Youtube: PC-88 Paradise (new video on the shmup "Final Crisis" is up!)

[Michirin9801]

I appreciate the option that is the Vita TV, but to me the whole point of getting a Vita would be to play it portably, you see, surprisingly enough I have more time to play when I'm out and about than when I'm at home, because I go to college, and I arrive early due to the bus schedule, so I have to keep waiting for the teachers for a while, that's the time that I have to play games, not to mention the time that I spend on the bus, and when I'm at home I'm either working on personal projects or on college projects, and when not doing either of those things I'm usually watching YouTube, which means I'm not playing video games, my only real other opportunity to play is when I'm in bed either trying to sleep or just woke up, so I play on my 3DS while laying in bed...

Being in college is also one of the reasons why I'm always tight on cash...
Oh and, I have no patience what-so-ever for RPGs unless they're on a handheld >w>';

[Arkhan]

I appreciate the option that is the Vita TV, but to me the whole point of getting a Vita would be to play it portably, you see, surprisingly enough I have more time to play when I'm out and about than when I'm at home, because I go to college, and I arrive early due to the bus schedule, so I have to keep waiting for the teachers for a while, that's the time that I have to play games, not to mention the time that I spend on the bus, and when I'm at home I'm either working on personal projects or on college projects, and when not doing either of those things I'm usually watching YouTube, which means I'm not playing video games, my only real other opportunity to play is when I'm in bed either trying to sleep or just woke up, so I play on my 3DS while laying in bed...

Being in college is also one of the reasons why I'm always tight on cash...
Oh and, I have no patience what-so-ever for RPGs unless they're on a handheld >w>';

this is interesting to me, because I bought a Vita TV to stop having to play Vita RPGs on the thing.

I got tired of sitting there staring at my crotch trying to level grind.

Though, I definitely used PSP/Vita during college as well. 

It's nice to now be able to plug into a TV also.

[Gypsy]

The thing about the Trails games is that they are all a huge time sink. The constant story to read makes it take a long time, even if you don't want to do all the optional quests and everything. I like to play through each one once on Normal mode, doing all the quests I happen to find. There are crazy people I've seen lately on the Falcom subreddit and Falcom Fangroup on Facebook who like to play through the game multiple times and clear Nightmare mode and get 100% completion.

Honestly, I started skipping the unimportant text in Cold Steel. Summon Night 5 as well. I'm sure I will do the same for Cold Steel II and Summon Night 6. These games are just massive text dumps and most of it is meaningless.

And even doing that...the games are still long. I can't really imagine trying to go through them again, for some small reward. Especially on a grindier difficulty. I'd rather try out more games.

[esteban]

ASIDE: I commented on TubeYou how much I liked this Star Trader video, but I guess I didn't post here? I guess I am losing my memory.

Anyway, superb (supremely great) Star Trader video and I really do hope this continues (even though the views/audience is not as high as you had hoped).

I, too have often thought about "wacky" hybrid games that blend genres...and it really stinks that we do not have a richer library of ARPG-Shoot-Em-Ups (see? I don't want RPG, but ARPG).

Or hex-based strategy meets shootemup.

Or, my ultimate dream: a shootemup puzzle game that has two distinct modes of play—, BUT ALSO has a "surreal" mode that allows you to instantly swap back and forth between puzzler and shootemup as necessary (think Tetris or 3D Tetris...but that is just the obvious starting point).

Anyway, it was great to hear your views on Star Trader, a game I knew nothing about.

When I eventually (a few years?) play the neutered X68 version, it will be neat to think of the game's crazy history/evolution.

[elmer]

You might want to try "Xanadu Next" if you want a game that is supposed to be kind of a tribute to the original "Xanadu" game (for PC-88 and other 80's PC's), but still doesn't have anything to do with Legend of Xanadu.

Yep, I've got the original Japanese Xanadu Next, and recently applied the translation patch to it so that I can finally play it.

Perhaps I need to give it another try, but it just didn't click with me when I started playing it.

That could just be because the fan-translation was a bit stiff.

I could always get XSEED's recent version and see if it is any better, but I hear that they've actually added some bugs in it, and ...

... NightWolve would be very, very disappointed in me! 

I might get a PS4 or a Vita someday, probably a Vita because I prefer playing my games on handhelds, then I'll see about playing Ys 8...

Well, I hope that you don't try that with the first Legend of Xanadu game! 

LoX2 would be fine on a handheld, but IMHO, you'll need a really good memory and a head for mapping if you want to play LoX1 without taking any notes ... the maps are a big too big, and you have to go back-n-forth a lot.

[kazekirifx]

Yep, I've got the original Japanese Xanadu Next, and recently applied the translation patch to it so that I can finally play it.

Perhaps I need to give it another try, but it just didn't click with me when I started playing it.

I can totally see why Xanadu Next wouldn't click with someone. Especially now that it's so old. In order to enjoy it, you have to be ready to enjoy a pretty dry RPG with a very simple story and characters (if you could even call them characters). For me, it helps having played the original Xanadu PC-88 game, and imagining that this is supposed to be some sort of 3D follow-up to it (which it is). It probably also helped a lot that I payed full price for it and got it on the release date, so I had to try to play it (sunk cost).

The original Xanadu theme music is there, and the dungeons manage to look kind of old-school Falcomy, despite being in 3D. But the gameplay itself is based on Western realtime RPG's like Diablo. Move with the mouse and click an enemy to attack. Later patches allowed you to use a gamepad for a more normal ARPG experience, which I found a bit easier to play so I switched to this partway through the game. I felt a bit like I was missing out on what the original gameplay was supposed to be that way though.

Not a great or amazing game by any means, but enjoyable enough if you're willing to give it some time and attention. It was released when Falcom was still kind coming out of their "confused" period (late 90's to early 2000's), when they didn't have a lot of good sellers and they didn't seem to know what to make. They tried a lot of things before finding what stuck (new Ys and Legend of Heroes games).

[Michirin9801]

I might get a PS4 or a Vita someday, probably a Vita because I prefer playing my games on handhelds, then I'll see about playing Ys 8...

Well, I hope that you don't try that with the first Legend of Xanadu game! 

LoX2 would be fine on a handheld, but IMHO, you'll need a really good memory and a head for mapping if you want to play LoX1 without taking any notes ... the maps are a big too big, and you have to go back-n-forth a lot.

I don't think my 3DS is gonna be ready for hacking by the time the translations come out >w>
I'm only gonna hack mine and install emulators on it once Nintendo stops updating the system, I don't wanna risk having my Nintendo account banned, so I'll probably just play it on my PC, besides, it's an action-RPG, it's much more tolerable to play on the bigger screen to me than a regular old RPG like Dragon Quest...
And no, I don't have any other means of emulating stuff portably, for now I'm using my DStwo flashcart for the original DS, which means it runs in DS mode and can't take advantage of the 3DS's superior hardware, but it can run PCE well enough with NitroGrafx, and even CD games, but with s*** PSG sound and way-too-quiet ADPCM, not to mention the resolution issues, since it's running in DS mode it's displaying a 256 x 192 resolution but then blowing it up to 320 x 240 so not only is it missing details but it's also blurry...
It gets the job done, but it's far from ideal, so I have other emulators to keep me busy, not to mention proper DS and 3DS games (love me some Street Fighter IV on-the-go~)

Or, my ultimate dream: a shootemup puzzle game that has two distinct modes of play—, BUT ALSO has a "surreal" mode that allows you to instantly swap back and forth between puzzler and shootemup as necessary (think Tetris or 3D Tetris...but that is just the obvious starting point).

Ever played Quarth?
I haven't... But I've seen it, and it's the closest thing I know to a shmup puzzler... It might be close enough to what you want! It's on the NES and Game Boy, perhaps some other systems? I don't know...

this is interesting to me, because I bought a Vita TV to stop having to play Vita RPGs on the thing.

I got tired of sitting there staring at my crotch trying to level grind.

Though, I definitely used PSP/Vita during college as well. 

It's nice to now be able to plug into a TV also.

Yeah I get what you mean, most people prefer playing their games on bigger screens, I'm just not one of them >w>';

[esteban]

Or, my ultimate dream: a shootemup puzzle game that has two distinct modes of play—, BUT ALSO has a "surreal" mode that allows you to instantly swap back and forth between puzzler and shootemup as necessary (think Tetris or 3D Tetris...but that is just the obvious starting point).

Ever played Quarth?
I haven't... But I've seen it, and it's the closest thing I know to a shmup puzzler... It might be close enough to what you want! It's on the NES and Game Boy, perhaps some other systems? I don't know...

Yes, mighty Quarth

I think that it is a good starting point... but it is a seed that can grow and blossom into many different variants.

I was also going to mention the brief moments you can grab a gun and shoot in Arkanoid and Buster Bros. as other possible starting points for a hybrid....

(daydreaming continues)

[elmer]

My brother has been trying to review every Neo Geo game in order of NGH number.

Woo hoo ... he got his ASO II review up! 



That seemed like a nice and fair review of one of my favorite games! 

[kazekirifx]

Yeah. Right on.

I am working on one PCE and one PC-88 at the moment. Sorry for the long long delay in making any new content.

[Michirin9801]

Yeah. Right on.

I am working on one PCE and one PC-88 at the moment. Sorry for the long long delay in making any new content.

Don't worry mate, take your time ^^
Looking forward to those videos!

[kazekirifx]

I also made a separate thread in the PCE Supergrafx section, but I'll also mention here that I just put up a video on the Shubibinman series.



I am also in the middle of making a PC-88 video, and hope to have it up soon.

[esteban]

I also made a separate thread in the PCE Supergrafx section, but I'll also mention here that I just put up a video on the Shubibinman series.



I am also in the middle of making a PC-88 video, and hope to have it up soon.

I am lagging! I still need to catch up and watch a few of your videos.

I EAGERLY ANTICIPATE EXCELLENCE.   

[kazekirifx]

All right, I know I keep teasing my next PC-88 video, and it really is very close to done. Unfortunately I had to work on this click-baity Sonic Mania video we had to make this week. Check it out if you're interested. I plan to have my video on "Wibarm" for PC-88 up very soon though.

[kazekirifx]

Hey guys. Sorry this video took so long for me to put together. It took me a while to learn to play this game, capture all the game footage, and edit it all together into a somewhat coherent video. It was fun to do a game that wasn't made by Falcom this time. I've got plenty more PC-88 games in my collection by Falcom and others that I'm still looking forward to covering in the future. Anyway, for now I'm dying to know how you guys like this game and my video!