That daily game progress thread...

[ugly]

Finished Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow. This was the last game in the Castlevania Advance collection.

It's Gameboy Advance era graphics, so nothing impressive. But it is the most polished release in the collection and the animations looks smoother than the other games. This game is the best of the collection.

This game largely plays like Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. Makes sense since this is an earlier game from Iga, the same creator. Standard metroidvania stuff. Explore the castle, collect weapons and armor and abilities to advance, gain XP, etc. Like Bloodstained, each enemy drops a soul that gives you more abilities. So there are tons and tons of abilities, most of which you will never bother to use. Basically, all that's missing from Bloodstained is improved graphics, quests and crafting. Even the final boss is a swirling enemy like Bloodstained.

While the game is very good, it suffers the same problems as similar games do. Insanely low drop rate, so if you want to collect everything (which you don't need to do) it will take forever, and offers not a lot of benefit. By the time you actually get the rare drops you'll have to have killed so many enemies and gained so many levels that you'll be way overpowered to the point that any drops don't matter anymore.

[ugly]

Slain: Back from Hell

A side-scroller action game. It's from the same designer as Valfaris, so has a lot of the same aspects. Same pixel art style and heavy metal theme. I think it's supposed to be a prequel to Valfaris, but they don't play exactly the same. I think you can usually get them as a bundle for cheap.

This one is mostly a melee combat side-scroller. Your main weapon is a sword, so you're fighting in close. You have a magic projectile attack, but it's limited usage. You refill your mana by making parry counter-attacks or a charged sword attack. The combat is fairly simple. A quick melee attack, the charged sword attack and a reverse dash for a dodge. Only a few enemy types. A few you can just slash away at, and a few you need to counter attack.

The appeal of this game is the difficulty. It's pretty brutal. A lot of easy to miss traps that can insta-kill you. And the combat can be difficult. All you really have to refill your life is the occasional checkpoint. So you need to play well for a stretch of time or else you die and restart at the last checkpoint. But, at the same time, the difficulty is offset by the fact that you just respawn and try again. Not much penalty for dying hundreds of time other than restarting the last checkpoint. So you can just grind through.

Overall, I liked Valfaris better. It felt more polished, and had the combination of guns and melee combat.

Slain is really short. Depending on how much you die, the game is only a few hours long. I think I put in about 8 hours total. There weren't many secrets and I don't think there were alternate paths, so there isn't much replay value.

Probably a good candidate for speedrunning or doing challenges like no deaths or not getting hit. But I played the GOG version, so there were no achievements. And those types of challenges would be really difficult for this game given how hard it is.

[theshadowcult]

When slain first came out, it was a mess. They basically remastered the game and fixed a bunch of stuff to get what you played. Also, slain isnt a prequel, it came first, its a much older game.

[KAC]

Jedi Survivor. Finished. 9/10.

[ugly]

Astalon: Tears of the Earth

Played through another metroidvania game. This one has NES-era graphics. This one was pretty good. You get three characters that you have to swap between to use their different skills to get through different areas of the map and you can only swap at save points. It actually reminded me more of an old NES game called Legacy of the Wizard where you had to select between different family members and each had different skills.

The enemies and bosses aren't very challenging individually. But the save points are spread out enough that when you're advancing through the map there is a decent chance of dying. And, dying isn't really discouraged because each time you do you get an opportunity to buy upgrades for your characters.

Overall, well made. Decent length. As you get through the game, they kind of move away from the character swapping aspect because you can do so instantly. The fast-travel locations are maybe spread out a bit too much and when you need to backtrack towards the end of the game it can take a long time. Good mix of exploration, discovering secrets and moderate challenge. The combat is probably the weakest point.

[ugly]

Alwa's Awakening

A freebie from GOG. NES style grahics. Metroidvania style of game. It was alright, but I don't think it is something I would have paid for. Good as a freebie or as part of a bundle.

Your main attack is a wand that does short-range melee damage. And as you advance you get some spells. Midway through the game you get a ranged spell. But the other two spells are more for overcoming obstacles.

The combat in the game is fairly weak. Most of the enemies just walk back and forth on their platform. A few shoot projectiles. The enemies are rarely going to kill you.

The game leans more towards basic puzzles. You use your spells to avoid damage, jump over spikes, fall into pits, or just reach platforms to get to the next area. You'll mainly die from one-hit kills on a spike trap.

The map isn't that big, so the game is short. If you collect everything, the game might be about 10 hours total. You can collect orbs that make the boss fights easier. As you gain new abilities you can backtrack and collect the orbs you couldn't earlier. Some of the moves you need to pull off with the spells are fairly difficult. I thought I was taking advantage of glitches to get to some areas early, but that was actually the way to solve it.

[Jaillum Malord]

Sekiro: Shadows Die's Twice.....don't expect to complete this any time soon.....currently banging my head on the Guardian Ape.

[KAC]

Finished 2 games this month thus far.
SF6. 9/10.
D4. 9/10.

[KAC]

Finished Diablo Immortal.

[Jaillum Malord]

Goooood grief the Guardian Ape.....I am sooooo glad I beat it today.....That is one boss i am in no hurry to face again.

[ugly]

Blazing Chrome

It's basically Contra. It's pixel art, so basically SNES/Sega Genesis era graphics. Side-scrolling shooter. Collect power up weapons try not to die and lose them. It's fun, it's challenging.

The game is fairly short. 5 levels is all. You can beat it in about 40-60 minutes. Some levels have a speed bike, which moderately changes the gameplay, but not much. There's a few levels where you get a mech to ride around in. And another level has a sort of 3D part for some variation. There's a boss rush mode and a mirror mode, where all the levels are just mirrored. You can probably get all the achievements within like 10-12 hours.

While the game is difficult at first, the normal difficulty gives you unlimited continues, so you can keep dying until you win (although continues will set you back to a checkpoint). You can also quit and it will save your progress so you don't need to beat it in one sitting.

Hardcore diffiuclty is more the classic gameplay. Three lives, three continues. No ability to save.

Fun game. Worth it if you grew up playing Contra. But not a lot of mileage out of the game.

[ugly]

Metal Gear

The original MSX version. The one on GOG. I never played the NES version, but this MSX version was supposed to be the better version of the original game in the series.

It had some interesting ideas. Stealth gameplay wasn't much of a thing back when this game came out. Infiltrating a base, trying not to get caught, finding items to advance through the enemy base.

Like a lot of old games, there are just a lot of rough edges. The stealth suffers because you don't really know the enemy POV (they introduced view cones in modern games for a reason). Turns out the sight detection was pretty bad in this game but extends all the way across the screen. And getting caught doesn't really make much of a difference. You can kill a lot of enemies pretty easily.

Most of the game involves finding keycards to get passed locked doors. Each keycard has a number, but the doors never indicate which number they need. So you just need to keep trying each card until one works. Once you find a new keycard, you don't know which doors you need to backtrack to.

The big problem in this game is figuring out what to do next. Rescuing hostages often gives you hints, but they only play the message one time, and if you forget what they said you're stuck. And sometimes you can accidentally skip a message entirely.

There's a radio system that gives you hints, which was a cool concept, but sucked in practice. Sometimes a message will only come in a particular room if you radio a particular person. And one key message comes from a person that they never tell you the frequency to call them.

So I did end up being totally stuck a couple times and never would have come up with the solution without resorting to a walkthrough. One time a key item was hidden behind a wall that you need to blow up, but there was never any indication that you need to blow up walls.

Even the final boss you need to remember a 16 length left/right pattern of dropping explosives that one hostage gives you.

Interesting to go back to an original game in a series. But ultimately a frustrating experience. Getting the GOG version, even though it was like $2 might have been a waste because Konami is releasing a classic package with this game and a whole bunch of the earlier games in the series soon.

[KAC]

Pumping my way through Last of Us on PC. What a game. It is just done so well that I had totally forgotten about it. Last of Us 2 is also great but this one just ticks all the right boxes for me. Joel is amazing and Ellie in this one really does well. Top notch production values, set pieces, cut scenes, locations. Just downright gorgeous game and a great remake. I am not one to replay games but am glad I indulged in this one. I give it a solid 9/10.

Still got some 3-4 levels to get through and was trying to finish today but seems that might be too ambitious as the game is long.

[jimjobob]

Pumping my way through Last of Us on PC. What a game. It is just done so well that I had totally forgotten about it. Last of Us 2 is also great but this one just ticks all the right boxes for me. Joel is amazing and Ellie in this one really does well. Top notch production values, set pieces, cut scenes, locations. Just downright gorgeous game and a great remake. I am not one to replay games but am glad I indulged in this one. I give it a solid 9/10.

Still got some 3-4 levels to get through and was trying to finish today but seems that might be too ambitious as the game is long.

The last levels are some of the longest too.

picked it up on PS5 but i have trouble replaying games.

[jimjobob]

Currently picking at Jedi survivor. It’s helpful that there’s so many shortcuts to open up because of my limited play time but it kind of feels like opening shortcuts is the bulk of the game.

[KAC]

Jedi Survivor is awesome. And game definitely has more to do than just shortcuts lol. However, don’t miss an opportunity to open them as it will save you a ton of headache. Also thanks to fast travel now you actually don’t feel bad about revisiting locations.

[KAC]

Finished Last of Us. 9/10.

[KAC]

Finished Last of Us Left Behind. 8/10.

[twonha]

Currently playing Mass Effect 2. It feels like a better-produced version of ME1, but the combat still seems bland to me, mostly because Shepard controls like a sluggish tank. It is amazing what the Xbox 360 / Playstation 3 were capable of - with a lick of paint these games at least look like new.

[KAC]

Started pumping Callisto Protocol. It is a poor man’s Dead Space. I might end up finishing it.

On ME games, I hope you are playing the remastered version. It is definitely better than the originals.

[twonha]

On ME games, I hope you are playing the remastered version. It is definitely better than the originals.

I am.

[jimjobob]

Played a little more survivor. Just got the phase ability and took out a giant robot. It’s definitely picking up.

[0091/2]

Finished Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow. This was the last game in the Castlevania Advance collection.

It's Gameboy Advance era graphics, so nothing impressive. But it is the most polished release in the collection and the animations looks smoother than the other games. This game is the best of the collection.

This game largely plays like Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. Makes sense since this is an earlier game from Iga, the same creator. Standard metroidvania stuff. Explore the castle, collect weapons and armor and abilities to advance, gain XP, etc. Like Bloodstained, each enemy drops a soul that gives you more abilities. So there are tons and tons of abilities, most of which you will never bother to use. Basically, all that's missing from Bloodstained is improved graphics, quests and crafting. Even the final boss is a swirling enemy like Bloodstained.

While the game is very good, it suffers the same problems as similar games do. Insanely low drop rate, so if you want to collect everything (which you don't need to do) it will take forever, and offers not a lot of benefit. By the time you actually get the rare drops you'll have to have killed so many enemies and gained so many levels that you'll be way overpowered to the point that any drops don't matter anymore.

Are you playing it with an emulator?

[ugly]

Are you playing it with an emulator?

No, it's the PC port from the Castlevania Advance Collection: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1...ce_Collection/

[KAC]

Finished Callisto Protocol. 5/10.
Gonna play the DLC because not many SP games out right now.

[twonha]

Currently playing Mass Effect 2. It feels like a better-produced version of ME1, but the combat still seems bland to me, mostly because Shepard controls like a sluggish tank. It is amazing what the Xbox 360 / Playstation 3 were capable of - with a lick of paint these games at least look like new.

Still playing. Still dull combat, still very basic dialogue options. For a game where you're looking at characters talking a lot, facial animation is practically non-existent. The universe is cool and the story - once it gets underway - is slightly interesting, but overall I struggle to see why Mass Effect was such an enormous hit. Anyone care to explain, put this into historic context?

[KAC]

Mass Effect 1 was an enormous hit since it was made by BioWare and came after KOTOR and KOTOR 2 (if I remember correctly). A lot of people had bad taste from KOTOR 2 ending and this was a real redemption. Reason was that they moved from turn based combat to realtime and created a bespoke universe that very closely mimicked Star Wars but also had elements of Star Trek in it. Plus the storyline in number 1 was definitely intriguing. I don't think combat was ever a great point for ME1.

By the time ME2 came out, the combat progression from 1 to 2 was night and day. Also Miranda could be sexed up and nerds love that kind of stuff. Miranda was what many nerds felt Michael Jackson would've looked like if he added sex change on top of his skin color upgrade. ME2 was "for me" by all means a huge step backwards from ME1. Whilst it had some QOL upgrades in terms of combat and planet scanning nonsense, it was a massive downgrade in terms of storyline and progression. However, the ending somehow redeems itself.

ME3 was a massive disappointment on all fronts. With a new coat of paint and even more QOL upgrades to combat (almost bringing it as close as possible to Gears of War - that was all the rage those days), it completely dropped the ball on the ending. Overall, I think the games as a package are still great.

I still think they should've just made ME1 and called it. It would've kept its nostalgia feel similar to KOTOR and would've remained a great hit. However, by continuously pushing out iterations and completely dropping the ball in number 3 and subsequent Andromeda, I don't think I have had motivation to go back.

Not sure if it answers all questions but hopefully you get why it was all the rage.

[twonha]

Huh. I really can't say the combat between ME1 and ME2 feels so different - was ME1's combat revamped for the Legendary Edition?

[Evileh]

Oh nothing much just some forza 5 and bf2042 nightly with gibro and some others. Then well ya know the destiny 2 grind.

[KAC]

Huh. I really can't say the combat between ME1 and ME2 feels so different - was ME1's combat revamped for the Legendary Edition?

I wouldn't know anything about it since I never got past intro combat sequence in ME1 Legendary.

[ugly]

Blaster Master Zero 3

It's basically the same as the first two. Slight variations on gameplay. I think this is the last one in the series.

It's fine. The problem I have with this one is the same as the others. Way too much dialogue for a simple platform shooter that is meant to recreate the feel of an NES era game. Every time you get to a new area, there's a ton of dialogue, made worse by the fact that they show two lines of text at a time. A lot of it is just kind of nonsense, since the original game had no dialogue. And they brought back a really cringe character from the Zero 2.

They also seemed to upgrade the boob size on the anime style pixel art characters in the cut scenes.

This game also had an annoying way of giving some powerups. Blaster Master always had a slight Metroidvania aspect to it. This one had powerups that give you bonus health, but everytime you run out you have to travel back to the location on the world map to re-aquire them instead of giving the bonus health permanently. Since I was too lazy to re-acquire them, some parts of the game felt either extremely simple, or challenging depending on whether you go in with the full bonus.

Only worth getting if you got the others.

[twonha]

Lawl.

Finished ME2. I focused on the main quest, and skipped almost all companion sidequests to gain their trust. I'm pretty sure that influenced the end sequence, but I managed to get an ending that felt true to how this tale should've developed. Will have to look up all the alternate paths online, as I'm not going to replay ME2 in a million years.

I liked it enough to want to follow up this universe with ME3, but it'll probably be a while before I jump into that.

[theshadowcult]

Lawl.

Finished ME2. I focused on the main quest, and skipped almost all companion sidequests to gain their trust. I'm pretty sure that influenced the end sequence, but I managed to get an ending that felt true to how this tale should've developed. Will have to look up all the alternate paths online, as I'm not going to replay ME2 in a million years.

I liked it enough to want to follow up this universe with ME3, but it'll probably be a while before I jump into that.

Good luck with 3. Did you like 1 or 2 better? Did everyone survive 2?

[ugly]

Lawl.
I liked it enough to want to follow up this universe with ME3, but it'll probably be a while before I jump into that.

I did the same thing after beating ME1. I'll take a break from the series and play something else. It's been like 10 years and I haven't played ME2 yet. So long that I bought ME2, never played it, and I guess I have to skip it and play the legendary edition that I got for free.

[twonha]

Good luck with 3. Did you like 1 or 2 better? Did everyone survive 2?

I played Mr Nice Guy most of the time, but skipped most of the Loyalty quests, so lots of team members died quick deaths - some even off camera, true to how I treated them (boring side characters I chose to ignore). Shepard and Miranda lived, I romanced no-one, and I'm pretty sure Tali survived. If I'd wanted to spend twenty more hours in this game, I'd gladly have done the side quests - the storytelling is fine. But the chunky gameplay is still just that, so despite the raving reviews, I'm ready to move on to something else now.

No idea what that'll be though - I'm eyeing up Death Stranding (never played), or GTA4 (finished on X360 and PC when it came out).

[KAC]

Finished Callisto Protocol Final Transmission DLC. 6/10.

[Jaillum Malord]

Finished Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice with the secret true ending. It is going to be very difficult to find a game with combat as satisfying as Sekiro. For me it is now the gold standard for action games. What an experience.

[jimjobob]

Picked up a laptop with a 3050 because it was only $245 and sat in bed playing FF Stranger of paradise last night. Made it to where the red armor starts dropping.

The 3050 is pretty much crap even at 1080p (rest of it is 12500h and 32gigs ram) but maybe I’ll be able to use it for less demanding games. Should have grabbed the 4080 laptop when I had a chance to get one for $11-1200 a couple months ago. Just figured the 4090 would get even less use if I had.

[Mangler]

Finished Uncharted 4, 60fps+ made this game way more enjoyable to play than the unresponsive ps4 version.

Had a blast, **** the young drake sections though, they bring down the entire game, especially the last one, just make them cutscenes.

[Mangler]

Finished Uncharted: Lost Legacy.

It was pretty good, played more like the ps3 games, not a lot of downtime, the open world chapter was the only slow one.

It had the same flaw with some of the traversal puzzles as UC4 though, you have rope, use it.