Playing Shovel Knight has made me think about world map design, since the game subtly prods you to do Specter Knight's stage first despite it being the harder of the two beginning stages.
I thought that was more because 'King Knight' practically screams 'I'm going to be a pain to beat'.
You don't usually get fancy crowns in platformers unless you pack a punch
Playing Shovel Knight has made me think about world map design, since the game subtly prods you to do Specter Knight's stage first despite it being the harder of the two beginning stages.
I thought that was more because 'King Knight' practically screams 'I'm going to be a pain to beat'.
You don't usually get fancy crowns in platformers unless you pack a punch
Well, that falls under map design in and of itself. I mean, if you have two stages called the Plains of Peace and Hellkill Island, where are you gonna head first?
There is a subtle but significant shift in how we are meant to consider this space compared to previous Mario games. The fact that the bulk of the world is visible quite quickly, with a clear spiral path leading around the edge of the map, through places that are obviously meant to be filled in defines a clear scope of Super Mario World. Along with the fact that it is the first Mario game to feature any sort of save/password system, and the way in which it takes it exceedingly slow in introducing new concepts, so as to give the player time to acclimatize to everything, the result is a clear message: Super Mario World is a game that the player is meant to explore all of. Indeed, it’s a game the player is expected to beat.
And this is why it was the first Mario game I completely, unreservedly liked.
On the other hand
Sonic the Hedgehog, it also should be noted, was an exceedingly difficult game
Well, that falls under map design in and of itself. I mean, if you have two stages called the Plains of Peace and Hellkill Island, where are you gonna head first?
Shards of Alara video game where the first two levels are Bant and Grixis.
The main source of difficulty was just bullshit. Lots of instant death very early on, which the sequels backed off from quite a bit. It really wasn't hard once you'd already played through it once.
So, I finally managed to complete a game of CK2 (and had a lot of fun in the process)! Remember the time Ireland unified into one kingdom and eventually formed the Irish empire containing the Kingdoms of Eire, Brittany, France, Aquitaine, Navarra, Aragon, Denmark, Galicia, Leon, Jerusalem (not pictured here) and Bhreatain Bheag? Neither do I, but it was sure as hell fun.
But yeah, I checked the PM system and it seems it doesn't use the forum editor, but rather just uses the default Vanilla editor. That thing is a lot less nice to use than the forum editor. Dunno why it's not enabled for PMs...
How is Shovel knight? I bought it on steam sale on impluse, but I haven't gotten around to playing it yet.
I am neither of those people, haha, but I enjoyed Shovel Knight a bunch. It has some tough bits (well, I thought so, anyway), but is thankfully not very punishing at all, especially for a retro platformer. The story was also better than I was expecting. If you like 2D platformers at all, I think odds are pretty good that you will like it.
I have only played a little of the Plague of Shadows update, though a friend of mine is a big fan of it.
Water physics usually slow down the action in a way that isn't terribly enjoyable. Mario can swim, but not that well; Sonic drowns after 3 seconds; Samus is gonna have issues unless you have the gravity suit...
Basically, game characters are almost always better suited to running around on land. Unless maybe the character is a fish or a manatee or something.
Rayman OriLegends has great water sequences in both games, especially Legends, which uses them for semi-stealth bits that are easily one of the highlights of the entire game.
There's also one boss in Rayman 3, Céloche, that was water-based, and I one-shotted that fight on my first playthrough.
I can't give the same praise to most other platformer water levels (and IIRC Rayman 2 is kind of terrible w/r/t water), but I'll take those opinions to my grave.
I was avoiding discussing either of the atlanticas, tbh, but since we did bring them up, I hated the fact that I had to grind there to build the ultima weapon, but the place overall is cool, if a bit geometrically mind-boggling
I don't mind rhythm games in themselves. They form one of the ribs of Oogie's Revenge, one of my favorite licensed games. But Atlantica felt like a cop-out. I mean, KH1 atlantica had some problems, but at least they tried to adapt the gameplay to a fully 3d environment.
And if one completely hates Atlantica, then certainly they hate Neverland too, since both rely on height mechanics.
Rayman OriLegends has great water sequences in both games, especially Legends, which uses them for semi-stealth bits that are easily one of the highlights of the entire game.
Sewer levels are a subset of water levels, Clanker's Cavern and Rusty Bucket Bay were similarly frustrating to kid!tach (relative to their respective points in the game). Jolly Roger's Lagoon was fine, though.
For some reason water dungeons in Zelda tend to be the most confusing and i'm not really sure why. Lakebed Temple wasn't so bad but i got lost figuring how to progress in the Water Temple for a while, and Great Bay was a bit confusing.
Rayman 2 had Whale Bay, that was fairly nasty
American McGee's Alice had Water Logged, which was repetitive and annoying.
Sewer levels are a subset of water levels, Clanker's Cavern and Rusty Bucket Bay were similarly frustrating to kid!tach (relative to their respective points in the game). Jolly Roger's Lagoon was fine, though.
For some reason water dungeons in Zelda tend to be the most confusing and i'm not really sure why. Lakebed Temple wasn't so bad but i got lost figuring how to progress in the Water Temple for a while, and Great Bay was a bit confusing.
Rayman 2 had Whale Bay, that was fairly nasty
American McGee's Alice had Water Logged, which was repetitive and annoying.
I really liked Clanker's Cavern as a child, actually. It had a few frustrating points, but I liked the idea of scrapmetal shark.
i liked it too; liked Clanker, liked the music, liked the level in general
but i hadn't gotten the hang of the swimming controls at that point, which meant i died repeatedly trying to unlock the underwater lock; i also got scared by the green monsters that pop out of the walls, which i thought were invincible for some reason
so are there any games that play like Sunless Sea, and are either free or old enough that I could get them for free if I wanted to?
because the game is way more compelling than I thought it'd be but A) I only have it for two days until the Free Weekend ends and B) I'll eventually complete it and want something else to play in a similar vein.
Jane, I promise, if I'm not broke, I'll probably buy it for you just so I can hopefully get you hooked on fallen london so I'll have someone else to geek out with
And the closest equivalent that I personally own is FTL, which isn't that close? I know Yahtzee once mentioned a space trucking game that might be similar? Elite Dangerous, I think?
Comments
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
And this is why it was the first Mario game I completely, unreservedly liked.
On the other hand
Sonic the Hedgehog, it also should be noted, was an exceedingly difficult game
gwa ha ha ha, really???
Or maybe I'm just that good
How is Shovel knight? I bought it on steam sale on impluse, but I haven't gotten around to playing it yet.
Also correct me if I'm wrong but I think stuff has gotten updated/changed since you last visited.
But yeah, I checked the PM system and it seems it doesn't use the forum editor, but rather just uses the default Vanilla editor. That thing is a lot less nice to use than the forum editor. Dunno why it's not enabled for PMs...
I have only played a little of the Plague of Shadows update, though a friend of mine is a big fan of it.
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
Basically, game characters are almost always better suited to running around on land. Unless maybe the character is a fish or a manatee or something.
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
whatever did rhythm games do to you
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
my gosh that area has lushly beautiful atmosphere and is a delight to play.
also, all of the game Aquaria. Well, most of it. The times where you're not in the water are actually the annoying parts.
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
For some reason water dungeons in Zelda tend to be the most confusing and i'm not really sure why. Lakebed Temple wasn't so bad but i got lost figuring how to progress in the Water Temple for a while, and Great Bay was a bit confusing.
Rayman 2 had Whale Bay, that was fairly nasty
American McGee's Alice had Water Logged, which was repetitive and annoying.
but i hadn't gotten the hang of the swimming controls at that point, which meant i died repeatedly trying to unlock the underwater lock; i also got scared by the green monsters that pop out of the walls, which i thought were invincible for some reason
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
And the closest equivalent that I personally own is FTL, which isn't that close? I know Yahtzee once mentioned a space trucking game that might be similar? Elite Dangerous, I think?
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
That's frigging Train Simulator money. We ain't Germans, Elite Dangerous. You can't pull us in like that.