Another month of retro games tackled for this year’s RetroAchievements Challenge League.
Pokémon Pinball: Ruby and Sapphire
Great game, fun physics and the integration of catching Pokémon keeps you playing. Did take a while to catch the Jirachi required for the achievement I needed but worth the grind.
Willow
Already talked about this one but yeah, absolutely incredible for the NES. Honestly it’s probably better than Zelda 1 and 2 and I say that as somebody who’s never seen the movie.
Shanghai
Mahjong Solitaire for the Atari Lynx. Burned my eyeballs, even after finding a good overlay and shader to recreate the Lynx’s screen. INSANELY difficult, I literally had to beat one puzzle to get the achievement and me and my mum together took about 25 tries. Evil music loop too. The stuff of nightmares.
Lunar: Eternal Blue
Decent RPG with slightly awkward translation typical of the time. Bailed after the required achievement as I’ll play the remaster at some point.
Kirby Mass Attack
Unfortunately nothing to do with Massive Attack, instead the most awkward game to ever play emulated so I had to play it on my phone with the touch controls. Didn’t even have to play the main game, just enough to unlock the pinball minigame and get 100k on it, which is absolute pants compared to Pokémon Pinball. Not a fun time.
Pokémon Unova Red
Exactly what it sounds like, Red with the Unova Dex. Actually fits really well and the spritework is well done. The achievements required you to beat each gym with the party the equivalent leaders had in Black/White which meant I really had to plan my party in advance of each gym and train them accordingly. Creative set and good fun, made me appreciate the early game ‘mon more as I had to use a lot of them.
Just finished Shadow of the Beast on PS5. Finally got around to playing it after having it in my backlog for 5+ years now. It's a fun 2D platformer with a decent combat system. Had no idea this was a remake of an 80s game though, which is pretty cool. The game got quite challenging towards the end but luckily it didn't overstay its welcome as it only took me around 3 hours to finish it. There are also difficulty level options as well as unlockables that'll help you through your playthrough. All in all, this was an enjoyable experience.
Finished Far Cry New Dawn. Not bad at all. The cast of 5 are the standout so it was nice to have more content with them even if it was post-apocalyptic. There’s a certain sincerity and heart behind 5 and New Dawn that keeps me going even if I have my issues gameplay wise. Like having damage numbers and massive boss health bars is absolutely horrid. And the base building wasn’t the most interesting twist ever. It was the characters and world building that kept me invested and I’d say it was worth it.
Just finished The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure on Switch after about 43 hours of playtime. Another absolutely phenomenal entry in this series but not without its issues. Just like the final entry of the Erebonia arc, this game had a lot of padding. You'd spend a short time with the story and then you'd have to go do tons of support requests. Albeit optional, this is the only way to make money without exchanging your sepith. The support requests were interesting but I just wanted a lot of story first before taking a break and doing requests.
One thing I need to mention is that my expectations for this game were really high because of PushSquare's top list of Trails titles, which puts Trails to Azure at the number one spot. This game is nowhere near the number one spot for me. I'd rank the Erebonia and Crossbell arcs accordingly:
I mean, in terms of scope, characters, narrative, pacing (at least Cold Steel 2 and 3) and world-building, the Erebonia arc just has the Crossbell arc beat. Not to mention there's not much material to work with for such a small area compared to the massive empire of Erebonia. You're mostly revisiting the same places in Azure that you visited in Zero, with some new dungeons here and there. Also, being able to view 3D models of characters and areas makes the experience so much more immersive than sprite-based chibi models. This is a huge reason for why I'm glad I waited to play the Trails in the Sky games now that a 3D remake of the first game has been announced.
Despite this game not being as good as the Erebonia entries, this is still a Trails game, which are all fantastic games. Captivating story, exceptional world-building, tons of likeable characters, great soundtrack and fun gameplay. It's still a very good game and I highly enjoyed it.
I'm glad to have finally experienced both the Crossbell and Erebonia arcs. I kinda regret not having played the Crossbell titles first because I would've appreciated the characters in the later half of the Erebonia arc a lot more. But at least now I'm ready to experience Trails into Reverie.
One more Classicvania is off my list of unfinished CV games, Castlevania The Adventure. It is not a high point of the series for sure, but it is not that bad of a game either
I finally dusted off Resident Evil 4 Remake this weekend. I had a great time with it. Definitely a night-and-day difference for me compared to the original version. The greatness of the game was stuck inside those antiquated controls that I couldn’t get past before. The Remake is a really fantastic experience.
If I had any criticism, it would be how the briefcase limits your freedom to try different weapons and techniques. Once you level up a couple weapons then you essentially end up sticking with those the whole time. You can’t afford to experiment because you don’t have enough cash to level up more than a few things, and also you don’t have room in your inventory to have more than 2 or 3 weapons at a time. Once I got the Red9 going, I just used it and the shotgun (I went with the Riot Gun) for the majority of the playthrough, mixing in the rifle from time to time. The lack of ammunition made the Magnum and afterthought, and so I only really used it on the final boss. It’s a minor complaint and one that they addressed in the Remake by adding the shooting galleries to allow you to play around with all the weapons there.
Oh, and I do think the VA work for Ada was a little off-putting. She definitely didn’t deserve all the online bullying that happened though. Her role is limited so it didn’t detract too much for me. I do plan to eventually play the DLC, but not right away, so I’ll have to see how it affect things when she’s front-and-center the whole time. I suspect I’ll get used to her.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Th3solution congrats dude… and although you had a few nit-picks, it sounds like you had a real good time with it. Resident Evil is a series I’ve been meaning to start for such a long time, hopefully this year is gonna be the year though 🤞.
Talking of series that I’ve been meaning to start for ages, I just finished my first playthrough on Darksiders: Warmastered Edition and it was a revelation. The one Nintendo franchise I actually like is Zelda… and this just filled that hole like a glove. Managed to get all missables and collectibles, so ‘just’ a playthrough on Apocalyptic difficulty now 😅.
Something that did surprise me is how many people hold this game dear. A good few of the guys on my friends list messaged me out of the blue to tell me how much they loved this game, which rarely happens tbh.
@Th3solution
Congrats. I bought the Gold edition a while back and played it in VR, it is such a great game and one of my favourite VR games. I’ve yet to play the ADA dlc (which doesn’t support VR) but it is on my list, I just needed a little break after about five play throughs back to back to ensure I didn’t forget much (speed running is still very much required for the platinum). Dual wielding with a knife and gun is the only way to go.
I’ve completed the Mercenaries mode in order to unlock a gun, I normally dislike this mode but it was quite forgiving.
@CaptD The Ada DLC is supposed to be great. She seems like an interesting character too (curvaceousness aside) with her ambiguous background and allegiance.
I don’t do VR but the RE games are best-in-class from what I hear.
@graymamba Thanks, bud. RE1-4 remakes are nothing short of excellent. Every one of them. Do you plan to start with the remakes or go back to the originals (which are all now available on PS4). You have a better tolerance to retro gaming than I, but the OG 1-3 are quite good on their own. 4 is the only one I couldn’t wrap my head around. The OG 4 is a halfstep between the old tank controls and the new run ‘n gun free movement, so it just didn’t click for me.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Th3solution Congratulations on beating RE4 REmake, I'm pleased to know you had a great time with the game.
"Preoccupied with a single leaf, you won’t see the tree. Preoccupied with a single tree, you’ll miss the entire forest. Don't be preoccupied with a single spot. See everything in its entirety...effortlessly. That is what it means...to truly "see." "
@JohnnyShoulder 😂 No, the word yesterday was fress - “to devour, eat without restraint”
So what I should have said was “I hope you fress on the Ada DLC with the same level of enjoyment as you had with the base game.”
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Th3solution I’ll be playing the REmakes too… I did randomly play Resident Evil 2 Remake back in early 2020 and I liked it quite a bit tbh. I wasn’t quite the ocd trophy hunting monster then that I am today though and simply played it through with each character and moved on.
I did play Code Veronica on Dreamcast back in the day and the original Resident Evil 4 on Wii… but I always kinda stumbled into the series with no context nor frame of reference. That’s why I intend on doing it right this time, staring from the beginning (well, with 1 not 0) and attempting the platinum on each one. Not gonna blitz them though, at most I’ll be playing 2 per year.
@graymamba I think a sequential approach is best. The stories contained in the series are actually decent and playing them in order has helped me understand the characters and plot lines a little better.
RE1-3 are actually fairly short, but the platinums take a lot of effort and multiple playthroughs. My RE4 playtime was about 40 hours, but that includes pause time and some obsessing over inventory and vendor interactions. Probably closer to 30 hrs of actual gameplay. I think it was almost the ideal length, if not a smidge long. RE3 Remake is famously cut too short, and RE1 and RE2 are just about right, lengthwise. Two a year are certainly achievable for a player of your proficiency. But there’s also many other horror action game series you may prefer to add into the mix for the year instead.
Having finally checked off RE4 my next question is whether to continue on and try the lesser rated games in the series RE5 and RE6, as opposed to jumping past those and picking up with RE7 and RE8. My instinct is to go ahead and try 5 next, but that will probably have to wait until next year. I have other horror/zombie games slated for the year (Days Gone, Alan Wake, and at least one of the Dark Pictures Anthology)
Speaking of schedules, you and I had been discussing schedule modification recently, and I decided to veer off and do Star Wars Outlaws instead of trying to ram in another from my schedule out of turn. It was down to that or the Uncharted 2 replay, and I felt more like a SW Sci-Fi mood, as well as wanting to stay more topical with its recent revival after being patched. Early impressions are good and the stealth focus and lighter tone is a nice change of pace from murdering the infected.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Th3solution I have something similar come through every day, but I rarely pay any attention to it lol.
Glad you enjoyed Resident Evil 4 a great deal more than your first attempt. I would be tempted to give it another go, but didn't like what I played of the demo.
@Th3solution yeah I am kinda focussing on Resident Evil for the next few years at the expense of other horror games I’d want to play tbh… but a line in the sand has to be drawn as it were. Having said that, I will still play Dead Space 2 early next year for plat #250 though, which may in-turn impact my ability to get two Resi’s done in 2026 tbh but it is what it is.
Two games that I think I’ll love… maybe more than Resi are The Evil Within games. I’ve watched a few reviews and their mental demons-vibe seems more up my street than mega-corp monsters slant… but I’ll get to them eventually, I just wanna check off the major series that I missed over the last 20 years or so first I suppose. As it’s all too easy to push things back as infinitum (something I know you have experience of 😉).
Anyway, it’s good to hear a bit of positivity about SW: Outlaws… I’ve liked what I’ve seen of the game from back before release. Also, I’m the sole Ubisoft-stan out there… so am pretty confident that I’ll enjoy it when I get there. Always good to hear other people say some good stuff about it too though… as there was a shed-load of negativity back when it released 😅. Always thought it may well have been overblown as this current gaming sphere either love something or hate something, with nothing in-between… oh and the amount of hate spread seems to far outweigh the amount of love. What a world we live in!
@graymamba Yeah, the hate train seems to be at full speed on certain games. And once it gets rolling, it’s hard to stop.
I do think the stealth insta-fail sections were a legitimate problem, so those have been improved in the patches. As far as the Ubi open world criticisms and the ‘bland protagonist’ comments, that’s largely a matter of preference, I think. So far I find Kay to be interesting and enjoyable to play as. And yes, the Ubi open world is still great to engage in from time to time. The different setting more than makes up for sameness of the game structure. It’s nice to take a break from the historical and classic fantasy settings for a while (even though I love those too).
On a recent podcast I was listening to the guy said Outlaws was the best Star Wars he’s engaged with since the original trilogy. That’s high praise indeed, so we’ll have to see if it holds up.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
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