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Your 2019 Gaming Diary

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Bought Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.
Yeah, yeah. Crucify me for buying a game from one of the worst publishers/companies in history, I'm not going to justify my decision :p 

Anyways, played the first few missions of the campaign and it's one hell of a ride already. It plays so well and is a lot of fun. It's also very impressive audiovisually. The campaign is supposed to be quite controversial and so far I've only seen a glimpse of it. There needs to be some serious "oh no"-moment to make me go "wow, it really is controversial".

Multiplayer is great, as well. Hardcore still is the way to go. But maybe for the mode Ground War (32v32 Battlefield style mode) I can deal with Core for the occasional match, we'll see.

Co-op missions seem pretty sweet. Very difficult, though. I'd say too difficult. Enemies spawn relentlessly and they are dangerous. Some balancing is definitely needed, in my opinion.

With all the future maps/co-op missions/content not locked behind a season pass, I can see myself (and my best mate :D) playing this for quite a while.

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I was surprised to read that this is the 16th (sixteenth!) Call of Duty game! I knew they went a few years when they released one every year, but that is insane.

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3 hours ago, drahkon said:

Bought Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.
Yeah, yeah. Crucify me for buying a game from one of the worst publishers/companies in history, I'm not going to justify my decision :p 

You don't need to justify your decision at all. People are free to buy and play what they want. It's up to the individual to draw their own line and nobody should be calling out others just because their stance differs from their own. I hope you enjoy the game, drahkon. 

4 minutes ago, bob said:

I was surprised to read that this is the 16th (sixteenth!) Call of Duty game! I knew they went a few years when they released one every year, but that is insane.

I think they've been yearly releases ever since the series hit consoles back in the early 2000's, with a few spin offs scattered about here and there.

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7 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

You don't need to justify your decision at all. People are free to buy and play what they want. It's up to the individual to draw their own line and nobody should be calling out others just because their stance differs from their own. I hope you enjoy the game, drahkon. 

I wish this was a more prevalent attitude in the gaming community. Enjoy the game. 

I haven't bought an EA game since 2014. That won't change for me. I hate what they do and everything they stand for. I know lots of people who enjoy FIFA and I would never deny them that joy, but at the same time, it's important to call out and highlight companies who engage in filthy practices. Call out the companies, not the players. People like Jim Sterling manage to balance this well. Places like ResetEra... Not so much. 

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I finished and nabbed the platinum for MediEvil Remastered today.

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This was the first time I have played through one of these games and I enjoyed it. The remaster does have a few niggles that are things that are clearly left over from the original game. Things like dodgy platforming sections and iffy hit detection are present but they didn't take away from the experience. In fact, I suppose it gave the experience of playing the original game but without the dodgy graphics. :D 

I was quite surprised how difficult the game was at the start. It reminded me of the original Banjo game where you would spend ages collecting everything in a stage and clearing the area out, only to lose your lives and have to start from scratch. That's what exactly happens here. It can be quite brutal by today's standards it didn't really deter me from pressing on. You are able to find hidden health flasks scattered about the stages that will allow you to take more hits. Once you get more of these in your inventory then things start to go a lot smoother.

An amazing extra is included within the game. If you achieve 100% completion you unlock the original PSOne version of the game! What a great addition to this package, especially when you consider this is a budget release which I got for under £20. Fantastic value.

Yup, enjoyed my time with the game and I would happily play the sequel if they were to give it the same treatment. However, I will be surprised if the game does well. The game has been sent out to die ( thanks again, Sony ) with it being released in the same week as both CoD and Outer Worlds. I honestly don't think this game has a hope in hell. Saying that, the lower price point may give it some help but then that didn't really help Concrete Genie. Although this may have a nostalgia factor going for it. 

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On 25.10.2019 at 2:14 PM, Hero-of-Time said:

You don't need to justify your decision at all. People are free to buy and play what they want. It's up to the individual to draw their own line and nobody should be calling out others just because their stance differs from their own.

These days you get criticised alot for decisions like this...and in recent weeks I've been literally insulted at times because I bought things from companies that aren't particularly great at sustainability and politics. I get it, I understand the problem and I actually am mindful of a lot of issues when I do shit, but please let us have a conversation about it in a reasonable volume or simply fuck off.

Anway, in hindsight: I didn't have to post what I posted above. I guess it was just a defense mechanism or a way for me to vent...it annoys me to no end, to be honest.

On 25.10.2019 at 2:14 PM, Hero-of-Time said:

I hope you enjoy the game, drahkon. 

I do. A lot. The campaign has been amazing so far and multiplayer is a blast. There are some balance issues but hey, shit happens ::shrug: 

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I finished Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom (PS4) last night and nabbed the platinum early this morning before heading out for work.

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I adored playing through this last December on the Switch and i've been meaning to double dip on the game for a while now. Recently news came out about how they were no longer going to be producing physical copies of the Switch version and I was worried that would also be the case for the PS4 version. The game is already tricky to get a hold of ( no physical release version over here) so when I seen someone selling it on Amazon I snapped it up sooner rather than later.

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I've nothing new to really say about the game so i'll just copy and paste my thoughts from last year. :p 

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This is a game I kept my eye on during the course of its development but I was never really excited for it. As part of my Switch binge at the end of last year, I decided to pick this up and give it a go and boy am I glad I did. What awaited me was one of the best Metroidvania type games that I have played.

The game looks gorgeous. A lot of 2D games these days tend to use the pixel art effect. This is something that I feel is overused and can look quite ugly at times. Thankfully,  the developers of this game decided to use hand drawn sprites and in doing this the game’s world and characters really come alive.

The OST in the game is easily one of the best of the year, maybe even my overall favourite of the year. There is such a nice variety to each of the areas of the game. One minute you are bopping away to the happy go lucky tune that plays in the grassy area and then the next you a treated to an epic song while you traverse the volcano world. There are so many memorable tunes in the game and I would love to see a soundtrack released for it.

It seems many have written the game off or just completely disregarded it, which is a shame. People who have played it have fell in love with the game and the guys from My Life in Gaming, as well as John from Digital Foundry, all had it as their game of the year. Maybe it’s an age thing. Myself and the guys I just mentioned are all older games and I think the game just spoke to us and reminded us of a lot of the games we played in our childhood.

To this day the game still doesn't get the credit it deserves and many gamers still haven't a clue about the game. Sad times. :( 

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Holy shit, the penultimate mission of Modern Warfare's campaign is incredible. (at least I assume it's the second to last mission)
One of the best missions I've ever played in a shooter. The entire campaign's been one of the best singleplayer FPS experiences ever for me, so far. It's up there with Titanfall 2's singleplayer. They play very differently, obviously, but they both are pure enjoyment. :) 

Presumably one more mission left. Will complete it after lunch.

 

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1 minute ago, drahkon said:

Holy shit, the penultimate mission of Modern Warfare's campaign is incredible. (at least I assume it's the second to last mission)
One of the best missions I've ever played in a shooter. The entire campaign's been one of the best singleplayer FPS experiences ever for me, so far. It's up there with Titanfall 2's singleplayer. They play very differently, obviously, but they both are pure enjoyment. :) 

Presumably one more mission left. Will complete it after lunch.

 

:eek: That's a VERY bold claim.

 

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16 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

:eek: That's a VERY bold claim.

 

Indeed, and I feel like I should elaborate:

Modern Warfare's campaign feels like an interactive movie at times. However, it's top-notch gameplay, even in those instances: Some of the scripted moments don't feel scripted the first time you play them, in my opinion, which is quite a feat.
The rest is a greatly executed mix of action-packed all-out shooting and insanely good stealth sections. The pacing is awesome.

As I said, Titanfall 2 plays very differently. Much more "open", so to speak. But Modern Warfare brings the same amount of enjoyment as Titanfall 2 did while being an entirely different type of shooter/game.

Obviously, this is just my opinion and results may vary :p 

Oh yeah: Audiovisually Modern Warfare is breathtaking. Acting is great, too. :peace: 

Edited by drahkon
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Woke up way too early this morning and couldn't go back to sleep so I decided to get back to The Outer Worlds.

After now 5 hours of playtime I'm ready to leave the first area.

Wonderful game. Writing is hilarious at times, choices are in a moral grey area, combat is fun (especially now that I'm utilizing more damage types), the RPG elements are cool (Í usually don't go for dialog options, but I had to do it with this one) and it's just pure fun :D 

Can't wait to get back from work and start sneaking my way through the next town and steal ALL THE THINGS.

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Well well, it has been a while... I think it's time for me to get myself up to date I reckon...

 

New Super Luigi U

 

So… I decided to kick off May by playing a brand new Switch game! For once, here’s a port of a Wii U game that I actually haven’t played!

 

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Ahh yes, a fine Wii U Switch game!

 

New Super Luigi U really came out at a bad time back in 2013.  Coming off the back of not one, but TWO new New Super Mario Bros games; was I up for thirds? Hell no! I had my fill; hell, I had my fill with NSMB2, let alone NSMBU!

 

So, I tried to play this back on the Wii U, but I just couldn’t do it.  I was sick to my stomach of Mario and couldn’t take another bite, no matter how wafer thin it might be.  Fast forward to 2019 then and I think I’ve finally managed to digest all of that Mario overload from 6 or so years back! Let’s finally give NSLU a proper go eh?

 

While this is really an expansion pak to the original NSMBU, using all of the same art assets, music and engine as before, all of the course layouts are completely new.  Of course, that isn’t the whole story, because every new Mario title has to have a gimmick to call its own; and NSLU is no exception.  In a pretty neat twist, all of NSLU’s courses are truncated in terms of length and the player is given a set time limit of just 100 seconds for each and every course! Add on the classic slidey Luigi physics from Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels and you’ve got yourself something that plays pretty differently from other Mario titles.

 

My biggest complaint with NSMBU always lied in how the game just lacked any sort of unifying vision or focus with its level design.  It felt like the game was made out of obligation, as its courses were laid out in a slapdash and haphazard manner.  They lacked flow, they had no driving vision to call their own and it felt as if they took NSMB Wii as a base and just chucked on more of everything.  It never managed to capture the magic of the Wii title, nor did it really have anything to truly call its own; and returning to it briefly on the Switch (briefly before starting NSLU) only re-confirmed my opinion of that title.  It was an unnecessary game that lacked the masterful design of its forebearers.

 

This is where NSLU differs most from the base NSMBU game.  Unlike NSMBU, NSLU actually HAS a vision! It HAS a focus with its level design! And it (mostly) succeeds at delivering it! It is not content to crib its best ideas from the past, but rather it takes all of the base elements from NSMBU and turns it into a much more refined and focused experience.  It trims all of the fat from the previous title’s level design and crams in as much as possible into levels that are often less than half the size; making the experience much more fun in the process!

 

That’s not to say that all is perfect though.  For all it does well, it still falls afoul of some of the trappings of its forebearer, with some levels that lack in pacing (where even 100 seconds feels too long!) and I don’t quite get the feeling that they make the most out of the 100 second restriction with the exploration aspects of the game; with some levels still feeling quite vanilla.  Overall though, this game manages to (mostly) bring back the focused level design that was so sorely lacking in NSMBU and is a far better game for it.

 

It’s also a corker in multiplayer, as all players scramble for the end of each quickfire stage! Though it is here that I have a complaint with the Switch version… as Nintendo decided, in their infinite wisdom, to disallow players from selecting both Buckenberry (Blue Toad) and Ala Gold (Yellow Toad) at the same time, for some godknowswhat reason! This means that if you’re playing 4 player, one player has to play as Toadette, and that means that you get 100 seconds added to the timer! Beautifully defeating the entire point of the game! Way to go Nintendo!

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Props to Nintendo for making Peach canonically Bi though.  Good stuff!

Overall I wouldn’t put it on the same level as NSMB Wii, or SMB 3 and SMW, but it’s a huge step up from the base NSMBU.  They did a good job of taking a mashed up set of raw materials and tempering it into a fine sword.  May good level design cut through the darkness for years to come!

 

Yoshi’s Crafted World

 

Ok, fine.  Here’s an actual original game for Switch (bloody hell, it only took two years after launch for one to finally come along!)

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Ok Labo was pretty original at least

 

Sequel to the Most Adorable Game Of All Time, Yoshi’s Crafted World has a lot to live up to.  The illegally cute Wii U game was a great return to form for a series that had long lost its way since the original SNES Yoshi’s Island and even its controversial N64 sequel.  Yoshi’s Wooly World was a solid title that I really enjoyed; though it subscribed to a sleepy pace, it was a game that was surprisingly chill for a platformer, yet never ended up being boring.

 

Yoshi’s Crafted World then follows on in the same vein as its Wii U predecessor, with the same chill and sleepy pacing and focus on exploration.  This time though? I think they might have gone too far in that direction… as it crosses the line from chill, to sleep inducing.

 

The game’s pace is so slow that it may well become a cure for insomnia.  This actually makes it a pretty good co-op game for people who aren’t long-time game players, as it’s very friendly to newcomers (especially in Mellow Mode, which is basically a sedative in video game form).  The level design ultimately fails to live up to its potential though, as it ends up just trying to be too much in one form.  This game’s development history is actually pretty interesting, and telling, in how developer Good Feel struggled to make the most of its flipside concept.  You can really tell how the game was originally designed to allow players to play every level both back and front, but they simply had to abandon the idea late into development as it just proved too challenging to make an interesting level that could be played both forwards AND backwards.  The result is something that doesn’t quite satisfy either way around unfortunately.

 

Likewise, the music also doesn’t excite; with now-freelance composer Tomoya Tomita skipping a Good-Feel game for the first time since the company’s founding.  While there’s nothing offensively bad in here (certainly nothing like what you heard in Yoshi’s New Island or Yoshi’s Island DS!), there’s also nothing to get excited for either.  It’s all… just so… zzzzzzzz….

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Zzzz… wha?... huh?... oh… yeah, it’s not a bad game, it’s just… so… zzzzzz…..

 

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow

 

So after being put to sleep with Yoshi, I decided to scare myself awake by returning to a DS classic! Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow is the 2005 follow up to Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow on the GBA, and like a good direct sequel, it takes the existing gameplay of its predecessor and expands on everything that worked well, while trying out some new ideas of its own.

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You know what they say? Bigger is better!

 

This game is fantastic! Revisiting it only reminded me of why its one of the best entries in the series, with its excellent level design, fun gameplay gimmicks (shut up! I love the stupid Magic Seals!), awesome boss battles and rockin’ music! There’s a ton to love about this game!

 

It also makes very pragmatic use of the second screen for the map (you can also choose to display the character’s stats as well, but unless you were wasting your time by pointlessly grinding your stats? I don’t see why you’d ever use it).  A much appreciated feature that would go on to become the standard for both of its DS follow-up entries.

 

It’s not perfect though, with too much of a reliance on cryptic BS and random drops for my liking; and the laughable choice of Saturday Morning Anime artwork portraits, done in a misguided attempt to appeal to a younger audience.

 

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This box art was flawless though

Overall though, it’s still one of the best in the series, and while I don’t like it quite as much as its GBA predecessor, Aria of Sorrow, it’s a fantastic time all throughout! @Hero-of-Time, hurry up and get this game already!

 

Super Mario Maker 2

 

It has a single player mode, so it counts dammit!

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Big Red and pals agree with me here

 

The Super Mario Maker 2 Story Mode is basically a glorified tutorial about how to use each individual course maker part.  It also looks to teach some basic level design principles; alongside its excellent manual! (No seriously! If you haven’t read the in-game manual, do so! It’s great; and it’ll make you laugh too!)

 

It’s not a proper 2D Mario game and it doesn’t try to be.  It’s a fantastic tutorial wrapped up in a lot of great Nintendo charm that just so happens to be a lot of fun.  I ended up playing through all of story mode before actually starting making original courses of my own and I’m glad I did; I had a good time.  But of course, the true fun of Super Mario Maker 2 is in making your own courses so…

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Go try out my courses! Oh and don’t forget to like & subscribe while you’re at it!

 

Castlevania Bloodlines

 

So my Mega Drive Mini arrived and I FINALLY got a chance to play Castlevania Bloodlines! At long last! The MD game I always wanted the most back when the Wii VC was alive and kicking… the one that got away…

 

Fast forward about 10 years later and the game has FINALLY been re-released! So! Was the game worth all of the wait?

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Hellhound Yes!

 

Castlevania’s sole original SEGA outing is a strong entry into the classic Castlevania series, with a cacophony of creative creatures, lavish level designs, and brilliant bosses.  Compared to its other 16 bit contemporaries, Bloodlines is remarkably straightforward; with classic gameplay that is more reminiscent of the original NES Castlevania and (especially) Castlevania 3.  You won’t find heavily branching levels, multidirectional whips and experimental ideas here; but rather you’ll find classic Castlevania action wrapped up in a glorious tech demo of the Mega Drive’s graphical capabilities, with each level being filled with all sorts of crazy raster effects that show off what the system can do.

 

The decision to have two main playable characters also takes a cue from Castlevania 3, however; unlike that game, you choose between two characters from the outset and can play through the entire game as either one.  This was a bold choice, as it meant that every stage needed to be designed around two characters’ different movesets.  While the two characters don’t differ all that wildly (certainly nothing like Castlevania 3 or Portrait of Ruin (more on that later) ), the designers did a great job of designing stages that encourage the use of each character’s unique moveset.

 

The music is also important to note, not because it’s great (which it is, of course! It’s a Castlevania game!), but because it was the first Castlevania game to be scored by Michiru Yamane; the woman who would go on to become the series’ main composer from then on (as well as its spiritual successor, Bloodstained).  Many of the series’ iconic themes would be first heard here, such as The Old Sinking Sanctuary, and much of its audio iconography would be solidified here.

 

Bloodlines also does something pretty unique for a Castlevania title… by taking place almost entirely outside of Dracula’s Castle/Transylvania! Spanning across the whole of Europe, the designers stuffed a lot of variety into its level and set-piece design that takes inspiration from a multitude of European locales (the most obvious perhaps being the leaning tower of Piza; complete with trippy rotation effects!).  I love the per-stage gimmicks each level has (special shout out to the hall of mirrors in the final stage, I literally have no idea how they pulled that off on the MD!) and its approach to setting variety and multiple character gameplay wouldn’t really be seen again until 2006’s Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin; a pseudo story sequel of sorts that draws a lot of inspiration from Bloodlines in particular.

 

While Bloodlines doesn’t re-invent the wheel, it serves as a solid microcosm of what makes the series great.  While it’s not the best game in the series as a whole, it’s probably the best “generic” Castlevania title, for its excellent level & boss design and pitch perfect pacing that embodies what I love about the classic pre-Metroidvania Castlevania titles as a whole.

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Special shout out to the hilariously titled PAL version, which comes across like a cheesy 80’s serial drama.  Also shout outs to its hilariously heavy-handed censorship too.

 

Sonic The Hedgehog 2

 

So after I beat Castlevania Bloodlines, I decided to have another round of Sonic The Hedgehog 2.  Just like I previously mentioned the last time I played this game and posted about here, I feel that this is very much a game of ups and downs.

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This level is AMAZING

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This level is not…

I feel that the game kinda runs out of steam once you get about 2/3 of the way in; and it doesn’t quite have enough new gimmicks and ideas to sustain its running time.  The highs are high and the lows are low; but it’s still a great game overall.

 

Contra Hard Corps

 

Ahh, here we go! Here’s my other Mega Drive Virtual Console white whale! The follow up to the utterly sublime Contra 3: The Alien Wars, only this time, it’s on the Mega Drive! But there’s some interesting baggage this time that I feel shows that there’s more than meets the eye with this game…

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Giant robot channels his inner Sabin here

 

Releasing in late 1994, Contra Hard Corps is the first entry in the series to hit a non-Nintendo console; and also the first game in the series to see a release following the famous split within Konami as many of its biggest talents splintered off to form Treasure.  Perhaps most famous for Gunstar Heroes, released in 1993, Treasure had made their mark on the industry in spectacular style; showing up their former colleagues at Konami by beating them at their own game.

 

Konami were pissed, and they wanted revenge.

 

So in comes Contra Hard Corps, a shot fired straight back at the traitors who deserted them and showed them up with Gunstar Heroes.  This game would show them how action games are REALLY done and how they would push the Mega Drive beyond what anyone thought possible; a claim that would be backed up with a 16 MEGA POWER cartridge! Twice that what Gunstar Heroes had! (speaking of which… Castlevania Bloodlines only had an 8mbit cartridge, the same size as what Super Castlevania 4 used three years prior.  Surprisingly small considering that Castlevania was Konami’s flagship series!)

 

While I don’t feel that Contra Hard Corps ends up matching Gunstar Heroes, I do feel that it’s a great entry in the series that comes pretty close.  It’s really surprising though, just how much it’s reminiscent of Treasure’s seminal work though; with its multi-sprite bosses, multiple characters with differing abilities and its multitude of weapons that often resemble those from Gunstar Heroes (the laser beam chaser in particular is awfully suspiciously close to what Treasure did one year prior…).  Even many of the bosses ended up reminding me of those from Gunstar Heroes (the Virtual Zone boss reminding me both of Seven Force AND Black’s Dice Maze with its trippy visuals).  The set-pieces are also just utterly bonkers and all pretence of the semi-realistic world you saw in Contra 3 is jettisoned in favour of utterly OTT fantasy action. It’s clear that they had a single minded goal to beat Treasure and reclaim the action gaming crown back for themselves.

 

In their focus on pushing the MD though, I feel that the gameplay actually suffers somewhat for this.  Not because of any slowdown or anything of the sort, but rather because the game is just too fast! All of the enemies are stupidly fast and twitchy and the screen scrolls much faster than in prior Contra title; giving you very little time to react to what’s going on.  In addition, the game runs with a big border across the top of the screen (likely to improve game performance; Gunstar Heroes did the same thing), but unlike that game, Contra Hard Corps has an annoying habit of having bullets fly down at you from above very quickly with little time to react.  This all serves to make the game incredibly difficult! To compensate for this, Konami decided to do something new for a Contra game and (perhaps in another bit of inspiration taken from Gunstar Heroes) allowed your character to take up to three hits before kicking the bucket…

 

… unfortunately this does not apply to the western release… as Konami felt that they needed to do something to curtail the (then) healthy rental market, by taking away the health bar and reverting back to one-hit-deaths; without making any other adjustments to counterbalance the extreme difficulty.  As an added kick in the teeth, they also decided to give us limited continues (5 in the US version, 4 in the PAL one) AND took away the Konami Code cheat to give you extra lives! Fuck you very much Konami!

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Better get used to seeing this screen…

Make no mistake, this is a much harder game than Contra 3, as it constantly floods the screen with enemies without giving you time to react.  I also feel that it just isn’t quite as well designed, with too much of a focus on showing off the tech and not enough focus on balancing the game; and also a strangely large amount of… waiting; there’s quite a few sections that just drag on for too long where you can’t actually really do anything until the game decides that you can now attack.  That’s not to say that there isn’t still a LOT to love about Contra Hard Corps though; with fantastic set-pieces, brilliant music, creative boss design and tons of stage variety, despite the lack of top-down gameplay sections.

 

The game also does something very clever in the way it presents its stages, which gives it a lot of extra replay value.  Throughout the game, typically at the end of a stage, you are given a choice of what your character should do next in the story; where your choices will bring you down a different branching path in the story, complete with unique stages! Do you choose to chase down Deadeye Joe, or do you choose to head to the lab to save the scientists? It’s your choice to make and it does a great job of encouraging repeat playthroughs as it allows the developers to keep the game to an arcade-like pace, while increasing the number of stages you can play throughout without bogging down the pacing!

 

Each character also has a completely unique set of weaponry that really sets them apart in a way that Gunstar Heroes never did (or indeed, any other Contra title).  As a result, each character plays wildly differently and it’s well worth playing through the game multiple times as each different character (shame the dialogue is shared between all four characters though).

 

Overall, it’s a fantastic entry in the series, delivering ridiculously over-the-top white knuckle action from start to finish! It’s not quite as good as Contra 3 or Gunstar Heroes, but it’s pretty damn close!

 

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (Switch)

 

Link comes for Yoshi’s crown as he fights for the coveted title of Cutest Game on Nintendo Switch! This remake of the classic Game Boy title naturally comes along with a huge set of expectations and the dreams of many a weary eyed Zelda fan.  But I came at this remake with a different perspective than most people, because for me, this game has another role to fill.  To me, this isn’t just a remake of the beloved Game Boy classic, but rather, it represents an alternative future; one that encompasses a potential path forward for the series’ future.

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Castaway! You shall have no spoilers here!

 

I’m sure that many of you will know that I have much disdain for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and what it represents for not just the Zelda series, but for Nintendo as a whole. So when I saw that Link’s Awakening was to be remade, I came at it with a sense of trepidation but also hope.  Hope that the classic handcrafted design that I had come to love from Nintendo and the Zelda series had not actually been cast asunder, like driftwood upon salt water; but that the old ways could not only still live, but even thrive.

 

In that respect, I am of two minds with this remake then.  On one hand, I don’t feel that Link’s Awakening actually needed to be remade.  The original GB/GBC release was near perfect in its original form and never did I feel a burning need for it to be remade.  On the other? We needed a remake of Link’s Awakening; we needed it now more than ever.  Why? To show people, in a post BOTW world, in the age of Minecraft, in the age of GAAS, in the age of procedurally generated open-world titles, the value of a classic, handcrafted experience that represents some of the best handcrafted game design that our history has to offer.  And Nintendo needed it to prove that they still understood and valued classic handcrafted game design; the way of game making that they made their name off of.

 

Link’s Awakening is everything that I feel that the Zelda series should be.  It is constrained, tightly packed and lovingly crafted.  It is the opposite of everything that Breath of the Wild is.  And the same is (mostly) true of this remake as it is delightfully faithful to the original game.  The same brilliantly crafted world, colourful characters and wonderfully crafted gameplay is all here and accounted for.  Nintendo made good on their promise and here they prove that they still care about making classic handcrafted single player experiences (even if Greezo actually did most of the real work here).

 

I actually appreciated most of the changes made to this remake.  The new map system is a straight up improvement, especially the new pin marking feature, as is the expansion of Link’s inventory and button controls (I really appreciate not having to constantly open and close the menu to swap everything all the time!).  The small changes made throughout the game to enemy and boss attack patterns are universally positive, as well as the expansions and additions to the gameplay; such as the expanded fishing pond, the changes made to the river rafting game & the trendy game, and the expanded selection of secret seashells and pieces of heart to find.  It’s all very well done and it feels like a natural extension of the original game.  They’ve also done a brilliant job of capturing the visual and audio design of the original, recapturing what made the original GB game so unique (especially with the hand animated opening and ending cutscene!) Great stuff!

 

While I vehemently disapprove of the new autosave system, and how much of a blatant concession it is to modern players who demand homogeneity and will have previously been introduced to the series through Breath of the Wild, it thankfully does not come at the expense of the original experience.  What does come at an expense though, is the removal of the separated screen scrolling, as it ends up harming the original game’s intended level design cues and is also a likely culprit for the game’s unfortunate performance issues on Switch (a shocking lack of polish that I used to expect from Nintendo; something that sadly betrays the game’s intentions as a return to form).  However, these are ultimately minor issues that do not prevent the game from being a shining ray of hope in this most dark of hours.

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No lyrics!! No Voice Acting!! THANK HYLIA!!!!

Link’s Awakening doesn’t replace the original Game Boy game for me, but it does extend the original game in some very thoughtful ways and is ultimately the best version of this game.  I love most of what they did with this remake; and the Chamber Dungeons are a nice bonus feature, but all of this is ultimately superfluous.  I don’t feel that this remake ultimately makes any major improvements that change how I feel about Link’s Awakening; and that’s fine.  Link’s Awakening is still one of the best entries in the series and represents some of the very best of classic Nintendo. In this modern era though? That is like finding an oasis in the harshest desert, as it serves as a beacon of hope for Nintendo’s future.  Despite Breath of the Wild, despite Super Mario Odyssey, despite Nintendo’s mobile games, despite everything that has happened to Nintendo within the last three years and despite everything that the industry has become; Nintendo have not forgotten their roots.  That is the biggest gift that I could have been given.

 

May Link’s Awakening be representative of Nintendo’s future.  Don’t let traditional handcrafted game design die.  Please let this old man’s dream come true.

 

Luigi's Mansion 3

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Click me if you dare!

And with that, I’m up to date! :D

Spoiler

Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga + Bowser’s Minions

Resident Evil 2 Remake

New Super Luigi U

Yoshi’s Crafted World

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow

Super Mario Maker 2 (Story Mode)

Castlevania Bloodlines

Sonic The Hedgehog 2

Contra Hard Corps

Link’s Awakening Switch

Luigi’s Mansion 3

Edited by Dcubed
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The Outer Worlds, man. 

Travelled to one of the next areas and spent 3 hours just talking to people and doing some side quests. The writing is exceptional and very engaging. I'm trying to be mostly a good guy but occasionally I tend to just fuck people up if I don't like 'em :D 

Looking at the Navigational Map, it doesn't seem like there are a lot of planets to explore, i.e. the game probably won't last for 100+ hours. And that's good. Games  like Skyrim and Fallout tend to overstay their welcome if you do everything. Sometimes it's nice to do that but right now I just want to experience a game like this for 40-50 hours while doing most quests.

Because I'm a moron, I bought the three classic Doom games on PS4. Never played them before. Played two levels of the first one just to see what the fuss is about. It's exactly what I expected: Mindless shooting :laughing: 

Edited by drahkon
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You may have noticed that I have not updated my progress on Hollow Knight (Nintendo Switch) recently. And that's because... well, I fell off it. Sorry, but the extra bosses are proving to be a bit much for me in trying to go after the true ending. Been fighting the Lost Kin for ages and still no idea what I'm doing.in trying to complete it.

 

As a result much of my gaming time has gone back into online TCGs. Been leaning more towards the Yugioh side of things recently after watching someone who tried to build a sealed only deck using three of the structure deck I picked up this year and it gave me ideas about cards to include in the deck. I also managed to pull a card which made the deck better and so have been playing on YGOPRO Percy what the eventual complete deck would look like. While it's not top tier, it's still pretty powerful.

 

My other project however has been finishing a tournament in Soul Calibur VI based around the most appealing aspect of the game to everyone... no, I don't mean Ivy's breast size, I mean custom characters. Here's a playlist with an entire tournament of them because I realise that I haven't really been posting about it or pushing it much:

 

 

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The Outer Worlds 

I've completed about 40 side quests/tasks, explored the worlds quite thoroughly and finished the story just now. I'm very happy the game "only" took me 23 hours to beat. As I mentioned earlier, other games like Skyrim or Fallout tend to overstay their welcome if you're not up for the task. The Outer Worlds struck a pretty good balance.

I've talked about some issues with the game but overall it's been a very entertaining and enjoyable experience. Highly recommended. 

Will I play the game again on "Supernova" difficulty? To be honest, I really wanted to but I've read that the survival mechanics that it adds are more tedious than difficult. So unless the devs put some work into it I'll probably just stay clear of it.

 

Well...now I'll have to think about whether to buy Death Stranding on Friday. And I think I know what to do :D 

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7 hours ago, drahkon said:

Well...now I'll have to think about whether to buy Death Stranding on Friday. And I think I know what to do :D 

I thought you were waiting until December to play it?

Nice to hear that The Outer Worlds is a decent length and doesn't drag on.

I started Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow last night. Nothing much to report yet as I just spent a bit of time grinding my levels...as I generally do. :p I hit level 10 before I even reached the first boss. :laughing: I'm hoping drawing those magic signs don't become a pain in the butt as the game goes on....

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1 hour ago, Hero-of-Time said:

I thought you were waiting until December to play it?

Yeah, it was a matter of the moneys. But i was able to sell The Outer Worlds for 37€ (meaning, I technically only paid 11€ for it :D) so I can afford Death Stranding earlier. :peace: 

1 hour ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Nothing much to report yet as I just spent a bit of time grinding my levels

It's been an hour since your post. I expect you are level 20 now? :p 

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13 minutes ago, drahkon said:

Yeah, it was a matter of the moneys. But i was able to sell The Outer Worlds for 37€ (meaning, I technically only paid 11€ for it :D) so I can afford Death Stranding earlier. :peace: 

Nice!

13 minutes ago, drahkon said:

It's been an hour since your post. I expect you are level 20 now? :p 

I'm at work....but I did bring my 3DS with me for some lunch time gaming/grinding. :D 

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Haven't had as much time to play Death Stranding as I wanted these days. It's a game I need to have 2-3 hour long sessions with.

I did, however, start up Slay the Spire again several times. It's a good time "waster" when you only have an hour to play each day :D Watched a video that overexplains a run with The Ironclad and it helped me immensely to understand how to approach the deck building aspect of the game. I struggled with Ascension 2 (one of the higher difficulties that makes normal enemies much more dangerous) for a while but my first run after watching that video was a win :peace: 

Next up: Ascension 2 with The Silent. Time for another overexplain-video :laughing: 

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Started Pokemon Sword today. I'll go into more detail in the actual thread about my gameplay experience but so far the niggling issues that people have been moaning about haven't affected me as much. It does feel like a step backwards storywise after Sun/Moon, a bit more like X/Y 2.

 

However, I'm loving how they have streamlined all the tutorials so you are not forced to sit through them if you've played the game before. Which is annoying because that's precisely what they should have been doing all along.

 

Already discovered at least 4, maybe 5 Pokemon that were never officially revealed, though I suspect two of them, including one on my team, evolve into Pokemon that have already been revealed.

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Haven't been finishing a lot of stuff lately, but here's a quick update:

Detention

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A short horror game I bought on the Switch a while back. I wanted to play this 3-4 hour game on Halloween, and so I did. I had played the demo, so I knew I was in for a quality experience. Plus, it was made by Red Candle Games, who make Horror into their bread-and-butter.

It's set in '60s Taiwan, during the military dictatorship. Two high school teens are hopelessly lost in a horribly distorted version of their own school ("Is that a river of blood?!" "...Maybe it's just chemicals..?"), and they're just trying to make sense of it all.

Holy hell, what an experience it was! This carefully crafted game is psychological horror at its finest. The disturbing imagery the developers came up with is sublime. Reminded me a lot of a 2D version of Silent Hill, in fact.

Highly recommended if you like that sort of stuff (and I remind you, there's a free demo).

Kirby's Dream Land 3

I've been playing this during my relaxation time (usually with something else on the background) and I've finished it recently. This is exactly the type of game that makes the NES/SNES service shine. Lovely stuff you didn't know you wanted or needed.

As is usual for a Kirby game, it's cute and cheerful. This game in particular has a "crayon" look to it that's just adorable, and the spritework is super charming (not just the different powers you can see above, but small things like Rick tearing up when you choose a different animal). I also adore the ability combinations, and how they're used in puzzles and extra objectives.

Granted, Kirby moves weird in this game (runs fast, but suddenly jumps/floats slowly), the level design feels very basic, and some of the extra goals can feel obtuse (not a good thing when the levels are long, as it can mean you can't experiment with your various powers that easily). But it's still enjoyable, and the game's basically free.

Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice

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I've put this one off for the longest time. Partly because Dual Destinies left a sour taste in my mouth, but I was also afraid of suffering series burnout. Well, I did play it now... and my verdict is that it's a surprisingly improved follow-up! Sure, @Dcubed had tipped me off to this fact, but it's still something else to experience it for yourself, you know?

Just a quick reminder that this game was not directed by Shu Takumi, but by his successor, Takeshi Yamazaki (who also helmed the AAI spin-offs and Dual Destinies). Previously, I had criticised Yamazaki's games on a number of subjects... so how does he do in SOJ?

Staying spoiler-free, the writing is much improved (actual themes this time!). There's a cohesive plotline that builds properly upon itself and doesn't depend on silly back and forth chronology. The new setting and characters are great. The new courtroom gimmick actually fits the plot and gameplay, and it improves the mystery-solving side of things as well. Heck, even Athena's Mood Matrix is far better this time around. "Let's get rid of useless evidence" only happens twice, and it's actually perfectly justified in one of those cases (not so much on the other one, though, but baby steps). They're more willing to play around with the pace and length of each case this time around, instead of being stuck to the same beats. Definitely a breath of fresh air in many respects.

On the negative side, the text still scrolls super slow, and there are still those stupid flashbacks to things that happened 5 seconds ago. Or stupid flashbacks to something that happened a while ago, but was either hard to forget, or entirely useless (I swear, there was a part where the prosecutor went "Remember what I said earlier? About how you're screwed?" ~flashback~ "You're screwed" ~end flashback~). A couple of the court/investigation gimmicks were really frustrating and brought very little to the table. But most of all, it still feels like a Visual Novel first and a crime mystery second: Investigations sequences start and end when the game says they end, you're always precisely directed to where you need to be, if you need to present evidence during investigation segments to proceed, the game will tell you exactly when to do it (no earlier or later than a certain line, for example), etc. We still get fed answers way too frequently (main exception being the one case that - I suspect - wasn't written by Yamazaki), and in some situations the characters talk circles around a mystery with a really obvious loose end. To the game's credit, it's better about it than in DD... but still not quite on the level of the first 4 games in the franchise.

My remaining commentary (both positive and negative) shall remain in spoiler tags, as it's about specific story developments from throughout the entire game.

Spoiler

Case 1 wasn't bad, though it was the weakest in the game. It's definitely a good introduction to the new setting and mechanic (with good character work on Rayfa and the Magister), but I wasn't too hot on Metal Jesus, or even Ahlbi. Plus, I figured out the key thing ages before I was supposed to, and having to get there due to an imperceptible slip of the tongue from Metal Jesus was frustrating. The idea that a 6-month immigrant would be granted the right and responsibility to guard the orb really hurt my suspension of disbelief, too. Other than those hang-ups, it was solid (and far from being the worst first case in the series, anyway).

Case 2 was much better, and possibly my favourite case of the entire Apollo trilogy. For starters, it's good that it was kept to one day, instead of being dragged out over two or three as a matter of course. That way, it properly built up the contrast between a cheery morning and the nigh-instantaneous turn that Trucy's life took, as well as the sudden deep shit that Apollo and Athena found themselves in (Phoenix being absent actually strengthened the plot. Elegant writing). Bonnie and Betty were also great side characters (I am a sucker for animal motifs, not gonna lie). The murder was really clever, and I love the fact that it was intentionally convoluted, hidden behind two or three layers of illusion and deceit, by a perpetrator who would come up with such methods. Speaking of whom, Roger Retinz might just be the best villain in this game. He was smart, effective, despicable, petty, with a penchant to show off... and a thoroughly explained backstory with clear motivation. As a bonus, he also had a cool theme song and the best breakdown. Even the aftermath of the case was good, with Apollo coming into his own, and Trucy finding herself in a moment of vulnerability, both of which play into the game's overall themes of inheritance and succession.

I only see two flaws: first, that everybody just ignores the inverted fingerprints until the very end (like... it's basic evidence and an immediate contradiction, not some well hidden fact. This could've been avoided if nobody had called attention to how the hands were displayed, but because Apollo noticed right away, I kept thinking about it the entire time). Second, that Magnifi Gramarye was whitewashed a bit. The guy was an asshole, no need to pretend he was some wise grandpa (but it's not like Trucy and Apollo knew about it, so it's not that serious)

Case 3 was surprisingly good. Right off the bat, it was good to finally see Maya again. But then, I could immediately tell how this was going to go, with the high priest dying in a figurative closed room, Maya getting framed for it, and the overly-still acolyte is probably a dummy to give an alibi to the real murderer. Needless to say, I was bamboozled by every development of the second day, including that our victim... was also the culprit. It's kind of crazy that the murders were actually a suicide and self-defence manslaughter, and that the circumstances of the crime were adequately discussed. I also like that the whole point of this case was to do some good worldbuilding, flesh out important characters (such as Rayfa, who was a very entertaining sidekick here), and build up the final case. This case just fits really nicely and seamlessly into the overall story, which is really impressive.

Case 4 was a very close contender to best case in the game. You can sum it up as "And now, for something completely different". Loved the Athena/Simon banter (much improved, considering how little Simon impressed me in DD), the overly Japanese setting, the very concise pacing, how entertaining Uendo turned out to be (and how he actually fits the Athena/Simon combo), and that they didn't spell out the final, conclusive evidence. Sure, I figured it out halfway through the case, but I appreciate that they actually let me be the first one to bring it up, at the most appropriate time. I liked that Geiru actually had some decent depth to her too, instead of just being evil. Oh, and I love the fact that Athena is literally the only one who felt alienated by all the Japanese culture: Simon's a weeb, Nahyuta read up on it (god, his Rakugo routine made me laugh so much), and The Judge just knows for no good reason... but Athena was in America Europe, so she's all "Wine Rice?" and shit. Love this whole thing.

(On a side-note, I suspect that Yamazaki didn't write this case, rather, I think it was the same person who wrote the Orca case from DD. It's just a hunch, but I see similar beats and quirks, you know?)

Case 5-1 (or "Turnabout Orb" as I like to call it) was a true breath of fresh air. From the start, where Dhurke just falls into Apollo's lap, they go do some father-son bonding, looking to do a perfectly innocent transaction, then doing a scavenger hunt... combined with the opener calling out for a Khu'rainese revolution, you just didn't know where any of this was going. Suddenly, a civil case! A first in the series! The perfect way for Apollo to "surpass" his mentor. Loved Phoenix in the opposition, I mean, he never acted like the courtroom was his, he never threatened the judge, never personally insulted Apollo... he was just a slimy, grimy lawyer who bluffed and bullshitted his way out of every line of reasoning Apollo had... so exactly like himself, but as an enemy. Also, Paul Atishon-Wimperson was an extremely entertaining baddie. God, I love that breakdown. Loved the first half of Case 5.

Case 5-2 is...considerably less impressive. Sure, my expectations were bamboozled when Inga died... and surely, this would make Ga'ran the culprit... but then Amara turned out to be alive, and I was like "Whoa nelly, are you serious? We start this game by convicting Jesus, and we end it by convicting Buddha? Holy shit, think of the drama and the national shitstorm that comes from the pure benevolent Queen committing murder alongside Rita Repulsa over there. This is awesome!". But then she was exonerated (because being an accomplice to murder is a-OK, apparently), and Ga'ran became unequivocally guilty of all the things and completely devoid of virtues. Case 5 was doing so well, before it all went to hell in the final quarter, and all because of the shitty mishandling of a villain. Classic Yamazaki.

Ok, to be fair, Inga was more fleshed out than I expected, Ga'ran was actually really entertaining both as a villain and as a prosecutor, and the twist with Dhurke legitimately blindsided me and broke my heart (best written part of the game, you have to reach that realization at the same time as Apollo). Plus, the epilogue was genuinely satisfying on a narrative level, and I like where Apollo, Rayfa and Nahyuta ended up... But the way the game did Ga'ran dirty as a character left such a sour taste in my mouth, I can't help but pout.

Overall, I really like how the game evolved. Starting with Phoenix again, but there's a gradual shift towards his disciple Apollo taking over the plot. By the end, I respected him so much more, and him starting his own Law Office felt like the most natural thing in the world. Most cases seemed to have a theme going on around a younger generation taking over their predecessors' legacies, alongside their baggage (Trucy with the Gramaryes, the Toneido school, Rayfa's royal drama, Nahyuta's conflicting duties to his family...), so that was a treat, especially after the shallow Dual Destinies. It's a well structured story, and I appreciated how it all came together in the end (despite my grievances).

Spoiler

Apollo Justice finally gets to shine! Sure, he got yet another sudden backstory, but they actually did something interesting with it this time. From saving the law offices by himself, to defeating Phoenix in court, to his defence of Dhurke, Apollo really earned his ending. And of course, opening his own office where Dhurke's used to be was the best conclusion possible.

Speaking of him, Dhurke was really good as a mentor. Really enjoyed how he was this badass, benevolent father figure, but then sucked at actually being a father. Nevertheless, his interactions with Apollo are among the best in the game. His death hit me harder than Mia's, that's for sure.

As for Apollo's other mentor, Phoenix Wright actually feels older in this game, which is a good thing. He pretty much laid the groundwork for Apollo to storm into Khu'rain near the end, which was the best role he could have. He served as an excellent enemy as Atishon-Wimperson's lawyer as well.

Maya Fey was surprisingly underwhelming. Don't get me wrong, I like how she's legitimately more mature, without fully losing that quirkiness she had as a teen, that was pretty good from the writers. My surprise comes from how little she appeared in the story, considering her long-awaited return. Maybe that's what the DLC is for...?

Princess Rayfa Padma Khu'rain was the breakout new character of this game. Her character growth was tremendous, and very well executed (you can see how much she grew simply from her reaction to Objections in Case 1, and to see them again in Case 5). She was also very entertaining during Case 3 (most belligerent sidekick ever, that's for sure), and I love how subtle her animations are (from her sassy smile, to the way she gets furious and/or flustered, there's a lot of subtle details in there). To be honest, I wish she was this game's Khu'rainese prosecutor as well.

Athena Cykes improved considerably from last game. Not only does the Mood Matrix make more sense (actually being used only when there's a psychological issue afoot), but she's bringing up psychological issues more often and more accurately as well. There's also the fact that she feels more like an inexperienced newbie, which is what she should've been from the start. She's still only okay as a sidekick, though (or maybe that's just how she came off in comparison to Apollo).

Simon Blackquill used to be the worst prosecutor in the series for me... and he still is. But in this game, he doesn't act as prosecutor, he acts as Athena's mentor, which is a much better role for him. His sassy remarks are better when he's on your side, and his supposedly silver tongue is more impressive if he's using it to teach Athena how to speak up. His violent tendencies also serve as a good contrast to the bubbly Athena (man, that animation where he holds her up by the collar was something else).

Nayhuta Sahdmahdi is the actual prosecutor for this game... and I liked him. His serene demeanour, religious fervour, serious blunt humour, and his utterly cold manner of talking shit with the most eloquent insults... made him unique, and surprisingly pleasant to deal with. His personal story of resigning himself to despair (and learning to gain the courage to break away from it, lest he lose himself) was something unique. I kinda wanted Athena or Blackquill to pick up on his self-loathing (I take it he really internalized his hatred, considering his behaviour in court) to foreshadow what happens in Case 5, though.

This game also marks the return of the goddess of love and beauty Ema Skye, who grew even more as a character. Now that she has the position she wants, while still serving the role of this game's detective, we can see her beautiful smile a wider range of emotions from her. It does feel like a new side to her, since she isn't just pouting all the time, much more expressive (especially her delicate headbob), even her old Snackoo side occasionally comes back when her work leads to the prosecution of her friends. The one time she doesn't know the defendant (during the civil case), she's actually pretty strict and harsh, kinda wish we had seen more of scary Ema 'cause it's actually pretty hot. I also liked her rapport with Sahdmahdi, what with it being legitimately ambivalent, and for good reason (none of that infuriatingly shallow Fräulein/Fop dynamic). I think the fact she'll be working in Khu'rain is the most surprising ending of all, since it hints at potential future games set there and I kinda want her to hook up with Apollo.

Datz Are'bal was a treat. Can we have him instead of Larry in future games? Such a jolly, cool uncle. And his name, despite being an ironic pun, actually sounds like it could be a real name! (not to be confused with Reel Ne'mu, a character in this game)

Miles Edgeworth was also here. It's true! I barely even noticed him myself, but if you look closely, he was an amusing sidekick to Phoenix for a short while. I wouldn't mind seeing more of those two arguing like an old couple. Trucy Wright was also good, in the one case she appeared in.

Minister Inga and Queen Ga'ran were the villains, and I really must type some words about them: Yamazaki has a serious issue with writing nuanced villains. I don't even mean sympathetic villains, I mean villains who are also believable people with relationships. When the trial started, Queen Ga'ran was a queen, a matriarch, a spirit channeller, a mother, a wife/widow, a sister, an aunt, a leader of her personal guard, and a former prosecutor. By the end of the trial, the plot made sure that none of those things were true, and that nobody else in the story had any reason to care about her. Rayfa is humiliated for no good reason, Inga's dead, Amara doesn't seem to care about shit, her country wants her out, and even her personal guard renounces her. Oh, and she never had any spiritual powers, anyway. And for what? She burned down a mansion, personally killed a musician, left a baby to die in a fire, persecuted her brother-in-law for decades, kept her sister in home arrest also for decades, blackmailed her nephew, abused her niece, knowing that her claim was based on a lie... for the nebulous claim of "I guess she wanted power"? Gimme a break! Not even one speech about why she wanted lawyers out of the country? Jesus!

When Godot was the culprit, Phoenix and Maya saw it as a bitter truth and a pyrrhic victory. When Manfred von Karma was caught, Miles Edgeworth was shook, to the point of disappearing for a while, and Franziska was deeply affected as well. When Ga'ran got deposed, who the fuck cared?

To drive this point home, Inga was a spectacularly cartoonish villain, up until the point that he died. The moment he stopped being the main villain, we learn that he had a soft spot for his daughter, and that his attempted coup was likely motivated by an oppressive life with his wife. His daughter mourned him, and his attempted coup drove her character further. Is it too much to ask that we get something like that for Ga'ran as well?

...I don't want to leave my analysis on a sour note, so I propose that the next game features a love triangle between Apollo, Ema, and Nahyuta. It prints money, Capcom, and you know it.

To summarize, this game is a noted improvement over the previous entry, and it's good to see Yamazaki improving as a writer... but I ended up feeling burnout anyway due to some persistent flaws in the game (I'm telling you, it really is that slow). I feel no crave whatsoever to get the DLC case right now.

...

Finally... Not only did I I finally complete the skill tree in the World of Light, I now also have every single spirit in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate! The game is officially 100% complete! Until the next update, at least!

  My 2019 log (Hide contents)

Played/Beat/Completed:

-Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land (1994) Completed (January 30th)

-Dr.Mario (1990) Completed, I guess (March 18th)

-Furi (2016) Beat (May 1st)

-Noitu Love 2: Devolution (2008) Beat (May 9th)

-Fairune (2014) Completed (May 12th)

-Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (2003) Julius Mode (May 18th)

-Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (2005) Beat (May 31st)

-Chase: Cold Case Investigations ~Distant Memories~ (2016) Completed (June 6th)

-Adventures of Lolo (1989) Completed (June 8th)

-Severed (2016) Completed (June 24th)

-Crypt of the Necrodancer (2015) Beat (June 27th)

-One Night Stand (2016) Completed (June 28th)

-Fire Emblem: Shadows of Valentia - Rise of the Deliverance (2017) Completed (June 29th)

-Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: World of Light (2018) Completed (August 20th)

-Dragon Quest III (1988) Beat (September 9th)

-Garou: Mark of the Wolves (1999) No Goal (October 2nd)

-Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) Mega Play (October 3rd)

-Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection (2017) No Goal (October 8th)

-Detention (2017) Completed (October 31st)

-Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice (2016) Completed (November 7th)

-Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018) Completed (November 11th)

-Kirby's Dream Land 3 (1997) Completed (November 16th)

 

Currently Playing:

-Fire Emblem: Three Houses

-Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

 

Dropped/Hiatus

-Tetris 99 (2019) Never won

-Super Mario Bros. DX (1999) Bad port

-Fire Emblem Awakening (2012) Hiatus

-Fire Emblem Heroes (2017) Need a heavy break

Edited by Jonnas
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My Slay the Spire Ascension continues.

Managed to beat Ascension 3 (i.e. more Elites, deadlier Elites and deadlier normal enemies) with The Ironclad and The Silent. I struggle a lot with the latter. It's such a difficult character to build your deck with, in my opinion. But once it clicks for that run it's beautiful. Now on to Ascension 3 with The Defect and then it's only 16 more difficulties with each character to go. :D 

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Death Stranding has been completed :peace: (thoughts in the dedicated thread)

Diablo 3's newest season has started yesterday, so a mate and I will definitely get on that very soon :D 
Slay the Spire is still going strong. I'm getting better and better but still get my ass kicked. GOTY contender (even though it's been out for 2 years on PC).
Civilization VI...I played the tutorial and I really want to start a proper game. But I'm also afraid, because the "one-more-turn-syndrome" will kick in right from the start and I will never leave my house ever again :laughing: 

Anyway, I'm set for the year with these three games, but I also want to give one or two indie games a try. I'm hoping for a Christmal deal for The Messenger and Streets of Rogue.

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On 23.11.2019 at 12:31 PM, drahkon said:

Diablo 3's newest season has started yesterday, so a mate and I will definitely get on that very soon :D 

Aaaaand I've completed everything :laughing: 
Diablo 3 is a game I can play for a couple days, focus on one character and get all the gear required for a certain build to wreck everything. It's always a blast.

Looting is awesome, which is why I've devided to buy Borderlands 3 as it's been on sale this week. Here's hoping my mate will get his copy today so we can start this together :peace: 

Haven't played much aside from Diablo 3 these past few days. Started a game of Civilization VI and I'm trying to wrap my head around all the mechanics. Not as easy as it used to be.
Decided to go for a "Religion Win" after a few rounds, which is kind of weird to me, because I'm an atheist and I hate religions trying to convert the entire world. But, I'll try my best to do it in this game. :D 
By the way, the religion I founded is called "Atheism". :p 

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13 minutes ago, drahkon said:

Looting is awesome, which is why I've devided to buy Borderlands 3 as it's been on sale this week. Here's hoping my mate will get his copy today so we can start this together :peace: 

Borderlands is such a good co-op game. Playing the original with 3 of my mates back in the 360 days was an absolute joy. I have so many good memories from the sessions we had on it.

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