drahkon

YES! Our handball national team reached the World Cup's semi final. I'm still shaking. It was a close match. BUT WE DID IT!

Jajaja, it's violating NDA blabla. This is astounding. Looks like Dreams is beyond what I expected it to be. The possibilities... Sadly, I suck at creating things so I will have to resort to playing what others come up with

Indeed. The cliffhangers are so good but I hate them so much Meanwhile One Piece continues to bore me. Even though the current chapter is a step-up it's still so utterly tedious. Oda has no idea what good pacing looks like. And why do the Straw Hats have to be separated every. single. time.? I recently started reading Feng Shen Ji again (a Manhua you recommend to me once, if I remember correctly @Kav?). I stopped years ago because I wanted to read the whole thing from start to finish once it's completed. I'm about half way through and it's amazing. One Piece could learn a lot about pacing from that. Oh, there's a back story about this character? Let's do it in half a chapter at max. One Piece wastes 4 chapters on past events and 90% of them are just fluff. Yes, One Piece is great. The revelations, fights, characters, drawings...but I feel that it should be condensed to make it a much more enjoyable ride every chapter. Well...I still love it Edit: By the way, have you seen the The Promised Neverland anime, yet? Two episodes are out. I've just seen the first and it's very well done. If they can keep the quality up it's going to be one of the greats. Can't wait to relive the time at Grace Field.

Yes.

The final stage's song is awesome. I've completed the game just now. And now for the final two screenshots. What an incredible game. If you want to read what I think about Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land take a look at my previous two posts The N-E Game Club is off to a great start. Wonderful selection of games and a lovely one for us to play. This sure took me back to simpler times

I was bored and had some time before going to a football match soon and completed world 4, as well. I've been insanely lucky with the double-or-half-minigame (or whatever it's called). I usually got 3 bags of money. Wario's rich, baaaabyyyy! Anyway, with 13k coins I think I only need the remaining four treasures to reach 99.999 coins. And if I remember correctly I also will have completed the other pre-requisite for the best ending when I finish all the stages that are left. Here's something that I forgot to mention in my previous post: I really like the transitions between stage-locales. E.g. SS Tea Cup. The first few stages take you from a forest to a beach, which eventually lets you board the SS. It's a nice touch that connects each level and world.

World 2 (and the secret world) complete! Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 is actually my favourite of the three Super Mario Land games ("But it's a Wario Land Series game!" SHUT UP. I know...but I always thought of it as a part of Super Mario Land). What sets it apart from the others is the larger emphasis on exploration (if you're willing to go for the best ending). The secrets aren't hidden too well, but still require a keen eye to find. Sometimes you even have to revisit a stage in order to acquire the treasure or secret exit. It's very well done. Especially when you have to use the three power-ups to reach that particular ledge, or smash open that one block to reveal a door. Speaking of power-ups: They are awesome. Bull Wario - Let's you smash through blocks with one hit, smack the ground with Wario's (I assume) very strong gluteus maximus and stick to the ceiling. Dragon Wario - The protagonist gets to wear a fancy dragon hat. Aside from being able to breathe fire through its nose (which also works underwater but apparently turns the fire into some kind of laser beam) it looks fabulous. Jet Wario - Probably the most overpowered hat in the game. It doesn't give you more strength but let's you walk faster and jump higher. Oh yeah, and you can fly. At least for a short time. By pressing the B button twice as soon as the hat loses power during air time you can pretty much extend your flight indefinitely without losing altitude. Skipping most levels has never been easier. Small Wario - Technically this isn't a power-up, but Wario looks cute like this Graphically the game has some amazing sprites to offer. Wario looks amazing (and always has this cheeky grin on his face) and the enemies are a sight to behold, too. They are also quite diverse, both in looks and abilities. Here are some of my favourites: - Small Wario looks even more adorable ingame. - Chicken Duck. Throw an enemy into the bucket and the duck defecates and you should definitely stand below it. Seriously. You don't want to miss it. - Pecan. A pelican that spits out exploding mines. Isn't nature beautiful? - Harisu. My personal favourite enemy in the game. Cute but with deadly spikes on its back. - Pouncer. The Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 equivalent to the Thwomp. If you manage to get that angry stone to crush an enemy you will be rewarded with a '10 coin'. Pretty neat. If you manage to get yourself crushed...you die. Instantly. No matter which power-up you are equipped with. Great. - Ukiwani. What is there to say about a crocodile with a life saver that looks absolutely disinterested in whatever the world has to offer. However, it seems to be quite hungry and attempts to grab a bite whenever Wario tries to jump over it. Bosses look cool, too. For obvious spoiler reasons I'll hide the first two (and the secret boss) in the appropriate tag: One thing I have to mention: The music. Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 has some of the most atmospheric tracks in gaming history. The level design, power-ups and spot-on 2D side-scrolling are a more than solid foundation for a good game. But what elevates it into greatness for me is how every single aspect - i.e. game play, sound/music, graphics - interact to create a complete experience. It's like a strawberry margarita. Its ingredients taste good by themselves, but mix them together and you have a cool, refreshing drink that leaves you smiling (in the corner, half-asleep, depending on how much you drink). This is Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 to me: A very creative and great take on the 2D platforming formula. Wario became a playable character for the first time and showed that he could carry a game as a protagonist. Four games of the Wario Land Series followed (5, if you include Virtual Boy Wario Land...), continuing a high quality gaming experience with the lovable, chubby, money-craving, criminally underused, yellow and purple body builder. And to finish this post, here is a little bit of trivia regarding this game: if you pause the game and press Select 16 times, you enter "cheat mode". Holding down A and B allows you to change the values of lives, coins, etc. with the D-pad (this is actually something I figured out by myself as a kid...apparently I was bored enough to just mess around with buttons) the Japanese name is actually Sūpā Mario Rando 3: Wario Rando. Notice that in the west the title is reversed? This way it's easier for us to understand that this is a game from the Wario Land Series some of the sound effects used in this game are borrowed from Metroid II: Return of Samus (e.g. hitting a boss plays the same sound as when a Metroid gets hit) (sprites, pictures, trivia shamelessly stolen from https://www.mariowiki.com/Wario_Land:_Super_Mario_Land_3 )

Finished World 1 last night. Here's my haul: There is one neat mechanic that I've always appreciated. I'll put it in a spoiler tag just in case:

I do own the original cartridge, but it's at my mom's place and I won't spend 4 hours of travel time just to get it

I'm ready Won't be able to play today, though.

HOLY SHIT, THERE'S A SECRET CHARACTER TO PLAY IN THIS VERSION.

Sometimes you make it really difficult for me to like you.

Unbelievable. What a remarkable achievement this game is. The story may be incrediby confusing and highly vague, but the narrative and how everything is conveyed (sound, music, gameplay, setting, theming) is nothing short of masterful. Each character has its own tragic development to go through. One in particular made me tear up a little: And then there's 2B and 9S....

This game is positively bonkers Just reached Ending C and it raised more questions than it answered. I have way too many therories, ideas, questions to put into words...Guess I'll grab something to eat and continue playing

Ending B complete. And the game makes sure to let you know that there's more to come. Aside from the occasional technical hiccups (i.e. framedrops) this game is a masterpiece so far. Especially from a narrative standpoint. I'm pretty sure I have a lot more to discover. I can't make sense of anything right now... I love this Edit: Played some more, because I couldn't stop. Can't wait to see how everything will develop, but now it's time for sleep.

NieR: Automata's pacing is insane. I've been almost exclusively following the story quests for 5 hours today. The following is an excerpt of my thought process during that time: "Sweet boss, awesome fight." "HOLY FUCKING SHIT WHAT IS THIS?" "Excuse me? What the fuck?" "Yeah, sure...why not." "Phew, that was intense...FUCK ME SIDEWAYS." "HA, gotcha!" "Wow..." And then I just sat in silence for a while. This has been the most incredible action sequence I've ever experienced. Be it in video games, movies, books or whatever.

After 95 hours of Dragon Quest XI I'm a little burnt out by that game. The Platinum trophy can wait I've spent 5 hours with NieR: Automata and here are my thoughts: hard mode sucks - as many of you know I absolutely love difficult games but this is just a one-hit-KO-fest; I hate that shit - I turned down the difficulty and it's much better, still challenging but not unfair and being able to use the lock-on is probably how the game is meant to be played; not being allowed to use it in hard mode makes that difficulty even worse the game is nuts absolutely crazy but so cool - fought an opera singer boss just now and it was so fucking awesome the music is spectacular setting and story seem right up my alley with AI/machines and all that jazz the "name" 2B always reminds me of Shakespeare

Bought the Megan Man X Legacy Collections 1 and 2. Started playing Mega Man X and got my ass handed to me. I remember playing/beating the SNES version some time ago. How can I suck so bad at this now?

Just now. My reaction: What the fuck...

Well, there was a power outage just now in our street. I rebooted my PS4 and it had to rebuild its database. Turns out that everything I did with the console today is lost. It's not that bad, though. I only installed NieR: Automata, downloaded patches for two other games and lost save files for NieR and Doom. They didn't get uploaded unfortunately...lost about 2 hours of progress in both games. Phew, it was a wee bit scary

Wow, the game just kicked my ass up, down, left and right. This prologue is tough. A little annoying that you have to start from the very beginning when you die. Played it twice so far. My first attempt ended with a little toy soldier killing me because I didn't use the dodge button. In the second try I was a moron again...after getting hit once by a huge, rotating shit-fuck-of-death I jumped right back into it. Nice one, drahkon, really proud of you. Anyway, the whole time I got better with every button press. Pretty sure I can beat the prologue soon once the combat really clicks. Edit: Third time's a charm. Had to start a new save file but I managed to beat the first section. I'm missing an ending now, though, since I haven't died. But I know that there will be a chapter select so I hope I can get this ending eventually.

The game arrived Going to start now. Of course on hard difficulty. Very Hard doesn't sound like a lot of fun when you can die in one hit. "This game does not feature auto saving. Play the game to find out how to save." Ok, thanks for letting me know

Here’s the list of games that I’ve completed in 2018. Some of them have been released in 2017 or earlier but they still are in the run for my top 5 games this year. Ghost Recon Wildlands Shadow of the Beast Lara Croft GO Ni No Kuni II God of War Uncharted: The Lost Legacy Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy Overcooked Zero Time Dilemma Vostok Inc. Prey Dead Cells Yoku’s Island Express Celeste Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Dragon Quest XI Following are the top 5 games I’ve played this year: #5 – Ni No Kuni II – A lovely JRPG. Way too easy, but great nonetheless. #4 – Ghost Recon Wildlands – This one was quite a journey. Played it with my best friend for a long long time in co-op but after a year we managed to get the Platinum. It was a great experience. Lots of laughs have been had. #3 – Zero Time Dilemma – The conclusion to the Zero Escape series and a bloody good one. #2 – Celeste – Wonderfully difficult platformer with a surprisingly emotional story. #1 – Dragon Quest XI – The perfect JRPG. Even the lack of variety in songs could reduce my enjoyment. The thing is: I haven’t even gotten the Platinum, yet, but I still can say that this is definitely my favourite game of the year – maybe ever.

Ah, a good old H-o-T grinding story. Always great to read. And it gets better.