What have you been playing and hows it going? Anything got you stuck? What high score are you going for? is this the first, second, (n+1) play-through?
I’ve been slowly getting through Shadow Run for Genesis when i have free time. thanks to some feedback from this community i restarted the game but I’m on a lot better footing. still on my first play-through. Sadly my free time has come to a halt as my child is going through a sleep regression. Looking forward to getting back into it soon.
Hope everything is well!
You must log in or # to comment.
Finally playing Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney for the first time and it’s such a treat. I can see why people love this series. I’m almost finished with it I think!
In which case are you?
First time playing Chrono Trigger, on Steam Deck (Steam version not emulated, I know! I know!). I’m enjoying it although I’m suffering from early RPG slowness and trying to push through. Hoping the Steam version holds out, seems like every update of Proton is nerve wracking. Love the music and art style. I do feel like I lose doors or POIs easily and I need to get better/quicker with the battle UI.
Somewhere I have the SNES cart for chrono trigger with the price label of $10, if its not faded.
I bought it in the mid-90s. You have to remember that before Final Fantasy 7, RPGs in America were NOT popular. People always cite the poor marketing of Earthbound as the reason it failed. I always say it’s because it released in 1995, at a higher price than most SNES games, at a time when RPG popularity was at an all time low. If it had released in 1997, and at a standard price, it may have done gangbusters.
Even Super Mario RPG wasn’t a hit at first, but then picked up sales as the months went on.
The guy selling Chrono Trigger at a games/music/video resale shop said “I’m surprised you’re buying this game. You sure you don’t want to play it a bit first? Save you the hassle of returning it later”. He meant well, but I actually did mean to buy it.
I also bought earthbound, with book, for $10 from the same place. It always smelled like weed in there. Mostly because the employees would smoke weed, pick out cds they wanted to hear over the stores speaker system, and then play video games stoned out of their minds.
Then they got bought out, and now it’s a corporate run store. Same resale model, but SUUUUPER corporate. You cannot fimd deals, and they give you gamestop prices for your trade-ins.
They didn’t even used to have reciepts. They would just stamp the price sticker with a stamp that they adjusted the date on. And they weren’t super strict on dates either. If your sticker said you bought it 19 days ago instead of 14 days ago, they’d usually be like “aw man, it’s cool.” As long as it wasn’t some bullshit like 3 months. Basically as long as you weren’t trying to game the system.
One time I went to a grocery store that sells closeouts. One of todays items was a huge stack of game boy games. $5 each, but it was the same game. So I buy one, and I take it there. I explain the situation. I say “hey, will I get the same price in resale each copy?” He says yes. So I traded in my copy for $15. Then took that money, bought 2 more copys (tax), traded those in for $30, took that money, bought 5 more copies, traded those in, and then went and bought 2 more copies traded those in, and bought a brand new game boy advance from them. I took $6 and essentially turned it into a brand new GBA which had only been released a few months prior.
I miss that store. It technically still exists, but I miss the spirit of what that store used to be.
DAMN, hella amazing memories you are sharing! Also wanted to give Earthbound a go as well.
Not an actual retro game, but styled like one. I’ve been playing Psuedoregalia, which is an awesome game. Very fun. I had to print out maps, because the levels are so big.
I’ve been playing Policenauts for the SEGA Saturn lately. I have enjoyed the story so far, my only complaint is that I don’t have a lightgun to play the game with, so the shooting sections are not as fun. I haven’t got too far into the game, but it is such an enjoyable story. Truly unfortunate that it never released outside of Japan.
Also going back through Dino Crisis, thats such a classic that gets slept on. Hopefully with it sweeping Capcom’s recent survey they will finally do something with it again.
Policenauts is on my list for sure, but didn’t know you could play without a light gun. do light guns work on modern tvs or is there a way to emulate the functionality?
Yeah, you can play with a regular controller, 3D controller, or even the Saturn mouse apparently. But obviously it is more fun with a lightgun, at least for the shooting parts. The regular visual novel parts aren’t too great with a gun though.
Lightguns do not work on any TV that isn’t using CRT technology due to the way they are designed. You can emulate them thankfully with IR sensors, such as in a Wii remote. You can also buy lightguns custom made, or make one yourself with online diagrams. Sinden and Gun4IR are the two most popular, but there is another one that has a strange German name I am drawing a blank on that uses Wii remotes as well.
Currently working my way through Legend of Legaia. I’m shamelessly using some cheats to alleviate the grinding, because the American version of the game is ~4x more grindy than the Japanese version, and combat is much harder. (Yes, they slashed all of the exp and drop rates for the English release, along with making enemies significantly stronger.)
In the American version of the game, you need to stop and grind quite a bit just to be able to afford the gear for each new area. But in the Japanese version, you can pretty much steamroll enemies that are at your level, even without proper gearing. And since you have more gold, you never need to stop and grind. Hell, you actually end up with an abundance of gold in the Japanese version, meaning you don’t need to worry about things like being able to afford healing items. Which, again, just makes the game that much easier.
And quite frankly, I’m way too busy to be able to stop and grind. So I use cheats to level the playing field. I’m about halfway through the second area so far. No big hangups since I’ve played through it probably a dozen times.
I also just beat Megaman Legends again, and have moved onto Legends 2; I haven’t ever actually beaten 2, so it’ll be an adventure. I had forgotten how much more smooth the controls in 2 are, so it has been a pleasant surprise so far. IIRC, Legends 1 was made before DualShock controllers were common, so they couldn’t rely on the controllers having twin sticks. So the movement is very stilted, with turning on your shoulder buttons. Legends 2 actually allows for a true shooter layout with twin stick controls, so I don’t feel like the controls are constantly fighting me.
Legend of Legaia is awesome. The grinding is something I had no problem with at age 15 but now it’s almost unbearable. In the US version you benefit from hours of grinding.
Pity about the sequel being so bad.
Supposedly the PAL version uses the Japanese drop rates and enemy stats. So you could conceivably use that to play the game in English. But I haven’t played it to confirm.
Seeing how the world of Warcraft is twenty years old now I believe wow classic counts as retro. I originally bought the game in 2004. Played until around 2010. Just recently subbed for classic wow. I’m a mage, level 34. It’s been about three weeks now. I still love this game.
Took a break from Elden Ring and started playing Chrono Cross in ernest for the first time in over 20 years. I lent my original copy to my best friend and never got it back.
I tried a couple times, but only ever got as far as Viper Manor. I’m almost up to Fort Dragonia now. Boned getting Leena at the start. Took the Save Kid Route. Just got Pip, Skelly, and NeoFio. Disappointed I took Guile instead of Glenn… For a character that’s supposed to be Magus, you’d think he’d be decent at anything, but holy crap… He’s just bad…
Playing classic rpg series in order, currently on dragon quest 6, Persona 1, smt 3 (modern remake just released on pc, but played mt1, mt2, smt1, smt2, and smt if prior to starting this and persona) made it to romancing saga after playing the 3 final fantasy legends, on tales of destiny remake for the ps2 after playing tales of phantasia, ys 2, Wild arms alter code f ps2 remake, FFX hd remaster, kingdom hearts, and lastly thr non rpg doom 2 from the doom 3 bfg collection after beating doom 1. Yes I am bouncing between all of these. The ADHD cannot be pleased
Good luck with FF X and X-2! I’m doing the series as well and just started XII.
If you’re playing FFX/X-2 on PC, consider installing the Untitled Project X mod. It fixes some stuff and adds more graphics/UI options, but one of the most significant changes is that it allows you to toggle exp to the whole party regardless of participation.
It completely eliminates the “swap every character in to guard for 1 turn” hassle. You basically never need to grind, because every single character stays properly leveled. Basically, the game difficulty was balanced as if you fully utilized every single character in every fight. So the mod allows your exp gains to reflect that expectation, without needing to mindlessly swap each character out every time.
Slowly playing through Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga for GBA. I wait too long between sessions and forget where I was supposed to be going.
Same for FFIX. Currently on disc 4.
Oh man, I really have to play Superstar Saga again. Started it in 2019 when I got a GBA for the first time, but every time I took a break from the game it was larger than the one before. That’s kinda weird too, since I remember the game quite good.
Anyway, I always forgot the button combinations for the different attack moves. I somehow still made it to the final boss but never beat it, because at that point I just forgot basically everything. Really one of my weirdest playthroughs. Definitely have to check that game out again, thanks for reminding me about it. Good luck with your playthrough!
I just did my yearly playthrough of Final Fantasy V, Four Job Fiesta mode. I finished on the 5th and ended up with a Ninja, Black Mage, Time Mage, and Chemist.
This was my third time playing FFV, and only my second time playing Four Job Fiesta. Now I’m back to playing Final Fantasy VIII. I don’t even know how many times I’ve played that one.
About to start the 4th episode of Blood: Fresh Supply. It’s the last of the major players from the old doom clones that I have left to play. I’m most impressed by how it manages to have its own identity in that crowd rather than truly just be a doom clone like many were. Love the horror setting and the weapons are all excellent, effective, and unique. I couldn’t believe it until I tried it myself, but I think it actually might have the best double barrel shotgun in all of gaming. Looking forward to finishing it up and moving on to Cultic, which I will have a much greater appreciation for now.
I’ve been playing MGS2 with my kid after finishing MGS.
We are enjoying a lot and I didn’t remember the graphical difference between ps1 and ps2 were so big
thats awesome! do you take turns at level changes or on deaths? the graphical leap between those two is pretty impressive.
When someone dies or when someone is playing for a long time. This game is so much fun, I’m enjoying a lot, back in the day I didn’t like that we played a different character rather than Snake, but since then(and revengeance) I became more fond to Raiden
its a series that has been on my backlog for sometime. By the time i can get to it I’ll likely be following in your footsteps and playing them with my kid.
I have been running through story mode on Dokopon Kingdom on PS2 and it’s chaotic fun. I have the CPUs on the easiest difficulty if I remember correctly and absolutely love bullying them whenever possible. First ever playthrough. I only started playing this because someone I watch online played the remake/remaster(?).
I’ve been playing Seal of Rimmsala, a romhack of Arcana for SNES. This is the furthest I’ve gotten in a first person dungeon crawler, the auto mapper makes a huge difference. Just finished the second dungeon and about to make my journey into the ice-caves.
I was playing though Final Fantasy XII, GTA3 and Vice City before my PS2 broke. I’m currently trying to beat Sonic 2 and Strider on my Mega Drive.
