MormonWarrior

So I take it from that Smash Bros comment that you are the troll you're describing that enjoys being Bowser? :)

I really enjoyed playing through the game, even though I unashamedly used a walkthrough to at least guide me through much of it. Hey, I never play these kinds of games. I don't understand how the puzzle logic makes any sense to anybody.

A few thoughts:

• The sound, characters, voice direction, etc. were fantastic...but I don't understand why a small-feeling, fairly short game like this took so long to deliver. But then I think Double Fine, while being great with high-concept stuff, is notoriously bad at delivering games in a timely fashion. Dunno if that's staffing, or mismanaged time, or just the nature of the kinds of games they make...no idea. But it seems odd.
• The split between the first and second parts is pretty jarring, even though I played them both for the first time consecutively. The puzzle design changes quite dramatically to be a lot more esoteric and tricky, to the point that I had no idea what I was looking at sometimes (such as rewiring the robot for the first time or the names for the knots?)
• I totally guessed what was going on with Shay's ship from the moment I started playing as him. Yes, I started as Vella. No, I didn't read any spoilers or hints ahead of time about it.
• There totally needed to be shortcuts to get to other areas faster. I mean, it's not a terribly long game in the first place, but walking through several screens to get back to a spot can be irritating. I think Vinny talked about that recently, especially with the Vita version having crappy loading times.
• I think this style of game fits Double Fine's strengths best - the writing is sharp and the characters are really memorable. Psychonauts had similarly interesting characters, but it was such a clunky platformer that I had a hard time enjoying that part of it.
• I think it's clever that both of the main characters seem to really know each other by the end of it, even though they've never actually met. It was a novel narrative technique that I'm not sure if I've seen anywhere else. The ending felt a little...abrupt though. I guess it wrapped up okay ultimately though.

I was like...13 when the game came out? And I was a big fan of Final Fantasy (particularly VIII and IX) and Disney stuff was a staple in my family, so it was sort of perfect for me at the time. I was still dazzled by colorful, crisp visuals on the PS2, and I preferred the action focus of the game to Final Fantasy X's overly difficult turn-based battles. I really, legitimately enjoyed this game a whole lot at the time. Got 100%, beat all the optional bosses (if you think that keyblade Riku fight was tough...holy crap, try Sephiroth in the Hercules arena) and in general really enjoyed it, even when I recognized the camera and platforming to be clunky.

Going back to the game has proven to be painful though. Even a couple of years later, I tried replaying it and found it to be a clunky mess with a vague, almost nonexistent and stupid story and strange characters. There's also the Kingdom Hearts paradox of the most interesting stuff being the non-Disney, non-Final Fantasy stuff, which was kind of the crux of the reason the game was made in the first place...

Kingdom Hearts II is also a pretty big mess, though it leans harder into button mashy combat and less on platforming. And the super convoluted, self-serious and irritating Hot Topic storyline that people complain about? Try playing literally any game apart from the first one...they're the whole "Kingdom Hearts...is LIGHT" section turned up to a million degrees and thrown at you at random. It makes no sense, and when you try to make heads or tails of it you realize it's really stupid, so why bother?

Also, they've taken so long between iterations that I lost all interest in the series completely well before II even came out. I think I was 16 or 17 when II came out? And I didn't even care. I think I rented it just to see what it was about and beat it in a weekend. But I'm 26 years old now, and the series is so stupid and crappy at this point that it would take a stinkin' miracle for me to even be mildly interested in III. If Jeff finds it appealing, that would be my sign that it's something to play. And we all know that's not gonna happen.

Dark Souls>Dark Souls II>Bloodborne>Demon's Souls

I really, really enjoyed Dark Souls II, though they reintroduced some annoyances they had originally eliminated from Demon's (central hub to level up, reducing max HP upon death). It looked great, had loads of unique ways to play it, and was genuinely challenging in a (usually) fair manner. Immediately being able to warp to/from any bonfire is a real bonus in my book.

I felt like Bloodborne played too often into the cheaply frustrating category, and the areas never really develop much unique character. I liked a lot of it, but I just don't think it has the legs of either Dark Souls game.

Demon's Souls was chock full of irritating areas, cheap enemies and limited equipment types. But it was the first of its kind, so that can be forgiven.

Dark Souls seriously feels like the most free and open of the bunch, not without its own quirks and issues but it has so much variety in bosses, enemies, areas, and playstyles that it's actually be compelling to try vastly different kinds of characters and see which areas are easier as a result and which are harder. Plus leveling up at the bonfires is such an obvious great thing that From clearly had to remove it. It made too much sense.

Hey, at least you can't say they're all carbon copies of one another though. I can totally get why anybody would prefer any one of them over the others...well, except Demon's Souls, because it's dang clunky and annoying after playing the other ones. I guess it's just first-game nostalgia or something? I never bought into the idea that the first game you play in a series is your favorite. [Mario Kart, for example. Played all of them upon release, in order, and DS, Double Dash and 8 are my clear favorites, with N64 and Wii being my least.]

Banjo-Kazooie was (and is) better than Mario 64 in every possible way, but Super Mario Galaxy and its sequel are the only good 3D platformers that I can think of in the past ten years. I hope this turns out well, though Rare peaked early on the N64 and got way too collectible-heavy with their subsequent games. I'm a little hesitant to really get too hopeful about this but I would love it if it turns out well.

http://www.giantbomb.com/profile/mormonwarrior/lists/my-top-35-games-of-all-time/89445/

This game was the downfall of Rare. It sucks soooooooooooooo bad. I tried to wrap my head around the crumminess of the game as a kid because I had saved up to buy it...but I could never convince myself that it was any good. Gone were the days of Donkey Kong Country or Banjo-Kazooie. It was just a tonally bizarre, slow paced and uneventful item collection slog and it definitely doesn't hold up.

I'm definitely gonna pick it up sometime. I like supporting unique Wii U titles on the eShop, but I need to catch up on some of my games right now.

I just keep voting for Ice Climbers. I wish they were still in there, I understand they had some issues with the 3DS version for some reason, but they and Lucas were the two characters that I missed the most. Now Lucas is confirmed, so I just want Ice Climbers back.

@doctordonkey: @zevvion: I read somewhere that there was a bug that wasn't allowing people to summon for Vicar Amelia, and since that fight I had the password. I'll try removing it and see what happens. Thanks!

I'm not sure if it's just because the game's still new and there's not a lot of people as deep into the game as I am, but the only time I've been able to successfully summon someone for co-op was with the Blood-starved Beast. I tried it and it worked immediately, but since then it's just a waste of Insight to try because I will sit and wait for 10-15 minutes and still get nothing. I also don't ever get summoned when I use the small resonant bell. Is it a network issue on my end or does everyone else have a similar issue?

Note: I even put the password in the options of "vinnco" to hopefully get people from this community helping me out, but I've had to go everything alone. That just means I go grind and powerlevel before every boss, but it's fun to play with others too so it's a bummer it's not working.