Serenes Forest's Teehee Thread

[Armagon]

Mario Kart DS pretty good (review)

Mario Kart did not get actually good until Double Dash but while Double Dash is a good game that i have yet to play in it's entirety, it is also a game with a unique gimmick that has not been replicated since and as such, that is a game that stands on it's own even after years of Mario Kart following it. Mario Kart DS standardized the series and set the stage for the improvements of Wii, 7 and 8. While the controls feel a bit slippery (disclaimer: may be due to emulation), it's a decently fun game that would be more fun if the online still existed. It's selection of brand new courses is pretty decent overall, containing some strong fan-favorites such as Waluigi's Pinball and Airship Fortress. It's also the first game in the series to introduce retro courses, which is neat as it gives past courses a new chance at life (any N64 course is automatically improved here) and it's currently the only game in the series with Missions. Indeed, Mario Kart DS has the best single player content in the series due to essentially having a """"""'story mode"""""" where you can take on different challenges. My only gripe with Missions is that some of the challenges are repeats. There's not a whole lot bad to say about Mario Kart DS, it's pretty decent and it's only main problem is that the later games exist (but it holds on by having the best single player content).

7/10

__________________

Oh hey, that's the 20th game. Time to update the list: https://www.backloggd.com/u/Armagon/list/ranking-every-game-i-played-in-2022/

1 hour ago, Benice said:

Mario Kart Wii is my childhood.

Mario Kart Wii was my introduction to the series.

I was very bad at it until i wasn't. I have very fond memories and when 7 came out, seeing the Wii courses in the retro cups was a nice refreshing drink of nostalgia. Which happened again when i played 8 and saw Wii and 7 courses in the retro cups.

[Venger_06]

32 minutes ago, Armagon said:

it's a decently fun game that would be more fun if the online still existed.

https://wiimmfi.de/

[Acacia Sgt]

I'll admit this, the prompts over there can at least be tempting, in light of the ideas they inspire me to think up.

Still not writing them and participate, though.

Edited June 4, 2022 by Acacia Sgt

[Interdimensional Observer]

4 hours ago, Shrimpolaris said:

of course it's these two xD

The same two i was missing at the end iirc xD

I cracked and looked up the medicine stash location, it's too obscure for a game that is so often too obvious. I had found the other location that requires that particular Gift pretty easily early on.

The blue SP circle is still not complete.🤨 The remaining increases must be tucked into Grimwald Nox battle S-ranks I didn't get or something. Not gonna bother then. Will finish the game within 24 hours of this post.

4 hours ago, Shrimpolaris said:

I have more problems with the booses tbh.

They were some of the weaker ones in the game,

I wasn't sure if they were recycled from VIII's underground labyrinth. They visually reminded me of the bosses there, based on what few memories I have of them.

And unusually, with the exception of one use on last one, I didn't have to resort to a single healing item during these fights. So yeah, they were unusually easy for me.

4 hours ago, Shrimpolaris said:

and they are just names thrown around that are related to not Jeanne that again you might know better from history or other anime/games rather than Ys9

Aprilis... the ingredients are there for a good female lead. I think she had the potential to be another Dana in writing quality. However, Nihon Falcom threw the raw ingredients on a table and called it dinner, let's go with quiche Lorraine for something French. Falcom forgot to actually crack the eggs, stir everything together in a bowl, pour it into a ramekin and then throw it in the oven. What were they thinking? It felt awkward having her tag along with the heroes in the final dungeon, yet not be playable.

I'm also confused with one deep spoiler...

Spoiler

...about why she is a homunculus who seemingly carries over her memories from body to body, including those when she was an ordinary human. Why does she, but not the other four human Monstrums who were her companions? If anything, that Aprilis had to be made using another's memories and a lock of hair, yet the four companions were right there with Zola, means it should be the other way around.

 

4 hours ago, Armagon said:

Ngl, when i read "I quit my job to make this Persona inspired game", i ended up having the same thoughts. Like on one hand, i respect the passion. On the other hand, i wouldn't have recommended quitting your probably stable job (i mean maybe it wasn't and i'm just bullshitting here).

According to a Kotaku article:

"In fact, after playing Persona 5, Persona 4 Golden, and Persona 3 FES, Eternights’ developer quit their job as a technical artist at Apple to pursue making their game."

...Yoo has an impressive resume. Prior to Apple, he worked as an engineer at Thatgamecompany and as a FX animator at Walt Disney Animation Studios. To give you an idea of Yoo’s chops, he worked on Elsa’s dress transformation in Frozen, portal magic in Big Hero 6, and the pixelated destruction of Sugarland in Wreck It Ralph."

Haven't watched any of those movies, so I can't say anything about the technical quality of those scenes. However, jobs at two megacorporations sounds fairly stable (though bigness sure as heck means the work could've been rough).

At least it means he isn't doing something super insane like going from a chef at *insert chain casual dining restaurant here* to video game design. He ought to have some idea of what he is doing, even if b/c one-man indie the 3D models look a little cheap right now. 

4 hours ago, Armagon said:

Appealing to the Persona crowd might end up backfiring if all he took was the wrong lessons.

True, one should never assume that another person will see the "obvious" things that oneself sees. Maybe his interpretation might not exactly align with what everyone else has in mind. Diehard Persona fans seem to have a hard time judging anything by any other metric but The Franchise That Starts At 3, so perhaps their judgment could be severe.

Reading that a calendar system is going to be in there...😬. Hopefully the post-apocalyptic setting helps rein this in somehow. Maybe it can't trim out all the fat, but no virtual class time would be a win? Scavenging the ruined world for supplies sounds like something that might be more tolerable to my palette, if still possibly feeling like it is wasting my time.

Also, how big can a one-man project end up being? Full-on Persona length might not be likely. That could help.

...To think I'm seriously considering something akin to modern Persona simply because it has one gay option.🤦‍♀️🤦‍♂️ This is... hormones? Desperation? Seeking in video games what I can't get IRL and are more timid towards seeking other entertainment mediums? Whatever it is, I feel like I ain't right.

3 hours ago, Armagon said:

Emulating Double Dash caused it to lag and i do not want laggy Mario Kart so i'll be skipping to DS for now.

I forget how I came into ownership of an MKDS copy, but I did at some point.

I don't remember that much about the game, other than playable R.O.B.. I did clear out the Grand Prix on all CCs, so I got my fill of it. I also felt the DS face buttons were poor fit for Mario Kart, holding down the A as the accelerator for too long caused it to lose sensitivity and me to suddenly slow to a halt. It's partly why I skipped MK7, didn't want to damage my 3DS. Console controllers don't have this problem.

1 hour ago, Armagon said:

Mario Kart Wii was my introduction to the series.

For me...

• My first MK experience was the original SNES game, which I actually found sorta fun in Battle Mode.
• I also owned Super Circuit, and became surprisingly okay at it over time, though playing it on my 3DS it isn't easy to control anymore.
• 64 was owned by a relative, but oddly I didn't, so I barely experienced it. Which gave it a certain exotic quality.
• Double Dash was the first MK I really sank my teeth into, going as far as unlocking All Cup Tour, I never attempted the 16-race Grand Prix, however.
• MK Wii I borrowed from a relative for a while, but somehow, despite being 1000% a Nintendo video game player, I never thought to actually ask for the game. Odd.

 

4 hours ago, Benice said:

Not too different climate-wise, still kinda desertlike. It usually rains a fair bit in May and June, and it snows a lot in January and late December, but quite dry the rest of the year-Maybe rains once a month?

After doin' a bit of searching on the internet, it says we get 16 inches of precipitation per year... I suppose that's a fair bit. I think.

Interesting. I like it. I was not aware of this. Sorry for buying into the "Canada is a giant icebox" perception (although as you point out, precipitation -not temperature- determines desert designation). I hope you're enjoying your visit there then!

 

3 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Another feature from VS2 I didn't know existed that I'm quite enjoying is that people have personal battle themes. You know, like in Radiant Dawn? Except instead of a few important characters, it's like, half of the playable cast. And that's probably off the mark, too. Way too many people have personal themes.

😋

You cannot have too many personal themes. Everyone deserves their own, or shared with like one other person at most. Take it a step further even and give the MC a new second personal theme after a story promotion/climatic character-developing event.

Seriously, it's one of the reasons why I love Super Robot Wars Original Generations.:

Plus, if I wanted more consistent music, I was given the option at any time to customize every character's BGM individually or assign one theme to everyone. I could do as I wanted. I could've assigned the frilly theme of a little girl to a badass old man if I had so desired, or vice versa.

Edited June 4, 2022 by Interdimensional Observer

[Acacia Sgt]

And then, it doesn't matter what's your theme...

Trombe will still override! Except for those cases...

[Eltosian Kadath]

1 hour ago, Armagon said:

It's also the first game in the series to introduce retro courses,

Not exactly, Mario: Kart Super Circuit for GBA featured most of the Super Mario Kart (for SNES) maps in its extra courses cups, and the DS game was just expanding on the idea now that there were more games to draw upon.

[Benice]

2 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

I hope you're enjoying your visit there then!

I forgot to mention that it's where I live; I ain't visitin'.

It's pretty nice here, yeah. I admit that I had extremely low appreciation for it until very recently, when we got back from the Edmonton trip. It was the first time I noticed the colours in the valley...

2 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Sorry for buying into the "Canada is a giant icebox" perception (although as you point out, precipitation -not temperature- determines desert designation).

Well, it does get pretty cold in the winter, (As low as -15, though we sometimes can get cold snaps past that) and we've got a big ski hill nearby; it's 35-40 in the summer, though! The lake's pretty nice for swimming too, though it's pretty busy during the summer. It is one of the few places in Canada that properly gets all four seasons, which is neato.

[Saint Rubenio]

9 hours ago, BrightBow said:

Well, holy freaking shit.

Clearly the composer was also a fan.

Everyone is a fan. Or should be. There's two kinds of people: The fans of Karajan, and the wrong ones.

Honestly though, yeah. They warned me it was amazing, but it went beyond my wildest expectations. I guess it's only right that the guy named after a real conductor has music to match.

Wait I'm just reading that now, real Karajan was a nazi and a general asshole oh fuck no Kaga--

7 hours ago, Newtype06 said:

Congrats! Can't wait to use you

I better get all the final boss kills, you lot.

6 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

You cannot have too many personal themes.

Preach.

6 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Everyone deserves their own, or shared with like one other person at most.

Like Alexander and Hestion. They share their theme. Like I'm absolutely certain they share a single-person bed.

[Shrimpica]

7 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

What were they thinking?

if i have to guess, good old rushing

Dana's psp release also lacked alot of stuff that were added later to PS4/PC/NSW versions

7 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

What were they thinking?

did you realise yet who Zola is?

Makes it clear why he wants Jeannu like that

[Shrimpica]

[Lightcosmo]

8 hours ago, Armagon said:

While the controls feel a bit slippery (disclaimer: may be due to emulation)

Like the GBA, doesn't the DS have a more sensitive pad so inputs are easier to make?

[Saint Rubenio]

Karajan got another move level.

Then a fucking green recruitable flew into the line of brave long-range bows and committed suicide. I cannot stop her, my only save is the turn before.

My heart is broken.

[null]

 

[Armagon]

10 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Reading that a calendar system is going to be in there...😬. Hopefully the post-apocalyptic setting helps rein this in somehow. Maybe it can't trim out all the fat, but no virtual class time would be a win? Scavenging the ruined world for supplies sounds like something that might be more tolerable to my palette, if still possibly feeling like it is wasting my time.

The big problem with Persona calendar system is the importance placed on several specific days. This is one of the main factors why Persona 5(R) was such a tremendous slog, because you were forced to wait, you could not progress at your own pace.

If it's more like Atelier, where the calendar system only imposes a timelimit and you are otherwise free to do whatever whenever, then that'll be much better.

9 hours ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

Not exactly, Mario: Kart Super Circuit for GBA featured most of the Super Mario Kart (for SNES) maps in its extra courses cups, and the DS game was just expanding on the idea now that there were more games to draw upon.

Sure but Super Circuit did it because of how easy it was to replicate Super courses for the technical limitations. Double Dash, which came after, did not do Retro Cups.

2 hours ago, lightcosmo said:

Like the GBA, doesn't the DS have a more sensitive pad so inputs are easier to make?

Yes and i actually did use the PS4 controller's dpad but uh...Nintendo dpads are superior.

[Punished Dayni]

14 hours ago, Benice said:

Not a proper desert, but a desert-like environment; were it not for the nearby lake, it'd be a full-on desert. There is a proper desert a couple hours south of here, though:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okanagan_Desert

Those are down at the desert, whereas up here...

Not too different climate-wise, still kinda desertlike. It usually rains a fair bit in May and June, and it snows a lot in January and late December, but quite dry the rest of the year-Maybe rains once a month?

After doin' a bit of searching on the internet, it says we get 16 inches of precipitation per year... I suppose that's a fair bit. I think.

So pretty arid, but I'll hope you get a bit from us (I know that's not how it works) so we can have a sunny bank holiday weekend.

But yeah, never heard of the area before so this is new to me about Canada.

14 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Naturally, Karajan being the best character in the game, he has the best theme so far. I wanted to share it, but the only upload on Youtube had a spoilerific thumbnail. Naturally, there was only one possible solution to the conundrum.

Feast thine ears. Or, if nothing else, I get to use this for myself. This garbage bag rando has no business having as much of a bop as this...

I must admit I thought it was a battle theme for a second and I was confounded listening. Feels nice as a theme though.

Imagine he was in some VN (Like Ace Attorney) and this just blared whenever he showed up and trounced whoever was the target of his barbed words. If he has any and doesn't just stare opponents into submission.

11 hours ago, Newtype06 said:

Congrats! Can't wait to use you

Does this sound worse than killing him off?

4 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Like Alexander and Hestion. They share their theme. Like I'm absolutely certain they share a single-person bed.

They need more space than that!

If you can buy a bed in this game, get them a bigger one

[Lightcosmo]

1 hour ago, Armagon said:

Yes and i actually did use the PS4 controller's dpad but uh...Nintendo dpads are superior.

Yeah, PS4 controller kinda blows, haha. PS3 is superior in terms of controller design imo (smaller for people with tiny hands like me so its easier to grasp and press all the face buttons)

[Interdimensional Observer]

One last thing on Eternights- the man behind it said it's a timed exclusive, Switch and Xbox ports will come later. Will get it on Steam anyhow, I won't have the patience to wait.

---

https://gonintendo.com/contents/4362-review-freezer-pops-leaves-a-bad-taste-in-your-mouth

Someone had the boldness to review this. Not sure it was a good idea to pick someone who never really played a visual novel before and turns out not to like the genre.

Sounds raunchier than I expected for a Switch game. But, I don't think it's for me, I prefer different aesthetics and body types. Still diversity in smut is a good thing! I get tired of seeing all the straight male trash that shows up on Steam and the eShop.

---

https://gonintendo.com/contents/4360-furi-and-haven-saw-their-biggest-console-sales-on-switch#comments

I've heard Game Pass and PS+ are bad b/c eventually subscription prices will be gouged upwards. But, this is the first time I'm getting some details on subscription services being bad for the developers. 

However, this article leaves out the possibility somebody played the game on a subscription and then later picked it up on Steam. The other bit of evidence I need to be thoroughly convinced Game Pass & PS+ can hurt devs is for a few developers to provide me with numbers. How much did Microsoft/Sony pay them as a lump sum? And how many sales of the game would be necessary to match or surpass the subscription lump sum. Given the sheer power of Micro & Sony, I see the potential for them to abuse their leverage and mandate a paltry payment to the powerless indie devs.

I also need to get back to Haven, but that is complicated for me.

 

1 hour ago, Armagon said:

The big problem with Persona calendar system is the importance placed on several specific days. This is one of the main factors why Persona 5(R) was such a tremendous slog, because you were forced to wait, you could not progress at your own pace.

I see. That wasn't a problem with Devil Survivor 2, which people have called "Persona-lite" and I very much love.

DS2 sometimes forced you to spend some free time before the next story event would happen. Except, the game takes place over seven days with each event taking up 30 minutes ingame (with thankfully no life sim elements or social skills). It wouldn't take more than like 2-4 character bonding events before the next story one appeared. You were sometimes given the choice to view a few more optional events before being forced to continue the story, but you didn't have to. Usually when it was possible, I did the minimum of non-story events, and left myself with a glut of bonding time at the end of each day. I had some freedom to choose that. And even when I didn't, it didn't feel like the game was dragging, each event not being that long and the story events themselves consuming 30 minutes of the 8 AM-12 AM at most schedule.

Overall, it clicked, and DS2 is the best point of reference I have for modern Persona (as I barely engaged with FE Three Houses).

 

9 hours ago, Benice said:

I forgot to mention that it's where I live; I ain't visitin'.

It's pretty nice here, yeah. I admit that I had extremely low appreciation for it until very recently, when we got back from the Edmonton trip. It was the first time I noticed the colours in the valley...

The Curse of Being a Local! You don't quite appreciate what you have, until you're somewhere that doesn't have it.

[Saint Rubenio]

Now that I could actually read and figure out how it works, chapter 5 has become my favorite map in the game so far. In fact, it's just generally a really interesting and solidly built defense map. There are a number of tactics that the leader will employ, determined at random at the start of the map, and depending on which one he picks, the enemy formation and quality will change. Which means you can mold the map's difficulty to your liking.

Naturally, me being me, I went with the hardest option just because I could get a fancy tome for Karajan that way. It was... less painful than I would've expected. Partly because, unlike VS1, VS2 has unlimited saves. You just save whenever you feel like it. It feels cheaty, but... Eh, whatever, I'm playtesting. I ought to veer from the typical path and try to do different things, see if I find typos in obscure places! I can do an ironman some other time.

So far, this is definitely living up to the hype. VS2's earlygame so far has been better than the earlygame of VS1. Keep it up, game.

26 minutes ago, Dayni said:

I must admit I thought it was a battle theme for a second and I was confounded listening. Feels nice as a theme though.

It is a battle theme, actually. Plays whenever Karajan enters combat. A lot of units in this game have their personal themes, but none match Karajan, in my humble opinion.

26 minutes ago, Dayni said:

Imagine he was in some VN (Like Ace Attorney) and this just blared whenever he showed up and trounced whoever was the target of his barbed words. If he has any and doesn't just stare opponents into submission.

He does have a bit of an attitude, actually. I wouldn't have expected it.

27 minutes ago, Dayni said:

They need more space than that!

Limitation encourages imagination!

27 minutes ago, Dayni said:

If you can buy a bed in this game, get them a bigger one

Pfft! Sure, will do. But it will come second. First I must buy spare garbage bags for Karajan. I can't actually do any of this.

[Acacia Sgt]

Or until Climate Change, well, changes it.

[Shrimpica]

1 minute ago, Saint Rubenio said:

VS2's earlygame so far has been better than the earlygame of VS1.

we know that from the little bit we played back then, no?

[Lightcosmo]

Tales of Symphonia's Fighting of the Spirit is very popular, correct? If so, its for good reason imo, very great battle theme to listen to!

[Shrimpica]

 

[Saint Rubenio]

9 minutes ago, Shrimpolaris said:

we know that from the little bit we played back then, no?

Yeah, but it's even better now that I actually know what's going on haha.

[Acacia Sgt]

3 minutes ago, lightcosmo said:

Tales of Symphonia's Fighting of the Spirit is very popular, correct? If so, its for good reason imo, very great battle theme to listen to!

So good it can't miss out a collab work.

 

[Shrimpica]