Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

[mycophobia]

Jesus Christ 6-2

[kitten]

yeah just as you posted that I saw it on skye's no subweapon replay. I guess that's why they give you a full lifebar. what a weird boss

you can take the whirlwind slash there & he both dies in a single hit and faster than any other boss being hit with the same weapon (who... all also die in a single hit, but a tad slower or require a little aiming). it's pt hilarious.

- - - - -

i played mutant apocalypse! remember how much i hated war of the gems and said this would have to be significantly better to win me over? well, it is! i like it a lot! yet another score for this thread in good recommendations.

first play was bumpy, 2nd and 3rd play had me die only twice on both of them. this is definitely not very hard to get a nomiss in on, you mostly just need to get a good strategy down on magneto and then not have a serious lapse of play anywhere before that. i initially had some trouble with omega red, but beast turns him into a total joke with reliable knockdown on his over-powered dash attack (which you can even get a couple of hits in before going into, free from interruption of his attacks). you can also totally clown on juggernaut with wolverine if you're very fast, but he sometimes does his grab a little frequently and punishes that (if he doesn't, you can just punch and then dash attack straight through him, changing which side you're mauling on for possibly his entire lifebar within a very quick amount of time).

my only big problem with this game is that it kind of doesn't quite know what it's doing toward the end. two boss-only stages and then one stage that is actually five stages if you play with the different characters... but you only ever need to do one. i tried them all out while screwing around on my first play and beat all their unique bosses, but man, what a load of content you won't see on competent runs. magneto is also a pretty lousy and repetitive fight, unfortunately.

- - - - -
also! shopping for flyers on yahoo auctions, and i found some damn good ones. check these beauties out

super contra - might buy this one!

dead fox - didn't much care for this game but damn this looks nice

holy diver - i know it's just the boxart blown up but heck

- - - - -

oh! and i was playing around with run saber, today, as well. ran through it with my roommate! she and i were both... kind of ho-hum about it, honestly. will need to play this one a little more in SP sometime.

Spoiler

home of THE dr. biruford??

[WelshMegalodon]

Jesus Christ 6-2

6-2 isn't that bad... pretty manageable with the whirlwind slash, tough but at least predictable without it, though you wouldn't know from Mister Rolfe's video:

Look at this guy. How am I supposed to get past him?

MMM! Fuck! UNGHHH! RNGHHH! UNHHHH!

I had much more trouble with 6-1, where a single mistake can triple the number of enemies on screen at any given time. Pretty much what you see in BIL's GIF:

Spoiler

It's much more handy to have the shuriken to dispatch the cross -throwing ghoul that's on the next screen!

Tell me about it! It's not like in 4-1 where he's always close enough that you can pick him off right away. An early run-killer if I ever saw one.

[BIL]

I can't resist grabbing the 2-2 firewheel and mowing through all those pillar guards right after. :3 Depending on RNG, the plateau-guarding hammer bros on the next floor up will either submit to a deft jumping sword swipe... or if they won't, but you'll only be buffeted back onto safe ground, and now they'll have an invincible ninja to deal with. And you can be all here's my sword, bitch! EAT IT! FUCK! I always nab the Jumpslash en route to Bomberhead because 1) lol Bomberhead and 2) you can pull off a pretty shaweet x5 kill with the right timing (a couple chasing footballers plus the machete guards in the final stretch).

6-1 is my favourite of the final three for the balance of economical cruelty to breathing room. Roadblocks in front, pursuers in back, and unlike the subsequent two - no pits. So if you get into a tangle, or just feel like doing things a bit differently that run, it's inherently easier to improvise with a spot of bird-baiting.

also! shopping for flyers on yahoo auctions, and i found some damn good ones. check these beauties out

super contra - might buy this one!

dead fox - didn't much care for this game but damn this looks nice

holy diver - i know it's just the boxart blown up but heck

I've never seen that Super Contra art! Very cool, looks like something out of an old Sergeant Rock comic! Quite a far cry from the uber-80s arcade flier and FC box artworks. That'd be my pick of the three, definitely.

I've never had much of an attraction to Holy Diver's cover art - though I love the box's ominous black marble bordering and wickedly sharp logo, evilly ornate in true Satanic Panic 80s \m/etal style - but I like the flyer's slightly more panoramic formatting. The view of the ground reminds me of the gorgeously bleak dusty hell from Lucio Fulci's The Beyond, and although everyone and their dog was doing the "evil glaring eyes" backdrop, it gives a nice sense of altitude to main character guy.

(who's not Ronnie James Dio, but is in fact Randy Rhoads on a mission to rescue his BRO 4 LIFE Zakk Wylde on behalf of Priest Ozzy! So he may technically be off-model to the in-game sprite, but it actually makes sense with his IRL namesake!

I wonder if Dio ever heard about any of this. He was not on good terms with Ozzy around that time, to put it mildly! good job he was only a small chap, or he might've punched Ozzy's fuckin lights out - like his fellow heavy metal paisano Tony Iommi was known to have done, when he'd had enough of the infamously troublesome frontman's shit!)

[FinalBaton]

I can't resist grabbing the 2-2 firewheel and mowing through all those pillar guards right after. :3

But don't you think it's interesting that I show restraint in a game that promotes rushing through :3
It is my special weapon against the game! The ace up my sleeve! My buddy TIME and I, together, we will dice that game up real good nicca ^_^ oh ya! you can count on it bud (yes, I actually treat the game like this : I torture it. S&M style. Don't judge me bud :3 )

You know what they say : "pain for pleasure". Well I just want the game to have a jolly ole' time , know what I'm saying?

[__SKYe]

I can't resist grabbing the 2-2 firewheel and mowing through all those pillar guards right after. :3

But don't you think it's interesting that I show restraint in a game that promotes rushing through :3
It is my special weapon against the game! The ace up my sleeve! My buddy TIME and I, together, we will dice that game up real good nicca ^_^ oh ya! you can count on it bud (yes, I actually treat the game like this : I torture it. S&M style. Don't judge me bud :3 )

You know what they say : "pain for pleasure". Well I just want the game to have a jolly ole' time , know what I'm saying?

I actually learned to avoid it very late in my no-miss quest, so as not to have to explain why I picked up a power-up in a no-subweapons/no-items run.

If I recall correctly, you can still see me messing up a bit in the 1CC (not 1LC) video on that spot, precisely because I was still unaccustomed to not picking it up.

[Stevens]

super contra - might buy this one!

Movie poster mock up for the next Expendables?

[kitten]

I've never seen that Super Contra art! Very cool, looks like something out of an old Sergeant Rock comic! Quite a far cry from the uber-80s arcade flier and FC box artworks. That'd be my pick of the three, definitely.

i'd not seen it, either, and pretty much immediately fell in love - my pal sharc had seen it already, though! i cannot surprise him! i've been looking for some stuff to hang up in my game room because my walls are depressingly vacant, and this is going to be perfect! i really like the yellow background giving it this attractive contrast, the subject matter could only be better if it were the first nes game, the classic comic vibe is strong and lovely, and i've got to hand it to the alien for his creative dance pose. there's a thunder force III flyer that is more or less just the box art with some added advertising i'm after (would probably just prefer the clean art, but i like the vintage appeal of these old flyers) and i've already got a shubibinman 3 flyer.

i don't have any cute flyers, though, and i have tooooons of kirby stuff & merchandise. really need to start looking. flyers get super inconsistent listings, so finding ones you really like is up to persistence and keeping your eyes peeled.

Spoiler

also, i am very curious what is going on in mr. rizer's pants

[BIL]

"FUCKING AND SHOOTING ARE THE SAME THING"

[mycophobia]

super contra - might buy this one!

Movie poster mock up for the next Expendables?

I didn't post that!

[Stevens]

Whoops:D

[Jonny2x4]

That's not a flyer for Super Contra, that's a print ad someone clipped out from a magazine. Interesting find either way. It''s not even on Game Kommander's Contra ad collection.

[BIL]

Oh hey, welcome aboard - guess your post was awaiting approval.

My favourite lesser-known rendition of Bill & Lance, in dreamy bishounen mode:



Strangely erotic hand placements x2

From a choose your own adventure book thingy, IIRC? I first saw the scan at my old buddies Jap-Sai.com's store, but I see it's in Kommander's books section too - guess that's its original home. Haven't found a higher-res scan sadly!

[__SKYe]

Yup, it's GIF time again, this time a Konami classic -- Yie Ar Kung Fu (FC).

The usual, before we start:

The moves/techniques posted, are what I personally use, and is quite likely that there are better/safer/cooler ways to play, so keep this in mind.

Just a quick reminder about a few mechanics.

- Level-2 starts at a higher loop as one would expect, but it also enables you to face away from the enemy (L1 behaves like the usual fighting games; you always face the opponent even when retreating). This actually makes it easier to play, as you'll see below.

- If the enemy is close to the edge of the screen, and you get too close to them, they will run against the wall, and through you to the other side. The enemy has to be between you and the edge for them to do this properly, otherwise they'll just run through you without going against the wall first (ie. if you jump in but land on their other side, they will just go under you). This is a very important part of the way I play this game, as you'll also see below.

- Somewhat connected to the above point: how close to the enemy you need to be (and how close to the egde they need to be) for them to run past you, varies from enemy to enemy and also from loop to loop, so some improvisation is needed.

- The hit/hurt boxes in this game aren't like your usual fighting game. It seems that, instead of a big hitbox covering the whole character (or a whole limb), you have tiny ones on the arms, legs, torso and head. Also, the timing in which your attacks are active (ie. how much active frames they have) is fairly strict.
This is why it seems like the collision detection is dodgy (as if the attacks sometimes register, but other times don't), but once you get used to it, it is works pretty well. This is fairly noticeable on the jump kicks, as you should only kick when getting close to the enemy's head instead of earlier, otherwise the attack won't register.

Without further ado:

Kicking a retreating enemy

Spoiler

One of the very first things you should start doing. This entails closing in (or indeed jumping in) on an enemy, forcing him close to the corner so that he will run past you, enabling you to kick him when he does. Note that you don't have to do a sweep, as a standing kick will work just as well.



This GIF also shows another important thing: even if you miss whatever attack you're doing (jump kick in this case), get close to the edge of the screen anyway, so that you'll force the enemy to run to the other side.

Counter Hit

Spoiler

If you get hit, you can punch right after (usually works better than the kick, since the enemy is close by) in retaliation, so that you can at least score a hit for the damage you just took. The timing is strict, and this is often hard to pull off, though.

If you do it right:



And if you mess up (things can get nasty):

Jump Kick + Retreat Kick Tactic

Spoiler

This builds on the Retreat Kick, in that you jump kick an enemy, and kick them again, once they run through you.
As stated above, even if you miss the jumpkick, close in anyway and land the retreat kick, and just repeat the whole tactic.

Here are two examples:



This works best against Tao, Lang and Mu. Against the other 2, not so much (especially the chain guy).
Of course, you need proper spacing, otherwise this kind of wankery happens:

Boss #1: Wang

Spoiler

The easiest way to beat him, is to go into your corner, jumping against the wall, kicking him and repeat.
You also need to pay attention to the spacing (ie. how close you are to the wall): this will change depending on which loop/stage you are, as he'll sometimes move faster or slower. To gauge from where you should jump, look at the position of your character's head in relation to the windows (horizontally, of course).
Here are 2 different fights against him, on different loops (compare the spacing):



If you miss the jump kick, you can sometimes still get in a punch after landing. Again, this varies depending on the loop you're on, so use at your own risk.



Of course, if you're feeling manly (or womanly, take your pick ), you can fight him fair & square. This doesn't work as well against the others, because they all have long range attacks of some sort.
Basically, get close enough to bait him into attacking you, quickly step forward and kick him:

Boss # 3: Chen (AKA Chain guy)

Spoiler

This one is quite easy, if you know what you're doing.
When the fight starts, walk up to him and kick/punch him to make him retreat. Then, you want to close in just enough (again, spacing is key here) so that he'll remain in his corner, but not use his chain.
If this goes well (and it usually does), he won't use his chain and will slowly get close to you, and all you have to do is crouch+kick (sometimes punch, if he gets too close) repeatedly until he's toast. Don't jump kick him, as it generally won't do you much good, and will incur his chain's wrath.
As for the spacing, once again, notice your character's head in relation to the window closest to you. You want to be somewhat close to it, but not too close otherwise he'll break free. See below:



If you get too close, he'll bounce against the wall and run to the other side, which isn't that bad honestly, but you do have to set up the tactic again:



Occasionaly, he will use the chain even when in the corner. The best thing to do here, is to get close and hit him with a kick/punch, as once he starts using the chain, he'll do so repeatedly. Afterwards, you just have to get him into the corner again.

Boss #4: Lang (AKA Shuriken-girl)

Spoiler

She can be pretty simple or balls hard depending on which loop you're at.
The standard jump+kick+retreat-kick applies, and you shouldn't give her too much space as well, otherwise she'll swamp you with shurikens.
I recorded only a full fight with her, showing this exact tactic with 2 more noteworthy points:
- If there are projectiles on screen, and any of the fighters takes damage, evetything on the screen will freeze for a moment (the projectiles freeze for slightly longer than the characters) and it's entirely possible to walk into one of them taking damage in the process (as the GIF shows)
- If faced with multiple projectiles, you can jump between them (or even destroy them, see below). Looks pretty nice.

Bonus Round

Spoiler

Between the 3rd and 4th stages there's a bonus round, where 10 projectiles will fly from the sides of the screen, and you have to hit them with the proper attack. There isn't much of a difference among loops, so if you can clear them in the early loops, you're golden.
The high one can be hit with a forward+kick (you must press forward, otherwise you'll perform a low kick instead), the middle one can be hit with a standard punch, and the low one can be hit with a sweep (crouch+kick).
Their order is somewhat random, but there are some combinations that are always the same.



Of special note, are the 2 consecutive slow-high/fast-mid that always come as a pair: you have to either approach them fast, so that you have time to hit the high first, and the the middle, or wait long enough that the middle one comes first, and the high one later. I always approach them high then low.

Here's an example of how to mess up:

Projectiles

Spoiler

You can destroy projectiles by hitting them with the appropriate atttack (same as in the bonus rounds).
Although at first they seem to follow a fixed pattern, they do not, and I let the below GIF run long enough for you to see the pattern break. Hitting them is also pretty hard to do if you let the enemy get too close, so this is more for style than anything.

As you have noticed, there's no special tactic for the other 2 bosses, and that's because they aren't too much trouble. Tao (AKA Fireball-guy) is somewhat similar to Lang, but simpler, and Mu is perhaps even easier than him so nothing special.

One parting message: if you play long enough (around Stage 80~90), things get much more hectic than they appear in this GIFs, so expect some trouble. Unfortunately, it takes quite a while to get to that point (eg. a bit like Contra), so I guess most won't see it.

Well, can't recall anything else of notice for now, so that will be it.

[BIL]

Yet another instant certification for the mythical thread index, whenever I get around to it.

Really glad I snapped up that FC copy last summer, largely on your postings. Still haven't put much time into it, but I instantly loved the freeze on a successful hit. Gives a satisfying emphasis to damage both given and received, particularly combined with the otherwise twitchy pace. Deadly-precise flying kicks to the face and counter-punches to a kicking foe's nether regions look particularly filmic.

[__SKYe]

To build a bit on what I posted before about the collision detection/hitboxes, I believe they should be something like this:




See, in standard fighting games, both hit and hurt boxes are fairly big, so you can easily hit enemies whether you're somewhat farther away (within the move's range, of course) or touching noses, but in Yie Ar, it feels as if the hit/hurt boxes are more like what I outlines in that image.

Mind you, this is pure speculation on my part, but it would certainly explain the apparent 'dodgy' collision detection, and the need to connect hits fairly precisely.

Either way, this is something that even though it feels pretty weird at first, goes away after some practice.

Really glad I snapped up that FC copy last summer, largely on your postings. Still haven't put much time into it, but I instantly loved the freeze on a successful hit. Gives a satisfying emphasis to damage both given and received, particularly combined with the otherwise twitchy pace. Deadly-precise flying kicks to the face and counter-punches to a kicking foe's nether regions look particularly filmic. Image

The freeze really gives a rhythmic quality to the game, and I really enjoy that there's no rapid-punching/kicking right after a hit (or anytime, for that matter), as you must wait for the freezing period to subside.

I still want to improve a fair bit on face-to-face playing, as jump kicks not only make the play less stylish, but in some cases also make it a bit tedious.

[kitten]

whoa! yie-ar kung fu actually looks pretty tight, i had no idea. always wrote it off as konami game too clumsy & early to be worth a toss with a cursory play of the arcade game. nice write-up, skye!

- - - - -

i've still been playing mutant apocalypse, and it's pretty easy to do it on a single life, at this point. will be back with my recording stuff and able to get one down, today. i'm really glad they force you to do a level with each character, as it is really easy to overwhelmingly favor wolverine in the later stages. psylocke is a lot of fun, too, but she just doesn't shred bosses like he does. my character select for the last stages is to pick wolvie for every stage but omega red, who i use beast on.

i can quickly/reliably get the final level done on one life with psylocke rather than wolverine to add a little balance in, but they're both mindblowingly repetitive fights against magneto and i kind of prefer doing it with wolverine. why? because his little phrase in the ending is cooler. :B his inputs are also easier to reliably get in on magneto, too. no real risk of death with my strategy using either character, but i sometimes flub psylocke's upward kick and instead do her blade, and it makes him take a few more rotations.

[FinalBaton]

This is what I like about this thread. People give a real chance to games and know gaming enough to see interesting gameplay when there is some to be found. And that allows sometime-overlooked titles to get some appreciation (provided that they do have something to offer), even if it requires digging deeper. Which people on here are keen to do. And that casuals won't ever do.

[Jonny2x4]

Oh hey, welcome aboard - guess your post was awaiting approval.

I've been lurking here for quite a while now, but it wasn't until a few days ago I decided to register an account here since this thread seems like a good place to discuss classic 2D action games. Part of the reason why I didn't register until now was because I've never been that much of an STG player, outside a few games such as the FC Gradius II and the NES Life Force, although I've been adding more STGs to my backlog lately, so who knows how that will turn out.

My favourite lesser-known rendition of Bill & Lance, in dreamy bishounen mode:



Strangely erotic hand placements x2

From a choose your own adventure book thingy, IIRC? I first saw the scan at my old buddies Jap-Sai.com's store, but I see it's in Kommander's books section too - guess that's its original home. Haven't found a higher-res scan sadly!

From my understanding, it starts off as an adaptation of the first game with a female OC named Wendy joining Bill and Lance, but everything after the prologue deviates completely from the game. Kommander-san posted the epilogue on his Twitter. Apparently Bill and Lance are revealed to be aliens in this one (either that, or it's poor choice of wording by the writer).
https://twitter.com/kommander_hzk/statu ... 32/photo/1

There's a Metal Gear gamebook by the same author that's just as silly (one of the bad ends involves Snake getting clawed by a bear while hiding in his cardboard box). Unfortunately, they're both kinda expensive to obtain for what are basically silly licensed fan-fiction.

My favorite renditions of Bill and Lance are these clay model versions from the cover of the April 1989 issue of MSX-FAN. I love how they used Bob Wakelin's art for reference.

[FinalBaton]

These 2 are definitly fucking each other

(not that there's anything wrong with that!)

[BIL]

From my understanding, it starts off as an adaptation of the first game with a female OC named Wendy joining Bill and Lance, but everything after the prologue deviates completely from the game. Kommander-san posted the epilogue on his Twitter. Apparently Bill and Lance are revealed to be aliens in this one (either that, or it's poor choice of wording by the writer).
https://twitter.com/kommander_hzk/statu ... 32/photo/1

Interesting... kinda prefigures the later Nakazato games' thing for beeg tweests. I already like it more than Shin Contra's

Spoiler

presumably mythos-expanding but ultimately reductive "the aliens weren't genocidal monsters, they just wanted their shit back!"

or Neo's

Spoiler

attack of the clones - which might've been fun, but dropped too late and went nowhere after Robot Bill Rizer Head exploded. I liked the tacit implication that ultimate killer instinct stripped of all humanity leads to unbridled Bad Shit™! Oh well, at least Neo Bill and Jaguar got to frolic with dolphins!

Also, total coincidence I'm sure, but that could easily pass for Lucia from Shin/Neo Contra.

My favorite renditions of Bill and Lance are these clay model versions from the cover of the April 1989 issue of MSX-FAN. I love how they used Bob Wakelin's art for reference.

MSX-FAN covers are amazing. They really captured the slight droop on Lance's features inherited from Stallone, haha. edit: There's a few more here in case it's of interest.

These 2 are definitly fucking each other

(not that there's anything wrong with that!)

KONTORA Gaiden: Nazo no KOSHER SALAMI

[BrianC]

I find it odd that the counterpart of the first enemy in the AC Yie At Kung Fu is the last opponent in the NES/MSX version. The AC version has twice as many opponents and more moves, though the NES/MSX versions add a jump kick.

[Ghegs]

These 2 are definitly fucking each other

(not that there's anything wrong with that!)

"Do you think love can bloom even on a battlefield?"

[BIL]

> Yes Lance! But if you love someone you have to be able to protect them! ;3

> Good, because my murderously possessive RoboBF down the corridor has completely misunderstood what I'm doing down here!

[dojo_b]

Quick heads-up: Wednesday's AGDQ speedrun schedule has various items of interest to folks here (Holy Diver, Batman NES, Little Nemo, Silent Hill...)

[FinalBaton]

^^^^^^^
Just got a copy of Batman NES today, actually along with Commando

[Sumez]

Darkwing Duck doing Kid Icarus following right after Holy Diver. That run is always entertaining.
Journey to Raf World and Mitsume Ga Tooru too, some of the best second-tier SunSoft and Natsume titles, as well as Guerilla War, which is the same as Gevara, similarly recently discussed in here. Tomorrow is definitely the "hold right and kill fuckers" block.

Personally though, I'm mostly looking forward to the Mega Man 1-3 team relay race on Fri/Sat. If it's half as awesome as the Ninja Gaiden one, it'll be worth watching.

[Blinge]

"CONTROLS BAD"

That's interesting. The controls are one of the better things about the game. It's all SNAP! WHA-PAH!
Not to rag on poor edmond any more, but i'm surprised the controls were criticised by anyone.

Neutral jumping to let an enemy or dog w/e run underneath you then slapping its ass as you land? Cool!
Instant JumpSword into a bird, yes!
Or my favourite, making a jump and landing on a platform whipping an attack out a frame (shut up) before landing to clear the way.
*NUT*

btw i'll be stealing that psyduck emote, Sir Biruford.
Platypus Privilege.

[kitten]

i think i've said this before, but it's not "raf" world, it's rough world. the symbol in the title is not an a, it's a specific IPA symbol.

they stylized it b/c it looks cool. rʌf world = you just say "rough world." if you go to the sound test on the jp version, it even spells out "rough."

everyone plz stop saying "raff world"

- - - -

also, thank you bil for sharing the contra art! bishonen bil & lance are fab! also i really like those clay models, too :B

man, i still love the nes boxart, even despite having lost fondness for american boxarts to an almost extreme level. i remember staring at it a lot as a kid and wondering what on earth those electric balls being fired were. did the artist not understand what a grenade launcher was? did he just think it looked cool?

[Squire Grooktook]

I also had jury duty the other day, so I played through Harmony of Dissonance while I was waiting to be dismissed in the lobby.

I've always been very harsh on this game, but I found myself much more charmed by it than I was in the past.

I still see the flaws: Almost all the bosses are punching bags that barely fight back (though admittedly, I now feel their lack of agression is only marginally worse than the bosses in Aria). Even the few dangerous enemies are threats more due to unclear telegraphing (some of Maxims attacks), or due to the small screen space (jumping up a platform directly into a harpy...), or other issues (trying to hit any aerial boss target, see below), so the few things that kill you aren't particularly fun to dodge against.

BIL is also dead on about Juicy Belmonts horrific aerial combat skills, due to the complete loss of jump height and direction control when he whips mid-air. In some ways, he's even worse at hitting aerial targets than his Classicvania forefathers, since Iga's trademark floaty jumps will ensure he's careening through the air just long enough to smash into a lazily floating boss hitbox.

What salvages the game for me, and elevates it to a charming but flawed production, is the agressive toybox appeal of the spellbooks. Juste's arsenal is flashy and mostly fun to use, and I had a great time mediating out different magic combos and fun little techniques throughout the otherwise milquetoast encounters.

Examples: Using Punch + Ice to dash through Skull Knight (especially during his own dash attack), trapping Peeping Big in the corner with Punch + Wind (which hits twice when against a wall), I-Framing through Talos's swipes with Axe + Ice. Anti-Air-ing Maxim's dive kick with Axe + Ice, then using Axe + Summon to counter his clone barrage, etc.

I also think the forward dash is a great addition (even if it would be benefited immensely if you could hold it, and if the momentum transferred to jumps), and I really enjoy using dash/back-dash to rapidly reposition oneself while whipping bosses (it feels smarter than the fucking bunny hop strats in Iga's other games, at least). Interestingly, while the game doesn't let you dash cancel whip attacks before the hitbox becomes active, you can cancel the recovery after the strike hits. It seems dive kicks have similar rules. Juste's movement options are actually pretty fun, I especially love that dive kicks and slides do the same damage as his whips, so you can use slides and such to finish off weakened enemies while keeping a snappy move-on through the castle.

My playthrough was also helped by the fact that I had forgotten most of the castle layout, and I was attempting to rush the game before my batteries ran out! The dual dimensional castle is an interesting gimmick, and the overall exploration is fine. This time though, I was a little bit irritated by the lack of quick travel points. The game is very judicious in dealing them out until the final hour, which makes backtracking painfully tedious if you forget something back in the first few areas of the game (like the fucking fire book...) or realize you've been searching for a lead in the wrong area. Circle of The Moon is once again clearly superior in this area (and all others) for dealing out a quick travel teleporter room in almost every area starting from the second boss fight.

Speaking of Circle, as I said I played through that on Christmas Eve, and still wanted to give some thoughts on it. Too lazy to do another ramble right now though.

Anyway, a little warmed up to Harmony. Still not a great game that I'd recommend without reservations, and still the worst Metroidvania in my recokoning. But it's not a bad game, and there's some fun stuff in there. As is the case with many similarly flawed titles, it would be nice to see some of its finer points in a better game.