Yeah, it’s very chill and you’re right about the sense of exploration. Distinctly recall that feeling when playing it as a kid. Such a departure from other game experiences. The over world music helps with that, too. It’s perfect.
I’m really digging it. But didnt anticipate that chests and doors regenerate. Kinda bummed I spent so much currency buying magic keys to unlock doors only to have it all reset a little while later.
Speaking of old time JRPGs, I’ve cracked into Shining the Holy Darkness on the Saturn. I actually like the prerendered sprites look. Battles have been mindless so far but the first person dungeons are engaging enough. My track record with finishing RPGs isn’t great but I have a good feeling about this one so far.
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I’m playing ShoX (PS2) it’s nice and I can’t believe it’s by EA.
It works with a GSM progressive scan trick I do discovered last summer when playing SSX Tricky. I’ll post about that in the PS2 thread.
Got various odd things cheap and had never heard of this until now: Hyper Zone
Basically a mode 7 Space Harrier.
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I’m on PS2 again playing every 480p racing game I can get my hands on.
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This had a good number of magazine ads back in the day (in my part of the world anyway). I was pretty excited for it until I rented it. It wasn’t bad but it lacked the thrill of all the arcade scaling shooters I loved.
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I didn’t think I’d get into this as much as a Force title but I really dig it. The dungeons are pretty clever and I get really into the simple touches like the fairies. Now, when I play through the Shining series, I always play this whereas I might skip SITD and (almost definitely) Wisdom.
This is a direct prequel to Shining Force 3, btw.
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Ninja Gaiden Black via Xbox One X. Phenomenal game so far!
Been pretty busy and trying to take a different approach to digital lifestyle so I’ve not been playing much. Getting a lot of reading done; I’ve finished about 1600 pages of books since the beginning of the year.
Played to the Agahnim battle in Link to the Past on GBA but haven’t felt like continuing. Played the first 3 levels of Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland but again looking for something else.
Slowly plugging away at Ace Combat Zero. I finished 7, 4, and 5 last year and loved them but Zero feels like a budget game with not great levels. Mechanics are still great so I’m still going.
Started FFX last night. I haven’t beat it since I played the original on PS2 back in 2006 or 7, despite owning the Vita, PS3, and now Switch versions. So we’ll see. I’m always open to abandoning stuff but yeah it’d be nice to see this through.
I think I’m near the end of Dragon Warrior. Please don’t give me any hints or tips - I’m trying to beat this game blind.
Spoilers:
I saved the princess, used her “love” to find the medal, and activated the rainbow bridge - that felt cool.
I assume, however, I’m still very underlevelled since I cannot beat green dragons very consistently unless I successfully put them to sleep for several turns. And I imagine the DragonLord is far more difficult.
I still have to buy the flame sword, the silver shield, and find Erdrick’s armor somewhere in Hauksness near whatever is left of Wynn’s shop. After I get those three items, I’ll probably make the push to beat the game. I still have several hours of grinding ahead of me until I get to that point considering I’m about 20k in gold short of purchasing both the sword and shield together.
I also have a bunch of the south west area of the game left unexplored since I’m pretty underleveled for the enemies down there.
Overall, this game is going to go down as one of my favorites in a very long time. I thought JRPGs were not really my thing, but this game was very easy for me to fall in love with because it was just so simple and fun.
I’m really glad I randomly gave this a chance.
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The last time I played the NES ver I had everything in the game done but had another 5 or so levels to grind before I could beat the final boss…
FWIW I think newer Dragon Quest games do a great job of channeling the core gameplay loop of DW1 into a more interesting game, but with less annoying stuff. Games and remakes from DQ5 onward don’t even require grinding.
Yikes, 5 levels of grinding to beat the final boss sounds like a long grind considering how much exp it takes to level up now. But I’m going to take my time with it and hopefully avoid burning out.
And yea, it seems like I’ve been overlooking this series in general considering how much I’m enjoying what is supposed to be the most crude entry by today’s standards. If my interest level stays this high after beating DW1, I’ll go ahead and check out the next game in the series and try to play them in order.
I’m not going to rush through them though. What I like most about the game is that it’s a very relaxing experience that takes on a rather meandering pace. The entire gameplay loop is nearly identical to the first hour of the game and the whole thing feels very balanced in a uniquely authentic way. Especially considering how much grinding there is. I’m not sure how they nailed the feeling of being on an adventure so well considering there’s not much going on here compared to modern games.
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I’ve been playing Dragon Quest IV on DS and have really enjoyed it. Many things you say about DW1 are true in this one too. Really relaxing to play and I’ve done some voluntary grinding as it’s just simple and fun. The structure of the game is a bit different in that you play the first chapters with different characters and their stories tie together.
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Currently playing Xeno Crisis, Wings of Wor/Gynoug, and Pulseman on the Genesis. Also playing through Pokemon Red/Blue with the girlfriend for her first time, and she’s loving it.
Juggling Ninja Gaiden Black and Ninja Gaiden 2, and a bunch of Qute STGs and Mamorukun Curse.
Might grab the 3DS to play Kokuga again, never gave that game the time it deserved back in the day!
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Kokuga is a good time. I need to play that again too. So much fun small stuff like that on 3DS.
I got to the final boss in Dragon Warrior on NES and… got whooped. I definitely need to grind a bit more. Glad to have the route to him finally figured out though.
I’ve been back on it lately and it really is good stuff, handheld gaming at its finest.
Also started playing Steel Diver again, I never gave it time last year but that’s another game with solid core mechanics that are robust enough to make its levels squeeze hours of playtime out of dedicated players. It’s slow though, racing the staff ghosts feels weird because of how slow the subs are!
Played/Finished River City Girls finally.
Kinda eh overall. Some really awkward and at points bad design. Never reaches the upper level of beat-em-up action design, it’s best to use the same cheese techniques most of the time. And I thought the soundtrack was overhyped. It looked nice.