What are you currently playing?
- Thread starter Nick Calandra
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It's not my fault! They made the seaweeds stronger than a teenage mutant ninja turtle!
I finished Manhattan Project. Definitely the best of the NES games, but is the longest. The final level is a straight up marathon, and you only get pizza after difficult sections. One before the mini boss, and then another a few screens afterward. Konami went all out on this, and was their last Turtle brawler (I did not say Tournament Fighter) on the NES. Everyone important is here. Controversial to say, MP has the best Super Shredder fight. TinT and HPSH (he's slightly faster than his SNES counterpart) mirror each other, but Super Shredder attack patterns are so simple they make him a joke. Other than an easy to dodge one hit kill, there is not much challenge. While MP_SS fights like a cross between Akuma and Ryu. His fireball can turn you in to a baby turtle, but it won't kill you in one hit. It'll take a 1/3 of your health. Fun game, but still difficult.
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Been putting a bit more time into Monolith, and while it's definitely a lot simpler than the infinite combinatorial explosion of Isaac, or even Enter the Gungeon's number of different weapons, synergies and hidden floors, there's still a lot to it once you start getting good at the game, especially with the expansion pack. Arguably, that simplicity is its biggest strength relative to the two games I mentioned, since that makes it easier to start playing and to reach the point where you can see what it really has to offer. I've tried a few runs on Hard mode, though none have gotten past the fifth floor yet. I also haven't completed either of the expansion's 'endgame' points, the fourth-level Temple and Nowhere. Still haven't gotten bored of it yet, though, and I'm not expecting to any time soon.
Also been enjoying the hell out of India-inspired Sumeru in Genshin Impact. There's a few moments that seemed to have some questionable design, but like the rest of the game, it's nothing that brings down the overall experience of playing it. Archon Quest 3-2 was pretty outstanding as well; easily in the top five quests in the whole game, and I'd put it against a lot of other MMO quests too.
And just to round this post out, I've also been playing Hades on my Switch whenever I have a reason to commute a long distance for whatever reason. Not much to say about it that hasn't been, really. If you haven't played it, it's absolutely worth it.
Also been enjoying the hell out of India-inspired Sumeru in Genshin Impact. There's a few moments that seemed to have some questionable design, but like the rest of the game, it's nothing that brings down the overall experience of playing it. Archon Quest 3-2 was pretty outstanding as well; easily in the top five quests in the whole game, and I'd put it against a lot of other MMO quests too.
And just to round this post out, I've also been playing Hades on my Switch whenever I have a reason to commute a long distance for whatever reason. Not much to say about it that hasn't been, really. If you haven't played it, it's absolutely worth it.
Having a blast in Destroy All Humans! 2 - Reprobed.
There are some changes I like, some I don't, but so far it's still got all the beats that made me fall in love with the original.
There are some changes I like, some I don't, but so far it's still got all the beats that made me fall in love with the original.
I'm torn. On one hand, one only needs Donatello and Leonardo to survive that bit to more or less ensure victory. On the other, Raphael is the turtle you sacrifice to the seaweed to move on. Unless he's already dead. Have you gotten 2 turtles killed?
It is interesting you went back to the NES for some retrogaming. So did I a few weeks ago. I'm starting up a replay through Legend of Zelda. I'm already past the NES and SNES era. I'm having to skip N64 for the moment, I lent it to to my brother who is having to babysit a lot at the moment. I'm not counting handhelds, but I did for the very first time play 4 Swords Adventures for the GameCube. Just finished it. Hmmm. It was fine. Felt very "Zelda" despite being level based. Really, it felt like a good place for a beginner to start playing Zelda games. All the same puzzles, only having individual levels to search for stuff. I did want a meatier challenge, but not having additional heart containers persist past the end of a level does keep you on your toes and alleviates the problem of having so many hearts that you are almost never in any danger. A problem that other Zelda games all generally have. I just started Wind Waker. Just got the third pearl. And really fighting which I preferred more. I adore Link to the Past... but I'm loving Wind Waker. AND it has the best ending cutscene. Can't wait to see that facestabbing again. Will OoT retain its status as my favorite? My mind could change.
Immortality
The new story "game" not really a game more of a puzzle thing that came out yesterday and is getting attention, which is why I tried it. But I kind of expected to just mess around out of curiosity and not continue and that's exactly what happened because I don't like games that aren't games. And it's not that I don't like watching things- I love movies! Just with a controller in my hand I feel I need to be, you know, doing something and I get bored with just puzzles and watching.
But that aside, I pretty much agree with Marty's 3MR in that the premise is cool, the direction and presentation of the video clips are really really well done- stylistic, earnest, detailed. But if you're not really absorbed in the story and mystery, then it gets boring real quick.
What stopped me from getting truly absorbed by the story is that it's meta-about the movie industry and culture and celebrity and I just... ugh.. am so tired of it. There's so much of that whole thing of like a dude telling a tragic story of a woman's exploitation in society but also totally exploiting it but it's ok because we care about it or whatever. It's the same way I feel about this Marily Monroe movie that just came out.
From a "gameplay" perspective my biggest barrier is that there seems to be no actual progression. Like in Obra Dinn, for example, you're also investigating a mystery but when you figure something out you report it in a book and you actually progress through the game. In Immortality, you find one clip, then you find another clip, then another... and that is the game? When I realize that this same actor was also in this table-read, what do I do with that information? Just.. know it, I guess, and that I think is supposed to be the big thing here, you're just learning more about these people.
And I guess that's cool for some people. But it's not enough for me to continue. After about two hours of that I was longing to play a video game.
The new story "game" not really a game more of a puzzle thing that came out yesterday and is getting attention, which is why I tried it. But I kind of expected to just mess around out of curiosity and not continue and that's exactly what happened because I don't like games that aren't games. And it's not that I don't like watching things- I love movies! Just with a controller in my hand I feel I need to be, you know, doing something and I get bored with just puzzles and watching.
But that aside, I pretty much agree with Marty's 3MR in that the premise is cool, the direction and presentation of the video clips are really really well done- stylistic, earnest, detailed. But if you're not really absorbed in the story and mystery, then it gets boring real quick.
What stopped me from getting truly absorbed by the story is that it's meta-about the movie industry and culture and celebrity and I just... ugh.. am so tired of it. There's so much of that whole thing of like a dude telling a tragic story of a woman's exploitation in society but also totally exploiting it but it's ok because we care about it or whatever. It's the same way I feel about this Marily Monroe movie that just came out.
From a "gameplay" perspective my biggest barrier is that there seems to be no actual progression. Like in Obra Dinn, for example, you're also investigating a mystery but when you figure something out you report it in a book and you actually progress through the game. In Immortality, you find one clip, then you find another clip, then another... and that is the game? When I realize that this same actor was also in this table-read, what do I do with that information? Just.. know it, I guess, and that I think is supposed to be the big thing here, you're just learning more about these people.
And I guess that's cool for some people. But it's not enough for me to continue. After about two hours of that I was longing to play a video game.
I wasn't trying to sacrifice anyone. I have 3 Turtles, but Raph is a 1/3 health left, Leo has 1/2, and Don is at a full bar. The last time I vaguely remember playing this game was my brother and I at one of my cousins' home. We played for half an hour and moved on to something else. I was about 4 at the time.
Done with Psychonauts. I didn't finish; I'm just done with it.
I got to the part where I'm chasing a little kid and his bunny around a meat circus, and there's effectively limited time to progress through some questionable platforming fuckery, and each time you fail, you have to start from the very bottom. I've not the patience for it anymore.
Solid "C" game, interesting environments with piss-poor execution of its core mechanics.
I got to the part where I'm chasing a little kid and his bunny around a meat circus, and there's effectively limited time to progress through some questionable platforming fuckery, and each time you fail, you have to start from the very bottom. I've not the patience for it anymore.
Solid "C" game, interesting environments with piss-poor execution of its core mechanics.
- Apr 1, 2009
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You are right near the end, like really near it. That is the part that everyone has big issues with.
Well no, you don't try and get them killed. It just always happens to one of them at least in the water section. It has been a long time, but I remember the easiest way to finish the game with all turtles intact you had to keep Raphael alive and at full health until the water section (generally relying pretty heavy on Leo and Mike early on) then basically sacrifice Raph to get beyond the water level. There is an opportunity to "rescue" a turtle shortly after, so if you haven't lost anyone else, you can get a full health Raph back.
That's right at the end and if it makes you feel any better, the Meat Circus is pretty much everyone's most hated part. Apparently it was made at the end and they ran out of time to balance it. If you really care you can just youtube the end cutscene but it's nothing amazing IIRC. Just a cliffhanger for 2nd game which wouldn't happen for another decade or so.
I might be near its end, but I'm firmly at mine. 'Tis nice to know I'm not the only one who has a problem with this last bit, though.
There's no shame at bailing at the meat circus because you've seen pretty much the entire game at that point and you're skipping the worst part to boot.
- Apr 1, 2009
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You really aren't, if someone enjoys Psychonaughts then they have complaints about the meat circus. You are close enough that you could just watch a lets play to finish it off and it would probably only be a 20-30 min vid.
Thanks, but I will worry about that later. I finished up the other versions of Turtles in Time. I tried the turbo mode and is somewhat breaks the game in the Arcade version. You move super faster, and most of the bosses can barely counterattack when using it. Raph becomes the most broken in turbo mode. TiT (SNES) I went ahead and beat on Hard mode to get the "true ending". It's just stupid message from Splinter calling you true ninja, the full credits, and your final score results. The SNES version is definitely better and more balanced, despite some graphic and sound downgrades. Hyperstone Heist is a fun game, is a mish-mash TiT, The Arcade Game, and the live-action movies. I really wonder why Konami just couldn't do a Geneisis version of Turtles in Time. The Genesis can sprite rotation and enlargement just fine. See Gunstar Heroes, Batman & Robin, Contra Hard Corps, or anything done by Treasure on the system!
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Gotta wonder, if they ever did a Turtles in Time sequel, would they used the acronym TiTs?
- Apr 1, 2009
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- 3,854
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- Whatever, just wash your hands.
FWIW I can also confirm the circus part of first Psychonauts was infuriating. I happened to push through it because I played it last year after I first got Game Pass, everyone was talking about how great the sequel was, I was invested in the story, and I had nothing else to do. The circumstances were just aligned enough for me to torture myself; any other time I would have bailed watched the rest on the tubes of you.
Immortal Fenyx Rising
Started this morning... boy howdy is this game a game. It's the gamiest game, like well-marinated lamb.
When this came out I ignored it because it just looked like Assassins Creed Odyssey but if like also Genshin Breath Impact of the Wild. And it's Ubisoft open world map quest icons which everyone seemed to hate, and also with cringe humor.
But then I noticed recently critics saying hey actually Fenyx was good! And it came out on Game Pass and I was in the mood for a dumb open world (I actually really like Assassins Creed Odsysey) so here we are and yes it is exactly what it looks like (I completed the intro).
How much of this game depends purely on how the map feels. Movement and combat are really just Genshin Impact. Stamina bar climbing is a dumbed-down version of Breath of the Wild. All of that is.. meh, whatever. The basic controls are like modern Assassins Creeds of course but not as good, and it's not like those are so good or anything, it's just servicable.
My problem with Breath of the WIld is that I was running around open spaces doing nothing most of the time and my problem with Genshin Impact is that the characters are JRPG style irritating and the actual quests were dull. So far the Fenyx quests are like Genshin but faster and the puzzles are like the BotW tombs I guess. Now that I'm at the point of the game where the world opens up I'll see what going between quests feels like- if it's snappy like Odyssey I'll probably play for a while, if it's tedious like BotW I'll quit.
This type of game is like junk food for me- it's not good, but I like it.
Started this morning... boy howdy is this game a game. It's the gamiest game, like well-marinated lamb.
When this came out I ignored it because it just looked like Assassins Creed Odyssey but if like also Genshin Breath Impact of the Wild. And it's Ubisoft open world map quest icons which everyone seemed to hate, and also with cringe humor.
But then I noticed recently critics saying hey actually Fenyx was good! And it came out on Game Pass and I was in the mood for a dumb open world (I actually really like Assassins Creed Odsysey) so here we are and yes it is exactly what it looks like (I completed the intro).
How much of this game depends purely on how the map feels. Movement and combat are really just Genshin Impact. Stamina bar climbing is a dumbed-down version of Breath of the Wild. All of that is.. meh, whatever. The basic controls are like modern Assassins Creeds of course but not as good, and it's not like those are so good or anything, it's just servicable.
My problem with Breath of the WIld is that I was running around open spaces doing nothing most of the time and my problem with Genshin Impact is that the characters are JRPG style irritating and the actual quests were dull. So far the Fenyx quests are like Genshin but faster and the puzzles are like the BotW tombs I guess. Now that I'm at the point of the game where the world opens up I'll see what going between quests feels like- if it's snappy like Odyssey I'll probably play for a while, if it's tedious like BotW I'll quit.
This type of game is like junk food for me- it's not good, but I like it.