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Post by soop on Oct 18, 2018 8:30:50 GMT
Dracula X is well known as one of the best - if not the best in the "traditional" Castlevania series, the more linear style of gameplay rather than the "metroidvania" style that debuted in Symphony of the Night. Konami really went to town on this game, from the excellent opening cinematics, to the fantastic "stage 0", everything about this title screams quality. The music is up to the usual Castlevania excellence, the sprites are often large and well designed, and the controls are spot-on. The complaints about this game are usually that it's too easy (which bear in mind, the 8 and 16 bit Castlevania games are usually considered quite difficult) or that it lacks something compared to Super Castlevania IV - also a fantastic title, but an altogether different game. Personally, the only thing I'd change about it is I'd like the background flame effects to use the same type of distortion effect seen in Gate of Thunder. I love everything about this game, the controls are precise, but more than anything it's just enjoyable. You want to keep playing it, you want to hear the music, see the next boss, it's just so good. And I quite like the fact that it's not super difficult. There's a good reason this game has a stellar reputation, and it lives up to it.
Everyone's favourite PC Engine RPG(s) Ys I and II. I don't actually know why they were released together (were they ever released separately?), but they were, and look at them go. They appeared at a time when RPGs were still feeling themselves out, so it feels like a mix of other RPG styles to me - the overland maps are a mix between Zelda and Final Fantasy, with a slight lean towards the former in terms of action. But I was never a fan of the bump into stuff to kill it vibe, it seems a little... skill-less. Still, action was never Ys's strong point, it's more to do with story and pacing of the game. I didn't actually get into Ys much myself because I didn't like the action component, but I probably should go back. The game also features some fine music and voice acting (!) as well as those ridiculous Falcom borders.
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Post by lukester on Oct 18, 2018 12:46:56 GMT
Everyone's favourite PC Engine RPG(s) Ys I and II.. Not mine, that was Ys IV |
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Post by Lost Monkey on Oct 18, 2018 14:06:48 GMT
I know it isn't going to win, but it is Ys I and II all the way for me. soop - maybe when this is done, I would suggest one last poll series - Take the final 8 or 16 and put them all in one poll where you eliminate one or two at a time. This way you won't have a match up where you potentially have #1 and #2 eliminating each other. |
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Post by soop on Oct 18, 2018 14:21:12 GMT
I know it isn't going to win, but it is Ys I and II all the way for me. soop - maybe when this is done, I would suggest one last poll series - Take the final 8 or 16 and put them all in one poll where you eliminate one or two at a time. This way you won't have a match up where you potentially have #1 and #2 eliminating each other. There is something like that planned, but it won't be a knockout thing, more of a ranked list that everyone can collaborate on. I think this will be a good start for that though  |
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Post by Black_Tiger on Oct 18, 2018 15:09:00 GMT
Ys I & II was my favorite game in general until I realized that Kabukiden had eclipsed it.
I got Dracula X in-between the two games.
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Post by spenoza on Oct 18, 2018 15:49:16 GMT
I have a lot of personal history with Dracula X, so I do tend to favor it. It was my favorite showpiece for the system, too.
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Post by lukester on Oct 18, 2018 17:31:53 GMT
I know it isn't going to win, but it is Ys I and II all the way for me. soop - maybe when this is done, I would suggest one last poll series - Take the final 8 or 16 and put them all in one poll where you eliminate one or two at a time. This way you won't have a match up where you potentially have #1 and #2 eliminating each other. Wouldn't Rondo just win again? Then it's Ys or GOT/LOT at #2. Too predictable I like Black Tiger's idea where we just do a regular old top 10 thread. |
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Post by sunteam_paul on Oct 18, 2018 18:14:29 GMT
It makes me weep that Ys will probably not win.
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Post by spenoza on Oct 18, 2018 18:21:11 GMT
Weep quietly. I can't have your sobbing messing up my concentration  |
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Post by soop on Oct 18, 2018 18:33:52 GMT
I know it isn't going to win, but it is Ys I and II all the way for me. soop - maybe when this is done, I would suggest one last poll series - Take the final 8 or 16 and put them all in one poll where you eliminate one or two at a time. This way you won't have a match up where you potentially have #1 and #2 eliminating each other. Wouldn't Rondo just win again? Then it's Ys or GOT/LOT at #2. Too predictable I like Black Tiger's idea where we just do a regular old top 10 thread. It might do, but the idea is to have a more cohesive ranking - at the moment, we have a rough idea of the list, but the last 32 are unordered for example. Remember, we want the best game to win here, that's the point |
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Post by lukester on Oct 18, 2018 19:06:40 GMT
Wouldn't Rondo just win again? Then it's Ys or GOT/LOT at #2. Too predictable I like Black Tiger's idea where we just do a regular old top 10 thread. It might do, but the idea is to have a more cohesive ranking - at the moment, we have a rough idea of the list, but the last 32 are unordered for example. Remember, we want the best game to win here, that's the point It's not going to be definitive though. Like BT said, critical games like Xanadu I, II, and the Tengai Makyou series have been left out from the start due to a language barrier. We knew from months ago Rondo is gonna be number 1 anyway. Clear as day. |
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Post by soop on Oct 18, 2018 19:18:16 GMT
It might do, but the idea is to have a more cohesive ranking - at the moment, we have a rough idea of the list, but the last 32 are unordered for example. Remember, we want the best game to win here, that's the point It's not going to be definitive though. Like BT said, critical games like Xanadu I, II, and the Tengai Makyou series have been left out from the start due to a language barrier. We knew from months ago Rondo is gonna be number 1 anyway. Clear as day. It's not just a language barrier - RPGs are less accessible games in the first place. I'm not a big fan. Are the lists subjective? Yes of course. Are your favourite games going to top the rankings? Probably not completely. The best thing to take from this is to find out why games are ranked so highly. I definitely have games on my list as a result of this exercise that I didn't expect. IllI check out Xanadu too at some point *Edit* the other thing this is good for, is setting up a proper ranked list lo |
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Post by Black_Tiger on Oct 18, 2018 19:33:45 GMT
It's not going to be definitive though. Like BT said, critical games like Xanadu I, II, and the Tengai Makyou series have been left out from the start due to a language barrier. We knew from months ago Rondo is gonna be number 1 anyway. Clear as day. It's not just a language barrier - RPGs are less accessible games in the first place. I'm not a big fan. Are the lists subjective? Yes of course. Are your favourite games going to top the rankings? Probably not completely. The best thing to take from this is to find out why games are ranked so highly. I definitely have games on my list as a result of this exercise that I didn't expect. IllI check out Xanadu too at some point :)lo Sega, Nintendo and Sony fans love them, which drives their collectible prices. In misc classic gaming forums, more people talk about how shooters, action and often simply "arcade" games are too hard and how they can't get far into them. Many people specifically name Drac X and Lords of Thunder as unreasonably difficult games. RPGs top the lists of best games in libraries of other consoles outside of the fractured pcefx community. For many years they were loved and discussed constantly in various online PCE circles. GameFAQs took off because of the passion of 8 & 16-bit game fans overall had for untranslated RPGs and mediocre or arguably poor games like Cosmic Fantasy 2 were cherished for years, simply because people found them locally. It was the popularity of JRPGs fostered through guides that led so many fan translations as it became more and more possible. It's so weird that pcefxers are so different when RPGs are the strongest part of the PCE library. |
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Post by spenoza on Oct 18, 2018 19:46:52 GMT
Fan translations tend to truly flourish only on the most popular platforms (NES, SNES, PS1). There are exceptions, sure, but popularity tends to win the day.
PCEFX fans are different in genre preference because RPGs are a neglected genre in terms of localized releases. I can guarantee if we got more localized RPGs that they would be a more popular genre. But also the fan base would be a little different. I think the fan base is made up largely of people who prefer shooters and action games because that's what we got the most of. People who loved RPGs largely went with systems that had more of them in English.
And though mechanically Cosmic Fantasy 2 is shite, I will defend the characters and story any day. It told a good tale, even if the actual play experience was severely lacking.
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Post by soop on Oct 18, 2018 19:54:52 GMT
I never realised that - I always cinsidered shooters the strong point of the PC Engine.
Speaking for myself, I loathe Phantasy Star and to a lesser extent Final Fantasy. Even if for examle Final Fantasy 7 has a great story, I just hate playing (grinding) through it. That's the big problem I've always had. However Golden Sun is one of my all time games. Pokemon is pretty darn good too actually.
But I feel like there's a lot of "do this repetitive thing so you can make numbers go up so you can do the same thing somewhere else" that progresses a sometimes interesting story. I could just read a book and be done with the boring bit. And when the story is in another language, I'm just left with very little to go on.
However, everything else in the top 32 that isn't an RPG, I totally get. I think it's action RPGs that paved the way for people like me
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