To respond to Scott, RNG/Luck doesn't bother me that much in Hearthstone for several of the reasons you mentioned. Many of the random elements are made equal for their cost and risk. There was an old saying with Magic: The Gathering Pros about all the luck is based around what you get in your hands. "30% of the time, you get mana-flooded or mana-screwed. 30% of the time, your opponent gets mana-flooded or mana-screwed. The remaining 40% of the time is actually planning how to play the game." And Hearthstone is so much more fair in that regard.
I brought up the amount of luck based cards in the expansion because I think of things like Mad Bomber/Gelbin Mekkatorque/Tinkmaster Overspark/Elite Tauren Chieftan that can completely ruin the player who uses them as well. Don't make a system based entirely on cards like those because they are generally useless outside of being forcibly used in Arena. Cards like Knife Juggler/Ragnaros/Ysera/Mind Control Tech are fine in that their overwhelming benefits are balanced out by the randomness of their abilities.
And if luck really bothers you, then play Netrunner instead. Yes, it is still a random card game, but it has plenty of tutors and other luck mitigation cards. If you play properly, the randomness will rarely fuck you. It's extremely rare to hear any Netrunner player complain about anything luck related.
5/10. Still loving Hearthstone, gonna need something more to chew on to try Netrunner.
Tropico 5. I could go on about the mechanical differences between this and Tropico 4, but very few of you seem to play Tropicos. Instead what I will say is that I approve of any strategy game where one of the options presented to you is buy $10,000 worth of scratch cards.
Picked up a digital code for Last of Us on PS4. Played it on PS3 but the price was right. Came in the mail today, looks like someone took apart a bundle and sold the code.
I'm playing Styx: Master of Shadows as my first game with the new graphics card and SSD setup.
The game is excellent for anyone else who enjoys stealth games. When I refer to stealth, this is more stealth than most games that claim to be part of the genre.
If you are found, you will likely die.
The areas seem very open ended especially base on tools which you have, which include the obligatory noise making but also making a basic clone of yourself.
Running on SSD I forget that loading a stage takes only a few seconds and I can run everything on 8x the highest setting and force 8x the max AA in the game before one of the two fans of my video card starts running. On regular settings neither of the fans spin up, it is eerily quiet.
I also go Farcry 4 for free, I'm not a fan of Ubisoft but they gave me a free game so I'll play it, I guess.
I will also setup Shadowplay so I can capture some of my amazingly bad 1 v 5 wins in CS:GO.
I'm in a weird spot in Tropico 5: my approval rating is under %35, but happiness is over 60. Each subset of happiness is at least %40, with multiple happinesses being at %80+. However, the mix of policies I'm using to get that happiness upsets literally every faction but the Communists. I'm indifferent at best with every other faction. As a result, I have to beef up my military to make sure it can defeat the rebels, but I don't have great military discipline, so I'm building up a force that may oust me at any time.
There was an uprising which excited me, because every time I've had an uprising in Tropico before, my approval rating has gone up, because I just killed a ton of dissenters with good reason, but after this uprising my approval rating went down. I think this game is just fucking with me.
So, another uprising began, and then the rebels started attacking, and just as my first guard tower fell, Dr Zweistein completed the time machine and took us back to the 19th Century. It was awesomely dramatic.
WarioLand 2, from the Gameboy Color days. I bought 2, 3, and 4 on the Virtual Console sale with some discounted eShop cards I picked up.
Wario 2 is the greatest mobile platform game of all time.
Defeat the Giant Spearman!
This game really is fantastic. I'm over 60% complete, into the bonus endings. I am surprised I missed this one back in the day, as it definitely got great reviews at the time. Not like it is some hidden retro gem.
But looking back on it, '98-2000 was such a flurry of gaming, not only because a shit-ton of great stuff came out in that era, but it was 8th-10th grade for me, and a peak among the peaks and valleys of gaming season. I probably spread myself too thin, as I was equally into N64, Dreamcast, PC, GameBoy Color, and even had a PS1 for a few months before trading it back in. Hell, I was going to local tabletop meetups too (mostly Warhammer, with some Catan/Talisman/Robo Rally on the side).
I'm wondering if I should push through and get close to 100% on Warioland 2, or if I should drop it in favor of playing through 3 and 4 before Wario burnout sets in.
WarioLand 2, from the Gameboy Color days. I bought 2, 3, and 4 on the Virtual Console sale with some discounted eShop cards I picked up.
Wario 2 is the greatest mobile platform game of all time.
Defeat the Giant Spearman!
This game really is fantastic. I'm over 60% complete, into the bonus endings. I am surprised I missed this one back in the day, as it definitely got great reviews at the time. Not like it is some hidden retro gem.
But looking back on it, '98-2000 was such a flurry of gaming, not only because a shit-ton of great stuff came out in that era, but it was 8th-10th grade for me, and a peak among the peaks and valleys of gaming season. I probably spread myself too thin, as I was equally into N64, Dreamcast, PC, GameBoy Color, and even had a PS1 for a few months before trading it back in. Hell, I was going to local tabletop meetups too (mostly Warhammer, with some Catan/Talisman/Robo Rally on the side).
I'm wondering if I should push through and get close to 100% on Warioland 2, or if I should drop it in favor of playing through 3 and 4 before Wario burnout sets in.
Push through for 100% and 100% treasures also. Wario 3 and 4 are not as good.
In '98-2000 I had some disposable money, thanks to high school/college jobs, and I had time. I was deep into PC gaming and the Game Boy Color/Advance. Got both the day they came out. I am an expert on that particular era of portable gaming, which is often overlooked because Pokemon dominated over everything else.
Yeah, the fact that Pokemon Red/Blue came out a month before the Game Boy Color was crazy. It worked though. My original Game Boy was long busted, so I wound up buying a Game Boy Pocket just to play Pokemon, and then bought a Color one month later. Having two local paper routes in 7th grade really paid off. $100/month for a child that age, at that time, was like god-level income.
I probably had <10 games on the Color. I can honestly only remember 5. Fond memories of Mario Golf. Super Mario Bros Deluxe was an incredible port of the original. Pokemon Pinball was incredible. Also played Links Awakening for the first time w/ the DX version, and I enjoyed the Bomberman game on Color. That's all I can recall.
Yeah, the fact that Pokemon Red/Blue came out a month before the Game Boy Color was crazy. It worked though. My original Game Boy was long busted, so I wound up buying a Game Boy Pocket just to play Pokemon, and then bought a Color one month later. Having two local paper routes in 7th grade really paid off. $100/month for a child that age, at that time, was like god-level income.
I probably had
I don't remember a Bomberman game on color, just Bomberman GB, which was excellent.
Mario Deluxe would probably the best ever release of Super Mario Bros. if not for the fact the screen aspect ratio was wrong.
Let me dig out my bag of cartridges and see what other gems I can find.
Oh, Zelda Ages and Seasons, obviously
Also, a lot of DX games like Dragon Warrior: Monsters. Huh, there's a copy of Pitfall: Beyond the Jungle here. I wonder if that's any good? Deja Vu 1 AND 2 on the same cartridge. R-Type DX was a really good portable version of R-Type 1 and 2, when it was otherwise impossible to play such a game in a portable fashion.
In other news, I couldn't resist NES Remix for 3DS. I got it in the e-shop. I don't think I need any other single player game besides this. $30 was a bit steep, though.
Now that is some crazy Bomberman trivia. According to that Wikipedia article you linked, the original Bomberman GB was a Japan-only release, and the American port was rethemed as a Wario/Bomberman crossover:
What we knew as Bomberman GB was Bomberman GB 2 in Japan. They also got a 3rd in the series which we never saw.
What I had was Pocket Bomber man, which I just found out was originally released for Game Boy in April of '97, only to have an updated version come out a few months later as a launch title for the GBC. Only North American and Europe got the GBC version. This was a side-scrolling game, so a big change of pace. I didn't have much experience with other Bombermans at the time (I was a deprived child in this one small regard). Enjoyed this game a lot though.
So on to Ultimate NES Remix, I realize you're not in a position to answer this question, but I'm curious what content it has that is any different than the two Wii U games combined. Peeking at Wikipedia for this, it looks like they cherry-picked the more recognizeable titles for the 3DS release. NES Remix 1 on Wii U was strictly games from the first year of the Famicom, which forced inclusion of stuff like Wrecking Crew, Clu Clu Land, basic Nintendo sports games, Wrecking Crew, Ice Climbers, and Pinball, all of which did not make it into the 3DS package. The only thing cut from NES Remix 2 was more sports games and Warios Woods.
Does it have the bonus modes like the NES World Championship cart ROM, or the backwards-scrolling Super Luigi Bros?
I don't know what is has because I haven't played it enough and everything unlocks in stages.
Aha. I figured I'd ask about those modes because I didn't see them mentioned one way or another, and they were not an unlockable, just straight up included in NES Remix 2. When you started up the game, the menu was basically "Do you want to play NES Remix 2, or one of these other things?"
If you stream I'll check it out. I'm curious how it is to go back to it now. Not sure if the difficulty was just my age. I remember the levels weren't too hard but some of the bosses were a challenge. Never beat the last guy.
Funny thing though, I got a different get up for my pirate with no hood. The animators didn't take this into account in the cut sceens, so whenever he says his last line and would normally be putting his hood up he looks like he's poping his collar.
I got the Farcry 4 bundle. They fixed a lot of game mechanics from Farcry 3. The Dunia 2 game engine looks incredibly pretty when lighting effects are involved (with all settings maxed).
Also it is great to see a rhino ram a car or leading a charge of elephants into a camp and not having to shoot anyone.
They fixed some stuff with fast travel and added a mini helicopter and hovercraft plus other stuff I haven't seen yet.
The voice acting is quite accurate for the Tibetan / North Indian area the game is supposed to be in, even the radio dj.
Only problem is Uplay bullshit. You have to login to Uplay to launch the game then the game itself will log you into Farcry 4. That is 3 layers of DRM if you have it through Steam and 2 layers if you are launching just Uplay (which requires administrative access).
I decided to forego unlocking all of the extra levels in Wario Land 2, even though the game was amazing, and the branching paths had some cool levels (I did get through about half of them). Instead, moved on to Yumi's Odd Odyssey, which is an... odd puzzle platformer. A neat grappling hook mechanic is the focus of the game. You can throw it, adjust the length of your line, swing around on it and release when the timing is right. The oddness comes from the theme, which is almost like a dreamscape with some bizarre walking fish as your enemies. It felt like a Dreamcast game.
Comments
I brought up the amount of luck based cards in the expansion because I think of things like Mad Bomber/Gelbin Mekkatorque/Tinkmaster Overspark/Elite Tauren Chieftan that can completely ruin the player who uses them as well. Don't make a system based entirely on cards like those because they are generally useless outside of being forcibly used in Arena. Cards like Knife Juggler/Ragnaros/Ysera/Mind Control Tech are fine in that their overwhelming benefits are balanced out by the randomness of their abilities. 5/10. Still loving Hearthstone, gonna need something more to chew on to try Netrunner.
Defeat the Giant Spearman!
The game is excellent for anyone else who enjoys stealth games. When I refer to stealth, this is more stealth than most games that claim to be part of the genre.
If you are found, you will likely die.
The areas seem very open ended especially base on tools which you have, which include the obligatory noise making but also making a basic clone of yourself.
Running on SSD I forget that loading a stage takes only a few seconds and I can run everything on 8x the highest setting and force 8x the max AA in the game before one of the two fans of my video card starts running. On regular settings neither of the fans spin up, it is eerily quiet.
I also go Farcry 4 for free, I'm not a fan of Ubisoft but they gave me a free game so I'll play it, I guess.
I will also setup Shadowplay so I can capture some of my amazingly bad 1 v 5 wins in CS:GO.
There was an uprising which excited me, because every time I've had an uprising in Tropico before, my approval rating has gone up, because I just killed a ton of dissenters with good reason, but after this uprising my approval rating went down. I think this game is just fucking with me.
But looking back on it, '98-2000 was such a flurry of gaming, not only because a shit-ton of great stuff came out in that era, but it was 8th-10th grade for me, and a peak among the peaks and valleys of gaming season. I probably spread myself too thin, as I was equally into N64, Dreamcast, PC, GameBoy Color, and even had a PS1 for a few months before trading it back in. Hell, I was going to local tabletop meetups too (mostly Warhammer, with some Catan/Talisman/Robo Rally on the side).
I'm wondering if I should push through and get close to 100% on Warioland 2, or if I should drop it in favor of playing through 3 and 4 before Wario burnout sets in.
In '98-2000 I had some disposable money, thanks to high school/college jobs, and I had time. I was deep into PC gaming and the Game Boy Color/Advance. Got both the day they came out. I am an expert on that particular era of portable gaming, which is often overlooked because Pokemon dominated over everything else.
I probably had <10 games on the Color. I can honestly only remember 5. Fond memories of Mario Golf. Super Mario Bros Deluxe was an incredible port of the original. Pokemon Pinball was incredible. Also played Links Awakening for the first time w/ the DX version, and I enjoyed the Bomberman game on Color. That's all I can recall.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bomberman_GB
Mario Deluxe would probably the best ever release of Super Mario Bros. if not for the fact the screen aspect ratio was wrong.
Let me dig out my bag of cartridges and see what other gems I can find.
Oh, Zelda Ages and Seasons, obviously
Also, a lot of DX games like Dragon Warrior: Monsters. Huh, there's a copy of Pitfall: Beyond the Jungle here. I wonder if that's any good? Deja Vu 1 AND 2 on the same cartridge. R-Type DX was a really good portable version of R-Type 1 and 2, when it was otherwise impossible to play such a game in a portable fashion.
In other news, I couldn't resist NES Remix for 3DS. I got it in the e-shop. I don't think I need any other single player game besides this. $30 was a bit steep, though.
What we knew as Bomberman GB was Bomberman GB 2 in Japan. They also got a 3rd in the series which we never saw.
What I had was Pocket Bomber man, which I just found out was originally released for Game Boy in April of '97, only to have an updated version come out a few months later as a launch title for the GBC. Only North American and Europe got the GBC version.
This was a side-scrolling game, so a big change of pace. I didn't have much experience with other Bombermans at the time (I was a deprived child in this one small regard). Enjoyed this game a lot though.
So on to Ultimate NES Remix, I realize you're not in a position to answer this question, but I'm curious what content it has that is any different than the two Wii U games combined. Peeking at Wikipedia for this, it looks like they cherry-picked the more recognizeable titles for the 3DS release. NES Remix 1 on Wii U was strictly games from the first year of the Famicom, which forced inclusion of stuff like Wrecking Crew, Clu Clu Land, basic Nintendo sports games, Wrecking Crew, Ice Climbers, and Pinball, all of which did not make it into the 3DS package. The only thing cut from NES Remix 2 was more sports games and Warios Woods.
Does it have the bonus modes like the NES World Championship cart ROM, or the backwards-scrolling Super Luigi Bros?
The Dunia 2 game engine looks incredibly pretty when lighting effects are involved (with all settings maxed).
Also it is great to see a rhino ram a car or leading a charge of elephants into a camp and not having to shoot anyone.
They fixed some stuff with fast travel and added a mini helicopter and hovercraft plus other stuff I haven't seen yet.
The voice acting is quite accurate for the Tibetan / North Indian area the game is supposed to be in, even the radio dj.
Only problem is Uplay bullshit. You have to login to Uplay to launch the game then the game itself will log you into Farcry 4. That is 3 layers of DRM if you have it through Steam and 2 layers if you are launching just Uplay (which requires administrative access).