Thank you for your tips on Mass Effect. If I remember correctly it was the vehicle sections of the game that frustrated me to no end too. I do like that game I just couldn’t pass a section of it and gave up.
Stage Select
A game that I always enjoyed that never got a sequel was The Legend of Dragoon. It was Sony’s attempt to make a big scale RPG like Final Fantasy VII. Although not as polished as FF7, it was still very good. The battle system was different in that you timed button presses for your attacks. Combat was even more fun once you gained the ability to transform into the dragoon form, it was it was awesome pulling off your super moves. The story of Dart was interesting the entire way through from his quest to kill the black monster, meeting who would become your party members, unexpected deaths and twists along the way. I always heard rumors that Sony was making a sequel that was cancelled.
Pak-Watch: Metal Gear Solid 2
First, the E3 2000 trailer that was 9 minutes of Snake in beautiful graphics taking out Russian soldiers, shootouts taking out glass and other surroundings and that awesome music. This led to me may or may not buying Zone of the Enders primarily for the MGS2 demo. I did enjoyed Zone of the Enders but probably played the demo of MGS2 for easily 50+ hours. My brother and I were ultra hyped for this game, probably the most hyped I’ve ever been for a video game in my life (only Final Fantasy X comes remotely close). The end of the demo where Revolver Ocelot grabs his arm and “becomes” Liquid Snake practically had me screaming.
This was the first video game I ever preordered and when the game came out my brother and I each got our own copies of the game and played simultaneously, checking in with each other throughout breaks. After the tanker level, the twist of playing as Raiden for the remainder of the game was a bummer at first, but I eventually got over it. The bosses were fun and different from the original, the setting and story was intriguing and the end had you questioning everything about what you just saw. Although the original MGS is my favorite in the series (and my favorite game of all time), I liked the gameplay more in MGS2 and the story more in MGS. MGS2 is just about as close to perfect as it gets in my opinion, still a blast to play. I own just about every version of this game ever released: MGS2 for PS2, MGS2: Substance for Xbox, MGS: Substance for PS2, The Document of MGS2, Metal Gear Solid HD Collection for PS3 and Metal Gear Solid HD Collection for Vita.
1. MEGA MAN (SERIES) – I posted late in the comments for Pak Watch for the last podcast regarding Mega Man 4, but that was the first Mega Man game that I played in the series and it was so difficult that I gave up on it and never played another main Mega Man game (except Mega Man Legends) until the Mega Man Anniversary Collection game out for the PlayStation 2, which I then grew to appreciate the games more. I bought Mega Man 9 & 10 and beat both of those and I would say the series is one of my favorite classic franchises. I also bought Mega Man Legacy Collection and will buy Mega Man Legacy Collection 2 eventually, would be nice if they were released on Vita.
2. DARKSIDERS – I am not a huge fan of the Legend of Zelda series and everything I heard about this game was that it is a more mature themed version of those games. I played Darksiders for about 10 hours then put it aside thinking not too much of it. Giant Bomb really does have a huge influence on my game purchases and games I play I realized (as well as this podcast) and once they started talking about it again I jumped back in out of curiosity. I beat it the second go-around and ended up buying the sequel but I have not played it yet. The God of War-like combat is one of the main reasons I enjoy it.
3. MASS EFFECT (SERIES) – I will admit that to this day I have not yet beat the original Mass Effect and the reason being is that I fell off the first game probably a little half way through. I did enjoy the story but it was the difficulty that got me. I don’t know if my crew was under-leveled or what but I always had a very hard time beating some of the enemies; I would die time and time again and eventually I just got sick of it. Mass Effect 2 comes into the picture and I picked it up a year after it was released and played non-stop to completion and same with part 3. It is definitely one of my favorite series in gaming (Mass Effect 2 is in my all-time top 5). I would like to go back and play through the whole series and finally complete the original, still waiting for that Mass Effect Collection for PS4/XBONE….
Pak Watch:
DISHONORED – I do not have a whole lot to say about Dishonored except I bought it for PS3 with intention to play it, got it digitally for free for PS Plus for PS3 and then bought it again for PS4 on sale with still the intention to play it lol. So I own 3 copies of it and I really want to play it, I just haven’t yet, so I am interested in hearing what everyone has to say about it in this segment.
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I have always enjoyed this image from the art of the Mega Man Legends game: https://www.google.com/search?q=mega+man+legends+art&rlz=1C9BKJA_enUS783US784&hl=en-US&prmd=isvn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiamaGmxunZAhVC0mMKHUVwA64Q_AUIESgB&biw=1366&bih=909#imgrc=M3DKEZe8lmT5uM
Maybe some form of painting of that would be nice, I like the bright colors, I also love that art style in games.
Pak Watch:
Mega Man 4 was actually the first Mega Man game I played. My brother and I used to only be able to get new NES games if they were on sale or at a garage sale and I believe we got this one at a garage sale. I was young when I played this game and could never get that far at all. The difficulty drove me away and I never really gave any of the other games a chance until more than a decade later because of that. I like the Mega Man series, but my first encounter with it was frustrating.
Just want to start my post saying that I was not trolling or trying to get a rise out of you guys when picking Super Metroid as my most overrated. Like you said on the podcast, I have been listening to NWP for a long time and I did see that reaction coming from you because I know it’s your favorite game. I generally do not find that game or series nearly as good as everyone else does and this was my list, so I put it on there. I also did not mean to imply it was a bad game, just “boring” because it doesn’t appeal to me. Also just want to note that you picked Final Fantasy VII, my second favorite game and I can respect that lol.
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- Licker (Resident Evil 2)
- Little Sister (Bioshock)
Chrono Crossing (1987)
- Mike Tyson’s Punch Out
Agree with Half-Life 2, probably should have put that on my list.
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Chrono Crossing (1988)
Although Metal Gear (NES) was released this year and that is my favorite series in gaming, my pick is Jackal (NES). My brother and I played so much Jackal, we knew all the levels by heart and I still to this day enjoy the game. I remember renting this game but never owning it and I rented it a lot. Sometimes my brother and I would get Jackal mixed up with Silkworm, a kind of similar game. Great game and I recommend it to anyone who is into NES games that have not tried it.
thank you. it was kind if tough to determine what constituted a trope. i was thinking about it for a bit.
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3) A rival that is always your equal. Vergil in the Devil May Cry series as an example. I always find it entertainting how the relantionship between you and your rival evolves throughout the course of a game.
2) Paragon/Renegade system. Mass Effect and inFamous are the two the come to mind. Seeing how events play out or what powers/abilities your character got gave me a reason to play KOTOR and Mass Effect multiple times in succession.
1) Alternate endings. Whether it be one or multiple alternate endings, I always appreciated more reasons to go back to a game. Sometimes alternate endings require you to play a different way or get an item you were not aware of the first time around.
Chrono Crossing (1994):
As a Sega Genesis owner, it was Sonic & Knuckles. I probably would've still picked it had I owned a SNES because I am not a Metriod fan. Mortal Kombat II is a honorable mention. I remember playing the demo for Sonic & Knuckles in the store as a kid and my mom having to drag me away from it when it was time to leave. The fact you could attach Sonic 2 and Sonic 3 to it and play as Knuckles in those games was pretty awesome as well. It was probably my favorite game in the series next to Sonic 2.
Stage Select: I do not know developer names that well, but Metal Gear being my favorite series, I do know Hideo Kojima. I would team with him up with David Jaffey ( don't think I spelled that right ). I would have them create an action and stealth game with an awesome story since I like the stories in the games both of them have made. Story has always been my favorite thing in games, so I would be interested in what they could come up with.
Chrono Crossing: I did not get to comment in time on the stage select where we got to rank our favorite consoles but I love Sega Genesis. It would have been number two on my list. My game for 1995 is Comix Zone. I have probably beat this game 50 times. It was very fun to play and I always carried the rat with me to help me find secrets. I bought the Sega Genesis Collection for PS3 and still play it on there to this day.
I keep missing the deadlines to submit my answers. I am writing this having not listen to this week's podcast yet. I like that you are putting the topics and the deadlines in the articles now. That is very helpful. Keep up the good work.
