Yeah I remember this when the service launched but it has since been patched. In fact, even if it weren’t there wasn’t anything to worry about really, it was just a weird rendering quirk which went away completely when you booted up the game without the filter activated. It didn’t do any permanent damage.
For the first time since release, I completed a replay of Final Fantasy 7. I have a TON of nostalgia for this game because it released during my formative high school years, and it was THE thing for me and my friends for many months. However, I was already into JRPGs at the time, so it doesn’t sit in quite so high a place for me as for many gamers, and I walked away from this replay impressed by its ambitions, but recognizing, especially after the brilliance of FF6, which showed off the genre at the height of a system’s power, that FF7, especially with the poor NA localization, just… isn’t that great of a game. The materia system is great, but it’s clear Square was still figuring out how to make an RPG in this style, and they’d go onto perfect the formula with FF9. The mixed models in cut scenes was weird, the story’s a mess, and I didn’t care about half the cast. In all, it’s a tremendous reminder of how Square’s approach to design and storytelling changed with the 32-bit era, but also a reminder of how far they had to go before they figured it out. Very much looking forward to the remake, though.
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I finally finished Illusion of Gaia - I was having trouble with the mummy boss a few weeks ago but I loaded it up again today and was able to dance around her patterns quite easily. The final boss took me two or three tries but once I realised I could block some of his attacks and turn to water when things got too busy it became pretty straightforward.
Honestly I was really disappointed. It’s a mediocre game compared to Soul Blazer and Actraiser and it doesn’t really deserve it’s lauded status among fans. It’s a confused plodding mess at times and while the dungeons and general gameplay are fantastic - the story and non-combat sections are downright tiresome.
I think the game deals with some interesting broad themes but the none of the characters are memorable, nor are their individual stories. It’s probably my fault for putting this on a bit of a pedestal over the years but I can’t help but feel it doesn’t measure up to Soul Blazer and Actraiser.
I felt similar when I finished Terranigma, but probably for different reasons as I can’t compare it to other Quintet games, being the only one I have played.
How would you compare Illusion of Gaia to it? And if I had to play another Quintet game should I go for Actraiser next?
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I haven’t played it yet! - I’m actually in the same boat except I’m tossing up whether I play Actraiser 2 or Terranigma next.
My advice if you haven’t played it already play Actraiser as a palate cleanser and follow it up with Soul Blazer (both are excellent)
Just recently allowed myself to replay it (ff7) for the first time in years and came away with kind of a different experience. I was surprised at how much it held up, story wise. Of course I went in knowing everything about the game but I expected it to be more cryptic and hard to follow if I was only trying to focus on the stuff the game was telling me but came away from it all pleasantly surprised.
The thing I really wished while playing is that it got a “remake” much much much earlier, or that it was made at the end of the PS1 era instead of the first of them. Like base control stuff like not really being sure which way the character would go when entering a new screen and other technical/quality issues that square had ironed out with 8 and 9 would have been all I would change with the game.
Noap. Can’t support this at all. Terranigma exceeded all expectations and it’s ending was touching. It is also the best Quintet has done so I don’t know if I could recommend their other games if you didn’t enjoy it, but the Actraiser games are completely different gameplaywise from Soul Blazer/Illusion of Gaia/ Terranigma so you may have better luck with them.
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The Wario Land 4 I bought last weekend. It was only on Normal though. I’ll see how Hard goes.
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So effing good. I remember the first time I played it being blown away by it. I was already a Treasure fanboy for life because of Gunstar Heroes and that game cemented it. IIRC, it came out not long after GH.
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You’d need to delete and make a new one.
Hey now, I didn’t say I didn’t enjoy Terranigma. I enjoyed it a whole lot, but I felt disappointed with a few aspects of the game which suggested, like with Seiken Densetsu 3, that storage limitations caused some content to be cut.
Terranigma still has a lot going for it, off the top of my head the setting, presentation and level design are peerless among games of its ilk. But I thought the combat was rather shallow, and the story didn’t fulfill its potential.
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Been a while since I added a retro game to this thread.
Shinobi on the SMS gives you zero fanfare when you finish the game. It shows you a page that has the “boss beat” stamp on it, then displays “GAME OVER” and kicks you out to the title screen.
I struggled with the 2nd last level because of previous deaths, meaning a lack of health. Once I was able to get past it without drying, I also finished the game without a death.
Overall this is an extremely solid port, and likely the best way to play the game outside of the arcade. It’s well worth finishing, as the last boss is pretty tricky, and it’s a good feat to strive for. One I’ve wanted to do since I was a kid, as this is a childhood game of mine.
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That’s what I tried but then it said it takes a day or something and then no longer was acting like I deleted it so wasn’t sure what was going on.
That’s exactly how I felt with Illusion of Gaia. There was some incredible game design and art buried in there but the execution just felt off. Especially compared to something like Soul Blazer which is more simplistic, but also perfect.
I need to try Soul Blazer then!
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Soul Blazer’s awesome. Illusion of Gaia never clicked with me the same way.
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I also liked Soul Blazer more than Illusion of Gaia/Time. Something about the restoring each area that did it for me.
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M.A.C.H: Modified Air Combat Heroes is a 2008 flight racing and combat game made by Kuju exclusively for the PSP. The manual has some nonsense about yuppies starting an air combat league after drone strike obsoleted conventional air combat (how prescient) but the actual game is plotless.
The two main components are Racing and Dogfight. Racing is exactly what you’d expect: you’re one of eight planes competing in three lap races. There are various Mario Kart-style weapon pick-ups scattered around the tracks (most are fixed, some are random). Flying low gives you energy, which you can use to activate your afterburner or do a barrel roll to dodge incoming weapons. Beating tourneys unlock new planes and cash to buy new paintjobs and new parts for your plane, all of which are linear upgrades (oddly enough the game asks you money for downgrading part, not that you have a reason to).
Dogfight works in most of the same ways except you’re thrown in a big open map and ask to rack up as many kills as possible in 5 minutes: you get access to a gun in addition to weapon picks up here and killing 5 planes on one life gives you a time-limited 1HK laser to ramapge with. It’s deep as a puddle but works well enough as a diversion.
Feeling and flying around is tight and feels good, and there’s a nice sense of speed while using the afterburner. Tracks keep you on your toes and look pleasant enough. Basically, it’s Fun.
The biggest problem with MACH is that there isn’t a lot of it: the game has 5 tracks (with short/long and reverse variant) and 5 deathmatch maps so by the middle of the tourney grid, you’ve seen everything it has to offer. There’s a challenge mode which asks you to do things like killing as many people as possible with the laser weapon or picking up coins on the tracks, but as beating the first grid unlocked a near-identical grid with slightly harder requirements and with noting apparently left to unlock after completing the final tourney, I didn’t feel motivated to beat that mode.
It’s fairly shallow and despite only there being 8 planes, they’re not well balanced - most simply aren’t good even after being fully upgrade and the way money is doled out encourages you to stick with a single one. The game is pretty easy until the final tourney which jacks up the rubber banding and cheating to an insane level. I eventually found a tactic (don’t boost until the bar is full, always keep enough energy for at least two consecutive barrel rolls, use a fully upgraded plane) but it was a lot of aggravation.
That’s Modified Air Combat Heroes: it’s fun and (reasonably) pretty, but shallow and short enough I don’t feel like it warrant the hIdDeN gEmZ label.
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Lol.
I do like flying racing games though…
If you can find it for cheapies, it’s a solid rec. There’s just not too much to it.