Loooot of affection for SCIV, as a big SNES fan. It was one of the first games to be created especially for the system and Konami went all out with the various weird things you could do with Mode 7. Dawn of Sorrow was kind of a similar case: that game is filled with weird touch-screen glyph stuff because the DS was brand new and they wanted to take full advantage (to excess, perhaps).
SCIV also has a funky difficulty curve, as Vinny discovers towards the end of this episode. Nothing like Dracula's Curse in terms of sheer horror but it won't be any easier from here on out despite a "soft" introduction.
I dunno Sparbu, I liked what Unfinished Swan was doing by resetting the rules with every new area (like how you go from painting the level to see where you're going to feeding vines for new pathways to building cubes out of mid-air) but then it never really stuck with any one of them long enough to get out of the "okay, here's some easy stuff to get you used to the idea" and head into "now that you know how this shit works, here's some stumpers".
I think I remarked at the time about how its jumping from gameplay idea to gameplay idea instead of settling in for a while and exploring them in greater depth was at least congruous to the game's central theme of how a mix of unbridled creativity coupled with a lack of discipline would lead to a situation where you could never finish anything you start. No idea if it was intentional or not though.
You'll have to fill me in on Disgaea 5 at some point. I burned out in a huge way on 2 after also playing La Pucelle Tactics and Phantom Brave a whole lot. I just don't have the patience any more.
@ascagnel: I got the "Greed" ending first, presumably because I was loaded after all those trips to the Wild Territory, and then the true ending you discussed. I'd already followed the "Strelok" quest line to the endpoint (I figured out who I was long before that) so it was simply a matter of finding the right way out of that Sarcophagus area and past the final few gunfights.
@beachthunder: We need to revamp the whole genres and themes section of the wiki. IIRC Jeff's talked about it before now. But you know how it is about big wiki update promises. (I'm sure I made the "Abstract" mistake a few times early on. Like separating fighters, brawlers and wrestling games, that sounds like it's going to be quite the task.)
Can't say I did too much this week personally. Barely halfway through the FDS list: it's a pretty substantial 192 games, as I so quickly forgot, and good header images can be tough when the NES's native resolution is 256x224. That'll take a few more weeks, at least.
I've also recently concluded that I need to go back and make sure the GCCX Wiki Project is up to date; they keep making new seasons, bless 'em.
Take it from me, RPGs will stop a daily(ish) project like this dead. My 2015's been dominated by RPGs and I'm dropping way behind on my usual total for completed games. (Not that it's a particularly important statistic to track, but I'm odd like that.)
Then again... TheCRPGAddict's hit some kind of dry patch, so I'd be down for reading what you thought about some of these. Especially FFXIII-3; "Weirdest Final Fantasy Game" is quite the accolade to bestow, but I think it takes it over FFVIII (which was largely just incomprehensible).
@engineno9: Nah, I wasn't a fan either, though I respect any game that can cleverly subvert your expectations both narratively and mechanically (see also: Antichamber, for more of the latter).
I actually sort of wish more horror games did stuff like that. Maybe they do. I suppose this would be the month to find out.
It's Akira! Wait, did I explain that blue text is Akira, pink is Makoto and white is Goku? Because now would be a great time to clarify that.Full Engrish love confessions yessss. This is why I play visual novels. I mean, don't play visual novels. One of those.This was written by Japanese people. I just want to make that clear before the hate comments roll in.If you can fogivu him for walking in on you changing then Goku can fogivu a great many things, don't worry. (I have no idea if all of this is accurate romaji or not. I guess it's gotta be?)I think she's asking that we guide her around our undefined archaic European principality. I'll be sure to show her where we shoe all our horses and burn all our witches.Ironically, I could probably understand her better if she was talking Japanese.But if there's anything Goku understands, it's the language of lurrrrve.Man she is super young, especially at this angle. Guess I'm going to have to peek out my window for police cars for the next couple days.Apparently I blanked on almost all of what just happened? Either that or I just woke up drugged on the airplane like B.A. Baracus (timely reference! Just timely!).Uhhhhhh.'If not, I'll poke pins through the eyes of the doll I kept. You're a marked man, Goku. Don't ever leave me.'Yeah, yeah, bask in it you creepy weirdo.'We don't have electricity yet, so if we want to visit the plague pits we better go while it's still light out.'It's funny, I somehow got the weird impression after three days of near-fluent Japanese that we're kind of already there. She's going to get pissed off whatever you say anyway, misunderstandings or no.Oh, this is nice. The credits frame all our treasured holiday memories as photographs we might've hypothetically taken. It's such a cute, sentimental way to see us off.All right, we're done with the credits.But wait... an epilogue? Goku's on his way back to Japan.Funny, almost as if she was a child in high school still. Yet here we are on a plane back to her.Now I take a closer look at our protagonist, he's more of a Drew than a Brad. No wonder all the anime ladies were swooning, am I right? It would also explain the weird focus on transit systems.AND THIS is the true conclusion to Go! Go! Nippon!. Thanks everyone for sticking with it!
I dunno, I don't really think there's much to this game to justify a purchase. It's even less interactive than Gone Home was, if that's something that concerns you, the average Steam PC game player reading this blog. I can say even with my minimal visual novel experience that there's plenty of better ones out there. Ones with puzzles, or adventure game elements, or an entire RPG bolted onto it, or more than three decisions even.
Still, if you wanted to learn a lot about Japan and were too afraid to, I don't know, read a book, then maybe Go! Go! Nippon! might teach you a few things about the Internet's favorite archipelago. They certainly cover a lot of Japanese history and geography in a week. It's a tad too earnest and adorable as well, which makes me think that - were it not for all the leering at women - it's the sort of game you'd use to introduce Japan or this genre of game to someone a lot younger, or maybe someone who doesn't play games much.
Anyway, that's it for this playthrough. There's still the other three Tokyo districts and an entirely different ending with Makoto if you're thinking of getting into it yourself. I might strongly suggest you shop around a bit before leaping into this VN abyss, however.
As for me, I'm all anime'd out for the time being. Though I did see that My Girlfriend Is The President in a bundle somewhere recently, come to think of it...
Can the sarcasm, Gramps, I'm here to rob that chest.Well, if you're just going to let me have it that's no fun.Here's the deal with the shields: As with Zelda, the stronger the shield the more projectiles it can deflect. However, there doesn't seem to be a solid rule here. I can block arrows and magic, but not fireballs.These guys are one of the few enemies to actually hone in on you if they spot you. I mean, they still just run at your sword like idiots, but at least they're acknowledging your presence.For instance, if these ambulatory mushrooms give a shit that you're there, they don't make it clear.OK, wait, an entirely different kind of giant bipedal ant? Did we really need two? They have the exact same behavior pattern too, incidentally.These guys like to a-shimmy-shake a little to the left - and if time permits - shimmy-shake a little to the right.Terrifying disappearing/reappearing ghosts. Or would be if they attacked you. But they don't. They're just hanging out.BUT THESE GUYS also just hover around. They do have this groovy little hand jive thing though.I forgot to follow up on that brown brick business a while back. These are the brown bricks that guy was referring to. They just jab you with swords when you pass them. Jerks.Labyrinth 3 boss: These ridiculous purple bat things. The little animation where they hold handfuls of daggers and throw them is kind of neat though, and it's easy to get hit with two of them around.More fun with the fire rod. When close to full health, they do this neat fire pillar thing which is twice as powerful as the usual fireball.This lady has lost her darling little son.Oh, you mean that grown-ass guy in the overworld? I imagine he's fine.Oh hey, another McGuffin. Can't access the next dungeon without it, you'd be surprised to hear.And so begins a runaround to fetch this darn Rainbow Drop. They didn't steal the Rainbow Drop from Zelda at least. Nope, it's all Dragon Quest.Foreshadowing!Look inside darkness? How exactly? It's dark. Why don't I just listen to silence while I'm at it.OH! I found him! Time to get stabbin'Bitch you almost lost your other eye! These mole people, I swear.So yeah I eventually found this thing under some random guy's house.This random guy. Apparently he stole it?Oh, hell yeah! I mean, I kind of need the drop, but maybe I'll be given it and a sweet reward for returning it.The ones I've met have been more of a scummy slime, if I'm being needlessly pedantic.Holy shit, he called his home base the Climactic Castle? Is he one of those genre-savvy cartoon villains?No, you'll give me some vague ass directions and I'll have to keep trudging around to- ...oh. Maybe no-one told this guy that Zelda NPCs had to be a little more cryptic than that.So that leads me to this little stone pyramid in the middle of a lava lake. Cozy.I'd be kind of boned without it, so thanks.My reward, by the way? A free health refill. Big woop. Handing magical artifacts to weird pyramid-dwelling hermits is its own reward, I suppose.Anyway, here's the next labyrinth. It's incredibly uneventful, so look forward to that!
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