What are you playing right now?

>doesn't ring a bell
Both he and the final boss of Yuffie’s DLC are from Dirge of Cerberus. Wouldn’t blame anyone for not knowing them (hell if I did).

>face the final boss right away
Yep, very nice overall.

>Nail Bat being effective
It has trash stats but some decent critical hit potential. Don’t know how effective it might be overall but I guess not that much compared to Cloud’s other weapons, especially since to get the most out of it you also have to be at less than ¼ of your health (you get bonus crit rate and damage that way, if you unlocked the upgrades for it).

>he gets those in this part
He gets two of them, one with better magic attack and other with better physical attack. They completely change his regular moveset, but that’s composed by two attacks anyway, even though it’s still pretty cool. His regular shots get replaced by a very slow but powerful melee combo, and the overcharge gets replaced with a melee charge that ends in a AoE slam.

>lv.1 not mattering that much
You would definitely feel the difference. You start the game with roughly 1000 HP, 15 strength and magic (base physical and magic attack), 10 vitality and spirit (base physical and magic defense), and you end it with 4000 HP, 80 strength and magic and 50 vitality and spirit. For the weapons you start at roughly 20 magic and physical attack and end with 90 on both (with the Buster Sword).

I was thinking that one thing you could do to emulate low level is to finish the game on Normal at first while skipping as many encounters as possible, and then replaying the game on Hard but reloading everytime you select a new chapter. So you would still be like lv.30 or something, but you would remain at that level throughout the entire game, since you are basically playing it bit by bit and reloading.

>solo Frog/Toad videos
There are some Toad vids surprisingly, but they are very boring. You can’t use any normal abilities or spells, so the game just becomes a big chipping session.

>such videos for the original FFVII
There are some low level vids on YT, didn’t find any Toad vids though.

>sounds low
At the endgame Cloud had like 80 MP, so the recovery from the shards is pretty nice. You get the shards fairly often in certain sections. For the cost of the spells it depends, but the offensive spells cost 4, 10 and 21 MP for regular, -a spells and -aga spells. Manawall costs 20 and Stop 14.

>learn to manage MP
It seems a pretty important part of Hard Mode for sure.

>how much one can learn by watching the work of others
There are certain things that are pretty hard to find (or notice) alone, and those things might drastically change the way you play a certain game (like GoW collision scaling or Arty glitches), but I always feel a bit bad when I look stuff up instead of discovering it alone.


Also, finished the Yuffie section. I will post my notes soon.

>Dirge of Cerberus
Ah, no wonder I haven't heard of him, then. Never played Crisis Core either. Just played OG VII and watched the film. That's about it.

>can face the final boss right away
Neat.

>not as effective as Cloud's other weapons
I see, so the vid I saw about it was mostly just messing around.

>have to be at 25% of your health to get the most out of it
This in a game where the game isn't really designed around avoiding damage, isn't it? Recall that the dodge doesn't really have i-frames (and if it does, they're pretty short), and blocking just reduces damage. So not a very good choice to have this weapon equipped.

>completely change his moveset
Nice that they went this far with him, even though it's just a few moves. Hope they have some uses here and there.

>would definitely feel the difference
By how much does your output increase at max stats?

>a way to remain low level
Probably isn't that fun owed to needing to run from encounters as much as possible, but still would be nice to know how the game holds up (for the sake of science).

>boring Toad videos
Oh, I see. That's a tad disappointing.

>didn’t find any Toad vids
Would be somewhat surprised if you did. IIRC VII doesn't have nearly as many options for working around low stats/unfavorable status effects as V does (which is why I like it a lot).

>endgame MP is 80
Oh, then I take back what I said. Thought your MP would be in the hundreds (capped at 999) like in the original. Then yeah, the returns from shards sound plenty good.

>spell costs
Noted. So you wouldn't be able to use a lot of the high tier spells in a hypothetical Lv 1 run.

>those things might drastically change the way you play a certain game
Very much so.

>always feel a bit bad when I look stuff up instead of discovering it alone.
I used to feel like this for some time, but the less time I have to play games, the less I'm concerned about this. Feel it would be worse if I missed out on something neat because time didn't allow me to fully explore the game on my own (while still having the chance of overlooking something, either way).

>notes soon
Looking forward to these.

------------------------

Alright for those curious, here's the vid showcasing hitstun and damage decay at work in one of the Naruto games (it's present in both of them):

https://youtu.be/kH5X59eG2eU?si=4RkNFi5gZZmBkfz3

I felt lazy to add text overlay and the like, so let me explain what happens in the video.

[0:00 - 0:05] Shows how the last hit of the "light blue power" (Rasengan from now on) deals 118 damage. To note it, the last hit of Rasengan is the strongest one. Every hit leading to it are much weaker hits. Used Rasengan from far away in order to be able to land that last hit, but that isn't advisable to do in practice (just did it for the sake of this explanation).

[0:06 - 0:13] Using Rasengan at close range to land the weaker hits. Notice how the initial hits are indeed much weaker. Now, notice how Rasengan deals weaker damage over time (going from a bunch of 4's, to a couple of 3's, to what seems to be a lone 2), and the last stronger hit now deals 78 damage instead of 118.

[0:13 - 0:33] Now it's time to show hitstun decay. Pay close attention to 0:19. See how far up the enemy goes after being launched. Now after using clones to build up hitcount, I use the exact same string again to attempt to launch him, but as you can see at 0:29, it seemed like the enemy didn't even leave the ground at all, and instead went straight up for his recovery animation when landing.

[0:34 - end] A second example. Notice how the enemy slowly descends to the ground instead of floating up higher, despite all that shuriken spam. On a side note, see how despite building an absurd amount of hitcount, the shurikens are all still dealing 15 damage per hit? That's because projectiles are the only thing in this game that ignore damage decay (and technically the clones as well, but they always do 1 damage when used normally anyway, but you can spam a lot of them for a 'rapid fire' effect to deal a lot of damage in a relatively short time, which can be combined with shuriken spam for both Chakra/shuriken efficiency).

Also, I think the highest HP total in this game is 850HP, so what you see here is overkill for everything. That said, that's at max stats, but even while dealing 1 damage, the damage adds up really fast (you can do the math by how much time it took to achieve that hitcount *granted, it's because the super state accelerates Naruto's throwing animation, but even at half speed, the DPS would still be pretty solid*).

>game isn't really designed around avoiding damage
Avoiding damage basically comes down to either locking enemies down before they can do anything or using Aerith's Limit Break (when she's available), which gives everyone physical damage immunity for like 30 seconds. Also note that charging LB in this game is incredibly hard unless you use a specific accessory that you can only unlock in NG+.

>Hope they have some uses here and there
Have to test this but his melee basic combo is pretty chonky in terms of damage, and his charge might be useful for crowd control.

>output increase at max stats
Compared to lv.30 (the minimum you can finish the game with) or lv.7 (the level you start the game with)? Lv.50 vs. lv.30 you'd see something like a 50/60% damage increase in lv.50 compared to 30 (also including weapon upgrades). If you don't include weapon upgrades then it's like a 30% increase. Lv.7 vs lv.50 against the same enemy I think you wouldn't be doing damage at all now that I'm seeing the damage formula for Braver (Cloud's default ability), since your attack power (which is weapon attack power + Cloud's attack power) multiplied by 2 needs to be higher than the target's defense. This is considering no weapon upgrades on lv.7, but you can't get to the endgame at lv.7 anyway.

>needing to run from encounters as much as possible
You'd only need to do this on your Normal playthrough. After you unlock Hard you can do a chapter, reload your previous savefile and then choose the next chapter. That way you'd only level up during the chapters themselves, but starting one new would reset you to your previous level.

>how the game holds up
I don't know if I'll do this, but it sounds appealing.

>wouldn't be able to use a lot of the high tier spells in a hypothetical Lv 1 run
Probably only one before you'd empty your meter.

>would be worse if I missed out
Definitely. A good compromise is to do your first run without looking anything up and then see some strats online. It's what I do anyway.

>hitstun and damage decay
They should have put a cap on the hitstun decay. Not even being able to launch enemies because you hit them with a bunch of shuriken before is silly. Still, impressed that there even is such a system in the first place. Also interesting that projectiles don’t suffer from damage decay. Does this give them more utility?

>do your first run without looking anything up and then see some strats online.
Yeah, I've been doing this myself for a while (ever since I've started playing GoW).

>not being able to launch enemies owed to shuriken spam
To be fair, it's possible to juggle them after doing this. Shurikens don't have strong hitstun properties, so if an enemy is on the ground then you can hit them with something almost immediately afterwards. Airborne enemies will land in the ground earlier, but as soon as they do so, the hitstun resets (regardless of the hit counter *this affects damage decay*). That said, I don't disagree.

Here's a demonstration of what I mean:

https://youtu.be/EJ6goy86Dew?si=aOtfO5rM6lhuKutg

This is done at base stats, and the boss is a NG+ refight (so it has either higher HP or higher resistances *not sure which is it, since numbers don't pop up in this entry*). Basically a loop. Rasengan (or 'Power Strike') is used for i-frames during the startup animation, which allows for juggles with physicals in order to get meter back (notice the blue orbs), and then clones are used to lock the boss in place to allow shuriken spam (they also prevent the boss from blocking the shurikens *and since they're also valid targets, they could also serve as distraction*). Projectiles are basically the main damage dealer at base stats, especially if enemy resistances/health are pretty high.

Note: To be honest, if you meet some easy conditions, you can stunlock this (and pretty much any boss) with shuriken spam (in a manner that they can't escape, literally all you'd be doing is tossing shurikens). This can be done by either:

1. Using the super state (in 1, the super state can only be used by being at 50% health, in addition to building up its dedicated 'meter', sadly *though you can technically cheat this*, though thankfully the health requirement is no longer present in 2). This, along with the second method, is the easier way to lock stuff down.

2. Sometimes they can block your shurikens, but if you keep spamming them, they will be permanently stuck trying to block all of them, and since enemy blocking only reduces damage, and you can't deal less than 1 damage, you can kill pretty much everything before you even run out of shurikens (if you max them out anyway *which is admittedly a tedious task*).

They may also opt to not block anything and happily eat the shurikens (the reason I didn't do this against this boss is because sometimes he managed to break out of it).

3. Hitting them from behind while also having a wall on their front so they don't get pushed too far back.

Cheesing them with shuriken stunlocking allows you to defeat things within a minute, even at base stats. But as I said, getting that many shurikens requires... crafting (not sure if you can get them via enemy drops, like other lesser projectiles).

>does this give them more utility?
Yes. Spread/6-way shurikens are the fastest way to deal a lot of damage at base stats. You could probably also use Fire Kunai in the middle of a melee/jutsu combo to continue juggles (I say 'probably' because while it sounds effective on paper, it's also a bit difficult to pull off, would need to explore this option more).

Beat 'Shinobi non grata'. Overall, It`s a good 2d action platformer game. It is obviously about ninjas, and others says that it is very similar to Ninja spirits.

This game is basically boss rush game, but it gave you lots of tools to deal with enemies and bosses. I was very positvie till chapter4. The difficulty curve is nicely going up and more traps and ambushes appearenced. And Chapter5, Final chapter, dropped them down. Stage gimmicks are not intersting or do not exist. The enemy placement becomes more simple than previous chapters. and remain bosses are just "okay", not great. Plus, there is no harder difficulty.

I think this game is great enough in this status, but I wanted "finale" moment but that wasn` the case.

Currently, I am playing "pseudoregalia" now. This game is a retro-style 3D platformer in its heart. It is also an exploration action game(a.k.a metroidvania), but the exploration is quiet exciting because "keys" are usually palced on a tricky seciton.

I saw the gameplay and thought "that looks pretty cool" only to then see Metroidvania and my heart sank again. Why, every fucking time hahaha. Game reminds me a bit about Shinobi(PS2), Mario64(the style) and Prince of Persia. Looks sick.

>Metroidvania
I mostly agree.

In this game, wandering around itself is very good, in a natural way. It dose not do things like "Yo, This is another block that you can`t access. Come back later" things. But still, it would be better more linear structure, with progression system giving you abilities step by step. Or making it as a hub world, just like Mario 64.

For example, I was stuck in one platforming area, but I can`t tell whether This is my skill issue or lack of an essencial ability. Do I have to get other ability first? or Do I have to go through again and again? So, I have to check youtube playthrough(Sadly, It was my skill issue). I don`t wanna check those objects outside of the game.

If that case dose not bother you(I assume that you will lol), I recommend pseudoregalia.

Beat Pseudoregalia.

This is a wonderful platformer. The "abilities(from your player character)" and "skill(from you)" are very different. You have to learn how to utilize your ability after getting it. I don`t prefer Metroidvania as I mentioned above. But This game itself is well designed, and on the top of that Some obstacles can be overcome by "skill", not by "abillity". It would be an another wet dream for speed runners. Though It can make you self-lock from the experience of  @Maddison Baek

And I warn you, Prepare a Pen and Paper for mapping. You don`t have to draw all the things grid by grid(and that wouldn`t be impossible). But, Don`t be like me. There is a major 5 keys for the last moment, and I had 4 keys. And my gamer instinction tells "Haha, I know where the last one would be. THE ALL THINGS BEGIN, STARTING PART OF THE MAP." As you assume, It was not the case. And because I have too many abilities to ignore intended path, I can not figure out how to get out of starting part, lol. So, Just make a little rough map. For god`s sake, I did 16hours for beating this game and I assume that 6 hours were spended for finding the right path.

Royta/Raeng wrote:I saw the gameplay and thought "that looks pretty cool"  only to then see Metroidvania and my heart sank again. Why, every fucking time hahaha. Game reminds me a bit about Shinobi(PS2), Mario64(the style) and Prince of Persia. Looks sick.

I'm not sure what particular things you dislike about metroidvanias, but for what it's worth, this one is so granular in its mechanics that I never felt like I was lock-and-keying anything. It's the most analog-feeling platformer I've played in a while, where I'm never quite certain whether the solution I've come up with is the intended solution because there's so much depth to your moveset. I remember I actually sequence broke a certain ability for a long while and just brute-forced my way with other movement mechanics and somehow magically made them work.

So it's like, Super Mario 64 (but hardcore) schmoovement stuff but with Super Metroid levels of analog progression and sequence breaking, if that makes sense. Except there is nothing that's like, "you got the missiles, now you can open red doors!" or whatever. Every upgrade is a meaningful movement ability with multiple potential applications.

So I just finished re2make for the first time as claire in hardcore difficulty, Currently doing leon 2nd run in hardcore mode which I just unlocked

And tbh for the most part claire gave me much easier time than leon because of her having better weapons. The fact that there are less zombie dogs makes the game easy too.

The hardest part about re2make as claire was the William Birkin boss fights. Especially g2 since the area is so small and you need to press the switch twice to hit Birkin with the giant container.

And finally, the nest section could have been alot better if it was longer. Ivy zombies are so scary that I love it

Overall, I give the re2make a solid 8.5/10, has that satisfying feeling whenever you finish an objective. Sewers are definitely the worst part because I hate those G monsters

TripleSMoon wrote:

Royta/Raeng wrote:I saw the gameplay and thought "that looks pretty cool"  only to then see Metroidvania and my heart sank again. Why, every fucking time hahaha. Game reminds me a bit about Shinobi(PS2), Mario64(the style) and Prince of Persia. Looks sick.

So it's like, Super Mario 64 (but hardcore) schmoovement stuff but with Super Metroid levels of analog progression and sequence breaking, if that makes sense. Except there is nothing that's like, "you got the missiles, now you can open red doors!" or whatever. Every upgrade is a meaningful movement ability with multiple potential applications.

I guess that Raeng does not like obvious gatekeeping player character`s ability(not player`s skill). Even in Pseudoregalia, "slide jump" ability seems so natural but it is not unlocked immediately after you got "slide" ability.

But except for that, I can say that (If my guess is correct) I recommend this game to Raeng. pseudoregalia is not a pseudo-linear process game covered by metroidvania. The map is very interconnected and nonlinear, you can overcome obstacles not by character ability but by your skill. Even some 'tech' can make a player ignore that issue I mentioned.

Mostly what I don't like is the sub-genre at this point in time. I'm not even that old, but I feel like I'm generally getting tired of more open games. I tend to just want a lineair route with some branches these days, gaming time is rare enough. Can't imagine it getting any better when I have a child.

Used to love it though. But currently not for me.

I’d recommend trying the new donkey kong games(not exactly new but am mainly talking the newer ones). Can see you liking them in general due to their level design, it’s really fucking good in that regard.

I really should like them, but for some reason they just don't click with me and I have no clue why tbh. They literally have everything I like. They look great, are funny, fantastic level design, sequels to my childhood favourite platformers, tons of secrets and hidden stuff - it's even made by Retro, who I love. Yet both games didn't connect with me. Honestly can't tell what's wrong with me haha

Fucking same. Played Returns years ago and liked it, tried getting into Tropical Freeze recently, got halfway through and stopped playing. The only other DKC I played was 3, and since it was one of my first games I have very fond memories of it. The only explanation of why I didn't gel with TF is because it lacked the atmosphere of the SNES ones. The prerendered graphics, the soundfonts, the eeriness, even the OST to an extent (despite being made by the same composer). I usually don't care too much about this stuff (especially if the gameplay is good) but for DK it's different.

Same boat for me, grew up with DKC3 (though I did play and beat 1 and 2 lateron). It might be the mood, I'm literally unsure.

> what are you playing
Currently playing Star Trek Online. Was looking for a game I could play without any type of focus, and I'm a big fan of the shows, so it's a nice game to just play sitting on the couch pressing buttons. Literally zero combat depth imo, and wwaaaaayyyy too many stats to keep track of, but I'm enjoying it for what it's worth.

>freeze lacked the atmosphere of snes ones
The older games are more dark, that’s for sure. Mainly due to how much more gritty the artstyle is, sort of like an adult swim show if you get me. Although I liked the atmosphere in returns and freeze a good chunk, particularly freeze due to how mysterious it can feel/adventurous.

I am playing Hellboy : Web of Wyrd. And it` just an okay-game for holloween with 30 bucks.

Visual arts are gorgoesu, The music goes moody when it`s not in combat situation, and the actors are good. But this game leans hevily on rougue-lite side, So there is not a room for complicated combos or attacks. And even goons don`t even matter, because The only thing you would focus is mini-bosses, Because you can kill `em for banishing other goons.

I don`t regret buying it, but I can`t recommend this to you guys because its lack of deapth.

Playing Astral Chain, at the start of file 07. I love the game - The atmosphere, music and even level design (both combat and non-combat segments) are all great, although there's more downtime than I would have wanted, but somehow I'm not bothered too much which is surprising.

The combat is already fantastic and probably one of the best combat systems out there, and I here it's only gonna get better from here (especially file 12 which is like a mission mode from what I heard) so I'm very excited to see everything the game has to offer (and it already offers quite a lot).

Also playing Bowser's Fury - Great little Mario game that takes gameplay and level design elements from Mario 3D World and puts them in a small open world. I guess this is Nintendo's way to test the waters for the next mainline Mario game, and as much as I don't like open worlds in general, I think Boswer's Fury does it well and it can be a good foundation for the next Mario game.

>Astral Chain
It's crazy how the main campaign is more bloated than any other action game I've played, but it completely saves itself with having the most extensive combat-only postgame content I've ever seen. Pretty sure there's at least as much if not more combat gameplay in the postgame than there is in the campaign. Kicks ass.

> AC
Yeah that post-game content is absolutely crazy, and saved the game imo since I wasn't a fan of how slow it was on start-up. The combat didn't click with me until I got all the Legions, at which point the game is 'over'.

I have to say that despite how bloated it is with non combat stuff (and I still think it should have been toned down and paced better), I still enjoy it. The levels are fun to explore and I enjoy using the legions for exploration, and there's still enough combat in the levels. The vibes are really nice and I love the music.

I finished file 07 and I already love the combat although I still suck at it lol, even now I have lots of options to use in combat. I also love the perfect call parries and how everything you do leads to different sorts of sync attacks depending on the weapon and legion you are using. I'm probably gonna be hooked for a long time, especially when I'll reach the end and postgame levels.

I finished Astral Chain, what an awesome game, the last 3 files were really action packed and I enjoyed exploring the zone 09 hub a lot.

Noah Prime kicked my ass but was a very enjoyable fight that I plan to revisit once I'll get better at the game. I also did the first 4 missions of file 12, it's really nice having 71 combat only missions. I believe I'll also replay it on PT Ultimate.

Playing Assassin's Creed Mirage. Had given up on this series after 3 lame action RPGs in a row, but Leo K gave Mirage his blessing, so here I am. It's definitely a return to stealth, probably the most stealth-focused game in the series. Even just wandering in the city pushes stealth because it only takes a little notoriety to have passersby recognizing you and yelling for guards. Seems good so far, but I'm still wrestling with all the Valhalla-isms.

Noah Prime is a fantastic final boss, one of my favourites! You can do so many cool things with him, really cool boss design. The game really shines even more on NG+ on PTUltimate and File12, enjoy :)

Yeah I barely scratched the surface in this first playthrough, there are lots of moves and mechanics to learn and master, I'm definitely gonna replay all the chapters on PT Ultimate.

Speaking of PT Ultimate, I know that when your legion get hurt you lose HP, that you have 0 revives and that enemies deal more damage. Do you know if it changes more stuff? Enemies were already aggressive and challenging on PT Standard, but do they got more aggressive or something on PT Ultimate?

I finished Boswer's Fury with all the 100 cat shines, neat little Mario game, I love how it takes ideas and gameplay mechanics from 3D World but in a small open world and with free camera.

I also finished Metroid Dread with 73% items (My second game in the series after Prime 1), might load up my save and try to find the rest. Damn what a banger. The exploration and atmosphere were great, the combat and movement fantastic and the bosses were all really good with the last one being my favorite. I also enjoyed the parry, it was really well done here and I'm glad to say it's not overused like I thought it's gonna be. I like the concept of E.M.M.I and didn't mind it, but while it was fun at first it barely evolved so I ended up being indifferent to it. The music was nice but not memorable at all, I expected more on that front. Will definitely replay.

Been playing Mario Wonder and it's pretty good so far. The Wonder Flowers add some cool gimmicks (even if they feel a bit shallow most of the time) and there are some creative levels. I'm still in the early game so I'm waiting for things to get better. I did one level of the Special World and it wad great, hard basic platforming, so that got me hyped for the rest of the game.
Otherwise I've been playing some shmups. Warming up to the genre but still pretty bad at it.

>Bowser's Fury
Fun little game, thought we'd get a larger scale title after this but maybe it was a standalone thing.

>Mario Wonder
I enjoyed my time with this but something felt...missing? Not sure how to explain it. The wonder flowers can be interesting but are usually devoid of any challenge and don't last too long. There's definitely some good levels later on.

I've been playing quite a few random things. 30xx is a roguelike(of course) Mega Man X thing and it's actually pretty damn good. There's a lot of really cool sub weapons that you can mix together to make new ones, and there's a ton of power ups and enhancements to find(the game goes a bit overboard with them sometimes though). Boss fights are generally really well done and fair and the levels themselves are good, though I don't think they have enough enemies most of the time. There's a mode where you can play it more like a traditionally structured game, so that's cool too.

It's funny that Malcar mentioned shmups because I've also been playing a few. Finally got Radiant Silvergun which I've never played before, and I adore it so far. I've also been playing some more Sol Cresta which is also fantastic. And then I've been messing around with some Cave games like Akai Katana and Deathsmiles. I had these on the 360 but didn't really remember them, but now I'm getting into them more. I can't comment too much since this is a genre I don't feel qualified to talk about.

Last but not least, I played Alan Wake for halloween and wow I hated it. The sequel looks even worse so I get to save myself $60.

>Alan Wake
I'm not going to bother with the sequel either. Looks awful.

> Alan Wake
Played the first one but got pretty tired of its gimicks pretty fast. Mate showed me him playing Alan Wake 2 and it literally feels like everything that I dislike about modern gaming shoved into one digital-disc. VIsually it's stunning though and it has some nice 'area' mechanics. Changing the scene which literally changes the level on the fly, the menu being an alternate dimension; lots of interesting stuff technically. But as a game it feels like a walking-sim for 10+ hours with some combat in between. Looks like the game that most people said Death Stranding was.

> Mario Wonder
Ironically skipped it atm, while I'm generally really on board with Mario games this one from the trailers really did nothing for me.

> Bowser's Fury
Always assumed it was a trial for a bigger game, so kinda waited it out. Still haven't played it. Kinda wish it got a stand-alone release.

Boswer's Fury is great , but yeah it's a short little and probably Nintendo's way of experimenting with an open world Mario.

I previously finished the Wii U version of 3D World and only started the postgame levels (even the first few ones were considerably more challenging than the final stages of the main game), and now I'm replaying it but this time on the Switch version, I think I prefer the faster movement speed here. I'll also probably do the post game levels on the Switch version instead of the Wii U version.

The end-game content in that game is fantastic. In general it's a stellar Mario game, I managed to get full-completion in it at the time on my WiiU (full stars with all characters). Great game!

100% completion requires me to beat every stage with every character? Cause as much as I love this game, and I enjoy my replay just as much as my first playthrough (and of course I'll also do the postgame levels), I don't think I'll have time for it.

3D World was my first Mario game in general, after that one I might play either Wonder or 64. I hear Bros. 3 and World are considered some of the best so I'll also look forward to playing those.

I had to look up the details since it's been a few years haha. In general your save-game has 'stars' above it, to a maximum of 5. You can earn them in this way:

• Star 1: The player must defeat Meowser in World 8.
  
• Star 2: The player must collect every Green Star in every world.
  
• Star 3: The player must collect every stamp in every world.
  
• Star 4: The player must reach the top of the flag pole in every level with every character. Since there are 5 characters, players will need to beat the game at least twice. It's recommended to play with friends since this is the most challenging and time-consuming star to collect.
  
• Star 5: The player will need to complete the 3 World Crown levels with every character.
  

You can, in a sense, cheat your way to victory with those last two stars. Simply beat a level, and at the end, press start on 3 other (cheap) controllers to have them join near the flagpole and get the win. I remember there were quite a few people begging for a patch on that, since they felt their runs were invalidated by it. Don't think it was ever patched.

> mario64
I'm one of the few that really doesn't like that game tbh, curious to hear what you think of it.

> bros 3
Absolute classic. Extremely high nintendo difficulty though, with some later levels being literal shitshows. Beat it with the skin of my teeth at the time.

> World
My favourite game of all time.

> other mario
I HIGHLY recommend Galaxy1 too.

Looks like I'll be happy having 3 starts only lol, and I plan on playing all the 3D Mario games, from 64 to Odyssey.

I played some of Sunshine 3 years ago, I did all the 8 shines in Bianco Hills and a few shines in Rico Harbor. I emulated it with a 60fps and a real Gamecube controller, and the game was just a joy to play, probably the best movement I've ever seen in a game. I think I spent more than an hour just moving around in Delfino Plaza. I heard it was rushed and has bad levels so it will be interesting to see what I think of the whole game.

>3D World
Probably my favorite Mario game, so creative and fun start to finish.

>100% completion
Are you referring to unlocking the very last world or 100% completion in general? If it's the former then you don't have to beat every stage with every character.

>World is Roy's favorite game
I learned something new today.

>Galaxy
Both of these are excellent too. Galaxy 2 seems to not get as much love the last few years but it's absolutely worth the play. Think of it as an extension to Galaxy 1 rather than a full sequel. Galaxy 1's postgame isn't that great, but Galaxy 2's is much better. 3D World is still the king in this regard, though.

While I can't compare to other Mario games yet as 3D World and Bowser's Fury are the only ones I've finished, I completely agree about the creativity and fun factor. There's tons of variety in the level design and I enjoyed them all except for one of the water levels.

I will do and unlock all the levels, but yeah not gonna do it with every character.

I plan on playing both Galaxy 1 and 2, and I also want to play 3D Land.

> World is my fav
Note that nostalgia is a big reason ofc, since it was the first game I owned. But I still frequently replay it, do wacky runs or whatever. Absolute gem of a game.

> Galaxy 2
Never played it for some reason.

> galaxy1 postgame
I enjoyed it, got the 200% completion (so with both Mario and Luigi). Luigi was a bit harder, but the level design is so consistently fantastic I didn't mind replaying the game.

> 3d world
Despite World being my fav, I can definitely agree that 3d World is the peak of the franchise.

@Infinity_Divide
>Wonder
It feels a little bit too safe in certain areas. You have your creative sections but they are little glimpses in what is a tried and true formula (since New Super Mario Bros). Still undoubtedly good but not excellent (and I hate the removal of the triple jump). Can confirm that the later levels get better, at least on the difficulty side, but overall I think I preferred New Super Mario Bros Wii, which felt more platforming focused.

>shmups
Radiant Silvergun has been on my radar and I'll get it at the first discount on Steam. Sol Cresta I'd like to try, the formation system seem interesting. As for Cave, I've been playing Ketsui, Mushihimesama Futari and DOJ. Ketsui is the best so far, top tier stuff. DOJ have to explore some more but it feels like a less interesting Ketsui (less imaginative bullet patterns, stage design and weapons).

>can't comment too much since this is a genre I don't feel qualified to talk about
I feel like you really only need to see for some specific elements and how they blend together (since shmups tend to be simple design wise *not counting scoring systems*), mainly bullet patterns, enemy placement, ship balancing and the general flow of the game (plus visuals and sound/music tend to also be important since these are very compact games, so everything counts).

>Galaxy 2
Better than the first one IMO. A bit more platforming focused, with better postgame and an actual final Star rather than a freebie. 1 is more atmospheric though, can't deny that.

>3D World
Have to play this too some day. Have been interested in this since I saw the Matthewmatosis review.

Any of the 2D Mario games had triple jump?

Both 3D World and Bowser's Fury are great, highly recommended. Bowser's Fury uses level design ideas from 3D World, and does it very well.

> triple jump
Pretty sure you had them in the New Super Mario games.

Mario Maker definitely has triple jump in the New style. I would assume the actual New games have it too.

>3D World

I only played the Wii U version, so not sure if the Switch version's myriad of fixes and updates it apparently had addresses my issues, but I didn't like that game at all. Played it in multiplayer, and the lack of camera control and weird angles made it impossible for me to judge depth properly. Which is odd, because 3D Land didn't have that issue with me at all. Probably because of the closer lower camera and the 3D effect.

I've had more people with the depth issue. A lot of players didn't have that issue in 3d Land due to the 3d slider from what I know. And in Mario 3d World it can indeed mess with your head at times.

>Mario games
Speaking of Mario games, anybody here played odyssey and found it to be lacking? The level design was pretty shallow IIRC. Felt more like a tech demo than anything else in that regard(game has great art direction though and looks FANTASTIC on switch).

I'm not the biggest fan of Odyssey. This was an old post of me about it:

I am missing a feeling of accomplishment and well designed levels. Because the game is so open and throws new 'gimmick' powerups at you at every moment it never feels like it grabs a concept, introduces it, plays with it and masters it like games before it in the series. Mario 3d World and Galaxy both nailed this, with each world/level having a singular concept tied to it that was first safely introduced and then explored further with the final levels grabbing all those mechanics and making them come together in one big whole.

Odyssey has fun looking levels, but in terms of actual level design and platforming they fall quite short in my opinion. The powerups/transformations also don't do a lot and aren't used nearly enough. Going in I expected worlds to be built around a certain transformation, but most ended up being a different way of transportation than something really unique. Chainchomps break walls, fireballs travers lava, frogs jump a bit higher etc.

Moons mostly were mostly gained for just doing anything, which made them feel worthless at times. Game says go to the right? I go to the left and am showered with them. Some are quite literally across the corner. Or when you are walking around and see a few goombas "welp, time to pile them all since that will give me a star". I really feel the game needed a fourth currency, save Moons for the big things like bosses, events and special occasions - while using a fourth currency as reward for the derping around.

I want to be really clear that I do love the game. It looks great, the mechanics are tight, the levels are beautiful and it can be enjoyed by all ages. It has that strong quality that really only Nintendo games have these days. But it also feels very safe, empty and ... well ... you're not really doing anything I feel. The one time I really REALLY had fun and felt accomplished, was when I saw a cliff where you were supposed to go later-on or using a specific powerup to get there - and try to get there normally using jumps smartly and the enviroment. That I loved. But otherwise, it is a fun beautiful game with some cool ideas, that falls short compared to the previous games in the series imo.

>triple jump
Yeah, NSMB DS had them. Think they first debuted in 64, but that's not a 2D game.

In general I heard mixed things about the NSMB games, not sure if it's about all of them though or only specific ones. I still wanna try NSMB Wii and U Deluxe before trying the old NES and SNES entries, if only to ease my way into them.

I actually started replaying 3D world for switch cuz of this. I beat it a couple times on Wii U. Trying to "100%" it to get the additional levels since Ive never done them before. Ive never actually 100% a game before but this seems really easy.