What retro game are you currently playing?

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Retro Games > What retro game are you currently playing?

«‹›106 »

In Training: Jun 28, 2008

AngryRobotsInc posted:

Bouncing between Shin Megami Tensei, SMT: Nocturne, SMT: Strange Journey (the Redux version), and Digital Devil Saga.

Digital Devil Saga is one of the best JRPGs ever, what an amazing game

# ? Feb 2, 2020 17:03

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? May 9, 2024 09:29

Commander Keene: Dec 21, 2016; Faster than the others

There's also a glitch in Circle of the Moon that allows you to use any card combination as long as you have at least two: just activate a card combo, then pause during the animation and change cards. You'll activate the card combo you selected, even if you don't have the cards.

# ? Feb 2, 2020 22:04

AngryRobotsInc: Aug 2, 2011

In Training posted:

Digital Devil Saga is one of the best JRPGs ever, what an amazing game

I quite like it, but I honestly think I like Nocturne more from that era of SMT games. Though, I like Strange Journey more than both.

# ? Feb 2, 2020 23:36

Pastry of the Year: Apr 12, 2013

In Training posted:

Digital Devil Saga is one of the best JRPGs ever, what an amazing game

I love the aesthetic and concept of it a lot, and it has one of the best SMT soundtracks I've ever heard (which makes it one of the best OSTs, period), but I've bounced off of it twice because I just can't seem to click with it. Any advice if I want to begin again from scratch?

# ? Feb 3, 2020 13:58

ZogrimAteMyHamster: Dec 8, 2015

Fiddling around with Super Mario All-Stars. Playing some SMB3 after so much SMW would normally not bother me but now I've hit World 3 it's only highlighting the pure shittiness of water controls (and by extension, water levels) in SMB3.

Edit:
Hitboxes also feel a bit janky compared to SMW, or at least weird enough that I'm not getting away with as much reckless behaviour.

ZogrimAteMyHamster fucked around with this message at 18:25 on Feb 4, 2020

# ? Feb 4, 2020 18:20

In Training: Jun 28, 2008

I'm almost done getting 100% snap cards in Shadow Hearts 3, whenever I get like halfway through a JRPG I'm really enjoying I think "I should do all the side stuff" and then never actually do, but this is the first game in a long time (probably since I replayed FFXIII for the pc release) that I actually have been doing all the side stuff. This game owns.

# ? Feb 4, 2020 18:33

In Training: Jun 28, 2008

Well actually we just talked about it on this page, I did like 99% of DDS1, although the last 1% of "beating the demifiend" probably would have taken me another 60 hours to actually do so I tapped out.

# ? Feb 4, 2020 18:34

Big Scary Owl: Oct 1, 2014; by Fluffdaddy

Been playing Carnage Heart for the PS1 and I didn't expect to get so into this game as I have, but I've been playing it nonstop for almost for a week now. It's a a very deep strategy game where you have to build your own bots, choosing the body type (biped, tank, quads), weapons, armor, CPU, optional stuff and whatnot, each with their own quirks and setbacks. The catch is that you don't control them but instead you have to actually program them using chips with determined actions on a grid so they'll fight on their own. You have several chips for movement, attacking, enemy, projectiles, and other types of radar detection, where you have to specify radius, degrees, etc, with conditional checks and even radio color signals and variables to add, set, subtract, etc to use as counter or whatever you need them for. But your grid size is limited, and certain CPUs might afford you more space with or without processing speed tradeoffs, or they just might be more expensive to buy/produce.

And that's just the beginning cause once you have made something that won't walk up to the enemy and die or shoot your teamates in the back you gotta assemble the unit, which is 3 bots. To assemble the unit you have to produce them in one of the bases you own, and this might take a few turns depending on the bots and the level of your production line (you can have several lines, but the more you produce the more cash you'll need). Also you have to produce your ammo too! You might also want to buy newer equiment from the stores, where you can also pay them to develop new tech (if there's any) or hear any information that may help you. The game is turn-based, except for battles which you get to watch the bots duke it out in real time. After making the bots you have to assemble the unit and send them out there to move, patrol, capture or defend bases. If an enemy unit meets yours in the map a battle will start.

Honestly I think it's a pretty great game. The second disc alone is an almost 30 minute video tutorial on how to play the game, divided by chapters and with seek options, it's incredible. I even uploaded the entire thing just so I could show a friend, since I couldn't find a video on youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euu4GDSrYYg

There's other games in the series too and I'm curious to try them out later.

# ? Feb 5, 2020 07:58

ZogrimAteMyHamster: Dec 8, 2015

Good LORD I forgot the horrible physics of SMB. Admittedly it's almost a non-issue in the original (with the exception of a few jumps) but with the, uh, "interesting" approach in design to Lost Levels.. aaagggh this is going to suck.

# ? Feb 5, 2020 17:54

In Training: Jun 28, 2008

Big Scary Owl posted:

Been playing Carnage Heart for the PS1 and I didn't expect to get so into this game as I have, but I've been playing it nonstop for almost for a week now. It's a a very deep strategy game where you have to build your own bots, choosing the body type (biped, tank, quads), weapons, armor, CPU, optional stuff and whatnot, each with their own quirks and setbacks. The catch is that you don't control them but instead you have to actually program them using chips with determined actions on a grid so they'll fight on their own. You have several chips for movement, attacking, enemy, projectiles, and other types of radar detection, where you have to specify radius, degrees, etc, with conditional checks and even radio color signals and variables to add, set, subtract, etc to use as counter or whatever you need them for. But your grid size is limited, and certain CPUs might afford you more space with or without processing speed tradeoffs, or they just might be more expensive to buy/produce.

And that's just the beginning cause once you have made something that won't walk up to the enemy and die or shoot your teamates in the back you gotta assemble the unit, which is 3 bots. To assemble the unit you have to produce them in one of the bases you own, and this might take a few turns depending on the bots and the level of your production line (you can have several lines, but the more you produce the more cash you'll need). Also you have to produce your ammo too! You might also want to buy newer equiment from the stores, where you can also pay them to develop new tech (if there's any) or hear any information that may help you. The game is turn-based, except for battles which you get to watch the bots duke it out in real time. After making the bots you have to assemble the unit and send them out there to move, patrol, capture or defend bases. If an enemy unit meets yours in the map a battle will start.

Honestly I think it's a pretty great game. The second disc alone is an almost 30 minute video tutorial on how to play the game, divided by chapters and with seek options, it's incredible. I even uploaded the entire thing just so I could show a friend, since I couldn't find a video on youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euu4GDSrYYg

There's other games in the series too and I'm curious to try them out later.

I've always wanted to get into carnage heart because it seems so intimidating. Such a wild looking game

# ? Feb 5, 2020 18:32

PinkoBastard: Oct 3, 2010

Big Scary Owl posted:

Been playing Carnage Heart for the PS1 and I didn't expect to get so into this game as I have, but I've been playing it nonstop for almost for a week now. It's a a very deep strategy game where you have to build your own bots, choosing the body type (biped, tank, quads), weapons, armor, CPU, optional stuff and whatnot, each with their own quirks and setbacks. The catch is that you don't control them but instead you have to actually program them using chips with determined actions on a grid so they'll fight on their own. You have several chips for movement, attacking, enemy, projectiles, and other types of radar detection, where you have to specify radius, degrees, etc, with conditional checks and even radio color signals and variables to add, set, subtract, etc to use as counter or whatever you need them for. But your grid size is limited, and certain CPUs might afford you more space with or without processing speed tradeoffs, or they just might be more expensive to buy/produce.

And that's just the beginning cause once you have made something that won't walk up to the enemy and die or shoot your teamates in the back you gotta assemble the unit, which is 3 bots. To assemble the unit you have to produce them in one of the bases you own, and this might take a few turns depending on the bots and the level of your production line (you can have several lines, but the more you produce the more cash you'll need). Also you have to produce your ammo too! You might also want to buy newer equiment from the stores, where you can also pay them to develop new tech (if there's any) or hear any information that may help you. The game is turn-based, except for battles which you get to watch the bots duke it out in real time. After making the bots you have to assemble the unit and send them out there to move, patrol, capture or defend bases. If an enemy unit meets yours in the map a battle will start.

Honestly I think it's a pretty great game. The second disc alone is an almost 30 minute video tutorial on how to play the game, divided by chapters and with seek options, it's incredible. I even uploaded the entire thing just so I could show a friend, since I couldn't find a video on youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euu4GDSrYYg

There's other games in the series too and I'm curious to try them out later.

This looks awesome! looks kind of like a spiritual successor to Super Metal Crusher for Turbografx-16:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16p9eeeQsa4

PinkoBastard fucked around with this message at 18:44 on Feb 5, 2020

# ? Feb 5, 2020 18:38

Wendell: May 11, 2003

I vaguely remember the gaming magazines I read as a kid framing the inability to directly control the robots as a bad thing. Eventually a code came out that allowed you direct control, and the game was saved!

# ? Feb 5, 2020 18:58

Phantasium: Dec 27, 2012

Wendell posted:

I vaguely remember the gaming magazines I read as a kid framing the inability to directly control the robots as a bad thing. Eventually a code came out that allowed you direct control, and the game was saved!

this sounds almost exactly with my dumb inexperience with ys back in the day

"oh the ds version lets you actually attack with a button, this game is saved and I can finally try it" <- *didn't actually understand a thing about the game or how it played*

# ? Feb 5, 2020 19:02

Big Scary Owl: Oct 1, 2014; by Fluffdaddy

In Training posted:

I've always wanted to get into carnage heart because it seems so intimidating. Such a wild looking game

I'm having a blast figuring out the ways to optimize the AI and use less space as possible. It's quite addictive imo, you should give it a try!

PinkoBastard posted:

This looks awesome! looks kind of like a spiritual successor to Super Metal Crusher for Turbografx-16:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16p9eeeQsa4

Didn't know about this one, thanks. I wonder how far back the "program your own machines to fight" game concept goes.

Wendell posted:

I vaguely remember the gaming magazines I read as a kid framing the inability to directly control the robots as a bad thing. Eventually a code came out that allowed you direct control, and the game was saved!

I did see that cheat code but I'd feel that it would ruin a lot of the fun, but it's nice that it's there as an option, even if hidden.

EDIT:

Big Scary Owl fucked around with this message at 22:11 on Feb 5, 2020

# ? Feb 5, 2020 19:25

3D Megadoodoo: Nov 25, 2010

Like a third of this thread are amazing-looking/sounding games I've never even heard of :eyepop:

(Should probably stop reading; too many games already

)

# ? Feb 5, 2020 19:46

PinkoBastard: Oct 3, 2010

Big Scary Owl posted:

Didn't know about this one, thanks. I wonder how far back the "program your own machines to fight" game concept goes.

not sure if anyone�s wondering, but Super Metal Crusher is actually really cool and worth checking out. it starts fairly easy but gets tough and I�ve still not really mastered it. Im gonna check out Carnage Heart too!

# ? Feb 6, 2020 00:13

Commander Keene: Dec 21, 2016; Faster than the others

Collection of Mana

Secret of Mana: I dunno if it's the Switch port or just the rose-colored goggles of time, but I don't remember some of the problems I had in this playthrough when my brothers and I would play as kids. Hit detection seems a bit off; there are times where I'd connect with an attack, but nothing would happen to the enemy (no "Miss" text or sound effect that indicates no damage). Some bosses I just ended up spamming spells against because I couldn't reliably damage them with physical attacks.
Trials of Mana: My first time actually beating the game. I'd poked at the fan translation a couple of times in the past, but I'd never even gotten to the first class change before. Granted, that's like halfway through the game, but still. Ended up alpha-striking a lot of stuff with spells here too, but more because things did more damage (and I happened to pick a team comp without any healing spells).
Final Fantasy Adventure: Definitely the weakest of the three, at least nowadays. Extremely limited inventory space + no key items is pretty rough, as is the dependency on keys and mattocks. Even worse, IMO, is that enemies seemingly arbitrarily have immunities to various weapons, forcing you to either do a lot of menuing to constantly switch weapons (and the Switch port seems to have a problem with double inputs) or just ignore half of the enemies in the room. But the most unforgivable sin is having NPCs who move randomly, and every time you touch them they say their spiel. If I had a dime for every time an NPC decided to park themselves in the doorway to a building I needed to enter... Fortunately, it's short, so it doesn't overstay its welcome.

Overall, I still had a lot of fun, but I can see the warts on these old games. Now to play Breath of Fire...

# ? Feb 6, 2020 00:19

Phantasium: Dec 27, 2012

lol, i just posted this in the main retro thread

Phantasium posted:

secret of mana's hitboxes are unclear because you can miss attacks and also enemies can dodge and defend them, however there's only barely an indicator in the latter part and none in the former. it's made more sense in like, the iOS version and the newer remake when they actually added "miss" indicators (although i had some caterpillar's hitbox like, completely disappear in the remake).

# ? Feb 6, 2020 01:17

Wendell: May 11, 2003

In Landstalker....how the frig do you pronounce Eke Eke??

# ? Feb 8, 2020 01:00

Galaxander: Aug 12, 2009

Commander Keene posted:

Collection of Mana

Secret of Mana: I dunno if it's the Switch port or just the rose-colored goggles of time, but I don't remember some of the problems I had in this playthrough when my brothers and I would play as kids. Hit detection seems a bit off; there are times where I'd connect with an attack, but nothing would happen to the enemy (no "Miss" text or sound effect that indicates no damage). Some bosses I just ended up spamming spells against because I couldn't reliably damage them with physical attacks.

Trials of Mana: My first time actually beating the game. I'd poked at the fan translation a couple of times in the past, but I'd never even gotten to the first class change before. Granted, that's like halfway through the game, but still. Ended up alpha-striking a lot of stuff with spells here too, but more because things did more damage (and I happened to pick a team comp without any healing spells).

Final Fantasy Adventure: Definitely the weakest of the three, at least nowadays. Extremely limited inventory space + no key items is pretty rough, as is the dependency on keys and mattocks. Even worse, IMO, is that enemies seemingly arbitrarily have immunities to various weapons, forcing you to either do a lot of menuing to constantly switch weapons (and the Switch port seems to have a problem with double inputs) or just ignore half of the enemies in the room. But the most unforgivable sin is having NPCs who move randomly, and every time you touch them they say their spiel. If I had a dime for every time an NPC decided to park themselves in the doorway to a building I needed to enter... Fortunately, it's short, so it doesn't overstay its welcome.
Overall, I still had a lot of fun, but I can see the warts on these old games. Now to play Breath of Fire...

I love Mana games, but it is absolutely the case that in many of them, bosses are best defeated by casting offense spells until you run out of mp, then eat a walnut and do it again. Mana games so charming, but definitely flawed in some ways.

# ? Feb 8, 2020 18:40

Quiet Feet: Dec 14, 2009; THE HELL IS WITH THIS ASS!?

I finished Illusion of Gaia a few weeks ago and I'll say this: there's nothing else on the system with the same vibe (except maybe Terranigma, which I've just started) and in fact I can't think of another game with its same atmosphere. Combat is kinda simple and dull but the soundtrack is pretty good.

Seriously there's just no comparing it in terms of it's overall spirit to other games of the era or even a lot of what has come after. There's no villain; you're effectively trying to stop a natural disaster. The game's many areas the ruins of very powerful civilizations that experienced the comet and were utterly destroyed, and the things you're fighting are whatever was left of them afterwards and the subtext to that is that you're struggling against the remains of those who were much better equipped to deal with this and lost nevertheless. You're not a hero, or at least not recognized as one. You are singularly focused on trying to stop the comet and almost never help anyone in the locations you visit. poo poo, you even end up directly or indirectly responsible for some terrible stuff. Turning in the runaway slave for the red gem? Making a widow of the Russian Glass champion? Burning the Jackal horribly to death? And in the end your final form is Shadow and you're fighting off a comet whose light ruins everything it touches. The turning on the head of the typical light vs. darkness trope feels at home here. And your reward? Turning the world into a boring grey landscape. When your shown the vision of the future if you stop the comet, it's suggested that what comes next isn't even an improvement per se but just a more stable world. It's tone is bleak, which I'm not saying is a bad thing but it's very present.

So I have two criticisms and one nit-pick, and they all come at the end. I hate the boss rush before the final boss. These are almost always boring. The boss itself is really easy and the fight isn't that interesting either. Also the game tries for a happy, positive ending which really doesn't gel at all with how the rest of the story is presented. I'm absolutely not saying that it's necessary to have a grimdark "everybody dies" kind of ending, but I think the most they should have gone for was something neutral, particularly given the vision you receive earlier. Maybe you can have a little hope, as a treat.

Anyway, it's an enjoyable game even if life is pain and everyone dies or has horrible stuff happen to them.

Quiet Feet fucked around with this message at 02:48 on Feb 10, 2020

# ? Feb 8, 2020 18:49

AngryRobotsInc: Aug 2, 2011

Playing Final Fantasy IV for the millionth time. In this case, the PC version. I know some people had complaints about the DS/mobile/PC version, but I really like it.

# ? Feb 9, 2020 18:03

Phantasium: Dec 27, 2012

Yeah I didn't mind that version too much, I remember the new opening they made for it being pretty good.

# ? Feb 9, 2020 18:58

Turbinosamente: May 29, 2013; Lights on, Lights off

I've waded through a bunch of games in my quest to cut down the collection but to spare you all I'll just ask an aggressively stupid question about one: Am I the only one who gets bored with Beetle Adventure Racing on the N64? The 2 minute plus lap times are killing me and yes I know the point of the game is to find all the shortcuts and cool poo poo but goddamn. The game is beautiful looking and the cars handle fine enough and the music is rather eh so far but it feels like an absolute slog to get through a lap, like the courses are too big and thus too much of a good thing for an arcade racer.

# ? Feb 9, 2020 22:32

DEEP STATE PLOT: Aug 13, 2008; Yes...Ha ha ha...YES!

the rush games are the superior n64 arcade racers

# ? Feb 14, 2020 13:43

sponges: Sep 15, 2011

Has anyone ever played a Virtual Boy?

# ? Feb 14, 2020 17:40

Phantasium: Dec 27, 2012

yes and it's a crime teleroboxer hasn't been made available somewhere else

also really remember loving galactic pinball when i rented the thing back in the 90s but during that brief period where i had the system used like ten years ago i could never get a copy.

# ? Feb 14, 2020 17:44

In Training: Jun 28, 2008

I've been playing Super Mario Galaxy 2 on an emulator and while it's beautiful with the nice resolution, i really wish Nintendo did an official port at some point to rip out all the annoying wiimote stuff. Playing a Mario game with a mouse cursor on screen the entire time is so lame!

# ? Feb 14, 2020 17:46

AngryRobotsInc: Aug 2, 2011

sponges posted:

Has anyone ever played a Virtual Boy?

It gave me a massive headache, so I only did a few times before giving up.

# ? Feb 14, 2020 18:26

Phantasium: Dec 27, 2012

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGsjXgnHBUo

# ? Feb 14, 2020 18:28

mind the walrus: Sep 22, 2006

sponges posted:

Has anyone ever played a Virtual Boy?

Yes I had a friend who had one in her basement and it is every bit as terrible as you've heard. Absolute nightmare to play.

# ? Feb 14, 2020 18:45

Lawman 0: Aug 17, 2010

Just blew through a bunch of descent: freespace this evening :discourse:

# ? Feb 17, 2020 02:38

Sally: Jan 9, 2007; Don't post Small Dash!

Pastry of the Year posted:

I love the aesthetic and concept of it a lot, and it has one of the best SMT soundtracks I've ever heard (which makes it one of the best OSTs, period), but I've bounced off of it twice because I just can't seem to click with it. Any advice if I want to begin again from scratch?

Cielo sucks. Don't bother with him too much unless you really wanna tackle the SMT1 superboss. Though there are sections of the game where you lose members and are forced to use others... so level up Cielo somewhat. :shrug:

Cover your character's weaknesses asap. Enemies don't give a gently caress.

Heat is lost after SMT1 and replaced with (imo) a superior character in SMT2. You can get Heat back for the final dungeon (and thereby lose Heat's replacement) if you answer all of the game's dialogue options correctly.

It's been a long while since I played but those stick out in my mind...

# ? Feb 17, 2020 03:21

Heather Papps: Nov 1, 2007; hello friend

sponges posted:

Has anyone ever played a Virtual Boy?

a few times. i didn't get a head ache but i have glasses and that sucked, i vaguely remember.

i really hope the next nintendo console has a really big 3ds style screen

# ? Feb 17, 2020 17:09

Pastry of the Year: Apr 12, 2013

Dash Rendar posted:

Cielo sucks. Don't bother with him too much unless you really wanna tackle the SMT1 superboss. Though there are sections of the game where you lose members and are forced to use others... so level up Cielo somewhat.

Cover your character's weaknesses asap. Enemies don't give a gently caress.

Heat is lost after SMT1 and replaced with (imo) a superior character in SMT2. You can get Heat back for the final dungeon (and thereby lose Heat's replacement) if you answer all of the game's dialogue options correctly.

It's been a long while since I played but those stick out in my mind...

thank you

I'm playing GROWL even though it sucks since I like the narrative of saving animals from shitheads

# ? Feb 18, 2020 00:33

mind the walrus: Sep 22, 2006

Been running through Super Mario RPG on a stream to show some kids who the gently caress "Geno" is and ngl it's more fun than I remember. It's absolutely still babby's first RPG, but thankfully it's not a total snooze/cake-walk in terms of combat and management. If anything I'm finding it more fun than revisiting other 16-bit RPGs because it's extremely no-frills and it's easy to figure out what the game wants you to do with trial and error in combat. I just got to Booster's Tower and that song is still a bop.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QNaQ0eo0pE

# ? Feb 18, 2020 18:25

punk rebel ecks: Dec 11, 2010; A shitty post? This calls for a dance of deduction.

Playing Shin Megami Tensei II, and I think I'm done with it. It just gets way too cryptic and it's so obvious that they attempt to fill out the game with ridiculous and unfun backtracking. A shame since I'm halfway through the game. I need to get the torso corpse part from the underground prison area. I have all the other body parts. From people who have beaten the game, is it worth playing still? I loved the game up until the underworld.

# ? Feb 18, 2020 22:58

ZogrimAteMyHamster: Dec 8, 2015

I'll never tire of Shinobi III, nor will I tire of hoarding 700+ shuriken.

# ? Feb 20, 2020 19:11

Phantasium: Dec 27, 2012

It's funny how little you need them once you've got the game down.

# ? Feb 20, 2020 19:16

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? May 9, 2024 09:29

Tyson Tomko: May 8, 2005; The Problem Solver.

I've been huge into light gun games lately specifically Wild Gunman on NES. I've got a 3 year old who laughs her rear end off when I quick draw.

# ? Feb 22, 2020 02:56

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Retro Games > What retro game are you currently playing?

«‹›106 »