2021 GAMING DIARY

Posts

Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21781
author=Fflo
My turn now to post something in my gaming diary.

I'm progressing on a randomized Pokémon Pearl game. Starters, wild Pokémon and trainers are randomized, same thing for the moves and the abilities. It means you can get a Regirock as a starter and you can fight a Gym Leader who has a Sunkern as his/her main Pokémon.

My team consists of:

Gible -> Gabite, the starter. Its Hi Jump Kick is deadly! Beating this Drought Regigigas (why does it try to behave like Groudon?) was rather easy. Other moves are Rock Smash, Cut and Flamethrower.


Drifblim, the strong balloon. Its Hyper Sound move wipes the field in double battles, especially at the beginning of the game! No need to worry about this Shelgon which acts like a Magikarp. Oops. Other moves are Fly, Double-Edge and Grass Knot.


Lombre -> Ludicolo, the surprising. I underestimate its skills. The Honey Gather ability is useless, but the Needle Arm, the Spark, the Poison Fang and the Lovely Kiss moves are interesting... Slow Start (Regigigas' ability) for that Cresselia (same thing for the poor Bidoof) was unexpected!


Gorebyss, the MVP. Surf, Lava Plume, Judgement Ground and Attract. Fear the sea serpent! Its ability is the same as Plusle. No way.
Spoiler alert: Claudia's Surf will eliminate Candice's Geodude in one hit.


Slugma -> Magcargo, the bad Pokémon which becomes better in my randomized save. Normally, it doesn't learn Power Gem (a great Special Rock-type move) but it does there. Air Slash, Shadow Ball for the offensive moves. Stealth Rock for the defensive move. Rough Skin as its ability.
This Hitmonchan used Swords Dance on turn 1. I tried to attack with Air Slash but I missed. Then the boxer used Self-Destruct and seriously hurt my lava snail. Not very effective but painful.


Skorupi -> Drapion, Darkrai's counterpart. Caught in the Great Marsh (= Safari Zone), this scorpion is the master of nightmares! Body Slam and Strength are nice Normal-type moves. But it knows the evil duo Dark Void (Darkrai's move) and Dream Eater! Fear the scorpion with Insomnia as its ability. Mars couldn't stand a chance.

Progression: 7 Badges. Levels are around 42-43 for everybody.

Bonus:

Fan-made Yu-Gi-Oh! cards with my current team.

YuGiOh cards featuring Pokemon is something I find ironic.

Edited because PAGE SNIPE.
Backwards_Cowboy
owned a Vita and WiiU. I know failure
1737
Update
I lost interest in several of the games on my list and started playing other games where I had untouched save files from 1-3 years ago and am now finishing, primarily God Wars: Future Past. I did finish two games though! Sorry for the lack of screenshots, I'm like four or five years too old to understand how to share content from my consoles to my computer without having to read a guide online.

Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu
It was nice to revisit the Kanto region in 3D, with the physical/special split from Gen IV present, as well as the Fairy type from Gen VI. The lack of abilities changed how several Pokemon, such as Gengar, are used. Now being weak to the common Earthquake move, Gengar is less of a threat than in past titles. Mr. Mime, Clefable, and Wigglytuff all being Fairy types changes up their resistances and makes them into a threat against the few Dragon- and Dark-types in the game. On the subject of Dark-types, thanks to the inclusion of Alolan forms, Dark-type Pokemon are present in Kanto for the first time. Movesets have been streamlines, with many moves removed from the game. It would have been nice to have the Galarian forms included in an update to further diversify the pool of available Pokemon. Evolutions added in later generations are absent, which is unfortunate as this limits the usefulness of Golbat, Chansey, Scyther, Seadra, and others. The generic trainers are unfortunately weaker than the original games, though the late-game gym leaders can pose a threat if your type match-up is bad or you are under-leveled.

Nicktoons Kart Racers 2 Grand Prix
I bought and finished this game over the course of a weekend, it was on sale. It's probably the first non-Spongebob Nickelodeon game in a long time that didn't get trashed by critics and fans. For those not aware, the first Nicktoons Kart Racers was a disappointment and a critical failure as many thought it was going to be a revival of the older Nickelodeon racing games. Instead, it was 40% Ninja Turtles, 40% Spongebob, and 20% Miscellaneous Shows. The sequel solves 70-80% of the issues, and is enjoyable as a half-decent alternative to Mario Kart. There are some weird design choices, like adding live-action stars as Nicktoons, and some of the newer shows I only knew because I used to work with children. The inclusion of several 90's shows like Rugrats, CatDog, Hey Arnold!, Ren & Stimpy and Rocko's Modern Life were good for nostalgia. Some shows were sorely missed, like Aaah! Real Monsters. It was evident that much of this was due to the recent movie revivals of Rocko's Modern Life, Hey Arnold! and Invader Zim, and the upcoming revival of Rugrats. Still too many damn Ninja Turtles.

AtiyaTheSeeker
In all fairness, bird shrapnel isn't as deadly as wood shrapnel
5424
Dragon Quest 3
Took about a month, but continued where I left off. I've got the Light Armor and Sword of Kings, let alone two of the items needed to make the Rainbow Drop to face off against Zoma. The two stops I need to make before the final fight? The shrine to make the Rainbow Drop, and a cave north of Tantagel that I missed that has the Hero Shield. Next time...

Fallout 4
Still chugging along. Met Danse of the Brotherhood of Steel recently, let alone synths and the cool laser rifle he gives as a reward for busting them. Not sure if I should turn it into a pistol or not, but is fun to use. Shortly after, first super mutants too. I might level up a bit more, and get more perks I want, before continuing the main story in Diamond City.

Other Games
Still haven't touched Heroic Tale VALUE! in a while, but eventually. Feeling more like Parasite Eve than Final Fantasy Tactics when I clear Dragon Quest 3, but no promises. I'm half-tempted to play FFT again first, even for a few. Seems the respec update dropped for Wasteland 3 as well!

Might fuss with Digimon World 3 for a few too, assuming I found a working ISO this time. Probably going to Gameshark in a Kumamon to replace the Patamon in the Balanced Pack, as Pata's defense-oriented build is kinda lame for one-on-one fights. If Digi 3 had three-on-threes instead, Pata being a cleric would've been just fine. Of course, if the ISO is still borked as the one at Vimm's Lair is, I may have to wait until I can buy a legit copy like I'd wanted to do.
AtiyaTheSeeker
In all fairness, bird shrapnel isn't as deadly as wood shrapnel
5424
I'm sorry for the double-post but...

folks

FOLKS I DID IT

AFTER TEN-PLUS YEARS OF PLAYING COUNTLESS SAVES, I HAVE FINALLY COMPLETED...


...Dragon Quest 3. ;-;

The dungeon holding the Hero's Shield wound up having monsters that'd later appear in Zoma's Castle. No spoilers on what happens there, but there was newfound reason for Raziya and the gang to eliminate Zoma once and for all. Actually fighting Zoma was a pain, and I lost track of how often I reloaded my save state after using the Light Orb to eliminate his protection.

Even so, the Sage's Stone in his treasure room was vital. Nazreen constantly used it, while Raziya and Jengo consistently attacked. Maia bounced between debuffing Zoma with Sap, casting Barrier on the party, and using her Sage's Staff to cast Healmore (I am so glad I grabbed that before entering the castle).

And at long last, I've completed this game I've adored for so many years, but had never beaten before. Wow.
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21781
Update? Update.

Suikoden 3
Completed this game last Saturday, as I was not inclined to play through Green Bishop's Chapter.

I did a bit of research concerning the special cut-scenes in the Ceremonial Alter in Chapter 5, when Hugo, Chris, and Gedooe re-aquire their True Runes. Apparently, the cut-scene that I was recalling that had a vision of Lulu appearing before Hugo can only be obtained if Hugo is NOT the Flame Champion. I'm not in a position to verify this at this time, but, might be something to look for on my next play of the game, whenever that will happen to be.


Borderlands 2
Played a decent chunk of this last Saturday, last Sunday, and yesterday.

The session on Sunday I used Cheat Engine to search for the money/Eridum fields with moderate success. As suspected, the money field was easier to find, being 5 digits at the time. I wasn't 100% sure if the field was stored as a two-byte integer (as opposed to a float), but, after finding the field, the evidence of the data suggests it could go as high as four bytes. Which is a Futch-and-Bright ton of money!

I supposed Eridum field was stored near the money field, and I turned out to be correct. I forget exactly how far they were apart (I'll likely not edit these fields again for some time), but, I don't think it was more than 64 bytes away?


An aside for this week was a diversion with Starcraft. The bulk of my time was making, and summarily testing, a map where Zerg can send units to a beacon, and have those units sacrificed for resources. Also, it cut build-time across units, buildings, and tech advanced across the board for Zerg because why not.


Now for some Release Maker Birthday games!

Final Fantasy: World's Edge (Queen's Gambit Deckbuilder Demo)

I'm still very surprised how much of this mini-game is run purely through event-commands. It almost makes me want to include Arcomage Ace into Trail of the Interloper.

I'm very curious to see how this is going to work with multiple player decks to choose from, to say nothing about how to transfer the data of a deck into, well, actually playing the damn mini-game.



Errevale Fall (Version 1.0)

I'm recognizing a number of tracks from RMN Music Pack 1 and 2 here, and it looks like the titles were pretty much retained. This makes me smile a little inside. The custom graphics (such that I could identify) were a nice addition.

It feels a bit strange to me that Leiana's initial gun only has one bullet. The ammo cartridges you start with reloads of 3 and 8 bullets, so, it almost feels a waste to use them on that particular gun. I'd vastly prefer the on-Guard reload mechanic of Heaven's Gate MZ, but, I'm certainly more than biased on this point. XD

The game includes on-screen encounters that chase players, and, thankfully, they don't chase the player at blinding, inavoidable speeds. However, it always makes me scratch my head when game devs do this for non-horror games. Like, maybe I'm wrong, but, the entire point of having on-screen encounters that wander the map is so that players can pick and choose their battles? If players wanna fight, let them seek out the encounters on their own. If they don't, they are free to go past them.

Two more things I'll mention that come off to me either as weird, or just plain pissed me off. One was the sight radius in the mines. It was, like, maybe a one tile radius from the player? For what it's worth, I think the sight radius that was used in Dragon's Gate was more like three tiles from the player, and would be more towards my preference. The other thing was not restoring your health/mana/ammo on resting. At least if you rest in the street. If you have the money to pay for the inn, HP and MP is restored, but not ammo. Then again, your companion, Rosethorn, can be set to use a healing ability to restore lost health that happens maybe once every four or five actions. So, I kinda don't know how I fell about that.

As a side-not, the game had a missing graphic for one of it's abilities, (SwordSpecial2), and the game seems to end with black screen. What's slightly somewhat more awkward is that I can still pull up the party-menu.



Cave Adventure R (Version 2)

This was a cute little game. It kinda reminded me of Wines and Roses, or Born Under the Rain. Well, insofar that enemies tended to gaurd treasure, which was spell books and/or equipment with which you can customize your party.

For what it's worth, my party was level 10-ish by the end-game, and I was able to take out the demon's pet, but not the demon, himself. From the two endings I saw, I don't think beating the demon would change things that much, but, I could be proven wrong.



Meteo Chronicles (Version 1.01)

I'm maybe a half-hour into this game as I type this. Even the easiest of encounters were hitting me for about 160 damage (that's half my starting health!?) until I got a shield that granted 9 DEF, and reduced that damage to more like 60. It certainly felt a little off, and the first dungeon was summarily kicking my butt, even after the shield purchase. I invested some better armor, but, it doesn't quite seem enough.

The game's got this skill purchasing system in the vein of Final Fantasy Tactics. The prices for abilities are certainly lower that FFTs, but, there's also the fact that you only gain AP/JP each battle, as opposed to each action taken. I dunno, I guess it makes the game feel a touch grindier than it already is.

Some of these tracks I can recognize as either RTP, or from commercial games. What pisses me off is that the tracks have been renamed to fit whatever situation they do in this game, and there doesn't seem to be any mention anywhere of where this shit comes from. I know, this is a pet peeve of mine. However, I can't help but to mention it.

However, despite my difficulties, and frustrations listed above, I think the game is going to be okay. I dunno if I'll finish it, but, I'll give it another session today, and maybe a few more next week, and give an update with my next post on the thread.


*Edit: A quick update on Meteo Chonicles.

Okay, I think I accidentally broke the story by opening a door I wasn't supposed to until later. Like, much much later.

So, what happened was, the game trapped me inside a room with monsters to fight. After defeating them, I was given a Small Key. Now, I had access to maybe two doors that took Small Keys. I randomly chose a door that led me to the Raft, which allowed me to bridge various gaps. Getting to the boss room needed the Raft, but it also needed the Boss Key. Which probably was behind the other door in some fashion.

While I didn't find any additional Small Keys in the paths I could traverse, I recalled that a town (Banna) couldn't be entered until I had a Raft. I figured maybe there was something there I could do to progress the dungeon. As it happened, there was an unexpected story-drop, and I was wondering why the hell the MC's portrait was different, and where is this person he's talking to even come from?

Going to meet Archsage Amadeus triggered another story-sequence that prompted Chapter 3 to start. Which means I skipped the rest of Chapter 1, to say nothing of skipping Chapter 2 entirely.

I don't have a backup save from before I got the Raft, so, it looks like I'll have to start from scratch. I've played maybe another half-hour since my initial post, but, most of that play-time was going into the dungeon for short spurts, then going back to town. In a way, that playstyle kinda feels like how I might play the games in my own Matsumori series.

I don't think I'll play more today, and I'm not sure if I'll play again for next week's update at this point. I suppose if I do, I guess I could play smarter in regards to skill purchases, and equipment purchases and Small Keys?
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21781
Update time!

Xenosaga Episode 2 - Jenseits Gut und Bose
I'm not sure what possessed me to start this, but, whatever. It's kinda funny. The game has an early gear dungeon (followed closely by a character dungeon) at practically the start of the game, and the next dungeon isn't until, like, almost 4 hours in. All the while, the game prompting me to "get ready" when there are no shops to get supplies from. I guess I could re-visit the first dungeon, but... just... why?


Borderlands 2
Re-opened Sanctuary as a location/fast travel point. Doing so threw a mess-load of side-quests to do to keep myself occupied for a while!

The one quest type I'm beginning to hate is the timed missions. The game has only presented me with two so far, but, I feel like the time allotted only allows for a bare minimum of mistakes. I mean, maybe it's just me, but, I also need to slow down, and confirm that I did the thing the quest is asking me to do. Which inevitably spends more time than clicking on a mailbox (or whatever) and zooming off as much as possible to the next one.



MORE RELEASE MAKER BIRTHDAY GAMES!

Meteo Chronicles (version 1.01)

While I may have managed to stick closer to where the game wanted me to be this time around, I chanced upon more lingering bugs. For example, I encountered a move-block puzzle in the first dungeon that can cause the game to freeze if you try to move the block into a wall, or other obstruction. Of course, moving the block into the "right" position causes a treasure to appear. However, when I tried to approach the chest, the game froze for no apparent reason. I didn't try to duplicate that issue to figure out what the hell I could have done to cause that. However, I could still get to the chest if I approached it from a different angle.

I kinda felt like I discovered the aformentioned move-block puzzle by random chance. Like, the block that could move was the same color and shape as other obsturctions in the area. On reflection, I suppose the "hint" that something could be moved there was that there was a 2x2 area of blocks with one block missing from the set. As it happens, the chest in question held a Small Key.

I think what got me to quit this game was that the encounter rate was waaaaaay to high for it's own good. Or, rather, it was likely the standard RPG Maker step-based system, with zero attempt to fix the possibility that you can get into another encounter in three or five steps of your last fight, if not as few as one step. Though, for what it's worth, there's a skill that attacks an enemy twice that I typically spammed, and another that I used on bosses and mini-bosses that attacks a foe three times. What spells I did use where limited to healing and status removal because attack spells didn't seem that more effective than a singular regular attack.

You know what would have been cool? If you could simply walk over the places where you placed the Raft, rather than get a text-box about you crossing it, and get a Teleport event. I'm pretty sure this is possible, and I think I did this in... Oracle of Askigaga?

It is beginning to occur to me that the best way to disallow players to skip Chapter 2 is with the guards at Banna. They would basically not let you past until the event at Ari where you get kicked out said town. For what it's worth, anytime you would have access to Banna before that even would be before Karios took refuge into your mind/body/soul/whatever.



Under the Hunter's Moon

For what it's worth, I have no idea what the initial release for Seasons 4 was like.

Aside from noticing huge amounts of lag when I entered the Withering Forest (Why is it that Seasons 4 games are doing this to me, and practically no other RPG Maker games? ;_;), the controls take a little getting used to. Like, I keep forgetting that I can hold "D" to hold my position, and can turn without moving. Then again, moving to evade guys is a thing I find myself doing. A lot.

You know what would have been cool? If this game had a HUD that tells you your current status (HP/SP/EP) at a glance, rather than call up the menu to reference that. You know what would have also been cool? If the statue in town that restores your health, stamina, and energy actually restored your energy. While the text box relays that energy is restored, as far as I could tell, the value only moved about as much as your regular energy regeneration.

I somehow expected more game to happen after getting into the castle. That aside, if there is one improvement I wish to note, I would suggest having options to improve your melee attack. I'm not saying the best sword in the game should be able to fell a Dark Knight in a single blow. However, maybe a werewolf? I don't have access to any behind-the-scenes numbers as to how that all works, so, I could be way off-base here.


At this point, I considered doing more Seasons 4 games, as Liberty's second stream for that event keeps getting cancelled (;_;). However, I kept going with Release Maker Birthday games.

Elementalism (Version 1.3)

This demo maybe took me fifteen minutes to complete? Definitely on the shorter side. It's an adventure game, so most of what you'll be doing is running around and examining objects, or interacting with the numerous NPCs. I kinda want to suggest a "press Shift to run" mechanic if this ever gets an expansion.

There's some Engrish in some of the writing that could be fixed up, and the game has no background music on some maps/cases. That said, "background_fire" and "big_side" are very calm tunes that I appreciate. From what I can tell from the in-game credits, the packed-in credits file, and the meta-properties of the tracks, themselves, they were made (mostly) by meedokzy themselves. Thank you, dev, for this.



Dungeon Master of Rangea Continent (Version 2.00)

I find it a little weird that the self-targeting or party-targeting skills require the "choose a target" step in combat. I also find it a little weird that you can use Phila's buffs outside of combat.

Maybe it's just me, but, the on-screen enemies do have some kind of approach player pattern when the player gets close? This game was made by the same meeple-mersons as Errevale Fall, which uses a similar mechanic, so I will not comment further on this point.

So, here we have enemies that sometimes drop loot. This loot, when used, can produce an item within a certain sub-category of items through a Common Event. They are a little annoying to use, because after using them, the game goes back to the map screen. I'd absolutely prefer to stay within the Item screen in this particular case, but, I'm also not 100% sure how that could be circumvented.

About an hour in, and I find it might be somewhat story-relevant that Phila can use her buffs out of combat. I certainly wasn't expecting to be on the other side of that fight, though.

The cases of Engrish in the dialog showed up early, and persisted throughout my 3-and-a-half hour tour of the game. I didn't complete this one, but the game switching perspectives is somewhat reminiscent of Suikoden 3.

If you ask me why I put this down, there were a few reasons for that. One was the fights, themselves. Perhaps I was simply being overly annoyed by the sub-section where you control Phila alone? Like, her options for offense are limited to a regular physical attack, which is an area she does not shine in at all. She's clearly optimized for magic. The fact that she can buff attack means she's not a completely useless as a fighter, and can, theoretically, fight off an encounter with up to three opponents. However, those fights, particularly against the tougher Demon Guardians, are long and drawn out. Though, maybe the game would be more than slightly unbalanced if Phila did have offensive skills? With her natural MP regeneration, she'd likely be a veritable one-woman army!

While the other two members of the hero party don't necessarily need to use MP, the Dungeon Master's party does. This is not to say that they can't use items to restore MP, but, it felt really annoying that the DM only had a few actions before his MP ran out. However, at some point, I recall seeing a Coin of Regeneration, an equipment that includes an MP regeneration property. At first, I had the Dungeon Master equip it. However, I could also see the value of having his servant equip it from time-to-time. After the DM learned a damage-dealing skill that costed only TP, it was pretty much permanently equipped to the servant. Though, I also find it interesting that her skill-set is 100% support, and no offense. Well, she does have a skill that charms, and would deal damage indirectly. I guess my complaint with her is similar to that of Phila in that it feels she could use some more offense options.

The music also got on my nerves. Which is a real shame because the tracks are from RNM Music Pack 1 and 2. For a bit more context here, the game uses a technique that has the music from the map/situation continue playing when combat is initiated without a break, or restart. I grant I have used that technique on at least three occasions that I can think of. So it's not that I don't see where the devs are coming from.

Cap_H
DIGITAL IDENTITY CRISIS
6625
March, part 2:

I played 2 more games.

17. Northgard
This is a brilliant take on the rts genre. Basically, it's closer to survival city builders such as Banished and turned based games such as Civ. You have several win conditions and defeating your enemies with soldiers usually isn't an optimal strategy. The game focuses a lot on keeping your population happy. That means sufficient food, wood and housing among other things. Also, you need villagers to run all your buildings and maintaining an army makes this more difficult. The pacing is very different from other rts games I've played and I enjoyed it a lot.

18. Imperator: Rome
I finished my first game in Imperator and It's a really good grand strategy game. The way most things work is very satisfying, it just lacks flavour for some regions (you don't get Germanic military traditions for example). I hope they'll add few more flavour packs and not a whole lot more to keep the game relatively fast, yet little more diverse for various regions.
AtiyaTheSeeker
In all fairness, bird shrapnel isn't as deadly as wood shrapnel
5424
Digimon World 3
By some miracle, managed to find a ROM that works. I don't know if I can talk about where I did, but I did. Used a Gameshark ISO to throw a Kumamon onto my team, and seems to have been a great idea! Though I'd first completed the game in my teens with the Powerful Pack (Agumon, Renamon, Monmon), I went with a theme closer to my OCs. In this case, I benched Patamon from the Balanced Pack for my cheated-in Kuma, and still using Kote and Rena.

Though I barely managed to get by the first completed file (and I recall using the reviving items a ton), this was surprisingly fun to grind for! I've thrown on Fox Kids Digimon Movie soundtrack for thematics and laughs (some tunes held up, even as butt rock) and used the fast-forward button to make grinding easier. Of my team: Renamon ("Maia") advances the quickest in levels but is squish, and Kotemon ("Jengo") is a balanced fighter with some physical elemental strikes. However, Kumamon ("Raziya") is definitely all-in as a melee character. Shucks, she didn't even have enough MP to use her signature move at the start of the game! That said, her ATK, DEF and I believe AGI are fearsome -- who needs her specials most of the time, really? Kuma feels the polar opposite of Rena, a Monk compared to a Mage.

Also, Kumamon takes foreeeeeever to level up. :v

Dark Cloud
Gave the PS2 emulator another spin, and found that Dark Cloud is still as chill a game as I recall. Early on I had trouble with weapons nearly breaking, but once I got the Georama pieces to restore the shop? Smooth-as-silk sailing. Toan's got a veritable arsenal of blades right now -- his default dagger, a shamshir that I adore, a basilard that looks more like a flame-blade than the historical dagger, a kitchen knife that keeps him quenched longer (no really, and it damages fish monsters more), and even a gladius. Poor Xiao only has her default slingshot. *sadcat*

Wasteland 3
So! Started this back up. Gave Nelius a dirt nap, and did an all-nighter to clear Aspen and capture Victory Buchanan. Let's just say it's fitting that the chorus to Britney Spears' "Crazy" was stuck in my head as I completed the mission. And seems I got to meet with Angela Deth, veteran of the Rangers that was presumed KIA in Wasteland 2, after all. This is where the story is getting into some big-time spoilers, so I'll try to keep things vague. Once I clear the game, which I seem to be in the final missions of, I shall put what happened and my views under a spoiler tag.

Also, was able to respec my main rangers after the most recent update! And managed to get the Hundred Families to not hate me! Barely! Revised the team's stats, skills and perks; vestigial skills got removed and reallocated elsewhere, and tweaked stats and perks as such. Alleycat is now min-maxed in stats, and Prowler is min-maxed for three skills only, among other things. Though it feels cheaty at this point of the game, I'll need the focused builds and it didn't come cheap. Poor Paige / Alleycat had to wait until I scrounged up ~1k Colorado bucks to be retrained, after I did Dana, Eric and Prowler first. But at this point of the game, money is (almost) not an object.
KrimsonKatt
Gamedev by sunlight, magical girl by moonlight
3326
Bucket List (Games I already own)
-Super Mario World
-Super Mario Bros The Lost Levels (Allstars)
-Super Mario Bros 2 (Allstars)
-Super Mario Bros 3 (Allstars)
-Mario 64 (3D Allstars)
-Mario Sunshine (3D Allstars)
-Mario Galaxy 1 (3D Allstars)
-Mario and Luigi Bowser's Inside Story (OG DS version)
-Yoshi's Island
-Zelda A Link to the Past
-Zelda Ocarina of Time 3D (Yes I still haven't beaten it shut up the water temple is hard)
-Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light (Switch Re-release)
-Fire Emblem The Binding Blade
-Fire Emblem The Blazing Blade
-Fire Emblem The Sacred Stones
-Fire Emblem Three Houses (the remaining two routes)
-Xenoblade X
-Xenoblade 2 Torna
-Super Metroid (Good Ending)
-Metroid Fusion
-FFIII (DS)
-FFIV Advance
-FFV (PC) (Best ending)
-FFVI (PC)
-OG FFVII
-Final Fantasy VII Remake
-Octopath Traveler (True Ending, all paths completed)
-Nier Automata (Ending E)
-Sonic 1
-Sonic 2
-Sonic CD
-Sonic 3 & Knuckles (True Ending)
-Sonic Adventure DX
-Sonic Adventure 2 Battle
-Sonic Unleashed Wii
-Sonic Colors
-Sonic Generations
-Streets of Rage 2
-Streets of Rage 3 (Good Ending)
-Persona 4 Golden (Golden Ending)
-Radiant Historia Perfect Chronology (True Ending)
-Breath of Fire
-Breath of Fire 2 (Best Ending)
-Horizon Zero Dawn
-Spiderman PS4
-Tales of Vesperia
-Spyro Reignited (all three games)
-Rabi Rumi

Games I've already completed this year
-Bravely Default II
-Hades
-Miitopia (3DS version)

Games I want to get and beat
-Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze +New Funky Mode
-Windwaker HD and Twilight Princess HD (hopefully Nintendo releases a collection but I won't get my hopes up)
-Hyrule Warriors Definitive Edition
-Pokemon Zeta and Omicron
-Pokemon Insurgence
-Pokemon Uranium
-The World Ends With You Final Remix
-Bravely Default (3DS original)
-Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore
-Streets of Rage 4
-Crash 4: It's About Time

Games I want to play and beat but I'm not sure if I can get them running or not on my crappy PC
-Persona 3 FES
-Xenogears
-Xenosaga Episode 1
-Xenosaga Episode 2
-Xenosaga Episode 3
-Ape Escape
-Ape Escape 2
-Ape Escape 3
-Suikoden
-Suikoden 2
-Suikoden 3
-Suikoden 4
-Suikoden 5
-Fire Emblem Path of Radiance
-Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn
-Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21781
Update incoming!

Xenosaga Episode 2 - Jenseits Gut und Bose
I left off last week somewhere in the middle of the winter version of Sakura's subconscious domain, and ended the week somewhere in the middle of the submerged city on Old Miltia. Story-wise, that's quite a lot of game. The #1 reason I'm going so quickly through this game is because I refuse to take part in the Global Samaritan Campaign (ie: this game's side-quest material) in any capacity whatsoever. I dunno, maybe because the way the characters move feel sluggish, even when running, and running from system to system represents a lot of what you do within the GSC. Perhaps, one day, I may make another attempt of it. This will not be this run, however.

Also, I keep forgetting how little time you spend on Disk 1 in this game, and in Xenosaga 3. Were they trying to compensate for the lackluster Disk 2 of Xenogears, or is there actual sense behind the bulk of the game being on Disk 2? Might be something to research, one day.


Okami
Going off a New Game+ data with this run-through. I'm not 100% sure if this data is based off of clearing the game once or twice, but, my Praise was at somewhere around 1400 with no attributes to spend it on. Demon Fangs was maybe in the 50s? Wasn't paying too much attention to that.

It's one thing that I need to re-acquire the Celestial Brush techniques. That's half the reason for the game's journey, after all. However, I find it odd I needed to re-learn the dodge move (Fleetfoot), yet retain the ability to deal damage while performing a Fleetfoot (Counter Dodge)?


Borderlands 2
Polished off the last of the big list of side-quests. Gained maybe three levels in the process? I advanced the story a little bit, but, like, the game dropped more side-quests on my head, so, I can ignore the plot even longer!


Perhaps more than a bit of an aside for this week was a glut of Master of Orion 2 - Battle at Antares. Usually, I choose one system along my border, and have the planets within that system build a Death Doom Star and a colony ship. This usually translates to having as many as five sets, as a star cannot have more than five planets orbiting it. I had one session this week where I had a seven such sets. The intent there was to eliminate one of the AI-controlled races, but, I forgot they had a system that was on the other side of the galatic map.

On the other hand, I basically control maybe 75% of the galaxy. I mean, yeah, I cheated to have all the techs, giving me a large advantage against the AI in a straight-up fight. I'm not saying the game would be more fair if I did not cheat. I'm willing to bet AI players have exploits of their own. However, that is neither here nor there.


I'm also kinda thinking of changing my format for these update posts. Like, maybe, have notes on a per session basis, rather than what I have been doing since I moved to weekly updates? I dunno, maybe it's just me, but, the posts of my "main games" have been pretty bland overviews. Well, I'll try the per session basis thing for next week, and see if I like that better.
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21781
Update? Update.

Xenosaga Episode 2 - Jenseits Gut und Bose

--Session 1--
The inside of Labyrinthos sure looks different in this game than it does in the next. Then again, I believe I'm approaching from below rather than from the front entrance. Might have something to do with it.

Anyway, I this session saw me go through two puzzles to unlock the main elevator. Which means there probably isn't too much left before the cut-scene, and the boss fight against Margulus.


--Session 2--
With Labyrinthos complete, Old Miltia has given rise to the Omega system. I'm not exactly sure how much of this game is left at this point, but, given that I'm not doing any side-questing, it might be two more sessions.


--Session 3--
I love the music of the Omega system. The dungeon, itself, is a little annoying, especially the block-puzzle where you form a bridge with said blocks.

I forgot that there was no break between the end of the Omega system dungeon and the last area of the game. I knew there wasn't much to that area, so, I went ahead and finished the game this session. Clear time was 14 hours, 57 minutes, 54 seconds.



Okami

--Session 1--
Starting the "dog-gone" quest in Kusa Village always makes me groan a bit. Most of the dogs you need to find in this quest just need to feed, but, two or three of them you have to fight. It's not exactly a mirror match, has they can't use Celestial Brush techs, but, they are still very agile.


--Session 2--
The three Satomi Canine Warriors were felled this session. The Celestial Brush techs Waterspout and Crescent are also obtained. My next task is to enter Gale Shrine, unlock the Galestorm Celestial Brush tech, and defeat Crimson Helm!


--Session 3--
With Galestorm acquired, and Crimson Helm felled, the next task is to re-visit Kamiki Village. I'm not sure how long it's been since Orochi has been unsealed, but, the rematch between hyrda and wolf draws ever nearer.

I did get a little side-tracked with doing Haruka's revenge contract, though.



Borderlands 2

--Session 1--
There were about three side-quests involving Overlook that I completed this session. There was also an arena challenge that I managed to complete two rounds of (out of four?) before going elsewhere. By doing so, the mission was labeled as botched, but I can re-try it again later on. This could probably means starting from round 1, but, if the game has me start from round 3, that certainly be okay by me!


--Session 2--
One side-quest and one main mission down. The game dropped maybe three more side-quests after the main mission was turned in.

Punkitt
notorious rpgmaker 2k3 shill
3341
'Aight, this seems fun! I'm currently working on:

Final Fantasy 7 Remake

Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition

Yakuza: Like a Dragon

Kingdom Hearts (The first one)


I'll update these more later this week when I get the chance to start playin' games again.
AtiyaTheSeeker
In all fairness, bird shrapnel isn't as deadly as wood shrapnel
5424
Dark Cloud
I have been playing this game most consistently lately. Haven't been doing much gaming otherwise, other than fussing about in Soul Calibur 6. More on that later. Finally got another slingshot for Xiao, and it's a great find: the Bandit Slingshot. Not only is it my strongest weapon for base damage (33, which outclasses any of Toan's swords), but it can occasionally steal an item from enemies. I'd gotten a few Fire Gems from Dragons this way without grinding. Sadly, Toan's poor Bone Rapier snapped in pieces when I tried to grind it. While I had items attached to it that disappeared when it broke. Balls. Also the Kitchen Knife broke too, but IDGAF.

I'm only missing one object left to place for Norune Village, and most of the existing objects have been restored to its former splendor of stuff and people. Character and weapon stats are as follows...
Toan, Boi
Health 70 - Defense 17 - Thirst 4
* Dagger: Attack 6 (Wind 4)
* Shamshir +2: Attack 23 (Thunder 8)
* Basilard +2: Attack 11 (Fire 6 / Thunder 10)
* Gladius +1: Attack 17 (Fire 10 / Holy 5)

Xiao, Catgirl
Health 80 - Defense 7 - Thirst 4
* Wooden Slingshot +1: Attack 10 (Holy 10)
* Bandit Slingshot +3: Attack 33 (Wind 12), "Steal"

Notable Items
* Consumables: Antidote Amulet, Gold Bullion x2, Stamina Drink x2
* Amethyst: +10 Ice element; +10 Anti-Dragon and Anti-Mage damage
* Pearl: +10 Endurance to weapon stats; +10 Thunder element; +10 Anti-Undead damage


Soul Calibur 6
Otherwise, been fussing around with this game lately. Between how casual DC and SC6 feel to me, I haven't felt like playing games with a bigger commitment to them. I've been using five weapon styles in Ranked Matches: Kilik, Mitsurugi, Raphael, Haohmaru and Taki. Of these I've used Kilik (as Raziya) and Raphael (as Nazreen) the most.

SC6 does this thing that I kinda hate, where it'll occasionally throw you against opponents with a much higher rank than yours. However, in recent times I've fought bravely. I was overjoyed to win one round against a much better Kilik player as Raziya, even if I lost the fight overall. The one thing I truly can't stand is when people stunlock you with cheap moves, preventing any sort of fair fighting. This goes double if they use an obnoxious character like Cassandra. This is also why I don't do Casual Match rooms. Some asshat named "Grab Dat Bussy" or something, I kid you not, is one such spamming fartknocker. And that jerk shows up all the time, whenever people bother to make a casual room. -_-

Other Games
I'd recently been gifted a friend's Nintendo DS through the mail, which had collected dust otherwise. She'd included a copy of Pokemon Platinum, and both were bundled with a little amigurumi pug I had bought from her on Etsy. In other words, I might play that at some point. 4th Gen is the last generation of Pokemon I care about playing, whether or not I like later 'Mons (like Pyroar >_>). No promises.

I am putting Fallout 4 and Digimon World 3 on the back burner, however. Wasteland 3 might be next. I'd burned myself out of FO4 due to the journaling, but I'd like to return to playing and journaling it more. I think I'd reached a good "season finale". DW3? Meh. I did enjoy it, but not for now. WL3? Well... huge spoiler territory, but I may be hesitating due to an unexpected point of no return in the story. If I go the route I desire to in the endgame, there'll be pain to match my pleasure in victory.
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21781
I didn't play a whole lot this week. However, there was some gammak happening this week, which is it's own kind of progress!

Suikoden 2

--Session 1--
This got on my replay list as soon as I even considered re-playing Suikoden 3. However, I thought I could use a small break between finishing Suikoden 3 and this.

Annnnd, now that I've watched the opening FMV, THERE IS NO GOING BACK. XD


--Session 2--
The beginning of this game has a lot of running. Captain Rowd asks you run from the "ambush" by the City-State. You run when you find out the ambush was actually enacted by Highlanders under Luca Blight's command. You run, escaping from Victor's fort. You run in Kyaro Town, after Victor and Flik save you from being executed as spies.

Things do quiet down after returning to Victor's fort, but only for a short time.


--Session 3--
This session was something of a quick run, recruiting Rikumaru, Mille, Shiro and Kinnison in the process.



Okami

--Session 1--
The Moon Cave, and the fetch-quest for Orochi's appetizer was kinda fun. Inferno is among my favorite techs, though, I much prefer the upgrade that costs 3 ink containers, and causes massive damage. It almost replaces Power Slash. Almost.

The next story-arc is Sei-an City and Ninetails, but, I'm pretty sure there's a mini-boss or two between where I am and that. Blight might be one? I don't quite recall. Either way, I'm fairly sure Veil of Mist would be obtained in the capital, with Catwalk and Thunderstorm also obtained in this story-arc.


--Session 2--
The curse that Ryoshima Coast was under may have been cleared, but, the strange myst over Sei-an City yet hangs. With Prayer Slips in hand, Rao seeks our help in obtaining the Fox Rods on the sunken ship off the Ryoshima Coast.



Borderlands 2

--Session 1--
There was an "undiscovered" side-quest in an area with another side-quest I had tagged, and I kinda regret not popping my head in that area earlier. As it happend, that area did not have a fast-travel point, and it involved a series of arena battles. Definitely put that one into the "later" pile!

Also, I advanced the story a tad. Of course, the game dropped several more side-quests to look at instead, so, I'll review them in more detail next session.

I kinda feel like a terrible person for continuing to use Cheat Engine to effectively have unlimited health. I mean, I'm playing this game single-player, so, I'm not effecting anybody else's experience with the game. However, I know I probably should have died, quite a bit between when I started using Cheat Engine, and now. Like, I don't even want to make a guess. XD


--Session 2--
I gave a timed side-quest I had ignored earlier another couple of tries with no further success. There was something of a tower defense side-quest I tried two or three times that also ended in failure. I've another side-quest tagged, tracking down a thing called the Bane that has some kind of curse on it. I think I might be on the last leg of that side-quest, but, the area where it has taken me had , like, three other side-quests I can do.

Though, there is a certain sense that the game is wearing a little thin. That I might actually want to start down the path of finishing the game. I dunno, I'm still generally having fun, so, maybe I'll see how I feel about after clearing my current area of side-quests.

Cap_H
DIGITAL IDENTITY CRISIS
6625
April:

1.Overland
This is a pretty game. Take a look at some screenshots! I haven't seen many other games, which managed to perfect low poly. It's also a tactics game and that's where problems start, because the best part of the game are cutscenes, in which your vehicle passes some amazing environments. The gameplay is lacking. It doesn't feel tactical. It might be because your goal in every location is to gather resources and leave and the actual fighting is more of a necessity. That means there aren't any cool attacks or abilities and the whole game is about your characters being able to carry only 2 items at once. And characters or narration is the other problem. The game doesn't do anything to make you care. There's no character progression or narrative connected to individual people. They're just generic survivors. I wish the game had more ways to interact with its world. As it is now, it's a pretty paint and your ride is the most important character as it's the only thing you customize with various attachments.

author=Marrend
Under the Hunter's Moon

For what it's worth, I have no idea what the initial release for Seasons 4 was like.

Aside from noticing huge amounts of lag when I entered the Withering Forest (Why is it that Seasons 4 games are doing this to me, and practically no other RPG Maker games? ;_;), the controls take a little getting used to. Like, I keep forgetting that I can hold "D" to hold my position, and can turn without moving. Then again, moving to evade guys is a thing I find myself doing. A lot.

You know what would have been cool? If this game had a HUD that tells you your current status (HP/SP/EP) at a glance, rather than call up the menu to reference that. You know what would have also been cool? If the statue in town that restores your health, stamina, and energy actually restored your energy. While the text box relays that energy is restored, as far as I could tell, the value only moved about as much as your regular energy regeneration.

I somehow expected more game to happen after getting into the castle. That aside, if there is one improvement I wish to note, I would suggest having options to improve your melee attack. I'm not saying the best sword in the game should be able to fell a Dark Knight in a single blow. However, maybe a werewolf? I don't have access to any behind-the-scenes numbers as to how that all works, so, I could be way off-base here.


Oh, you've played my game, I only noticed this now :D Thanks for the feedback, the current version should be pretty much identical to the initial Seasons 4 release.

Yeah, HUD is a very important thing I plan to add in the next update (whenever that might happen, but I am working on it, currently started on the tutorial part). Just need to find the right plugin to use for this. The statue thing, I probably just added Recover All event command to it, but Energy uses the TP gauge, so it doesn't get restored like HP and MP (or SP as it's called in the game). I will definitely fix that.

The castle was supposed to be another stage, but I ran out of time, so I just decided to end the demo right as you entered it. The final game will have atleast three boss fights, the first two will guard the orbs (or whatever their equivalent might be in the finished version), while the third one will be the final boss of the game in the castle, which will be the final area.

The Withering Forest lag is quite normal, it's a huge map with lots of enemies and will be heavily redesigned, it was basically me testing out how far I can take this without the game lagging on my PC. I'm also experimenting with some changes to how the enemies and hit detection works which should heavily improve the performace of the game. Also, smaller stages will help. Was the performace better in the Cave and Military Camp areas?

I will also add a Melee Weapon slot with different swords to get, that was supposed to already be in the early demo, but I ran out of time.

The controls are kinda clunky and I'm trying to improve them, but so far I don't really have many ideas regarding them. Any suggestions?

What did you think of the overall gameplay? Was it enjoyable?

Thanks for playing it, hope you give the finished version a try once that comes out! :)
Backwards_Cowboy
owned a Vita and WiiU. I know failure
1737
Update:

SpongeBob Squarepants: Battle for Bikini Bottom Rehydrated
I picked this up on a whim since it was on sale. It was nice to replay the game on a modern system, but the stages are smaller than I remember them being. 100% completion over the weekend. Not a long game, but it is arguably one of the best licensed games of all time. Couldn't try the multiplayer, though. If you played the original as a kid or if you have kids who like SpongeBob, I would recommend picking it up if you can get it for around $20. Any higher and it isn't really worth it. A lot of the memes that came out of the show make an appearance in background art and idle animations.
AtiyaTheSeeker
In all fairness, bird shrapnel isn't as deadly as wood shrapnel
5424
Dark Cloud
Beat Dran. I forgot how much HP the big ol' Falkor expy had. Got through the fight with minimum fuss (okay, Toan got KO'd once), but got impatient and chugged a Stamina Drink near the end. Toan took Dran down in one or two shots after. The boosted stats really upped the damage! Of course, I might've done more throughout the fight if I turned off my weapons' elemental attributes. Currently making headway in the Wise Owl Forest. I don't have many villagers for Matataki yet, but I'll manage for now. May hold off of the game for the moment.

Fallout 4
Chipping away here and there, recording progress along the way. I want to get to Diamond City as soon as I can, but I keep getting sucked into Minutemen quests. There's a reason why I said I'd skip annoying quests at the start of my Fallout 4 journaling thread. I think next time I fire the game up, I'm may just drop the current settlement-saving quest and fight my way to Diamond City. Just need to check stuff out at the National Guard base for a Brotherhood mission I won't... ech. Screw it. Baseball field settlement or bust.

Insofar as that, getting myself together for a Season Two of entries. I might upload the first ten chapters on my writing blog, for all anyone cares about that one. Emotional nonsense has been overwhelming this year, and it's been affecting my creative work ethic. I do want to just chip away though. Besides, I don't have to record every bit of mucking around the Boston Commonwealth to such high detail either.

Wasteland 3
Angela's proposition has given me a lot of food for thought. It's put me off playing till tonight. Made a little headway to get en route to Yuma County and with that, the grand finale. I may still give my thoughts on the endgame narrative when all is said and done, but no promises. Doing some sidequests en route to the finale. Of note, a perk I gave to Alleycat lets her punch things for 1 AP per punch. It required a maxed-out Brawling skill, but she finally can. My dumb kitty's finally able to be a battle medic after all. :')
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21781
Last week felt busier than normal. My gaming notes are certainly more brief, if you choose to look.

Suikoden 2

--Session 1--
Zamza, Hanna, and Tasi have been recruited! However, both Toto and Ryube have been burned to the ground by Luca. Viktor's fort is next in line.


--Session 2--
Viktor's fort burns to the ground, forcing us to retreat to Muse. We must pass through Toto first, and Pilika has us do a stop-over at the shrine her father once kept. The secret hidden there is now borne on the right hands of Jowy and Riou; the Black Sword and the Bright Shield Runes.

However, we cannot enter Muse without a passport. Alex will give us his, if we hunt treasure with him.


--Session 3--
The treasure we find behind the White Deer Inn is little more than a healing herb. Yet, without that herb, Hilda's fever would likely have become something mush worse.

As per our arraingment, Alex gave us his passport to Muse. Apparently, Alex's name is on it, as well as Hilda's and Pete's, and to gain entry, we must pose as them. The acting skills of Riou, Jowy, and Nanami are put into question.


--Session 4--
Tuta and Anita join our cause. Riou and Jowy scout the Highland camp for Jess to see how many provisions they have. They are caught, and Jowy stays behind so that Riou and the others can get back to Muse, promising his own return. The wait was long, but, Jowy fulfilled his promise.

A week passes. A meeting at Joweston Hill is about to commence.



Okami

--Session 1--
The treasure of the sunken ship was the Lucky Mallet. Which isn't quite what what we were looking for, but still useful. With it, we can get into the Imperial Palace, obtain the Viel of Mist Celestial Brush technique, and enter the Empreror's body, and fight off Blight.

I didn't quite get to the 'fight off Blight' part with this session, but, it'll be the first thing I do next one!


--Session 2--
After Blight's defeat, Sei-an City opens up, and provides some things I can do. Some involving a theif that appears only at night. I must admit I'm not terribly adimant about doing these optional tasks, as my writing in regards to Boarderlands 2 may attest.

I dunno, maybe I just do the monster-hunting task, and leave the theif along unless it's absolutely nessessary.


--Session 3--
Kaguya has blasted off to who-knows-where, but has left behind a Fire Tablet so that we might visit Queen Himiko.


--Session 4--
A visit to Queen Himko directs us to find the Dragon Palace that lies beneath the waves. Hidden by a whirlpool, the only way we can enter is with Orca's help.



Borderlands 2

--Session 1--
I think I only completed one side-quest this session, but, it was a lot of putzing to and fro in an area that doesn't have any vechiles to make the trecks faster.

This session in particular made me re-think my strategy of completing this area of quests before moving on to the rest of the game. In fact, it kinda made me consider putting this down for the rest of the week, if not longer.


*Edit: For what it's worth, I picked up Dynasty Warriors 8 Empires on sale yesterday, and I'm still kinda messing around with it.
Vaccaria
You'd think MZ would use a dictionary for switches/variables by now?
4936
I am back, and that means with a vengeance!

Assault Spy
I've already finished this game, of course, but it's a different story if you've been from a series like Devil May Cry. Let's just say that Vergil taught me how awfully OP melee-weapon-range-autotracking attacks are. And also instant teleportation. And also being able to just destroy bosses in a matter of minutes. I usually get confused that I may(?) have the fastest time in some modes because of my abuse of some mechanics, but it sure as well was fun anyway.

Also, Amelia OP. Royalguard is just overpowered.

Devil May Cry 4
I'll play you when I get in the mood again. When I'm in the mood, okay? :^)

Tomb Raider
I already finished this game a long time ago, but I decided to come back once I managed to buy it 'legally. If anything, being able to see everything at a higher fidelity made me want to replay the entire game, as well as doing a complete 100% run of it.

Problem is that the game isn't pretty much balanced to someone who has the aim of a LE CS:GO player. Even at the highest difficulty of the game, I'm more likely to hit more enemies than they could get ever have the chance to shoot me. But I'll take it. Because it's fun to see enemies scramble when they see how goddamn straight you are at shooting.


And of course, I'll have to update mine sooner or later. Two months from now, the actual summer break's gonna come, and that means more time to PLAY. And also do some development stuff, maybe.

Okay bye