 |
|
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (DS) by jp (Apr 27th, 2026 at 22:04:52) |
I got to that point where I hit a monster/boss that just wasn't that much fun, and then I got a bit lost in terms of where to continue making progress, and the backtracking started to get a bit tiresome...as I explored and searched for different paths. So, time to bail!
read all entries for this GameLog 
- add a comment 
|
|
Legacy of Ys Books I & II (DS) by jp (Apr 27th, 2026 at 22:03:27) |
Can you believe that I capped out on character level? I hit level 24, with plenty of game to go (I checked a guide, though I had reached the last 20% or so) and that's it. No more levels. It was a bit of a disappointment to be honest, and I also started to tire of having to backtrack all over the place to talk to different characters and so on. It was fun, and surprising to me in many ways, it's an action RPG with real-time combat, but no real challenge or interest in the combat - limited items and gear, no significant shopping or upgrading...there's boss fights (which are much harder than the regular game), but there wasn't much there to continue to keep my interest. So, I've decided to bail.
I did also spend some time on the Wikipedia page and it looks like the game has been re-released a million times across different formats, and rebundled with new content, and stuff touched up and more. I'm kind of surprised because I wasn't all that impressed to be fair. As in, the game was fun and I enjoyed it for a bit, but I'm not entirely sure that it merits THAT much attention in the re-releases? Maybe I'm missing something and this game really resonated strongly with lots of people?
read all entries for this GameLog
- add a comment
|
|
Legacy of Ys Books I & II (DS) by jp (Apr 26th, 2026 at 10:06:39) |
I need to look up more info on this. I had assumed it was a bundle of the two first Ys games, but upon starting the first one (Book I), the 3D graphics make it seem like it's a newer game? So I'm really curious what the backstory here is...
It started out pretty frustrating - because I wandered into a field outside of town and died immediately. I had to start over which was a drag - lots of text to skip past, and died again! Sigh. I eventually figured out how to save your game, which helped. So, I decided to then book it, dodge enemies and made it to a city! Here I bought a sword and some armor...and figured I wouldn't die again immediately but I did! It turns out I hadn't figured out how to equip the items and that solved EVERYTHING.
I've been playing since, and the game's quite interesting in its camera perspective - it's a very unusual sort of 3D isometric view, but it's not at an angle, but rather it's sort of straight? (like vertical/top to bottom). It's a weird perspective because there's lots that gets occluded (if you walk down towards a wall, the wall blocks you from seeing what's close to it when you come from the top part of the scree). I mean, it makes sense spatially, but it's a weird perspective in a game - you also cannot rotate the camera AFAIK.
read all entries for this GameLog
- add a comment
|
|
Pokémon TCG Pocket (iPd) by jp (Apr 26th, 2026 at 09:59:12) |
I'm still "playing" - I stopped going for the competitive ladder mostly because I was playing the same deck all the time, didn't have the cards for a new competitive deck and...well, it's gotten a bit boring.
That being said, the collecting part is still fun and there's a new set coming out so we'll see how excited I get. I've been opening packs from older sets hoping to finish sets from which I'm still missing a bunch of cards. No real luck so far. Sigh.
read all entries for this GameLog
- add a comment
|
|
Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer (DS) by jp (Apr 26th, 2026 at 09:51:07) |
I've since played some 15 runs or so, I seem to get farther than ever on every other one or so. There's some cool and interesting things here, but also the randomness of the rogue aspects both works and doesn't. I've decided to stop playing mostly because it's getting a bit tiresome when you have to go over the same things such that it starts to feel like busywork. For example, talking to the guy at the bar in the first area always nets you a rice ball (yay!), but it's a bit of a drag to have to go through all the conversation and such over, and over again.
Perhaps the feature I've come to appreciate the most is a shack that has different "puzzle" levels for you to solve - you're supposed to do them one at a time (smart design choice, because you get a reward from each) and each time you do one you get reset to level 1 with no items, you also lose any progress you may have made (including items) inside each puzzle. But, you get a reward when you complete them successfully. The puzzle levels are smart because they act as a tutorial of sorts, but because you only really want to do them one at a time, it's a slow burn tutorial that shows you the diversity of items and what they can do. I've done 12 or so...with more than half left to go. Some might require using a certain staff, or require you move around diagonally. Stuff like that. So, I've had to use items I hadn't considered before (I tend to be a cheapskate when it comes to items, use only in emergencies!) and now I know how they work without having to "waste" them while adventuring.
Once unlocked, companions might appear in later areas - and join your team! I made some progress with a 2nd one (I wonder if you can have more than one?) and I think it's neat how they operate semi-independently. They'll sometimes run off chasing a monster. I haven't quite grasped how their health works because they'll sometimes disappear (dead?) and I lose them for the rest of the adventure which is a bit of a shame.
In all, it's been fun to explore and playthrough. Runs are longer than I'd like and how that I unlocked the special jar that lets you combine items...I REALLY get the feeling that the game wants you to meta-strategize to cheese. In other words, play lots of runs to boost items to then combine them, and do this over and over again until you feel confident you can go. Which is interesting, and risky.
Finally, at this point I'm also missing out on a neat feature wherein other players can "rescue" you if/when you die. But it's a connectivity thing - other people need to play and you can help each other out that way. At this point, since the game is way old, it's like there's zero change of that working for me... which makes me a bit sad, right? I mean, playing this with some friends would be really neat in that context.
read all entries for this GameLog
- add a comment
|
|
|
|
|
GameLog hopes to be a site where gamers such as yourself keep track of the games that
they are currently playing. A GameLog is basically a record of a game you started playing. If it's open,
you still consider yourself to be playing the game. If it's closed, you finished playing the game. (it doesn't matter
if you got bored, frustrated,etc.) You can also attach short comments to each of your games or even maintain a diary (with more detailed entries)
for that game. Call it a weblog of game playing activity if you will.
[latest site fixes and updates]
[read more]
|
view feed xml
|
 |
|
2323 registered gamers and 3356 games. 7893 GameLogs with 13386 journal entries. 5126 games are currently being played.
More stats
|
 |
|
Super Mario 64 (N64) by ESchmitt89 |
| Definitely a classic |
|
most recent entry: Thursday 24 January, 2008
|
GAMEPLAY:
After playing through a good bit of the early stages of the game, I can strongly say that this is my favorite Mario game. Each level is brilliantly designed and very unique. Some of the levels I have played include a classic lava level, sand level, ice level, and an under water level. Each of these levels feel very different in part because of the friction system in the game. All surfaces have their own friction rating that determines their "slipperiness". In the ice levels you will find Mario slides about 10 feet upon stopping, while on the sand level you will find it hard to even move on the quicksand. Slippery surfaces add a really interesting element to the gameplay that keeps you paying attention to what exactly Mario is standing on.
After playing a bit more I have found even more of Mario's new moves. It is amazing how much you can do with 3 buttons (A, B, Z). Mario now has a butt/stomach slide, butt-stomp, a dive ability, WALL JUMPS, along with some cool breakdance style attacks. I found the dive ability to be incredibly useful for taking out enemies. The slide ability is not so much useful, but more of a required part of the game in order to get to certain areas. Sliding is actually quite difficult to master and adds some difficulty to the levels. Now on to my personal favorite ability, which is wall jumping. This a another ability new to SM64, and it will make you wonder how you ever played a Mario game without it. Not only does the wall jump look awesome, but it can get you to areas unreachable any other way. Wall jumps can also be strung together into long combos that can get you to very cool places.
On a side note, i really like what the designers have done with the level select system. When you start the game, Mario is alone at Princess Peach's castle. When you enter the castle you will find many rooms with giant pictures inside of them. In order to enter a level you simply jump in its picture. As you complete more levels and collect more stars, new levels, and new areas of the castle, open up to you.
DESIGN:
The overall design of SM64 is amazing. I really like the idea of a main neutral world with no enemies that you select the levels in. The castle has a really cool feel to it, and ends up being much larger than you would expect. I also think the star idea was a great addition to the Mario series. In previous games there were worlds (usually 8) and levels in each of these worlds. IN SM64 there is one world with lots of levels in it. The levels have star requirements in order to enter them, so a hard level might require 70 stars in order to enter it while and easy level might only require 3 stars. The stars are also cool because it adds to the replay-ability of the levels, considering there are 7 stars in each level, but you don't need all 7 to advance to the next level. So many times you will find yourself going back to the beginning levels to get that star you couldn't get before.
There is also the addition of the hats in game. There is an invisibility cap that allows you to walk through some obstacles, a metal cap that makes you invincible and lets walk underwater rather than swim, and a flying cap that is pretty self explanatory. The way the game was designed, you unlock the ability to use the hat blocks in the worlds at certain points in the game. The cool thing is that the hat blocks appear on every level including the first one, so you wouldn't be able to get all 7 stars on the first level until you unlock that certain hat that you need. This makes you repeat the earlier levels if you want to collect all 120 stars.
I also like the fact that you technically complete the game at 70/120 stars. At 70 stars you can fight the 3rd and final Bowser battle and save peach, but you aren't nearly done with the fun of the game. Even after the main story of the game is complete you can collect all the stars from the 15 different levels.
[read this GameLog]
|
|
|
