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Fight Harder and Die with Honor! Let's Play Demon's Crest

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  #1  
Old 09-13-2013, 01:29 PM
Beta Metroid Beta Metroid is offline
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Default Fight Harder and Die with Honor! Let's Play Demon's Crest

Welcome to my first LP, Demon’s Crest! This game is…well, I’ll let it introduce itself first.

Opening.




Legend of Firebrand



Legend says the world was divided into two different lands. One land was ruled by humans, and the other was ruled by demons.



One day, six magical stones fell from the sky into the demons' realm. Inscribed on the stones were the crests of fire, earth, air, water, time, and heaven.



Soon the demons began to fight over these magical crests and the realm erupted into civil war.



Finally, the Red Demon defeated all the others and collected five crests.



Not satisfied with the crests of fire, earth, air, water, and time, the Red Demon challenged the Demon Dragon for the crest of heaven.



After a long and desperate battle, the Red Demon slayed the dragon and gained the final crest. But the price of victory was high. The Red Demon was critically wounded.




"I have defeated the Red Demon! I shall reign supreme! With the power of the crest, both the demon world and the human world are mine!



What immediately stands out about this game is just how grim it is. The music is quiet and haunting, with none of the jauntiness of GnG or Gargoyle’s Quest, there’s overt references to a demonic realm, and our protagonist (aside from being a power-hungry demon) starts out brutally beaten and imprisoned. Fun stuff!

Demon’s Crest has an unusual lineage. It obviously descends from the Gargoyle’s Quest games, which themselves are spinoffs from Ghosts ‘n Goblins starring that series’ most annoying enemy and mascot, the red gargoyle/demon/Arremer. But it’s not really a sequel to Gargoyle’s Quest. Plotwise, I have no idea how it connects, if at all. In terms of gameplay, you control similarly and wind up with virtually all of the prior games’ abilities, but the random-encounter overworld is gone, as is the linear progression. Most succinctly, it feels like Gargoyle’s Quest crossed with Mega Man X. This structure of separate stages with branching paths, exploration, and permanent power-up growth combined with the aesthetics also makes it feel like some missing link between Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night. Let’s jump in and see for ourselves!
  #2  
Old 09-13-2013, 01:59 PM
Beta Metroid Beta Metroid is offline
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Prelude to Horror



We pick up where the intro left off, stuck in a coliseum. Huh, the ground is shaking. I wonder…wha?



Oh boy. I love the little puff of dust as the gate rises. This game is lovingly drawn, down to every last morbid detail.

Battle of the Zombie Dragon (that’s just such a forthcoming title).

Case in point, our buddy Somulo here. I THINK this is supposed to be the Demon Dragon from the prologue…they’re not especially clear on that. It really makes our villain Phalanx out to be a sadistic bastard, though, not only letting his enemies wear each other out, but then imprisoning them to battle even when severely wounded. Of course, this should prompt them to form a friendship and work together to make Phalanx pay, but it doesn't look like either one’s buying into that.



Somulo’s just delightfully gross, with a broken horn, visible ribcage, and exposed tissue everywhere.



After chasing us to the far wall, rather than walk a couple more steps and kill us, Somulo starts breathing fireballs. If they hit the ground, they’ll crawl along it for a short distance, but this isn’t too dangerous. We also get a chance to retaliate with our own fireballs (our only form of offense at the moment). Six hits put Somulo on his haunches.



Oh hey, I guess this wasn’t such an eternal prison after all. But Somulo hasn’t had enough yet. Unfortunately for it, this persistence exposes its only vulnerable point within our attack range and renders it completely immobile. Four more hits put the thing out of its misery.



A Treasure Recovered (Our all-purpose fanfare).

It also nets us a life extension, adding a fifth point to our health bar.

Beyond the Coliseum (This basically serves as the game/Firebrand’s theme. It has a bit more “purpose” to it than the intro/prologue tunes, but retains that soft, unnerving nature).



Firebrand will automatically stroll up to this statue and headbutt it once we leave the previous screen. Headbutting is a weird mechanic, allowing us to interact with background objects. This usually comes down to breaking crap and occasionally bashing a door open. Statues and whatnot often contain money, sometimes health, and sometimes rarer items.



The other objects that can hold such things are pots. Frustratingly, Firebrand actually can’t destroy pots when standing on their level. Later abilities will allow us to do so, and this is way more satisfying than you’d think.

Just a recap of Firebrand’s abilities: He can headbutt background objects. He can spit one fireball horizontally at a time. He can hover indefinitely and go as far horizontally as he likes (but he can’t gain any height beyond what he can jump/climb to). If he contacts a safe surface from the side, he’ll cling to it and can attack or jump from there. Gargoyle’s Quest had a strong emphasis on always pushing your limited hovering ability to the limit (even when you eventually learn to hover infinitely in those games, you’re “rewarded” with brutal obstacle courses). Health was always a concern as well, with you gaining an occasional boost JUST when you needed it. Here, it’s more about exploration. The nonlinear nature of the game means you CAN run into situations that are extremely difficult for your condition, and there are some segments/bosses that are tough regardless, but that’s not really what the focus is.



Yikes, it’s a Klansman! One of the only enemies to carry over from Gargoyle’s Quest is this bedsheet ghost-like creature. They’re pretty wussy, only shambling slowly around and taking one fireball to kill. They do have nifty entrance/exit animations though. And they’ll look back and forth when they come to a wall.



Slightly more dangerous are the Hammer…er, Ax Brothers. They hop wildly around (though they pretty much stick to their spot) lobbing axes like a Belmont. It takes a whopping two hits to kill them.

This game oozes style at every turn. This first area has an eerie calm lying over it, with fog draped over the scenery and a massive dragon statue adding to the atmosphere.



Firebrand is wonderfully drawn and animated here. He’s much more detailed and more lethal looking than previous Red Arremers, even the ones who appeared in arcades/on the SNES. He even has two distinct animations for hovering in one spot and flying forward.



Oh look, this statue has something unique inside! This is a scroll, which we can use to “carry” a spell with us (it’s kind of a weird system, and not that useful. But we’ll talk more about them when we can actually obtain some spells).



Here’s an item that will fully restore our health, right next to a pedestal so tall that it can only be scaled if we have something else to leap from. Obviously this is just coincidence.
  #3  
Old 09-13-2013, 02:08 PM
Beta Metroid Beta Metroid is offline
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Challenge of the Devils (Intro). Huh, a sudden music change and a bigger statue than what we’ve seen so far.



Challenge of the Devils. GAH! This came completely out of nowhere!



BOSS: Hippogryph
HP: 16
Techniques: Feather spray, air dash, stalling.

Okay, so the Hippogryph’s not really intimidating. Still, it’s tougher than Somulo on just about every count. It hovers around in the air, changing position on a whim. When it’s above you, it likes to launch a trio of feathers. They’re no problem when you expect them, but Firebrand is pretty big and chunky, so if you’re not ready, you can find yourself out of room.



When it’s low enough, the Hippogryph will do this sweet-looking horizontal dash. It’s much slower and easier to dodge than a screenshot would have you believe, though.



The Hippogryph’s favorite pastime is to simply hover out of range and waste time.



When it’s really feeling obnoxious, it will change back into a statue, forcing you to sit through its transformation, headbutt it, then wait for it to transform again. In fairness, Firebrand was the one who picked this fight.



Like most bosses in the game, the Hippogryph will gradually redden and increase speed as it takes damage. It really doesn’t matter here, though.



When it can take no more, the Hippogryph reverts to a statue for good. One last headbutt will do the trick. We get another life extension for our brutal unprovoked assault and murder troubles.



Turns out that was only a mid-boss. As we get further from the Coliseum, the scenery gives way to mountains.



These platforms crumble when touched, and the thorns beneath them obviously hurt. But it’s not really a concern when your protagonist can fly as long as he wants.



It’s only a slight issue when you want to shoot something and need to adjust to the right altitude. These spider-things are nothing special, other than giving you something to deal with on walls.



Hey a platform to help us cross a chasm we can easily fly over! The only point to it that I can think of is to trick you into believing there’s only death below. If there’s a wall to cling to, situations like this are always worth investigating.



Hmm, a bottle. Like the scroll/spells, bottles hold potions. More on this when we can reach a potion shop, but I’ll just say now that these are much more valuable.

This sequence gives newbies a chance to see how Firebrand climbs. A surface like this is nothing to him.



This next segment is a slightly different story. We have an even taller wall to scale, with overhangs to stymie us. The platforms are essential now.



More spiders clog the wall as well, and these different-looking sections reveal more thorns if you cling to them.



Hmm, another health extension. If only we had some way to break these blocks. Or bust them.



With that, we scale the mountain and snag another full refill.



Another semi-bird dude! How many of these do we have to fight?
  #4  
Old 09-13-2013, 02:21 PM
Beta Metroid Beta Metroid is offline
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"I've watched your progress and I'm glad that I shall be the one to put an end to your petty crusade."

This guy has some awesome poses, from his “fold arms and laugh” (with actual sound) to some wild pointing gestures. And hey, he’s speaking! He must be Plot Relevant! Plus, he's kinda got us on the whole "petty crusade" thing.



Can’t say I have.



BOSS: Arma
HP: 16
Techniques: Energy ball, swooping, cutting taunts




Arma’s pretty similar to the Hippogryph in battle. He has the same amount of health, he has a ranged attack, and he has a dive-bombing attack. I question placing such similar fights back-to-back, but at least there’s a fairly escalating difficulty curve. Arma will change position a lot more abruptly, and his swoop isn’t telegraphed nearly as well (plus it can vary in speed and trajectory). This fight should actually go faster, since every couple of hits will stun Arma and cause him to lose altitude (plus he’s not as likely to hang out of reach very long anyway).



Looks like We Shall Meet Again and all that…oh hey, a parting gift.



G.g.g.g…gargoyles?

Over the Demon Realm.




Welcome to the overworld! This is really just a glorified stage select screen, but man is it glorified! You can fly, bank, and swoop to your heart’s content. In addition to the four numbered stages, we have a couple shops (plus a couple secrets!). I’ll look into the shops soon, but first, let’s talk about how this LP will continue.

Most of Demon’s Crest stages have at least two distinct paths. There are also four different endings, depending on how much equipment you have when you end the game, as well as a couple smaller factors. Readers can vote on the next stage we tackle (let’s say first to five votes). But don’t go away for long, because I’ll also hold a vote when I come to the point where that stage’s path splits.

I’ll showcase shops and whatnot regardless. I’ll also do “cleanup” duties without asking for a vote, and I’ll highlight the relevant parts. For instance, the Coliseum doesn’t have a branching path, but it does have that health extension we couldn’t reach. Once we have the appropriate equipment, I’ll go back for it and probably only show that particular part of the stage (unless the equipment we have at that point can do something interesting in that stage).

The readers will decide when we see our first ending. Afterward, I’ll keep playing to reach more endings, and reader input/voting will still be welcome (unless it gets to the point where there are only very specific objectives remaining).

Aside from the formal voting, if there are any reader requests/suggestions/challenges along the way, feel free to shout them out. Between passwords, save states, and the game’s nonlinear nature, it’s pretty flexible in terms of what scenarios you can test.

For now, we have three new stages at our disposal: the town, the jungle, and the towers. What’ll it be?
  #5  
Old 09-13-2013, 03:52 PM
Albatoss Albatoss is offline
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Let's head to the town first.
  #6  
Old 09-13-2013, 04:32 PM
Ted Ted is offline
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Welcome to the Jungle!
  #7  
Old 09-13-2013, 05:01 PM
Destil Destil is offline
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  #8  
Old 09-13-2013, 05:07 PM
aturtledoesbite aturtledoesbite is offline
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Destil, that image doesn't actually show up for people who don't already have it cached.

(It's a tarot card for The Tower, from Ogre Battle.)
  #9  
Old 09-13-2013, 09:46 PM
Büge Büge is offline
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Headbutt every skull!
  #10  
Old 09-14-2013, 01:28 AM
Kishi Kishi is offline
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Somulo is such an impressive and imposing sight to throw at you right at the beginning of the game. Between him and the screen-filling intro bosses from the late-'90s Mega Man games, Capcom seems to have had a penchant for strong starts at the time.

I always hit the town first, so...try out the tower.
  #11  
Old 09-14-2013, 03:01 AM
Loki Loki is offline
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Really the whole game is top of the line, visually.

I do the forest first do the forest first.
  #12  
Old 09-14-2013, 04:23 AM
Serephine Serephine is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Loki View Post
Really the whole game is top of the line, visually.

I do the forest first do the forest first.
You are a crazy person the forest boss is miserable.

Go to the town first like a sane person.
  #13  
Old 09-14-2013, 07:40 AM
ProfessorS ProfessorS is offline
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This is such a wonderful game. I read that the game sold terribly, an issue of Nintendo Power said the game had negative sales one week. More people returned it than bought it. No idea if that's true or not...
  #14  
Old 09-14-2013, 10:27 AM
Beta Metroid Beta Metroid is offline
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Okay, we're at two votes apiece. Considering how often there will be a choice of where to go next, is five votes going to be too much? I really just threw that number out there. Maybe it should be first to three.

In the meantime, let’s take a look at our hard-earned G. Gargoyle. Surprising no one, G stands for Ground.



Here we see another neat detail of the game: Each crest we equip will dramatically change Firebrand’s appearance. You can still see his build in there, but the musclebound Ground Gargoyle cuts quite a different figure. Obviously, G. can’t fly or hover, but he can still cling to walls.



Driving the Mega Man X similarities even further, he’s gained a dashing ability. He can’t attack with this, but he can break stuff at ground level, unlike the headbutt (including those stupid pots).



Like any self-respecting dash, jumping out of it is awesome.



G. also has a unique attack. When in the air or on a wall, it flies straight ahead and deals the same amount of damage as a standard fireball (in general. Weaknesses and resistances do come into play occasionally.). But when on the ground (makes sense), it drops and crawls along the surface, doubling in strength in the process. Finding optimal situations to benefit from this power boost is a major part of playing as the Ground Gargoyle. Between that and his dashing/jumping, he’s a completely different beast than standard Firebrand (but the lack of flight means he doesn’t completely eclipse him, either).

The Shopkeeper (I love how even shopkeepers have an unpleasant tune).



Here we get our choice of spells. These are generally a waste of time and money, but here’s a quick overview:

Shadow: A defense-enhancing buff. This is one of those “useless on anything it’s worth using it against” type of spells. It's not alone in that regard, which is the major shortcoming of this entire mechanic.

Hold: Freezes (weak) enemies around you. Again, only enemies that will succumb to one or two shots of anything are affected by this.

Imp: This one’s interesting, but only for trivia reasons. Firebrand will summon the little flying imp frequently seen in GnG games to serve as a Beat-type attack satellite. In Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts, the Arremers themselves would occasionally launch trios of imps at Arthur, so it’s a cute reference. The twist is that all those poor Arremers were apparently being extorted out of house and home. In addition to the cost of purchasing the spell, the Imp will continually drain your finances while it’s active…and it’s active until you die or clear a level. Saving it for a boss would seem like a viable strategy, if it made a noticeable dent in them. As detrimental as this spell is, I do find it appropriate that purchasing a small demon from a demon would actually turn out really badly.

Shock: Damage all non-bosses onscreen. Again, doesn’t work on the only things it’d be worth using it on.

There’s one more spell, but only a certain shop sells it.



Now potions are a completely different story. All of them are useful at some point in the game and the only downside is that we only have one bottle at the moment.

Mercury: The wording on this is a little strange (“Allows Firebrand to flee from an enemy”), but it sends you back to the start of the last section. This is the least useful potion, but there’s at least one point where it’s a nice timesaver if you know to use it. Plus it’s dirt cheap.

Sulfur: “Allows Firebrand to flee from a battle.” The wording doesn’t really distinguish it from Mercury, but it allows you to exit a stage and return to the overworld map (you normally have to reach the end of a stage to leave. If you’ve already beaten the boss, you’ll simply exit once you reach the end). This is very nice when simply cleaning out an already-beaten stage of a couple valuables.

Herb: This restores five units of health. It’s wonderful at this point, when that would restore our entire bar. As our health increases and enemies hit harder, it’s less amazing, but still a nice pick-me-up.

Elixer: If you die in battle, this revives you with four health. Glorious now (since it removes the stress of deciding when you’ve taken enough damage to use it), but the “four health” doesn’t inflate with our growing life bar, so it’s a waste of a good slot (and 100 bucks) later on.

Again, there’s another potion that’s only available in one place. It’s weird that potions are so useful and spells are so lame. You could do completely without the latter and never miss them. Also, all of the shops have appropriately dark and twisted background details, but the Black Lotus is definitely the best.

Headbutting Game.




Oh joy, it’s demonic Whack-a-Mole. As "Trio the Pago" (what an incredibly bizarre name) hints, this is only Level 1, and it's just for winning a little money. There are more difficult shops hidden in the world map. Wouldn’t it be a pain if it was actually tied to 100-percenting the game? (I failed miserably this time around, but I think both rustiness and the control scheme played a part in that. With a little adjustment and practice, I plan to beat all of them).
  #15  
Old 09-15-2013, 11:47 AM
Beta Metroid Beta Metroid is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Büge View Post
Headbutt every skull!
Can do! Wanna throw in a vote for where to go after this? We're deadlocked and I have a Sunday to work with here.



The Level 2 "head butt" (I don't get why that's given conspicuous quotations) game is hidden on this unmarked little island.



The candles on the wall function as our timer, extinguishing one by one. I pull it off with two candles remaining. Trio's extremely pumped about our ability to head butt skulls. Each of those coins are worth 5 G.P., so the payout is double the entrance fee. The skulls will also occasionally drop coins of all possible value, so we can profit even if we lose. Still, there are much easier ways to farm for gold.

The trick with these games is that there's a delay between pushing the button and actually completing the head butt, so Firebrand is going to fall a short distance. This makes the top and bottom levels the easiest, since we know we either have to jump as high as possible or not jump at all.



Level 3 is hidden in a lake. That's just evil.



"Somewhat hard" is quite the understatement. The skulls don't hang around for long at all on this level. Time is also incredibly tight. We have to bash 25 skulls before it expires. On the plus side, there are always two of them onscreen at once, so there's a decent chance of one appearing at an agreeable point.



I fail miserably the first time, and the second time I'm short by one lousy skull. Trio confuses me though. Why would he protest me paying him money to try again after losing?



After raising some funds, I pull it off on the third try, with one candle left. I didn't grab a screen of it, but the prize here is a life extension, making this game a requirement for getting the best ending (the other two are superfluous).

I always like getting that out of the way early. It's not very fun or interesting, but it's nice to beef up the life bar before even starting a second stage.

Speaking of which, what'll that stage be?
  #16  
Old 09-15-2013, 11:54 AM
Falselogic Falselogic is offline
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town.

Does that break the tie?
  #17  
Old 09-15-2013, 01:27 PM
Beta Metroid Beta Metroid is offline
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That it does!

Stage II: Town



Metropolis of Ruin



Firebrand will gracefully come to a landing at the start of each stage. I like the buildings in the background as well (the collapsed one is a particularly nice touch).

See that EXIT sign? This is the only location when we're in a stage proper and can simply walk out. That's because this first section functions like a traditional RPG town. There are no enemies, there are plenty of farming opportunities, the best shops are here, and the game's single expository NPC hangs out here. Attaching this location to the start of one of the levels is one of the stranger design decisions in the game. But it does allow for a nice transition into the more action-based town scene in the next section. It certainly doesn't hurt anything.



Breaking windows for cash is what it's all about in demon town. The ivy-covered walls and skeletons hanging out the window really characterize the place.



After frustrating default Firebrand, these pots make perfect targets for the Ground Gargoyle. Both his dash and his ground-crawling shot can smash them.



The town in general is a great place to farm, but this pot in particular will always cough up a twenty-piece.



Oh hey, it's the town's only resident (who doesn't run a shop)!

(Yes): They say that the red demon known as Firebrand has risen. He nearly burnt the Demon Realm to ashes years ago. If Phalanx had not rescued us, we would all be dead thanks to that arrogant fool, Firebrand! Take care of yourself.

(No): Did you hear that the red demon, Firebrand, escaped from the Colosseum(?) I heard that General Arma is hunting him down.

I like the guy's casual little good-bye after ranting about Firebrand. I'm not sure whether his spiel is supposed to be addressing Firebrand's actions in the Gargoyle's Quest games (or that whole Red Blaze thing from the backstory of those games), if it's Phalanx propaganda, or what. But it's fun having a protagonist that the general populace is terrified of.

Talk to him as the Ground Gargoyle, and we get this:



The General was wearing a uniform something like yours. I saw him run and break one of those fountains into pieces once.

So Firebrand's all terrible and irresponsible, but the Demon Realm's generals run around smashing property too.



Sure enough, we can demolish the fountain he's sitting by (and usually get some cash for it).



The door by the fountain leads to this scholarly fellow's place.

According to this book, the humans had treasures called a "talismans." (They did not possess the treasure of grammar). They are rumored to be hidden somewhere in this world. (Thanks for narrowing it down for us.) The book says that "he who is equipped with the talisman will gain magical powers."

Alright, so we have something else to keep an eye out for.



We also have another spell shop. In addition to selling everything the other one does for the same price, we also get the Death spell, which gets right to the point. This is pretty nice. There are some enemies that can actually put up a fight, so this is helpful in a pinch. It also works on a couple bosses (though you have to know which ones beforehand or waste it). Finally, it looks awesome.



There's one last door in town, but it's blocked off by a wall that we can neither climb nor destroy. We also can't make the jump up from below. Oh well, time for some actual fighting.


Last edited by Beta Metroid; 04-10-2014 at 10:57 AM.
  #18  
Old 09-15-2013, 01:29 PM
Beta Metroid Beta Metroid is offline
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Looks like we've left the good part of the neighborhood. The next section is waterlogged and crumbling. We quickly meet our two primary obstacles: fiery sculptures and mermen home after a night shift at Dracula's place. Fire routinely spouts up from the bowl the statues hold, and either head can spit fireballs as well. They're immune to our attacks (dashing into them will push them a short distance, but that's it). Mermen leap wildly out of the water and spit in arcs. They're surprisingly durable, taking four shots from any of our current weapons to bring down.



The backgrounds continue to impress with their detail. Water will do continuous, gradual damage to Firebrand in either state. The high ground does give us a chance to drop ground shots onto the mermen.



Plain ol' ghosts (so rare in this franchise, especially given the games' titles) also show up, complete with stock sound effects. A couple shots of anything will disperse them, though. They're really only a problem if you let them accumulate in your path.



Well, what do you know?

We've come to our next juncture. Do we enter the Mysterious Tunnel or do we go To The Right?
  #19  
Old 09-15-2013, 01:30 PM
MetManMas MetManMas is offline
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I also vote for town. It's got some pretty great visual design to show off.

Also, if there's any old game that would get me more tempted to pick up a Wii U if it showed up on that its Virtual Console, it's this one. It's criminal this didn't show up on Wii's.

As for negative numbers, well, it is a game starring a demon in a world of demons and it has things like the dragon's head rotting and Firebrand's death animation. Nothing as graphic as Mortal Kombat or Snatcher, but probably pissed off some of those extremist psycho Christians who are convinced everything is The Devil.�
  #20  
Old 09-15-2013, 01:31 PM
Gerad Gerad is offline
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Tunnel!
  #21  
Old 09-15-2013, 01:43 PM
Falselogic Falselogic is offline
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ooh! Mysterious tunnel
  #22  
Old 09-15-2013, 04:13 PM
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To the right, to the right.

Also, damn, this is a really great game to look at.
  #23  
Old 09-15-2013, 05:26 PM
Büge Büge is offline
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Secret tunnel
Secret tunnel
Through the mountains
Secret secret secret tunnel
  #24  
Old 09-15-2013, 05:47 PM
MetManMas MetManMas is offline
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Oh, my bad! I missed the update that showed the town, you were putting it up while I was typing my response. ^^; My vote goes for exploring the tunnel.

Also worth noting is that if you time it right (and want to be a dick) you can bust the skull of the skeleton hanging out the window.
  #25  
Old 09-15-2013, 05:52 PM
Albatoss Albatoss is offline
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To the tunnel!
  #26  
Old 09-15-2013, 06:59 PM
Destil Destil is offline
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Video games are about going to the right and shooting guys. And there's no guys left to shoot, so...
  #27  
Old 09-15-2013, 08:53 PM
Kishi Kishi is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Beta Metroid View Post


Oh joy, it’s demonic Whack-a-Mole. As "Trio the Pago" (what an incredibly bizarre name) hints, this is only Level 1, and it's just for winning a little money.
In the Japanese version, you're instead welcomed to the shop of "the three Pago brothers," or possibly "the Pago triplets." The idea is that a different brother is running each level of the mini-game. I have no idea how they mangled it to "Trio the Pago" (unless someone really liked bad Data East games).


I love the desolate atmosphere of the town. It's like a close-up on the dark and lonesome nature of the Demon World in general.


  #28  
Old 09-16-2013, 08:50 AM
Ted Ted is offline
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Tunnel vision!
  #29  
Old 09-16-2013, 10:04 AM
Beta Metroid Beta Metroid is offline
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Catacombs of the Dead

(I was totally gonna make the Avatar Secret Tunnel reference, but I should have known Talking Time would beat me to the punch).



The terrain and the enemy below immediately encourage us to stick with the Ground Gargoyle. The fact that one shot will take it out only reaffirms that decision.



More objects to smash! This is just a Ground Gargoyle paradise!



We still can't do anything about these blocks, though.



These dudes are pretty gross, and will quite literally rear their ugly heads from time to time.




Again the Ground Gargoyle benefits from the lay of the land. These fiery...flames will send embers scattering when killed, so it's best to destroy them at a distance. They'll also extend to prevent us from jumping over them. This is also our first experience with elemental strengths and weaknesses coming into play. These guys will absorb all the fire we can spit at them.



The eyeball bats are tough for something so tiny, taking two shots to kill. One ground-based shot will do the trick, but finding an opportunity to drop one on them is rare.



Even more bats, and over spikes now. The terrain is no longer so favorable for ol' G.



But with our path forward barred, we're not done with him yet.
  #30  
Old 09-16-2013, 10:06 AM
Beta Metroid Beta Metroid is offline
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In this next room, fire proves to be more than "standard projectile." The candles will gradually dim. While the room is light, these bats (not to be confused with the completely different bats in the previous room) will remain inert hanging from the ceiling. Once it gets dark, they'll swarm Firebrand, continually leeching life from him. We have to keep the candles lit with our fireballs.




I lost a lot of health screwing around trying to get shots, so I took the opportunity to capture Firebrand's delightfully grotesque death sequence. It's a nice sendup to the GnG games, and it's really impressive how it completely outdoes them. I'm amazed at the visual improvement between Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts (not an ugly game by any means) and this. Screenshots don't do this death justice.



There are two more walls we can't breach yet.



This stage has two different kinds of bats AND two different kinds of ghosts. This guy isn't particularly interested in Firebrand (though he'll still hurt to touch). Instead, he goes about snuffing out candles to let the bats do the dirty work. It's always fun to see different enemies/elements interact like this.



There are still objects to smash, so we'll be switching back and forth a few times. This is one aspect of the game that is a bit of a sticking point: You'll be in and out of the menu constantly. It's not a big deal, but some kind of Mega Man X-ish "quick change" option would be nice.




There's a health refill tucked away in the corner, then one last ghost-and-bat-plagued ascent to the final door.




Oh...nice to see you.
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