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(Retro) What have you been playing this week? Vol.2

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    The problem I had with Morrowind GOTYE on the original Xbox, which I played for at least 1000hours including Blood Moon and Tribunal, was the bad frame rate, the serious bugs/giltches in various locations and the almost turn based RPG enemy stats system which meant that killing even a rat early on was stupidly long winded and dangerous. Being killed by a rat is just embarrassing.

    But more than anything I hated those Cliff Racers; again like a turned based RPG they were there to allow you to level up fairly easily but there were just too many in some areas and dealing with them when there was no other choice became a real chore.

    I still loved the game but it was not without serious problems on the Xbox.

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      It was the Xbox version I was playing, via Bone BC. Yeah, the RNG based combat has not aged well at all, and makes for a frustrating experience. I just couldn't see myself continuing for the 100+ hours that you really need to sink into a TES to get the best out of it.

      When I do return, it'll need to be via something which updates some of the clunky elements. The vanilla version of the game feels unnecessarily punishing nowadays.

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        Originally posted by wakka View Post
        I started Morrowind a year or two back, having not played it since ~2003 or so, and that was exactly where I ran aground. Vivec is a goddamn boring place.

        I do regret not persisting though. I really want to go back to it. There's a TES shaped hole in my life but I really can't be bothered to replay Skyrim or Oblivion, as I feel I know them both really well already.
        I'd recommend it, just have a map and guide out for Vivec to smooth things out and minimise your time there. Perhaps via the PC release since you can mod it to make things less clunky.

        Originally posted by fallenangle View Post
        The problem I had with Morrowind GOTYE on the original Xbox, which I played for at least 1000hours including Blood Moon and Tribunal, was the bad frame rate, the serious bugs/giltches in various locations and the almost turn based RPG enemy stats system which meant that killing even a rat early on was stupidly long winded and dangerous. Being killed by a rat is just embarrassing.

        But more than anything I hated those Cliff Racers; again like a turned based RPG they were there to allow you to level up fairly easily but there were just too many in some areas and dealing with them when there was no other choice became a real chore.

        I still loved the game but it was not without serious problems on the Xbox.
        It still impresses me that it even ran on the OG Xbox. It seems to play pretty well via emulation on the newer systems at least. I was tempted to use a mod to have your hits always land but opted for a more traditional approach in the end and just whacked everything until my accuracy increased enough.

        I'm still walking around in my assassin gimp armour 12 hours in. Its light armour I found near the start of the game and it just seems OP. Nothing else comes close. Bit strange really.

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          I couldn't fault the performance on the One S at all. It looked really fantastic - high res, great framerate.

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            Just started PS2 Global Defence Force.

            Despite it regularly pushing the PS2 beyond its limits when things get busy, its still playable and I'm quite enjoying it.

            Nearest game I've played to it was probably DC Alien Front and there's some similarity to Xbox Metal Wolf Chaos too. Both those have better graphics and a somewhat better control system. They also keep the environments more compact and enemy numbers limited but tougher to avoid frame rate drops - a better balance than GDF I think.

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              Originally posted by randombs View Post
              I was the same: N64 at a mate's house; occasionally via emulation; a bit on the DS!

              I was convinced I wouldn't buy the 3D Collection, but then I read your post and it tipped me over the edge!

              I’ve finally given Mario 64 more than a few hours and it’s brilliant.
              Similar story here. I knew my way around Bob-omb Battlefield (and have done for over 20 years), I've read about the game on forums, watched videos, speedruns etc. but I'd never really played through the whole thing for myself until the 3D Collection arrived. I also really enjoyed it and probably prefer it to Galaxy, which was the whole reason I bought the 3D Collection if the first place!

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                Originally posted by randombs View Post
                I was the same: N64 at a mate's house; occasionally via emulation; a bit on the DS!

                I was convinced I wouldn't buy the 3D Collection, but then I read your post and it tipped me over the edge!

                I’ve finally given Mario 64 more than a few hours and it’s brilliant. I’ve been hooked on it most of this weekend and managed to get 30 stars.

                The camera can kiss my arse, and most of the textures look like they haven’t loaded in yet, but otherwise I can’t really fault the game. It feels fantastic and I have a huge grin whenever I come across things that are still present in recent games, like the huge bullets that follow you, or the logs you have to jump on to roll them forward.

                I wasn’t pleased to find my 25-odd lives(that I’d farmed by repeating a certain bonus stage) had been reduced to four when loading my save.

                Cheeky buggers!
                Glad to hear it mate, and interesting to read your impressions - @ your comment regarding textures, yeah, if you get too close up to a wall it all starts to get a bit confusing and you're not sure what you're even looking at, or which way is up for that matter.

                Camera niggles aside (it's never brilliant compared to modern cameras, but you do get used to it), I think the whole game plays like a dream. I was actually shocked at how similar Mario's moveset is to Odyssey. They basically just added the cap stuff for that game - the rest of it they'd already implemented by '96.

                They went so far above and beyond what was even necessary with the game, too. They probably could've had half the levels and half the stars and it still would've been an incredible launch game. But there's serious meat on the bones, and very little filler. Even the 'Find 100 coins' challenge in each level - which I had been planning to skip, thinking it busywork - is a well thought out puzzle in its own right for each stage.

                Honestly it's kind of unsurprising that Sunshine was a disappointment after this. A classic difficult second album.

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                  Mario Sunshine... the Sam’s Town of the gaming world.

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                    30 hours into Morrowind and I finally got into enchanting. Mostly to get auto-regen on my health and fatigue which has been greatly appreciated. I was going to experiment with enchanting some new weapons but what I have is sufficient and I'd rather carry on with the main story.

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                      Got around to playing Earthbound. Only half an hour in last night but loving it already. Great writing (the catalyst was in interview with the guy who did the English version of the game on the Retro Hour podcast).

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                        The AVGN episode is amazing. Full of spoilers though, obviously.

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                          I'm trying to play FIFA '95 on the Mega Drive (MiSTer, really), and if it isn't one of the most unresponsive pieces of ****e going then I don't know what is. It feels like it's chugging along at 15FPS as well. What a total waste of CRT tube lifetime.

                          I'm Brazil vs. India and I can't do ****all. How the hell was this so successful back in the day?

                          Absolute ****ing dreck. I need a drink after this.

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                            After that mess I figured I'd try out an old personal favourite of mine from yesteryear, something I've not played in decades. NHL '94. Again, the Mega Drive version running on the MiSTer.

                            Well, ****. If this doesn't feel like the best sports game ever made. Especially after FIFA. Nearly three hours gone and I hadn't even noticed. It feels like I've been beamed up by aliens and potentially bummed, before being brought back to my attic with fake memory implants. I've just turned it off, but I almost feel like immediately putting it back on again to confirm that it is actually as good as I remember from 5 minutes ago. That might be a bad idea as it'd likely lead to a 4am finish.

                            The controls are sublime, despite controlling multiple men with big sticks and body armour battling over a small rubber disc across a field of frozen water. Seriously, whoever coded this up deserves an award. I'm still finding new ways to try and set up goals all the time - it's practically infinite in approach, regarding that. Plus, there's nothing more satisfying than smashing in a super-long desperation shot from near the halfway line, as rare as that works out. I'm no hockey fan, and know nothing of the real sport - but the way the matches flow backwards and forwards (or, up and down?) just feels so organic and satisfying.

                            I need matches against a real human at some point. This was always a firm favourite within a small pocket of my friends.

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                              Originally posted by dataDave View Post
                              What a total waste of CRT tube lifetime.
                              Your time would be better spent on FIFA 97. Unarguably the best one from that generation.

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                                Those NHL games are good. Did you make Wayne Gretzky's head bleed? (If anyone gets this awful reference, hang your head in shame)

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