Gripe about What You're Playing 2: Bellyache-tric Boogaloo

[jpfriction]

Booted up the copy of Nioh I found in my PS+ library because I felt like scratching a souls itch while I wait for Elden Ring and they put way too much shit in this game. Oh good, my proficiency with this sickle chain thing earned me a few samurai points that I accidentally wasted on skills for a weapon I don’t plan on using and now that I tab over I see there are two types of “magic”, each with their own set of skill points. I guess I’ll teach myself the powerful magic of “make 7 useless shurikens”.

Might just be salty because the big dude with the metal balls killed me 40 times in a row before I gave up and went to bed.

 

[Dracula]

I played Emerald for the first time a few years ago and I knew from the beginning I wanted Feebas, both because Milotic is one of my favorite pokemen and because I knew the experience was probably one of the most tedious in the whole mainline series, at least for a non-shiny, non-legendary 'mon.

And it was! It was super tedious. And the process for evolving Feebas was also nerve-wracking as hell. But man getting that Milotic in my team and taking it to the elite four was one of the most gratifying feelings in any game I've ever played. I'm glad that catch method is the exception rather than the rule, but I'm also kinda glad they did it just that one time.

 

[Pheeel]

I am very deep into my first ever full playthrough of Super Metroid. Generally it's been a good time, but I'm now at the stage where I have most of the big upgrades and it's starting to get to the point where I can feel frustration kicking in. I seem to've spent an inordinate amount of time schlepping around Norfair trying to locate the last couple of secret areas and it's felt a bit of a slog. And oh boy, the grappling beam is not a fun game mechanic. I really don't appreciate how often it randomly doesn't connect with a surface and just drops you into boiling lava.

Also for some reason I found Crocomire impossible to beat on the device I was using to play during my holiday (RGP351 handheld), to the point where I ended up transferring my save file over to the Super Everdrive on my real SNES, whereupon it became very easy. Huh.

 

[ArugulaZ]

I've been playing the story mode of Mortal Kombat 11, and they've done a nice job of using assets from the rest of the game to build a dumb action movie of epic scale, with quality acting. They've even done their best to straighten out the tightly knotted storyline from the past ten games. However, one thing I DON'T appreciate is that like a big dumb action movie, it doesn't give you a chance to make a clean break from it, or even take a breath. It goes from exposition to drama to explosions to fights and back, without pause and with little indication that you can quit and retain your progress. I planned to play until chapter four so I could unlock Frost, but I didn't actually put the controller down until chapter eight, because there would always be something- a plot point or a sudden battle- that would keep me occupied. I don't want to finish this in one sitting! Let me make a graceful exit so I can do other stuff!

 

[Violentvixen]

Inscryption just isn't clicking for me. I want to like it, it seems really interesting but I am really frustrated by how much more powerful the guy across the table is, I think I'd like it a lot better if I got to start with 6 cards instead of 4. And I'm bummed because even my friends who dislike card games the same way I do seem to be enjoying it.

But on the other hand I looked at some walkthroughs and do not need to see the eyeball stuff thank you, and my spouse is now at the second world and this looks completely unfun to me. Oh well, got plenty of other games to play.

 

[karzac]

I will say, the card game is not the main draw for Inscryption. It's got some interesting mechanical stuff, but really the interesting thing is the atmosphere and structure and just the audaciousness of it.

But if you've already looked ahead to that stuff and aren't interested, that's cool!

 

[Violentvixen]

Oh I get that, but the problem is the card game is preventing me from experiencing more which is frustrating.

 

[chud_666]

Been playing Super Mario 3D World with my son.
It's quite fun, despite it being a bit tricky to actually jump on a guy.

I do have an issue: I don't think these stages are really built for multiplayer. You really just get in each other's way. And in stages with tight time limit, people get left behind. I can only imagine the chaos of 4p.

Also: concept of lives is really outmoded in this. I think you should have infinite. If both/all players dead at same time - you restart stage/checkpoint. Coins should give stored powerups.

Cat suit rules!

 

[Purple]

Oh yeah, multiplayer mode is basically that game's hard mode. Especially the postgame levels.

 

[ArugulaZ]

Damn it, Capcom! This! Just... all this!

Classic NES Ducktales is not a game that's aged well. Between the respawn rate of enemies, irritating placement of said enemies, a move set that leaves you too vulnerable, and traps that unfailingly rob you of (at least) one life point, I have to wonder how the hell I managed to get through this as a teenager. I'm trying to make progress as a middle-aged adult, and while I'm trying to play it clean, I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to resort to save states eventually.

 

[Positronic Brain]

Damn it, Capcom! This! Just... all this!

Classic NES Ducktales is not a game that's aged well. Between the respawn rate of enemies, irritating placement of said enemies, a move set that leaves you too vulnerable, and traps that unfailingly rob you of (at least) one life point, I have to wonder how the hell I managed to get through this as a teenager. I'm trying to make progress as a middle-aged adult, and while I'm trying to play it clean, I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to resort to save states eventually.

I remember this part! You can take the hit from the ball and use the invincibility frame to run through the spikes or you can pogo through the tunnel once you've cleared the ceiling spikes, which I don't remember as something hard to do. I really wonder if I'd have the finger dexterity today to pull it off.

 

[Becksworth]

So I saw a PC Engine Mini still at retail price online and snatched it up.

Tengai Makyo 2 and Snatcher being Japanese language only is frustrating...

 

[ArugulaZ]

I've got one word for Ikari Warriors II: Victory Road... I-N-T-E-R-M-I-N-A-B-L-E. I pity the poor souls who committed the time, money, and sanity to play the arcade game to the end, because it NEVER. ENDS. There's some amusement to be had from the Rambo types stumbling into a strange alien world, and there's no question that it's a very strange place, filled to the brim with tarantulas, armies of tiny cyclopes, and naked goblin women. However, after fifteen minutes, you get distinctly sick of everything the game has to offer and won't stop offering, no matter how much you beg. Oh boy, here comes another warp panel that takes you to a boss fight you've already seen four or five times before. Really, game, you can end now. I'm pretty sure I've seen everything you've got to show me, including bullet sponge bosses, cheap deaths a plenty, and enough slowdown to make a Super Nintendo blush. This is possibly the most tedious achievement I've unlocked on an Xbox system, and I went through all fifty stages in that grimdark Bomberman game released near the launch of the Xbox 360.

 

[Tato]

The arcade Ikari Warriors is actually quite fun when played on arcade or on the SNK Collection with dual stick aiming. Ikari II....has nothing really redeeming about it. I guess it's probably the most red/green game I've ever seen.

 

[Octopus Prime]

At least the NES port had some voice samples.

Incomprehensible ones, but they were there

 

[Ghost from Spelunker]

Ugg, Ikari Warriors II in arcades is like a never ending Serious Sam enemy rush, but the camera is zoomed in and you don't have the right weapons to survive.

Ikari II on NES is a funny game. For a long time I treated it as one of the worst games made, but then I noticed things like a shop system, upgradable weapons, and catchy music. Sure there are still (many) problems with the game, but it was trying so hard, especially for a Micronics game. And still way better than the arcade or Apple IIGS versions.

And there's always the box art. Probably my favorite game box art of all time.

 

[Tato]

It is kind of interesting that SNK absolutely refused to just make a straight sequel to Ikari. Trips to alien worlds with swords and then top-down hand-to-hand combat with an odd timer system.

 

[ArugulaZ]

Ugg, Ikari Warriors II in arcades is like a never ending Serious Sam enemy rush, but the camera is zoomed in and you don't have the right weapons to survive.

Ikari II on NES is a funny game. For a long time I treated it as one of the worst games made, but then I noticed things like a shop system, upgradable weapons, and catchy music. Sure there are still (many) problems with the game, but it was trying so hard, especially for a Micronics game. And still way better than the arcade or Apple IIGS versions.

And there's always the box art. Probably my favorite game box art of all time.

And that's the sad part. An arcade game by SNK's own in-house team was somehow outperformed by an NES game by freaking Micronics... the most hated team of NES developers that wasn't part of Color Dreams and didn't make Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I was actually getting nostalgic for the NES version of Ikari II after playing this. Like you said, it wasn't good, but at least it had direction and a sense of identity. You could go to shops in this freak show world and purchase provisions for the battles to come, and warp panels seemed to have purpose beyond slowing down and annoying the player. The arcade game is just an hour of crowd control. It's like the producer of the game said "What if the sequel to our hit military combat game took place in another dimension?," and everybody but the art department responded with shrugs and empty stares.

 

[Octopus Prime]

It is kind of interesting that SNK absolutely refused to just make a straight sequel to Ikari. Trips to alien worlds with swords and then top-down hand-to-hand combat with an odd timer system.

Well, Guerilla War and Shock Troopers are Imari Warriors in all but name

 

[ArugulaZ]

And Shock Troopers is damn good, while Ikari II is damn not. And Ikari III is just P.O.W. as seen from an overhead view, from what I can tell. (A beat 'em up with that crappy rotating stick top? No thanks!)

Speaking of lame sequels, Shock Troopers: 2nd Squad was a downer. Looked like a Game Boy Advance game with all those marshmallowy, color-deprived computer rendered sprites.

 

[Tato]

Yeah. Shock Troopers is one of my favorite Neo Geo games ever, I've played through it so many times with so many different characters and routes.

2nd Squad is...fine. It has some vehicles. They're not fun.

 

[FelixSH]

After having it on my wishlist for years, I finally decided to try Ittle Dew 2. I read/heard from multiple online sources that it was way less focused on puzzles, but I still thought a Zelda-like would be fun.

Well, I played 50 minutes and made it through the first three dungeons. There were nice things, like all the hidden entrances to stuff, but on the whole, the game felt very mindless. I think I encountered one puzzle, that I couldn't solve immediately, which is very different from the first game. I know, it went into a different direction, intentionally, but I still hoped the puzzles would be somewhat interesting.

And I wouldn't have minded the fighting so much, but the enemies are really damage-spongey. To beat the bosses, I mainly used the infinite dynamite you find soon, which isn't an interesting way of doing battle. Dunno, I generally don't mind simple battles, but it felt so mindless. Maybe that's just because I don't feel particularly great, emotionally, at the moment. Still, it felt so pointless to do anything here, so I got a refund.

It's fine, I'm not arguing that the game is made badly (except for the absurd amount of damage enemies take), but it's certainly not for me. I guess I'll just replay the first one, and enjoy the fun, clever puzzles in there. And try CrossCode, which I also bought.

 

[R.R. Bigman]

I’ve played only three hours of FFX-2, so I can’t make a definitive statement. That being said, it has been many years since I’ve played a sequel that throws away everything I liked about the previous game so completely. So many people who might have gotten into the series with FFX or, in my case, finally found one with a battle system they felt comfortable with must have had the rug pulled under them with X-2’s hyperactive new scheme. I know a fair number of people on Talking Time really like it, but I think it’s a little bit of bullshit to change things so fundamentally in a direct sequel.

I also don’t like any of the new characters so far. Where were thsee people two years ago!? Spira’s not a big place!

 

[FelixSH]

As mentioned in the other thread, I had a very hard time adjusting to the battle system. Hyperactive Time battle sounds quite right, actually. I do appreciate that it is such a major change, compared to FF X, but if the battle system doesn't work for you, don't force yourself. People seem to like it, BECAUSE it's so absurdly fast. I enjoyed the game, but more despite the fast system, not because of it.

It is a shame, that X is the only game in the series with this great battle system. I love that one to pieces, and really wished it was used more often. I guess, I should finally play my copy of Grandia.

 

[YangusKhan]

One thing I appreciate about X-2's battle system is it's arguably the only ATB game in the series where playing on Wait mode is a suboptimal choice and its chain mechanic actively encourages playing on... Active.

 

[ArugulaZ]

Holy shit the stars of Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 love to hear themselves talk. Holy shit do I not love to hear the stars of Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 talk.

 

[Adrenaline]

I'm enjoying Guardians of the Galaxy, but you know that thing where you're playing a game and there's clearly an object off the required path that the designers set there so you would go and get it, yet the other characters in the scene berate you for going off the required path? That's all over this.

 

[Octopus Prime]

To be fair, that’s very true to the character of everyone in relation to Peter Quill

 

[MJG]

And here I am wandering off the required path even when there isn't an obvious reason to do so, specifically looking to trigger some extra banter.

 

[Adrenaline]

Banter is fine, a little girl yelling at me that I'm her prisoner and shouldn't wander off is annoying