The Gaming Diary: Chapter 3

[Mr_Stubbes]

I finished Mario + Rabbids: Kindon Battle yesterday afternoon. I’ve been plying this one off and on for the past year or so and I’m glad I was finally able to finish it. Currently I’m making my way through Yoshi’s Crafted World.

[Disposed Hero]

Death Stranding - I finished this and really enjoyed it overall. It has some frustrating aspects here and there, but it's an interesting and unique game and has an addictive quality to it.

Golf Story - Still going with this and really enjoying it.

Dragon Quest IV - I finally put about a half-hour or so into this one, and while it's really too early to have an in-depth opinion on it, I like it so far. I think I got deja vu a couple of times because of how similar the presentation is to DQ V.

ActRaiser - I spent so much of last year delving into the NES library that I'm now chomping at the bit to do the same with the SNES library, so I'm getting started with ActRaiser. I think I've finished the first main section, but I really like it so far. It seems like a unique game, and I really like it when games can successfully combine multiple genres into one package.

[Link41]

Virtua Tennis 4: World Tour Edition (Vita) - The tennis bug has caught me and I thought I would play this awesome gem again.

[MetalFRO]

Hammering away at the last boss fight in Xenoblade Chronicles X, and I think I have a strategy now, to take it down. Maybe this week, I'll have that done, and can spend a little time post-victory cleaning up some of the stuff I haven't done yet, like planting the last of the data probes, or finishing out a few side missions.

[Link41]

Cut the Rope (Android) - Playing through the levels with my daughter and I taking turns. Currently on Season 1 still.

[Disposed Hero]

Golf Story - Not much else to say about this one right now. I'm still going with it and enjoying it.

Dragon Quest IV - Progress has been extremely slow going for me, but I do really like the game so far. I'll probably be able to pick up the pace once I finish Golf Story.

ActRaiser - I finished this and really enjoyed it. I look forward to trying ActRaiser 2 sometime even though I know it's a different type of game.

Soul Blazer - I immediately started Soul Blazer after finishing ActRaiser, and I've gotten really into this game and am having a hard time putting it down. I should have this one wrapped up soon.

[Link41]

Virtua Tennis 4: World Tour Edition (Vita) - Surprised to find people online this morning so had a few matches before lunch time.

[Disposed Hero]

Golf Story - This is a good and interesting game with a lot of charm, but I'm about ready to wrap it up. I think I still have quite a ways to go though.

Dragon Quest IV - I put some good time into this over the weekend and am really enjoying it.

Soul Blazer - I was really into this game and blew through it pretty quick. Great game, highly recommended!

Lufia & the Fortress of Doom - I've generally always heard that the first Lufia is a decent game, but it's the second game that's really worth playing. So I figured I should play the first game before starting the second, but after a few hours with it, I decided I'm going to stop playing it. It's really a pretty mediocre Dragon Quest clone, and playing DQIV alongside it only magnifies its faults. I'm going to pick up another RPG for the SNES, and I'm currently undecided between Lufia II, Earthbound, Breath of Fire II, and Shadowrun, all of which I hope to get to sooner rather than later.

[shaggy]

Beat Shadowgate.  Working on Uninvited now.

[Disposed Hero]

Lufia & the Fortress of Doom - I've generally always heard that the first Lufia is a decent game, but it's the second game that's really worth playing. So I figured I should play the first game before starting the second, but after a few hours with it, I decided I'm going to stop playing it. It's really a pretty mediocre Dragon Quest clone, and playing DQIV alongside it only magnifies its faults. I'm going to pick up another RPG for the SNES, and I'm currently undecided between Lufia II, Earthbound, Breath of Fire II, and Shadowrun, all of which I hope to get to sooner rather than later.

So I started Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals, and I could immediately tell that it is significantly better than its predecessor. I've only put just over 30 minutes into it so far, but I'm really digging it and think it will definitely live up to the hype.

[Disposed Hero]

Golf Story - This is a good and interesting game with a lot of charm, but I'm about ready to wrap it up. I think I still have quite a ways to go though.

Dragon Quest IV - I put some good time into this over the weekend and am really enjoying it.

Lufia II - This is a really good game and something I feel is unique to the SNES's RPG library, but I do feel like I'm growing a bit wary of its repetitive formula. I'm not sure if the game ever deviates from this formula, but I get the impression that it won't.

Ys III: Wanderers From Ys - I blew through the SNES version of Ys III in a couple of days and really enjoyed it overall, despite all of its problems. It's an extremely difficult game, and not always for the right reasons. There is almost no recovery time after getting hit, so you can take a ton of damage very quickly, and the hit detection here is some of the worst I've seen in a video game. It's necessary to grind a few levels at the very start of the game just to be able to survive the first couple of screens. I did so much grinding early on that I was almost at max level and had the best equipment you can buy before I finished the second dungeon. Still, I found the game to be a lot of fun to play. It's a different take on Ys, and kind of feels like a poor man's Zelda II in a lot of ways. I'd definitely recommend the PSP remake The Oath in Felghana over this version though.

[shaggy]

Uninvited done, Deja Vu next.

[Link41]

Grand Theft Auto (GBC) - Playing on my new backlit Game Boy Color and having a blast with it. Still in Liberty City doing payphone missions.

[MetalFRO]

I have found that I have some more grinding to do in Xenoblade Chronicles X before I can successfully take on the final boss gauntlet. I can get to phase 2 of the Vita fight, but get spanked pretty hard on most every attempt. Once I made it past that, to the actual final boss, but again, got trounced pretty roundly, so I need to level up a bit, and also find some better Skell weapons to try and do more damage.

[shaggy]

Beat Deja Vu.  Now the Stick of Truth!