What Are You Currently Playing? 6.65: Neighbor of the Beast

[Nel_Annette]

There's this really weird part of Xillia where you can get into an area of really hard monsters you shouldn't be able to beat yet. Yet if you set the game to easy, you can just get by and get a fuckton of exp. And then you get better at it, and better at it, and...

I just grinded 30 levels and fucked up the next boss in the story. I even set the difficulty back to where I had it. They probably shouldn't have let the player be able to do that. XD

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So, I got back to playing Darksiders 2, and the dungeon I'm currently on is basically portal-mini (the achievement for getting the portal power-up even flat out references the portal games). Anyways, while the puzzles here are nowhere close to the scenarios that Valve can come up with, they are suitable for an action/adventure game like this. Overall, the game is back to actually being fun again, but by this point I feel like my character is so OP compared to most enemies that I no longer hold any interest in looting, and instead would rather just get through the rest of the game. As it stands, though, it really was just that Earth section which was downright abysmal. It still baffles me that they put that in there.

I also went back to playing MGRR on Very Hard mode, despite saying that I wouldn't. The game definitely gets a lot harder on this difficulty with File R-04, but I managed to get through it alright. I even S-ranked the double boss fight with those bots before Sundowner, which isn't anything that special, necessarily, but it was nice to do it on this difficulty in only a single try.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So, have any of you guys tackled MGRR on Revengeance difficulty? Because, I'm about to. Wish me luck! Because, you know, I'll probably need it....

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Well, the fact that most enemies on this difficulty can one-shot you really highlights just how frustrating it can be to miss a parry because Raiden decided to do an attack animation instead, but on the other hand pulling off perfect parries on this difficulty is GODLY. In the first fight of File R-01, I killed every single enemy in a single hit with a well-timed perfect parry on my first try (and when I say one hit, I don't mean one hit each, I literally mean that I killed all 4 enemies in a single parry attack). Naturally I S-ranked the fight as well. Now, if that doesn't make you feel like a bad-ass, then I don't know what will.

And that's how you should do harder difficulty settings. Make one of the most skill-based techniques in the game both the riskiest and yet also potentially most rewarding abilities to use if you're good at pulling it off.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I played about half-way through File R-01 on Revengeance difficulty. It's here that the rocket launcher enemies can be kind of bull-shit since they do a shit-ton of damage even if they're off-screen, and the rockets actually home-in on you. That said, I can put up with the difficulty, but I do have to bring up yet another comparison to NG2, in that it also had a flaw like that which so many Platinum fans were quick to bring up when explaining why the game sucked (this hatred for other hack n' slash game was a thing around the time Bayonetta was coming out, since The more snobby Platinum fans wanted to basically make sure everyone knew how Bayonetta was "rescuing" action games since games like DMC and God Hand, and NG was one of their prime targets), and the off-screen projectiles was one of the reasons, even if many of them were still avoidable with skill. Well, I didn't notice anyone complaining about it in this game, even though it is an issue on the higher difficulty settings.

Needless to say, I'm still enjoying the game itself. I just hate how some of the snobs of this genre are so biased with clear double-standards.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So, I tried deleting an re-downloading it AGAIN, and yup, the Blade Wolf DlC for MGRR will just flat-out not run on my XBOX360. It's frankly quite ridiculous, IMO. Good thing I downloaded it for free.

At any rate, it's reasons like this that I'm so hesitant to try the Vergil's Downfall DLC for DmC, since I actually have to pay money for that.

[Grave]

I played about half-way through File R-01 on Revengeance difficulty. It's here that the rocket launcher enemies can be kind of bull-shit since they do a shit-ton of damage even if they're off-screen, and the rockets actually home-in on you. That said, I can put up with the difficulty, but I do have to bring up yet another comparison to NG2, in that it also had a flaw like that which so many Platinum fans were quick to bring up when explaining why the game sucked (this hatred for other hack n' slash game was a thing around the time Bayonetta was coming out, since The more snobby Platinum fans wanted to basically make sure everyone knew how Bayonetta was "rescuing" action games since games like DMC and God Hand, and NG was one of their prime targets), and the off-screen projectiles was one of the reasons, even if many of them were still avoidable with skill. Well, I didn't notice anyone complaining about it in this game, even though it is an issue on the higher difficulty settings.

Needless to say, I'm still enjoying the game itself. I just hate how some of the snobs of this genre are so biased with clear double-standards.

Where the heck are you even going to see this stuff?  Please don't say you're reading the comments section of wherever.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

This was way back in 2009-2010 back when I went on a lot of video game boars, and at the time even posted in the GS and IGN boards (which thankfully I've wised up and no longer do). At that time I was seeing a lot of Platinum fans hate on the NG games for no good reason.

In other news, I just about half-way through The Black Stone in Darksiders II, which I believe is the final dungeon in the game. Looking at my total play-time. I've clocked in nearly 30 hours, and will more than likely pass that mark by the time I complete this game. All-in-all, it was a pretty entertaining game, and with side-quests it lasts a really long time compared to most action/adventure games these days, but I can't say if be interested in replaying it after this playthrough is done.

I also just downloaded Bajo-Kazooie via XBLA today, because I wanted some good 3D platforming. As someone who has absolutely no nostalgic attachment to these games whatsoever, I think this one holds up just fine, so far. The camera hasn't given me any problems, the controls are smooth and responsive, and while I'm sure the collecting may get archaic later on in the game, for now it's just fun to explore all of the environments. I'd say I'm having decent fun right now, and this game made me realize just how few good 3D plat formers I've been exposed to this gen, which really reminds me that I need to get a Wii, one of these days.

[Foggle]

I also just downloaded Bajo-Kazooie via XBLA today, because I wanted some good 3D platforming. As someone who has absolutely no nostalgic attachment to these games whatsoever, I think this one holds up just fine, so far. The camera hasn't given me any problems, the controls are smooth and responsive, and while I'm sure the collecting may get archaic later on in the game, for now it's just fun to explore all of the environments. I'd say I'm having decent fun right now, and this game made me realize just how few good 3D plat formers I've been exposed to this gen, which really reminds me that I need to get a Wii, one of these days.

The XBLA version fortunately saves your collected notes when you die or quit the level. That was really the only thing holding the N64 version back IMO. Personally, I like Tooie more than the first one, but I don't think anyone here agrees with me.

[talonmalon333]

From what I hear, when they made Banjo, they were kind of experimenting in preparation to make Donkey Kong 64. If that's true, I find it funny that Banjo ended up being better.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

My one minor little gripe is that the XBLA version of the game never actually explains how the save feature works. I hear that in the original N64 version, you had a save and quit feature, whereas in the XBLA version the game automatically saves when you quit, which is fine, but since it doesn't explain that I ran around like an idiot for quite a while trying to find a save point or something of that nature after I collected all of the Jiggies in Mumbo's Mountain.

The other thing I don't like is that after you quit the game and start it back up, you lose all of the extra lives that you collected. It just seems inconsistent since the game saves all of your other items for you.

[Grave]

GGXXAC+R
Finally got around to trying out Johnny. My goodness this guy is hard to use on a regular DS controller. Mist Cancelling probably wouldn't be very hard, but it definitely sucks. Definitely gonna make the switch to a fight stick.

May end up getting Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy 4 and 6 to finish off what I have left in my PSN wallet. (not much on there to get either)

[Spark Of Spirit]

My one minor little gripe is that the XBLA version of the game never actually explains how the save feature works. I hear that in the original N64 version, you had a save and quit feature, whereas in the XBLA version the game automatically saves when you quit, which is fine, but since it doesn't explain that I ran around like an idiot for quite a while trying to find a save point or something of that nature after I collected all of the Jiggies in Mumbo's Mountain.

The other thing I don't like is that after you quit the game and start it back up, you lose all of the extra lives that you collected. It just seems inconsistent since the game saves all of your other items for you.

Don't give up in Clanker's Cavern whatever you do. You'll probably hate it with the force of 1000 suns, but continue on anyway. The rest of the game is killer.

Super Mario Galaxy, of all things, does the same thing with lives as Banjo Kazooie. It really makes collecting lives pointless that way especially after you had a great run collecting a ton.

[talonmalon333]

By the way, I have to say that Star Fox has to be the most unfortunate Nintendo franchise. I honestly think it only has one good game now. And that, obviously, is Star Fox 64.

The original Star Fox is a classic that I can no longer stomach. It's one of the few games for me where its age just kills it.

Star Fox Adventures isn't bad but give me a real Zelda over it any day.

Star Fox Assault, on the other hand, is indeed bad.

Unfortunately, I imagine Star Fox just isn't a series that sells, so Nintendo doesn't seem to have much interest in continuing it.

[Spark Of Spirit]

It would need a AAA team behind it and plenty of marketing, which I can't see Nintendo doing, unfortunately.

Platinum or Treasure could make a killer Star Fox if need be, though. At the very least, an e-shop title would be preferable to nothing.