What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

[Blinge]

I've reached the top of the tower in Let it Die

total playtime.... 1,300 hours. Fucking hell.

I've done it

[BareKnuckleRoo]

How does it feel?

[Blinge]

..quiet :]

[BareKnuckleRoo]

You've gotta feel some satisfaction in the accomplishment, I hope! That's a big feat. Congratulations on putting in the effort to get that far.

[guigui]

I've reached the top of the tower in Let it Die

total playtime.... 1,300 hours. Fucking hell.

I've done it

Damn, that indeed looks like a big accomplishment, congulatulations.
But wait, isn't that a GungHo game ? So the top of the tower will rise soon ?

[Despatche]

Originally I was just going to make a dumb meme post asking if anyone's said Ikaruga in here yet. I should not have looked back a few pages.

My biggest problem with Rockman & Forte is not that it's hard, but that the gameplay has such an infuriating flow, making you spend so much time waiting around to time your advancements, rather than just rushing and blasting through the stage like you would any good Mega Man game. There are a lot of little issues with the game, and it's not really that good.

This... isn't how "any good Mega Man game" is played. Playing Mega Man games like this is how you get really mad and start going on about how "bad" Mega Man is supposed to be.

It also sounds like this is your primary issue with the game, in which case so much for your "lot of little issues".

edit: Yeah, just as I thought. Never change.

Megaman and Bass were both weakened in absurd ways just so the game could sell you upgrade items to fix them later.

Everything else was gibberish, but this is straight up lying. Nearly all the items in MM8 and MM&B are buffs Rock never had, except for Eddie who was buffed by being turned into an item. Most of the buffs are ridiculous and make you crazy overpowered.

The people who get mad about MM&B are the people who never really cared for Mega Man design in the first place. The issues with the game are aesthetic, superficial, or otherwise so minor as to not really matter: it feels like some of the soundtrack is missing (despite what's there being incredible), the decision to make it an SNES game will never really not be questionable, not calling it "Mega Man 9" has led to a lot of people saying weird things about it that they never would have if it actually was just numbered like it should be, some of the items really are just ridiculously overpowered, etc etc.

[Sumez]

Considering I've played every single NES Mega Man game like that and had a ton of fun with them, I'd say it qualifies, yes. Stopping up to wait for an enemy cycle to let you attack or pass it every other room isn't fun for me, but if you're having fun with the game that's perfectly good for you.

[Rastan78]

Been very casually playing through Operation Logic Bomb for SNES. Not sure how this one slipped past me in the day. It's not perfect, but it's good fun and fast paced compared to a lot of the SNES library with some snappy bullets coming at you. The little flashback scenes that you have to watch do break up the pacing quite a bit for better or worse.

I'm particularly fond of the short but sweet attract mode.

https://youtu.be/t8UAYJZIYF0

[drauch]

Ah, I always forget about that. I had the first game, Fortified Zone, for GB growing up and have a lot of fond memories and always meant to check out the others in the series. One of the few games too that had (imo) equally good covers for JP/US respectively. Real shame about Logic Bomb's US cover though .

[Rastan78]

Man, the GB games in this series completely flew under my radar. Jaleco was making some very questionable US box art choices around this time, but hey at least they weren't the only ones.

[BIL]

^^^ Weirdest thing, seeing that boxart in the BG of Game Tengoku's opening stage. Like "Hey fuck off! I'm a big kid now! Importing JP shit to avoid the focus group badness!"

Dead Dance's box is merely passable, but it at least had a sleek name.

Spoiler

"Master the moves to master me" sounds Hard Gay as all hell. I'd fork out for a 16bit SFII knockoff about becoming the baddest butt-smasher in the bath-house!

[Rastan78]

HEY BIG BOY!
ARE U HARD E NUFF?
MASTER THE MOVES TO MASTER MY ASS!

The cover art to Operation Logic Bomb isn't quite as garish as Tuff E Nuff, but it's a much bigger downgrade from the JP one which is cool as hell.

Unfortunately Tuff E Nuff/Dead Dance isn't anything special. Better off checking out TMNT Tournament Fighters as far as SNES exclusive SF2 knockoffs go.

[Blinge]

I've reached the top of the tower in Let it Die

total playtime.... 1,300 hours. Fucking hell.

I've done it

Damn, that indeed looks like a big accomplishment, congulatulations.
But wait, isn't that a GungHo game ? So the top of the tower will rise soon ?

Possibly. hopefully if it does, it will happen after I quit.

probably 0.0001% of the playerbase makes it to the top.

[Sengoku Strider]

Dead Dance's box is merely passable, but it at least had a sleek name.

Spoiler

This looks like one of those straight to VHS movies where the stuff on the cover is only in it for like 3 minutes.

[BIL]

Definite I Guerrieri del Bronx energy. Fuckin 80s/early 90s rental places man, the best. So much potential, so much utter shite!

[MOSQUITO FIGHTER]

Finally got around to checking out my copy of Bloodborne that’s been sitting here for like five years. Pretty decent so far. Seems a little more fair than Dark Souls. Haven’t got stuck and given up on it yet anyway.

[Immryr]

i started playing densha de go on the switch yesterday. it's my first time playing anything from this series, i'm having fun but slightly confused so far. I'm mainly playing the mission mode, the first four were really easy, and i got through them despite still learning the controls and having bad stopping distances etc. The 5th mission feels a lot harder, i retried it a fair few times, then finally made it to the end of the line. my stopping distance and time weren't too great on the last stop so i got a mission failed.... but then on the scoring screen it gave me a S rank.... how is this possible?

Anyone have any clues?

[BIL]

Finally got around to checking out my copy of Bloodborne that’s been sitting here for like five years. Pretty decent so far. Seems a little more fair than Dark Souls. Haven’t got stuck and given up on it yet anyway.

Hit up FromSoft thread if you get stuck and/or fucc Great game, was over the moon with it all summer.

[Immryr]

i've managed to S rank several other missions while failing them too, now. this game makes no sense. i like it though.

[Sengoku Strider]

Mega Man X3 on the Saturn. I know I'm supposed to be infuriated and offended by the screen borders, but I kinda like them. I was just playing through Ys on the Falcom Classics Collection, which I guess primed me for it. I know it was just console warz stuff but the rage over it seems so absurd all this time later.

I think I'm also not supposed to like the game and say X1 & 2 are the good ones and this is the series' downfall, but I'm failing at that too. I dig the animated intros for the robo animals.

[Immryr]

Finally got around to checking out my copy of Bloodborne that’s been sitting here for like five years. Pretty decent so far. Seems a little more fair than Dark Souls. Haven’t got stuck and given up on it yet anyway.

surprised blinge hasn't gone mental about this comment yet

[Marc]

Enjoying the shit out of Tumble Pop on Evercade. I love a good single screen platformer, and this so far seems pretty free if the usual Data East rough edges.

Liquid Kids is fun, but the controls feel a bit stiff? Jumping doesn't feel quite as natural as some of Taito's other stuff.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

I think I'm also not supposed to like the game and say X1 & 2 are the good ones and this is the series' downfall, but I'm failing at that too. I dig the animated intros for the robo animals.

X3's a fine game. I'm most familiar with the Windows 95 port, which appears to be a PC version of the PS1/Saturn rerelease with the anime intros and new music. I really dig both, they're charming. The music's much better than the SNES version in my opinion; the SNES uses a lot of similar sounding metal guitar riffs in the stage songs. The songs themselves aren't bad, it's just I'm not really fond of the instrumentation X3 uses. X1 and X2 sound better I think, but I still prefer what the composers were doing for the NES games.

The upgrade system where you can pick a special upgrade out of 4 is nice too

Spoiler

unless you know how to get the golden armor which gives all 4 chips at once which is even better

It's not perfect; Zero being lost permanently for the remainder of the game if he dies at any point is rather weird (and given all the spikes and pits, it could happen quite quickly to a newbie). You get an itty bitty taste of power before it's yanked from you if that happens, and you can't use him as a full playable character since he gets yanked away before stage bosses.

Liquid Kids is fun, but the controls feel a bit stiff? Jumping doesn't feel quite as natural as some of Taito's other stuff.

It feels a bit like a less punishing Bubble Bobble. They're stiff for sure, but decently workable given the enemies you face? You definitely aren't shmup agile. Sumez says it's an easy 1cc. I'm not entirely convinced compared to a shmup, but then I don't play many arcade platformers. =P

[BulletMagnet]

The final update for it recently dropped, so I'm finally giving Blasphemous a proper shot. Most important fact: I innately picture The Penitent One as one of the Coneheads from SNL under the helmet. Second most important fact: in my head I can only say the game's name in a Daffy Duck voice ("Thith ith gettin' Blathphemuth!")

Out on the periphery, with the map about half filled in I'm having a good time so far: absolutely gorgeous (if often gruesome) sprite work, and a surprisingly subdued soundtrack which I find adds to the atmosphere (as does changing the voices to Spanish, though I almost wish they'd added a classical Latin option just for giggles). The game can indeed be mean - insta-death spikes and bottomless pits will do that - but honestly it's not as bad as I was expecting considering its reputation; the controls feel tight overall and there's no stamina meter to worry about, the map is easy to read and can be freely marked up, and not only do you not lose any items or other progress upon death but the obligatory Souls-style gimping is fairly mild and can be rather easily dispelled. Things might get more oppressive later and I'm tempted to guess that I'm going to miss a hunk of the "extra" stuff without a guide, but as of now I'm looking forward to seeing what's next.

[XoPachi]

Playing Zelda.

[null1024]

BlazBlue Central Fiction [PC].
Good lord, I'm bad. Not just against people who will do a 22 hit combo on me and then get a reset for another 22 hits and I die because now they have meter and they hit me with a super when I was able to press buttons again and at no point was I able to possibly reason about when my turn to play was, too.
I was losing badly against people who are also clearly new and learned a few combos just like me. I'm losing like I don't know anything and haven't been playing fighting games for years lol. Can't get my pressure going, can't get my combos even though I can do them in practice like 90% of the time, etc, etc. It hurts.

It really doesn't help that certain misinputs are really deadly and I keep doing them [the difference between 3C, the sweep for most characters, and 2C, often a launcher, is awful; also, most characters have something slow on 6A when you want 5A instead], but hopefully I'll figure the game out.
Real shame, because the new netcode has been quite good.

In the meantime while I'm losing badly at BlazBlue, I'm still playing Guilty Gear Strive and am mostly winning except for when I do dumb stuff that I know doesn't work against people who are actually good, except my muscle memory betrays me completelyyyyyy because I keep doing it. Still can't get into the Celestial floor for keeps though, I've failed my challenge like 20 times now.
Strive builds up some bad habits too, because you can cancel your mistakes at any point, even if you whiff, and it launches on hit. I'll reach for the rapid cancel button in BB and be very disappointed.
I absolutely adore Strive's Roman Cancel system being this free-form, but at the same time, it also allows you to do something stupid and blow someone up for daring to try and punish it for the measly price of 50 meter, lol. It heavily encourages dumb risk taking.

I really should learn another character than May, but I like winning.
I'm not unreasonably bad playing Ky, but I'm also not that good with him, so I'll lose a lot, even if most rounds come close.
Spent a bit of time to try and learn Happy Chaos, but I don't feel like keeping track of his meters.

[Sumez]

It feels a bit like a less punishing Bubble Bobble. They're stiff for sure, but decently workable given the enemies you face? You definitely aren't shmup agile. Sumez says it's an easy 1cc. I'm not entirely convinced compared to a shmup, but then I don't play many arcade platformers. =P

Haha, compared to most shmups especially it's easy.
I have a 1CC video on YouTube that shows the easiest route through the game. For some reason most other 1CC videos I can find online take a tougher path (or at least a much more tedious one?) through the final stage.
Eventually I'll probably do a video using no warps, and maybe one using the opposite doors as well, just to cover the entire game.

I don't find the controls in Liquid Kids stiff at all. Your jumps do have some forced momentum, but you can adjust your velocity well enough. It's also one of the few Taito platformers that actually lets you control your jump height, which becomes a pretty important aspect some places.

One of the weird things about the game is that it has contact damage. Due to the way it plays it feels like it would be designed like TNZS where only enemy attacks will damae you. But you learn to deal with it.

[Stevens]

Was looking for something to tie me over to Elden Ring.

After being aware of it for years and not playing it, I finally picked up Mark of the Ninja. Only played the first level a bit, but on the surface this looks like something I shouldn't have slept on for so long.

[Mischief Maker]

Mark of the Ninja is great. It's what the predator sections of the Batman Arkham games SHOULD have been.

[XoPachi]

Mega Man X3 on the Saturn. I know I'm supposed to be infuriated and offended by the screen borders, but I kinda like them. I was just playing through Ys on the Falcom Classics Collection, which I guess primed me for it. I know it was just console warz stuff but the rage over it seems so absurd all this time later.

I think I'm also not supposed to like the game and say X1 & 2 are the good ones and this is the series' downfall, but I'm failing at that too. I dig the animated intros for the robo animals.

Mega Man X 3 is my 3rd favorite in the franchise, I think? Mega Man 9, Zero 3, and then X 3. Sounds about right.
I only like the first three in the X series honestly. People call X 3 cryptic and it was absolutely the start of that, but it's nowhere near as obtuse as later games. I love the music, most of the level design and a lot of the weapons. They just needed more time to flesh out things. Bosses are...strange. They're all missing frames of animation because of time constraints and some of their habits are weird. Like Tunnel Rhino not using all of his attacks unless you've died on his stage or Blizzard Buffalo infamously being cheesed simply by jumping next to him. And Seahorse can be drained of his health instantly. Flaws aside, I just love the game to bits. I have so much fun when I replay it and I love it's music. The FMV's for the Saturn port were amazing even if the music/sound is...meh. I'd say X sucked after 3. It had ups with 4 and 8 but I can't stand playing those either.

I honestly think 2 is better than 1 in a number of ways. 1 only really beats it out in music for me. I never liked that 1 basically forces you to play Chill Penguin first. Yeah you don't have to, but the game is designed around dashing. And once you get them A) you'll never want to not be dashing B) the beginning up until getting the boots is a slog in subsequent playthroughs. 2's other armor upgrades are also just more useful and the game is WAY harder with more complex level design imo. Some of X 2's bosses suck though. Gator, Snail, and Sponge specifically. Just tedious fights.