NFT: Video Games - Old Gen/s Thread

was IGN's top 125 Nintendo games of all time. A fun read through even if you disagree with the order. Ohh the memories...
Top 125 Nintendo Games - ( New Window )

ps3 and didn't play the uncharted games/last of us those are a must. Also far cry 3 was awesome

I had to force myself to stick with the story at first because there was so much to do I was a bit overwhelmed. But once the story gets going its a ton of fun. There are some really great moments in that game.

1) Uncharted 3
2) Last of Us
3) Far Cry 3
4) Uncharted 2
5) Tomb Raider

In comment 11889906 dontboobigblue said:

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ps3 and didn't play the uncharted games/last of us those are a must. Also far cry 3 was awesome

The Uncharted series is one of the best game series I've ever played. Easy controls, interesting plot developments, amazing action set pieces, it's truly awesome. I also heard that the latest Tomb Raider was similar, though I have yet to get far into it.

for years and never used it for gaming. Last of Us i'd play but not into Uncharted. I'm really looking for a solid RPG that I missed.

I'm wondering if downloading Xenoblade on the Wii U would have it in full screen or not...

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In comment 11889930 UConn4523 said:

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for years and never used it for gaming. Last of Us i'd play but not into Uncharted. I'm really looking for a solid RPG that I missed. I'm wondering if downloading Xenoblade on the Wii U would have it in full screen or not...

If you don't mind some really hardcore anime tropes, Tales of Graces f had one of the best battle systems that I've played. So much fun, and it gets more nuanced the more you play the game.

Valkyria Chronicles was really good, though it was early in the console cycle, so I'm not sure how it aged. Obviously the Dragon Age games (I'm one of the only ones who won't spew hate for the second game).

through a good bit of Dragon Age: Origins. I think it's a good combo between American and JRPG styles.

The first one set a pretty high standard, and there were some glaring issues with the second one...but it was still a fun game and definitely worth playing if you aren't totally sucked in to something else.

As an aside, Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor is getting some really positive reviews, surprisingly. I feel like most of the LotR games have been really cheap rip offs. Money grabs, like so many other crappy games made from popular movies (or books) but this one sounds like fun. Not the best story, but it looks a lot like a Batman or Assassins Creed game set in a Tolkien book. Pretty neat.

Sorry, no more next gen stuff. =)

is something i'd try. I'd have to decide between that and Xenoblade though...

In comment 11889888 UConn4523 said:

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was IGN's top 125 Nintendo games of all time. A fun read through even if you disagree with the order. Ohh the memories... Top 125 Nintendo Games - ( New Window )

No Castlevania or Castlevania 2???? but 40 Mario's and 30 Zelda's?? What a gyp

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In comment 11890055 GiantFilthy said:

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Yup...Better selection, more in-depth games.

but I don't feel like buying one, nor hooking up to my big screen. would love to go back to my emulator days, but its not practical for the time being.

In comment 11890070 UConn4523 said:

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but I don't feel like buying one, nor hooking up to my big screen. would love to go back to my emulator days, but its not practical for the time being.

I thought I had mentioned this to you (or might have been else) a few months back, but buy an Ouya. There are tons of emulators to download (or sideload if they aren't in the Ouya store) and you can hook up an external hard drive with all the ROMs and go to town. I just got the PSP emulator and have been loading on the ROMs. In the meantime, I've gotten an updated ROM file of the current NFL season that has been hacked on the old NES Tecmo Super Bowl game and you are able to play with the current roster. It's great.

Basically, the community has already taken care of a lot of the bugs, you can pop an old xbox controller into it and map the buttons and off you go.

Whether you have or haven't played Xenogears and/or any of the Xenosaga games doesn't matter - other than the 'epic' nature of the game (it is a LONG game even by JRPG standards, be prepared for at least 70 hours of gameplay) and its overall genre, it has very little in common with either. Most notably, Takahashi has learned how to tell a story without relying on half-hour cutscenes. That's not to say that there are no more cutscenes or that they aren't important, but they generally don't overstay their welcome.

The game isn't true open-world, but the individual zones that comprise the game world are enormous and breathtaking. Enemies appear on the map and the transition from exploration to battle is seamless. Battles are in real-time. You have full control of your character in the field, you can (and in many situations, must) switch between your party members mid-battle and chain together skills to stun and knock down tougher enemies. I don't know if it's my favorite JRPG battle system of all time, but it's above-average at worst.

Xenoblad is not just "beautiful for a Wii game" - it's a beautiful game, period. The soundtrack is incredible, especially the musical themes for each region on the map - each area has a daytime theme and a nighttime theme, and the game will fade from one to the other in sync with the day/night cycle. The storytelling and plot is not entirely devoid of common JRPG tropes, but it is generally well-conceived, well-written, and reasonably well-acted.

It is not hard to argue that Xenoblade is the best JRPG of the past decade. I'm not sure I'd make that argument, but I wouldn't disagree with anyone else who made that argument, either. Back when it looked like Xenoblade was not going to make it to the US, I went so far as to forcibly convert my Wii to PAL (which, in the process, prevented me from playing any of my old Wii games) and imported Xenoblade from Europe in order to play it. I was not disappointed.

FWIW, if you do decide to play Xenoblade, my one recommendation is that you take the time to search out and complete as many sidequests as you can stomach while you progress the story. Keeping up with the sidequests helps with level progression, which is especially important in Xenoblade because bosses (and even sub-bosses) rapidly become impossible to defeat (in the "dodging all of your attacks and one-shotting your characters" sense) if you're more than a few levels below where you should be. If you spend enough time on sidequests you should rarely, if ever, feel the need to grind.

In comment 11890106 Matt in SGS said:

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In comment 11890070 UConn4523 said: Quote: but I don't feel like buying one, nor hooking up to my big screen. would love to go back to my emulator days, but its not practical for the time being. I thought I had mentioned this to you (or might have been else) a few months back, but buy an Ouya. There are tons of emulators to download (or sideload if they aren't in the Ouya store) and you can hook up an external hard drive with all the ROMs and go to town. I just got the PSP emulator and have been loading on the ROMs. In the meantime, I've gotten an updated ROM file of the current NFL season that has been hacked on the old NES Tecmo Super Bowl game and you are able to play with the current roster. It's great. Basically, the community has already taken care of a lot of the bugs, you can pop an old xbox controller into it and map the buttons and off you go.

Do you really need an Ouya to do that, though? Any half-decent computer can run Snes9x, PPSSPP, etc, as can many of the more powerful iOS or Android devices.

I believe you did mention it to me in the past and I forgot about it to be honest.

Question, are all the games in widescreen?

he's recommending as I don't want to use a PC or hook it up to my TV.

thanks for the feedback on Xenoblade. I think I will give it a shot and be my go to game this fall while I wait for the next gen games I want to play. Really looking for something with meat, as I get bored very quickly with games for some reason.

but forgot to add my two cents on what I've been playing lately.

Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (3DS): Finished this last night. The first 90% of this game was really fun (I love the Ace Attorney games and also like solving puzzles, so this is right in my wheelhouse). The last 10 percent of the plot prompted me to repeatedly yell at my 3DS XL something along the lines of "no, what the hell, who thought this was a good idea for a plot twist!?" Over and over. I'm still glad I played the game, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys either franchise, but be prepared, the game's ending is basically just deus ex machina all over the place.

Animal Crossing: New Leaf (3DS): Shut up, it was on sale :) I am going to catch so many fish in this game, I can already tell.

I have a trip to another office scheduled for work next week, so I anticipate diving into Velocity 2X while I'm on the road, then turning my head to the fall/winter releases and figuring out what looks most appealing.

In comment 11890137 Audible said:

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In comment 11890106 Matt in SGS said: Quote: In comment 11890070 UConn4523 said: Quote: but I don't feel like buying one, nor hooking up to my big screen. would love to go back to my emulator days, but its not practical for the time being. I thought I had mentioned this to you (or might have been else) a few months back, but buy an Ouya. There are tons of emulators to download (or sideload if they aren't in the Ouya store) and you can hook up an external hard drive with all the ROMs and go to town. I just got the PSP emulator and have been loading on the ROMs. In the meantime, I've gotten an updated ROM file of the current NFL season that has been hacked on the old NES Tecmo Super Bowl game and you are able to play with the current roster. It's great. Basically, the community has already taken care of a lot of the bugs, you can pop an old xbox controller into it and map the buttons and off you go. Do you really need an Ouya to do that, though? Any half-decent computer can run Snes9x, PPSSPP, etc, as can many of the more powerful iOS or Android devices.

True, I used to hook up a computer to my screen to do this, but with the ability to easily map pretty much any controller (xbox, wii mote, etc), it takes out alot of the legwork to do it. Plus it's the size of a rubik's cube and is easy to stash away.

In comment 11890138 UConn4523 said:

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I believe you did mention it to me in the past and I forgot about it to be honest. Question, are all the games in widescreen?

You can set the resolution to widescreen or full screen based on the emulators. I have it hooked up to my 55" TV and the games look great. You haven't lived until you see Adventure from Atari 2600 on a massive HDTV.

In comment 11889924 dontboobigblue said:

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1) Uncharted 3 2) Last of Us 3) Far Cry 3 4) Uncharted 2 5) Tomb Raider

Nice list. But no Red Dead Dedemption ? That might be my favorite game ever, along with MGS4.

RPG's try playing the "Tales" series.

In comment 11890409 BigBlueCane said:

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RPG's try playing the "Tales" series.

Just to clarify for people who are particular in their RPG tastes - the Tales games are JRPGs in terms of their overall aesthetic and approach to storytelling (decidedly anime, both for better and for worse), but its battle systems are more along the lines of an ARPG - battles are in real-time, you can generally move your characters freely during the battle (and switch among party members), etc. If I had to describe the battle system by comparing it to other games (limiting my options to games other people have probably played) - I guess Kingdom Hearts is kind of similar?

I played Tales of Xillia and liked it - didn't love it, but liked it enough that I plan on playing its sequel.

But to respond to the actual post - I agree, Tales has retained a certain "old-school" aesthetic, partly because the games don't cost a whole lot to develop (Tales is one of those mid-tier series in between AAA and indie), partly because the core elements of the battle system have remained largely the same over the years, and partially because on higher difficulty settings the games can be brutally difficult.

I tried booting up The Last Remnant on Steam - there's no V-Sync option!? I know the game is five years old and that Japanese developers hadn't really figured out how to do a proper PC port yet, but come on. I'm generally not picky when it comes to graphics, but I tried to start a new game and the screen tearing was so bad that I couldn't get through the first cutscene. Ugh.

So instead I'm playing Shadowrun Returns, and probably following that up with Dragonfall. Maybe not the best time to start a new game on PC or console, given that tomorrow night is my last chance to play anything on either until at least the 12th, but apparently Animal Crossing is not conducive to playing in three-hour chunks. Anyway, really early impressions are that the game world, dialogue, art, etc. is really, really cool, and that the battles should be diverse and appropriately challenging - so I'm a fan. What I'm not a big fan of is the inability to rotate my camera angle. I get why - all the environment art is actually 2-D, not 3-D, so the camera angle is locked - but I really dislike having a character, friend or foe, hidden behind a wall. Not a dealbreaker, though, and I'm sure I'll get used to it over time.

Finally got my house in Animal Crossing this AM. I could have sped things up by manipulating the game clock to "time-travel", but I figure if I want the genuine Animal Crossing experience I should play the game the way the developers intended. Which is slow, but whatever.

In comment 11891331 Audible said:

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In comment 11890409 BigBlueCane said: Quote: RPG's try playing the "Tales" series. Just to clarify for people who are particular in their RPG tastes - the Tales games are JRPGs in terms of their overall aesthetic and approach to storytelling (decidedly anime, both for better and for worse), but its battle systems are more along the lines of an ARPG - battles are in real-time, you can generally move your characters freely during the battle (and switch among party members), etc. If I had to describe the battle system by comparing it to other games (limiting my options to games other people have probably played) - I guess Kingdom Hearts is kind of similar? I played Tales of Xillia and liked it - didn't love it, but liked it enough that I plan on playing its sequel. But to respond to the actual post - I agree, Tales has retained a certain "old-school" aesthetic, partly because the games don't cost a whole lot to develop (Tales is one of those mid-tier series in between AAA and indie), partly because the core elements of the battle system have remained largely the same over the years, and partially because on higher difficulty settings the games can be brutally difficult.

I'm in the minority, I think, but I thought Tales of Graces f had a superior battle system to Xilia. Most people prefer Xilia's because it's closer to Vesperia's, which was the series benchmark for most fans.

I actually enjoy the aesthetic of the games. They use a lot of bright colors and the character models are vibrant. If you've played JRPGs and the story cliches don't bother you that much, I highly recommend this series.

In comment 11891367 Audible said:

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I tried booting up The Last Remnant on Steam - there's no V-Sync option!? I know the game is five years old and that Japanese developers hadn't really figured out how to do a proper PC port yet, but come on. I'm generally not picky when it comes to graphics, but I tried to start a new game and the screen tearing was so bad that I couldn't get through the first cutscene. Ugh. So instead I'm playing Shadowrun Returns, and probably following that up with Dragonfall. Maybe not the best time to start a new game on PC or console, given that tomorrow night is my last chance to play anything on either until at least the 12th, but apparently Animal Crossing is not conducive to playing in three-hour chunks. Anyway, really early impressions are that the game world, dialogue, art, etc. is really, really cool, and that the battles should be diverse and appropriately challenging - so I'm a fan. What I'm not a big fan of is the inability to rotate my camera angle. I get why - all the environment art is actually 2-D, not 3-D, so the camera angle is locked - but I really dislike having a character, friend or foe, hidden behind a wall. Not a dealbreaker, though, and I'm sure I'll get used to it over time. Finally got my house in Animal Crossing this AM. I could have sped things up by manipulating the game clock to "time-travel", but I figure if I want the genuine Animal Crossing experience I should play the game the way the developers intended. Which is slow, but whatever.

The base campaign that shipped with Shadowrun Returns was... kinda boring. A nice introduction to the setting and ruleset, but not very interestingly written and lacking in area and encounter design.

I haven't gotten around to it yet, but supposedly Dragonfall was much much better. If you're time-limited in any way, I'd suggest dropping Dead Man's Switch when it starts to feel tedious and jumping to the expansion.

In comment 11891979 Enoch said:

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The base campaign that shipped with Shadowrun Returns was... kinda boring. A nice introduction to the setting and ruleset, but not very interestingly written and lacking in area and encounter design. I haven't gotten around to it yet, but supposedly Dragonfall was much much better. If you're time-limited in any way, I'd suggest dropping Dead Man's Switch when it starts to feel tedious and jumping to the expansion.

I've only played the prologue so far (or whatever you call the first mission), so I'm basically extrapolating from that. I already have Dragonfall, so if the base campaign starts to get boring I'll switch before I get turned off by the game.

FWIW, I like SRPGs in general and I've played a number of them, but I wouldn't describe myself as being particularly good at them. The most difficult one I've cleared was probably Fire Emblem: Awakening on normal difficulty, which suggests that I'm not completely terrible at SRPG combat, but we'll see how those skills translate to something like Shadowrun. I suspect my builds will require some thought.

do you know if the Wii U Pro Controller will allow me to play Xenoblade Chronicle without any hitches? I'm reading that I may only be able to use a Wii remote for it to work but I can't seem to find anything definitive.

but anyone picked up the new LOTR game? It's getting pretty positive reviews so far.

In comment 11893130 UConn4523 said:

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do you know if the Wii U Pro Controller will allow me to play Xenoblade Chronicle without any hitches? I'm reading that I may only be able to use a Wii remote for it to work but I can't seem to find anything definitive.

I'm not sure to be honest. My gut feeling is no, but if you already have the Wii U Pro controller there's no harm in trying. I don't think that controller works on anything in Wii mode though.

I played the game with a regular Wii Remote (not a Wii Remote Plus, although that would certainly work too) and a nunchuk.

In comment 11893352 Jan in DC said:

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but anyone picked up the new LOTR game? It's getting pretty positive reviews so far.

Unfortunately I'm very skeptical of early reviews for any game published by Warner (which includes Shadow of Mordor), because Warner is prone to shenanigans when it comes to their review embargo policies. For Shadow of Mordor, for example, the free release copies that were given out for the PC version of the game were all tied to "brand deals", which basically amounts to the reviewer putting out advertorial (can't say anything bad about the game pre-release, etc.)

That being said, Giant Bomb gave it 5/5 after release and I trust Giant Bomb. Game is probably as legit as any game that's ever been published with the LOTR license.

In comment 11893398 Audible said:

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In comment 11893130 UConn4523 said: Quote: do you know if the Wii U Pro Controller will allow me to play Xenoblade Chronicle without any hitches? I'm reading that I may only be able to use a Wii remote for it to work but I can't seem to find anything definitive. I'm not sure to be honest. My gut feeling is no, but if you already have the Wii U Pro controller there's no harm in trying. I don't think that controller works on anything in Wii mode though. I played the game with a regular Wii Remote (not a Wii Remote Plus, although that would certainly work too) and a nunchuk.

Thanks. Apparently the updated Wii controller that looks like an Xbox controller will work. May just have to ask someone at the store.

Trying to also find the game. Ebay has some but I prefer retail in case its broken. May drive a little extra this weekend as EB Games has one a few towns over.

In comment 11894019 UConn4523 said:

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Thanks. Apparently the updated Wii controller that looks like an Xbox controller will work. May just have to ask someone at the store. Trying to also find the game. Ebay has some but I prefer retail in case its broken. May drive a little extra this weekend as EB Games has one a few towns over.

I would offer to resell you mine at a discount, but I have the PAL copy, which you won't be able to play on a NTSC Wii U.

It's amazing to me that Nintendo took so long to bring Xenoblade over in the first place, then opted to go with such a limited print run, and then never did an official reprint. The resale price for Xenoblade, to my knowledge, has been above MSRP the entire time. There's even a partially substantiated rumor from last year that Gamestop quietly got an additional limited reprint of the game and then listed the games as used in order to sell them for significantly above MSRP. It's strange.

"Pre owned" under $50 so that's fine with me. I guess I just need to figure out the controller situation and I'll be all set.

When setting up the wii u to play wii games you just have to install the wii start menu right?

In comment 11894334 UConn4523 said:

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When setting up the wii u to play wii games you just have to install the wii start menu right?

Correct. I haven't actually used it to play Wii games myself, because other than Xenoblade and (I think) Twilight Princess I think I gave the rest of mine away, but the setup should be pretty seamless.

Maybe it's just that I never play games of this sort, but I'm getting killed constantly by this one Orc. And he taunts me when he does it. I thought about restarting the game now that I'm competent with the battle system, but I'm not going to. I'm going to kill that asshole.

Oh, the game is pretty good.

In comment 11896599 Jan in DC said:

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Maybe it's just that I never play games of this sort, but I'm getting killed constantly by this one Orc. And he taunts me when he does it. I thought about restarting the game now that I'm competent with the battle system, but I'm not going to. I'm going to kill that asshole. Oh, the game is pretty good.

I'm downloading it on Steam right now

at a Gamestop and picking it up tomorrow. $49.99 vs. $99.99 on Amazon you definitely don't buy online if anyone wants it. Just need to pick up a controller with it and I'll be all set.

Here's to a rainy weekend!

In comment 11896896 montanagiant said:

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In comment 11896599 Jan in DC said: Quote: Maybe it's just that I never play games of this sort, but I'm getting killed constantly by this one Orc. And he taunts me when he does it. I thought about restarting the game now that I'm competent with the battle system, but I'm not going to. I'm going to kill that asshole. Oh, the game is pretty good. I'm downloading it on Steam right now

My advice to you: Don't run into battle right away. The tutorials are shorter than they should be. Try to fight one or two people until you get the hang of combat because if you die as much as I did, then the enemies will get really strong.

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picked up the game Saturday and took a shot in the dark with a wii controller pro. Was nervous it wouldn't work since it isn't USB but I forgot my Wii bundle came with a wii wand thing so I was able to plug the controller into that.

I played a couple hours this weekend and am getting used to the battle system, and the character relationship system. Not very far yet, only level 7 or so but I absolutely love it. Haven't been this engaged in an RPG in literally a decade, probably since FFX (maybe FFXII but that got really stale for me).

Can't wait to start chipping away at the quests. I love how the game doesn't waste time in/out of battles. Seeing your enemies, fighting, and then healing while walking makes it very fluid with no waiting. It also helps leveling up seem less tedious.

I'll report back when i'm much further but i'm glad I started it.

But Asteroids and Pac-Man didn't seem like they were worth the effort it would take to master them.

The only time I struggle against enemies is when there are large crowds and someone is throwing spears at me. There was one Orc captain who was a spear thrower and he killed me a few times. But I finally decided to get up on a ledge and take out all of the guys following him around first with arrows. Once I did that he was very easy.

Its not always the best idea to rush into these fights. Sometimes you have to pick off the other guys first. There are creative ways to do that. Also, gaining intel and finding out their weaknesses works as well.

The game is really fun. Finally, a LotR game worth playing.

who's an archer that shows up EVERY TIME I've just got finished fighting people. Seriously, I died to him like 4 times because he showed up two seconds after I just got finished fighting a huge hoard.

But it looks like they can't gain any more power after 20, so that's something. I can't wait to kill him.

Until i got intelligence that he is easy to kill via a stealth kill, snuck up and one shot he was dead...Great game so far