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Super Mario World off the 3DS Virtual Console

I played it about a decade or so ago off the Wii Virtual Console and thought it was really short. Enjoyed Yoshi's debut though.

This time I was able to find more of the secret levels and exits and had more fun with it. I still think there should've been one more really challenging world or level after the fight with Bowser. I'm at 70 exits I think and there's 90 (I think) so I still have some game left to play.

Up next I want to try the original Metroid for the NES off the Virtual Console.

 

Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II

Kyle Katarn is becoming my favorite Legends character.

 

Yeah, I think I'm done with Monster Hunter World now.

It's just.... Not enjoyable. If you're a fan of the Souls games, Bloodborne or Nioh, then you'll probably love it but I go out of my way to avoid those games. Which is why I feel quite conned by MHW, it was sold as this great entry piece for new gamers. It isn't. I eventually worked out how its systems operated, but intuitive? No.

The core problem is that the game claims it's all about preparing, having the right weapon and armour but you can do all of that and it still makes little practical difference when in combat on the harder monsters, who are set on such a level they can kill you with ease regardless. Now, for some, that will be excellent, for me? Nope. What's the point of my grinding to craft that new weapon or armour if the benefit is so damn small? And it recurs across armour levels - by now I ought to be to withstand some attacks by supposedly weaker monsters as the armour is better? Nope.

Then there's other stuff - I have never played a game where you are told your character is supposed to be this super-hunter - and in cutscenes an eating and drinking machine! In the game? Everything is done slowly by your character. Also, whenever a monster yells, your hunter is stunned - even if in the middle of a move or in midair! The various "skills" to prevent that? Short of equipping to full degree, which the game doesn't let you, the effect is miminal. Nor do the monsters feel pain sufficiently to ever be interrupted, they have no pain centres, nothing that ever stops them doing anything and they have large hitboxes that mean they don't even have to hit you directly. Don't think that a big monster will be slow, because what it will be is a break-dancing master of agility. Can you miss a target that big? Yes, you can, frequently.

Combine that with the most nuts physics engine I've ever seen, with variable solidity and a God-awful-ought-to-be-condemned-to-the-depths-of-hell camera that prevents observation of your enemy more often than not and it all adds up to huge disincentive to play. Yes, I can tell an enemy pattern but it doesn't have any value because the window to hit is so damn small, or your character will be far away, or the weapon you thought had the range to hit won't - and actually getting a hit has no effect anyway.

It would have been nice to unlock the last area - be nice to get the Aloy armour too, but they walled that away behind high rank too - which is absolutely stupid. All this game needed to be the mainstream, accessible game it has been said to be is difficulty settings, that's all. They didn't do that.

I can see the appeal of it if you like the actual form of gameplay it is offering, but for a lot of people I can't see it working. If you like hard games, this is for you - I just wish they'd been honest to actually sell it as that.

The other effect of this game is that I'm now massively wary of God of War. Yeah, lots of critics liked it but those same guys loved this game too and in no review did they give an accurate sense of the difficulty, so I have reason to be wary.

 

lol no. Those control well.

 

I can see the appeal of it for some and that whole loop of 'kill monster, craft better gear, kill badder monster' is bloody addictive until the game decides its going to break the rules its established with a difficulty spike out of nowhere.

Am considering that I ought to take a look at Dark Souls or Nioh again after this experience maybe I'll do better than I expect.

 

Returned to Redout - a game I can only do 2-3 tracks of a time before my eyes give up! Explored the tracks of the newest planet and, even by the standards of this game, they are wonderfully insane.

Really responsive controls are something of a novelty after MHW, instead of that 1-2 second lag, the response is instant.

 

Playing Rime now, got it free in PS+ a few months back and finally got round to it. I've completed 3 levels so far, and the game feels very slow at the moment. It basically feels like a less enjoyable version of Journey. It's still alright, I'm just not really getting into it much, and I'm sort of wishing for it to end now.

 

God of War. Heavy duty game, love it.

 

So, depending on your point of view, I am either a spectacularly bad loser or have an inclination to vengeance that would put to Batman to shame, probably both, because I really needed to **** over Diablos in Monster Hunter World!

Word was that, if you’re having problems with the bastard, use the Lance to **** it up good. So it proved. A 30 minute, death-by-a-thousand-stabs, that saw 3 tailriders lay down their lives and depart to Valhalla, having proven themselves in glorious battle. It took a long time but the ****er finally died.

Next, a Zorah Magdaros quest. Urgh. These are irredeemable crap, just utterly, utterly ****. Not only do they fail as climatic story high points but they fail in every other respect: Poor signposting, poor indicators, strange instant death traps, rubbish map - they are vile. The only reason to do them is to get through them, maybe go back to get materials if I really have to. Still, despite it being irredeemably awful, it was done - end of the story mode! … Not quite.

So I then take a trip to Wildspire Waste, where I encounter a souped-up Pukei-Pukei, but, it turns out Level 3 poison resistance still kicks ass by giving me immunity even with this version. In what shows up exactly how utterly overpowered they made Diablos, I managed to kill the bastard with relatively weak armour and weaponry - bust its head and tail too. Also got a host of new materials, which combined with killing this thing, opened up High Rank weaponry and armoury - oh, plus decorations too. It all looks entirely nuts. In the waste I also came across new small monsters too, plus a host of new quests.

Next? Looks to be the Pink Rathian quest. But that likely has lots of stages. Might get past it eventually, might not - but I’m a lot further than I ever expected to be in this game.

 

Forgot to include this: On that Pukei-Pukei hunt, I ended up crossing paths with Barroth as I chased off to the next location, followed it, then went after Pukei. Barroth then picked a fight with it, so I started to leg it, just as it tried to rampage me, then Diuabolos crashed the party! A three-way big monster punch-up, never has the strategy of 'leg it' been more fitting. I went one way, Pukie another, pursued by Barroth. Eventually it shook it off, but damn, when I found it the bird looked a mess, so much the better for me!

 

There are several games that I love. Btw I'm not at all a very agile player in most of them!! What I look for in a game, is mostly atmosphere, and only to a very limited extent challenge. Anyway there it goes:

SWTOR. Usually with two accounts, on two computers, teaming up with myself (I've learned that teaming up with some other person, drags me out of the game. I'm more concerned with whether I do things right etc., than being able to identify with the character I play. Teaming up with my other account eliminates that. I even create chars that aren't necessarily alter egos of myself, but just cool chars I think of. within the limitations of what race and class the game offers.

WoW Dormant at the moment

Secret World Legends. An absolutely lovely and intriguing MMORPG. It is not entirely perfect, but most of it is great!

Ghost of a Tale. Lovely game about Tilo, a mouse and troubadour, who has got to escape from a prison-castle, staffed by rats.

Sunless Sea. Visually simple (but sweet), yet very literary game based on mapping a huge underearthly sea!

Plants vs Zombies. Utilize your front and backlawns to plant plants that will kill, stop or delay zombies!

Oww, I also have some cities in Elvenar and Forge of Empires, lol.

 

I got maybe a little over halfway through Yoku's Island Express, but now I'm stuck and not sure where to go, and navigating that game can be a real ***** so I doubt I'll go back to it. It's fun, but it really sucks spending a bunch of time trying to get somewhere, finally getting there and realizing you don't have a certain ability and you have no idea where to get it, and the prospect of trekking all the way back from where you came is really daunting. It's really poor at telegraphing that stuff.

If you don't know what the game is and that doesn't make sense, it's a 2D Metroidvania pinball game where you play as the ball and control bumpers in the world with the triggers on your controller, and navigating occasionally requires precise shots like you're playing a technical game of pinball. Therefore simply going from point A to point B isn't just walking and jumping, it's rolling and shooting and missing your shot over and over again to the point where it could take you five minutes just to move past a single screen. Cool idea, inconsistent execution.

 

I have to give Capcom due credit on High Rank mode of Monster Hunter World.

They could have just stuck with the game as it was, whacked up the monster's health, aggression and power levels and left it at that. Instead they've altered the eco-system, monsters turn up in different places, there are different resources to locate, even new monsters - both large and small, different armours to craft and opt for depending on strategy you go for, more intricate weaponry and so on.

Some things don't change though, I still went and duffed up a Great Jagras, plus some of his Jagras minions. Also took some Kestodon and Hornateurs. Be under no illusion, the High Rank world is more dangerous. On a trip through Rotten Vale, Ogodaron turned up above ground and picked a fight with Radobaan! I got the hell out of there. Similarly, when I was doing the Great Jagras, Anjanath turned up to take a bite out of it - discretion was the better part of valour.

Got a whole lot of new stuff to craft, including a paralysis longsword I've really been wanting, but need the money to do so. Turns out there's now a new load of investigations to supply that, plus better item supply too. Also, a whole lot of new, optional quests too.

For all I disagree with it, I can see the thinking behind restricting the game earlier - they want to introduce the game systems piece by piece. In that respect, it works. Also, the power of levels of the HR monsters is such that if you haven't decked the low rank versions, you will have severe problems with the HR ones - though I'm not exactly seeking out High Rank Diabolos!

So, lots and lots and lots of stuff to do.

 

Just started playing Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice. I tell ya, there's gotta be something about a game that starts off with a disclaimer warning about psychosis from the very beginning. I've played it for about a half hour or so just to get a feel for the game and the controls. It's pretty trippy at parts. If I understood the message towards the beginning after I went through the first gate, it looks like if my character dies too many times I'll be forced to go back to the beginning and lose all progress. Yipee.

 

Got a copy of Hyrule Warriors for the Wii U from my local library. It's been pretty fun! Though I'm not always clear where to go for my next objective, and I get spun around quite easily. It's fun to play as Link and various other Legend of Zelda characters in this other weird context.

 

Mass Effect trilogy for the 100th time and Fallout 3 surprisingly for the first. That game is crazy impressive. Finished the main story but I’m trying to do everything on the map. I feel like it could go on forever.

 

That's hilarious because I just started a replay of the Mass Effect quadrology again (yes, I include Mass Effect: The Faces of Evil too). I play this series every single year since 2012. I don't know why it still grabs me, no matter how much I complain about its shortcomings.

 

For me it's the characters. Where Andromeda failed was in the crew. None of them were especially interesting. It was basically a crew of Kaidan's.

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I'm so hungry, I could eat a thresher maw!

 

You're quoting from the wrong source material. That's from Wand of Gamelon, you silly goose.

 

Mah boi, these misplaced references are what all true warriors strive for.

 

Quite a fun go on MHW tonight.

Took a Great Jagras then tried my luck on Barroth, who got me with a “I is pissed off, so I get to take out 75% of your health in one move now” load of bollocks. So went back and killed him.

What made it far more interesting is I had this new weapon - a Greatsword that is attuned to the Blast element, which does exactly what you would expect. Some strikes, when it connects, hit with an explosion! It was excellent. The sword would hit Barroth for say 40-50 points, but if accompanied by an explosion, that’d inflict a further 120! Over time that extra damage clearly added up. Same sword also boosted my defence by 15 points, but that doesn’t count for much when the game plays the ‘monster is near death and pissed, cue super boost’ card. Although, that could be taken as a cue to start capturing instead of killing, which I’ve done once so far.

It’s a sweet, sweet sword that made doing those two optional Zorah Magdaros quests worthwhile.

 

Persona 5 is 40% off till the 19th so I bought it and have been playing it today. It’s my 1st in franchise. Hoping these are self contained games like each Final Fantasy. I have not looked this info up incase I run across any spoilers so if anyone could tell me this please do so.

Later on tonight I will likely throw on Tales of Symphonia or Metroid Prime in the Wii as I just found out today that it can play Game Cube games...it’s only been 9 yrs since my GC went missing somewhere in this house. Ed: crap can probably scratch that idea as wherever my console is the controllers are with it. Dang dang dang

 

The first two (well, three, P2 was two games) are heavily interconnected, but the rest have been self-contained with the exception of some very obscure theories about where Personas come from in 4 & 5 that you definitely don't need to worry about. Think like how Tales of Symphonia is technically a prequel to Tales of Phantasia but nobody knows or cares because it doesn't affect much of anything outside of fun lore nods.

 

Sniper Elite 4. I love the Sniper games and have had a blast with this one. The levels are huge, and I keep finding new ways to get through them. And shooting Hitler in the groin or blowing him up never gets old.