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drahkon

Your Gaming Diary 2022

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Halloween is not just about scary monsters but is also about dressing up in costumes and masks. With that being the case, my next October game was one that featured a character who wears masks a lot. Nope, it ain't Majora's Mask but...

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This is another game that has been on my backlog for a while. I picked it up ages ago when both games were on sale for something stupid like £3. I did fire it up a year or so back but I wasn't feeling it and it went back on the backlog but with me needing another game for my month of Halloween/October inspired games, now was the time.

It took a fair bit of time to get used to the game and how to play it. At the start, I was trying to play it slowly but this wasn't really working out, especially when stages started filling up with lots of enemies with guns. It was also quite difficult at the start due to not having any masks at my disposal. The masks give you different powers, such as being able to kill an enemy with a single punch of most weapons showing up in the levels. I eventually unlocked a mask that allowed me to kill enemies by opening doors on them. On paper this doesn't sound very good but when you start getting into the habit of luring enemies into doorways and then slamming the door into their face it all makes sense. :D 

The top down combat was fun but aiming with the guns was a bit fiddly. When I did have a weapon that fired quickly it was like I was a kid again, playing Smash TV in the arcades at Blackpool whilst on holiday. I used the guns a lot during the first half of the game but then came to the realisation that melee weapons were a far better option. Using a gun tends to alert other enemies in the area. This can sometimes be beneficial because you can funnel them all into a corridor and take them out in a few shots but a lot of the time you end up getting overwhelmed. You can get a mask that supresses the sound of a gun a little but I didn't find it that helpful at all. 

I wasn't keen on the art style used in the game. I kinda get what they were going for and it fits well with the dark world they have built and narrative they are trying to tell but it was too rough looking for my tastes. Saying that, there is a simplicity to it all that I can appreciate. 

In terms of the trophies, most of them are pretty straight forward, with things such as using all the weapons, using certain masks in certain situations and completing each of the levels. The platinum killer for a lot of people is the trophy which requires you to get an A+ rank on each of the stages. This is where you really need to look at your play style and then decide which of the masks will suit you. Personally, I went with the mask that keeps the combo meter going for longer. I then chose to use melee weapons and run around the stages as fast as I could in order to get the largest combo possible. Once I found a good route on a stage it was just a question of executing it perfectly. Once I got into the swing of things it wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. I sorta started to reach a zen like state with certain levels, running around the stages perfectly and gaining the rank I needed. Very satisfying.

I really enjoyed my time with the game and it was nice to play an indie game that lived up to the hype. So many of them fall short of the praise they are given by others by with this game I think it is worthy of the high scores given to it. 

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1 hour ago, Hero-of-Time said:

So many of them fall short of the praise they are given by others by with this game I think it is worthy of the high scores given to it. 

Agree.
It's one of the reason why I haven't played as many indie games in the last 2-3 years as I had before. 
One game that I reeeeaaaally want to give a go, though, is Tunic. It's a tad expensive for me, right now, but eventually I'll get to it. Hopefully this is a game that got rightfully praised :D 

For whatever reason I'm surprised you enjoyed Hotline Miami. No idea why, but I thought this wouldn't be up your alley. Glad to be proven wrong. It's a hell of a good game :peace: 

Edited by drahkon
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Yeah, Tunic is one that also have my eye on. I'm happy enough to wait for a sale though. I've got far too many other games I want to play first that are sat in my backlog.

With only a couple of months left in the year, I think I've come to the conclusion that I won't meet all my goals that I set out for myself. I still need to play through The Witcher 3, Judgment and a couple of Shantae games. I started Judgment last month but just wasn't feeling it and so dropped it, which also voids my challenge of getting Platinum on every game I play. I was doing so well as well. :( As for the Shantae games, they just refuse to go on sale again on the PS4. It happened once this year but never again. Also, the original game has still yet to hit PSN. They announced it ages ago.

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51 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

With only a couple of months left in the year, I think I've come to the conclusion that I won't meet all my goals that I set out for myself.

You already had an incredible year of gaming, though. :bowdown: 

 

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one-piece-pirate-warriors-3-pc-spiel-ste

It's a musou game in the One Piece universe. Fun, but repetitive. I don't regret the 4€ I spent for it, but one playthrough is all I need. :D 

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On 16/10/2022 at 10:12 PM, nekunando said:

 

 

 

Now that's a blast from the past! Not one I personally played, but a friend was pretty into it back in the day.

Anyway, what have I been playing in October?

Castlevania II: Simon's Quest

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What a horrible game in which to have a curse

I barely played this for more than 10 minutes. It was on the Castlevania Classic Collection, and the only title from it I had never finished, so I gave it a whirl.

You can guess I didn't like it. As if the cryptic clues and mechanics weren't bad enough (I actually reached the place I was supposed to be very easily, but I had no idea I had to use the white crystal. They didn't actually tell me what it did), this game is just... boring!

In the original Castlevania, Simon walks slowly because it fits the intricate level design, and the various foes you meet throughout that game, but importing that directly to an exploration-based game (this is a Zelda II style Metroidvania, in case you didn't know), it's just unbearable, I couldn't stand to explore any nook OR cranny.

Plus, so many simple enemies that I could just kill with a coupe of whip swings. Nothing engaging here. And the icing on the cake was the day/night system that does nothing but delay whatever I wanted to do (since I can't talk to NPCs during the night) and increase the hit points of enemies without actually making them harder.

At least the music is still great.

The curious thing is that... a lot of people have fond memories of this game, regardless. They liked the sense of dread it gave them back then, and they were legitimately intrigued by the open world. I wonder, did this game just age like milk, or was it just the sheer lack of options? Food for thought.

I was sad that this was all the Castlevania I had left to play... but then @Hero-of-Time gave me an idea.

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
Richter Mode

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I brought everything except the coffin, as Drac already had one

Despite really liking Portrait of Ruin, I never really played its bonus modes. True enough, it's something I never really do, besides that one time I did Julius Mode in Aria of Sorrow. But this time, I decided to quickly revisit this underrated entry this way. I specifically picked Richter&Maria Mode (instead of the Sisters Mode) partly because I've been using the Belmonts a lot lately in Smash, partly because I really just wanted to properly whip some enemies.

And yeah, it's a cool experience. Richter can't equip armour nor use healing items, but in turn, he hits extra hard and carries the traditional Belmont arsenal at all times. Furthermore, he tag teams with Maria Renard, who can summon a bevy of animal friends to attack. Maria acts as the "frail, powerful mage" of the group, while Richter has better mobility and physical prowess (this game distinguishes between physical and magical damage, you see). Both of them feel like glass cannons, at any rate.

The playthrough felt like an extra long traditional Castlevania, considering how easily I could die (and often did). It helps that I played on Hard Mode. The boss fights felt very different this way, with the likes of Legion and Dullahan (or even certain regular enemies) becoming much harder. And somehow, Dracula was still the toughest beast on the block, as it should be.

Won't do the Nest of Evil, though. I need to find all of the secret rooms to unlock it, and I won't do that obnoxious activity in a mode where I can't check map percentages.

On a side-note, I'd like to say, the writing/plot for PoR is actually pretty serious and somewhat dour, but the entire tone of the rest of the game is the silliest thing! There's enemy clowns, succubi who yell "Come hither!", a headless skeleton called Yorick... Heck, the main villain is motivated by the tragic grief of losing his innocent family to WWI, but then you fight him and he's all Jojo poses and "A PAINTING OF THE SOUL!". It's wild.

  My 2022 log (Hide contents)

Played/Beat/Completed:

-Steamworld Dig 2 (2017) Completed (January 6th)

-Bit.Trip Saga (2009-2011) No Goal (January 15th)

-Ever Oasis (2017) Beat (February 25th)

-Guilty Gear (1998) No Goal (March 19th)

-Flashback (1992) Completed (March 19th)

-Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R (2002-2012) Beat (March 30th)

-Defenders of Oasis (1992) Completed (April 20th)

-Katamari Damacy (2004) Completed (April 27th)

-Donkey Kong Land (1995) Beat (April 29th)

-Donkey Kong Land 2 (1996) Beat (May 11th)

-Donkey Kong Land III (1997) Completed (May 28th)

-Skullgirls (2012) Beat (May 29th)

-Super Punch Patrol (2020) Beat (August 10th)

-Final Fight (1989) Completed (August 18th)

-Streets of Rage (1991) Completed (September 18th)

-Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call (2014) Beat (October 1st)

-Puzzle Bobble (1994) Completed (October 5th)

 

Replays:

-Kirby's Dream Land 2 (1995) (March 20th)

-Wario Land 3 (2000) (April 15th)

-King of Fighters '98 (1998) (June 30th)

-Chiki Chiki Boys (1990) (August 8th)

-Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (2006) [Richter Mode] (October 14th)

 

Dropped:

-Dicey Dungeons (2019) (January 3rd)

-The Room (2012) (January 8th)

-This War of Mine (2014) (March 18th)

-Virtua Fighter 2 (Mega Drive) (1996) (April 24th)

-1943: The Battle of Midway (1987) (August 3rd)

-SonSon (1987) (August 8th)

-Strider (1989) (August 9th)

-Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (1987) (October 6th)

There will be more spooky games in October, hopefully.

Edited by Jonnas
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Mario Party Superstars (Switch)
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Having grown up on the N64 Mario Party games, it felt good to return to many of the classic mini games I recognised.

100 of them may sound a lot, and even though they’re the better ones from previous games and ditched any motion controlled ones, the familiarity with so many of them (even though I admittedly haven’t played Mario Party 5-10) meant I was left wanting more.

5 boards didn’t feel enough either, especially as a couple are quite basic.

It’s probably one of the better Mario Party games, taking the most popular parts of previous games and including online play.

I do feel greedy, but it feels as though they’ve included the bare minimum of what they needed to, and unless any DLC suddenly appears then I’m left wishing there was more!

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Another spooky game done and dusted.

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This time last year I played through the original Little Nightmares + DLC for the first time. I absolutely loved the game and it ended up being one of my favourite games of last year. I decided to wait until this October to play the sequel and that's exactly what I've done. I'm happy to report that I loved the sequel as well. I think I would give the edge to the original game, especially if you add the DLC to it but both games are well worth playing.

I love how the game manages to balance different types of horror styles. You have the in your face, horrific looking enemies that usually chase you and scare the hell out of you but then you also have the style that manages to create a sense of tension and uneasiness by using very little. It's very well done. For example...

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The above pictures are pretty messed up but the following ones are more subtle and have a hint of sadness about them.

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Despite being dark and gloomy, the game sometimes does pull off some lovely looking shots.

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Like the original game, this also offers some fantastic puzzle platforming gameplay. There is never anything too taxing to stump the gamer but instead there is just enough challenge to get a sense of satisfaction from solving something without getting frustrated and your progress being halted. You'll be grabbing keys, fending off enemies, running for your life and figuring out ways of out foxing the bigger foes. All of this takes place in 5 stages and none of them overstay their welcome. Some of these stages are quite unsettling and are standard for horror type games. The hospital and school levels are two such levels but they have been crafted very well here.

The narrative is also worth mentioning. The game does so well to get things across without having any kind of dialogue. Certain things are up to interpretation and that makes for some interesting discussions and reading online. As soon as I finished the game I headed online to see what other people thought of the story. My thoughts lined up with many others but it was nice reading other people's theories in how the game links up to the original game.

As I said, the first game was one of my favs from last year and the sequel has managed to do the same thing. It's always nice to play a game that has no padding or bloat (lasts about 5-6 hours) and instead the developers have designed a well crafted game that doesn't overstay its welcome or try to lengthen things out. They clearly had a vision for this game and have executed it stupidly well. Both the original and sequel are often on sale on PSN and the eShop and I highly recommend picking them if you are after a top tier puzzle platforming game.

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33 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

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NO, THANK YOU!

Do I really want to play the first game now...? :p 

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10 hours ago, drahkon said:

NO, THANK YOU!

Do I really want to play the first game now...? :p 

To be fair, this is probably the most freakiest thing out of both of the games. Proper nightmare fuel.

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1 hour ago, Hero-of-Time said:

To be fair, this is probably the most freakiest thing out of both of the games. Proper nightmare fuel.

Alright...

I'm still gonna play the first game only during daylight :p 

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Spooky Season continued with these next 2 games.

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This is yet another game that I've had on the backlog for a long time. The game is very much made for people who grew up in the 80's. The references from that era come thick and fast and I appreciated each and everyone of them. Indiana Jones, Back to the Future, Ghostbusters, Poltergeist, ET, Stand by Me....all of the big movies from that era get a look in. Even Metal Gear gets a nod, with a trophy being made available for those who find the box.

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You start the game out controlling one character but as you progress throughout you will pick up more. Each of them have a unique ability to use. The main character can jump, another is the best fighter, while one of the others can hover. I'm not sure why only one of the characters can jump but here we are. I often found that a couple of the characters were pretty useless and the sections where you needed to use them a lot of the time felt forced. 

The story revolves around the team finding a device that allows them to communicate and see dead people. You use said device to tackle puzzles and combat enemy spirits. This gathers the attention of the military and it's up to the kids to figure out the secrets of the device and save their parents before the military captures them. It's very much an 80's movie narrative but it was still enjoyable enough.

 

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I'm quite proud of this one. I love the Devil May Cry series but i've never been any good at them. I usually just put the games on easy difficulty and button bash my way to victory. This time around I decided to sit down with the game, learn the combo system and essentially git gud. 

With this being a Western reboot of the series, I never really paid it much attention on its release and was quite happy to leave it by the wayside. However, I needed another game for spooky season and so I decided to pick it up and give it a go. I was very surprised how well it plays. It's not the god tier gameplay of DMC3 but it's still pretty good. Everything feels very fast and juggling combos and switching styles is very smooth. The two grappling mechanics are also great and using these both in combos adds yet another layer on top of all the other styles that are on offer. Ninja Theory done a very good job of making the game feel like a DMC game made by Capcom themselves.

The one thing that the game does fail at is the characters and narrative. The versions of Vergil and Dante in this game are no way near as good as the original ones, especially Vergil. When the game was first announced Ninja Theory got a lot of flak for making Dante too edgy. They did scale it back before its release but they still could have gone a little further with it. Kat is a decent enough addition to the team but pales in comparison to someone like Lady or Trish. As for the big boss, he's essentially Kingpin from the Marvel universe except he's got  a demon form. 

For the platinum, there are some killer trophies to earn. You have to complete the game and Vergil DLC three times each, with each play through being harder than the last. You also have to SSS rank 15 missions in total and complete the game with the hardcore setting active which makes a hard game even harder. All of this took some doing, with lots of practice and repetition being needed, especially for the SSS ranks.

 

I doubt that I will start and finish another game before Halloween and with these two games done, that is also the end of my spooky games. See you all next year. :D 

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Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle (Switch)
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Playing the original Mario + Rabbids game and it really is the surprise that many others exclaimed it was.

Thankfully UbiSoft have avoided the mistakes other developers have made when taking a popular gaming mascot and giving them a firearm *cough* Shadow *cough*. The over-the-top weaponary suits the game’s aesthetic.

The battles are fun, the block puzzles inbetween do feel more for padding, and the ‘eccentric’ humour of the Rabbid cosplayers thankfully doesn’t really interfere with gameplay.

It didn’t quite feel as polished as a first party Mario game, with a few graphical glitches, but I thought it was solid and much more enjoyable than I thought it would be! It has made me more interested in Sparks of Hope.

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Happy belated Halloween, everybody!

I had a few spooky games saved to play on Halloween, but as I was trimming through my wishlist a few weeks back, I found out there was a Horror Bundle for Switch (I think it was literally called that) for 0,99€ that contained two short Indie games, both in the style of PS1 graphics:

Fatum Betula

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Trust me, there's no picture that properly illustrates this game

An indie game literally made to look like a PS1 game from 1995, down to save files, and low-resolution jpegs for menus. It's a first-person adventure game (specifically of the point&click variety) and that's pretty much everything that's obvious.

One of the most cryptic games I played in years, this game holds no hands whatsoever. It doesn't point you in any direction, it doesn't state any endgoals, it doesn't tell you what's interactive and what's not... It's just a small sandbox where you can try to interact with objects and NPCs in various ways that may or may not make intuitive sense. So it does feel exactly like a game from 1995.

Ambience-wise, it's aiming for bizarre horror. So bizarre that it's unsettling. It's an irrational world with self-contained logic, and its aim is more about filling you with existential dread than actually... scare you.

Ultimately, it wasn't a good game to play on Halloween itself, because it bases itself so much in exploration and experimentation, and all I wanted was a more linear experience. The game is quite short (I unlocked two endings in a couple of hours), but it's not about reaching the ending, it's about immersing yourself into this bizarre world and soaking all of its creepy retro tapestries.

If I had to describe it in a sentence, I'd say it's like... PS1 creepy-pasta structured like Stanley's Parable. If I had to describe it in two, I'd also mention that its creator (Bryce Bucher) was aiming to recreate his first experience with Majora's Mask at the age of 6, from memory alone.

I'll leave it on the backburner for now, I think I might occasionally revisit this some time later, to explore its intricacies more carefully, outside of the constraints of a thematic holiday.

Paratopic

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Don't call me friendo, mate

Did I want a more linear experience? I got it. Paratopic feels like a very bizarre indie short film. The sort that's clearly inspired by Pulp Fiction, Blair Witch Project, The Ring, and other late 90s references.

It's a series of disconnected and non-linear vignettes where gameplay is a formality. You jump from scene to scene and from perspective to perspective very quickly (with insanely abrupt cuts, too), as it tells you a bizarre story of a VHS smuggler, a hitman, and a... journalist (?) each being witness to disturbing paranormal events. The retro 3D look is here to better bring you to the uncanny, absurd valley.

While intriguing and fast-paced in the first half, the game slows down to a crawl in the second half as you sloooowly walk and drive from place to place with nothing of note happening. I legitimately almost fell asleep during this part, and I beat the game in less than an hour. I figure that maybe (and that's a huge maybe), this slow segment is more engaging in a system with achievements, because at least you're led to believe that looking at weird places will unlock something.

It's definitely a disturbing experience. One that's sadly undercut by its dreadful second half.

After being disappointed twice on the Switch, I went for one of the titles I previously had on reserve.

Distraint 2

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Did this person've a not so superb bladder?

So this series had to pull me back in. I had my fun with the first game a couple of years back, and I just couldn't resist going for the sequel on GOG.

It's much like the first one. The horror setpieces are well executed, and it manages to stay creepy as shit, even in the game's narmiest moments.

Gameplay-wise, most of the puzzles have been streamlined to be much simpler than the first game's. On one hand, this allows the game to have a faster pace, while on the other, it makes certain events more predictable than before. I guess the game's pretty short (only a couple of hours), so this was likely intentional from Jesse Makkonen.

Story-wise... less ridiculous than before. The general themes of the story can feel simplistic at times, but nothing as goofy as the capitalist metaphors from the first game. Plus, the dialogue's better written this time around, less cheese overall.

Ultimately, Distraint 2 is something a bit more decent and inoffensive than the first one, with the downside of it losing some of its unique charm... thankfully not completely, at least. I'd say it's still just about as good as the first one was.

Since I knew what I was getting into, this made for a better Halloween game than the others. So that was nice.

  My 2022 log (Hide contents)

Played/Beat/Completed:

-Steamworld Dig 2 (2017) Completed (January 6th)

-Bit.Trip Saga (2009-2011) No Goal (January 15th)

-Ever Oasis (2017) Beat (February 25th)

-Guilty Gear (1998) No Goal (March 19th)

-Flashback (1992) Completed (March 19th)

-Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R (2002-2012) Beat (March 30th)

-Defenders of Oasis (1992) Completed (April 20th)

-Katamari Damacy (2004) Completed (April 27th)

-Donkey Kong Land (1995) Beat (April 29th)

-Donkey Kong Land 2 (1996) Beat (May 11th)

-Donkey Kong Land III (1997) Completed (May 28th)

-Skullgirls (2012) Beat (May 29th)

-Super Punch Patrol (2020) Beat (August 10th)

-Final Fight (1989) Completed (August 18th)

-Streets of Rage (1991) Completed (September 18th)

-Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call (2014) Beat (October 1st)

-Puzzle Bobble (1994) Completed (October 5th)

-Fatum Betula (2020) Beat (October 31st)

-Paratopic (2018) Completed (October 31st)

-Distraint 2 (2018) Completed (November 1st)

 

Replays:

-Kirby's Dream Land 2 (1995) (March 20th)

-Wario Land 3 (2000) (April 15th)

-King of Fighters '98 (1998) (June 30th)

-Chiki Chiki Boys (1990) (August 8th)

-Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (2006) [Richter Mode] (October 14th)

 

Dropped:

-Dicey Dungeons (2019) (January 3rd)

-The Room (2012) (January 8th)

-This War of Mine (2014) (March 18th)

-Virtua Fighter 2 (Mega Drive) (1996) (April 24th)

-1943: The Battle of Midway (1987) (August 3rd)

-SonSon (1987) (August 8th)

-Strider (1989) (August 9th)

-Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (1987) (October 6th)

I'm still finishing some other spooky games I started in October. Fitting for the cold nights that have finally arrived.

Edited by Jonnas
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I started off October by playing a game that's been on my list for a while, Metal Gear Rising: Revengence on the PS3. For some reason I had it in my mind that it took about 20 hrs to complete so I was surprised when I checked just before starting it to discover it was far shorter - taking most people about 8 hrs to finish. I've played a few of Platinum's other titles so the quite restricted camera and movement was a bit unnerving to begin with, Raiden moves swiftly enough during combat (and in exploration when you can engage the ninja run) but the game frequently slows things down to a crawl during exposition which seems completely out of character and I didn't get used to it at all. In terms of story it was about what I expected - completely batshit insane, some things didn't quite make sense but I liked that World Marshall abducted orphans to harvest their brains in order to create cyborg soldiers, giving Raiden a compelling reason to take them down. I never quite clicked with the combat so I'm not sure how sophisticated or multilayered it is, I seemed to get by with button mashing for most of it (much more so than I did with any other Platinum game) and it was only really during the final boss that I hit a brick wall. It was such a step up in terms of difficulty from the rest of the game, it didn't seem like I was making any inroads at all and it was only by using a set of DLC armor with a bunch of extra recovery items that I was finally able to defeat them. There are some greats nods to the wider Metal Gear series, most notably the reappearance of a particular character from MGS4, but it feels even more detached from reality than the mainline series and functions more as a thrill ride than a narrative experience. I certainly enjoyed my time with the game but it wasn't quite the revelation I'd thought it was going to be, it's a solid effort but it didn't have the same depth or impact for me as Platinum's other games - I might revisit it one day and connect with the combat more than I did this time but for the moment I'm happy to leave it behind and move onto other games.

One of the systems I wanted to play more of after getting a Retroid Pocket 2 was GBA so I decided to revisit a title I had fond memories of from my youth, the GBA port of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2. My brother got it at launch and I played it to death, constantly racking up high scores, so I was surprised by how awkward it was to play when I first fired it up again recently - the isometric viewpoint takes some getting used to, making it a challenge to navigate the levels and gather collectables. I was so clumsy to begin with, really struggling to pull off combos of more than a couple of basic tricks, but eventually I started to get the hang of things and work my way through each of the levels goals. I'd forgotten how frustrating it is in the early stages of Tony Hawk games, the skater's stats are so borked at the beginning that it can really screw up the learning curve, it isn't until you've earned some money and upgraded things like ollie, air, hangtime that you start to feel more capable, making learning easier as you go on. I wouldn't say I exactly loved my time playing through it again but I did still enjoy it enough to very nearly 100% - I think I was only one goal short, that secret tape on New York City was always just out of reach. I can't say I expected to love it as much as I did when I was a teenager but I was hoping it would stir up some of the same feelings, at least I know Tony Hawk 3 & 4 on PS2 still hold the same magic. 

Next up was another long overdue title, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. In terms of mainline Zelda games it was the only one I hadn't completed, I'd played it a few times on various systems but could never get very far - put off by the difficulty and how completely unfamiliar it was - so I thought it was high time I finally laid those ghosts to rest. Thanks to the Switch online's rewind function it definitely felt less daunting this time around, I still wasn't really sure where to go but I at least felt like I was making progress, levelling up as I blindly explored this iteration of Hyrule. The pseudo random encounters are pretty out of character for the series and at times feel unavoidable, no matter how much you move around one of them seems to catch up to you eventually. Visually it isn't exactly nice to look at, I suppose the side scrolling sections are a step up from the first game, with larger sprites and more detail, but there are so many strange angles inside buildings that just look amateurish nowadays. I was surprised by the depth of the gameplay though, the map is much more sprawling than I expected it to be, progression can be cryptic and obtuse at times (I don't mind admitting that I had to look quite a few things up) but it all adds up to create one of the most comprehensive NES games I've played. The RPG systems aren't the deepest, pretty much pointing you to which attributes to upgrade, but they add a flavour that is unique in the series, even when you're repeating the same screens over and over trying to work out where to go next it doesn't feel like time wasted - you're still earning experience points and building up Link's strength. Like Metal Gear Rising though I struggled to really connect with the combat, controlling Link obviously isn't anywhere near as versatile as controlling Raiden but with some of the later bosses I really struggled to work out their patterns, making me resort to using rewind more than seemed fair, so rather than feel like I conquered the final boss it felt more like I'd fudged my way through it. I think one of the reasons I left Zelda II for last was because I expected it to be a bad game, one that would be a real chore to play through, so I'm glad to have been proven wrong on that point. It certainly isn't the greatest Zelda game ever made but it's still one that's worth persevering with, especially with the additional QOL features that emulation affords, it's a strange, unique and ultimately rewarding entry in the long running series that I can safely say I'll look back on fondly from now on.

Getting the Halloween mood, I intended to close out October by playing through Deadly Premontion 2: A Blessing In Disguise on Switch. As I documented last year I'm something of a recent convert to Swery65's work, moved by The Missing and engrossed by the clumsy charm of Deadly Premonition Origins, so I was really looking forward to playing another entry in his gameography. I was aware that DP2 had divided opinion in a similar fashion to the first game, critics unable to overlook glaring technical issues and awkward design choices, but even with tempered expectations first impressions of the open world were rough to say the least. There is so much pop-in while skating around Le Carre, so many hitches in the framerate, that it was impossible to ignore it - it made exploring the town an incredibly disorienting experience at first, but the real problems came when I first encountered enemies. The engine seemed to stutter for a full second when I aimed York's gun, making combat feel even more sluggish, I'm not really one for complaining about framerate or resolution, I can generally overlook some jank and still enjoy a game, but I wasn't sure I'd be able to overlook it this time if the issues were so glaring throughout. In terms of the story DP2 functions as both a sequel and a prequel to the first game, jumping between present day (2019) where a now retired Morgan is being questioned by two FBI agents about a case he worked in 2005, a series of gruesome murders in the quiet Louisiana town of Le Carre. There was thankfully enough intrigue from early on in the narrative that I was able to push past the technical problems and begin to engage with the gameplay and once I combat encounters towards the end of the first episode I was relieved to discover that the hitches in performance were nowhere near as impactful as I had feared. 

As the story unfolded and the mystery unravelled I found myself getting more and more engrossed, perhaps more captivated than I was by the first game. Some of the performances are fantastic, even if the dialogue can be stilted at times, there were still some incredibly touching and beautiful moments. Besides the glaring technical problems my main complaint with the design is how much padding there is, there is no need for the story to take 20 hrs to complete - it would have benefitted hugely by being 5 or 6 hours shorter - an issue that isn't helped by the implementation of yet another empty open world. It would also be remiss of me not to mention the use of backwards and disappointing tropes around trans, overweight and mentally challenged characters, something that is particularly frustrating given that Swery himself showed how to sensitively handle representation in The Missing. Still, those very real problems aside, DP2 is as goofy and engrossing as the first game, with Swery managing to deliver a fresh take on the formula he established with the 2010 original - I hope we see more from the series in the future.

I finished Deadly Premontion sooner than expected so there was just enough time to squeeze in a short one before the month was out so I fired up Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters on my Retroid Pocket 2. I played the original NES game towards the end of 2016 and didn't really feel like I clicked with it, it suffered from familiar 8-bit problems in that it seemed unforgiving and unfair - a proof of concept that was a little rough around the edges - so I was pleased to discover that the GB follow-up is more of a complete package. Visually it's a huge step up while the levels are larger and more freely explorable, offering continuous scrolling rather than the more limited screen-based levels of the first game. Although it wasn't quite as challenging as the first game I still found myself relying on rewind during some of the later boss fights (the final boss especially) but my main criticism is with how much HP the bosses had - it could be my fault, I only used Pit's standard bow - they took an absolute age to defeat, real arrow sponges they were. Again, not the most revelatory experience but it definitely felt like a solid, natural progression for the series to take, it's strange that Nintendo never revisited the series on the SNES or GBA, it seems like it had a lot of potential to be a mainstay among Nintendo's line up - will definitely check out Uprising at some point down the line.

Currently enjoying the latest witch hunts in Bayonetta 3 which I should finish this weekend so hopefully I can squeeze in another short one before God of War arrives next week.

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I'm also closing in on the end of Yoshi's Crafted World with "just" the final two boss battles to go.

I suspect it may take some time 😅

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The original God of War hasn't aged that well. It's pretty rough in comparison to the rest of the series. As for being a button mashing game, it mirrors the likes of DMC, Bayonetta and any other character action game really in that you can easily get by hammering away at buttons but once you start raising the difficulty, that's when the high end combos and blocking come into play. There's certainly satisfaction that comes from that but I suck at the genre and will happily button mash my way to victory. :D 

I've not played Yoshi's Crafted World since it's release but doesn't the last boss battle require you to not get hit in order to get 100%? I definitely finished it 100% but I can't fully remember what the requirements were for the last fight. I'll have to have a read through the thread again and see if I mention it in there.

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19 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

I've not played Yoshi's Crafted World since it's release but doesn't the last boss battle require you to not get hit in order to get 100%? I definitely finished it 100% but I can't fully remember what the requirements were for the last fight. I'll have to have a read through the thread again and see if I mention it in there.

I haven't even entered the unlockable final battle yet but I would assume there will be the requirement to take zero damage, a strict timit limit and specific challenge for that boss fight. They've all followed that pattern!

Getting some of the fights done in the required time has been very challenging in earlier stages so I'm expecting plenty of pain at the end here!

The Baby Bowser time limit is 4 minutes 30 seconds so I envisage some irritation in the likelihood of having to repeat that a large number of times with that sort of length!

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Ah, now I remember it! Yeah, landing those punches was a right pain in the backside. It took me a fair few attempts in order to get under the par time.

How do you rank the game now, @nekunando? Do you still prefer Woolly World or has this now taken the crown?

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6 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Ah, now I remember it! Yeah, landing those punches was a right pain in the backside. It took me a fair few attempts in order to get under the par time.

How do you rank the game now, @nekunando? Do you still prefer Woolly World or has this now taken the crown?

I honestly have no idea 😅

Over the last few weeks, Crafted World has just become my relaxing go-to game when I've been able to get minute or two late at night. I'm usually way too tired to try to play anything else, sadly!

I never went back to do everything in Woolly World, despite really enjoying it, but since I picked it up on 3DS on sale in the last year or two, maybe I'll do that eventually.. though definitely not right now!

Anyway, as great as Crafted World is, it definitely takes the cake a bit with just how many times you need to go back through each stage to find everything. It's highlighted further when you start to notice stuff that you know will be wanted by Sprout at some point but you can't just check it off there and then until he specifically asks for it.

On the flip side, the game is great at helping you keep track of what you have collected throughout and also allows you to exit out of a stage as soon as you find what you were looking for!

I got over 40 hours out of Crafted World in the end and I don't regret any of it :hehe: I'm definitely looking forward to giving something different some attention now, though, as I feel like the list of games I want and need to play on Switch is a little out of control now!

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15 hours ago, nekunando said:

I honestly have no idea 😅

Over the last few weeks, Crafted World has just become my relaxing go-to game when I've been able to get minute or two late at night. I'm usually way too tired to try to play anything else, sadly!

I never went back to do everything in Woolly World, despite really enjoying it, but since I picked it up on 3DS on sale in the last year or two, maybe I'll do that eventually.. though definitely not right now!

Anyway, as great as Crafted World is, it definitely takes the cake a bit with just how many times you need to go back through each stage to find everything. It's highlighted further when you start to notice stuff that you know will be wanted by Sprout at some point but you can't just check it off there and then until he specifically asks for it.

On the flip side, the game is great at helping you keep track of what you have collected throughout and also allows you to exit out of a stage as soon as you find what you were looking for!

I got over 40 hours out of Crafted World in the end and I don't regret any of it :hehe: I'm definitely looking forward to giving something different some attention now, though, as I feel like the list of games I want and need to play on Switch is a little out of control now!

I checked the Crafted World thread and my thoughts were similar to yours. I loved the game but found there was a lot of padding to it but had you not participated in trying to get 100%, the experience would have been very short.

The Switch could do with another Nintendo made platformer that isn't Kirby. It probably isn't but it feels ages since we last got one.

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6 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said:

I checked the Crafted World thread and my thoughts were similar to yours. I loved the game but found there was a lot of padding to it but had you not participated in trying to get 100%, the experience would have been very short.

The Switch could do with another Nintendo made platformer that isn't Kirby. It probably isn't but it feels ages since we last got one.

I'd be happy with a port of Woolly World or even Shake Dimension at this point though I do wonder when the next 2D Mario game might make an appearance. I'd expect a big 3D Mario to release close to the film but which may delay that eventuality. Who knows..? 😅

I still have stuff to do in Tropical Freeze so I suspect I'll try to go back and get everything in that at some point soon but I have barely even started Forgotten World or Star Allies so dear only knows when I'll get around to playing any of them!

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11 minutes ago, nekunando said:

I'd be happy with a port of Woolly World or even Shake Dimension at this point though I do wonder when the next 2D Mario game might make an appearance. I'd expect a big 3D Mario to release close to the film but which may delay that eventuality. Who knows..? 😅

I still have stuff to do in Tropical Freeze so I suspect I'll try to go back and get everything in that at some point soon but I have barely even started Forgotten World or Star Allies so dear only knows when I'll get around to playing any of them!

I'd definitely give priority to Forgotten World over Star Allies. I enjoyed them both but FW is easily the better of the two. 

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