The Official WTF are YOU playing right now thread

[Gaijin Punch]

I found that the "hugging" eventually becomes second nature. It's deciding not to bomb on the end of stage 4 and all of stage 5 w/ stupid rank that will kill you. I think the rank takes a massive jump whent he counter hits 100,000.

[EOJ]

Just finished Dragon Quest IV on my DSi (sans the stuff you can do in the prologue). I loved every minute of it (took me 24 hours to clear). I can't wait for DQIX to arrive on July 11th.

Next up is Soma Bringer for the DS. I'll play that until DQIX arrives.

[Gaijin Punch]

24 hours seems very nice. I just finished Twilight Princess and it took about 36 hours and I hardly did any of the extra shit which Zelda games are packed with. As usual, after hour 30, it was just too much of a grind of me. Never been into the DQ series though, and I've gotten rid of my DS.

[EOJ]

Get a DSi. The slightly bigger (and brighter) screens make it 10x better for me, and I can actually enjoy DS games now. The DQ ports are great because there's no touch screen bullshit.

DQIV is a good start, but there's a PS1 port of that as well. You could also try DQV on the PS2 (also has a DS port). I think DQV is longer than DQIV though (more in the 30‾40 hour range).

[Gaijin Punch]

Problem is I have little time these days, so I'm usually trying to get the most out of my rather bulky arcade setup. If I commuted to work an hour a day, the DS or PSP would be excellent. I only come in like 2-3 times a week, and it's 15 minutes on the train max.

I got Locco Rocco 2 for the PSP. Pretty fun, but kind of mindless.

[Technosphile]

Onimusha, PS2
Got the 3rd one in the mail, but felt the need to re-play the original before trying it. This game is easy, but fun. Very satisfying to kick a monster down, then impale him.

StarFox Command, DS
I hated it, but found myself playing it a lot regardless. Terrible controls, crappy 3-second battles occasionally, and irritating 'voices'. Over ten years later, and there still isn't a worthy successor to StarFox 64.

World Stadium EX, PSone
The undefeated streak rolls on.

[Kaneda]

Cyvern
According to my MAME clock it took about 7 hours to beat both loops of Cyvern, although I had played it a bit in the past. Not the hardest out there but very quality. I think I'll play it some more in the arcade since the autofire allows for higher scores.

Bokura no Terebi Game Kentei
It's solid, but I would've preferred slightly more recent Namco games (Valkyrie no Bouken instead of Valkyrie no Densetsu? no no no). Pretty fun and addicting though.

Picross DS
This game has annihilated my productivity. I haven't looked at one nugget of Japanese study since getting this thing.

I was determined on getting back to Gunbird 2 but Picross is a more soothing way to pass the time.

[Gaijin Punch]

Change of pace: Katamari Damacy Tribute & Wipeoput HD Extreme. Anyone else playing the former?

[EOJ]

Recently finished Tengai Makyou 4 for the JP PSP. That's the most entertaining RPG I've played in years. I loved every minute of it.

Now I'm playing through Growlanser (also JP PSP). Not as good as Tengai Makyou 4, but those are big shoes to fill. It's pretty good though (so far).

I'm about halfway through Dragon Quest IX too (have been for weeks), but I never seem to be in the mood to finish that one. The fugly 3D graphics always make me switch it off after a half hour or so.

[Gaijin Punch]

Recently finished Tengai Makyou 4 for the JP PSP. That's the most entertaining RPG I've played in years. I loved every minute of it.

How is it compared to the Saturn game? Same type of fights? This is a rather long game, from what I remember, so is off my radar.

Now I'm playing through Growlanser (also JP PSP). Not as good as Tengai Makyou 4, but those are big shoes to fill. It's pretty good though (so far).

Did you play the original? It is about as awesome as 2D 32-bit RPGs can get... it's sequels are perfect examples of how to massively fuck up something awesome.

[EOJ]

Yeah, TMIV is a port of the Saturn game. It's an awesome port too - they didn't mess with the 2D graphics, and just made it widescreen with better quality anime cinemas. They also added an extra city and some story segments towards the end. It's one of the few RPGs I played mainly for the story. The characters are all awesome, especially Zengo.

The fights are the same, but a bit nicer as they're widescreen (i.e. it's easier to see everything on screen). It's a pretty simplistic fighting engine, and it can get repetitive after awhile, but there aren't any random battles (you can see all the enemies on screen, and avoid them if you like).

It's not that long of a game, I finished it in 27 hours and I did pretty much everything. If you whiz through it you could do it in under 25 hours. I was so addicted to it last weekend I played over 10 hours in two days.

Growlanser is a nice port on the PSP too - nice widescreen graphics, and they added 2 new characters (from the original character designer), new endings, and a bunch of other stuff, so it's a pretty nicely enhanced port. I'm about 8 hours in, and it keeps getting more and more interesting. Seems like it will be a long game though. Never played the original.

[Gaijin Punch]

Seems like it will be a long game though. Never played the original.

Original took me about 55 hours from what I remember, and I think that was the quick end of the spectrum.

[Kaneda]

Varth
For the STGT, of course. I actually really like the game and have enjoyed the competition so far. It used to seem so impossible to me but thanks to the challenge the tournament provides, I was able to beat it after just a few days of practice. A number of people have been knocking me down the rankings but I feel satisfied with clearing it and will return to the following:

Chrono Cross
A game I have fond memories of as a teen and one that I figured if I was every going to be able to enjoy an RPG again it would have to be this one. So far, it hasn't really let me down. While lacking when it comes to story (as all RPGs seem to), the graphics, sound and battle system still hold up really well.

[Gaijin Punch]

Which version are you playing?

I busted out my Raijin b/c I needed two players to unlock a certain mode in a certain for a certain user recently... while it was out, I got my Guerilla War going. Fuck me in the goat ass -- that shit is hard. It will have to take an indefinite back seat. I have a super play here, and according to the commentary, it is the ever so special "oni difficult", at least according to the guy that cleared it on Normal & Very Hard. I'll play Heavy Barrel for a while.... well, until week 2 of STGT. I might participate in that one.

[Kaneda]

Of Chrono Cross? I decided to play it in Japanese because I could use the practice and had enough of the "colorful" accents in the domestic version.

[sven666]

guwange/esprade OST

whatever happened to Masahiro Kusunoki anyways and why the hell did CAVE replace him with Namiki whos soundtracks are nowhere near as good ?? (in fact, outside of the games they blow imo)..

[Gaijin Punch]

Yeah. I don't see the appeal to Namiki. Music is to "gamey"

[incognoscente]

Only speculation: maybe because Namiki tends to work in a MOD-like format but Kusunoki worked to straight PCM audio? The savings of file size vs. sound quality might have been argument enough.

[zinger]

I still respect Namiki. He's an incredibly busy guy who puts out incredilbly much material. A friend of mine (who is in frequent contact with Namiki) told me that the average time he spends on a commercial soundtrack (including for Cave games) is FOUR DAYS. It must be a very different work climate for him compared to back in the mid-nineties (when he produced legendary stuff). I guess it's hard to be consistantly interesting with so little time and so much work to do. I'm not a fan of his newer stuff, but every now and then there's a track with at least a hint of that original Namiki spirit.

By the way, incognoscente, where did you learn about song formats in Cave's newer games? I haven't examined Cave's hardware, but I figured they'd use streamed music nowadays.

[incognoscente]

I've heard of composers writing scores for games or films in two weeks, but four days?! That's crazy.


My information was secondary source at best. I can't remember if it was quoted from liner notes or the result of someone's ROM spelunking, but I heard that daioujou and ESPGaluda (not Namiki, but still) were a form of tracked module (the source called it MOD but it wasn't classic 4-channel).

I haven't kept up with Cave matters since that hardware era, so they might be streaming now and I'd be none the wiser.

[Gaijin Punch]

but I heard that daioujou and ESPGaluda (not Namiki, but still) were a form of tracked module (the source called it MOD but it wasn't classic 4-channel).

Ketsui/DOJ OST liner notes (or somewhere else)...Ketsui specifically if I'm not mistaken... not sure about DOJ.

[Khan]

Playing Final Fantasy 8 again, its been a few years and I cant remember the ending so im replaying the whole thing.

Also playing the shinobi games on the MD/Genesis via emulator man everytime I hear the china town track in revenge of shinobi I get chills down my spine.

also just started playing princess crown on the psp. ( I have a nasty habit of playing a game then leaving it for a while before starting it up again)

[Siren]

Just beat the forth stage of Steel Battalion. (Level's boss was incredible. You have to play it yourself to see.) I rented New Super Mario Brothers Wii, but I have yet to play it. I've also got a bajillion roms sitting on my hard drive, dying to be played; the choices are overwhelming...

[Snake Plissken]

- Shin Megami Tensei SNES with the english patch made by Aeon Genesis.

I'm trying to complete it, after some months of keeping it on hold. I'm near the final part of the game now, and i must decide which path i want to take between Chaos and Neutrality. It's really a great game.

- Super Robot Wars F Final Sega Saturn

I am near the end of the game, i'm at the second part of stage 76 right now. Killing Poseidal is pretty hard...

[Gaijin Punch]

Nice to see someone patched a Megaten game, which I"ll admit, is an obscure choice (for the west). Never got into it, but can appreciate the older ones.

I tried one of the cheap PSX Super Robot Taisen games and couldn't quite get into. Big sprite robots = awesome... but I don't have the patience.

I'm actually playing a lot in small, small increments, usually at night before crashing:

-Radirgy Noa [Wii]
-Joe & Mac Returns [MAME]
-Pop 'n Pop [MAME]
-VOOT [Live]
-Rez HD [Live]

I suck balls at Voot.