What Are You Playing? (Winter, 2015-2016)

[YellerDog]

Drac X *destroys* the NES games. With the special moves it's like driving a really nice car after riding around in a Pinto hatchback. The special moves in Symphony of the Night make that game too, though most people don't use them.

[NeoZeedeater]

What screwed me up with Time Soldiers for a while is that I would always take the time machine at the end of a level. I didn't realize you could walk past them to finish up what you need to do in that area.

If Drac X is too hard for you choose Maria. Look up how to do her special attacks and the game is effectively on easy mode. Then go back and get better with Richter.

IMO the only flaw with the game is that it's too easy. The only stage that gets really tough is the alternate Stage 5.

Yeah, if you can't get into the game with either Maria or Richter, it's not for you.

[GohanX]

Protip: Use the axe. It's pretty powerful on its own, and the item crash doesn't use that many hearts and has a bit of invincibility. That can save your ass on boss fights.

[Some Stupid Japanese Name]

I've always preferred the axe!

[Vasteel]

Dracula X.
I know it's me because everyone and their mother loves this game. But I really don't feel it. I'm not enjoying myself in the least. But I'm going to keep whacking at it, hoping it clicks sooner or later.
But I'd love it if someone could tell me what makes it so great. The graphics and music are super awesome, no doubt about that. But it's not that fun to play.

The game is good, but the low (non-existant) difficulty takes it down for me. I beat it the first time I played it. Then I went back and found all the other paths (the branching levels are great.) The moves just make it a cakewalk once mastered. It's still good, but how anyone can rank it over CV III is beyond me.

I'm still on Legend of Legacy, and still loving it, especially the lack of story (even the layout of the base camp is streamlined!), but I am hearing the siren's call back to Strange Journey or Nocturne and is getting harder to resist.

[Yoshi]

The game is good, but the low (non-existant) difficulty takes it down for me. I beat it the first time I played it. Then I went back and found all the other paths (the branching levels are great.) The moves just make it a cakewalk once mastered. It's still good, but how anyone can rank it over CV III is beyond me.

For me it's the total package, especially at the time. Redbook audio was a holy shit moment in the early 1990s, and I'm still not sure we've gotten a better combination of production values and gameplay when adjusted for era. All of that said, Densetsu (f-chan used because of the audio differences) is easily the best game on the FC/NES and the second best in the series.

[A Robot Bit Me]

how anyone can rank [Rondo] over CV III is beyond me

I might rank CV III higher if the pause when switching characters were a half second shorter. I'm sure that sounds dumb, but that pause length feels out of sync with the rhythm of the game. It's like hearing a member of a band miss their cue by a quarter beat.

Redbook audio was a holy shit moment in the early 1990s, and I'm still not sure we've gotten a better combination of production values and gameplay when adjusted for era.

I didn't have a computer or a 16-bit system until 1994 or 95. I don't think I had even seen a proper computer in real life before Rondo came out. Playing it at launch would have made my head explode. I just had my first experience with the level where moths follow the lights a matter of months ago and it dropped my jaw.

[gameoverDude]

Trails of Cold Steel (PS3) : Started on Hard, which seems roughly equal to TitS SC on normal. Being able to play the Blade card game on the train ride is a nice touch. A little action is added to what's otherwise a turn-based RPG: while encountering monsters on the map, it's now possible to take a swing at them (a "field attack") to try for an advantage.

It's definitely a Trails/Kiseki game but changes things up a little with the Thors Military Academy setting. Loving it so far.

Still better than the Genesis version, somehow.

I've been having fun with the 3DS one. I really do like the arcade version, it's just too bad it took so long to get a decent home port.

Super Thunder Blade on Genesis falls below "reasonably good". If a C-64 can do Thunder Blade so well, you'd expect more from Sega's 16-bit system than the jerky mess we got.

[NeoZeedeater]

Super Thunderblade was probably rushed for the Japanese launch.

I'm a couple hours into Steins Gate for Vita. So far I'm not very impressed. The main story seems like it has potential but there's so much filler dialogue. And there's way more otaku pandering bullshit than I expected. I won't abandon it yet but I'm thinking I should have researched it more or tried it out on PC for free first.

[sedition]

I'm a couple hours into Steins Gate for Vita. So far I'm not very impressed. The main story seems like it has potential but there's so much filler dialogue. And there's way more otaku pandering bullshit than I expected. I won't abandon it yet but I'm thinking I should have researched it more or tried it out on PC for free first.

I think I've tried to play it twice and watch the anime and couldn't get past the beginning each time. I have a feeling, because of a lot of the praise, that it goes somewhere. I just haven't been able to make it to that point.