Jonnas

Remember the pledge? The one that I made a few pages back? It's time to address it. Final Fantasy II It was about darn time that I tackled this one. Ever since I finished FF1 a couple of years back, I wanted to do this one (also on the GBA). It took me quitting FE Heroes to properly start it. I already knew quite a fair bit about the game going in, so I went with the mindset of wanting to accurately judge its strengths and faults, and whether this "black sheep" was worthy of that title. So let's do it from best to worst: Excellent soundtrack! Nobuo Uematsu did a cool soundtrack for FF1, but here? The man was cooking. The normal battle theme sounds like a military march, the regular boss theme sounds like a grueling trek, and the final boss theme sounds like the evil emperor just burst into the room to gloat via Disney song. The overworld theme feels like a sad resolve, while the final dungeon feels triumphant and intimidating at the same time. It's impressive, especially for 1988, how the soundtrack feels like a such a consistent unit, everything about it contributes to a feeling of dourness and near-despair, with a hint of militarism. Cool story! This was also quite ambitious for the time. Most RPGs (and videogaming stories, really) were doing the simple premise of "evil overlord is there, you must defeat him", but FF2 really wanted to build a narrative. It starts with the player experiencing the overwhelming invasion first hand, then attempting to gain the trust of the good guys, then travelling to specific spots for missions (as part of a greater plan), meeting several secondary characters, which also get mini-arcs of their own... This series was attempting to do in-game cutscenes and set-pieces when that was virtually unheard of. The plot basically has the simple premise of fighting an evil empire, but they make a point of being novel (for the time) about how they're telling it. It was effective, as I was invested into characters like Josef or Gordon. Minwu has such a cool design. I know he's just one character, but it's clear that the series keeps referencing him specifically, with stuff like Paladins (FFTA) and Mystic Knights (FFV, Bravely series). I like the keyword system. It's a subtle way to keep the players invested in the plot, and if well done, it can lead to a lot of potential dialogue without ever feeling too artificial. Obviously, the NES was not the place to put large amounts of dialogue, but even in this limited form, it was already enjoyable. ...Dungeons aren't great. They're often labyrinthic, they always feel a bit too long, and they're riddled with a lot of doors that lead to empty rooms with heightened encounter rate. They feel like gauntlets that leave me tired, and rarely accomplished. I can see that they did try to vary the formula here and there, but always in a way that translates to "face even bigger, harder enemies, in a different form". Which leads me to the one thing that tanks the game: the battle system. I'm sure we all heard about this game's weird level up system, where there aren't any level ups, the stats raise according to whatever we choose to do during battle. Characters attack, they eventually raise their strength, if they get hit, they eventually raise their defence, and so on. I suppose the intention was to be able to raise your party members how you want, define your playstyle. But it doesn't work, it's a godawful system, or at least an awful implementation. The way it's set up, and considering how you might deal with random encounters, your characters will raise strength, defence, and HP often... and rarely agility. You want to raise magic/spirit, you need to use magic, specifically in battle. If you want to raise the level for specific spells, you also need to use them often... which means that utility spells like Esuna, Protect, Shell, etc. will either miss or be ineffective if their level is too low. For crying out loud, for a spell to work properly, I need to use it incessantly and inanely during random encounters until it levels up? This is all exacerbated by the fact that enemies get tough. I usually like that, but it's infuriating to get all of my party blinded or poisoned by a spell, and casting Esuna like 3 times until it works! Or running into enemies that are so sturdy, I need to cast Berserk - once again, a couple of times until it works - to damage them (bosses especially have such inflated defence stats). And it's not like I can just run away from those battles, what with my incredibly low, low agility. That's the main issue with this game, it rewards targeted grinding, but it shits all over people actually trying to play casually (and also, where's the sense with having such a grindy system in a game where characters just rotate in and out of the party?) At one point, I ran into an incredibly tough optional Hillgigas at the end of a dungeon (lucky me, I saved near him), managed to beat him after multiple tries... and then literally the following dungeon just has two fucking Hillgigas as a normal random encounter, well above the average power level for the dungeon they're in. I can't run away from them either. I decided I had enough, the good parts of the game aren't worth that nonsense. I dropped the game. It's a shame, because I was enjoying the story and ambience otherwise. And from what I know about the story, Emperor Palamecia sounds like a fantastic villain. Considering the good parts, and the number in the title, it is fitting that I rate this with 2 stars. If any mainline FF should ever be remade with an entirely new battle/gameplay system, it should be this one. A shame that the first game to be cleared from my pledge is one I dropped, but... I did have something else going on. Phantasy Star So, I previously mentioned that I had this on Steam... Imagine my surprise to find that it was not there! For whatever reason, I registered all four Phantasy Star games as being part of my backlog, but the first one just wasn't there. I felt wronged, and since the eShop sales were still happening at the time, I decided to go for it and purchase the Sega AGES version. In other words, thank you very much, @Hero-of-Time and @Glen-i, for recommending this version. There were a few reasons I wanted to play this: I always wanted to check out this SEGA series; I did want to play the first three before tackling the fourth on NSO; I was really itching for old-school traditional RPGs; and the most recent reason, that my girlfriend cited this one as a childhood favourite (she's from Brazil, Master System was massive there). In fact, I was hoping this release would have the Brazilian Portuguese translation, but alas, it did not have it. I decided to play with the classic Exp&Gold rates, and after listening to both soundtracks for a bit, decided to go with the 8-bit tunes (they just fit better). This version also helps a lot with QoL features. Namely, you don't need to do any guesswork to figure out who can equip what, or which weapon or armour is better than which, as the AGES version comes with a handy guide of what's what. Oh, and the dungeon maps were definitely kept on! As for the game itself... It's lovely, actually, I had amazing fun with it. It's actually very conventional for the most part, with a few unusual aspects here and there (the Talk command, for example). It definitely scratched that itch for a comfortable traditional RPG. It only demands a bit of grinding at the very beginning (likely to teach players the value of level ups and equipment), and then it's smooth sailing. The only snags I found were on how to use the Ice Digger (I did not think I had to randomly test it on every wall) and how to open the path to the final dungeon (I thought for sure I needed that Miracle Key...) Aesthetically, this game is just Star Wars. Not just because it's fantasy sci-fi, the evil guards are literally just Stormtroopers, for example. The plot is... there's a local evil King who killed the protagonist's brother, and she's out to avenge him. Classic stuff. There are also small details here and there that bring flavour to the world (like the lying Dezorians, or the beggars asking for a drink before talking), and I did like the detail about how that one key item ended up in the hands of the mad scientist. Music is fantastic. Really catchy tunes all over the place (Palma is an instant classic, but even the dungeon theme is great). Oh, and 3 distinct overworld themes. Way ahead of its time. I will admit, I did not love the dungeons (I generally hate first-person dungeon crawlers), so the map was a lifesaver. Another issue is that the game doesn't have repels or anything like it, would've been really helpful to have a breather when figuring out where to go next. I was even more impressed when put into the context of the era: this game came out almost at the same time as Final Fantasy 1, but it feels so much more advanced than that. There are cutscenes, named party members who talk, enemies have animations (!), dungeons are 3D crawlers, there's more than one world map in the game... even a set piece like an unwinnable boss battle was unheard of at the time. Also, the developer team was basically 40% women? And Yuji Naka programmed the game so well, the M2 team literally could not find where he stored the data for one of the enemies? The story behind this game feels unreal. I also had fun discussing parts of the game with my girlfriend. She mentioned that getting through the game back in the day was practically a social event, with a bunch of kids trading impressions, playing together, and trying to figure out how to beat the game as a group. I imagine at least one of those kids may have been drawing maps of the dungeons himself. Kinda wild to think that PS may have been to Brazil what DQ was to Japan. Despite the confusing dungeons, the truth is that I loved this game. It's truly one of the best 8-bit RPGs I've ever played (second only to Dragon Quest III), and... it's a shame that it doesn't get the respect it deserves nearly as often. It's 5 stars from me. Kid Icarus I did play a few NES classics during my last update, and I wasn't planning on skipping this one. So, the main reason I wanted to properly beat this title in particular, is the fact that I never gave it a chance. Every time I tried to play it, I found it too confusing to understand, and would drop it. No more, I want to know what was it about this game that made it such a cult classic, even before Brawl came out. It... really is a confusing game. Not a bad or unfun one, it just has very specific rules that are hard to parse. At its core, it's a level-based platformer where you can shoot enemies... except every 4th level is an elaborate labyrinth, Metroidvania-style (with maps so shitty, it's better to have no map at all) Shooting enemies gives you hearts, which is currency, basically. There are shops to spend them, and you can interact with them in highly specific ways... There are rooms with games of chance with confusing rules... There are rooms where you can get your weapon upgraded (but only if you fulfill an invisible "skill" counter), rooms where you face a barrage of enemies in order to gain a reward (either a buff, or a lot of hearts).... And the Metroidvania levels have this specific move where you can free petrified centurions (using mallets) so they can help you against that level's boss (I did not expect Pit's Brawl Final Smash to actually be a thing here, but there we go). That's a lot of unexplained mechanics! Once you finally understand what's going on, it's an enjoyable game that grows a lot as your progress, but that initial knowledge barrier is surprisingly steep. A weird quirk of the game is that the first 4 levels are pretty challenging, but the rest of the game is much easier to get through. Pit gains new skills as the game progresses, sure, but I think the main reason is that they just didn't put any healing rooms in those first few levels. Not sure why they designed the game like that. I eventually reached the end and got the second-best ending. Felt really nice. It's a fun game with a lot of charm, it just has some complicated mechanics, and a handful of questionable design decisions. 3 stars feels like the fairest rating. ---------------------- And just like that, I crossed a few titles off my pledge. One of which is an RPG I beat (that's another 2024 resolution fulfilled, too). April is upon us, and I know exactly what to play next.

I personally find Scorbunny's line to be the best of this bunch. It's fun, it's cute, it's cool, and consistent all the way through. Then comes Grookey's line. The concept is nice and original, and it kinda has the best Gigantamax form. Sobble's line doesn't do much for me. I'm not that big a fan of 007-style secret agents, and he doesn't do much for me as a Sniper, either. They're an incredibly solid set, at any rate. It... is a little silly Intelleon can already fire water instantly from his fingers, and his eyelids already take care of zooming in his eyesight (which means he doesn't even need a scope). What does he need to build a water rifle for, exactly?

It's always fascinating to see what a messy (or non-existent) direction does to a game. Usually leads to really polarizing titles, or reviews that insist on trying to separate the "good" from the "bad". In this case, I wonder if this game would've acquired a highly-specific fanbase, if Tony Hawk hadn't eventually shown up.

Incinerorar is my main in SSBU, there's no way he isn't my favourite of this bunch. Plus, I like wrestling. Plus plus, wrestlers with feline themes specifically tend to be my jam ('sup, Tekken King?). This one would've made sense as a fire/fighting-type, but Game Freak soured their own fanbase on the combo, I guess. Decidueye's line is pretty nifty, and I do feel like he got shafted in the long run. Good on Pokkén for including him. Primarina does nothing for me. Not a bad design, I'm just very neutral on her. And if you hadn't cleared me up on her being an opera singer, I'd think for sure her theme was ballet. A really good set overall. Look, I don't care what his Neutral B is called: Incineroar's side B (the well-executed one) is an actual, proper Lariat. The only reason his Neutral B looks like that, and is called a Lariat, is because his fighting style is very clearly modeled after Zangief from Street Fighter. I think "performative arts" is the most probable theme. Pro Wrestling and Opera speak for themselves, and as for Archery... I'd argue that ancient fighting styles are generally "performed", rather than "practised": swordplay, muskets, and archery are more used for spectacle these days than anything else.

Finally! At last, Nintendo has brought us all of the titles they had originally promised. ... Lots of omissions still (Wario Land 4's absence is bizarre), but at least there aren't any specific titles left hanging anymore.

I'm sure there's a lot to say about that shitty fighting game, but... I can't get over "Nextream". Why the fuck did they not spell it properly? "Nextreme" already works as a pun! I was looking at that boxart, dumbfounded, wondering if they meant to make a pun with "stream" for some reason, and then it's just a misspell of the stupidest possible wordplay they could come up with. I can't get over that. I think "Nextream" might be the worst pun I've seen in my life. ... Incidentally, if a game with this cover had come out on the SNES, I'm sure it would already be on the NSO by now.

So, this might be a good time to mention that I don't really like videogames about team sports. Don't like footie games, no Rugby, even Basketball I find "meh". I know this, because a friend of mine likes playing these sort of games (mostly on the PS1 & PS2), and I sadly never shared the appeal. Hockey is one of the few exceptions. Don't know why, there's something about the intended jank of the puck's behaviour that makes me enjoy the gameplay. Not enough to buy a game for myself, mind you, just enough to have an enjoyable afternoon with a good friend. Why do I bring this up? Because the fact that you didn't call it a "puck" unlocked some memories of that same friend getting angry at me for calling it a ball as well To think that now, I am the one to notice such things.

Thank you for the replies Decided to go ahead and buy it. Oh, just like Dragon Quest III. That's really neat. Cheers! I have no idea when I'll play this, but it sounds like it can be done on the 3DS as well Incidentally, if it were just a few quests and equipment pieces, I wouldn't care too much, but I see that there's also a series of extra optional bosses, and that sounds very appealing, especially for this series. Does a mobile hotspot using phone data also work?

There are two recent fighting game music tracks that are living rent-free in my brain right now: Azucena is both the best newcomer, and also brings the best music to Tekken 8. Gotta love it. Meanwhile, never expected to hear German rap in Street Fighter, but it's probably the best track in SF6.

After 10.000 years, this thread is free! Time to conquer N-E! *ahem* Sorry to necrobump this old thread, but I happened to see Dragon Quest IX at a nearby store for 30€. This has always been a title that put a high emphasis on interconnectivity, social networking, and sharing. Since I never put any importance in that when it came to JRPGs, I've always put a mental block in it whenever I considered it... ...My question is: Is the game good in its own right without all of that multiplayer stuff? Obviously, internet services no longer work for the DS, so I'd be playing this exclusively solo (and at an unspecified point in the far future), but if the game is good as its own single-player experience, I think I might go for it.

I appreciate the offer, but I truly have no stable time in my life right now Thank you, in any case It's called balance, Glen It's a risk-and-reward situation, and you can use it to steal coins from other players all the time. Yeah, it's slow, that much is true, but I will admit no slander on Goomba's Greedy Gala!

And now... A Jonnas NSO Update Last time, I talked about multiple bad games that... were obviously bad even before I touched them But there are a few games there that I haven't really given a fair shot before, and they're generally well regarded. So I decided to do those next. The NES Classics So I went and tried to play the original Metroid. I knew going in that I never really jived with this game. Yeah, I still don't. Samus feels clunky to play, the environments are monochromatic and forgettable, navigation through the world is confusing... and when I picked it up, the first thing that got to me was that Samus can't crouch nor aim down, meaning she can't even shoot zoomers (the mini-lavos spiky creatures, not the generation). So, she's a slower, less fun Mega Man. I tried my best to play it, but I really did not enjoy any of my time with it. I understand a lot of what makes Metroid Metroid was already present here, but I do not enjoy playing this. I do really like Metroid II, but this one just does not gel with me. Next, it was The Legend of Zelda. I explored the map for a while. Moving around is fun, if a bit clunky (the d-pad from the joy-cons probably didn't help, admittedly), and it is a challenge to clear each screen of enemies... but the fact is that I never really found anything of note, beyond a couple of caves with shops inside. I did die 5 times, however. I also know, from cultural osmosis, that several clues are super cryptic (some relying on the instinct of "oh, maybe this bush/wall can be burned/bombed"), and that the dungeons should be completed in order, despite the open-ended structure. I can see that this is a game that requires a lot of investment on my part, and if I was still the age of drawing maps for pen&paper adventures, I'd likely be more into this. Sadly, not only do I lack the time for that, I never really played video games that way. Furthermore, the idea of exploring a whole big map, only to be told that the dungeons have a set order does not appeal to me. As such, I conclude that this is just not for me either. Next, a game that I thought would capture me more: Zelda 2 - The Adventure of Link. This one's structure is more linear, even if still cryptic, so I thought I'd be able to progress a bit more. Indeed, I played it for two sessions. Took me a bit long to reach the first palace, and once I did... I realized the true horror of this game: combat sucks, it's really unfun. Link feels a tad slippery, and his sword got no range. Not too bad when you're dealing with random encounters in the overworld, but in the labyrinthic palaces? Where it feels more like a gauntlet than a maze? Every single slime I barely couldn't stab, meant another blow onto Link's health, and nobody drops health in this game. Plus, the palace is huge, but there's no map. I had such a bad experience with the first palace (I ended up relying on rewind just to drag myself to the boss), I realized I wasn't going to enjoy this one. I now second anybody who says this game should be remade, just make combat bearable, please. (For the record, I'm not discarding the possibility of revisiting any of the games mentioned above. I just understand I need a specific mentality to handle any one of them) Finally, a strong note to end on: Kirby's Adventure. I had played the remake on GBA, but never the original. I always felt like the GBA game was a simple, but forgettable game, so I was never in a rush to play this one. Well, I can honestly say that the NES game is actually much better than the GBA remake! This is partly due to perspective: a short Kirby game on the GBA is inherently less impressive than a game that pushed the NES to its limit, and did things no other title on the system was doing. But it's also just how much more charming Kirby is on the NES, how the silent storytelling feels more at home on the NES, and just how marvelous some graphical tricks feel here. Taking this title on its own merits, I had a lovely time beating it and trying to 100% it (had to look up a guide for one of the secrets, I'll admit), it was that enjoyable. Unlocked a Hard Mode by the end, but that'll be a story for another time. 5 stars (As a bonus, here's Sakurai's take on his own game) A Party of Marios I mean, I played Mario Party before... Mario Party 4, that is! Plus, a couple of matches from the Switch titles. One thing that I remember from the Gamecube days is that a lot of people kept saying that N64 Mario Party was sooo much better, and I got curious. I certainly have my own set of gripes with MP4, and thanks to the NSO, I can now compare for myself, with a single match of each. No more fitting trilogy for Mar10 day. Mario Party 1 is definitely the first of its kind. Mini-games attribute coins seemingly at random (and sometimes they take coins from the losers), there's no items, and the only real choices you get to make involve branching paths on the board. This party feels anarchic. Mario Party 2 is bonkers. Now there's items, but god damn, so many mini-game spaces! Battle mini-games, item mini-games, Koopa banks abd Bowser collecting random taxes left and right... Compared to MP1, the rules of the game are better defined, and mini-game rounds are more consistent, but it's somehow more insane, I could barely keep up with it. The costumes are cute, though. This party feels reactionary. Mario Party 3 is much more reasonable. Mini-games and items feel balanced, there's fewer wacky events happening all the time, and there's a semblance of strategy now. Also, a Story Mode, but I know that's not fun in this series Anyway, after a match of multiple strategic decisions where I barely managed to eek an advantage in the last 3 turns, the game decided to award 3 stars to the CPU in last place, making them the winner, and rendering the previous 20 turns pointless. This party feels corrupt. General pros: These 3 games are really fast-paced, that's pretty cool. The menus are really creative and charming too; General cons: Mario Party 4 is sooo much better. ------------------------------ And with that, I have officially cleared over half of the N- What's that? Nintendo just added 3 Game Boy games this week? Instead of clearing that threshold, I'm now exactly one game short from clearing half? ... Dr.Mario (Game Boy) is exactly the same game as the NES version, except the pills are white, black, and gray. That's cute. And with that, I have officially cleared over half of the NSO! 120 games down, only 119 to go, baby!

I really like Fennekin's line. That's an unconventional design for a fox creature of any kind, and it works really well. Not sure why Braixen is more popular than Delphox, but I like them both. Really cool witch, and excellent addition to Pokkén. Froakie's... Well, Greninja's line really, is pretty cool on its own as well. Sure, Smash Bros. exposed Greninja a lot, but it's a legitimately great design. Unfortunately for it, I like witches better than Ninja Plus, the existence of Ash-Greninja lowers the entire species' score. Chespin's line is decent. I don't really like Chesnaught's white colour, though, makes it look needlessly mechanical (when they already have a shell/shield, no less), and it's just garish, really clashes with the light green (the colour scheme that Chespin and Quilladin had going was perfectly fine, don't know why they would change it at the end) Overall, a pretty strong generation when it comes to starters. Chesnaught alone is better than the Gen V starters.

I'm just now going through your recent reviews, and... That's not a brand new wrestler, that's Jushin Liger. There's probably a few other real-life wrestlers in that cast, if so.

Man, this one hit me like a brick. He was a living legend, but not one that had retired yet. He was still working on Dragon Quest, and a new Dragon Ball series, and there's a new game coming out based on one of his Manga, and... he was still quite prolific. And by all means, he had the best of reputations. You know how rare that is, with a career that long? By all means, a true treasure. This sucks Rest in Peace, Akira Toriyama.

I thought Unova was only New York? Is it based off the entire mainland? Snivy's line is great, I dig Serperior's design. I don't care much for the vestigial arms, but they're barely visible, so whatever. I just wish they were all legless. Oshawott's line is like Mudkip's, but less messy. At least Samurott looks properly quadrupedal (even if Dewott looks super bipedal), and I like the funky beard. Tepig's doesn't do much for me. Cute pig, but I'm not into that sumo boar. No reason to make it fighting-type either, the pig from Journey to the West isn't famous for fighting or anything. The fiery what? *re-checks the design* Oh! Because he has no neck! I've always seen that as a fiery collar, since it covers the shoulders ...I mean, a black "pattern" around the crotch usually just means highly concentrated hair EDIT: I'm sorry, I hadn't seen the following page, and... I... No, I don't think I will

Huh, turns out there are now three distinct fighting game series with a Min Min on the roster. What are the odds? In a more serious note, the 32/64 bit generation was wild. Releasing two distinct fighting games (in then-recent 3D, no less) in the same cartridge? How does such a thing even happen?

Ah, that makes more sense. Didn't get that feeling at all from the article that DCubed linked to, as it simply says this was a remake in development. Thank you for the context

...My eyes refuse to believe that's real. Not the "Fortnite spinoff" part of it, as that would indeed be something that publishers would try to do with this IP. No, what boggles my mind is that they have the gall to call it a remake of TS2. Do words not have any meaning anymore!? If you ain't showing Syberia, you ain't showing shit!

Oh, so it's an informed attribute... I mean, I accept stuff like Machamp's 1000 bullet-punches, so that's fine. But I dare Game Freak to draw some bugs and birds on that turtle's back! Make it feel gargantuan.

My personal attachment to these starters is basically zero. And I don't find any of them to be that hot. Turtwig line is okay. I like the concept of a large tortoise that carries an ecosystem on its back, but the art itself always looked odd to me. It's just the one tree? And it's not even centered? Would be cool if Torterra had caterpies and stuff living on its shell, but instead, it's just the one uneven tree. Chimchar line is admittedly consistent, and I can't find much fault in it. I'm just not that into fighting monkeys (unless they have a magic staff that can alter its size). Piplup... I liked this little critter when I first saw the trio. Penguins are cute and lovely. Empoleon, however, is a mess, in the sense that it does not look like an animal. It looks like a machine or a scarecrow that's meant to only somewhat resemble a penguin, and I don't like it one bit.

Never thought I'd see the day where Virtual Wario Land would be made available in proper playable form... Will keep an eye on this.

Does that mean that people who like to go to concerts with company are even ducks?

Pretty vital. With the enormous backlog I have on my Switch, there's no way I'm grabbing another system if I can't bring it over.

From Gen 3 onwards, my opinions aren't as strong. Still, I definitely liked Torchic far more than the others. That lil' chick is cute as heck. Combusken looks like ass, but Blaziken looks pretty dang cool, and I respect him taking up Hwoarang's moveset in Pokkén. Fire/Fighting was novel at the time, which helped. Just wish that hair looked more natural (the curtains, I mean. The drapes look bushy enough). Treecko probably has the most consistent line out of all of them, and Sceptile looks pretty cool and confident (can't get over Treecko's little stubby fingers/toes, though, are these supposed to be pods like a gecko's? They don't look right at all). I see Grovyle has gained a lot of popularity from other media I haven't consumed, which is nice, but I don't feel too strongly about him. I appreciate his excessively long teenage-metalhead-hair, though. Mudkip... doesn't work for me. Speaking as a Quagsire fan, the typing is excellent, and I think the animal is supposed to be the same as Wooper, but the design is so busy! Looks like a dog with too many accessories. Marshtomp looks a bit better, looks like he's getting his shit together... aaaand Swampert happens. I thought we were going bipedal, but then Swampert shows up with this weird-ass curved posture where we don't know if he prefers to be standing or stay as a quadruped. Looks like evolution (real-life evolution, I mean) pranked him by giving him the most uncomfortable skeleton his body could have.