What Are You Playing? (Winter, 2014-15)

Nayuta no Kiseki (PSP) - Currently in the 3rd continent, Heimmel. The platforming here is getting a bit more challenging- here, it's winter and you have the wind to deal with and some areas are slick with ice. Noi now has the Gear Hold ability, so I'll revisit a few places where I had seen floating gears earlier. A machine lets you have the ability to change the season in a continent once you've found the Master Gear for it. Though not yet complete (a few typos and an occasional bit of Japanese text still left), the fan translation patch is coming along nicely.

Final Fantasy Reishiki Type-0 (PSP) - Got to have the PS4 version when it hits next month. Preordered that.

Darius Gaiden (arcade) - Played on a Sigma Raijin supergun with the PCB. A bit rusty but I've gotten to stage 7 of an ABDHLQV route on the first credit.

I'm playing that F2P Pokémon Shuffle and I kinda like it :(

Going to try to not spend any money though

Noticed that someone on my PS4 list had played Rogue Legacy, clicked on the little blurb and watched the trailer, realized the game was free to download (how come it never showed up in the store?!?!), started it last night. HOLY CRAP! This game is addicting as hell. Played 20 different starts, unlocking a little more each time and getting new character builds to try out. It feels like Spelunky meets Souls, and each time I restart it hurts but it's still fun. Only made it to a midboss once, and that was the one time I used the upside down character and I got confused and died real quick. I know nothing about the game that hasn't been explained in game (so, basically nothing), so I'm probably doing the whole thing wrong, but it's a fun learning experience and I can totally see jamming on this one for a while.

Also went ahead and did what I thought I wouldn't: started 2 new characters in Lords of the Fallen, got them both through the Graveyard boss. Did the same with my NG+ character, which was fun to do some major stomping and see some of the new items. I am liking it more now that I know how to blast through, I was going very slowly through the game the first time and for some reason that subdued my enjoyment of it. Took about an hour and a half to get to where I was at 6 hours on the first run (helps that I watched a speed run the other day, thinking that might actually be a possibilty now).

I was awful at Evolve when I started it. After watching a few streams of some pretty decent players I picked up some good habits and have had a few really awesome rounds as the Goliath. Still getting used to each of the human classes, but the game is really solid and I'm very much looking forward to trying the other monsters.

It's been mentioned a lot randomly, but Rogue Legacy is a perfect storm, and I think better than it even meant to be. It was a Vita free game, but included cross buy which is why it didn't show on the PS4.

It's an rpg (with money as XP) that is in a rogue-like game, and has just perfect controls. I think that's what makes the game great- just like Spelunky, everything you do is exactly as it should be. You'll find in the end that grinding is basically how you win- your skill helps a lot with shortening the playtime, but progress is closely tied to grinding for gear/stats. But it doesn't matter, because the game is so damn fun. The different perks/classes keep things interesting, every upgrade is fairly cheap so it keeps you starting over just 1 more time, and the game plays so well that it's never a chore. Amazing game.

I started playing Captain Toad. So far it's pretty easy. But I do have one question, are you supposed to touch around the screen to make the valves turn? I am not sure if my screen is bad or whatever, but it sucks doing that. The stylus works better but you can't really play it that way comfortably. I would think that the second set of triggers should do it, no?

Evolve - It's pretty fun, but definitely bare bones in a lot of ways and could use a lot of tweaking. I kind of feel like there should've been two weaker monsters at a time instead of one since it can be weirdly alone for a multiplayer-only game playing as the monster if you end up in a 20-30 minute match. Whenever I get a nicely balanced game it's honestly really fantastic to play. Also: I'm so hilariously bad at being the monster that a single arena will usually kill me.

The Evil Within - Really boring so far. Only a couple of chapters in so I'll try to give it some time, but I had been hoping for something more lively.

Monster Monpiece - It's better than Plants vs. Zombies because I can fondle my characters.

Persona Q - Now this finally grabbed me the way the Etrian games did not. The overlapping casts is kind of hilarious because they end up with like 10 people all trying to hold a conversation at once, but it's still a damn good time.

Zwei II - As was the case with the original Japanese Brandish: TDR, I've bought it from an eBay seller and have been giving it a shot and have found it playable in spite of the language barrier. I'll buy an English translation when it comes out. (It could be possible that XSEED is doing Z2 on the QT and has the author under NDA.)

007: Quantum of Solace - I think this one likely is better on X360 than PC, unlike the usual case. Beenox probably didn't put much TLC into the port of Treyarch's game. Aiming by mouse is somewhat jerky. And it's 30 FPS unless you run the unofficial framerate unlocker along with it.

I'm playing Counterspy on PS4. This game is pretty fun, I think. I'm not really playing it correctly (I imagine you really want to chain stealth takedowns through the entire level), but I might go back through once I unlock a lot of stuff. It seems really short, probably two hours worth to get to the end.

Final Fantasy Tactics (PS1/PSN) - other than some sloooooow text here and there, this holds up really well! The pixel art textures on the 3D layouts work really well, it feels like an evolution of Mode 7 instead of chunky PS1 3D.

This is still the only Final Fantasy game I like. I gave 7 a shot recently and puttered out around Golden Saucer.

It's barely even FF, Square hired Matsuno and was like, "make us an Ogre Battle game!"

Maybe you'd like that series.

It's possible!

The sprite characters are personable, the gameplay feels slightly more involved than navigating a bunch of menus and hitting 'next'. I like that it feels a bit more like chess instead of filling out a survey form.

Check out Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together, if you've got your hands on a PSP or Vita. I loved it way more than FFT.

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Originally Posted by Joust Williams

I'm playing Counterspy on PS4. This game is pretty fun, I think. I'm not really playing it correctly (I imagine you really want to chain stealth takedowns through the entire level), but I might go back through once I unlock a lot of stuff. It seems really short, probably two hours worth to get to the end.

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Longer than I thought, I missed the 3 difficulties. They unlock when you beat the previous. The levels are randomly generated, so it's just more levels, but your stuff carries over (the ability to buy the weapons, not the purchasing themselves) and it's much tougher.

Master System stuff! Two things: 1) People who made games for this system were really fond of isohedrons and dodecahedrons. 2)For all its advanced graphics capabilities, I've not seen anything but static backgrounds on any games for it. Do any of the games use parallax or anything?

Space Harrier 3-D: Awesome, I really love this and think the designs are probably the best of any of them. But it would be really hard for me not to, as Space Harrier is one of my all-time favorite games. Even in the 2D mode, it's striking how much this game shits all over Space Harrier II.

Maze Hunter 3D: This is just rad. I figured Space Harrier would be the standout 3D game, but this is THE reason to own the glasses. It's just incredibly cool.

Wonderboy: I've never really liked the arcade game or Adventure Island, but this version is great. The best version by far, making it more playable than what's effectively and endless runner type game. Still not sure I love it, but every time I turn it I play for like an hour or two.

Wonderboy III: The Dragon's Trap: You can't go wrong with this game, and it was one of my most played TG16 jams. This is the best version but I don't like having to reach the console to get to the inventory screen, though, that sucks.

Miracle Warriors: Very old-school and grindy, and tough as nails. The moving perspective window was probably really cool in its day, but is a pretty hokie gimmick now. The enemy designs are pretty cool. I love that it's pretty much nonlinear for a JRPG and you can attack good NPCs, which is hard to resist early on when you're strapped for cash. It gives the game a more biblical 'seeking redemption in the desert' kind of feel. It feels like a game from before the JRPG genre had completely coalesced into its own, like a mix between DQ and like Ultima 4-5 or something. I'm enjoying it a lot.

Zaxxon 3-D: The 3d is cool for a second, but Zaxxon just isn't very good. I wasted my money on this one and wish I'd gotten R-Type or Rastan instead.

Are the other 3D games like Blade Eagle or Poseiden Wars worth tracking down?

Oh, and also 3D outrun on 3DS of course!

I loved MH3D. I actually really like Zaxxon 3D too though (the base stuff mostly)

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Originally Posted by Vasteel

Wonderboy III: The Dragon's Trap: You can't go wrong with this game, and it was one of my most played TG16 jams. This is the best version but I don't like having to reach the console to get to the inventory screen, though, that sucks.

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Plug in a second controller and use that to bring up your inventory =D

I forgot about that. If not having the games the NES did wasn't a big enough kick in the balls, you had to walk up to the console to pause your games.

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Originally Posted by Darmonde

Rogue Legacy ... Amazing game.

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Yup. Started playing it a couple days ago and I'm thoroughly hooked. I can see where some might get turned off by the grinding, but I love it. Just over level 100 and still deathly afraid of The Darkness. Someday...

Marathoned a few hours of Hotline Miami 2. Absolutely love the story and atmosphere. The gameplay is a lot slower this time, because of all the off screen enemies and concentration on shooting instead of melee weapons. It's still a really good game, but if the first was a 10, this feels more like an 8. Maybe it'll feel like a 9 by the end.

Everyone should download OlliOlli 2 since it's free on PS+. I've only played for about 30 minutes, but it seems very fun. The soundtrack is relaxing and downbeat (at least in the first world), and it's refreshing to play something that isn't an action game or FPS.