The Gaming Diary: Chapter 3

[Ikariniku]

Astyanax (NES) is a good game. Great story, great music, great action.  It's still cheap to get a cart, so I recommend anyone with an NES do so.

[ErbBetaPatched]

Been getting back into Old School Runescape. Mostly skilling at the moment.

[MetalFRO]

Astyanax (NES) is a good game. Great story, great music, great action.  It's still cheap to get a cart, so I recommend anyone with an NES do so.

Seconded! It can be frustrating at times, because of the large character sprite, but this is one of the few NES games I own CIB, and it's well worth a look.

[Disposed Hero]

Yakuza 6 - I've been making a lot of progress in this game.  It has really grown on me a lot.  I feel like this entry is more of a 'slow burn' than previous games in the series, and it feels like you unlock more and more activities and side stories as you progress.  I don't really like the whole Troublr concept they added to the game, but I think that's my only real complaint right now.

Castlevania: Curse of Darkness - I finally put a little more time into this game.  I really like it a lot, I just wish I could fix the camera controls the way I want them.  I like to play with the Y-axis inverted and the X-axis normal, but there are only options to invert both or neither, so camera control is awkward for me no matter what I do.  But I love that this game has a leveling system (opposed to Lament of Innocence which didn't), and the familiars are really cool too.  It makes the game have more of an RPG feel to it like SOTN which I felt was sorely lacking from Lament of Innocence.  There is also weapon/armor crafting which is kinda neat without becoming a pain like it does in many other games.

Hidden Agenda - So this was the game for this weekend's co-op game night with my two friends.  People like to throw around the term 'interactive movie' when talking about Telltale games, Quantic Dream games, etc., but I've never really liked that term because I still feel like I'm playing a game and not watching a movie.  Hidden Agenda however, really does feel like an interactive movie.  You watch the game play out and the group makes choices and attempts the occasional QTE along the way.  It was interesting, but the story was a bit predictable (at least the way it played out for us).

Final Fight 2 - Since my friend and I recently finished Final Fight CD and really enjoyed it, we decided to play through the sequel.  Still a fun game, but we both enjoyed the original much more.

[MetalFRO]

In preparation for Shmup Club, I have been putting time into the Game Boy version of R-Type. I didn't score a 1CC last night, but what I DID manage was to beat the game on 2 credits, both loops!

[Ikariniku]

Seconded! It can be frustrating at times, because of the large character sprite, but this is one of the few NES games I own CIB, and it's well worth a look.

I definitely felt frustrated playing Astyanax as a kid.  I would turn on the invincibility cheat just to avoid getting hit by all the floating enemies and knocked into a pit.  Nowadays, though, I can appreciate the challenge.  The large character sprite (which is what hooked me as a kid who needed his NES to be "as good" as the SNES) limits the real estate for platforming, so the enemies hovering over every pit make what would be simple jumps into challenges you have to consider.  Though, the game does still hit you with some cheap surprises now and then.

[MetalFRO]

For sure. I feel the same way about the floating enemies in The Legendary Axe, on the TurboGrafx. It's a similar feel, with having to wield your axe and swat at flying enemies that come your way, though if memory serves, there are fewer instances of floating enemies that come up in the middle of a jump.

[Disposed Hero]

Yakuza 6 - Still plugging away and enjoying the game.  I really don't think this will go down as one of my favorite Yakuza games though.

Turtles in Time, X-Men, & The Simpsons - For our weekly 3-player game night this past Saturday, my friends and I just decided to play some arcade beat 'em ups, and these are what we ended up playing.  Turtles in Time is obviously an all-time classic, although we all prefer the SNES port to the arcade original.  X-Men and Simpsons are fun enough, but a little generic and button-mashy in comparison.  I'm discovering that I really prefer my beat 'em ups to have a bit more depth to the combat, like Streets of Rage for instance.

Rival Turf, Brawl Brothers, Rushing Beat Shura - I played through this trilogy of games with a friend of mine over the weekend.  We actually played them in reverse order starting with Rushing Beat Shura.  It's an ok game.  Kind of a step down from Brawl Brothers though.  Rival Turf was kind of a tough game to slog through since it is painfully generic.  Brawl Brothers is easily the best game in the trilogy.

Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks - My friend and I also put a couple of hours into this game.  I played this way back when it first came out, but I really don't remember it at all.  So far, the game isn't jarring my memory at all.  It seems ok so far.  Maybe it'll grow on me some more as we progress.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - I've always wanted to play this game, so I started it up and only played the first couple of levels so far.  I knew this going into it, but it's a God of War clone.  I'm kind of disappointed with it so far.  Gameplay just doesn't feel as good or tight as a God of War game, and the story hasn't been interesting at all, mostly because there hasn't really been a story yet.  I might stick this one out for a while and see how it goes.

[MetalFRO]

Been trying to clock some time into R-Type Dimensions. One of the really cool features is that, once you've reached a level in the game, you can go directly to that level on a future play session. Of course, your score will start at 0, just like if you use a continue, but it's a convenient way to allow you to practice a level and get good at it.

[techwizard]

I have no idea when i last posted in here but the last couple months have been mostly dedicated to Horizon Zero Dawn and Frozen Wilds expansion for it, what a great game. I originally started playing it just as my usual "play a few minutes of each new game before adding it to the shelf" routine, but I couldn't stop. I don't play very many open world games, the only other ones i can think of that are stereotypical open world games i've played are Borderlands 1 & 2. This one seemed amazing though so i'll have to try more...i've always wanted to try one of the far cry games and the elder scrolls...there are some others but those are the most interesting looking to me.

[Link41]

Minecraft: Story Mode (Wii U) - Started on Episode 1 and I am determined to finish all 8 of them this time.

[MetalFRO]

I messed around with the Switch port of DOOM (the reboot) for a couple hours yesterday, and hoo boy, is that game intense! You get thrown right into the fray, no tutorial, and just have to figure it out. Within just a couple minutes, you're already deep in the thick of enemies, just trying to survive. I also started Azure Striker Gunvolt on Switch as well. It's a pretty interesting game, that takes a page from Mega Man, but kind of does its own thing with the formula. Pretty fun so far.

[Disposed Hero]

Time for my weekly check-in.  I actually haven't been playing as much lately because I've taken up reading as a new hobby (I know, I'm as surprised as anybody else), and that has been cutting in to my gaming time.

Detroit: Become Human - I'm a little ways into this.  I like it, but I really don't think it's as good as Heavy Rain.  The verdict's still out on this one.

Castle Crashers - New game for our multiplayer game night.  I've played this before, but it's been a long time.  It's a fun game!  We're having a good time with it.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel - I've been itching to get back to the Trails franchise, so it was time to start Cold Steel.  I've only played the opening section so far, but I think I'm going to like this game.  I can already tell that there are many elements of Trails in the Sky that were brought over to this game, and supposedly Trails of Cold Steel has some Persona-esque social link elements, so that sounds interesting.

[Ikariniku]

Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon - I got my code as a backer of the Bloodstained Kickstarter.  The game is good.  I appreciate that they stayed dedicated to NES-like palettes on the character sprites but "broke the rules" in other areas.  I watched a friend play the game on Twitch and thought the game looked weird in motion, but playing it for myself revealed no such weird motion.  Must have been a compression thing.  My only problem is that I hate the jumping in the game.  This has nothing to do with knockback or platforming.  I just find myself stuck when I try to jump.  Instead of leaping forward, I just hop straight up.  This is especially prevalent when standing next to walls.

I don't remember Castlevania jumping being so punishing, but I'll do a direct comparison rather than trust my memory.  The weird part is that it's easier for me to set up my FDS and play Castlevania that way than find my cartridge, wherever that is.  Collector life, I guess.

[MetalFRO]

I'm still playing Azure Striker Gunvolt, and I think I'm at the last boss, but can't quite seem to get enough hits on the second form to take it down. Maybe this weekend...