IC Forum Archive

TU · Posts: 12

Sawtooth wrote:

There is no love for Mischief Makers in the town of Hortonville, no sirree. Except from me, apparently.

Man, I haven't played that since it was new. I remember really liking it. I can hardly remember it now. One thing I liked was the style/mood of the game. I remember it being bright and happy. Lately I've had an urge to find a bright, colorful, fun game to play, preferably something I can download for the PC. Any suggestions as to something like that, something that I can play for fun while on the phone for instance, without heavy concentration?

dark steve · Posts: 3002

Like maybe tetris and some polyphonic spree mp3s?

ManekiNeko · Posts: 989

What games have I played in the forum's absence? Too many to count. These include...

Burnout 3 (wickedly awesome arcade racing with an ultraviolent twist)

Need for Speed Underground 2 (nifty racing title with responsive control but a little too much product placement)

MDK 2 Armageddon (somehow I remember the Dreamcast version being better than this...)

Jade Empire (not bad, but definitely not 9.9 material. It didn't hold my attention for long)

Ape Escape 2 (fun, fun, fun despite the spartan graphics. You gotta love the English translation!)

Guilty Gear X2 # Reload (my first XBox fighting game, if memory serves, and one of the best in my collection)

Gradius V (someone asked earlier how this played with a PS2 Saturn pad. The answer? Very awesomely)

R-Type Final (the weak sister next to Gradius V, but still a decent shooter in its own right)

Paper Mario (cute RPG, but not as good as the first. Baby Yoshi suffers from Scrappy Doo syndrome)

Alien Hominid (overrated, but nevertheless entertaining. Very imaginative characters and scenes)

Kirby Canvas Curse (I liked Yoshi a lot, but I must admit, there's just more game here)

Crimson Skies (bitchin' period piece flight game with tight control and fab graphics)

Kakuto Chojin (supposedly rare fighting game. The whole Koran controversy is its only notable quality)

Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour (between this and Hot Shots Open Tee, I've realized how much golf games PISS ME OFF)

Star Ocean: Till The End of Time (zzz...)

Capcom vs. SNK 2 Easy Operation (still endlessly fun after all these years. Shin Akuma's still an ass, too)

Armored Core 3 (same as all the other ones, despite the designers' [fradulent] claims of improved control)

Midway Arcade Treasures (Roadblasters plays pretty well with an MC2 steering wheel)

Tony Hawk's Underground 2 Remix (got it for cheap, and I do loves the T-Hawk series)

Dance Dance Revolution something or other (stopped playing after I thought I was going to have a heart attack)

Spiderman 2 (kind of fun, if Grand Thefty. Spidey cracks jokes here, a delightful surprise after the serious movie)

Eye Toy: Anti-Grav (what's with all these peripherals I buy and don't use, anyway?)

The King of Fighters 02/03 (might as well throw out the first disc... 2003's all I ever play)

Def Jam Vendetta (somewhere, Ice T's walking around with an imprint of my face on his fist)

JR

Lasa Kon · Posts: 245

Started playing Notrium again, I didn't kill the hermit this time either, I built the hoverbike and finally beat it with the subspace radio ending.

dessgeega · Posts: 3317

mischief makers happens to be a delightful game. i picked up my used copy some months ago. it's very inventive.

while the forums were down i unlocked every option in rez. one night i played a game of trancemission that lasted hours.

GrimSweeper · Posts: 530

My problem is remembering when the forums went down as my gaming hadn't changed because of it. So I'll try to remember some of the more recent ones

The demo for the new Zun shoot 'em up (somebody mentioned it earlier) - Story mode feels empty, but that's probably due to it being only 3 stages long. It also isn't as difficult as trying to beat the damnable AI in Hard/Lunatic. I come very close in Hard, but my endurance isn't up to machine precision. Nice change from his other games; this would be my first Twinkle Star-type game I've played.

Gunroar first version - As always, Kenta Cho delivers a simplistic yet fun game. And by the sounds of the newer versions, he keeps on delivering! Sadly, I have only a keyboard to use. Things explode to great satisfaction on my part and the flame/smoke particles is a nice touch. Closest comparison of his past games would be Parsec47, it feels like.

Tetris Attack - If anyone can remember some time back, I remarked on finally beating in Hard and found out that there is another difficulty to it. Well, recently I managed to one credit all the way to Bowser and like what others have said in that previous topic, he's a total bastard. He hands out the 5x or 6x garbage blocks like they were candy. Totally decimated all my characters down to Yoshi, where I shut it off in utter disgust.

Lumines - On a brother's PSP. Interesting take on a block-puzzle system, but I find the sound effects based on combos and other willy-nilly things rather random. I could not make it rhythmic. Still a bit addicting if I see the PSP lying around.

Startopia - It's like playing Theme Hospital combined with Dungeon Keeper...in space! Underdogs had it downloadable, so I took the liberty of getting it (relatively small too). It's easy, but it's charming. One comment, those furry little creatures totally surprised me when I found out that one had attacked a visitor and used their corpse to change into a huge beetle thing. They looked so innocent before-hand and I was going to use them to eat garbage for me.

Majesty - Had played this before (never mentioned it, though). I was attempting to finish both the Northern Expansion and the Normal Campaign missions, but my interest waned. Only had 2 left of Normal and about 5 or 6 in the North. Building for economy has the most advantages over all.

HoMM IV - Only Novice, and mostly only the campaigns. I managed to gain interest in their stories, so that's about the only thing motivating me. Just finished the Order Campaign just a few days ago, so I'm giving it a rest for about a week before continuing on another one.

Megaman games for the SNES - Don't know why, closest I figure it is that I want them done and over with. Just a matter of finding the boss that falls to the basic weapon first, then trying the other enemies until Bad Guy's fortress. Haven't finished them yet, but I haven't touched in a few weeks.

Assorted translated SNES roms that Aeon Genesis worked on - Do have a look at the site; most have a decent quality to them.

Mario 1, 2, 3 and World - Trying to speed run them. My quality does not approach those who hold that title, but it was enough to impress my classmates after a number of groups' presentations over several days. Also dabbled in trying to 1-life Mario World, but Tubular and one of the others after it (dark forest one with jumping flames and bullet bills) do me in time after time.

Gunz - Got up to level 6 and then realized that quite possibly my skill was being over-rated. Don't know how they managed it, but the creators went in a strange direction. Instead of getting hurt when other people see you getting hurt, you only are when you see yourself getting hurt. Therefore lag helps instead of hinders. I dropped it out of disgust.

Star Sonata - small, online MMO that simulates space in 2D. Been playing on subscription for quite some time. Community is better than say Runescape, but not by much. Majority of the time I tend to my bases instead of going around killing things and getting loot.

I think I'll stop there. This took long enough to write.

Baines · Posts: 906

nICO wrote:

SoA was good. Great even. It restored my faith in RPGs.

I don't understand the praise for SoA. I tried playing Legends, and it fairly quickly bored me to tears. It was just a dead average console RPG, and too much a chore to slog through.

Haven't played much of anything in the IC downtime, just haven't been caring about games at all lately. VF4, Dynasty Warriors 5, a little Riviera, dug out Bloody Roar Primal Fury for some unknown reason, and just randomly tried a few available GBA games. (The GBA Dynasty Warriors game? Ugh. I'd expect better design in a SNES era game made during the SNES era.)

dessgeega · Posts: 3317

gunroar is one of my favorite aba games of all (so is wok, incidentally). i've been saving tons of movies.

i havn't tried out the new version, though i have it on my computer. at some point i'll have to hook up a ps2 controller and attempt twin sticks mode.

dhex · Posts: 2963

morrowind, far cry, doom 3. i tried halo but that didn't work out. (anyone want it?)

Rud13 · Posts: 3277

legatob wrote:

The big problem with GunZ is that I've played The Specialists, which is better in every way if you've got enough people to play and they're not faggots. I should round some dudes up and play TS again sometime soon.

I'd be up for this.

Renfrew · Posts: 46

I've gotten hooked on Guild Wars. I've been playing it alot lately.
I've also just started playing Grim Fandango and Minish Cap.
I'm in the middle of Final Fantasy 4 (haven't played it in a week) and Final Fantasy 9 (I haven't played it in two months, but I'm dedicated to finishing it).
I haven't been to my Animal Crossing town in over a week. I feel kinda sad about that.
Soon I'm going to get those last four souls on Castlevania Aria of Sorrow.
I started up Metal Gear Solid 2 (again), but I haven't played since I got to the plant. I'll beat it again soon, and watch every single second of cutscene and dialogue, just like I always do.
In a couple of weeks, I'm going to start playing Super Smash Brothers Melee on a serious level again. Same goes for DDR.
Finally, I'm gonna finish Fire Emblem 6 soon.

steamyrobotlove · Posts: 17

My friend and I have been challenging each other to high-score wars in Strikers 1945, and thus far, he's ahead about 100K. As a fairly new player to this genre, the point gap is difficult to close. It also doesn't help that this is one of the harder shoot'em ups.

Area 51 has briefly occupied space in my PS2. As a person who typically avoids first-person shooters, I thought I should get a little time in on an unknown genre, so I checked it out from work. It's your typical fare with the characteristic assortment of weapons and enemies you'd find in a typical first-person shooter. I'd say it typifies the genre.
And that's a lot of 'typ-.'

It stars David Duchovny as the main character.
In a game about aliens and political conspiricy.

It's like they're HAMMERING you over the head with it. With it.

Brief bouts with Sonic Mega Collection, F-Zero GX, and Beatmania IIDX have rounded out my general gaming experience over the last month.

Edit: Scratch that: I've actually played IIDX 7th, 8th, and 9th Style more than any other games this month. I think I worked a few years of usage into my IIDX BeCon in just a few weeks, legitimizing the theory of time compression.

LegatoB · Posts: 1546

Rud13 wrote:

legatob wrote:

The big problem with GunZ is that I've played The Specialists, which is better in every way if you've got enough people to play and they're not faggots. I should round some dudes up and play TS again sometime soon.

I'd be up for this.

We should try making some arrangements sometime. Find some other folks with Steam, and someone who can run a server, and kill us some dudes.

On another note more directly related to the topic, I played a neat little MMO called Dofus today. The game is Flash-based, which means it should run on even really sucky computers, and will run on Windows or Macs or Linux or what have you. The battles play out like an SRPG: you have a grid you move on, and you and your (human-controlled) teammates each control one character of varying classes. The idea is to use your various abilities to defeat parties of MOBs (or, I believe, another party of humans in PvP). I'm not sure what the grind is like in this game, but it's pretty fun just to join a group and go flank some sheep monsters. And the client is less than 50 megs, so even dial-up users can give it a shot. I just wish the character sprites were a bit larger - a zoomed view would improve things a lot.

FortNinety · Posts: 4591

The rest of the games are shite, but Virtua Racing on the Sega Classics Collection does a good job re-creating the brilliant arcade original.

aderack · Posts: 5018

I really should review this.

Since, you know, the only bad game on the collection is Golden Axe. Fantasy Zone, Space Harrier, Outrun, and Alien Syndrome are all it really needs. Best versions ever of three of those games, and a pretty neat reinterpretation of Harrier.

I don't care about Virtua Racing. I guess since everyone else is flpping for it, it's just as well that it's on there.

Scratchmonkey · Posts: 2229

FortNinety wrote:

The rest of the games are shite, but Virtua Racing on the Sega Classics Collection does a good job re-creating the brilliant arcade original.

You're crazy. I'm about to say something crazier, it also happens to be TRUE:

The Sega Classics version of Outrun is the best version of Outrun there has been.

aderack · Posts: 5018

dessgeega wrote:

i need to track down my copy of shenmue 2. i'm eager to see the rough bits of the original smoothed down a bit (and to play afterburner II!) but i havn't yet decided i'm ready to invest the time the game will need.

You'll be glad you bothered when you get to disc four.

Avoid the Xbox version if you've the option. Unless your name is SAZOOKI-SAAAHN, TAHNAHKAH-SAAAAAHN, or SAITO-SAAAAAAAHN.

dessgeega · Posts: 3317

what i might end up doing is getting the uk dreamcast version and then using the swap trick. that works, right?

aderack · Posts: 5018

It must, because that's what I did!

I used a Game Shark as a bootdisc.

dessgeega · Posts: 3317

you're a shrewd one.

Persona-sama · Posts: 1145

I just beat

!

I then talk about it here:
http://www.livejournal.com/users/persona_kun/26961.html !!

I really do love that Sega Classics Collection.
If only the version of Columns were a bit more enjoyable, then this would be the only game I would need.

Anyway, what games do you guys plan on playing?

I intend to play and possibly beat:
-Earthbound (I've only gotten to the desert. CONTACT LENS!)
-Shin Megami Tensei I (THE 1st PERSON VIEW IS TERRIBLE! It MAKES ME CLAW AT MY EYES T___T)
-Monster World IV (Staring Arasha!)
-Dragon Quest VI (Although it's pretty tacky so far)

Dear Aderack: speaking of Monster World, did you know it's the sequel to Wonder Boy? I found this out only recently. It answered a lot of my questions and now I feel another piece of Sega-wholeness fufill my heart. Soon I shall be complete and then I will explode across the galaxy, painting a beautiful le arc en ciel across the sky.

In conclusion, I want to play Phenix Wright.

Smoke.

aderack · Posts: 5018

Yes!

Wonderboy and Monster Land have a long and peculiar history. One best addressed in a flowchart, I imagine.

chazumaru* · Posts: 480

Persona-sama wrote:

I just beat

!

I then talk about it here:
http://www.livejournal.com/users/persona_kun/26961.html

Ah, I really wanted to try that one. I think it's because I found the translation on a ROM hack & translation website linked on IC, but it's all buried in my HD somewhere. You wouldn't happen to have some helpful links to give the translated game a try, would you ?

[edit] Well, I was about to say "nevermind I just read your entry", but the link to the game doesn't seem to work.

dessgeega · Posts: 3317

Persona-sama wrote:

I just beat

!

i had a wonderful time with that game, even if sometimes you have no idea what you have to do to make the story progress.

i spent a whole night playing it and had a very hard time pulling myself away, despite being very sleepy. i kept thinking if i stuck it out a little longer i'd reach the conclusion. the game keeps baiting you with these surprise twists - a whole almost-ending midway through - that eventually i caught on and realized i wasn't going to finish it anytime soon.

i think i played it to finish the first thing after i woke up.

EDIT: the link works for me. maybe you're just strange, chaz.

chazumaru* · Posts: 480

Nope. Still not working. Odd.

RJExcal · Posts: 62

Burnout 3, VF4, and GT4. Got myself one of those Driving Force Pro wheels. It's getting exchanged today tho, the goddamn pedals don't work right, but the force feedback is sweet.

Sawtooth · Posts: 2350

Persona-sama wrote:

I just beat

!

Shit! I had the world's best screen shot from that game, but my imagehost crashed and I don't have a backup.

I played that game too. I don't like the way the plot holes were never answered at the end. You ask a question, and Utsugi says "That's a good question. Well, time for lunch!"

dessgeega wrote:

spent a whole night playing it and had a very hard time pulling myself away, despite being very sleepy. i kept thinking if i stuck it out a little longer i'd reach the conclusion. the game keeps baiting you with these surprise twists - a whole almost-ending midway through - that eventually i caught on and realized i wasn't going to finish it anytime soon.

i think i played it to finish the first thing after i woke up.

That is exactly how I played it. It was like reading a good piece of interactive fiction (not text adventure), except this had pictures!

Also, the game pushes you a little too much from place to place. I would have liked a few more red herrings and side stories that I could have optionally pursued, but that's just me.

I guess that's the difference between a text adventure and interactive fiction, too. IF games are like short stories with the progression and details provided by the user, TA games are like regular old graphical adventures with more environmental interaction.

I might turn this into a post. Anybody ever played anything by Andrew Plotkin?

dessgeega · Posts: 3317

i can't play an adventure game without thinking of all the things andrew plotkin would hate about it.

i follow his reviews religiously.

Persona-sama · Posts: 1145

chazumaru* wrote:

Nope. Still not working. Odd.

It should work now, Chazoo, give it a click. If not, just head into that root directory and grab the smc file.

I played the game in one sitting too.
I started around 8:30 PM and ended at about 5 AM. I seriously thought there would be branching options with consequences, but was disappointed to find that there weren't any. It seems a bit self-censoring at times (probably because it's a Nintendo game) but it was a pretty good mystery game. It made me think of anime and young-teen mystery novels.

And Aderack, awesome Paint pic!
You're giving Rerorero/Pantlessman a run for his money!

aderack · Posts: 5018

Persona-sama wrote:

It should work now, Chazoo, give it a dick.

It made me think of slime and young-teen mystery novels.

And Aderack, awesome Paint pic!
You're giving Rerorero/Pantlessman a run for his money!

I Aim To Please (IATP).

dessgeega · Posts: 3317

so there's this webgame called grow. it's been around for a bit. each turn you add one piece into the game, and each turn every piece already in the game grows by one level. when they've reached certain levels, pieces can interact to produce interesting results that allow other pieces to grow. the strategy is in observing the interactions and deciding which is the best order to play the pieces.

well now the creators of grow, eyezmaze, have made grow rpg, which works the same way, except that what you are growing is a jrpg world, and at the end a little hero quests forth to explore your world. it is cute and a clever deconstruction of the jrpg.

you ought to play it. many times.

chazumaru* · Posts: 480

Persona-sama wrote:

It should work now

Indeed ! Thanks.

I played Mahjong Keiji, lately:

another god · Posts: 1629

http://sudoku.com.au/Player4.htm?Go=E24-7-2005

Scratchmonkey · Posts: 2229

Persona-sama wrote:

-Dragon Quest VI (Although it's pretty tacky so far)

Elaborate, please!

I'm playing this as well, I'm not very far mainly because I succumb very easily to the 'must save up enough money for every available item' playing-style. Which isn't that bad in DQ because the battle engine is so slick and quite frankly, beautiful, that random encounters are an enjoyable experience.

Persona-sama · Posts: 1145

Scratchmonkey wrote:

Persona-sama wrote:

-Dragon Quest VI (Although it's pretty tacky so far)

Elaborate, please!

I'm playing this as well, I'm not very far mainly because I succumb very easily to the 'must save up enough money for every available item' playing-style. Which isn't that bad in DQ because the battle engine is so slick and quite frankly, beautiful, that random encounters are an enjoyable experience.

Well, I'm not that far in the game. I just got out of the first cave area with the first enemies and stopped while I was bartering with people to buy something.

The character design isn't that charming compared to DQV. Also, the old, first generation SNES RPG graphics style of DQV reminded me of FFIV and that helped me go through it for sake of nostalgia. DQVI, on the otherhand, reminds me too much of Chrono Trigger and doesn't add up so well in comparison.

With DQV, I was playing it waiting until the part where I could finally have a Slime join my party. In DQVI, I don't really have any intrinsic motivation to pull me along. Tell me something interesting that happens in the game later and I'll pull through then.

(Can I recruit those spotted slimes in my party later on? That would be kind of neat.)

Scratchmonkey · Posts: 2229

The instant that I knew that I loved DQVI was when I first saw the sky background for the cliff-area battle scenes.

I'll let you know if I run into something more conventionally alluring. I'm enjoying the game purely on the strength of atmosphere at this point.

Intentionally Wrong · Posts: 673

dessgeega wrote:

i can't play an adventure game without thinking of all the things andrew plotkin would hate about it.

i follow his reviews religiously.

HOLY SHIT DESSGEEGA YOU ARE MY NEW HERO I MEAN SERIOUSLY

I've been trying to promote interactive fiction here for nearly a year--and all the while, someone who already follows Andrew Plotkin is standing right beside me.

You've just BLOWN my MIND.

Also: played Thief: Deadly Shadows today. It's good. I rather wonder whether it merits further discussion.

dessgeega · Posts: 3317

Intentionally Wrong wrote:

I've been trying to promote interactive fiction here for nearly a year--and all the while, someone who already follows Andrew Plotkin is standing right beside me.

let's totally have detailed discussions of so far and spider and web.

it'll be awesome.

Intentionally Wrong · Posts: 673

Alright, sure.

I like spider and web enough to always use it as the archetypical "best" of modern interactive fiction--the nature of the game's central puzzle is enough to secure that right. That said, I'm kind of obsessed with so far. What it sets out to do, and what it accomplishes, are much more curious aims than those spider encompasses.

I mean. Let's get something out of the way first: I suck at traditional adventure games. I have no patience for puzzles; if a game has hints or a walkthrough, in all but the rarest of cases I'll seize them and never let go until the game's done. All of the unfinished .z5 files I'm working on would be classified as puzzleless.

Despite recognizing this, I can appreciate puzzley games. Emily Short's Savoir-Faire made my list of all-time favorites, even though I can't progress once I'm in the mansion proper without the walkthrough. The fact that I'm not suited to enjoy a particular game in its intended way doesn't stop me from enjoying it.

It should come as no surprise, then, that I've never had even a remote chance of seeing most of what so far has to offer, let alone either of its endings, without a walkthrough. I've gone that route just once, but it's stayed with me ever since, and I'm always starting up a new game, thinking that my memories will be enough of an aid to traversing the game's inexplicable logic, but they're never sufficient.

So why does the game mean so damn much to me?

dessgeega · Posts: 3317

Intentionally Wrong wrote:

It should come as no surprise, then, that I've never had even a remote chance of seeing most of what so far has to offer, let alone either of its endings, without a walkthrough. I've gone that route just once, but it's stayed with me ever since, and I'm always starting up a new game, thinking that my memories will be enough of an aid to traversing the game's inexplicable logic, but they're never sufficient.

i've only seen so far's ending with a walkthrough either.

so far (an "interactive catharsis," according to its tagline) expresses its themes through means that are seldom attempted. the theme is never spoken; it's largely metaphor. that first world, with all the rusted, broken machinery. most of the puzzles there involve bringing two elements as close to each other as possible without letting them touch.

the protagonist and aessa.

the ending offers you a choice, and the solution follows the same logic of those puzzles, practically against everything most videogames have taught you about resolution. but the answer is obvious if you've been paying attention.

(spider and web gives you a choice too.)

the narrative is in the puzzles themselves. not many games accomplish this well - ikaruga might be another. the closest you come to an explanation is the play - have you noticed there are three of them? they're all the same play.

incidentally. have you played emily short's marble madness?

Intentionally Wrong · Posts: 673

dessgeega wrote:

so far (an "interactive catharsis," according to its tagline) expresses its themes through means that are seldom attempted. the theme is never spoken; it's largely metaphor. that first world, with all the rusted, broken machinery. most of the puzzles there involve bringing two elements as close to each other as possible without letting them touch.

the protagonist and aessa.

the ending offers you a choice, and the solution follows the same logic of those puzzles, practically <i>against</i> everything most videogames have taught you about resolution. but the answer is obvious if you've been paying attention.

(spider and web gives you a choice too.)

the narrative is in the puzzles themselves. not many games accomplish this well - ikaruga might be another. the closest you come to an explanation is the play - have you noticed there are three of them? they're all the same play.

You're right about all of this, of course, but aside from simply containing a theme that's never voiced, so far is a very curious game. I mean. Plotkin explains in the about text that this is game's difficulty is rated "cruel"; it's possible to die, it's possible to make the game unwinnable, it's possible to save after making the game unwinnable, and there's not really any good way to know whether the game is winnable at a given point. You can screw yourself over very badly, with very little effort.

Of all Plotkin's games, I think this one probably has the most to say, yet it's simultaneously his hardest. (Well, I say that. You could make a case for A Change In The Weather being harder, and I wouldn't dispute it; I've already admitted I'm not much of an authority where difficulty is concerned.) It reminds me of Tim's review of Romancing Saga: Minstrel Song: this game does nothing to help the player win. It's not as actively hostile as Minstrel Song, I suspect; it's just disinterested in whether the player succeeds or fails. It's content to be utterly alien if that's what it will take to get its point across.

This is something that only seems to work well in freeware. I don't know. Somebody else should probably interject something about Killer7 at this point, but I'm not convinced there's a parallel.

dessgeega · Posts: 3317

Intentionally Wrong wrote:

Of all Plotkin's games, I think this one probably has the most to say, yet it's simultaneously his hardest. (Well, I say that. You could make a case for A Change In The Weather being harder, and I wouldn't dispute it; I've already admitted I'm not much of an authority where difficulty is concerned.)

a change in the weather, though, is short and meant to be replayed over and over until it's won, sort of like a shooter (adam cadre's varicella is like this, too, only more elaborate). so far, by contrast, is a vast, sprawling work. a game you need at least a week to play to finish it, and which can be made unwinnable instantly.

that's terrible game design, of course. yet so far remains an amazing work. i think it has something to do with the ambition. i think part of it, also, is the cruelty. if the game pandered to and coddled the player it'd be false.

spider and web, of course, is all about the replaying - the game forces you to replay each scene (exept for the last) until you get it right. this is part of the game's story, and it's seemless (which is a pretty amazing accomplishment). i think spider and web is better-designed. but i would consider so far some kind of "grand work."

maybe it's a question of scope?

Rud13 · Posts: 3277

Lament of Innocence is boring.

Project:Snowblind is interesting.

And a lot of early Genesis games just plain suck.

I paid 2 dollars for a game that is by all rights, unplayable.

Intentionally Wrong · Posts: 673

dessgeega wrote:

spider and web, of course, is all about the replaying - the game forces you to replay each scene (exept for the last) until you get it right. this is part of the game's story, and it's seemless (which is a pretty amazing accomplishment). i think spider and web is better-designed. but i would consider so far some kind of "grand work."

maybe it's a question of scope?

Potentially. spider and web strikes me as being more concerned with puzzle- and framing story-mechanics rather than a particular vision. In that sense, I definitely agree that so far's scope is what makes it superior.

I think a part of my preference, at least, stems from spider and web's being clever. It's a very clever game, in addition to having excellent mechanics. The two aspects complement each other well.

So Far, by contrast, isn't really clever at all, and I mean that in a good way. If I had to use a word, I'd probably say it's resonant. Rather than working your way through a situation that has a pat solution, So Far is a kind of metaphor that you have to unfold. Everything has so much meaning to convey, it's never clear what's going to be important, or even necessarily what your objective is. You're just jumping through shadows and performing Significant Works. It's like the means to the ends are the ends themselves.

I guess what I'm saying is that what So Far does is a lot harder for me to understand, and I respect that which I can't understand.

Poppy · Posts: 24

To Intentionally wrong & dessgeega :

I don't know much about modern IF but I remember being really impressed by Shrapnel and Galatea.

Have you got definitive works of IF to recommend? I mean besides So far and Spider & web.

Also, did anybody try Facade here? It's sort of interesting but the interpreter feels very buggy and it takes hours for the characters to answer my lines (when they answer that is).

dessgeega · Posts: 3317

Poppy wrote:

definitive works of IF

well, if you want to start early, there's the colossal cave adventure. infocom did a lot to popularize the form and produced some of its most shining works. my must-plays include a mind forever voyaging, enchanter, and trinity.

you can get nearly every infocom game on one cd if you can find it (they're pretty rare; i have one, though), but they're considered abandonware so tracking them down shouldn't be too difficult.

in regards to "modern" interactive fiction: emily short keeps a list which is pretty thorough. yoon ha lee keeps a list as well.

from her list i'd recommend hunter, in darkness by andrew plotkin, pytho's mask by emily short (and perhaps metamorphoses), and for a change by dan schmidt, which are all pretty solvable and pretty wonderful. michael gentry's anchorhead is a rich lovecraftian horror with a very reasonable difficulty curve. andrew plotkin's the dreamhold is aimed at beginners. adam cadre's photopia made me cry.

adam cadre's 9:05 is very clever and will take you five minutes. sam barlow's aisle is similiarly easy to pick up and put down.

if you feel really, really ambitious, attempt graham nelson's jigsaw. and if you're that ambitious than so far is a good idea too.

frederick pohl's gateway has a very rich sense of world, and uses graphics as well as text. it is a game to curl up with on a rainy day.

charlie · Posts: 211

Just finished up Resident Evil 4. The last boss fight+end sequence was worth the price of admission alone.

Thinking about finishing up Star Ocean 3 next. Or I could clean up my computer, re-install WinXP, then play Half Life 2.

Shapermc · Posts: 2450

I played Pop'n Music 11 all freaking Saturday. It is great. Tank! is one of the TV songs (you know, the Cowboy Bebop theme song). I can almost 100K the hyper version. I must say, with only about 5 or so songs unlocked, this is is the best Pop'n to come out since 8.

I ... also got to the upside down castle in SotN for the first time. I have had the game since late '03 and have known about the upside down castle since about '00 if not a little earlier. I rented and "beat" the game right after it came out and wrote it off as "easy" and "short." I knew about the upside down castle but did not want to cheat to find it, so I could not figure out why in the hell I did not have the Holy Goggles yet. Then I figured it all out after finding the Nightmare (which is one of the best story sequences in a Castlevania game) level... that I had somehow missed in my 2 previous play troughs of the game.

Damn the upside down castle is hard. IGA needs to make the game hard again like this after you start to feel comfortable with the game. I mean, I have died more in the upside down castle than in my two previous plays of SotN, HoD and AoS combined. It is a pretty cool feeling.

special blend · Posts: 154

Just played three hours of Dead or Alive 2: Ultimate so I could unlock some new costumes for DOA3. You don't even get that many.

Sawtooth · Posts: 2350

Intentionally Wrong wrote:

HOLY SHIT DESSGEEGA YOU ARE MY NEW HERO I MEAN SERIOUSLY

I've been trying to promote interactive fiction here for nearly a year--and all the while, someone who already follows Andrew Plotkin is standing right beside me.

I get no respect. I've been following Andrew Plotkin ever since I got System's Twilight in the mail with a Macworld subscription. Actually, there was more stuff with it but ST was all that mattered. First puzzle game of its sort that I ever played.

A Hunter, In Darkness is heartily seconded. The squeeze through the cave sequence is quite amazing.

The rest of Plotkin's games are here. I'd recommend Shade to start out with. It's the first piece of IF I had played after repeatedly failing at Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy so many years ago.