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 On 10/27/2015 at 12:44 AM by KnightDriver See More From This User » |
I got Halo 2, 3, and 4 on day-one, but not this time. Halo 4, the first post Bungie, kind of annoyed me, so I'm not doing it this time. Oh well, end of an era for me. I got my old school gaming on instead.
Castlevania [NES]: I was going to get this on Wii Virtual Console today but the servers were down for maintenance. I was worried for a moment that the store for Wii was shut down, I'd heard a rumor about that coming on a podcast, but it was just temporary. I guess Nintendo does its maintenace on Monday afternoons, probably the slowest day of the week for gaming. So I didn't play it. Next week, for sure.
Goblin Commander [Xbox]: I got deep into this RTS today. The game does so many things that remind me of Warcraft II. One was that each level introduces a new element to the gameplay as well as continues the story; the maps get bigger and the challenges tougher. I got to this one map in GC that really started to get to me. I couldn't keep the enemy out of my town while I went on missions. The enemy kept me so busy fighting, I couldn't do any resource gathering to upgrade my units. I just fought, blitzed out a bunch more armies, and fought some more. It was endless, and I got tired of rebuilding my town. It was just like my experience with Warcraft II. I got to level 12 or something like that, and just didn't want to go any further. It became a battle of speed building and not much fun. What I used to do in WCII was replay level 1-10 over and over, which is likely what I'll do with this, if I ever have time to play it again.
Luigi's Mansion [NGC]: The first time I played this I couldn't keep enough hearts and kept dying. What was I thinking? You can resupply your hearts in the baby's room whenever you need them. I got really far in this game this time and I'm loving every minute of it. I had some trouble with the c-stick controls (used to look around, aim your tools) because the X/Y axis is inverted like in a flight sim and can't be changed (I'm pretty sure). But, I found out you don't have to use it when fighting a ghost (the most tricky part). You can just use the left stick (used for moving around) and it is much easier. You still need the c-stick to aim your flashlight and vacuum though, and at times it drives me nuts because I'm always moving it in the opposite direction. Other than that, the design of this game is fantastic. So many interesting rooms and ghosts and great music. There's lots of exploration to be had and tons of surprises along the way. I'm right back into this game next week.
Now on to research for my 2007 music play list. Ciao!
Luigi's Mansion is really fun. The controls take some getting used to, but once you do, it becomes second nature. I even like how short it is. It encouraged me to go back and play it again right away to get a higher score.
2007 was the year I got an Xbox 360. Pac-Man: Championship Edition beckoned. I THINK Super Mario Galaxy came out that year as well. And if I'm not mistaken, so did Portal and the Orange Box. If not 2007, it was definitely 2008. Help me out, here.
I loved the part where you go down the well and you can see into King Boo's lair where Mario is held. Great moment!
Yep, all 2007. I definitely played Orange Box but only got Super Mario Galaxy this year. Pac-Man C.E. is really great too. Amazing redesign of Pac-Man.
Not interested in Halo in the slightest. As with many in the series is will be praised as something great early on, mostly for the on-line multiplayer component. The single player will be downplayed from the get go. Then in a couple of months there'll be a backlash saying that it was overrated and not very good at all.
Fortunately for Microsoft it will have sold a bajillion copies before any of that sinks in. ... and the cycle continues.
Actually Halo campaigns have always been well praised. In fact, Halo 3 especially has been more appreciated over time. Granted 4 had lower opinions after, but pretty much every sequel has that. It's just the nature of fans being the first to buy and give their reactions
Halo 2 was the last one I played and I remember complaints about the campaign not being finished or ending badly or something. My son played them all up to Reach but he mostly just played the multiplayer and ignored the campaign. I get the impression that MP is what most people play Halo for but you would have more experience in that area.
I think they complained about Halo 3's ending too. I like all the campaigns. I play it mostly for the single player and co-op campaign. Multiplayer never interested me except for Firefight mode (hoard mode, survival mode, what evs). But that started with Halo 3 ODST.
I'm hearing lots of complaints about this campaign from my Halo friends on Facebook. Also hearing that the shooting mechanics aren't great and don't feel nearly as good as when Bungie was doing it.
But like I said I always got the impression from my son and his friends plus others I know from EB that the game sells mainly for multiplayer.
That was my problem with Halo 4, shooting mechanics. It just didn't feel like a Halo game. It felt more like COD.
Multiplayer has always been huge with Halo, but people still play it for the story too. Otherwise it would've become like Destiny and shucked story completely for multiplayer. Maybe they arent' smart for not doing that. Destiny is doing pretty well. Just not my type of game.
Speaking of Castlevania, I need to purchase all three of them on the Virtual Console. If it's on the Wii U, I'll just go for that one.
I have my doubts as to whether I'll like it, but I'm going to try. I like the concept of the series a lot.
You know, I was looking at games on the 3DS eshop the other day and almost bought Castlevania as well. Just had an urge lately for a NES experience.
It would probably be great on 3DS too. I'll always go big screen if I can get it though.
That's pretty cool that you used to get Halo on release day. I was the same with NCAA Football.
Castlevania is a game I haven't heard about in a long time. I think I have a copy of the game on NES, and GBA when Nintendo released a bunch of NES games on GBA carts.
The games I get on release day are very few and far between now. I'm hoping that will change soon.
Since you're iffy with platformers, just know that Castlevania throws some shit at you quick. Your have to anticipate your jumps more than usual since they're stiff, you may have some trouble getting used to going up stairs using up on the control pad when it seems like you should be able to just press right and tiny enemies to knock you off show up as soon as the second or third stage (Medusa heads). It's a great game, but I'd say you might expect some frustration.
I almost forgot about Luigi's Mansion. I'll fire that up this week for sure. Halloween time! That's one game where I'm totally with you on the frustration. Those ghost-sucking controls are awkward for me as well. I also wish Luigi moved faster.
I know Castlevania is going to frustrate me, but I'm ready for it. I'm going to push for tolerance.
The controls in LM aren't as frustrating after a while. They tell you to use the c-stick in battles, but you don't really have to. Just move in the opposite direction to the ghost you're attached to with the left analog stick and it's much less thumb straining.
I've played it a few times and it still irritates me when the ghost gets away. Maybe the ... whateverth time I beat it will be the charm.
I had several ghosts get away but the game remembers how many points you've taken from it and it comes back at reduced strength. I had this one ghost, though, a boo, that would zip out of the room through the wall. I went into the hallway and there it was. I chased it back into the room and we went back and forth like that several times before I got my vacuum on it good and captured it.
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