The Gaming Diary: Chapter 3

[GrayGhost81]

Interested to hear about Rule of Rose. The copy you gave me is still one of my prized pieces, and I'm always thinking about going for it.

I'm playing No More Heroes. I'm not sure how I feel about it. On the one hand you have that awesome Suda51 stupid arcadey gameplay, but then you have to grind money by doing crappy minigames between levels? I know Duke.Togo is gonna roast me for this but the open world stuff and grinding I could totally do without.

[Wempster]

I just bought Super Mario Maker this last weekend, and am really enjoying the zaniness so far.  If any of you have levels you've designed, I'd love to try them out!

I've been having lots of fun with this game too.  I'll send you a level but it will be tomorrow as I'm not off work until midnight.

[Zagnorch]

Hey now.

As you all well know, I'm plowing through Skylanders Superchargers right now. As if the DK and Bowser Amiibos weren't enough, there are other outright ripoffs glowing tributes to the Nintendo empire in this game. Actually, there are tons of tributes/lifts to many notable games in the entire Skylanders series, but that's another discussion for another time.

I'll give ya an example: for one of the air vehicles, it is able to perform a certain... maneuver while engaging in sky combat. Here, I'll give you a hint:


Click the link above to find out. What are you, a pussy? DO IT!!!

BTW I read somewhere that StarFox was originally gonna be one of the Amiibos to appear in Superchargers, but the Nintendo bigwigs were afraid it'd take attention away from the upcoming release of StarFox Zero. Are you kiddin' me?! That woulda been the best promo EVAR! It could have potentially been the first vehicle amiibo that was cross-compatible with StarFox Zero!! Actually, they could've given him TWO: the arwing for air combat, and the landmaster for ground assaults! Ya really dropped the ball on this one, Ninty. But I guess I shouldn't be surprised...

Then there are the racing challenges, which feature rotating cubical item boxes in the middle of the track that contain some real oddball power-ups. Sound familiar? Interestingly enough, one of those power-ups is a temporary invulnerability shield that looks like this:

[img width=223 height=166]http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20111225021340/skylanders/images/6/6d/Sky-iron_shield.png[/img]

Hmmm. You don't suppose-- naaah, couldn't be.

[img width=470 height=470]http://www.swordsswords.com/images/products/detail/Looking_for_Hylian_Shield_Buy_Hyrule_Shield_at_discount_1.jpg[/img]
Errr... then again...

ANYway, I found the vehicular parts of this game a bit frustrating at the outset. But with the gradual acquisition of upgrades picked up throughout the various levels, I've built a pretty decent hod rod... that has yet to place higher than third on any of the race challenges I've run so far. Guess I gotta keep grindin'...

As for the on-foot stuff: pretty much the same-ol' same-ol'. The only new twist are parts of levels that shift your perspective from third-person to top-down third-person or upside-down third-person. Kinda like the galactic adventures of a certain mustachioed midget toilet-jockey...

More details to come for you to completely ignore.


...'Late

[Cryptid Collector]

I broke down and bought Phantom Pain for $45 and I've been working on that. Love it so far.

[MetalFRO]

Interested to hear about Rule of Rose. The copy you gave me is still one of my prized pieces, and I'm always thinking about going for it.

I'm playing No More Heroes. I'm not sure how I feel about it. On the one hand you have that awesome Suda51 stupid arcadey gameplay, but then you have to grind money by doing crappy minigames between levels? I know Duke.Togo is gonna roast me for this but the open world stuff and grinding I could totally do without.

I absolutely love No More Heroes.  Stick it out, and I think by the time you get through to the end, you'll be glad you did.  I actually like the small open-world feel of the 1st game, versus the more restrictive setting of the 2nd game.  I know the battle system is the game's bread and butter, but the other stuff really adds diversity and breaks up the flow.  The 2nd game adds some nice 8-bit styled mini games as challenges to earn the money to do the fights, but unfortunately, they're kind of broken by requiring more precision timing and movement than what the analog sticks allow for, and there's NO OPTION to use the D-pad to control the on-screen character for some of those.  The exterminator sequence is particularly frustrating with analog controls.  So while the 2nd game might have more boss battles and such, for my money, the first NMH game was the more fully realized game with all it had to offer.  I need to go back and play through that again...

[ReddMcKnight]

Perhaps it's a bit cliche to say so now, but I'm loving Metal Gear Solid V. I wasn't too fond of the slow start with the hospital and all, but after that, it got really good.

[GrayGhost81]

@FRO - Thanks for chiming in, I'm getting more comfortable with the game now. I think I just a little off-put because I was looking for a quick pallet cleanser after MGSV and I found myself in another open world game. I'm getting more into now, but...mowing the lawn?

@Shoboni, @Redd - Welcome to MOTHER BASE.

[Izret101]

PLAGUE INC IS DEVOURING MY LIFE.

[Cryptid Collector]

Interested to hear about Rule of Rose. The copy you gave me is still one of my prized pieces, and I'm always thinking about going for it.

I'm playing No More Heroes. I'm not sure how I feel about it. On the one hand you have that awesome Suda51 stupid arcadey gameplay, but then you have to grind money by doing crappy minigames between levels? I know Duke.Togo is gonna roast me for this but the open world stuff and grinding I could totally do without.

The second game is better about that because the mini-games are not only fun but completely optional, and you'll unlock high-enough paying assassin missions in the first to make the stupid shit like mowing lawns obsolete.

@FRO - Thanks for chiming in, I'm getting more comfortable with the game now. I think I just a little off-put because I was looking for a quick pallet cleanser after MGSV and I found myself in another open world game. I'm getting more into now, but...mowing the lawn?

@Shoboni, @Redd - Welcome to MOTHER BASE.

It feels good to be home

[Ikariniku]

Cleaning a whole mess of backlog Famicom games to play during an extended stretch of paid free time later tonight.  Really looking forward to it.

[Ikariniku]

The big winners during my Famicom Paid Free Play were Karateka, Dragon Fighter, and FC Genjin. 

I still can't believe that Karateka is a Famicom game.  The visuals are so unique and dynamic that I get sucked in every time I play.  Also, despite the game being relatively simple, it still has a good sense of challenge in a "How far can I get this time?" way.

Dragon Fighter is a very engaging action platformer.  The best way I can describe it is a game halfway between Shadow of the Ninja and Sword Master.

I love Hudson platformers, but the Bonk/Genjin games usually bedevil me with their difficulty.  However, I hit a groove last night playing FC Genjin that carried me through several levels.  It actually reminded me of a more difficult Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa.  Easily one of the best platformers I've played for the system, lagging only slightly behind the Super Mario games and Kirby's Adventure.

The best part is that if you want to try these games out, they can still be had cheap.  Import away.

[GrayGhost81]

Tried dabbling in the FOB stuff in MGSV.

After about 115 hours playing the single-player game, I instantly realized how badly I suck at it. Had a chance to defend myself against a live invader and he manhandled me in the most embarrassing ways. I mean, holy crap, I'm not the world's biggest online PVP guy, but I've had my fair share of wins and losses over the years. There's something different about this game though, in that the other player has an opportunity to not only kick your ass but to take your stuff! Wow, I've never felt so demoralized while playing a video game. I had to turn it off and walk around for a few minutes.

Then to make myself feel better I turned the game back on and found an FOB in the lobby that was ridiculously under-secured. Tranq'ed like five D-level guards and walked through the door. First and so far only FOB victory.

I want to keep trying these missions but the emotions involved are legitimately stressful. I'm not kidding.

***

Meanwhile I'm ranked 6th in No More Heroes and the grinding is not too bad any more. The garbage collection mini-game is pretty lucrative and now there are many random kill-streak missions open on the map. I suck at them and fail every one very quickly, but you keep the money you make from the kills in them so it's a quick way to mop up.

Also playing Mimana: Iyar Chronicle on PSP still. Again, kind of a really mediocre Tales ripoff but it's easy and has great voice acting. Also, I had a huge issue with the ridiculously high encounter rate but I read online that you can hold circle to walk and the encounter rate becomes almost zero, making exploration a lot easier. Every time I play my PSP I wish I would play it more often. I love this handheld. 

 

[MaterialHandlerMike]

Been loving me some "choose your path" style horror, with Until Dawn. Sooo good.....If you like that kind of game.

[techwizard]

finished Conker's Bad Fur Day! what a great game, i had a lot of fun with it. very challenging at times though.

[GrayGhost81]

Almost done with No More Heroes (just beat Bad Girl, what a pain in the ass!) and I see I'll be grinding $1.5 million if I want the last sword and the upgrade that gives it infinite charge.

[img width=350 height=281]http://images.sodahead.com/polls/003770772/202762359_1245481184588__large_answer_4_xlarge.jpeg[/img]

This is the essential LOVE/HATE game for me. I'll be so happy when it's over, but in all likelihood I'll forget all the grinding and remember it fondly in about a few months.