Weekly check--what are you playing?--Father's Day edition

@M · Jun 19, 2017

GregN hasn't posted in a while, so, I figured I'd throw up one of these threads in his stead. Post what you've been playing over the last week(s) and any tidbits you want to share about your experiences and accomplishments in said games.

Sony Playstation 2
- Guitar Hero: World Tour
Time to destroy my fingers/wrists again! I finished the lead guitar career path on Normal and started the bass guitar career. I don't own the drum kit (and really don't have room for something that large anyway), nor the microphone, so, no drums or vocals for me.

NES
- Day Dreamin' Davy
Read the Hardcore Gaming 101 article, which reminded me of also reading about this title in a gaming magazine back in the day (Nintendo Power I think), but I never tried it, so, I decided to give it a whirl. HG101 said it was shit, and they weren't lying, it's not very good!

Sega Game Gear
- Dragon Crystal
This is a remix of sorts of the Sega Genesis game Fatal Labyrinth. I played, and beat, the latter some time ago, but never knew about this portable adaptation until reading yet another recent HG101 article. If you like Rogue-likes, it's a fairly fun/basic random dungeon romp. You can get it for the Sega Master System too, but only in Europe I think.

Nintendo DS
- Cate West: The Vanishing Files
Another "find the hidden objects/spot the differences" game wrapped in a psychic writer (Cate) helping the police solve crimes storyline. I prefer Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir, but this one isn't too shabby either. I always thought I'd hate games in this genre, but I'm finding that I actually enjoy them.
- Spectrobes: Beyond the Portals
I never finished the original game, giving up after about 20 hours when a dungeon required special elemental-resistant armor that cost too much and I wasn't willing to grind money for, but, I decided to give the sequel a try anyway. It's largely the same, but seems more user-friendly thus far.
- The Quest Trio
A compilation of Jewel Quest Expeditions, Mah Jong Quest Expeditions, and Jewel Quest Solitaire. I came very close to buying the single releases of the first two games in the past, so, I was glad that I hadn't when I read the review for this game on IGN and discovered that I could get all three games for the price of one instead.
- Travel Games for Dummies
Sudoku, crossword puzzles, and ten different solitaire card games in one package. If you already like those things, this is one of those titles you could play for the rest of your life and probably never get bored with. I'm getting a bit burned out on sudoku, but solitaire never gets old for me, and I enjoy doing crosswords too.

Nintendo Gameboy Advance
- Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team
I enjoyed Torneko and Shiren the Wanderer, so, I decided to give the Pokemon flavor of Chunsoft's Mystery Dungeon games a whirl too. It's definitely much easier (I've only lost once or twice so far, while I fail much more often than I survive in the previously mentioned titles), and that was doubtlessly done to keep from frustrating Pokemon's younger audience.
- Sonic Advance 2

ggallegos1 · Jun 19, 2017

DS
Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow
Contra 4

GBA
Fire emblem
Contra advance

Tanooki · Jun 19, 2017

Switch - Lego City, Mario Kart 8
PC - Rebel Galaxy, Everspace, Xanadu Next
PS1 - Castlevania SOTN

munchiaz · Jun 19, 2017

Switch:
ARMS - I enjoy the game, but it can be very frustrating at times. I understand its a simplified fighting game, but i feel at times i lose to ppl spamming punch all day. You try to use the tech to deal with that sort of stuff, and it only half works.

Wachenroder · Jun 19, 2017

PS1:
POLICENAUTS - Ended up getting a madcatz mouse so decided to return to this game. Not sure why i stopped playing in the first place but i definitely can see the mouse being the proper way to play this game. Gonna use that and the light gun for the full experience. Just got "Murtough" and man am i loving this games dialogue

SATURN:
SHINING FORCE 3 SCENARIO 1

Ip Man · Jun 19, 2017

ds
portrait of ruin: i think this game confirms that i like the gba castlevania games more than the ds ones. i don't like that the map is separated into different sections in the ds games. kind of ruins the metroidvania aspect of it. still solid games though.

@M · Jun 19, 2017

Order of Ecclesia does that even more--what I think Konami was trying to do, in PoR & OoE, is create a hybrid of the old-school, level-based Castlevania games and the newer interconnected castle designs in the Metroidvania ones by giving you a bit of both. In these types of games, I agree that I prefer one larger environment rather than several disconnected ones, but I also give Konami some kudos for trying to shake things up a bit too, rather than just churn out the same thing. Ultimately, I prefer the DS trio to the GBA trio (but, really, it's kind of hard to separate them, as DS Dawn of Sorrow is a direct sequel to GBA Aria of Sorrow), but I love them all regardless.

Tanooki · Jun 19, 2017

I hated Portrait, put it down and never finished it because of the dual character mechanics being so poorly done among other annoyances. Outside of Dawn of Sorrow I'd take the GBA games every time over the DS stuff.

Ralfakick · Jun 19, 2017

PS4
Overtop- been trying to improve my time, finally got down to about 3:30, good enough for #4 worldwide in high score mode and only behind Japanese players
World Heroes 2 - just started on this
KOF 14 - Unlocked all of the characters storylines going to take a break from it for a little bit, then download the additional characters
Tembo the Badass Elephant - started this again, it is pretty tough in some parts, and can be a grind repeating levels to unlock the next level at least for me

Hooked my 360 up to a Benq Zowie monitor I got recently for around a hundred bucks so I've also been playing
Neo Geo Battle Coliseum
Outrun Coast to Coast it looks unbelievable on the monitor
Crazy Taxi
Probably start on some shooters as well soon in tate mode since the monitor rotates

Ip Man · Jun 19, 2017

M said:
Order of Ecclesia does that even more--what I think Konami was trying to do, in PoR & OoE, is create a hybrid of the old-school, level-based Castlevania games and the newer interconnected castle designs in the Metroidvania ones by giving you a bit of both. In these types of games, I agree that I prefer one larger environment rather than several disconnected ones, but I also give Konami some kudos for trying to shake things up a bit too, rather than just churn out the same thing. Ultimately, I prefer the DS trio to the GBA trio (but, really, it's kind of hard to separate them, as DS Dawn of Sorrow is a direct sequel to GBA Aria of Sorrow), but I love them all regardless.

this makes sense, but i would of preferred that they stuck to one or the other. order of ecclesia is actually my favourite in the series in terms of presentation. i love the main character and the visual style of the game, especially the special moves she could pull off. but i was disappointed with how the entire game was broken up into different sections.

i don't dislike the ds games in anyway. but the fact that they're more linear was disappointing. where as the gbs games were more of what i expected them to be.

Tanooki said:
I hated Portrait, put it down and never finished it because of the dual character mechanics being so poorly done among other annoyances. Outside of Dawn of Sorrow I'd take the GBA games every time over the DS stuff.

i actually quite liked the dual character aspect of the game. it separates it apart from rest of the series. the only complaint i have with portrait of ruin is the game being broken in to different sections like i already mentioned. and the balance in difficulty when fighting bosses. the bosses just seem to be a lot harder than they should be in certain places.

fenikso · Jun 20, 2017

3DO

SSFIIT - surprisingly fun port.

GB

Wario Blast
TMNT Fall of the Foot Clan
Shanghai
Tetris
Samurai Shodown - World Heroes 2 Jet is pretty good (for what it is) on the GB, this is not.

coreykun667 · Jun 20, 2017

Recently discovered from a friend that GTA V mods are the best thing you can do in that game. Also with the new update, the mod menu was updated as well so it flies under the radar. Cool thing is, I can use vehicles that haven't been released in online mode yet. Haven't played much else lately except for that. I seem to get sucked in for hours. It was getting pretty stale without mods, but you can so a bunch of whacky shit with them. I'm a guy that doesn't mind mods if they're not used to be dicks to people.

Late · Jun 20, 2017

Dark Souls NG+, the level scaling of the enemies is a bit off, one can breeze through the early game but Ornstein/Smough are significantly harder this time round so I've been doing some grinding and making special soul weapons that I wasn't able to on the first playthrough, also saved the Oolacile DLC for this run to keep me motivated.

@M · Jun 20, 2017

fenikso: Yeah, the GB port of SS is only so-so, but, that was the first version of SS I ever owned, so, I will always have a soft spot for it in my heart (only game where you can play as Courier Man Hikyaku too!) I agree WH2 Jet is pretty good (I wish the reverse-able throws and bullfighting bonus game had made the cut though). Have you tried GB KOF '95 and Battle Arena Toshinden, also by Takara? There's also KOF '96, Fatal Fury 2, Samurai Spirits III, Real Bout Fatal Fury, and Transformers Beast Wars (and possibly some others I'm forgetting) GB fighting games done in that "Nettou" Takara style, but only in Japan. The KOF titles are probably the best playing ones, although them sprites is damn small.

Tanooki: I liked the novelty of the dual-character gameplay (fun bonus pairings after you beat the game too, although I wish there were even more of those). I also admired how they handled the whip thing with Jonathan (he doesn't know how to use the Vampire Killer properly at the beginning of the game, so has to use other weapons in addition to whips), as that was one of my disappointments with Harmony of Dissonance & Circle of the Moon, being forced to wield a whip the entire game was too limiting in my opinion, compared to the offensive versatility of Soma or Alucard, who had a huge assortment of different weapons to choose from (Crisaegrim for the win!). I really dig those Egyptian Castlevania paintings in PoR too, but, I hated those upside-down carnival ones. It was also exciting to see the storyline of Sega Genesis Bloodlines characters expanded upon in PoR rather than focusing on the Belmonts.

thermaltreasure · Jun 20, 2017

PS4: GTAV
The wait for RDR2 is real but I'm still having a lot of fun driving and pimping out weapons in this one. The environment, weather and physics still leave me in awe. Still discovering neat minute details years later and it reminds me of my trip to LA last year. Scarily so.

PCE: Dragon Spirit
Looking to play something old school, saw a post earlier mentioning this game is 30 years old so I'm gonna boot up the PCE and put some time into this one tonight.

ggallegos1 · Jun 20, 2017

M said:
fenikso: Yeah, the GB port of SS is only so-so, but, that was the first version of SS I ever owned, so, I will always have a soft spot for it in my heart (only game where you can play as Courier Man Hikyaku too!) I agree WH2 Jet is pretty good (I wish the reverse-able throws and bullfighting bonus game had made the cut though). Have you tried GB KOF '95 and Battle Arena Toshinden, also by Takara? There's also KOF '96, Fatal Fury 2, Samurai Spirits III, Real Bout Fatal Fury, and Transformers Beast Wars (and possibly some others I'm forgetting) GB fighting games done in that "Nettou" Takara style, but only in Japan. The KOF titles are probably the best playing ones, although them sprites is damn small.

Tanooki: I liked the novelty of the dual-character gameplay (fun bonus pairings after you beat the game too, although I wish there were even more of those). I also admired how they handled the whip thing with Jonathan (he doesn't know how to use the Vampire Killer properly at the beginning of the game, so has to use other weapons in addition to whips), as that was one of my disappointments with Harmony of Dissonance & Circle of the Moon, being forced to wield a whip the entire game was too limiting in my opinion, compared to the offensive versatility of Soma or Alucard, who had a huge assortment of different weapons to choose from (Crisaegrim for the win!). I really dig those Egyptian Castlevania paintings in PoR too, but, I hated those upside-down carnival ones. It was also exciting to see the storyline of Sega Genesis Bloodlines characters expanded upon in PoR rather than focusing on the Belmonts.

I enjoyed PoR but it did feel segmented. I'm assuming it would have made sense for a portable to have some sort of stage ish design, but I hated that carnival level.

Tanooki · Jun 20, 2017

Takara overall did quite well with the GB limitations on their SNK conversions (and Battle Arena Toshinden too.) I've had a few of them, never had WH Jet, but I do have SS1 which I enjoy, but more so I really like SS3 which I imported from Japan. The fact they got so much of the game in there intact and very well playable using just the 2 buttons amazes me. In Japan I think the last one they did was of all things a Transformers Beastwars title with a lightly upgraded engine running on GBC.

fenikso · Jun 20, 2017

I'll have to lay hands on that SSIII and '95 at some point. I got one copy of SS at a local game store, and they had another copy I was thinking of getting for link play, but I was so underwhelmed I don't see me picking it up, even if it is only $5.

@M · Jun 20, 2017

I haven't played them on my Super Gameboy in ages, but I believe that all of those Takara Nettou fighting games support 2P play when plugged into the SNES. At the very least KOF '95 and WH2 Jet do, because I can distinctly remember playing VS battles with my younger brother and sisters on the Super Gameboy back in the day (my younger brother loved corner trapping me with Ralf's Vulcan Punch, which was nearly impossible to escape).

GregN · Jun 21, 2017

Switch
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Puyo Puyo Tetris

PS4
Persona 5
Stern Pinball Arcade

WoodyXP · Jun 21, 2017

PS4

Friday the 13th

If anyone needs somebody to play with my PSN ID is garou5016

Wachenroder · Jun 24, 2017

STEAM SUMMER SALE BABY! :mr_t:

WALKING DEAD SEASON 3 - Ran through Episode 1 today. Clem is a bad motherfucker. Lee would be proud :crying:

DOOM 2016 - Heard crazy good things about this one. Holy hell this games file size is massive. Almost 70GB!!
AZURE STRIKE GUNVOLT - Game looks awesome. Been meaning to try it for a while
METAL GEAR SOLID V - Have and finished GZ on PS4 but it'll be nice to try it again on PC before finally moving on to tPP

Weekly check--what are you playing?--Father's Day edition

Vanessa's Drinking Buddy,

Cholecystectomy Required.,

War Room Troll

Robert Garcia's Butler

Galford's Poppy Trainer

BBLLOOOO__HHAARRDDDDDD!!!!,

Vanessa's Drinking Buddy,

War Room Troll

J. Max's Chauffeur,

BBLLOOOO__HHAARRDDDDDD!!!!,

Slug Flyer Pilot

Galford's Armourer

Reichsf?rer-Finnland,

Vanessa's Drinking Buddy,

Ninja Combat Warrior

Cholecystectomy Required.,

War Room Troll

Slug Flyer Pilot

Vanessa's Drinking Buddy,

aka The Grinch

Setsuna's Owl Keeper,

Galford's Poppy Trainer