On a Mission

[Onslaught Six]

When I got my 360 last year, I resolved that I would change a few of my habits about gaming:

-I would finally stop playing on the easiest difficulty. I'm 22 years old. I can handle, at least, Medium.
-I would never again play a game by constantly reading a walkthrough; I would only ever use a walkthrough in the most dire of situations and 'only' for that particular part of the game. (This excludes things like weapon guides, or item lists, or enemy lists. Also, extended maps like in Castlevania: SOTN when I was trying to 200% the game to unlock Richter.)

So yeah, I'd probably be fucked if I tried to play the game.

I'm replaying Super Smash Bros. Melee. My girlfriend had never played any of the Smash games, and I love the series to death, so I decided I'd start up a new save (while keeping my old on another memory card!) and go through it. It's as good as I remember it--the single player is fun and the Event matches are challenging.

[Mako Crab]

Those are some good personal guidelines you have there, O6. I'm guilty of blasting through a few of the games on my list on the easy setting (Devil May Cry comes to mind), but I feel after suffering through the masochistic experience that is Mario's Lost Levels and Viewtiful Joe, I'm allowed a few walks in the park.

So I'm a little over halfway through Phantasy Star 2 now. Got my crew to Dezo- a whole new planet! Tried walking around there a bit and got pretty roughed up. So now I'm back on planet Mota where I started and just kind of grinding away and going through the dungeons again looking for any items I may have missed. I tell ya', old RPGs are a pain like that. Very few cut-scenes, very little in the way of dialogue or story, and lots and lots of grinding. Or at least, that's how this old RPG is. You can't even see how close your guys are to gaining a new level by opening the menu. The only way to do that is to go to the data save station in a town. So that's fun. Buying armor and equipment is great too, since it never actually tells you who can equip what. The shop owner does ask if you're joking if you try to give the wrong weapon to the wrong person. Oh so much trial and error. A lot of these things are little gripes, but it's also these things that have been fixed in RPGs in the intervening 22 years.

. . . I still like the old anime style of this game though.

[Mako Crab]

Just got to the Esper Mansion in PS2. Just a few more dungeons and this game is done.

[Mako Crab]

MAJOR UPDATE!!

As of this moment, Phantasy Star 2 is beaten! Dark Force was a pain in the ass, and it did require a lot of luck to beat him. I couldn't believe my eyes when he finally went down. Happy to say that the fight against Mother Brain was much easier. I thought I was going to have to restock on trimate, but Rudo still had an inventory full. I just transferred his stock over to Amy and Anna and ran into the fight. Tough, but I kicked her 4-armed ass too!

WHEW! That's one game that's been sitting in the back of my mind since I first played it back in 1990. Finally done!

[Gomess]

The final boss of Phantasy Star 2 is Mother Brain from Metroid...?

[Mako Crab]

Same name, but this Mother Brain has a whole body. She's a bit easier to look at.

[Gomess]

Well, Metroid's Mother Brain was *cool*. It'd take a lot to live up to that name!

[Mako Crab]

Yeah, this Mother Brain is just a cocky computer that looks like a chick and runs the whole planet. She's a bitch. Not quite as cool as Metroid's Mother Brain.

*EDIT*

Started on Tokobots Plus. I looked up a few reviews and they all said that it was a really short game. Seems true so far. There's only 8 chapters in the game and I'm already on chapter 3. Just something that I can finish and cross off my list quickly. Not a bad game so far, but the camera still has some major issues.

[Mako Crab]

Just finished Tokobots Plus: Mysteries of the Karakuri. It's a port of the same game for the PSP with a few added levels.

Honestly, this game wasn't too bad, but it all felt very generic. The enemies are generic. The plot is generic. The characters are generic. The main character never talks except when reading off the title for each chapter (so we know he's not mute). So all the banter is between your support team and the villains, as though Bolt, the main character, has no opinion on what's going on. Minor gripe. Oh yeah, and once you complete all the levels, they make you go through them all again to artificially extend the length of the game. That's always fun.

The bosses are all pretty easy and if you go too long without landing a hit, your team will call up and tell you how to beat it. What little challenge there was gets squashed the moment they do that.

They left it open for a sequel, but as of yet there is none. And it was made in 2005. I think this is one series that just never took off.

Not a bad concept. Had some good ideas going for it. The camera is a nuisance, but overall it was an alright game. Just one that I'll never play again now that it's beat.

The only thing left on my original list is Final Fantasy X-2.

[Shockwave]

I've been on a Mega Man kick lately what with the comic and having downloaded 10 for the xbox. Since I lack the funding to buy MM9 or anything else that might be available on xbl, I fired up the ol' Nintendo (yes, THE original Nintendo) and started playing 1-3 again. Fun stuff. Some of the levels and controls are frustrating but I suppose that's the challenge of the game. So far, 3 is still my favorite. I've beat it before, but I'll get to beat it again.

And having started playing games on the original NES, I started playing some of the others that I have as well. Namely the original Super Mario Bros. The first one. That came with the system. Classic stuff right there. It's a favorite that I keep going back to and never get sick of.