super Mario 3D Land save from last year. I'm having a lot of fun with it, it's making bathroom breaks much more enjoyable.

 

[SebastianShaw]

Ok. Just finished Deus Ex Mankind. Wasnt as good as HR but still fun.

Also recently finished the entire metro series on Ranger Hardcore. Great stuff

 

[Kazza]

All this talk of the upcoming remake got me in the mood to finally give a Mass Effect game a try. ME2 has been in my pile of PS3 games ever since I bought the console on ebay a couple 2/3 years back (it came in the bundle). While it might have made most sense to start with the first game, ME2 is the one I had and I wanted to stick by the rules of the thread, so ME2 it was. The story wasn't too confusing, it turned out to be more of a team building game than the continuation of an epic story anyway. I don't tend to like long games, but I put over 40 hours into this one and enjoyed every minute of it! Pretty much every little mission felt worthwhile and meaningful, rather than the kind of game-extending fluff you find in so many open world games.

Spoiler: Mass Effect 2 spoilers

I know it's a old game, but I went in completely blind, and don't want to spoil anything for anyone else who hasn't had the pleasure of playing it yet.

Favourite missions:
- the James Bond/Hitman-style one to the rich people's party with that Japanese chick
- the recruit Thane mission (that renegade action pushing the mercenary out of the window was very satisfying). In fact, I just liked that whole futuristic city
- Samara daughter mission (not much action, but enjoyable nonetheless)

I didn't use the combat mechanics too much, but still liked the combat nonetheless (I mostly acted as sniper)

Favourite team:
Miranda and Kasumi (ultimate waifu team, although I did occasionally choose Thane and Garus for an all boys day out).

Romance:

I mean, did any straight man choose any different the first time they played? Who else are you going to go for, tattooed Jack or that mask girl (who admittedly is sweet, but still...)? While the PS3 made a mess of her face from time to time, that perfectly genetically engineered body stayed lit throughout! I guess I'm pretty vanilla in my tastes, but I never seriously pursued any of the aliens (although I did admittedly get friendzoned by Samara when the opportunity surprisingly presented itself after the final mission had been completed). I wanted Kelly as a sidechick, but unfortunately she kicked the bucket at the end mission (I think the game could have given a little more warning that time was a factor at the end, as the sequence of events never seemed to matter up until then).

I hear that the first game is much more story focussed (more of an epic space opera, rather than a relationship builder), so I'll probably play that next year. Hopefully the remastered version irons out some of the jank that people complain about.

 

[InfiniteCombo]

Good lord. RE2 is so fucking good. Also, since it's the US version; that framrate! So smooth.

At first I was confused about your framerate statement, and then realized that maybe you were initially used to the PAL version? Man, until the 7th gen you Europeans got wrecked.

Glad you're enjoying it though, it's one of my favorite games of all time. (Avatar alert...)

Are you playing as Leon or Claire?

Thanks to InfiniteCombo and Noncanon Ship , I am really hyped to play LttP. I play it a bit on emulator a long time ago. Should get back to it.

Small update on my progress on Hollow Knight :
I am 30 hours in and this game is a masterpiece. I have the feeling I still have a lot to do but I enjoyed it a lot. The exploration is so good. And the bosses are really satisfying and some pretty challenging.
I just beat the Nightmare King Grimm and this was most challenging boss so far. Pretty intense.
Also the soundtrack is still amazing. Charming and mysterious but breathtaking and epic when needed.
I want more !

LMAO, it goes both ways brother. Your post is getting me excited for Hollow Knight (it's in my backlog).

30 hours, huh? So it's a really long game, I guess?

Nice photos, reminds me of the kind of photos you would get in magazines back in the 90s.

I would defend the difficulty spike when entering the Dark World. I think it fits well with the narrative (building a "we're not in Kansa anymore" feeling, as shit begins to get really serious).

Speaking of old-style Zelda, I've been playing Links Awakening:

I had access to a Gameboy when I was a kid (I think my brother must have bought it, as I was way too much of a Sega fanboy back then to buy one myself), but could never get into it too much because of the blurry, smudgy green screen. Playing on a Vita however is a different experience altogether, as the graphics look really nice and crisp. I have a 3DS too and initially wanted to play it on there, but they only seem to have the colour version, which I don't like the look of as much.

LA is a super impressive game for the little Gameboy, it really does feel like a full console experience on the go. I personally think that it's even better than LttP (the world just feels more alive and the NPCs are more charming). That said, I stopped playing LttP two dungeons into the Dark World, and quit Link's Awakening with 2 dungeons left to go. I don't know why I always seem to quit the Zelda's before the end, I enjoy everything up until the point of quitting (no frustration etc). I guess that I always have my fill before then. I don't believe on forcing myself to finish things, I'd prefer to keep the good memories of what I did play.

I also played Mario Land 2 for the first time. For me, it's the perfect "bathroom game" (I don't want to give too much info, but you know what I mean), with each level being a fun 2-3 minute romp. I had the first game on the Gameboy back when it first came out and have a lot of nostalgia for it, but this sequel really was a massive jump (just compare the Mario sprites!):

It really got me into the Mario mood, so I decided to continue my Super Mario 3D Land save from last year. I'm having a lot of fun with it, it's making bathroom breaks much more enjoyable.

There's a lot in this post, so I'll reply one by one:

(1) Thanks for the pictures compliment. Yeah, even though they're not from a PC emulator screenshot, now that you mention it I do dig the "90s gaming magazine" feel to the pictures. And if you enjoy them -- I'm going through a lot of my Super Nintendo backlog now, but I see you're a Sega fan. Wait until I start posting pictures of games in my Sega backlog; I've got games to play across the Genesis, Saturn, and Dreamcast. Both Genesis and Saturn are RGB SCART connections; Dreamcast is VGA. Good times ahead.

(2) I agree with you, but for a first time player like me, the difficulty spike going to the Dark World was not expected. Not to mention that when I first got there, I was somewhat ill-equipped because of the somewhat obtuse nature of getting some items and heart pieces. But now that I know the game engine, and how to properly equip myself, on subsequent playthroughs it will be infinitely easier. And you're right about the "We're not in Kansas anymore" feel to it (LOL, well said).... At the end of the day, I feel like the "real" game starts once you go into the Dark World.

(3) Never played any version of Link's Awakening. Have you played the remake on Switch?

(4) Super Mario 3D Land is, to me, one of the very best games on the 3DS. And in my opinion the best (at least as far as I've personally experienced) use of the 3D technology of the 3DS.

 

[InfiniteCombo]

For anyone looking to play it now, I'd say yes one of the main downsides of the game is indeed the combat - it can be very hard with a side of bs. But every con listed is ameliorated by playing it on the Switch's snes emulator. This allows you to make save states wherever you like and rewind mistakes. It really makes those balls hard nes/snes games with bad save points (restart the dungeon!) far more playable today.

Since I was playing it on an original SNES, I decided to stick to it there (instead of, for example, switching to an emulated version); I wanted to experience for myself how people originally experienced the game.

But the advice you give is fantastic anyway. If you aren't taking a somewhat original/purist approach like me, it's best to experience this game for the first time via emulated means; it can easily be found on the Switch Online offering, the Wii U Virtual Console (and previously the Wii Virtual Console.... RIP), the 3DS virtual console, etc.

It's not even necessarily that our opinion on the "bullshit" aspect is wrong; look at Link Between Worlds (the direct sequel to Link to the Past), they expressly addressed pretty much every "Con"/negative point I listed. So Link Between Worlds is a smooth experience because of it. So a lot of the QoL improvements in Link Between Worlds can be achieved in Link to the Past with, as you said, save states.

Lastly, I just remembered a comparison to help illustrate: In Link to the Past, the transition from Light World to Dark World feels like going from normal mode to hard mode, in one playthrough. Later Zeldas noticed this and had a less steep difficulty curve, and what they did instead was have a secondary, dedicated "hard" mode (Master Quest/Hero Mode/etc).

 

[Ascend]

All this talk of the upcoming remake got me in the mood to finally give a Mass Effect game a try. ME2 has been in my pile of PS3 games ever since I bought the console on ebay a couple 2/3 years back (it came in the bundle). While it might have made most sense to start with the first game, ME2 is the one I had and I wanted to stick by the rules of the thread, so ME2 it was. The story wasn't too confusing, it turned out to be more of a team building game than the continuation of an epic story anyway. I don't tend to like long games, but I put over 40 hours into this one and enjoyed every minute of it! Pretty much every little mission felt worthwhile and meaningful, rather than the kind of game-extending fluff you find in so many open world games.

Spoiler: Mass Effect 2 spoilers

I know it's a old game, but I went in completely blind, and don't want to spoil anything for anyone else who hasn't had the pleasure of playing it yet.

Favourite missions:
- the James Bond/Hitman-style one to the rich people's party with that Japanese chick
- the recruit Thane mission (that renegade action pushing the mercenary out of the window was very satisfying). In fact, I just liked that whole futuristic city
- Samara daughter mission (not much action, but enjoyable nonetheless)

I didn't use the combat mechanics too much, but still liked the combat nonetheless (I mostly acted as sniper)

Favourite team:
Miranda and Kasumi (ultimate waifu team, although I did occasionally choose Thane and Garus for an all boys day out).

Romance:

I mean, did any straight man choose any different the first time they played? Who else are you going to go for, tattooed Jack or that mask girl (who admittedly is sweet, but still...)? While the PS3 made a mess of her face from time to time, that perfectly genetically engineered body stayed lit throughout! I guess I'm pretty vanilla in my tastes, but I never seriously pursued any of the aliens (although I did admittedly get friendzoned by Samara when the opportunity surprisingly presented itself after the final mission had been completed). I wanted Kelly as a sidechick, but unfortunately she kicked the bucket at the end mission (I think the game could have given a little more warning that time was a factor at the end, as the sequence of events never seemed to matter up until then).

I hear that the first game is much more story focussed (more of an epic space opera, rather than a relationship builder), so I'll probably play that next year. Hopefully the remastered version irons out some of the jank that people complain about.

Glad you liked it... It's the favorite of many people... And to me it's the most overrated one (still good obviously). In a way I think it's unfortunate that you started with ME2, but hey, it's completely understandable in your situation. It does come at the cost of never being able to experience the trilogy in order, and that is really the best way to experience it the first time. It will never be the same experience again.
This is the first franchise where I found myself wishing I could erase it from my memory and experience it throughout for the first time, a second time, so to speak.
The three games are really completely different from each other, yet interconnected. If I had to shortly describe each game, I would say;

ME1: World building is at its core, and the interconnect between everything story-wise, plot-wise and lore-wise is top notch. Gameplay was mediocre, but the previously mentioned stuff were so good, that the majority of people didn't truly care about this fault. Movies it reminds me off; Blade Runner, Star Wars
ME2: Characters are at its core. It sacrificed internal consistency for improved gameplay, better fun, and making it more mainstream. Movies it reminds me of; Avengers, Transformers
ME3: Drama is at its core. It tries to play with your emotions to the point of making you depressed, and some people loved it, some people hated it. I personally loved it. The ending, I will not talk about. Movies it reminds me of; Saving Private Ryan, Matrix Revolutions

 

[DelireMan7]

LMAO, it goes both ways brother. Your post is getting me excited for Hollow Knight (it's in my backlog).

30 hours, huh? So it's a really long game, I guess?

I am also really surprised by the length of it.
But I take time to explore a lot and don't focus exclusively on the "main story" (anyway it's cryptic à la Dark souls so there is no clear way to follow).
The world map seems gigantic and it's so good to progressively reveal it. It's crazy the freedom you have to explore. We do the game in parallel with a friend and we did the game in very different way...

 

[SpiceRacz]

Currently playing this:

ARPG in the vein of Diablo. Not on the same level, but really well done. Would like to know if anyone has played this and hear their thoughts.

Next on the list is this:

Anachronox has been in my library for years. Never seen it mentioned anywhere online. Really intrigued with the setting and look of the game. This is from an era of PC gaming I missed out on as I was mostly console oriented at the time. Not expecting much, but maybe it will surprise me.

 

[Ryuji Goda]

InfiniteCombo

Yeah, RE1 was the PAL version, so when I started up RE2 (US) I was blown away how smooth everything is.

I'm playing as Leon first. Right now I'm about to go into the sewers.

Also, waaay more jumpscares in RE2 than RE1.

 

[Noncanon Ship]

What do you think about Kyle Bosman's opinions on it?

Had to look this up on twitter. So apparently he thinks Link's Awakening and OoT are the best and hold up the best?

My first Zelda was TP and I went back and played others from there, so I can say from my experience as a relative newcomer to the series, OoT definitely does not hold up. I should think it's to be expected that some of the first 3D games on consoles wont hold up as well as a 2D ones, but I think that undersells just how wonderfully LttP plays today - it doesn't feel primitive at all like many other old 2D games. In fact, quite the opposite: I'd say it feels bizarrely modern... almost open-world! OoT's overworld feels quite empty and lifeless compared to LttP's. OoT first dungeons aren't very enjoyable either.

I think for many people, nostalgia influences their perception of replays as "still holding up". One sign that's the case is they say the Water Temple is hard. It's not hard. It as only hard for them when they were 6 years old with the attention span of a guppyfish. I can understand how OoT would've been remarkable at the time, and it did introduce a number of new features to the series (like lock-on). But by the same token, LttP introduced many more (iirc entire music themes, dungeon elemental types, map layout, dark world stuff, etc.) Anyway, OoT didn't hold my attention, but I do love and appreciate going back to old PC games, so go figure.

I can respect people enjoying Link's Awakening over LttP, but LttP better goddamn well be #2! =P

Knocked out a couple of more games in the backlog. Feels like I'm on a good streak now.

Super Mario 3D World + Bowsers Fury
The Sinking City
Star Ocean First Departure R

I know Mario is a new 2021 release, but technically you can call it an old release since it's a remaster (except Bowsers Fury, which is an excellent add-on, which feels like a full game, so I kinda fail anyway)

Talk to me about The SInking City! It's hard to find people who've played it to talk about it with.

---

So an update for me:
- I hacked 1 of my vitas because I felt bad borrowing my friend's since I'm thinking FFT will take a lot of time to complete. I bought FFT but the patched version can only be installed on jailbroken vitas and it's pretty unplayable without it. I'm hype

- while fiddling with vitas, I started Hotline Miami on my unhacked one. This one has been on my backlog since PS3. Going into it I didn't think I'd enjoy it from what I had heard about it ('ultra violent!') but after watching a friend play it on PS4 who then passed me the controller, I got hooked and started playing it on my vita. Insanely addictive game. I'm starting to get into the flow state with it. I'm on Chapter 14 (revenge). I'll probably try to get all the masks and all the side stuff, though I'm not sure I can handle A+ing every level for the plat. I A+'d Ch.13 using the drill (the police station with the security doors that beep if you pass through and melee-proof big dudes who electrocute you, and the floor below with all the men in the middle of the room shooting at you, where you have to get to the prisoner) and it was pretty tough.

 

[Mr Hyde]

Talk to me about The SInking City! It's hard to find people who've played it to talk about it with.

I thought it was great. A sleeper hit. I love HP Lovecraft so for me it was a no brainer to buy into this, but I didn't expect it to be so good.

I first played and beat it on the Switch, before I upgraded to the PS5-version. Love the mystery story and detective work, the atmosphere and the writing, that's what makes it so good. The combat is wonky and sometimes quite dull, and enemies could have been more varied, but I didn't really care. It felt no more clunky than Silent Hill and I loved those games as well.

The Sinking City really takes the best ideas and stories of Lovecraft and makes something unique out of it. It has that moody dread and cosmic horror vibe looming above your head the entire time. Much better than Call of Cthulhu which was also released around the same time.

 

[Bakkus]

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky was finished yesterday. After reading so many raving on about how great the story in the game is. So I suffered through the gameplay which I did not like in order to experience it and I really liked the story and most of the music, but the gameplay, man...

Hard to rate this, honestly. I can also only recommend this to people who are big fans of Pokemon, because I'm not sure if the story, characters and dialogue will give you that much if you aren't. Because most of it plays around that.

 

[Bakkus]

Had to look this up on twitter. So apparently he thinks Link's Awakening and OoT are the best and hold up the best?

He is the guy to the left; He loves almost every game in the series, including the controversial ones like Skyward Sword and the ones on NES. But he can't stand ALttP. Here he is watching a guy who loves the game speedrun it while offering critique. I personally agree with some of his opinions, especially the dungeon design. Gameplay starts at around 8 minutes.

 

[InfiniteCombo]

He is the guy to the left; He loves almost every game in the series, including the controversial ones like Skyward Sword and the ones on NES. But he can't stand ALttP. Here he is watching a guy who loves the game speedrun it while offering critique. I personally agree with some of his opinions, especially the dungeon design. Gameplay starts at around 8 minutes.

I don't know... I watched close to the first hour of it and the super nerdy guy on the left just keeps complaining about "ugly sprites" over and over again, so I had to quit at that point. The guy on the right is excited about the actual game.

I do dig their chemistry/approach though, wish guy on the left didn't sound like a broken record about sprites.

 

[Phase]

Well, after 6hrs of Anthem (dropped) and 8hrs of Dragon's Dogma Dark Arisen (dropped) I've settled into Lost Odyssey and am really enjoying it so far. The dream sequences are well done, story is good so far, and I like the combat. It's been a long while since I've played a JRPG but I think I've chosen well. It seems lovingly crafted.

 

[InfiniteCombo]

Well, after 6hrs of Anthem (dropped) and 8hrs of Dragon's Dogma Dark Arisen (dropped) I've settled into Lost Odyssey and am really enjoying it so far. The dream sequences are well done, story is good so far, and I like the combat. It's been a long while since I've played a JRPG but I think I've chosen well. It seems lovingly crafted.

Awesome, man. You're really putting a serious dent on that backlog!

Curious, why did you drop Dragon's Dogma? (Not asking about Anthem as it doesn't seem like my type of game anyway....)

 

[Phase]

Awesome, man. You're really putting a serious dent on that backlog!

Curious, why did you drop Dragon's Dogma? (Not asking about Anthem as it doesn't seem like my type of game anyway....)

I started getting bored with the combat. I started as a mage but then restarted and went strider. Had more fun but even after acquiring a bunch of different skills I just was forcing myself to play.

As for my backlog, only 5 more to go! They're all long RPG's though lol.

Lost Odyssey
Persona 5
Yakuza Kiwami
FF7 (never finished long ago)
FF8 (want to replay)

 

[Ryuji Goda]

My backlog is a 190 games long

 

[Noncanon Ship]

He is the guy to the left; He loves almost every game in the series, including the controversial ones like Skyward Sword and the ones on NES. But he can't stand ALttP. Here he is watching a guy who loves the game speedrun it while offering critique. I personally agree with some of his opinions, especially the dungeon design. Gameplay starts at around 8 minutes.

Could you summarise his and your opinions on the dungeon design? I don’t have time to watch a 5 hr vid but I’d be happy to read your critique.