Games Beaten In 2020.

[player1"NOT"ready]

I sacrificed the My Queen to get the King out.

It was a do or die at that point.

I did see the Queen coming. I just beat her to the punch.

Thank you for the comments.

[+thegoldenband]

83. Fatal Fury Special (Sega CD)

 

A lot of people talk about how this is a bad port because the Sega CD could have done so much more, animations were cut, the sound's not great, etc.

 

And all of that may be true -- but when I can stand there, spam fireballs with Ryo, and win every match even on Expert difficulty, there are far deeper issues. I don't mind it when ports of SNK fighting games have holes in the AI, but does this one have to be so obvious? Nice music, though. D.

[newtmonkey]

Dragon Warrior II (NES)

This was a childhood favorite of mine, and I have replayed it often since then (though I have always stopped at the final area during replays since you need to grind some levels at that point).  This time, I saw the game all the way through and was particularly impressed by a few things:

• After getting the boat (only a few hours into the game), the game really opens up and becomes quite nonlinear.  The feeling of nonlinear exploration is helped a lot by the fact that there are no "boss" enemies gating progress (excepting the final boss and a few minibosses before him).
• Although there are some pretty massive dungeons/caves/towers to explore, much of the game is actually spent exploring and gathering information.
• It's balanced quite well.  I didn't need to grind for gold or experience (just bought what equipment I could afford as I went along) until I reached the final area.

The game has a reputation as being one of the more difficult JRPGs, but I did not find this to be the case.  In fact, it's balanced extremely well and checking some FAQs revealed that I was "underleveled" for nearly the entire game.  Yes, there are some unfair encounters that could result in a party wipe if you're unlucky, but part of the game is identifying which combats are worth fighting and which are not.  I was mostly able to run from any encounter that was risky after one or two attempts.  Unlike many other JRPGs (particularly the Final Fantasy series), buffing/debuffing spells work very often on enemies and even on the bosses at the very end of the game, so clever use of spells is a must.

 

I did grind a few levels at the very end, but I probably didn't need to.  You retain experience points even after party death, so I could have made several suicide runs against the final gauntlet of bosses until I was high enough level (or lucky enough!) to survive.  Instead, I spend an hour and a half building up a few levels while listening to old episodes of Coast to Coast AM, then went and defeated Hargon/Malroth on my first attempt.

 

Awesome game, and I know that Dragon Warrior/Quest III is basically more of the same but better, so I'm looking forward to that.

Edited December 20, 2020 by newtmonkey

[+wongojack]

I completed Oddworld Adventures for the Gameboy today.  I've owned this cart for a number of years but never put any serious time into it until a few weeks ago.  It is a frustrating version of Oddworld that's for sure, but it is playable.  I finished it without the manual and using trial and error to figure out the controls.  I only consulted a video walkthrough once because I didn't realize that you could jump from the crouching position.

 

There were some bugs here and there that definitely brought the experience down slightly.  The graphics also detracted from my ability to discern between usable objects, blah blah.  Somehow in spite of all that they still managed to re-create Oddworld on the Gameboy.  3/5

 

 

[HoshiChiri]

13. Yakuza 4 (PS4)

 

Weird to think I've played 5 of these games this year! This one threw me with the split story- when I first realized I was playing Akiyama I was disappointed ("I don't want to be this lazy a$$!") but I quickly warmed up to the idea ("this lazy a$$ is actually awesome!") I'm taking a lil' break before I continue into Yakuza 5, as I fear I'm starting to burn out a bit. Not sure what I'll play next...

Edited December 26, 2020 by HoshiChiri

[+thegoldenband]

84. Bases Loaded (NES)

 

Nice-looking, nice-sounding baseball game that plays very well and set a new standard for baseball games on home consoles. Unfortunately it's also totally broken, has a career mode that goes on about 4 times as long as it should (and with a lousy ending to boot), and offers no challenge once you know the key tricks. Still, it was a classic in its time. B.

[+wongojack]

13 hours ago, thegoldenband said:

84. Bases Loaded (NES)

 

Nice-looking, nice-sounding baseball game that plays very well and set a new standard for baseball games on home consoles. Unfortunately it's also totally broken, has a career mode that goes on about 4 times as long as it should (and with a lousy ending to boot), and offers no challenge once you know the key tricks. Still, it was a classic in its time. B.

I always thought it looked nice, but I preferred other options (RBI, MLB).  Same thing with Blades of Steel.  Nice looking, but there were other options that were more fun.

[+thegoldenband]

45 minutes ago, wongojack said:

I always thought it looked nice, but I preferred other options (RBI, MLB).  Same thing with Blades of Steel.  Nice looking, but there were other options that were more fun.

My guess is that a comprehensive overview of the NES's baseball library might come out with one of the Baseball Stars games on top, but it's been too long since I've played those. Dusty Diamond's All-Star Softball was also a quirky good time, but of course then we're talkin' softball (Ozzie and the Straw).

 

The RBI Baseball series bloomed nicely on the Genesis -- those are some of the better baseball games on the system, though a couple things are broken in the AI. But most console baseball games have no idea how to handle runners on 1st and 3rd anyway; if you keep feinting at stealing home, a lot of them will let you plop your runner down on 2nd base without resistance.

 

MLB I found kind of...disturbing? It's hard to pinpoint why, but -- speaking of the The Simpsons -- the beanball routine always reminded me of the scene where the crash test dummies aren't really dummies, and "This exhibit is closed!" I replayed it recently, this year or last, and found it playd fine for a one-and-done game. I always liked sending foul balls so far back (and to the left/right) that all you see is crowd.

 

I'd have to go back and play Blades of Steel again -- it's on my to-do list of "games I never quite beat as a kid". I never really had a copy of Ice Hockey but it seems to hold its own in the nostalgia department. Too bad the Hit the Ice hockey/RPG hybrid never came out!

[newtmonkey]

Estpolis Denki (aka Lufia & The Fortress of Doom) (SFC)

 

I've been playing this one on and off now for a couple years, but I finally was able to complete it today as my final RPG completed in 2020!

I was able to complete the game in just under 30 hours with character levels ranging from 46 to 52.

 

It's a very standard 16-bit JRPG in pretty much all respects.  It follows the somewhat boring progression made popular by Final Fantasy IV in 1991 and then copied for the rest of eternity by nearly all other JRPGs: town -> dungeon -> boss -> town, repeat until end.

 

Estpolis Denki bucks the trend a bit by including two quests that involve gathering a certain number of doodads to progress, with each doodad located in a separate tower/dungeon which you can tackle in any order.  It also has an optional cave you can explore for powerful gear, with each floor getting progressively more difficult until you reach 7F which includes endgame-level enemies.  Finally, you can collect dragon eggs throughout the world; once you gather eight you can exchange them to select from a small selection of extremely powerful gifts (experience, stat potions, or equipment).

 

What really makes the game tedious is that it does nothing with such a linear structure.  Every boss falls to the same strategy; in contrast, Final Fantasy IV offered "puzzle" bosses designed around the unique abilities of whatever characters you'd have at that point.  Dungeons can be pleasantly labyrinthine (with one standout being a cave you have to explore in sections from multiple entrances) and contain some great treasure to find, but the random encounter rate is through the roof. 

 

There's also not enough unique content in the game.  All towns look the same, and there are really just two tilesets for dungeons (cave and tower).  The game is also plagued by enemy recolors—a sure sign of a lazy or rushed design.  I was surprised to find that the game uses the same sized cartridge as Final Fantasy IV (8Mb).

 

Overall, it's not a great RPG, not even a great JRPG, but I did enjoy playing through it in bits and pieces.  It was worth playing in the end.

 

Here are my endgame stats (I played the Japanese version).  In order: playtime, party wipes, character deaths (1-4), times rested at inn, number of battles fought, number of battles escaped, number of deaths by bosses, number of chests opened, number of items gathered.

Edited December 29, 2020 by newtmonkey

[newtmonkey]

Illusion of Gaia (SNES)

I had been playing this on and off over the past year and was very close to the end, so I decided to polish this off before the end of the year.

 

I was very impressed with this game!  It's basically an action game with very light RPG elements, almost like a very linear version of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.  Linearity tends to annoy me in RPGs or quest/adventure games, but I liked the approach used here.  You improve your stats by clearing rooms of enemies, and it can be a lot of fun trying to track down that one last enemy you missed so you can get that stat improvement (that game has a radar screen you can use to help find them).  The dungeons are a joy to explore; the game includes some of the most interesting—if not indeed the most interesting—dungeons in this genre (yes, even better than Zelda imo).

 

Movement and combat are both a ton of fun, and your character has a pleasant feeling of weight.  I never felt like I was struggling with the controls to get something done.  The boss fights are a highlight for sure, and you'll have to make full use of your moveset to get through them.  This all culminates in a "boss rush" at the end of the game where you have to defeat faster/stronger versions of each of the bosses.

 

The most enjoyable aspect of this game is that it has you exploring locations take from history and legend, such as the Great Wall of China, Angkor Wat, some Incan ruins, and the Tower of Babel.  I'm sure everyone has at one point or another wanted to explore old ruins to discover ancient secrets, and this game delivers that in spades—especially thanks to the soundtrack which is often mysterious and eerie.

 

I also liked how the story dealt with some serious themes (cannibalism, slavery, where we are headed as a species) without coming off as edgy or (too) preachy.  It's much more mature than the typical melodrama you get in JRPGs, while still being lighthearted and fun.

 

Overall, fantastic game!  It's short at around 15 hours or so, but I feel that's the perfect length for an action/adventure like this.

[Mikebloke]

It came out here as illusion of time, its one of the few snes rpgs I had really early on in the 90s so I have it CIB. Really great fun, and with some side scenes + collection stuff too. Terranigma is of a similar fashion if you haven't played it yet. 

[newtmonkey]

I definitely do play on playing & finished Terranigma (probably this year), as I've already finished Soul Blazer/Blader and it would be a shame not to complete the whole trilogy.

[mbd30]

NES Double Dragon III

 

Very happy to finally get this one out of the way. It was the only one that I never owned or beat. It is worse than the first two but still decent. Not as bad or unfair as people make it out to be. The final boss is a real bitch though. A very large percentage of the challenge comes from the final boss.

 

 

Edited January 4, 2021 by mbd30

[+thegoldenband]

22 hours ago, mbd30 said:

NES Double Dragon III

 

Very happy to finally get this one out of the way. It was the only one that I never owned or beat. It is worse than the first two but still decent. Not as bad or unfair as people make it out to be. The final boss is a real bitch though. A very large percentage of the challenge comes from the final boss.

I find the main trick is timing my jumps to avoid her attacks through the floor. With that in place, plus some Iron Claw attacks from Chin, it becomes doable, but she's still a tough fight.

 

The other things I always noticed is that the controls mysteriously become less responsive in the final area. Not sure why -- maybe the game is eating inputs when the playfield is overcrowded and slowdown kicks in? Whatever it is, suddenly my spin kicks become much less reliable.

 

Up until then, it's not that tough of a game at all, and certainly far from a bad game. For one thing it's vastly superior to the Genesis port of the arcade game, and probably the arcade game as well (since I'm told the Genesis port is relatively faithful). I'd go so far as to say I rather like it, were it not for the problems in the last level, and a mild tendency toward laying the number of enemies on too thick -- but then again that's a DD "thing".

[mbd30]

20 minutes ago, thegoldenband said:

I find the main trick is timing my jumps to avoid her attacks through the floor. With that in place, plus some Iron Claw attacks from Chin, it becomes doable, but she's still a tough fight.

 

The other things I always noticed is that the controls mysteriously become less responsive in the final area. Not sure why -- maybe the game is eating inputs when the playfield is overcrowded and slowdown kicks in? Whatever it is, suddenly my spin kicks become much less reliable.

 

 

I wonder if the controls actually get less responsive or if nerves play a part in pulling off certain moves.

 

Moving up and down also works well in avoiding her floor attacks. Also turns out that Ranzou's sword is really effective against her. When I beat the game I got in all the hits from the nunchucks and iron claw, and then managed to finish her off with Ranzou.

 

[+thegoldenband]

16 minutes ago, mbd30 said:

 

I wonder if the controls actually get less responsive or if nerves play a part in pulling off certain moves.

 

Moving up and down also works well in avoiding her floor attacks. Also turns out that Ranzou's sword is really effective against her. When I beat the game I got in all the hits from the nunchucks and iron claw, and then managed to finish her off with Ranzou.

See, I thought it was nerves, but it's been so consistent that I suspect something's going on under the hood. If nothing else maybe slowdown is changing the required timing of the move in some subtle way.

 

Ranzou is underrated! His shuriken are nearly useless, but the attack where he flares out his arms can be pretty effective against the mummies and even Noiram.