Hero-of-Time Posted August 21 Posted August 21 I've recently been playing Exoprimal. I picked it up from Amazon as they were selling it for a tenner and it's been well worth the money. I've been wanting to play it for a while now and with the game's content over and done with, I figured I best get on it now before the player base dies off completely and the servers shut. I remember @RedShell enjoying his time on it last year and my experience has mirrored his. It's so much fun to play. With it being a run and gun type shooter, it's a great game to play after a hard day at work, no need to think, just point and shoot at wave after wave of dinosaurs. I'm still working my way through the story and I've yet to settle on a character. I do enjoy using the class that has a sword as it's very satisfying going to town of hordes of enemies, as seen in this amazing set piece. Very much enjoying my time with the game and one that I will be playing for a while in between other stuff due to one of the trophies requiring me to kill 100,000 dinos. Speaking of trophies, for some reason they are all in Japanese. Apparently this is a bug that Capcom never fixed with both PS trophies and Xbox achievements. It's a bit of a nightmare seeing what i've unlocked and what I need to do for my next trophy. 4
RedShell Posted August 21 Posted August 21 Glad to hear you're enjoying Exoprimal @Hero-of-Time! Is the crossover stuff still available? Not sure if it was a rotational thing or not, but the last time I played the game there was a Monster Hunter event going on where you got to take on a Rathalos!
Hero-of-Time Posted August 21 Posted August 21 16 minutes ago, RedShell said: Glad to hear you're enjoying Exoprimal @Hero-of-Time! Is the crossover stuff still available? Not sure if it was a rotational thing or not, but the last time I played the game there was a Monster Hunter event going on where you got to take on a Rathalos! Yeah, all the seasonal content rotates now. So stuff like the Monster Hunter and Mega Man events are still available, it's just a question of playing at the right time. I forgot to mention that I had to bite the bullet and create a Capcom ID for this. I've been avoiding doing it for as long as I could but figured Monster Hunter Wilds will most certainly need one and so went ahead with it. At least I'll be able to play Street Fighter VI now.
RedShell Posted August 21 Posted August 21 58 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said: Yeah, all the seasonal content rotates now. So stuff like the Monster Hunter and Mega Man events are still available, it's just a question of playing at the right time. Cool. 👍 58 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said: I forgot to mention that I had to bite the bullet and create a Capcom ID for this. I've been avoiding doing it for as long as I could but figured Monster Hunter Wilds will most certainly need one and so went ahead with it. At least I'll be able to play Street Fighter VI now. I wasn't too keen on this Capcom ID malarkey either. But as you say, it's likely to be a requirement for most (if not all) of their games going forward, so not much choice really. Hopefully it will at least mean cross-progression for everything now as standard though. Yeah, I'm still a bit peeved about my MH Rise save data being trapped on Switch. 1
Glen-i Posted August 24 Posted August 24 Oh, bloody hell, he's talking about PMD again... Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team is a dungeon-crawling roguelike for the Game Boy Advance. It's developed by Spike Chunsoft and originally released in 2006. It recently got added to the GBA NSO app, which is funny, because the GBA only had 2 Pokémon spin-off games, yet Nintendo decided to choose the one that actually has a remake on Switch. Sorry, Pokémon Pinball... Now, ignoring the Switch remake, there's two versions of the first entry in the PMD series. Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team, each have 6 exclusive Pokémon, but the actual big difference is the console they're on. Blue is on the DS, and utilises the dual screen, as well the better resolution and audio capabilities. Because of that, I've never actually played the GBA version, and seeing as DS games aren't on Switch, this was a good opportunity for me to try it. You play as some human who has been transported to the "World of Pokémon" That's not the World of Pokémon from the mainline games, BTW. A different one that only has Pokémon living in it, because of this, said human is transformed into a Pokémon. How? A personality quiz, naturally. Shout out to @S.C.G Why does this happen? Fun fact, that gets explained in a completely different game! Anyway, I totally didn't game it and got to be a Cubone. However, said Human/Cubone has lost all of his memories other than his name. He meets up with another Pokémon (you get a selection of Pokémon, I went with Treecko), and immediately meet a distressed Butterfree who has lost her kid in a Mystery Dungeon. After rescuing the Caterpie, the Treecko asks this human it just met to form a "Rescue Team". A string of natural disasters have been wracking the Pokémon world recently, so the rescue business is quite busy. Probably not related to this random human showing up... I know I've said this to death, but the PMD games are notable for having storylines that are surprisingly good for Pokémon games. This one is a tad on the simple side compared to later entries, but it has its moments once it gets going. Also, great ending! Snubbull is weird! Anyway, the game revolves around travelling through Mystery Dungeons, special places that make no sense, because they have random floor layouts every time you enter them. If any of the main two Pokémon faint in there, you're kicked out of the dungeon, and lose all the items and money you're carrying, and fainting is surprisingly easy to do here. It's a bit trickier then you'd expect from a Pokémon game, it's not as hard as some other Mystery Dungeon games (Especially Shiren the Wanderer), because you keep any experience points, but you need to really think about your actions before doing them (Enemies don't move until you do). Anyway, I love Pokémon Mystery Dungeon. I know this, you know this, that's not the reason I played this, I wanted to see the compromises that the GBA version had to take. And there are a few which I will copy and paste from the other thread. The obvious one is that there's no second screen, so you don't have somewhere to put the map or your team status. If you want a map, you have to use an overlay, and you have to open a menu to see other Pokémon's HP. There's no X or Y button, so there's some interesting compromises for some controls. In every other PMD, you rotate your Pokémon on the spot by holding Y and choosing a direction. Here? You press Start! It's so bizarre! And you don't hold it, pressing start toggles "Rotate Mode", and pressing it again deactivates it. Thankfully, I found out that tapping R does the same thing (Holding R lets you move exclusively diagonally, as usual). But my muscle memory is messing me up because the Pro controller has a Y button, so I instinctively press it and then accidentally take a step because Y does nothing! GBA NSO actually button maps the X button to function as a B button, which in a lucky break, means that it opens the menu, just like the DS version. Unlike the DS version, pressing X twice doesn't open up the move menu quickly, it just backs out of the menu like a B button would. Oh man, the music! I was obviously expecting a downgrade here, but some of the songs get utterly mangled by the GBA sound chip! The amazing soundtrack does not deserve this! The game tends to start struggling when around 8 enemy Pokémon are on a floor at once. The poor GBA is trying to program all the AI of those enemies, and it causes frame hitches when you take a step. To be fair, the DS version also has this problem, but it tends to happen when there's, like, 30 enemies at once. The lovely little conversation portraits Pokémon have are the same size as the DS version's. They obviously didn't want to do two different versions of all those, but it means they take up a lot more of the GBA screen space. Not really a bad thing, just an interesting quirk. So yeah, it's a fun curiosity for me, but now that the credits have rolled, I'm satisfied. The GBA version has too many concessions for me to carry on playing it, especially with the truly excellent remake, Rescue Team DX, available on Switch as well. Kind of a hard sell when this one is available on NSO though, just know, it's the worst way to play the Rescue Team games. Anyway, enjoy an incorrectly coloured Grovyle! Not a NSO glitch, it's like that in the original game! Spoiler Sea of Stars Chained Echoes Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore Princess Peach Will Star As The Main Character In A Brand New Game Star Ocean: The Second Story R Hi-Fi Rush Sonic Superstars Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising Theatrhythm Final Bar Line: Premium Digital Deluxe Edition (100%) 1000xRESIST Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Switch) (100%) Miitopia (100 flipping per ceeeeent!) Metroid Zero Mission (100%, Under 2 hours, Normal) Chico and the Magic Orchards DX Super Metroid Redux Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster Densetsu No Stafy Densetsu No Stafy 2 Densetsu No Stafy 3 Final Fantasy II Pixel Remaster Final Fantasy III Pixel Remaster Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team 4 2
WackerJr Posted August 25 Posted August 25 TOEM (PS5) Looking like the abstract doodles of a talented artist, I found TOEM charming and a rather delightful little adventure. It all takes place in a monochrome world with hand-drawn graphics and no combat. You’re gifted a camera to take while you explore a dozen different diorama-style locations. You meet a whole cast of off-beat characters, most of whom will task you to show them a picture of a certain creature or object, with the request taking the form of a simplistic clue to what they want to see. Whipping your tool out switches to a first-person viewpoint. The simplistic graphics make this transition quick and smooth, good since you’ll be doing it a huge amount. For each request you fulfil you’re rewarded with a stamp. Earn enough stamps in a location and you’ll be allowed to catch the bus to the next location (apparently money is not a thing in TOEM’s world). Each location is comprised of maybe a dozen small areas, each only taking a few seconds to travel through. Despite the simplistic graphics and lack of colour, the design makes these locations all distinguishable from one another, whether it be a jungle, a beach, or a snowy mountain for instance. While small, each area is pretty filled with characters or things to find. There are creatures found everywhere, usually in plain site, sitting on rocks or trees. Most requests refer to things located within the location you’re in as well, so it’s fairly quick to explore everything within each location. There could be 20-30 requests within a location though, so everything feels swift. Most requests are fairly simplistic, simply spotting the object needed. Thankfully there are puzzles to solve, such as finding mysterious cubes which alter part of the surroundings (one example is a grandmother who’s car has been upturned and the cube will cause it to flip the right way). As well as stamps, you’ll occasionally be rewarded with items, usually in the form of clothing. While these are mainly aesthetic, some have practical uses, such as glasses that enable you to see ghosts (who of course have photo requests of their own). You even get attachments for your camera, such as a horn which you can use to create new paths to explore. While it may be fun for some, I wasn’t too bothered with the camera filters you earn. If you so choose, you can simply take photos of your surroundings using a myriad of different filters. With the exception of using them for a couple of puzzles I had no desire to spend my time trying to take obscure-looking photos of a monkey, or adding comical sunglasses to a tramp! Each to their own I suppose though. Due to the game conditioning me that so many rewards and items were purely cosmetic, I was thrown by some of the smarter puzzles that actually required me to use some of them. I think I’d have appreciated those more had there been more requests using your items to solve puzzles as opposed to the higher number which were along the lines of ‘I’m going to give you a hint as to the object I’d like a picture of’. It was short at only a few hours long, and didn’t overstay its welcome. As you can probably tell, I rather enjoyed this! Admittedly I like Pokemon Snap and the photography aspects of Beyond Good & Evil, so this ticked the right boxes immediately. Oh, and praise too to the DLC (which was free alongside the game, which I picked up when it was a PSPlus monthly title), which managed to add some new gameplay aspects and enhanced the overall package. Link to my video review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XV0HgNv6_4E 2 2
drahkon Posted August 27 Posted August 27 On 8/19/2024 at 9:40 PM, Hero-of-Time said: Nex Machina Downloaded it, started a run on Veteran (one of the few trophies I still have to get requires a win in Arcade mode on Veteran) and completed the first two worlds with no problems. YEAH, there's a reason why I'm widely regarded as the best gamer in my room. Anyways, I doubt I'll get much further on this difficulty as I don't remember anything at all about the worlds 1
Hero-of-Time Posted August 27 Posted August 27 6 minutes ago, drahkon said: YEAH, there's a reason why I'm widely regarded as the best gamer in my room. You live on your own, right?
drahkon Posted August 27 Posted August 27 Just now, Hero-of-Time said: You live on your own, right? I live with two other people, but they have their own rooms 1
Glen-i Posted August 30 Posted August 30 Yes, Meteor missed. That wasn't luck. Completely planned. Final Fantasy IV Pixel Remaster is a remake of the SNES game Final Fantasy II (Not a typo) that released for the Switch and PS4 in 2023. Unlike the first three entries in the Pixel Remaster collection, I've not played this one previously, although I have played FF IV plenty of times. The game follows Cecil, captain of the Red Wings, the air force unit of Baron. He's been ordered to steal a crystal from the small town of Mysidia. Cecil has misgivings about this, as Mysidia is a tiny village and utterly defenseless. When Cecil voices his concern to the King of Baron, he's demoted immediately and ordered to take a ring to the village of Mist. I'm sure it'll be fine. Much like the actual NES Final Fantasy II, this game has defined characters for the purposes of the plot, something that every mainline Final Fantasy game after this would also do. It's... fine. The game tries to have some tragic deaths along the way, much like FF II, but the game has a habit of just undoing those deaths, which kinda undermines the sacrifice. Don't try flinging yourself off a flying boat, and blowing yourself up, you probably won't survive. Don't use this game for life lessons. I would too, if it didn't matter most of the time Final Fantasy IV marks a notable shift in how battles work. This game introduces the ATB (Active Time Battle) system. In battles, each character has a bar corresponding to them. This bar fills up in real time, and when it's full, they can perform an action. Enemies have this as well, so they'll attack while you're doing stuff (Unless you turn on the "Wait" option). I love this system, it's very dynamic, and the game quickly shows the stuff it can do with it from the first boss. I do kinda miss it, even if the next 5 Final Fantasy games do also use it. Interestingly enough, this game takes a couple of things from the 3D remake of FF IV. Arrows aren't a finite resource, so bows don't suck, which means Rosa and Rydia can actually contribute to damage without using magic. And the siren item can be bought. Even better, is that the "Pink Tail" item, a notoriously rare drop from a notoriously rare enemy in the final dungeon, has been made significantly easier to get in this version. So with the infinite sirens, getting five of those is actually reasonable. Which means everyone can be decked out in the best armour, and that's why Meteor missed in the video above. It's really broken and funny! Only healed once during the final boss, and it wasn't really neccessary! Anyway, this was a SNES game originally, so the more 8-bit style of the sprites the Pixel Remaster employs really starts to look not as good as the source material. FF IV is a relatively early SNES game, so the downgrade is not as pronounced as the later games, but still. Music is amazing, as always. Final Fantasy IV is absolutely rock solid, and the same is true for the Pixel Remaster. It's not my favourite Final Fantasy, hell, it's not even my favourite SNES Final Fantasy! But that only goes to show how good a certain game is. It's, like, avant garde and junk! Spoiler Sea of Stars Chained Echoes Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore Princess Peach Will Star As The Main Character In A Brand New Game Star Ocean: The Second Story R Hi-Fi Rush Sonic Superstars Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising Theatrhythm Final Bar Line: Premium Digital Deluxe Edition (100%) 1000xRESIST Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Switch) (100%) Miitopia (100 flipping per ceeeeent!) Metroid Zero Mission (100%, Under 2 hours, Normal) Chico and the Magic Orchards DX Super Metroid Redux Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster Densetsu No Stafy Densetsu No Stafy 2 Densetsu No Stafy 3 Final Fantasy II Pixel Remaster Final Fantasy III Pixel Remaster Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team Final Fantasy IV Pixel Remaster 2 1
WackerJr Posted September 4 Posted September 4 Miraculous: Rise of the Sphinx (PS5) How can a game be so fundamentally broken in the main mode it advertises you to play in? A game starring two superheroes and promotes the ability to play local co-op is a steaming pile of glitchy irritation when actually played in local co-op. There’s a decent concept here, but ultimately gameplay that feels unfinished and further emphasises that publishers care more about the picture on the box than its contents! For those unaware, Miraculous is a popular children’s show starring high school students and latex-wearing superheroes Ladybug and Cat Noir. My daughter is a big fan, and the game sees you playing as the heroes in a new storyline facing a few of the game’s recognisable villains along the way. The premise is actually ok, split between action levels and exploration sections. The action levels see you play as the two heroes in single-player or 2-player co-op, negotiating linear 3D levels leaping platforms and collecting orbs. Encountering enemies forces you to fight them. The exploration sections see you playing as the female student Marinette (the female equivalent of ‘Peter Parker’ I guess, with the locals unaware of her superhero alter-ego) walking around a small suburb of Paris, talking with friends to move the story along. In a very basic Persona-style nod you’re occasionally given dialogue choices with friends to improve your friendship level. The characters look like they’re taken straight out of the show and it even includes plenty of voice acting for the main characters. So far so good. Then you come to the actual gameplay…. Glitches, janky animation, twitchy controls, all there to cause immense annoyance! The game involves a LOT of jumping between platforms, you tap the control stick to move and your character will shoot off in the direction you push, while jump distance doesn’t seem to change no matter how long you press the button for and judging landings is incredibly tough. In single-player you can switch characters on the fly. The option for two-player co-op is great for an adult to play with their child, except the game is painfully unfair to the second player. The camera is automatic with no manual control. It usually follows player one and the view is pretty zoomed in. Should the other player veer off screen, even slightly, they’re forced to respawn. As a result, player two will frequently disappear off screen and reappear elsewhere. Characters move so quickly that often in co-op by the time I’d respawned, the place I was respawning to would no longer be in view, so subsequently forced to respawn again and again! It’s infuriating! Besides this, sometimes orbs will be collected, other times the game randomly decides it’s not going to let you pick them up, and you’re forced to leave them behind, lonely and desolate. Spot the orb. It’s not going anywhere! Single player seems less glitchy to be fair, but the general lack of polish is evident throughout. I will give it some credit for the boss battles. A couple of difficulty spikes notwithstanding, the method to defeat them is varied, from simple battles to quizzes on the series (my daughter loved the latter one and carried us through it!). Playing on PS5 there were some design decisions I find just bewildering in the modern day. You have one save file with no option for loading or even deleting your game. Orbs are gone forever once collected, so once you’ve finished the game, while you can still re-enter levels, the collecting aspect is essentially voided once you’ve collected all the orbs. You are given the option to play the full game one more time once the final boss is defeated, but then that’s it. I understand the decision that once orbs have been collected they’re collected, but the inability to even start a new game (more than one time) is perplexing. Especially as my daughter would’ve been quite happy to play this again with other unsuspecting friends or family. I guess I could go into the system settings and delete the game from my PS5 directly? I figured that at least the trophies would be easy to get… Hah! Even these are buggy. Some involve reaching maximum friendship level with each character. However, it turns out there’s some RNG shenanigans as to how much your choices improve your friendship level. So even selecting the best possible answers in conversation is by no means a guarantee you’ll max it out. Since the game doesn’t allow you to load, you’re given your two playthroughs to get the trophies (more if you delete the game from your settings of course). I’m not that desperate, but for trophy hunters this is a kick in the teeth knowing that success is down to how lucky they get. Given time to fix the issues, this could be a good game. My daughter enjoyed her time with it, but then she got to be player one throughout, while my wife and I exasperatedly battled with controlling player two. Sorry I feel I’ve taken up your time with this post simply venting! I’m just fed up with publishers getting away with cutting so many corners when it comes to games aimed primarily at a younger age group. Needless to say I didn’t fork out an additional tenner to get the DLC (consisting solely of just three outfits). *Deep breath* Thanks for indulging me and allowing me to pour out my resentment towards this game! 60 seconds of me reviewing the game 2 1
Dcubed Posted September 4 Posted September 4 (edited) 48 minutes ago, WackerJr said: Miraculous: Rise of the Sphinx (PS5) How can a game be so fundamentally broken in the main mode it advertises you to play in? Because GameMill, that's why The crazy thing is... I didn't even know this game even existed, but the moment I saw the title, I instantly knew that it'd be a GameMill product. A 3 second Google search later? Yup, knew it They are the absolute bottom of the barrel publisher. The worst of the worst. Edited September 4 by Dcubed 1
Hero-of-Time Posted September 4 Posted September 4 27 minutes ago, Dcubed said: Because GameMill, that's why The crazy thing is... I didn't even know this game even existed, but the moment I saw the title, I instantly knew that it'd be a GameMill product. A 3 second Google search later? Yup, knew it They are the absolute bottom of the barrel publisher. The worst of the worst. What about Cruisn Blast on the Switch? They have a hand in that? Apparently it was pretty fun. I enjoyed the Nickelodeon Smash ripoff as well. Wouldn't have paid for it but it was a fun time when I played it on PS+.
Dcubed Posted September 4 Posted September 4 2 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said: What about Cruisn Blast on the Switch? They have a hand in that? Apparently it was pretty fun. I enjoyed the Nickelodeon Smash ripoff as well. Wouldn't have paid for it but it was a fun time when I played it on PS+. They only published/distributed the physical releases, well after their original respective digital releases. They had nothing to do with their development. Anything funded and actually developed under GameMill's tenure as a publisher inevitably ends up being irredeemable rubbish. 1
Hero-of-Time Posted September 4 Posted September 4 2 minutes ago, Dcubed said: They only published/distributed the physical releases, well after their original respective digital releases. They had nothing to do with their development. Anything funded and actually developed under GameMill's tenure as a publisher inevitably ends up being irredeemable rubbish. Figured that was the case, it was just that you mentioned them as a publisher not a developer. I thought you were saying anything they publish sucks.
nekunando Posted September 5 Posted September 5 4 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said: What about Cruisn Blast on the Switch? They have a hand in that? Apparently it was pretty fun. Also pretty terrible, unfortunately 🙄 Speaking of which.. I was actually shocked by how rubbish this was throughout and how I didn't really find any justification for seeing it through. I guess it was doing things that were maybe more fresh when the game originally came out on XBOX 360 but this was my first and hopefully only experience of it. Terrible combat. Awful visuals. Nonsense story.
Hero-of-Time Posted September 5 Posted September 5 (edited) 5 hours ago, nekunando said: Also pretty terrible, unfortunately 🙄 Yeah, but you don't like anything. Edited September 5 by Hero-of-Time 1 1
nekunando Posted September 5 Posted September 5 1 hour ago, Hero-of-Time said: Yeah, but you don't like anything. Completely fair point.. but I stand by it 😅 26 minutes ago, Cube said: Ah, one of the best games of the PSWii60 generation. Genuinely interested to hear why 🙂 1
Hero-of-Time Posted September 5 Posted September 5 3 minutes ago, nekunando said: Completely fair point.. but I stand by it 😅 Did Londragon play it? I thought you guys talked about it when you ran the podcast but I may be misremembering
nekunando Posted September 5 Posted September 5 8 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said: Did Londragon play it? I thought you guys talked about it when you ran the podcast but I may be misremembering I'm not sure if he played it. I have and I actually went back earlier in the year to find the rest of the keys and beat everything. It really wasn't worth it! There are things to like about it but the most important thing, the racing, isn't particularly satisfying! 1
Hero-of-Time Posted September 5 Posted September 5 5 minutes ago, nekunando said: I'm not sure if he played it. I have and I actually went back earlier in the year to find the rest of the keys and beat everything. It really wasn't worth it! There are things to like about it but the most important thing, the racing, isn't particularly satisfying! I still wouldn't mind giving it a go but finding a sealed physical version is pretty hard these days. It's mostly just code in a box copies that are out in the wild now.
nekunando Posted September 5 Posted September 5 (edited) 8 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said: I still wouldn't mind giving it a go but finding a sealed physical version is pretty hard these days. It's mostly just code in a box copies that are out in the wild now. I was gonna say it can be fairly cheap to pick up these days but you're right- that would be the code in the box version, which is what I have! I guess if you really wanted to try it, that could be the way to go and then if you think it's worth it you could seek out a physical copy..? Edited September 5 by nekunando 1
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