Off Topic Nintendo

[Rob]

Thanks @Ashez. Another reason for me to convince the missus that we need prime.

[Ashez]

26 minutes ago, Rob said:

Thanks @Ashez. Another reason for me to convince the missus that we need prime.

Dunno how long the offer is available though, I just caught it by chance on Twitter. 

I like Prime tbf but I share the cost with my mum and brother though. Switch games cheapest on Amazon, free postage, TV ain't bad and now Switch online

[Nucleus]

@Rob I’ve just noticed you only have 5 hours on botw! 😳 That’s more ridiculous than the fact I have 95 hours on it 😂

[Rob]

12 minutes ago, Nucleus said:

@Rob I’ve just noticed you only have 5 hours on botw! 😳 That’s more ridiculous than the fact I have 95 hours on it 😂

I was ill for a week and then been off for a week! 

[Nucleus]

Just now, Rob said:

I was ill for a week and then been off for a week! 

Fair enough. I thought you’d be about 30-40 hours in by now. I couldn’t put it down 😆

[Ashez]

30 minutes ago, Nucleus said:

@Rob I’ve just noticed you only have 5 hours on botw! 😳 That’s more ridiculous than the fact I have 95 hours on it 😂

Add those together and it's what I've got I think 😂. I brought the game down stairs last week but been pulled back into Dead Cells...Dead Cells 😍😍😍😍😍

[Nucleus]

I’m about 10 hours into FF7 already 😛

[Ashez]

2 minutes ago, Nucleus said:

I’m about 10 hours into FF7 already 😛

Played a hour and fell asleep for 9 I reckon 😴😴😴😴

[Nucleus]

Just now, Ashez said:

Played a hour and fell asleep for 9 I reckon 😴😴😴😴

You take that back!

[Nucleus]

The character designs are awesome in FF7 tbf. Look at this guy for example, guys got a Gatling gun on his arm ffs 😂

[Ashez]

1 minute ago, Nucleus said:

The character designs are awesome in FF7 tbf. Look at this guy for example, guys got a Gatling gun on his arm ffs 😂

Not for me at all, I'm more into swords and old school weaponry/themes than guns and that shit. 

One reason I love Dead Cells is I've always been a bow and arrow guy, I've always just loved them but so few games handle them in a satisfying way yet they're perfect in Dead Cells. 

Most games with bows are RPGs, or action games where magic/guns completely shit on them. I'm always looking for good how games 😂

[Nucleus]

This guy’s one of two party members with a gun. The others are way different.

main character:

Main Antagonist:

As you can see, their swords are majorly different in girth and length 😂

[Ashez]

Cloud's design just doesn't appeal to me at all lol, it's neat he's in Smash mind and finally on an Nintendo system. 

[Nucleus]

Other party members:

Spoiler

Tifa:

Aeris:

Yuffie:

Cid:

Vincent:

Cait Sith:

Red XIII:

 

[Nucleus]

10 minutes ago, Ashez said:

Cloud's design just doesn't appeal to me at all lol, it's neat he's in Smash mind and finally on an Nintendo system. 

Cloud’s probably the most basic one out of the entire cast tbh. Vincent I love, Red XIII is awesome and Yuffie is pretty cool too

[Ashez]

2 minutes ago, Nucleus said:

Cloud’s probably the most basic one out of the entire cast tbh. Vincent I love, Red XIII is awesome and Yuffie is pretty cool too

Is the world futuristic/sci-fi?

[Nucleus]

1 minute ago, Ashez said:

Is the world futuristic/sci-fi?

It’s hard to say, it’s like a not so distant future. The first area is the city of midgar is split into two areas, you’ve got those living on top which is the rich place you’d say, then you’ve got slums underneath the plate (it’s like a floating city of sorts)

Spoiler

So it’s split into sectors on top and the slums underneath. 

That’s as futuristic as it gets really apart from the enemies which are vast in range.

some other locations:

Spoiler

 

[Ashez]

Yeah I can see why that's hard to place 😂

What's the combat system like?

Sorry for being nosey 😛

[Nucleus]

There’s two different combat systems, well call them easy and hard for the time being. One’s called the set system and the other active iirc. Set is turn based and active is timer based so you need to be quick on the pad with that otherwise you might see the enemy grab two turns whilst your fucking around looking for that hyper potion 😂 there’s a materia System inplace to use magic and summons etc.

These materias can be levelled up just like your party members. The amount of materia you can use depends on your weapons/armour. Some weapons/armour have say 4 materia slots, so you can equip one fire, one ice, one cure, one summon materia. Then some weapons have two double slots, so still four materias but these can be combined. So you can combine cute materia with the “all” materia and cute all allies instead of one etc. It’s way too complicated to put in one post 

[Nucleus]

This explains it better than I could with no spoilers

https://allpoetry.com/column/7517767-Materia-System-Explained--Final-Fantasy-VII---by-Psi-rockin-beta

[Ashez]

Yet you wonder why I'm put off by FF 😂😂

Edited March 29, 2019 by Ashez

[zaangie]

The only FF I like is X. But I'm not gonna pay 50 bucks to play it on Switch. What a robbery. 

[Ashez]

23 minutes ago, zaangie said:

The only FF I like is X. But I'm not gonna pay 50 bucks to play it on Switch. What a robbery. 

Tactics on the DS is the only one I'm tempted by, I have it just not got to it yet. 

[Ashez]

What I've Been Playing

March 2019 

March turned out to be a ridicules month as I tore through multiple short games and finished some Switch games I hadn't beaten yet. The magic of FMM being broken, an international break and the missus having a TV show to watch are on full show this month! Tbf alot of the games were short experiences or clean up which didn't take long but let's crack on. 

Switch

Crash Bandicoot N'Sane Trilogy - 
Crash 3 - Playing through Crash Bandicoot 3 is when the penny finally dropped as to why I've not enjoyed this trilogy as much as I hoped. You see when Crash 2+3 (Crash 1 can burn in hell) are straight platformers I really enjoy them but when the gimmicky stuff creeps in is where I lose interest. For example in Crash 3 you have animal levels, bike levels, jet ski levels, aeroplane levels, chase levels, boss levels and under water levels! The series imo is weighed down by these experiences as they're nowhere near as fun and most of them are pretty frustrating or just boring. Each world has 5 levels so when you add in two or three of these gimmicky levels the platforming ones feel extremely few and far between, it's like a mini game collection with the odd platformer level thrown in. I'm all for variety and I'm sure people love these unique levels but for me they harmed the experience, this became extremely clear in Crash 3 as the platforming shines the brightest out of the trilogy there just isn't enough of it. However I still ran into similar issues I experienced in Crash 2 where I felt at the times the controls were unresponsive, there were times where I know I pressed a button but the action never happened, I feel this became more and more annoying once you unlocked the bonus moves like the super spinner and especially the double jump. I've googled this to see if it's a common issue but unfortunately the Crash community is full of fan boys and the "git gud" idiots with any reports of unresponsiveness being shot down. Crash 3 is by far the easiest of the trilogy, for a straight 25 gems run anyway but it had moments of challenge which I enjoyed, a few times while playing the game I did start to think this could be the one I try to complete but anytime those thoughts entered my mind I'd come to one of the gimmick levels and think screw that. 

Crash As A Trilogy - Going into these games without nostalgia really hindered the experience imo as I saw them as what they are instead of what they were. Is there fun to be had with this title? Yeah for sure I got a good 20-25 hours out of these games but alot of that was filled with pain from Crash 1, I got through Crash 2+3 really quickly compared, especially 3 which didn't take long at all, but I could have got alot more out of them if I went for a higher completion percentage. This experience hasn't converted me into a Crash fan so if a new game was announced tomorrow I'd hardly care tbh, it would be one I might pick up a few years later but it wouldn't be one I'd get hyped for. The trilogy just felt extremely dated to me especially after playing Mario Odyssey which I'll admit isn't a fair comparison but it often came to mind. For example in Crash I was punished for experimenting or for not knowing what to do with death/game overs but in Odyssey the life system meant you were fine to screw up and try again, sure Odyssey was too easy I'll say that but the freedom of experimenting was so much fun. Another thing that made it feel dated was the loading screens, while not long they were everywhere and I can imagine them being infuriating in a 100% run, for example to restart a level you have to exit, then reload the map, then reload the level which is two loading screens so if you miss a box you can't just restart the level from the menu. Games that don't respect my time get on my nerves quick and I think this game could have done with some quality of life improvements like level restarts or even an easy mode where you start with more than 5 lives. I sound negative on the game but that's more my disappointment as I really expected to love this trilogy but it's fallen pretty flat with me, I'd still recommend it I think but just know what you're getting into but I wouldn't pay much more than £20. I use a game library app for my collection which allows me to rate titles I've beat and I gave Crash a 3.5/5 which puts it level with the likes of LA Noire and Lego City Undercover which I think is about right, as those games are good yet flawed as well. 

Super Mario Party - I've polished off the Challenge Road.....Or I believed I had only to discover a Master Mode version of it unlocked upon completion. I've looked up what you get for beating it and it's nothing so I doubt I will, especially as I now have all the characters so what's the point. The challenge mode is an okay distraction in short bursts but it does high light how much better this game is with real people instead of AI, tbf the AI isn't that bad with only one game where I felt my team mate was harming more than helping, but yeah the single player content isn't anything special, only consider this title for couch multiplayer. Unfortunately I've not beat all the other modes yet either as I have one route left to do on the boat mode and no-one wants to play it as everyone I play with hates it, everything else is done though. 

Xeodrifter - Xeodrifter is an indie Metroidvania/run and gun platformer originally released on the 3DS iirc, the point of the game is you have 4 planets to explore but on each you'll reach dead ends so you'll have to go to another to try and find an upgrade (as well as health and gun upgrades) to progress and so on. The main gimmick of this title is you can jump into areas in the back ground of the levels which is used in some clever ways in both platforming and boss fights, it's a pretty neat feeling tbf but I'm sure it shines brightest on the 3DS. To get upgrades you need to find and beat bosses hidden throughout the planet's which is one of the knocks on the game as you basically fight the same boss seven odd times, sure it gets a few new patterns and attacks but design wise it's basically identical throughout apart from a colour swap. The bosses however are pretty tough as they all whipped my arse for a little while before I managed to progress, it's the type of game where you'll repeatedly get your ass kicked but once you beat a boss you'll do it hardly taking a hit, it's just old school pattern learning and improving which is very satisfying. Tbf the game is pretty tough in general as check points are only at your ship and boss rooms so dying inbetween at any point means any unlockables found and any exploration done is lost, it's frustrating but due to how short the game is it's manageable. The playtime is another knock against the game though as it's very short, which explains the difficulty and the somewhat bullet spongy enemies which at times just got annoying, especially when trying to get back to your ship after a boss fight. Graphically the game is pretty with its retro art style and it looked good on the big screen, but soundtrack wise nothing really stood out. All in all I enjoyed the game and I got the experience I wanted, it's good but I'd have been pissed if I didn't get it cheap, which I knew before hand which is why it took me so long to buy the game, it's one I've had interest in for years but the price was never right until recently. I beat the game in a weekend with an 85% completion rate in under 4 hours, it's a decent game yet hard to justify I think, it would be easier to justify if it was a tad easier but double the length, if you have no trouble with the difficulty it must be an extremely short experience.

Dead Cells - As I revealed in a comment of elation I finally beat Dead Cells! I've actually since beaten it a few times and tbf I do think the recent update played a big part. The difficulty had some adjustments with one boss being made alot harder but I think the final boss is easier, all in all I like this balance. It's hard to say though as I was 20-25 hours in with plenty of unlocks by this point so it might still be devilishly challenging playing from day one. This update added loads and completely changed aspects of the game and I actually like all the changes made, it really makes the game flow better. As I said the last time i played this title I fucking love it as the combat and movement is just so satisfying, honestly for those reasons it's one the best side scrollers I've ever played! It's one I'd highly recommend but just realise it's a tad repetitive and difficult but I like both these aspects, I think it's one I'll continue to dip in and out of grinding for unlocks throughout the Switch's life span, it's just excellent. I also attempted a few runs on the harder difficulty but I only realised there was one late in the month so I can't comment on that yet, I'm not sure if I'll stick with this or move on at the time of writing. This song though has been in my head constantly, the sound track is very very good..

 

Mario 3 - NES Online - As discussed during the month I took advantage of the Splatoon 2 demo and grabbed the free weeks online trial which meant I could jump back into my Mario 3 play through from earlier in the year. I left off during world 5 (of eight) so I was heading back into the second half of the game after a few months away which took some getting used to lol. I did take advantage of the save state feature to get through the game quickly but I tried not to abuse it too much, my opinion is I'm playing these old games for the experience and I don't want to spend weeks on them like I would have as a kid, plus I was on a time limit as I still have no interest in buying the online (written/played before the Amazon deal). I enjoyed experiencing this game with the amount of puzzle levels surprising me and being very enjoyable, I just don't think it's as good a game as Super Mario World, admittedly that's biased though as I grew up with World and it's one my favourite games. The physics and floaty jump just aren't as solid to me as the World ones which repeatedly caught me out, I've played through World so many times I'm just used to those Mario controls. I'm happy to have finally played a piece of Mario history and it's a decent game but if I ever feel like 2D Mario I'll still return to Super Mario World every time. 

Tetris 99 - Online - Tetris would have been one of the earliest games I played as the only original Gameboy games I remember are Tetris, Lemmings and Batman The Movie, however I've not really experienced Tetris in the years since as I'm not much of a puzzle game fan. As I had the online pass I thought it would be rude not to try it out and to my surprise this game is completely worth the hype! It's just a Tetris battle royal with 99 players and the last one standing is the winner, admittedly I've never played competitive Tetris before but something about this game is oddly addictive! I've found myself jumping into it after play sessions of other games or when I've got a few spare minutes, even the missus has enjoyed watching me play lol. My best finish so far has been 24th, to my surprise I got into the top 50 and top 30 a few times but I doubt I'd ever hit number 1 lol. My issue with Tetris is I can be doing really well then one mistake will mean I mess up completely so it's just a case of seeing how long I can play without screwing up lol, the attacks from other players can be brutal though! Basically when you clear a line it gets sent to someone else's board to screw them up and the better players can send multiple lines your way completely screwing you. For a free game I'd definitely recommend checking it out lads! I've likely played half hour of it so far as the rounds are quick but I'm interested to see if I stick with it, it's just a good time waster. 

Demo's

Awesome Pea Demo - Awesome Pea is a retro inspired platformer with the main gimmick being it looks like an original game boy game. The demo features 3 levels which are short but interesting and varied with a decent challenge and it was enjoyable enough. If anyone tries this I'd recommend going into the settings and turning things off like the CRT filter as while nostalgic I found it rather annoying lol. I liked what I played and it's a decent price but I have so many platformers I want to get to I doubt I'll ever play this. 

GBA

Crash Bandicoot XS - I went to my GBA collection to pull out Pokemon Fire Red when I saw this Crash game chilling on my shelf, I'll admit it's one I forgot I even had but considering my Crash based updates in recent months I decided to play through this as well. It's made by the same studio that ported the N'Sane Trilogy (Vicarious Visions) but I don't recall ever really playing it, I had no completed save file and I only recognised the early levels anyway, iirc I picked this up years and years ago from Game Station when they were clearing out their preowned GBA stock. First things first this game looks really bloody good on the system, it's a side scrolling 2D platformer with an art style somewhat similar to the Donkey Kong Country trilogy on the SNES, it just looks great. Thankfully it also plays good as well and to my surprise it's not missing much content at all as it has animal chase/riding levels and even some jet pack ones, you can tell alot of heart went into this title. The game contains 20 levels plus a few boss battles (likely secret stuff I didn't bother with) and tbh it's not that difficult (I didn't game over once) but I found it oddly addictive, in fact I beat the main story (which I paid no attention to) in just a few hours. It had a pull the N'Sane trilogy just never had over me, maybe that's because I knew it was short so I just wanted it done though. Gameplay wise it's basically the 2D levels from the original games but a full game of them, admittedly I prefer 2D platformers usually but I was surprised by how much I liked this game, I actually like the controls alot more in this and it even had the extra attacks like the slide and slam. 
If I had to be critical my main complaints are once again the boss battles are absolutely garbage and the game did rely on blind jumps pretty often which is kind of forgivable considering the consoles screen size, but it was a tad annoying. All in all I had a good time with this title and I'd recommend it as a decent distraction, it just really impressed even if it was short (3ish hours I'd guess). 

Pokemon Fire Red - I've started another mono type run but I've not finished it yet, I'll save the update for next month considering how big this one is, or I might post it as a special before hand, I suppose if you care let me know lol. 

Game Of The Year
 New Releases

1. Tetris 99
2.
3.
4. 
5.

First Time Played This Year

1. Super Mario Party
2. Crash Bandicoot N'Sane Trilogy
3. Batman The Brave & The Bold
4. Crash Bandicoot XS
5. Mario 3

Recent Pick Ups

I had £3 worth of gold points expiring this month so I decided to make it stretch and buy a few things on sale as why not lol. 

The Way Remastered - I know absolutely nothing about it but it was around 90p so why not as the reviews looked decent. @topline did you get it in the end?

Fear Effect Sedna - Everything I read and watched on this game said to avoid it like the plague, with most reviewers I trust giving it a very low score with it getting 3-6/10 from what I saw. However it was 90% off at £1.59 I think and for whatever reason I just wanted to check it out, the game appealed even with all the negativity around it and tbh nothing else tempted me. It's a kickstarted reboot of an old PS1 series or something but in a new style with terrible voice acting and broken combat.....So we'll see lol. Maybe it's so bad it's good?

Phantaruk - I had around 70p left on the expiring day and this game was on sale for 94p, I looked at all the dirt cheap games and this looked the best of a meh bunch lol. The other two something spoke to me but this was purely impulse in a genre I'm not that interested in so we'll see. Anyway this is a space survival horror with no combat, graphically it looks impressive and it's meant to be short so for a few pence why not.  

Otherwise I bought nothing this month, with these to play and Starlink still being unplayed since Xmas I didn't see the point, I did strongly consider South Park and Sphinx Curse Of The Mummy though, I just wasn't tempted enough to bite yet. Regarding Starlink I'll be getting to it soon but I've decided to hold out for Aprils free DLC update so I can experience it all as one. It's nice to have everything finished off though, it feels like I've not been between games in ages...Damn that Bandicoot!

As @Nucleuspredicted I hit the first so enjoy @Rob! You all need to do this to make it a tradition 😂. That includes you @zaangie lol, since I've tagged you what's your MK8D online score? I played online this weekend split screen with my brother and we dominated, they everyone left and we got battered by the new group 😂

[Rob]

As good of a read as always. Some games like Crash just don’t age well.

[Ashez]

33 minutes ago, Rob said:

As good of a read as always. Some games like Crash just don’t age well.

100% for Crash 1, that game is just utter trash imo. 2+3 are alot better but still just lack something for me. I think I can see why people love the series yet I feel a lot of that is blind nostalgia. When you think at the same time Sony kids had Crash Nintendo fans had Mario 64, I'm not even that big a fan of 64 but I can appreciate what that game did for the industry. 

Also I've got some news.....

I won $10 credit for my US account 😂. I have no idea how to spend it as yet though! With that and the cheap games I got I should have stuff to talk about for a while!

Oh and winning this give away reminded me I actually won another one month's and months back for a 3D platformer called Ginger, I won it when Mario Odyssey released so I didn't wanna play it then and it got buried in my Switch icons, I completely forgot about it until today so that's also on the agenda. 

Gamss, games, games!! 

I also have 60p expiring this month on my UK account so be on the lookout for bargains 😂

[Nucleus]

7 minutes ago, Ashez said:

also have 60p expiring this month on my UK account so be on the lookout for bargains 😂

Just knock 60p off Final fantasy 7 😛

[Ashez]

6 minutes ago, Nucleus said:

Just knock 60p off Final fantasy 7 😛

I'd rather play FMM tbh........Ooooohhhhhhh. 

Your best hope Cloud brought the rain as you've just been buuuuuurrrrrnnnned. 

[Rob]

How the feck do you manage to orchestrate so much time to play?

[Ashez]

44 minutes ago, Rob said:

How the feck do you manage to orchestrate so much time to play?

Taking advantage of not having kids 😂. 

Tbf those were all pretty short, I just try to find a hour a day if I can. It's nothing compared to @Nucleusthough! When he's all in he's all in 😂. 

Tbf I beat Crash XS + Xeodrifter in around what it would take to play a season of FMM lol. 

Edited April 1, 2019 by Ashez