It's a thread! (Games discussion, etc.)

[Moge]

As great as Luigi's Mansion is, the game is a tad unpolished compared to the Nintendo games from the Wii era (the King Boo battle especially is kinda BS once you figure it out), but the fact it tries so many new things and executes the ideas well enough makes me give the game a pass.

Not that those are bad sales numbers, but it was clearly not at the level of a Mario launch title.

I'm surprised to see you've picked up Xenoblade again considering it's a huge time sink. I guess that also means you've picked up that rad New 3DS. Like the new hardware so far?

[JG]

a Mario launch title.

And its been, what, 19 years since we've had one of those? GameCube, Wii, and Wii U, GBA, DS, and 3DS all launched without a new, core Mario title. (Not counting Super Mario 64 remake for the 3DS launch.)  They've been launching with side titles like Luigi's Mansion, Mario Kart 7, or not at all.  And I dont mind so much becuase that gives Mario Team more time to polish it and get it right.  (This is the plan Zelda team has followed forever and it works.)


Yeah Xenoblade is a huge time sink but there is an absolute void in quality games right now so I'm able to tackle it.  But there's absolutely nothing new about the New 3DS version - no new story elements or unique features.  The 3D is poor compared to most 3DS games designed for it, and it even had some of the same bugs and typos as the Wii version (and of course, far far far too much loot from defeated monsters).  It's almost an exact port, with all the voice acting intact.  Its only big difference is making use of the bottom screen for the team health meters, minimap, and inventory.  Little harder in this version to monitor your teams health duiring battle since its not on the same screen as the fight.

New 3DS is nice, since they finally launched it in XL format (and I dont think they intend to make regular size) - usually XL comes along 4-6 months after I've already bought regular.  I'm not a fan of the new right thumb knob - it works well, but it barely moves so its tough to tell whether you're pressing it or not until you see visual cues that camera angle is turning or not.  As feared the L2 and R2 buttons are hard to reach as you have to curl you're fingers over the L1 and R1 buttons. On the bright side, these additions give the 3DS the exact same control scheme as the 3DS gamepad so we ought to see more sister titles like Super Smash Bros.  It also supports Amiibo's short range communication system, but I haven't tried it yet.  It has a new feature using the stereoscopic front facing cameras to track your eye placement and if your head turns the system reorients the 3D layers to that angle.  Very neat and gives it a wider view angle, but the screen flickers if you scratch your eye or nose or brow or do something else to disturb it so it has its drawbacks.  Unclear if this works better or worse with glasses (I dont wear any.)  But as New 3DS XL only costs $25 more than old 3DS XL its well worth the cost if an upgrade or replacement is needed.  (I had $35 in Best Buy points that was going to expire in February so I jumped on it.)

[Moge]

The Gamecube bucked the trend with no Mario launch title. Of course getting Mario Sunshine earlier wouldn't of made that game better anyway.

If you're playing Xenoblade then does that mean you've beaten Bravely Default?

[JG]

No, I put BD aside.  It gets really monotonous by the time Chapter 7 rolls around.  Plus work was killing me in the fall last year so I wasn't playing much (and when I was, it was Hyrule Warriors).  I really do want to finish it but the monotony needs to wear off for a few months so that when I revisit and continue it'll be fresh again.  Probably would have already been back on it were it not for Majora's Mask and Xenoblade popping up.

[Moge]

You've already played both those games before though

Did you get to try out the Splatoon demo? Been a long while since i had a blast with a 3rd-person shooter (Gears 1). Day 1 purchase for me

[JG]

You've already played both those games before though

Did you get to try out the Splatoon demo? Been a long while since i had a blast with a 3rd-person shooter (Gears 1). Day 1 purchase for me

Thanks for reminding me.  I was going to do that this weekend.  Comparing it to Gears is high praise so the demo must be really good.

[Moge]

It's more like a beta for the online multi than a single-player demo. I just find the game totally refreshing. It only took Nintendo ten years to make a shooter they can be proud of.

[JG]

It only took Nintendo ten years to make a shooter they can be proud of.

Actually, I'd say Kid Icarus: Uprising had a very good multiplayer, though it could be abused with weapons that can fire through walls.

[Moge]

How often do you play online multi, JGOO?

Haven't played Uprising, despite buying a copy from Best Buy when they were clearing them out. Completely forgot Nintendo's output during the N64 era: Goldeneye and Star Fox 64 were also notable. Been a longggggg while, but then who does associate shooters with Nintendo?

[JG]

How often do you play online multi, JGOO?

Rarely.

Haven't played Uprising, despite buying a copy from Best Buy when they were clearing them out.

I *still* rank it as the best game for the 3DS.  Its a good story, quite lengthy for an action shooter, a high level of replayability, a great collectible/forge system to improve your weapons, good multiplayer, fully voiced with funny banter, and really pushes the hardware to the limit. Its only drawbacks are the difficultly involved in getting used to the control scheme, and that too often the characters are speaking when you're too involved with fighting enemies to really listen to what they say without playing through the same level a few times.  Its one of those games that I think was really spectacular, but the rest of humanity just sort of ignored (see also, Skies of Arcadia, Mario Kart: Double Dash, et al)

[Arizona]

I got my copy through Club Nintendo (getting a Wii U and games right before it shut down worked out well for me :B) - and yeah, it really is something. There is no shortage of personality on it, head to toe. But it was new when more people were skeptical about the 3DS, so I suppose that probably didn't help matters.

Actually, I'd say Kid Icarus: Uprising had a very good multiplayer, though it could be abused with weapons that can fire through walls.

Well, that explains a certain random match or two!

[Moge]

It's nice i can get get full priced retail games through Club Nintendo, and even nicer i can get them through trading

[Moge]

Anybody check out Splatoon yet?

Game is really addicting! Even the single-player content is awesome; it's very reminiscent of Mario Galaxy.

[JG]

Tell me more about the single player mode.  All the things I've seen or read focus entirely on the multiplayer.

[Moge]

I'm bad at describing games. Just imagine if Nintendo EAD made a shooter and this is what you get. Great platforming (although its light and not comparable to Galaxy's highs like the Ray surfing), oozing with style, original gameplay mechanics unseen in ANY shooter, and a difficulty that's not stupidly difficult (no bullet sponges). Oh and it's got a charming and quirky story.

[Moge]

The beauty of Splatoon's multi is that you don't have to kill to win. I had a 1 kill to 8 death ratio once and came out on top with the highest score on my team to take home the bacon.

I have seen a lot of folks who aren't normally into shooters get into this game. There's a huge contingent of Japanese players online for example, which is kinda strange given the unpopularity of western style games there. Since you like these types of games JGOO (probably even moreso than me) it's a no-brainer to try it out. You can easily sell it back if you don't like it, given the game's somewhat surging popularity now (for a short while on Amazon it was sold out).

[Moge]

E3 was not surprisingly unhype if you were a Nintendo fan. Hope the NX is OMG AWESOME ZAUCE next E3 if that's what Nintendy is holding out on.

The highlights of E3 for me (in no particular order)

- Star Fox Zero being developed by Platinum
- FF7 Remake
- Nier 2
- Rare Replay
- Uncharted 4's destructible environments
- puppets

[Nitorin]

all I have i a xbox one, pretty happy about playing my 360 games on One

[JG]

Hope the NX is OMG AWESOME ZAUCE next E3 if that's what Nintendy is holding out on.

Rumored to incorporate facial recognition in some way.  The Face Raiders game on 3DS is a clear technology demonstration but it was so-so.  The improved cameras for New 3DS should bring this technology closer.  Big niche to fill with Microsoft's exit from the Kinect market and Sony's half-assed non-attempt with the Eye.

- Star Fox Zero being developed by Platinum

And nearly given to Monolithsoft instead.  Wouldn't that be an impressive holiday with both Star Fox and Xenoblade Chronicles X under their belt!
The arwings look very impressive but I'm not sold on the rest. They say its not a remake, but a relaunch.  Looks a lot like original StarFox and StarFox 64 though (especially the ubiquitous initial Corneria stage, which sadly doesn't look anymore like a city than it did in the earlier games.)
Plus it drops shortly after Xenoblade Chronicles X.  Potential calendar casualty for me.

- FF7 Remake

And sadly, a PS4 exclusive.  I've been wanting this for 3DS every since they showed off a few demo movies in FF6.  I thought for certain it was due after Bravely Default, which shares many of the same game design elements.

- Rare Replay

I'm curious how they got ESRB to give it an E-M rating. Usually compilations like this have to carry the highest rating of any single game in the set, which would mark this clearly into M territory with Conker's Bad Fur Day.  I'm worried this may be hard to find in stores becuase of the mixed rating.  Also wish it had Killer Instinct Arcade instead of Gold but maybe there's a legal complication here.

- Uncharted 4's destructible environments

Everyone's freaking out about this and I'm nonplussed.  This has been a stable of the racing genre for years.  Even in first person games there's a been a limited amount of destructibly for quite some time, going back as far as exploding oil drums in Wolfenstein 3D and Doom. I think everyone's let it get to their head that somehow game environments are less dynamic than they actually are.

all I have i a xbox one, pretty happy about playing my 360 games on One

Should have been Day One technology like it was with 360-Xbox.  This decision seems totally based on lackluster sales of the One, which was probably also the reasoning behind not including it in the first place.  This and the 'all-in on Kinect'/'no more Kinect' flip-flop proves to me that Microsoft is now without any gameplan at all to differentiate their system from Sony's.  I'm pretty sold on the idea that the Xbox One is the last console they'll make, and in the next generation they'll give way to superior competition the way Sega did. (Perhaps opening the door for a new entrant like Samsung.)  Microsoft will still have Surface, Windows 10 phones, and PCs and be content publishing on those devices, as the real money in video games comes from software sales, not hardware.


My biggests ups from E3:
* Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam - the 3D Bowser vs Paper Bowser preview has sold me (as if the previous games in both series hadn't already)
* Rare Replay (for Battletoads alone)
* Mario Maker - Now that I've seen some videos from E3, I'm more comfortable giving this a thumbs up. Amiibos to drop in other Nintendo characters like Link are an unexpected bonus, even more so when their "victory" music plays when you reach the flagpole. Begs the question of whether the Princess Peach amiibo can be used to save herself.
* Legend of Zelda: TriForce Heroes (it'll do for now)
* Hyrule Warrors Legends (at least, the capability to transfer Tetra and KORL to the Wii U version if you own it)
* Xenoblade Chronicles X - This has some really high quality graphics in the videos where you see the character running around and fighting a monster. Combine with a Xeno-series storyline and this has high potential for RPG greatness, assuming they fixed the time consuming inventory management parts from Xenoblade Chronicles.
* Gears of War 4  (don't know enough yet but intrigued)
* Yoshi's Woolly World - I'm not big on Yoshi games but this looks so adorable I might crack if Mario Maker misses the mark and ends up focusing too much on evil-level difficulty levels instead of fun.

My biggest downs:
* No Zelda for Wii U update. Nintendo typically doesn't show any software unless its coming in the next 14 months, which gives serious concern that the new Zelda has slipped to at least second half of 2016. It'll be the star of E3 next June but that sucks for those of us waiting.  And it risks overshadowing by NX which Nintendo has all but promised will preview at E3.
* Metroid Prime Federation Force. I can't see what this has to do with Metroid yet.  It seems to be a game that has been force-fitted into the Metroid universe.  And it looks too cartoony to carry the high-quality Metroid brand for me.
* Halo 5. I'm increasingly worried that its devolved into a Halo-themed Titanfall and will have practically no story or single player campaign.

[JG]

Booyah. Finally brought down Avalanche Abaasy in Xenoblade.  This is like beating a Weapon in FF7, but harder to gimmick.

It's the toughest of the optional superbosses in Xenoblade, at level 120, has an Instant Death counter (which isn't all that hard to prevent if you prepare), has the highest evade rate in the game at 60-70%, the highest single target attack (doing about 21000 damage, when your characters max out at 9999), and the only enemy to sport an 7,000+ damage all-screen attack so it can wipe out your party in a single attack if it uses it at an unfortunate moment (but can be survived by buffs or help from Unbeatable gems)

Used Shulk and Sharla (which are just about required for any of the superboss battles) with Melia as the third. All of them sported max Agility, Debuff Resist, Unbeatable, and HP Up gems. Shulk spammed physical arts as much as possble to try to attract Abaasy's aggro so it'll stay off Sharla (but usually misses attacks; Night Vision gem would be helpful for him), uses his puny heal on Sharla if needed, and waits for special attack visions so he can use Monado Armor or Monodo Shield so he and/or Sharla survives them.  Sharla had both Heat Sink III gems so she can spam healing spells as fast as possible an not need to cool down as often: that's all you want her to do but her Ether Rifle has such a high hit rate that her auto-attacks between heals attract too much aggro (Aggro Down gem might have helped).  Melia is useful for providing buffs (particularly agility) and applying negative HP draining effects to Abaasy like poison, burn, and freeze.  Her status effects probably knocked out 80-90% of Abassy's health, since their effect strength isn't reduced by his huge defense. Riki could serve the same role as Melia but his ether attacks are much weaker so he'll miss much more often and don't drain HP nearly as much (his much higher HP would be helpful for survival.)  Since he can't be dazed, I didn't bother with chain attacks, and instead used the party gauge for Warns during special attacks, particuarly to get Sharla to provide a free Heal Round.  The battle still took a day and a half in game time, and 35 minutes real-time becuase his HP whittles away so slowly.