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Video Gaming Catch-Up Post
Mar. 10th, 2024 09:46 pmI’ve been putting up KEMCO reviews but haven’t actually posted about other games I’ve played.
Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Final Bar Line (Switch) – A rhythm game of Final Fantasy tunes; I played the previous two games in this series on the 3DS, and this changed up the gameplay just enough (mostly because it doesn’t have a stylus) to make it different and interesting. You play through songs in each of the games in the series (you choose the order) and collect characters and a gazillion “Collectacards” corresponding to characters, monsters, summons and scenes. There’s an ”advanced” section of harder Theatrhythm remix songs and beating that gets you the credit roll (and access to the “Endless World” stage), but really this is about playing songs over and over to unlock and build up you characters; complete quests; and be completionist about collectables. (There’s also a multiplayer mode and a whole trading system; I didn’t bother with either.) I was annoyed that while some of the quests are easy (play the song with a certain character or no items) and some are purely skill-based (get a perfect chain, get 60% or more Critical), some of them require the randomizer to throw out a boss or other monster in the right slot and are simply impossible most times you play through the song. There are already so many songs and things to grind for in this game, I don’t need to have quests I need to grind for also. I played all the games I know well and the “final” area, and called that good enough.
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (GBA, Replayed on TRIMUI Smart Pro) – This remains one of the strongest games in the series (especially since despite having one of the more obtuse good endings, it doesn’t actually lock that much content behind it). I replayed this in 2019 and was mostly just in the mood for a quick jaunt: I used an “all weapons” cheat and blazed through the game, though I still got 93% map completion (without an FAQ or anything) and most of the secrets anyway.
Sword of Mana (GBA, Replayed on Trimui Smart Pro) – Such a controversial game within the Mana fandom, but still one of my favorites. I last replayed this in 2019 on my 9X-S handheld. They packed so much into this (and so much of it is obtuse without a guide) and after something like a dozen playthroughs I still find something new every time. I used cheat codes to fill my inventory with every item and discovered a whole host of consumables and materials I’d never found before! Clearly they’re extremely rare drops. I also played through the girl’s story for the first time in probably a decade and went for the Ninja Master class, a track I’d never tried before that requires levels of Thief and then Random, and gives big critical and dodge bonuses. I skipped virtually all of the sidequests and used very little magic, instead focusing on using a variety of weapons and consumable items. (And got through the game in under 8 hours, which is not surprising.)
Crusader of Centy (Genesis, Played on Trimui Smart Pro) – Compared to what I expect from a SNES Zeldalike (or modern ones, for that matter) the feel of the controls and the hitboxes are weird (both what your sword hits and where enemies can hit you). Graphics-wise, this looks like Illusion of Gaia as much as anything—it’s got a cartoony Quintet sort of style to it. You slowly unlock abilities like jumping and lifting objects, and get animal companions like your useless floating dog. I made it through the first few areas and then some combination of the emulator and rom made me unable to enter the volcano, but I didn’t feel the urge to replay the earlier sections so that I could play more at that point.
Shinobi (Game Gear, Played on Trimui Smart Pro) – In a lot of ways this is a very era-appropriate “memorizer” platformer game, and structurally it’s very similar to a Mega Man game: You need to beat the first four stages to unlock the four other ninjas (each with a weapon and a special ability), then take all five characters through the final area, switching off to solve puzzles with each of them. In practice, you need to memorize where enemies pop out of because the game is really unforgiving, and the last stage is a maze of insanely hard challenges that require intimate knowledge of what each of the ninjas can do. (Would you guess that Yellow can stand on water spouts? I wouldn’t!) I’m sure that people beat this in the pre-save state era, but I’m guessing they spent more on batteries than they originally did on the game to do so.
Legend of Zelda Hidden Trove (SNES, Played on Trimui Smart Pro) - One of several “18-hour hacks” that made it onto Romhacking.net, featuring a condensed overworld, the barest framework of a plot, and a few new dungeons. My biggest issue with hacks like these is that they clearly went for “fast and functional” but rarely have new ideas that really work. This had a couple of obtuse points which had me walking in circles, which is irritating for a game that takes about an hour to play through. (Including that you need to challenge Ganon, fall through the floor, get the silver arrows from a chest there, and then challenge him again in a glitchy battle without any green potion.)
Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Final Bar Line (Switch) – A rhythm game of Final Fantasy tunes; I played the previous two games in this series on the 3DS, and this changed up the gameplay just enough (mostly because it doesn’t have a stylus) to make it different and interesting. You play through songs in each of the games in the series (you choose the order) and collect characters and a gazillion “Collectacards” corresponding to characters, monsters, summons and scenes. There’s an ”advanced” section of harder Theatrhythm remix songs and beating that gets you the credit roll (and access to the “Endless World” stage), but really this is about playing songs over and over to unlock and build up you characters; complete quests; and be completionist about collectables. (There’s also a multiplayer mode and a whole trading system; I didn’t bother with either.) I was annoyed that while some of the quests are easy (play the song with a certain character or no items) and some are purely skill-based (get a perfect chain, get 60% or more Critical), some of them require the randomizer to throw out a boss or other monster in the right slot and are simply impossible most times you play through the song. There are already so many songs and things to grind for in this game, I don’t need to have quests I need to grind for also. I played all the games I know well and the “final” area, and called that good enough.
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (GBA, Replayed on TRIMUI Smart Pro) – This remains one of the strongest games in the series (especially since despite having one of the more obtuse good endings, it doesn’t actually lock that much content behind it). I replayed this in 2019 and was mostly just in the mood for a quick jaunt: I used an “all weapons” cheat and blazed through the game, though I still got 93% map completion (without an FAQ or anything) and most of the secrets anyway.
Sword of Mana (GBA, Replayed on Trimui Smart Pro) – Such a controversial game within the Mana fandom, but still one of my favorites. I last replayed this in 2019 on my 9X-S handheld. They packed so much into this (and so much of it is obtuse without a guide) and after something like a dozen playthroughs I still find something new every time. I used cheat codes to fill my inventory with every item and discovered a whole host of consumables and materials I’d never found before! Clearly they’re extremely rare drops. I also played through the girl’s story for the first time in probably a decade and went for the Ninja Master class, a track I’d never tried before that requires levels of Thief and then Random, and gives big critical and dodge bonuses. I skipped virtually all of the sidequests and used very little magic, instead focusing on using a variety of weapons and consumable items. (And got through the game in under 8 hours, which is not surprising.)
Crusader of Centy (Genesis, Played on Trimui Smart Pro) – Compared to what I expect from a SNES Zeldalike (or modern ones, for that matter) the feel of the controls and the hitboxes are weird (both what your sword hits and where enemies can hit you). Graphics-wise, this looks like Illusion of Gaia as much as anything—it’s got a cartoony Quintet sort of style to it. You slowly unlock abilities like jumping and lifting objects, and get animal companions like your useless floating dog. I made it through the first few areas and then some combination of the emulator and rom made me unable to enter the volcano, but I didn’t feel the urge to replay the earlier sections so that I could play more at that point.
Shinobi (Game Gear, Played on Trimui Smart Pro) – In a lot of ways this is a very era-appropriate “memorizer” platformer game, and structurally it’s very similar to a Mega Man game: You need to beat the first four stages to unlock the four other ninjas (each with a weapon and a special ability), then take all five characters through the final area, switching off to solve puzzles with each of them. In practice, you need to memorize where enemies pop out of because the game is really unforgiving, and the last stage is a maze of insanely hard challenges that require intimate knowledge of what each of the ninjas can do. (Would you guess that Yellow can stand on water spouts? I wouldn’t!) I’m sure that people beat this in the pre-save state era, but I’m guessing they spent more on batteries than they originally did on the game to do so.
Legend of Zelda Hidden Trove (SNES, Played on Trimui Smart Pro) - One of several “18-hour hacks” that made it onto Romhacking.net, featuring a condensed overworld, the barest framework of a plot, and a few new dungeons. My biggest issue with hacks like these is that they clearly went for “fast and functional” but rarely have new ideas that really work. This had a couple of obtuse points which had me walking in circles, which is irritating for a game that takes about an hour to play through. (Including that you need to challenge Ganon, fall through the floor, get the silver arrows from a chest there, and then challenge him again in a glitchy battle without any green potion.)
