AMERK'S PROFILE

It's good to take a step back into history, but personally, I think the GBC and GBA made Gameboy that much better. Not that I had a problem with the black and white games (Final Fantasy Adventure and the FF Legends series is still amongst some of the best), but the hard-to-see green screen on the original GB was a large strain to the eyes.

It's too bad that Nintendo gave up on the GB hand consoles. DS is okay, but just doesn't have the feel as the earlier GB devices.

Too many for me to count, so I'll list the ones I've played and beaten more than once:

Final Fantasy 1 (NES and it's ports): 3 times.
Crystalis (NES): at least 4 times that I know of.
Willow (NES): 2 times.
Metal Gear (NES - yes I do consider the original MG's a sort of action rpg): at least 5 times that I know of.
Snake's Revenge (NES - again, another MG I consider sort of an action rpg): at least 3 times that I know of.

Final Fantasy VII (PS1): 3 times.
Wild Arms (PS1): 3 times.

Now for some RM games:
Ahriman's Prophecy (2 times)
Dragon Fantasy 1 and 3 (2 times)
Eden Legacy 1, 2, and 3 (3 times)
Generica (2 times)
Legion Saga 1 and 2 (2 times)
Princess Princess (2 times)
Retro Quest (2 times)
Backstage (3 times)

author=Linkis
Where the hell are all these new games coming from.
Please slow down. :)

I have 18 games on my desktop that I need to play, some are even a few years old but I'm just downloading them.

NOW, I'm seeing several new games a week hitting this site.

I'm a disabled vet who spends a few hours a day playing but am now having trouble keeping up :)

And yes, I chuckled as I typed this :)

I've got about 300+ titles on my desktop over the past few years. Considering how fast a game can come and go, I stock up. Some tricks I've learned:

1. Focus more on completed games and less on demos.
2. If it's a demo, only download the ones that seem very unique or peaks my interest, unlike the dozens of other demos.
3. Only play about an hour or so of the demos you do download. It's likely to end in a cliff hanger anyways, and this way you'll have enough info whether or not you'll enjoy the completed game when/if it's finished. Most demos won't ever be completed anyways, so chances are high you won't miss out on skipping a demo.

As for games I do donwload (whether completed or demo):

1. Read through the game page. Make sure the story and game description, type of game, and the game's mechanics meet your expectation. Although there are always exceptions, if you don't typically like a particular style of rpg (say open world farming), you'll probably want to skip over a Harvest Moon Clone, even if it is complete.
2. Look at the screenshots, and really study them. If the game page is subpar, there had better be enough screenshots to draw me in. I typically skip downloading games without screenshots, unless the game page appeals to me or the reviews sell me on it. Speaking of which:
3. Read the reviews. No, I don't mean glance at the score and make a decision, but actually open up and read the reviews. That's going to give you much more input (more so than a score, anyways) if it's a game you would consider playing or not. Quite often I come across low-scored games that I know I will (and have) loved; likewise, I've also passed on games that had high scores because I realized it wasn't my taste.

And probably one of the most important:

Don't force yourself to play through a whole game you are not invested in. In that first hour, you should be somewhat invested into the story and game play. If it's boring now, it's likely not to change much. If it's imbalanced now, it's probably going to get worse. And if it's sloppy, buggy, and broken, chances are it's not going to be fixed.

Sure, this comes off a bit critical, but one thing about RM games is they are a dime a dozen. For every game you don't like, there are several more still waiting to be played, and any one of them may appeal to you more.

author=Marrend
I guess it depends on the nature of the video. A "Let's Try" is all about making observations of a game, whither it be technical or otherwise. In that respect, submitting that kind of video as part of a review, and summarizing the points made in the video in the review's body, is probably fine. A "Let's Play" isn't, traditionally, geared that way. It's more casual in it's observations. I don't think it would be appropriate for a review, or to have a rating attached to it.

/ten cent opinion

There's a difference between "Let's Play" and video reviews, though. Let's Play attempts to cover the whole game (with or without commentary). It's not really a review. Although in that case, as long as a summary is provided like Liberty said, then it's really a moot point.

However, video reviews cover the details of a review like a written review would. It would still require a written summary, but a full playthrough wouldn't be necessary, as long as the length of the video review is acceptable.

This would be an example of a video review - for Eternal Eden (not mine, of course):

With Ace scripts, RM2K3 does become a bit obsolete, even though it can do a bit more by default.

All that Ace seems to be lacking that the old programs had are the rips, and a few of those have started making their way over. Give it some time. Ace has got the whole tileset per map thing going on (compared to VX), so it shouldn't be too hard. With the fall of FSM, it would be kind of cool to see all of the RM2K3 Mack and Blue being ported over.

As for whether Ace can hold a candle to the likes of RM2K/3, well, just look at how well the Blackmoon Prophecy sequel is shaping up to be.