RF Generation Message Board

Episode 31 discussion thread: http://www.rfgeneration.com/forum/index.php?topic=15524

It's time to clear the air on games that we just could not bring ourselves to finish. There are titles that we feel we should have finished, but something happened along the way. Join us to learn what titles we threw in the towel on and why. Did we make a big mistake? Have you waved the white flag on games yourself? As always, great listener questions make a return. Thanks for listening!

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Show Notes
Music: Shatterhand (NES)
Q & A - 12:31
Topic - 1:12:16
Outro - 2:26:05

Downloading from the pickle now!

This will make sense after listening:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdmZYJ_FeAQ

^ It really is a shame they had to intentionally destroy what could have been a very cool piece of video game music.

Can't wait to listen to the show. I hate having to quit a game that I've put any serious amount of time into. In recent memory I've done it with Remember Me, which could have been such a damn good game had it been balanced a little better, and Area 51 for the PS2, which is the first (and hopefully only) time I rage quit so bad that I physically destroyed the disc into a million little pieces with my bare hands and threw it in the garbage. Collection Milestone: one less PS2 game.

Just so you guys know, the Collectorcast is also available on the Player FM Android app.  You guys have hit the big time :)

Can't wait to listen later today.

I sure hope that's not a euphemism for... um, never mind.

Will try to take a listen to the latest 'cast tonight.


...'Late

Man your lists are so painful to me. So many great games left unfinished :(

Sad I missed out on this conversation although I think it would have been me instead of Bil prolonging the episode this time as I would have had to defend a few of those TO THE DEATH!!


And FFXIII is great. The battle system is incredible, and I'm ok with them cutting out the exploration, towns and NPCs. I kind of think of it as last gens Mystic Quest. Its like a light version of Final Fantasy.

3 Things:

(1) Come on Bil, the obvious answer is RBI Baseball: The Movie.

(2) Grindy Timez would be a great band name.

(3) Who makes a limo mix tape for their wedding?

OMG!!! RUN TO THE HILLS is Iron Maiden. GAWD! Get back on that show Crabby. STAT.

lost without me......

@Duke: Stay away from Battlefield Hardline... I played it for free (library) and I want my time back.

First game I remember playing is Jungle Hunt as well. I kept trying to beat the alligator level.

Xoxide.com still sells beverages along with computer parts:

http://www.xoxide.com/moundewcodre.html

I enjoyed the one multiplayer mode where you have to drive around to earn points - Hotwire, I think it was. I haven't played much of Hardline since.

I played through the single player campaign.

Shortly after that we took a break and texted crabby what happened and he was like "You're joking right?"

My first game Memory was Frostbite for the 2600 which Rich helped me properly identify. I was calling it Iceburg for at least 20 years

Like Duke, I have to go with Combat.

@GrayGhost81: Wow. I've been mad before, but never enough to physically destroy something. Hats off to you, sir!

@RetroRage: I have no idea what Player FM is, but yea!

@Crabby: I'd be interested to hear your list. Perhaps we'd have beat up on YOU! I do feel bad about Run to the Hills. I had it right, but I doubted myself. Never again.

@Addicted: No worries. I won't be checking it out. I'll just be "broke" every time it's recommended. Jungle Hunt was so good for the time. Trying to jump over the bad guys at the end always got me.

My list would have been something like this:

Akiba's Trip - This is kinda like Duke's Hyperdimension Neptunia pick. Everything about the game sounds enjoyable, but the basic game mechanics ruined the entire experience for me. Which sucks because it had a great intro that pulled me in right away.

Bravely Default (Cue Duke Rage) - I put about 2 hours into this game 100% expecting to love this game. I kept constantly getting reminded about the movile-esque features of spending real life money or inviting friends into my game though and it just killed any job I was getting from the battle/job systems and story in the game. I couldn't concentrate on anything else.

Call of Cthulhu Dark Corners of the Earth - With 2D games and many different genres of games I have a seemingly endless amount of patience and persistence. None of that applies to FPS games. Call of Cthulhu was a game that I was very much into and enjoying every second until I died. And I would die a lot, both because its a challenging game and because FPS games are not my strong suit. Probably about halfway in I got too frustrated with the amount of deaths and gave in. Which was a shame because the atmosphere and story were both very engaging. 

Catherine (100%) - Don't know if this counts, because I did actually beat the game. There were 3 trophies I couldn't manage to get no matter how hard I tried though. After countless hours I added Catherine to my stack of defeat :(

Dead Space (More Duke Rage??) - I think I built this up in my mind as something like "the last survival horror game" before playing it. I didn't actually know much about it other than it was supposed to be scary. I played to about the 6th mission and didn't find it scary, interesting or have any of the survival horror elements I was hoping for. It was just a dark shooty-shoot. Boring

Diablo III - One of the few PC franchises I played a lot as a kid was Diablo and Diablo II. Much like Dead Space I heard good word of mouth, but didn't really know any specifics. A few friends talked me into joining them on the PS4. I went in expecting some Diablo goodness and it started off alright. After Act IV I realized it wasn't what I wanted. What I really loved about the series was planning out my character. Every single skill you put into it was locked in so you spent time figuring out what kind of character you wanted and sometimes relied on your teammates to help you make up for your weaknesses. They took all of that out of Diablo III and made it so you can rebuild your character on the fly at any time. It took me a while to realize it, but that was what I hated most about the game.

Disgaea 3 - I was a HUGE fan of the first Disgaea and to a much lesser extent enjoyed the 2nd game. I figured the 3rd would be equally enjoyable. All of the really technical, "grindy" stuff from the first 2 games became more and more prevalent I felt with this installment. I just wanted to do the bare minimum amount of extra stuff so I could progress the story, but found that impossible with this game.

Final Fantasy VIII - You guys pretty much covered everything I would have said on this one. But I do feel the urge to seek out a set of Tetra Master Cards now.....

King's Quest IV - One of the other PC games of my youth. We played a ridiculous amount of King's Quest 1-4 on our 486. We kept getting to the same sticking point on IV though. There was a wizard that kept you as a slave and we were able to get a lot of items and spells, but every time we escaped from the house he would eventually find us, sometime quicker than others it seemed, and our game would end. Was just never able to figure out whatever it was we had to do to truly escape him.

Metal Gear Twin Snakes - I hear so much love for this series that I had to try it for myself. I've tried it for myself on 3 separate occasions and I just get so bored that I can't continue. I wish I could make myself play more to see what the fuss is about.

Odama - This is just the coolest idea, but the mechanics are not quite there. I'm hopeful that Nintendo revives it on the 3DS or Wii U now that they have the tech down better. RTS/Pinball is just a great idea if they can get the voice commands to function like they should. I tried so hard to get to the end of this game, but felt I had to concede eventually when I kept crushing my own non-responsive troops.

Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic -  This was one of the first games were I realized that not every game was for everybody despite the rave reviews of my peers. And also that I wouldn't like every game made by the same developer. When I first got my Xbox I played and loved Jade Empire. I heard nothing, but praise for KOTOR and was told I'd love it because of the similarities in gameplay to Jade Empire. I had such a hard time drudging through it that I eventually gave up. It didn't grab me like an RPG or Star Wars title should, but that's ok.

Your big problem was that you played Twin Snakes. I think the original is better. I'm sure it hasn't aged as well, but at the time it came out it was amazing.

What drove you away from BD seems trivial to me. After a few hours in you pretty much never hear about that social stuff again unless you want to. The village rebuilding can be done with no friends rather quickly, and is just to open up some shop options. It doesn't even give you access to the best stuff, so you could completely skip the town rebuilding if you liked.

A little surprised about Dead Space, but i'm not sure if you gave it long enough for the story to develop. I can apprecaite not wanting to do that if it didn't click though. Dead Space 2 is a better game, but the story elements rely on you having played the first one to get everything.

KotOR - I get it. It wasn't a mechanically well put together game, but I enjoyed running around in the Star Wars universe. The writing was really well done, and that's what kept me playing. HK-47 is one of my favorite BioWare characters.

Metal Gear Solid is one of my favorite games of all time.  Naturally, I was excited for Twin Snakes.  I have never made it past the first fight with Ocelot when Ninja makes his first appearance.  I absolutely can't stand this game.  It's the equivalent of George Lucas going back and changing Star Wars to me.  All of the cutscenes are given ridiculous over the top action changes that move the presentation from "dystopian future crazy awesome story" to almost a parody of itself.  A real shame.

A man after my own heart

Bil - what was the Wii JRPG you mentioned (that Duke still has sealed)? I must have missed your quick segue to it and then you danced around actually say its name for like TEN MINUTES ;)

The Last Story.  I've heard that complaint before.  We'll try to get better at that.

Nah you're fine - although I did enjoy the episode where you were going out of your way to note that every 5 minutes. Good shtick!

Could have also been Xenoblade Chronicles. They talked about that one for a while, its a jrpg for the Wii and Im pretty sure Dukes is sealed

Oh, Right, could have been that too.  Love that game.  Hope to play more someday.

I never understood why everybody always says CODE: Veronica is the hardest Resident Evil game.  I found Resident Evil 0 to be the most difficult.  

I think FF VIII was a great game other than the dumb draw/junction system and a few of the other quirks you guys mentioned.  Not sure what they were thinking with that.  Although I haven't played it in over 10 years, so maybe if I played it now I would hate it.

Anyway, my list:

Breath of Fire III - I used to rent this game a lot back in the PS1 heyday, but never finished it.  I don't recall much about this game, but I remember that I love the opening segments of this game, and then I think it starts to fall apart a bit about halfway through.  I want to come back to this one someday.

Darksiders - A friend of mine really liked this game, and I've heard others rave about this game as well.  I started it up a few years ago and got a few hours into.  I enjoyed it, but for some reason I put it down and haven't come back to it since.

Deus Ex - I loved this game as a kid.  Really ahead of its time.  I got really close to the end, but never did quite finish it.

Dino Crisis - This game is pretty much just Resident Evil with dinosaurs, but as a huge survival horror fan, I'm alright with that.  I found this game to be ridiculously hard, mostly because the raptors (the standard enemies in the game, think zombies in Resident Evil) respawn!  It's possible that I played this game on a harder difficulty level and maybe they don't respawn on easier difficulties?  I don't know, I'll have to give it another try sometime.

Final Fantasy IX - Alright, this one isn't my fault.  I always say that I beat this game back in the day, but that technically isn't true.  I made it all the way to the final boss, but after a few tries, I just couldn't beat him.  However, I was determined, so my plan was to go back and powerlevel until I could beat him.  Unfortunately, the next time I went to load up my save, I found out that my memory card had somehow gotten corrupted!  *sigh*  Oh well, I was still able to watch the ending since my friend was playing the game at the same time.

Final Fantasy XII - I also got pretty close to the end of this one.  The game got ridiculously hard for me in the later parts, and this was probably because I didn't really make use of the gambit system at all.  I plan to go back sooner or later and replay this one, but I'm still holding out hope for an HD remaster.

Lunar Silver Star Story Complete - I remember playing this as a kid, but don't remember much about it.  I got pretty far into it but never finished it.  Always heard great things about this game.

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked - One of the first games I played on the 3DS.  I've heard nothing but great things about this game, but I just couldn't really get into it.

Shining Force II - I rented this game a ton as a kid, but was never able to finish it before it was due back at the store....

Star Wars: KotOR - I really enjoyed this game, I guess I just put it down at some point and never came back to it.  I've played a lot of BioWare games over the years, but I think the only ones I've ever finished are Dragon Age: Origins and ME 2 & 3.

Super Mario 64 - One of the only 3D platformers that I actually like.  I played this game a ton as a kid, but just never beat it.


Really enjoyed the show guys!

Pikmin was the first to enter my mind.

Combat for me.  My Grandma had it and when we would go there we would bust out the Atari 2600.

This one is definitely on my list.  I was excited about this game but once I got it I couldn't get in to it.  It was the mechanics that killed it for me.  Great idea but it needs to be tweaked.

I guess this is a really relocatable topic.  It's like a Fleach Blog post with all these responses.

You really have to master the Gambit system to do well in this game, but once you do you can really tear through it. It's very heavy in strategy.

Great lists everyone. I'm glad everybody is enjoying this topic!

In my case, it was Last Story  (just got through the Xenoblade part), but you're correct - they both do sound the same in that regard.

I have the feeling that my list may make a few of you weep, but here goes:

Mischief Makers (N64) - I had always heard great things about this game and was really excited when I heard Jamie had chosen it for a playthrough over a year ago. If you listened to the December 2014 podcast, you know my feelings on this game. Hate, hate, hate the controls and just to wild and "bouncy" for me. I pride myself in finishing the playthrough choices, and I just couldn't do for this title.

Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee (PSX) - Yet another playthrough that I just couldn't get into. I loved the story and the idea behind it, but the fact that you had to pull off quick and stealthy maneuvering with terrible controls really killed if for me. Never felt bad about putting this one down.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (DS) - I like the premise and thought it was going to be this old Perry Mason, lawyer/detective, get-them-to-crush-under-their-pressure-on-the-stand type game and in essence, it is, but having to object at just the right time was annoying and became quite the guessing game. I got bored of this game really quickly.

Trace Memory (DS) - I really like this game and intend on picking it back up. I was on a role finishing 999 and Hotel Dusk late last year and early this year and popped in Trace Memory after them. I think I just had too much of this style and wanted to move to something different. Great story, fun game, and intend to finish (you can breathe a sigh of relief Crabby).

Earthbound (SNES) - Was super excited to play this game after hearing so much about it and missing out on it when I was younger. But....... made it through 4-5 towns and put it down. I think the lack of a moving/constantly evolving story and the "kiddie" concept kind of grated on me. I couldn't finish it, but perhaps I'll try again some day. I haven't completely written it off yet.

Shadowrun (Genesis) - I know this game gets a lot of love, but man is it frustrating. You die constantly in the beginning and have to repetitively do the same runs, over and over and over and over and over again to earn enough coin to better your character. I know there are quicker ways to run this game, but this title is not for the easily frustrated. Plus, it is super complicated, especially inside the Matrix.

Crystalis (NES) - A NES RPG I missed out on in my youth. Didn't make it very far before I put it down. Not really a grabbing story. Not completely writing it off yet though.

Final Fantasy (NES) - Yes, I have never finished the original FF. I completely neglected this title growing up even though I was a big Dragon Warrior fan; I even missed out on the SNES FF titles. The first FF game I played was FF VII. I popped in this game about 3 years ago and made it over half way through, but couldn't push myself to finish. I guess I'm getting older and not so much a fan of the grind that I use to be. I will finish this one.

Castlevania 3 (NES) - Yep, sorry Duke. This is the only title in the NES trilogy that I have not completed. I know this is a favorite of many of you, but I just cannot get into it like I can the other 2 games. I have a copy of Akumajou Densetsu coming in a few weeks (props to senseiman), so perhaps this will rejuvenate my desire to hand the final NES Dracula sprite his demise.

Streets of Rage 3 (Genesis) - I so desperately wanted to finish this game and gave Disposed Hero a pretty good run for his money in the December 2013 King of Rage Challenge, but I just couldn't do it. This is by far the hardest one in the Genesis trilogy and the difficulty is such that I will probably never finish it. Oh well.....

A Boy & His Blob (Wii) - This is one of the most beautiful hand-drawn games I have ever played. It has great mechanics, puzzles, platforming and everything I love in a game. Yet........... I never finished it and I have no idea why. I would love to do this game as a Community Playthrough one month.

Resident Evil 2 (PSX) - This was the first RE game that I played and actually, the last.  My college roommate and I bought this game when it came out and planned on playing it together. Needless to say, he got obsessed with it and my gameplay got really limited to his finishing. I watched him frustratingly struggle through it and just ended up feeling like beating it just really wasn't worth it. I'm not a big fan of the survival horror genre as you can probably see from my collection. I loved Parasite Eve though and perhaps the difference in game mechanics was why it was so much more appealing to me.  

I'm with you on Abe's Oddysee Rich.  Loved the concept and the first few levels.  I just couldnt stick with it.

Resident Evil 2 is an interesting one.  I had never played or heard of resident evil.  I was walking by Babbages in the mall and they had a tv in the windows playing some gameplay from it.  I was hooked immediately, had never seen anything like it.  Bought the dual shock version and loved it.  Took a while to get used to tank controls but once I did, I was a maniac at that game. 

I cannot believe this!  Crystalis is awesome, I loved that game.  Oddworld, I couldn't put down until I beat it.  I loved figuring out the puzzle on each screen.  And Final Fantasy, well that says it all!

Believe it. ;)

As far as Abe's, I'm not alone in my feelings toward that game. Just check out the community playthrough tread. The game is cute and has a great concept, but the controls are complete s@%t. They are clumsy and often you have to be in a perfect spot to enable them, such as when you have to jump up and grab platforms. This really blows when you have to act very quick and it takes an enemy a fraction of a second to spot and fire on you. It's a frustrating game to say the least.

As I said, I'm not completely writing off Crystalis yet and will finish Final Fantasy at some point. I didn't feel that either of these games were bad, but there was nothing overly exciting about them that made me want to rush home every afternoon and play them. Depending on my mood or what's going on in my life at the time, certain games can have a poor initial effect on me if they aren't they type that really suck you in. 

oh no...i've lost track of what the last Collectorcast episode that i listened to was. i think i might be on 27 or 28, but i have no idea...guess i'll start there and see if i recognize it or not. about to work on cleaning more games, haven't done that in a long time other than new ones that have come in. the collectorcast is my go-to podcast for keeping me entertained while doing this mind-numbing project! gotta save them for when i'm in the cleaning mood.

I feel you about having to be in the right mood for certain games.  As for Abe, I didn't have too much of a problem with the controls...except for his little sliding/stutter when moving/stopping.  That was annoying and would kill me plenty of times.  For me, figuring out the puzzles I think outweighed this annoyance.

I do the DEW! Voltage for me.

@techwizard: Glad we can keep you company while cleaning.

@singlebanana: Rich, Rich, Rich... c'mon man. Castlevania III/Akumajou Densetsu is easily the star of the NES trilogy. Hard as nails, but worth it. The Famicom cart's music if amazing.

I don't think Rich has taste when it comes to games. :P

Of course I have taste. Good taste.

Tastes like chicken.

In Rich I trust.

While listening to the rest of the show, another big one of mine came to mind: PersonaQ on the 3DS.

At $85 it is the most expensive game I've ever bought. I put over eighty hours into it. Thinking there were only four dungeons, I suffered through that brutal fourth dungeon only to be greeted by...wait for it....the fifth dungeon. Similar to Bil's "Insert Disc 3" experience, as soon as I realized that, I was like:

[img width=320 height=240]http://stream1.gifsoup.com/view3/1121176/michael-scott-no-o.gif[/img]

Turned the game off. Watched the ending on youtube. Will never play again.

Ironically, that PersonaQ limited edition was absolutely the only thing that got smooshed in the move. Serves me right.

I've never played any of the recent Persona games, but I can understand how there can be too much of a good thing.

I'd still take a Mega Man game every year if they pumped them out that fast.

I experienced something similar with Dark Souls 2. I was playing a Mage (Glass Cannon build) and made it over half way through the game and just lost interest. I might try the Xbox One version sometime down the road...

Ugh, this hurts my heart!  I absolutely LOVE the Lunar games, and poured over the original.  Played it all the way through a couple times on the PlayStation, and then again a couple years ago via the PSP remake.  I have a copy of the Sega CD original, though I haven't taken the time to play through it yet.  But seriously, you need to go back to this one.  Just a great game, and this is coming from a non-RPG guy.

Also, I don't remember which host said it, but how can anyone think Xenoblade Chronicles isn't a good looking game?  I realize the Wii isn't a graphical powerhouse, and compared to the PS3 or Xbox 360 it's pretty underwhelming, but I thought XB was a gorgeous game!  Yes, the facial textures were goofy, and some of the other textures are a bit dodgy in spots, but the world of Xenoblade is rich and beautiful otherwise.

+1 Karma for this man here!!!

Loving it right now. I'm almost done with NG with a Faith build. If you pick it up, let me know. I'm going to start up another character after this.

Haha, I'll keep it on my radar and maybe fire it up when I'm in the mood for a classic RPG.  Like I said, I got pretty far into it when I was a kid, but for some reason I wasn't enjoying it as much as a lot of other RPGs from that era.  However, I had a similar experience when Suikoden, and when I replayed that one more recently during the community playthrough, I ended up loving it, so we'll see.

Finally  listening to the latest CollectorCast. Sorry about not getting to it sooner, gentlemen; I've been busy. And I'll likely be busy for a while.

ANYway: Far be it for me to harshly judge Bil's Crabby impersonation, but... it's a bit too upbeat. Ya gotta slow it down a bit bud, and try to sound a little more sedated.

And in case you care, the first game I recall playing was Pac-Man at the local arcade, located at a mall two blocks from my house. My first console game was Pitfall on the Atari 2600 owned by my neighbors across the street.

Pac-Man is a very early memory of mine as well. I also remember seeing "How to Beat Pac-Man" books at Kmart around the same time. The memories...

@Duke.Togo: Thanks for the offer. I just started my first play through of Phantasy Star 2 so it may be a while.

Phantasy Star. I love that series.

PS2 is great, if a bit grindy. Enjoy the twists!

Hey Bil, you know what? next time you meet up with Duke, ya gotta take him out to "Do the Dew." If it's available, have him try out the Voltage flavor. BTW a few 7-11s in my area carry 20 ouncers of the Baja Blast flavor, which previously had been a Taco Bell exclusive, so ya might wanna hunt that one down as well.

Yep, nothin' better than a little Dukey Dew-doing...

Dukey Dew-Doing?  Say that three times fast!

How about don't the Dew?

What's the matter, you scared? I guess that ol' Hoosier pride just ain't what it used to be, huh? Just imagine the shame Larry Bird would feel if he caught wind that you're bein' a little wussboy about this. What would Bobby Knight think about this? Or that guy Gene Hackman played in that one movie? Or Dan Quayle-- errr, scratch that; who the hell cares what Dan Quayle thinks... or if he's even capable of thought.

ANYway, consider this: do you really want Andrew Luck to unfriend you from his Facebook page? Think about it...

[img width=300 height=300]http://www.tiptopsigns.com/images/D/aintskeered.jpg[/img]

@Duke:

PS2 is grindy. Really grindy. This game pulls no punches and expects you to grind for hours before the first dungeon. It takes some getting used to.

Just wait until the dams. I remember a lot of grinding on Dezo as well. Best of luck.