Messages

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Gaming Discussion / Re: HELP! Nestopia not compatible with Windows 7??

« on: May 20, 2013, 03:06:18 pm »

I'd second Nec's advice. Sounds like a poesible driver or DirectX issue, barring a dying video card or RAM.

Nestopia runs without issue here on Win7 x64.

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Gaming Discussion / Re: Gaming Progress Thread

« on: May 20, 2013, 03:02:59 pm »

Don't visit the offical forums though. You'll want to kill yourself.

Seems to be about par for the course with most game forums... unfortunately.

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Gaming Discussion / Re: Victoly!

« on: April 07, 2013, 12:40:00 am »

Finally went back and finished off a game I once started closer to its release and got sidetracked from. Sacred and its Underworld expansion, via the Sacred Gold release.

I enjoyed it, for the most part. It definitely carries a lot of Diablo influences, and even includes a town that looks like Tristram from the 1st game. While it does have its flaws, there are a few things that I think are an improvement over Diablo II. For instance, being able to find set items at varying levels. So, you can "upgrade" your sets instead of them becoming entirely useless. Also, while potions don't stack, you don't have to fumble around with putting them on belt slots or open up the inventory to use them.

I liked the fact that it was a persistent, fairly open world that used a Diablo-like loot system, but enemy respawns can be tiresome after a while. You can "clear" your screen, walk only a couple screens away and come back... repopulated. While you can speed through them (such as on horseback) and generally ignore them as you make your way, casters can be annoying while trying this since they can snare you. As for the loot itself, it could have been better designed. I think I ended up pretty much using either the best set item I had for a slot, or just the best item for the slot that had sockets. Otherwise, the item rarity and mods didn't seem as worth it as just stacking damage and defense in the sockets.

Overall, I liked the original game's content more so than the Underworld's expansion. Underworld seemed to make more areas maze-like, and enemy density seemed a little higher... especially in the last couple of areas.

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General Discussion / Re: RetroArch...

« on: March 27, 2013, 01:46:13 pm »

Setup guide

Be sure to check out the advanced settings guide linked therein as well.

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Gaming Discussion / Re: Victoly!

« on: March 13, 2013, 10:22:25 pm »

Hah, we were on the same route with char build MMJ. I beat normal like a month ago, tho, and hile started playing on cruel, didnt proress that much. I enjoy the game, but I have been playign way too many stuff as of late, probably overcompensating (sad thing is, none of my new games were in my intended backlog, haha).

If you get back to it, feel free to add me: MMJuno. Started messing with a Witch and a Templar in between getting my ass handed to me by large groups of casters on my Duelist in cruel.

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Gaming Discussion / Hackers Find F-Zero AX Arcade Game Hidden In Nintendo Gamecube's F-Zero GX

« on: March 13, 2013, 04:03:28 pm »

Came across this a few minutes ago linked from another post where I happened to be reading.

Linkage

Might have to see if I can round up a GameShark/Action Replay for the Gamecube now to try this out...

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Gaming Discussion / Re: Victoly!

« on: March 12, 2013, 03:27:33 pm »

Soloed through all of Normal difficulty (3 Acts) for Path of Exile with a Duelist using dual-wielded swords. So, essentially, it's "beaten"... at least as far as the current available story line is concerned. Cleared through Act 1 on Cruel difficulty so far, and made a little progress into Act 2 on Cruel. Luck with drops hasn't been all that great so far, but with some of the orbs available that modify equipment, they've helped a little with the gearing issues. I can AOE down most melee packs without issue thanks to the Cleave skill gem joined with a Life on Hit support gem, so every mob hit recovers 20+ life each. Casters are sometimes a pain now in Cruel, seeing as this goes the Diablo route and penalizes your resistances once you step up in difficulty. With a couple more levels, I can pick up some more passive resistance to help counter it though, and hope for some better +resist all gear in the meantime.

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Personal Projects / Re: Castlevania II (Simon's Quest) - Finnish & English re-translations

« on: March 11, 2013, 01:31:27 am »

I think I'd vote for the right pic. Something about the line looks better to me than just the blank space, but middle would be my 2nd choice.

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Gaming Discussion / Re: Victoly!

« on: March 08, 2013, 05:07:13 pm »

That one's been in my backlog for quite a while too, along with most of the rest of the series... I think the only one I actually finished was the first game, but did pick up the PS3 collection recently, so maybe I'll get to it sometime soon.

[Spoiler:]

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Gaming Discussion / Re: Victoly!

« on: March 08, 2013, 01:45:14 am »

Just finished off Ys Seven. Given that I've played through most of the series now (in some cases multiple versions of the same games), I think I'd have to say that this one is definitely my favorite. The combat system in it is nice and fluid, with the Evade button adding a level of skill to the combat aside from just standing around hacking at enemies. There's also a block ability, but timing it to the incoming attacks can be a pain, especially considering it requires pressing both shoulder buttons to utilize. I generally found it easier to dash around to evade stuff, since that just requires a single button press and a directional input.

Some of the boss fights were hectic, with plenty of stuff to avoid while trying to get some hits in.

Spoiler:

The earth dragon fight sticks out as one of my favorite ones, with 3 different phases to the fight. The last boss fight was pretty interesting as well. You get split up into different sections of the boss: two 3-character parties, and Adol by himself. Beat the first section, and move to the next with the second party, etc.

Overall, the game brought back memories of my first play through Secret of Mana back when it released. It is definitely an action RPG, much akin to SoM, but faster paced combat. The music is rather decent, and reminds me of the TG-CD releases in some cases... which generally seem to hold fairly high marks across the board. I found that graphically, the game looked nicer than the PS2 release of the previous entry in the series Ark of Napishtim. This is even considering the fact that I was playing it on an HDTV via the official component cable, which was then stretched to fill the full screen by an XRGB-mini. The character and monster models just seemed to be designed much better this time around.

If there's one bad-ish thing to say about it, it would have to be the story, somewhat. Granted, I've seen much, much worse... but overall, it kind of seemed like some kind of bastard offspring of Captain Planet + The Matrix. I'll just leave it at that, to leave some speculation for those who haven't played it yet.   In any case, it was enjoyable to play, which matters more to me than the story.

Edit: One thing I forgot to mention... the 4 characters you have in reserve do still gain experience even when you aren't using them. This is nice since you don't have to worry about switching them out to keep everyone at relatively the same power level for those times when you want/need to switch them up. Their combat skills won't level if they aren't used, but it's not like they're worthless at lower levels or anything.

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Gaming Discussion / Re: Those of you who have a 3DS XL please help a brother out.

« on: March 05, 2013, 03:46:28 pm »

I haven't bit the bullet yet on a 3DS, but I will eventually. I fully plan on the XL when I do. I already have a copy of Kid Icarus: Uprising due to my mom getting it for me for Christmas, knowing I liked the old NES one. She used to help map out the dungeons while my friends and I were playing some games back when I was in grade school. Anyway... I feel there's enough out there for it now that I want to play to be able to justify the purchase soon-ish.

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General Discussion / Re: Am I the only person on the planet that isn't on facebook?

« on: March 05, 2013, 03:36:41 pm »

I do have an account, that sees a little use, but probably not in the most usual way... Sure, I keep in contact with some friends/family on there, but I seem to use it more like a news aggregate site. With custom lists set up, I get posts from different stuff all grouped up sort of like a joined RSS feed. For instance, since I'm into Magic: The Gathering, I have some MTG news sites on the list, as well as a local shop, so I can get news/article stories, plus stuff the local store posts on when events are happening and such all in one spot. Similarly, I have some other custom lists for other stuff like PC hardware manufacturers, software I routinely use, etc. Also, bands I follow are grouped into a custom music list.

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Gaming Discussion / Re: Your most recent gaming purchase?

« on: March 04, 2013, 10:36:03 pm »

And thank you MMJ for the detailed information, SNES version it is then.

No problem. I still end up naming PC hardware after stuff from that game. Also, I did end up importing the Disaster game for Wii, based on your review. Haven't played it yet, but there's that...

Otherwise, I picked up Ys Seven for PSP used, fairly cheap and playing it now. Also, in that same trip, found a used copy of the Wii Godfather: Blackhand Edition. Lastly, picked up Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One for PS3.

Think that pretty much covers it for my acquisitions in the past couple of weeks.

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Gaming Discussion / Re: Your most recent gaming purchase?

« on: March 04, 2013, 04:42:21 pm »

As for the music... Overall, I think it sounded better on the SNES. The PS1 soundtrack has the bass mixed in too heavy from what I recall, and it drowns out the rest of the track in some cases.

I do know of at least 1 glitch on the SNES one that I'm not sure is resolved on the PS1. There was at least 1 NPC whose dialog gets screwed up, displaying gibberish & blank pages... but doesn't really affect the game otherwise, to my knowledge.

The PS1 version adds waypoint capabilities when directing your troops. It's a nice addition, if ultimately unnecessary. If you're playing on real hardware, the PS1 version also adds saving mid-battle. If emulating, this won't really matter due to save state capabilities.

There are definite load times on the PS1 between battles, which can get old fast. Also, while I believe some of the spell effects may have been redone on the PS1, there's one thing during battle that irks me.  The full battle screen on the PS1 is slightly wider than the display. So it now scrolls a little back and forth as each side makes its attacks. This just serves to ultimately slow down battles even more, on top of the load times.

For my money, I'd stick with the SNES version.

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Gaming Discussion / Re: Gaming Progress Thread

« on: March 04, 2013, 01:48:25 pm »

Taking a break from what turned into a Ratchet & Clank series marathon to spend some time with Ys Seven. I'm really digging the new engine behind this one. In some ways it brought back memories of my first play through of Secret of Mana (mostly due to the combination of being able to have 3 party members and the combat style). It's definitely been more enjoyable to me than Ark of Napishtim [PS2] so far (for one no jumping, so no laggy platforming to worry about ). Visually, it looks nicer to me than Ark as well with better looking character/monster models than what I recall from Ark, and the music is rather decent too.

Recently cleared through the Earth Sanctum, which I think puts me a little over halfway done. Unfortunately, due to plot device, you have to reactivate all your previous teleportation stones around the halfway point. ...But, there are some stronger things to fight added along the way and new areas that you can open up while backtracking.

I think I may have permanently missed 2 of the 20 optional quests available, since looking at the quest log shows the ???? entries for those 2 grayed out now... I was fairly certain that I was being quite thorough in talking to people to find them all, but apparently I either neglected a couple people, or they're hidden in some time-sensitive fashion maybe requiring some backtracking I didn't do or something... I'll have to check a guide and see what's up, I guess. I might have missed the first 2 monster entries in the journal as well, seeing as I skipped the combat tutorial at the beginning too...

Some of the bosses in this are crazy (in a good way). The evade button (which replaces the jump) sees judicial use in the boss battles.

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Gaming Discussion / Re: Victoly!

« on: March 04, 2013, 01:23:30 pm »

Finished off Secret Agent Clank [PSP] the other day. Overall, I think I liked it a bit better than Size Matters. The "race" sections in this one at least controlled better, and the frame rate seemed more stable throughout this time around. Screen real estate is still a little cramped, but it didn't seem as bad as could be in Size Matters. The camera still does stupid things sometimes, particularly when you are near a wall trying to strafe and it spins around from contact with the wall. I didn't really care all that much for the DDR-style areas, since if I wanted to play a rhythm game, I could have chosen from a number of better offerings.

This and Size Matters could make for a good HD collection release. If they weren't already planning a PSN release of Deadlocked they could have included that as well. With a little polish, and a bigger screen area, I think both of the PSP releases could show some decent improvements.

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Gaming Discussion / Re: Famiclones - a bang for your buck?

« on: March 03, 2013, 03:19:04 pm »

I'm not sure how to rig a converter. I thought you guys might be talking about some sort of device I could buy and use straight out of the box.

Standalone Famicom->NES converters do exist (I have one). This isn't the one I have, but it looks similar. It's been so long since I acquired it, it might have even been from Lik-Sang.

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Gaming Discussion / Re: Victoly!

« on: February 28, 2013, 04:14:09 pm »

Continuing with what's turning into my Ratchet & Clank series marathon...

Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction [PS3]: Enjoyed this almost as much as the original series. A couple of the Skill Points in this one are a pain, but otherwise, I'm nearly "complete". The new Ratchet model looked a little off at first, but grew on me after a short time. Qwark though... his face just looks... wrong. Clank... looks pretty much the same, with new textures.

Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty [PSN]: A short romp (like 3-4 hours) through a side story that takes place on a single planet. Decent enough for what it is, but would have been nice to at least see a slightly longer outing than what this turned out to be.

Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters [PSP]: Quite easily the weakest offering I've played in the series so far. I haven't really put any time into the Challenge Mode on this one, where I have on prior entries. Most of it stems from the camera and cramped screen real estate. Also, the races in this one control rather poorly, part of which may be due to a noticeable frame rate drop. If this one is ever picked up for a remake/update, it could likely fare a lot better with a little polish to the gameplay/camera. From what I've read, the PS2 version sounds like it has more frame rate issues than the PSP one, otherwise I probably would have tracked it down instead and sold off my current copy. On a side note: This did give me my first experience in running the PSP to the TV via my XRGB-mini. It's nice that it has a mode to get a full screen image from the PSP.

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Gaming Discussion / Re: Anyone getting tired of the current gaming market

« on: February 28, 2013, 02:58:58 pm »

You just answered your own question.

Welcome to the first step of future gaming.

It was rhetorical.

I totally get it from the developer/publisher point of view. It's still unscrupulous behavior, IMHO.

To me, that is not sad, that is awesome.  You're still being told a story, but you can walk around and look at stuff.  You're still a moving character in a video game world.  And the NPCs talk to each other around you, while you do other things, instead of the game ceasing to be a game, and instead turning into drawn out movie scenes like MGS does it.

Yeah, this is more like what I was implying. What little I've played so far of Bastion (I need to get back to that) seemed an interesting take as well with its fluid narration.

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Gaming Discussion / Re: Anyone getting tired of the current gaming market

« on: February 28, 2013, 02:44:01 pm »

On the topic of graphics, sure I'm all for the advancement, and some of the modern games do look rather nice. On the other hand, I don't buy/play games based on the graphics alone. Hell, in the past few months alone I've played through original Gameboy and NES titles (some for the first time), as well as more current PC and console games.

My issue with the pursuit of graphics stems more from the mindset of look how much more realistic our cars/guns/buildings look now. I'm all for exploring the fantastical and what modern graphics capabilities can do in that regard... not just how "real" things look.

On "micro-transactions", I'm kind of at a middle ground. When it's additional game content that's worth the asking price, and is created after release, I'm generally OK with it. I do dislike the practice of developing it in advance, even including on the disc in some cases, then basically paying to unlock it. Cosmetic items, I don't have an issue with really. If someone else wants to spend their money for that, so be it. Pay-to-win stuff I disagree with, for the most part. Solo stuff, I suppose I'd lump in with cosmetics somewhat. Multiplayer stuff, especially competitive, is a downright dirty practice. Why should player A have an automatic advantage over player B, just because they have a larger wallet, or less reservations about throwing their money around?