What retro game are you currently playing?

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njsykora: Jan 23, 2012; Robots confuse squirrels.

Dell_Zincht posted:

I've played every Final Fantasy game apart from Final Fantasy IX, and it's time to rectify that.

I'm about three hours in, and struggling to get into it. Anyone have any tips? None of the characters are very likeable, especially Zidane which doesn't help as he's the main character and combat feels very slow despite turning the speed up to maximum.

You're having much the same experience I had, the combat feels too basic and the story didn't grab me over the whole first disc.

# ? Mar 17, 2024 17:07

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# ? Apr 27, 2024 13:47

Gaius Marius: Oct 9, 2012

Dell_Zincht posted:

I've played every Final Fantasy game apart from Final Fantasy IX, and it's time to rectify that.

I'm about three hours in, and struggling to get into it. Anyone have any tips? None of the characters are very likeable, especially Zidane which doesn't help as he's the main character and combat feels very slow despite turning the speed up to maximum.

IX is the best

# ? Mar 17, 2024 17:40

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

"every final fantasy is simultaneously the best and worst of the series". that adage rings eternally true.

i enjoyed my time with FFIX well enough but i would rank it as a pretty mid FF experience overall. obviously three hours into a jrpg isn't a ton of time overall but the game does open up and there are way more likeable party characters.

if youre still not into it by the time you reach Burmecia maybe move on? That's the end of disc 1 roughly. the game used loads of FMVs i dont recall discs taking terribly to get through

# ? Mar 17, 2024 17:55

Rubellavator: Aug 16, 2007

The beginning of FFIX is easily the weakest part. Also I think it's the slowest combat in the entire series. The story gets real good or at least that's how I remember it.

# ? Mar 17, 2024 20:01

leper khan: Dec 28, 2010; Honest to god thinks Half Life 2 is a bad game. But at least he likes Monster Hunter.

Dell_Zincht posted:

I've played every Final Fantasy game apart from Final Fantasy IX, and it's time to rectify that.

I'm about three hours in, and struggling to get into it. Anyone have any tips? None of the characters are very likeable, especially Zidane which doesn't help as he's the main character and combat feels very slow despite turning the speed up to maximum.

the whole thing is a shakespear gag. if youre into that youll like it. if not, you likely wont.

# ? Mar 17, 2024 20:07

chiasaur11: Oct 22, 2012

Been playing the SNES Battletoads, since it got added to Switch online.

I think it's the worst game I've ever played? It's technically functional, the art is colorful, and the sound isn't bad, but it is just appalling from a design prospective. It's not so much one game as a collection of terrible mini-games combining long stretches of repetition, bad hitboxes, and crippling penalties for failure into one package. Where Mario gives you nice, simple versions of a challenge to let you figure it out, then lets you use the same ultra-responsive controls and skills you've been trained on to face the final challenge, Battletoads just tosses you into something new and kills you before you can even figure out what it wants, then kills you again when the controls and the terrible hitboxes screw you over.

I actually had a moment in the Turbo Tunnel where I almost respected the game. After a brutal gauntlet, I ran face first into a single, slow wall. I smiled, assumed they did a gag where you could die to a really easy thing right after you'd faced much more difficult things. It's a nice little bit of conversation between dev and player. A last slightly mean gag.

Then it instead escalated into another round of bullshit, requiring pinpoint perfect movement, and that good will vanished.

A game can make challenge not massively frustrating in a lot of ways. It can minimize repetition, with save points right by a challenge. It can change things up, like a roguelike, to ensure you get a new experience each time. It can, like Meatboy, show you a lot of the level in advance, to ensure And of course, like Mario it can give you tight controls to make every mistake something you own. This does not do any of those, giving you a lot of crap without means to manage it except brute memorization.

I suppose back in the day the variety and the graphics were impressive enough to overcome any skepticism, but Super Mario World and Sonic 2 were already out, and Mega Man X was released that same year. People knew how to make good games, and the basics of design were pretty well sorted in the 8 years since Nintendo revived the industry in the US. Just doing "Battletoads for NES, but with less" doesn't strike me as being, well, good.

# ? Mar 18, 2024 08:27

Ms Adequate: Oct 30, 2011; Baby even when I'm dead and gone
You will always be my only one, my only one
When the night is calling
No matter who I become
You will always be my only one, my only one, my only one
When the night is calling

Dell_Zincht posted:

I've played every Final Fantasy game apart from Final Fantasy IX, and it's time to rectify that.

I'm about three hours in, and struggling to get into it. Anyone have any tips? None of the characters are very likeable, especially Zidane which doesn't help as he's the main character and combat feels very slow despite turning the speed up to maximum.

Took me many years of attempts to get through IX, just never grabbed me until the most recent effort and I think that was half because I had momentum from playing each one in order in a short period of time. The mid characters get loads of screen time (Like you I've never liked Zidane, would prefer almost any other character as the protagonist) whilst the good/interesting characters get way too little focus (Freya and Beatrix my beloveds).

Combat does indeed feel slow and the key I found was literally speeding up shitloads of the game in my emulator. That said it does get better once your party fills out and you start gaining more abilities for battles, but it remains probably my least favorite mainline FF, though my estimation of it significantly improved.

Oh also give everyone dumb as poo poo names, game was a lot better when Dagger was running around being called Shotgun. And play Chocobo Hot and Cold once you get access, it's not a GOAT minigame but it is pretty drat fun.

# ? Mar 18, 2024 09:38

leper khan: Dec 28, 2010; Honest to god thinks Half Life 2 is a bad game. But at least he likes Monster Hunter.

chiasaur11 posted:

Been playing the SNES Battletoads, since it got added to Switch online.

I think it's the worst game I've ever played? It's technically functional, the art is colorful, and the sound isn't bad, but it is just appalling from a design prospective. It's not so much one game as a collection of terrible mini-games combining long stretches of repetition, bad hitboxes, and crippling penalties for failure into one package. Where Mario gives you nice, simple versions of a challenge to let you figure it out, then lets you use the same ultra-responsive controls and skills you've been trained on to face the final challenge, Battletoads just tosses you into something new and kills you before you can even figure out what it wants, then kills you again when the controls and the terrible hitboxes screw you over.

I actually had a moment in the Turbo Tunnel where I almost respected the game. After a brutal gauntlet, I ran face first into a single, slow wall. I smiled, assumed they did a gag where you could die to a really easy thing right after you'd faced much more difficult things. It's a nice little bit of conversation between dev and player. A last slightly mean gag.

Then it instead escalated into another round of bullshit, requiring pinpoint perfect movement, and that good will vanished.

A game can make challenge not massively frustrating in a lot of ways. It can minimize repetition, with save points right by a challenge. It can change things up, like a roguelike, to ensure you get a new experience each time. It can, like Meatboy, show you a lot of the level in advance, to ensure And of course, like Mario it can give you tight controls to make every mistake something you own. This does not do any of those, giving you a lot of crap without means to manage it except brute memorization.

I suppose back in the day the variety and the graphics were impressive enough to overcome any skepticism, but Super Mario World and Sonic 2 were already out, and Mega Man X was released that same year. People knew how to make good games, and the basics of design were pretty well sorted in the 8 years since Nintendo revived the industry in the US. Just doing "Battletoads for NES, but with less" doesn't strike me as being, well, good.

its a quarter muncher. that doesnt make it bad.

# ? Mar 18, 2024 13:13

leper khan: Dec 28, 2010; Honest to god thinks Half Life 2 is a bad game. But at least he likes Monster Hunter.

Ms Adequate posted:

Took me many years of attempts to get through IX, just never grabbed me until the most recent effort and I think that was half because I had momentum from playing each one in order in a short period of time. The mid characters get loads of screen time (Like you I've never liked Zidane, would prefer almost any other character as the protagonist) whilst the good/interesting characters get way too little focus (Freya and Beatrix my beloveds).

Combat does indeed feel slow and the key I found was literally speeding up shitloads of the game in my emulator. That said it does get better once your party fills out and you start gaining more abilities for battles, but it remains probably my least favorite mainline FF, though my estimation of it significantly improved.

Oh also give everyone dumb as poo poo names, game was a lot better when Dagger was running around being called Shotgun. And play Chocobo Hot and Cold once you get access, it's not a GOAT minigame but it is pretty drat fun.

aint nothing wrong with The Dane.

# ? Mar 18, 2024 13:13

Small Strange Bird: Sep 22, 2006; Merci, chaton!

(Re)playing Gun on the PS2, which I had on the Xbox back in the 2000s, but never finished. I unironically love its look - the low-poly starkness works really well for the desolate wilderness environments, especially with some nice lighting effects. (I was genuinely surprised to see Colton's shadow being accurately cast on the two different walls at a building's corner; I'd never thought of that as a PS2-level effect.)

It has a hell of a gravel-mouthed voice cast, as well. Lance Henriksen, Ron Perlman, Tom Skerritt, Kris Kristofferson and Brad Dourif, plus the inevitable Nolan North, and that's not even counting Thomas Jane as the lead.

It's obviously not Red Dead Redemption in terms of how much you can do in the open world, but I'd argue it's more fun to pick up and play in the same way that Saints Row beats the later GTAs for accessibility, especially if you come back to them having not played for a while. Realism schmealism, it's all about indulging your Man With No Name fantasies!

# ? Mar 18, 2024 13:32

AlternateNu: May 5, 2005; ドーナツダメ！

I just replayed through Rebel Assault II for the PS1 for the first time in ages.

It's super short. The acting is terrible. The cinematics are armature at best. The plot is laughable. And the gameplay is incredibly basic.

But there's no jedi poo poo in it, so that automatically makes it a top 10% Star Wars game. :v:

# ? Mar 24, 2024 03:25

AlternateNu: May 5, 2005; ドーナツダメ！

Now, I'm playing Valkyrie Profile - Lenneth. (The OG PS1 version w/ UNDUB mod.) Sunk 4 hours into it today which doesn't happen very often. So, looks like I'm in for the haul.

Best part is I still have my copy of VP2: Silmeria for the PS2 which I never finished. So, I can roll straight into that afterwards. :v:

# ? Mar 25, 2024 02:49

The Voice of Labor: Apr 8, 2020

I couldn't decide what to play so I'm just playing through super metroid again

# ? Mar 28, 2024 06:31

cheetah7071: Oct 20, 2010; honk honk; College Slice

undubbing VP1 feels like a crime. Not because the dub is good (it's not) but because it's iconic. It'd be like undubbing symphony of the night. I can still hear all of Valkyrie's voice lines crystal clear in my mind, and I haven't played the game in years.

# ? Mar 28, 2024 07:14

Coffee Jones: Jul 4, 2004; 16 bit? Back when we was kids we only got a single bit on Christmas, as a treat
And we had to share it!

Since memory card save files are the same across original and undub versions I switched between the two often enough while playing VP.
Having characters yell out their spells over and over gets tiring (god drat you Jelanda) so I switch it to the Japanese undub*. except there�s a number of areas where conversations take place without any subtitling.

But yeah, I can see how 90�s anime dub actors with bad direction can be all part of the experience.

* playing through FF7 remake, and listening to how different language voice actors take on their lines is fun. It looks like Square created new mouth movements across each language. Why do video games cost $300m and five years to produce? 😜

Coffee Jones fucked around with this message at 13:57 on Mar 28, 2024

# ? Mar 28, 2024 13:42

leper khan: Dec 28, 2010; Honest to god thinks Half Life 2 is a bad game. But at least he likes Monster Hunter.

Coffee Jones posted:

Since memory card save files are the same across original and undub versions I switched between the two often enough while playing VP.
Having characters yell out their spells over and over gets tiring (god drat you Jelanda) so I switch it to the Japanese undub*. except there’s a number of areas where conversations take place without any subtitling.

But yeah, I can see how 90’s anime dub actors with bad direction can be all part of the experience.

* playing through FF7 remake, and listening to how different language voice actors take on their lines is fun. It looks like Square created new mouth movements across each language. Why do video games cost $300m and five years to produce? 😜

automatic matching mouth movements for voice has existed since the show "Reboot" a few decades ago.

# ? Mar 28, 2024 14:47

DontMockMySmock: Aug 9, 2008; I got this title for the dumbest fucking possible take on sea shanties. Specifically, I derailed the meme thread because sailors in the 18th century weren't woke enough for me, and you shouldn't sing sea shanties. In fact, don't have any fun ever.

cheetah7071 posted:

undubbing VP1 feels like a crime. Not because the dub is good (it's not) but because it's iconic. It'd be like undubbing symphony of the night. I can still hear all of Valkyrie's voice lines crystal clear in my mind, and I haven't played the game in years.

gotta agree with this.

ash ketchum: Lapis! Grant my heart's desire!
mai valentine: Because he loved her, he wishes for her death?

Yeah a lot of it is bad but it's funny-bad.

Also imo the in-battle voice lines are generally quite good actually. Especially the "big magic" quotes, though you don't get those until late in the game. "No mercy for the damned. Thus, thou hast no escape from the grasp of catastrophe!"

# ? Mar 28, 2024 20:26

ControlV: Mar 8, 2019

I got an A500 Mini, and I've been playing a vertical shmup called "Banshee" (which I always pronounce in my head as the announcer from "Hydro Thunder"). It's super charming, it reminds me a lot of of "Metal Slug" in its little flourishes. Unfortunately, the hitbox of your plane is a bit too big, and the controls aren't as precise as they could be, at least not with the included controller. I wish I could use my USB arcade stick, tho I suppose I could always emulate it on PC...

# ? Mar 29, 2024 06:39

Halloween Jack: Sep 12, 2003; I WILL CUT OFF BOTH OF MY ARMS BEFORE I VOTE FOR ANYONE THAT IS MORE POPULAR THAN BERNIE!!!!!

What's the easiest way to get into the Ys series? I'd like to start from the beginning. They had me at "bump combat."

# ? Mar 29, 2024 22:08

njsykora: Jan 23, 2012; Robots confuse squirrels.

I think the whole series is on Steam, and they're usually pennies during sales.

# ? Mar 29, 2024 22:10

Kuros: Sep 13, 2010; Oh look, the consequences of my prior actions are finally catching up to me.

I'd say that some of the programming is jank as at least in Ys I & II Chronicles+ there are enemies tied to FPS. I literally couldn't beat the final boss until I capped the FPS.

# ? Mar 29, 2024 22:15

The Voice of Labor: Apr 8, 2020

Halloween Jack posted:

What's the easiest way to get into the Ys series? I'd like to start from the beginning. They had me at "bump combat."

the only one I ever finished was, I think 4 or 5 on the pcecd. that was because of the incredible novelty of a translation patch that dubbed all the cut scenes which was a big novelty 15 years ago. jeez, even my retro gaming is retro. it was an o.k. game

# ? Mar 30, 2024 00:33

Tonfa: Apr 8, 2008; I joined the #RXT REVOLUTION.

he knows...

Just get Ys I+II Chronicles on Steam or for the PSP and enjoy the most classic fantasy adventuring ever created.

# ? Mar 30, 2024 22:04

Coffee Jones: Jul 4, 2004; 16 bit? Back when we was kids we only got a single bit on Christmas, as a treat
And we had to share it!

I�m playing the Switch remake of Zelda: Links Awakening.
Love the improvements to the presentation while keeping the same tile and screen to screen layout. framerate issues on the overworld are there but it�s not a real issue.

There are a number of side-on areas that make use of jumps.

These are really only a few screens big. I feel they�re a missed opportunity to build some really sprawling dungeons that combine the jump / run / hookshot mechanics with the combat of Link�s Adventure (or at least Kid Icarus)

�The frog for whom the bell tolls� has some side-on dungeons as well (I wouldn�t mind a remake) but it�s certainly not a Zelda game

Re: Y�s - I think the best version of the old graphics but without the choppy scrolling is PC engine CD.

Coffee Jones fucked around with this message at 06:37 on Mar 31, 2024

# ? Mar 31, 2024 06:32

emSparkly: Nov 21, 2022; I'm open to interpretation!

Now that I have a suitable controller I've been trying out Pop'n Music on my PS2. I thought these games were for children and yet I'm so bad at them.

# ? Mar 31, 2024 07:05

based64: Feb 15, 2024

based64 fucked around with this message at 03:45 on Apr 8, 2024

# ? Mar 31, 2024 07:27

freelop: Apr 28, 2013; Where we're going, we won't need fries to see

Started playing Final Fantasy IV the way it was intended.

English patched on an Amazon fire stick using a Saturn controller

# ? Apr 1, 2024 09:09

The Voice of Labor: Apr 8, 2020

*looks over steam collection and rom directories*

*shakes head*

why can't you be more like super metroid?

# ? Apr 4, 2024 00:51

Imaginary Friend: Jan 27, 2010; Your Best Friend

I tried getting Dragon Age Origins working on the steam deck but gave up and got Dungeon Siege 1 and 2 instead. Dungeon Siege 1 modded into the DS2-engine is like the perfect mix of Diablo and Icewind Dale and I wish we lived in an alternate universe where that formula was still popular. The level design of the dungeons in DS1 is pretty amazing.

# ? Apr 6, 2024 11:00

sponges: Sep 15, 2011

The last level and end bosses in OG Ninja Gaiden can suck it. God drat I�ve been as this for hours

# ? Apr 6, 2024 23:43

tango alpha delta: Sep 9, 2011; Ask me about my wealthy lifestyle and passive income! I love bragging about my wealth to my lessers! My opinions are more valid because I have more money than you! Stealing the fruits of the labor of the working class is okay, so long as you don't do it using crypto. More money = better than!

sponges posted:

The last level and end bosses in OG Ninja Gaiden can suck it. God drat I�ve been as this for hours

Holy poo poo, I just softmodded my OG XBox and copied my physical Ninja Gaiden Black to my new terabyte hard drive. I've connected it to an old 19" CRT.

Time to get my rear end kicked HARD.

e: lol that my OG XBox, which I purchased new, is now considered retro. Retro to me is Atari 2600, Pong, Intellivision, Colecovision, Vectrex and Magnavox Oddysee, but that's because I'm an old.

tango alpha delta fucked around with this message at 00:16 on Apr 7, 2024

# ? Apr 7, 2024 00:13

AlternateNu: May 5, 2005; ドーナツダメ！

Just finished chapter 4 of Valkyrie Profile. Been running on the undub mod because oofta, that early 2000's dubbing.

Ran into a weird glitch. Game would keep freezing when attempting to fight Brahms. Ok. No big deal. The fight is just a set piece anyway, and that castle can get kind of glitchy anyway. But then it starts freezing at the beginning of the Lezard fight in his tower. >_> Which meant I had to rewatch the 4 minute cutscene intro to the fight every time I reset the console. Eventually, I just had to load up the base game and run through that fight to get past it. Time to see if modded disc 2 decides to spaz out on me some more. :v:

# ? Apr 7, 2024 02:51

leper khan: Dec 28, 2010; Honest to god thinks Half Life 2 is a bad game. But at least he likes Monster Hunter.

tango alpha delta posted:

Holy poo poo, I just softmodded my OG XBox and copied my physical Ninja Gaiden Black to my new terabyte hard drive. I've connected it to an old 19" CRT.

Time to get my rear end kicked HARD.

e: lol that my OG XBox, which I purchased new, is now considered retro. Retro to me is Atari 2600, Pong, Intellivision, Colecovision, Vectrex and Magnavox Oddysee, but that's because I'm an old.

pretty sure OP was talking about the nes games

# ? Apr 7, 2024 03:04

emSparkly: Nov 21, 2022; I'm open to interpretation!

I still have no idea how I beat Ninja Gaiden as a kid with no save states.

# ? Apr 7, 2024 23:24

Mokotow: Apr 16, 2012

I�m travelling and have little to no time to play, but I uploaded the whole SNES library to my Deck and nip in and out of�

Breath of Fire - a series I know nothing about. It�s Square, but it�s unlike the other Square games I know. It�s got some funky features, like an auto battle mode and abbreviated item names that make it hard and confusing to know which item does what.

The whole thing screams �made for Japan� and looks like it�s been barely adapted. It seems to be taking more from the DQ series, what with all the grind, an episode system where you play a different character until you form a party and a needlessly confusing tower dungeon with level design tricks you�ve seen elsewhere.

It�s fine? I�m sort of plugging along.

I also wanted to try a Ys game but I think I�ve picked the wrong one, as Ys III is the one without autocombat and also looks like a NES game because it�s a port. It�s grindy and unfun and I think I might come back to it some day via a different port or version.

# ? Apr 9, 2024 18:48

TheHoosier: Dec 30, 2004; The fuck, Graham?!

Mokotow posted:

I’m travelling and have little to no time to play, but I uploaded the whole SNES library to my Deck and nip in and out of…

Breath of Fire - a series I know nothing about. It’s Square, but it’s unlike the other Square games I know. It’s got some funky features, like an auto battle mode and abbreviated item names that make it hard and confusing to know which item does what.

The whole thing screams „made for Japan” and looks like it’s been barely adapted. It seems to be taking more from the DQ series, what with all the grind, an episode system where you play a different character until you form a party and a needlessly confusing tower dungeon with level design tricks you’ve seen elsewhere.

It's Capcom, and sadly a series they'll probably never revisit

BoF1 is pretty much a relic of its time. BoF3 and 4 are considered the best ones. I think there are some romhacks of 2 that smooth it out and correct the translation. 3 and 4 are worth your time, 2 is still a little rough, and I didn't make it very far in 1.

# ? Apr 9, 2024 19:01

Rubellavator: Aug 16, 2007

Mokotow posted:

I�m travelling and have little to no time to play, but I uploaded the whole SNES library to my Deck and nip in and out of�

Breath of Fire - a series I know nothing about. It�s Square, but it�s unlike the other Square games I know. It�s got some funky features, like an auto battle mode and abbreviated item names that make it hard and confusing to know which item does what.

The whole thing screams �made for Japan� and looks like it�s been barely adapted. It seems to be taking more from the DQ series, what with all the grind, an episode system where you play a different character until you form a party and a needlessly confusing tower dungeon with level design tricks you�ve seen elsewhere.

It�s fine? I�m sort of plugging along.

I also wanted to try a Ys game but I think I�ve picked the wrong one, as Ys III is the one without autocombat and also looks like a NES game because it�s a port. It�s grindy and unfun and I think I might come back to it some day via a different port or version.

Squaresoft did the localization for the first game, but Breath of Fire is a Capcom series. It's rough in some ways but I have massive nostalgia for it and the rest of the Breath of Fire series as the music and character designs made it my favorite rpg series growing up.

Ys III is a weird one being the only sidescroller in the series.

# ? Apr 9, 2024 19:04

Random Stranger: Nov 27, 2009

Mokotow posted:

I also wanted to try a Ys game but I think I’ve picked the wrong one, as Ys III is the one without autocombat and also looks like a NES game because it’s a port. It’s grindy and unfun and I think I might come back to it some day via a different port or version.

The original Ys III is probably the worst Ys game to start with. It breaks from the classic games and doesn't fit in with the later games. The team quit late in development to go become Quintet so it feels even messier. There's a reason it's been remade from the ground up twice.

# ? Apr 9, 2024 21:06

jkq: Nov 26, 2022

Mokotow posted:

Breath of Fire - a series I know nothing about. It�s Square, but it�s unlike the other Square games I know. It�s got some funky features, like an auto battle mode and abbreviated item names that make it hard and confusing to know which item does what.

This patch (https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/6611/) messes with the item names, among other changes.

# ? Apr 10, 2024 03:11

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# ? Apr 27, 2024 13:47

The Voice of Labor: Apr 8, 2020

I wish switching between abilities in demon's crest didn't involve pulling up the pause menu

# ? Apr 10, 2024 03:30

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

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