What games are you currently playing?

[Ryushikaze]

I decided to try Link’s Awakening since it’s “free” on the Switch.

Score: 3 out of 5. It’s a glorified DLC. Link’s Awakening :: A Link to the Past as Tears of the Kingdom :: Breath of the Wild.

The Good:

• It’s a Zelda game. You already know how to play and what to do.
• It’s a Mario game. Seriously. You can jump on Goombas and shit. How cool is that?
• It’s a Game Boy game. So, it’s not that long. And it’s in color.

The Bad:

• It’s a Zelda game. You‘ve played this before.
• There’s only two buttons, and previously passive items are now active.
  • Want to use your shield? Go into the menu and assign it to B.
  • Need to move a rock? Go into the menu and assign the bracelet to B.
  • Need to jump over a hole? Yeah this shit gets old quick.
  • Of course you could just assign items to B and A. How often do you need your sword anyway?

The Ugly:

• It’s a Zelda game. You have to wander around and figure out what to do next.
  • In most Zelda games this isn’t tedious, but this one? You have to brute force travel every single screen you can reach, talk to every single person, mow every single lawn, dig every single hole, call that weird old guy on the phone, and pray your ass off to Naryu for a can of food you can trade to an alligator for a fucking banana.
• Plot spoiler: It’s all just a dream. All that time spent looking for bananas…
• Ending spoiler: To see the only redeeming part of the ending, your choice is A) don’t die a single time or B) die all you want and go watch it on YouTube.

Ah see Link's awakening for the original game boy was the first video game I ever played, borrowing my childminder's game boy to play. I would have been maybe 6? It took me genuinely multiple weeks (bearing in mind i could only play it occasionally as it wasn't my game) to figure out you could push the spiky sea urchins out the way to get to the sword, and that moment when you pick it up and the music changes is etched into my mind forever. It's why I got into video games. The genuine strangeness of that game absolutely captured me, I used to tell people that the ballad of the wind fish was my favourite song ever until I was like 11. Before I even knew what fanfiction was I was writing elaborate backstories for all the villagers on my dad's windows 95. The dude by the fishing pond, the dad of the quintuplets and Marin's dad were the main characters.

Yeah it can be frustrating. Eventually I got my own copy of the DX version for gameboy colour and had to use a game faqs guide to finish it. I have played the Remake and I haven't actually finished it cos I hit the point where my memories of how to proceed ran out and I haven't had the time or inclination to go back and work it out. But that game is absolutely foundational to me, and remains my favourite Zelda game by a long shot, only Majora's Mask comes close. I did play Link to the past later and it just didn't grab me the way this one did.

The thought of Link's Awakening being difficult to parse sort of astounds me, given it just seemed to signpost itself well for at least the plot segments.
And it was also stupidly easy to break open over your knee because of the select warp glitch. Fire Rod before the first dungeon? Don't mind if I do.

 

[Rydeen]

I decided to buy a couple games during the Steam sale. One of them was Persona 4 Golden, as I had only played the original one, almost 10 years ago, and I'd like to experience it again. Another was Flower, mostly because it was 2$ and looks relaxing. I also bought The Caligula Effect 2 and played about an hour of it last night. It's giving The Matrix, hardcore. But with a Persona-esque aesthetic. I still don't understand the combat system and I'm probably gonna have to look into it. People are saying the plot and characters are really good, so I hope I like it. The music is really good so far, and the environments are sterile-looking, perhaps on purpose.

 

[Leafonthebreeze]

I decided to buy a couple games during the Steam sale. One of them was Persona 4 Golden, as I had only played the original one, almost 10 years ago, and I'd like to experience it again. Another was Flower, mostly because it was 2$ and looks relaxing. I also bought The Caligula Effect 2 and played about an hour of it last night. It's giving The Matrix, hardcore. But with a Persona-esque aesthetic. I still don't understand the combat system and I'm probably gonna have to look into it. People are saying the plot and characters are really good, so I hope I like it. The music is really good so far, and the environments are sterile-looking, perhaps on purpose.

Aah flower is a lovely time. Relaxing but also quite emotional.

 

[null]

The thought of Link's Awakening being difficult to parse sort of astounds me, given it just seemed to signpost itself well for at least the plot segments.
And it was also stupidly easy to break open over your knee because of the select warp glitch. Fire Rod before the first dungeon? Don't mind if I do.

If you had to open a door in a Zelda game, how would you go about it? I’d try pushing a block, or lighting a torch, or bombing a wall and going around it, or killing everything in the room. Pretty much everything except throwing a pot at the door. Because I’ve never opened a door in a Zelda game by throwing a pot at it. Of course I eventually got around to throwing the pot at the door but that was just me expressing myself to the door rather than actual problem solving. Eat pot you stubborn son of a bitch door!

Point being that knowing Zelda sort of works against you in this game. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.

 

[Ryushikaze]

If you had to open a door in a Zelda game, how would you go about it? I’d try pushing a block, or lighting a torch, or bombing a wall and going around it, or killing everything in the room. Pretty much everything except throwing a pot at the door. Because I’ve never opened a door in a Zelda game by throwing a pot at it. Of course I eventually got around to throwing the pot at the door but that was just me expressing myself to the door rather than actual problem solving. Eat pot you stubborn son of a bitch door!

Point being that knowing Zelda sort of works against you in this game. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.

I thought there was a hint near the first pot door about giving stuck doors a push by throwing things at them.

But yeah, it was the fourth ever Zelda game and they were still definitely experimenting with mechanics at the time, some of which only stuck around in the other Gameboy Zeldas.

 

[null]

Just finished Minish Cap... it was pretty damn awesome. All that experimenting paid off.

 

[Rankles]

Chanced upon a Rocket Knight Adventures compilation I didn’t know existed yesterday on PS5, so have been checking that out (the original is still one of the most fun games I’ve played). Also another blast from the past in Tomb Raider Legend, probably my favourite game in that series.

 

[GamerSkull]

I recently got into the Metal Gear series for the first time. I just finished MGS4: Sons of the Patriots and started Metal Gear Solid: Peacewalker.

So far MGS3 is my favorite. From what I gather, that's a common favorite.

 

[ViolaaFox]

Currently playing Trails Through Daybreak but I still consider picking up FFXIII Lightning Returns again... The time limit just kinda scares me.

 

[ForceStealer]

There is more than enough time to do everything. It's a framing device more than anything.

 

[ViolaaFox]

There is more than enough time to do everything. It's a framing device more than anything.

I come from a time where the Atelier games still had a time limit (and Firis, haha) but I had issues with how Lightning Returns handled the time passing system. At least from what I remember it seems tough but that was many years ago, so yeah the best is to just try again.

 

[Ghost X]

I'm playing a game called Wood Nuts & Bolts, via Youtube (also a downloadable app, but I'm not gonna bother doing that). It's an addictive little puzzle game. You basically gotta move bolts around to get rid of all the pieces on the board (which fall with gravity), and avoid running out of holes (the pieces can partially cover holes, making them unusable). Each level consists of one easy board, which serve as checkpoint, followed by a hard board, so if you have to retry a hard board and don't want to use a ticket, you have to redo the easy board again, which can be a pain in the arse. You can purchase or earn tickets that give you powers, to make levels a little easier. I'm not sure how many levels there are. I'm up to just over level 100 atm. 3/5 stars, I guess.

 

[GamerSkull]

Tentatively started playing Dissidia 012 Duodecim.

I've been meaning to check it out. Not sure if I'll finish it though as I have a whole lot other games on my list that take priority.

So much to do. So little time.

 

[ForceStealer]

There is a frankly stupid amount of content to get through to do everything, lol. But I'd say the main plot of hte 012 section (before it then goes into the plot of the original Dissidia) is definitely worthwhile and feels like a condensed little FF game.

 

[GamerSkull]

There is a frankly stupid amount of content to get through to do everything, lol. But I'd say the main plot of hte 012 section (before it then goes into the plot of the original Dissidia) is definitely worthwhile and feels like a condensed little FF game.

I had the original Dissidia as a kid but I didn't ever play much of it. Now I have a chance to play both Dissidia games in one package. It will be interesting to see how it goes. I must say, most of my interest is just being able to see the different FF characters interacting.

 

[null]

I was today years old when I found this easter egg in Breath of Fire.

Spoiler: Yatta!

 

[GamerSkull]

I just completed Nier Replicant. It was awesome.

I gotta play Nier Automata next.

 

[null]

Picked up MGS on Switch for a rainy day… but wait, why are there two downloads gracing my home screen? Why, none other than the original Metal Gear and Solid Snake for MSX came along for the ride!

Interesting… looks like they put a “this game was a product of its time” warning, or words to that effect. Hopefully it’s just because of the cigarettes - which actually serve a purpose in this version, which is pretty cool. But remember kids, smoking is only cool when Snake does it to sneak around lasers.

Having originally played the NES version, there sure are a lot of differences on the MSX. Both small (you swim into Outer Heaven instead of air dropping into the jungle) and large (an actual Metal Gear boss fight, apparently - how could you forget to put the fucking Metal Gear in Metal Gear, NES?) Also, one of the cyborg enemies is called Arnold on MSX, which finally explains why Kyle Reese is on the game cover. Basically everything is better on MSX except maybe the soundtrack.

And it’s been a long time, but… did the alarms always carry across screens? If you get caught and there’s no elevator nearby, you better absolutely, positively kill every motherfucker in the room or they will have no chill on the next screen.

 

[GamerSkull]

Interesting… looks like they put a “this game was a product of its time” warning, or words to that effect. Hopefully it’s just because of the cigarettes - which actually serve a purpose in this version, which is pretty cool. But remember kids, smoking is only cool when Snake does it to sneak around lasers.

They don’t change anything but I believe it also refers to plenty of times where you are able to zoom in on tits… and there is a bunch of groping too.

I’m curious as to how Delta will handle that.