Board 8 > Leonhart Ranks 100 Games with Writeups!

(+) Yeah! (+)

pjbasis posted...

Its a shame Sora is the figurehead of KH hate when he's actually a bright spot.

For the record, I really like Sora. Part of my problem with KH comes from the feeling of his being made more and more unimportant as the games wear on.

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Yeah, I can get why people dislike how the series has gradually gone further and further off the rails as time goes on. I think the Ansem/Xehanort stuff is really where the series goes overboard more than anywhere else. I can't really take any of that seriously, but it's also not why I kept playing.

NBIceman posted...

For the record, I really like Sora. Part of my problem with KH comes from the feeling of his being made more and more unimportant as the games wear on.

I feel like KH3 rectified that somewhat! It's part of why I like it so much.

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I may well get to it someday, like years from now. I know people that share my general opinions on the series who have said it's at least better than some of the other recent efforts with some very high peaks, so I'd be willing to go into it with an open mind. Certainly gonna be way far down in my backlog, though.

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Sora is awesome and Yen Sid is a fool

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pjbasis posted...

Its a shame Sora is the figurehead of KH hate when he's actually a bright spot.

He's legitimately bad in the earlier games! I was very surprised to find myself liking him in 3, though.

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I think Sora's only bad for most of 1. Once you get to Hollow Bastion, he really turns things around.

Well, he has some moments in Chain of Memories, but they aren't really his fault.

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Sora is pretty good in KH3. Roxas is still the superior protagonist, though!

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Roxas forever

But Sora at least proved to be a worthy hero in the end!

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Roxas was great from the start

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wow I just earned the Platinum in Undertale and I haven't even finished the game yet

probably the easiest Platinum ever

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Steins:Gate too low

That being said, good writeup. I hated Okabe during the first half and my opinion on him flipped so hard by the end that some of my friends call me Hououin. It's probably my favorite story I've ever experienced

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Okay, I beat Undertale last night and got both the Neutral and True Pacifist endings in the process. I had to do a little bit of research to confirm that those are the endings I indeed got. The entire final stretch from the last battle with Mettaton is pretty great, including the extra stuff you have to do to get the True Pacifist ending. The true lab was cool. I guess I need to do a Genocide run now.

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i wish i'd read steins;gate before watching it, but having watched it (and enjoyed it), i have no real interest in the vn

my fav reading experience was fate stay night. like AA, my enjoyment was largely tied to the experience recapping and discussing on b8
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The VN has some good extra content that never made it into the show. I think you can enjoy it and not feel like you're just retreading old ground. I know I did.

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#62. Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward


Oh hey, another visual novel, although this one revolves more around puzzles than choices, so it has more traditional gameplay! While Im not as high on Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors as most fans of the series (as you can see, its the only one of the three that didnt make the top 100), I did enjoy it enough that, when I saw they had made a sequel, I decided to give it a shot. There were a lot of things I liked better almost immediately. I thought the Prisoners Dilemma Ally/Betray system and all the different permutations it provided was really interesting. It made the end of each round really tense, as well as providing a lot of intrigue. Along those same lines, I liked Virtue Last Rewards flowchart system since it made it easier to get back to choices so you could make the other one, or you could see what you still had to do, unlike in 999, where you had to complete the entire game first and then go back to the start (Ports of 999 would switch to that flowchart system, thankfully). Either way, the story just has more variety than the first games did because of all the different routes and potential pairings for puzzle rooms. I also enjoyed the bonus files the game gives you for finding both passwords in puzzle rooms, so it gave me a reason to be as thorough as possible. The puzzle rooms are generally pretty fun, although they arent the main draw of the game.

This might be an unpopular opinion, but I liked Virtues Last Rewards cast better than 999s, especially Sigma over Junpei as a protagonist. Not to say theyre all great or likable. Dio in particular is a douchebag, but I dont think youre supposed to like him anyway. But Sigma, Phi, Luna, K, and Tenmyouji were all good. I thought Zero Jr. was awesome, and I wish the game had used him more. I liked that VLR had a lighter tone at times, since 999 could be a little too serious. I found the main plotlines really compelling. I thought all the morphogenetic field stuff in 999 was kinda whatever. They found a way to pull it all together at the end in a memorable way, but overall, I didnt find it all that interesting. Virtues Last Reward, on the other hand, had me hooked and wanting to get to the end of the game to get the answers to all of its mysteries.

And the answers did not disappoint either. I loved the endgame because it just went totally crazy in a good way. Virtues Last Reward was blowing my mind left and right as I completed the various routes. Generally speaking, Im the type of person who isnt actively trying to figure out the plot or solve the mysteries a story throws at you because I enjoy the feeling of being shocked by the answer. As such, this game was right up my alley. I could never have anticipated the twists and turns this game takes. My personal favorite is Lunas ending because its a good mixture of plot bombs and tugging at your heartstrings, especially once Blue Bird Lamentation starts playing. Virtues Last Reward got me super hyped to see how the trilogy would conclude in the next game, and thats what you want the middle part of a trilogy to do.

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Pretty close to where VLR would be on my list!

I'll admit I watched the Genocide route of Undertale on youtube. I'm already not great at picking the evil options in games and that was gonna be pretty evil.

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So is there any interactivity in something like Steins;Gate or Fate Stay or whatever?

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Nelson_Mandela posted...

So is there any interactivity in something like Steins;Gate or Fate Stay or whatever?

You make choices that determine what path the story takes (and there are many potential branches), but beyond that, there's no "hands on" type of gameplay.

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Nelson_Mandela posted...

So is there any interactivity in something like Steins;Gate or Fate Stay or whatever?

FSN has choices that you make during the story. These affect what route and ending you will receive.

In Steins;Gate the main character has a cell phone, and receives text messages throughout the story. How you respond using the phone affects what ending you will receive.

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Arti posted...

How you respond using the phone affects what ending you will receive.

Or if you respond in some cases. You're perfectly able to ignore calls or text messages too which aside from the bigger changes can also affect other scenes as well.

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LeonhartFour posted...

You make choices that determine what path the story takes (and there are many potential branches), but beyond that, there's no "hands on" type of gameplay.

Ah, that is a game then! I always assumed most of these visual novels were literally just straight text with some images and music.

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Nelson_Mandela posted...

Ah, that is a game then! I always assumed most of these visual novels were literally just straight text with some images and music.

Theyre basically images + music on top of a choose your own adventure book.

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Nelson_Mandela posted...

Ah, that is a game then! I always assumed most of these visual novels were literally just straight text with some images and music.

i mean, it's not too far from that. in F/SN at least, you can go like an hour without making a choice. the interactivity is very low. way lower than, say, phoenix wright, which no one would have qualms about categorizing as a game
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What about that VN that everyone had a boner for a decade ago? Umineko or something?

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Nelson_Mandela posted...

What about that VN that everyone had a boner for a decade ago? Umineko or something?

Only the very last episode of Umineko has any interactivity whatsoever. The rest of it is indeed just reading with visuals and awesome music.

honestly I was kind of surprised it didn't end up on my list but I guess the damage done by Episode 8 was worse than I thought...!

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LeonhartFour posted...

the damage done by Episode 8 was worse than I thought...!

i was so disappointed to head this. would definitely have played it; i had been waiting for it to finish to make the playthrough topic
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Man these games are so bad

SeabassDebeste posted...

i was so disappointed to head this. would definitely have played it; i had been waiting for it to finish to make the playthrough topic

Honestly, you don't even need to play the last episode. I don't think it even adds anything important to the overall story (and actively undermines the messages of the series in some ways). I think you could play the first seven and be satisfied.

although some people don't like the "Answer arc" (which is 5-8) because they don't like the "answers" it provides (and it's fair, but I like 5-7), so you could also just play 1-4 (referred to as the "Question arc") and be happy...!

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Mega Man X2 coming up later on?

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LinkMarioSamus posted...

Mega Man X2 coming up later on?

I mean, I'm not telling you what's on the list, but you're welcome to use the entire list as a process of elimination to determine what's there and what's not.

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#61. Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Prosecutor's Path


And its yet another visual novel, this time of the point and click variety! I wasnt a huge fan of the first Ace Attorney Investigations (aside from the soundtrack, which is the best in the series). Part of me wondered if the series just didnt work without a courtroom setting, or maybe Edgeworth didnt fit as a protagonist. Well, the sequel proved that neither of those things was true! I often say that the first game was a prototype, and the sequel is the finished product. They were able to take what they learned from the first game and improve upon it in almost every single way.

Ace Attorney Investigations 2 starts off strong with what might be the best intro case in the series. It wastes no time whatsoever getting into the action and dives right into the deep end. One thing I liked about the first game is how closely all the cases interconnected, and I think AAI2 does it even better. Its not apparent how some of the plot points are linked until near the end of the game. E2-3 might be my favorite non-epic case in the series. It gave me content Id been clamoring for since the original trilogy, and it was so well done. While I think the first half of the games epic case is a large waste of time (AAI2 has the same issue as Spirit of Justice in that some parts can drag because the cases are so much longer than average), the second half is excellent. I think it also has a strong set of villains and uses them in ways the series hadnt done before, which was cool. Its just a well-executed, complete package.

Now I think its necessary to talk about the fan translation of the game because Ace Attorney Investigations 2 doesnt have an official localization. This was a big undertaking since theres obviously a ton of text, and I thought they did an admirable job. It has some hiccups here and there, but so do official translations, so I cant complain too much about that. The name choices can be hit or miss, but they came up with some really good ones, with Sebastian Debeste, Ray Shields, and Horace Knightley being my favorites of the bunch. I think it speaks well to the quality of the translation that this game is held in such high regard among English-speaking fans of the series.

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the truth was lost forever

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LeonhartFour posted...

I feel like KH3 rectified that somewhat! It's part of why I like it so much.

Eh I don't think so. He basically has no involvement in the story besides being the chosen one.

His interactions with other characters got better but you know filler worlds and all that.

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pjbasis posted...

Eh I don't think so. He basically has no involvement in the story besides being the chosen one.

I mean it's a pretty big deal

he carries the final arc of the game which he's never been able to do before

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My favorite moment is still him telling Marluxia he doesn't need memories to kick his ass though.

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AAI2 is prob my game of the decade. AA6 has the best single case (probably) and AA5 has better lighthearted cases, but AAI2's connected story wins for me.
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#60. Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage


This is my favorite beat-em-up ever, but I might be somewhat biased because Spider-Man and Venom are two of my favorite comic book characters. At the same time, I think this game actually got me somewhat interested in reading Spider-Man comics. I ended up reading the actual Maximum Carnage saga after playing this game. Im certainly not a comic devotee, even of Spider-Man. I follow enough to know the major events related to him, but I havent read a lot of comics. Probably the only actual arcs Ive read to a significant degree besides Maximum Carnage are the Clone Saga and Kravens Last Hunt, the latter of which is absolutely worth reading if you consider yourself a Spider-Man fan (you can buy compilations on Amazon), and the former is worth reading if you enjoy seeing what a glorious mess comics plotlines can be sometimes (also Scarlet Spider is totally rad).

Anyway, I think Ive discussed enough comics to appease Zen and/or scarlet, so lets move on to the actual game! In Maximum Carnage, you can play as Spider-Man or Venom, and they largely have the same movesets with their own flair on it. The only real difference is that Spidey is lighter and faster, and Venom is stronger but slower. Most of the bad guys are generic mooks, as youd expect, but itd fun being able to swing around, climb on the walls, and even using your webbing to slam two enemies together who are standing on opposite sides of you. If you go long enough without getting it, you can basically build up to a critical hit thats extra powerful. At the end of each stage, theres a boss, and its often one of Carnages crew of Shriek, Demogoblin, Carrion, or the Doppelganger (and occasionally more than one at once), and they can all be tough but fun in different ways.

I like how the game tries to stay true to the comic roots of the story. In between stages, youll have animated comic panels that keep the story moving, and you also have the BAM, POW, BOOM visual effects that pop up next to bad guys when you attack them, which is a cool little touch. Also, I like how Spider-Man and Venom have different story arcs. They share some stages in common, but they also have a lot of stages that are unique to them, which incentivized you to play as both of them. Maximum Carnage was also a huge crossover event, and the game makes use of that. You can find special icons that will let you summon a particular hero who can knock down all the enemies on screen for you if youre feeling overwhelmed, and some of them are effective against certain bosses (Firestar is really effective against Carnage, for reasons that should be obvious if you follow Spider-Man). Youve got a pretty solid cast to choose from, like Captain America, Iron Fist, Black Cat, and Morbius, among others. Its a really fun game, but dont let it fool you into thinking you want to play the sequel, Separation Anxiety. That game is not good.


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I've literally never seen maximum carnage in a top anything list.

I have the Genesis version but I can't remember if it's any good

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I have no clue if it's aged well and most LJN games suck but I played it a lot as a kid and had fun with it!

also it had a red cartridge which was rad

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Hmm...40 games in two weeks. I'll take it.

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Really cool to see Maximum Carnage on here!

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Hey Leon did you seen the Venom movie?

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The game can still be fun to play, but you would have to be att insane if you first played Maximum Carnage and then Streets of Rage 2 directly after and still ranked Maximum Carnage higher. ;)

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I mean, this isn't an objective ranking and I've never pretended otherwise

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#59. Mega Man X2


While I really like the classic Mega Man games, Mega Man X is my subseries of choice. I was introduced to the series through the X games, so even though the bad X games are worse than the bad Classic games, I still love them because they have the highest ceiling for me. Honestly, the Classic games almost feel a bit primitive to me compared to the X games, and Im not just talking graphically. Im talking in terms of gameplay because it feels like you can do so much more in a Mega Man X game with the armor upgrades. There are platforming segments you cant have in a Classic game because the Blue Bomber cant dash or wall climb, and I enjoy the extra layers of complexity the upgrades provide.

Anyway, now lets talk about Mega Man X2 in particular. The game opens up with a cinematic style cutscene that you didnt really see often in games like that at the time, and especially not in a Mega Man game. The intro stage is a breeze, but its a good introduction to the gameplay with a really huge boss whos extremely easy who still feels good to beat because hes so big. The new Mavericks and their stages were pretty good. I think Overdrive Ostrich, Flame Stag, and Magma Centipede were my favorites, but honestly theres not a notably bad one in the bunch. The soundtrack is pretty solid, too. The armor upgrades were pretty neat, highlighted by the ability to do an air dash, which was awesome. I also liked the body armor that let you gradually absorb damage and then unleash it in a really powerful attack called the Giga Crush. Then the arm upgrade lets you charge the X-Buster up to 4 levels, which may not necessarily be practical against a boss since it takes so long, but it sure does look cool and makes you feel really powerful. You could even get the Shoryuken as a hidden skill this time, which isnt as easily usable as the Hadouken, but it looks awesome since its the flaming version.

But to me, the main draw of Mega Man X2 is the side mission to find all the Zero parts. Because Zero turned out to be massively popular among the fanbase after the first game despite only having literally two minutes of screen time, Capcom decided to bring him back to life for the first of many times. You have to find three separate Zero parts to revive him for your side, and you have to beat three separate X-Hunters to do so. The cool thing is that they moved around from stage to stage, and each Maverick stage had a hidden room where they might be found, so it was fun trying to track them down. However, if you couldnt retrieve all the Zero parts, he was revived by Sigma and you had to fight him. Honestly, the fight is so cool that sometimes Ill intentionally not get all the parts just so I can do it. Zero doesnt mess around in this fight. He follows an easily discernible pattern, but your attack window is very small and hes still tough to dodge because he never lets up. That battle also might contain my single favorite song in the entire series:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HalR8W3VuCo

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Mega Man X2 is a pretty good game but the worst part is probably Violen. Just didn't seem to be a particularly good way to dodge his morning star attack.

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Violen was the big one, right? Yeah, you had to be willing to tank a lot of damage in that fight.

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I too, still like Super Mario Kart. It was such simple times! You didn't get screwed too much by Item RNG and doing the short cuts were very satisfying. Also, I really liked the Battle Mode.

Spirit of Justice was great. I too, hope we will get another Ace Attorney game one day.
Nahyuta had his moments and I liked his role in the story, I agree he is a low tier prosecutor. Too bad, Prosecutor Sad Monk!

Twilight Princess was alright. It started off slow but it really picked up when you stick with it.
I thought they kinda dropped the ball with Zant near the end.
Ganondorf was ok...but I can't take his final battle seriously when you can fool him with the fishing rod.
His death was also pretty cool.

Sonic 2 is good all around. Yeah, a save feature would of been alright but it's fine.
Dunno why but I wasn't too high on Oil Ocean Zone.
I liked Metropolis Zone's music but the entire zone can die in a fire with the enemy placements.
I feel the same with all the other Zones mentioned.
Yes, the last 2 bosses were pretty intimidating with no rings but not so bad when you get the patterns down!
Yes, last boss with Knuckles was a pain and took longer. Still liked the novelty of going through with Knuckles and finding shortcuts!

The World Ends With You so good. It was neat how it pretty much too full advantage of the DS with the buttons, touchscreen and even the mic for certain Pins. The OST is ace.

MGS2 is good stuff. I really liked the gameplay. Big improvement from the first game. First Person View button was a good addition.

Mega Man 9 is definitely a top tier Mega Man game.

Maximum Carnage is awesome. There were also a surprising amount of secrets for a beat em' up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdYqeXCv2tc
Over the years I learned that one of the boss themes is an exact rip of Black Sabbath's "The Mob Rules"
Too good.
I finally got to read the Maximum Carnage story arc a few years ago and it was awesome how the cutscenes in the game were pages from the actual comic. That was neat.

X2 is my fave of the SNES X trilogy and probably my fave one in the whole series. I liked it so much. I liked how there were a few different ways to obtain a few of the heart tanks. One time I did a No Heart Tank/Sub Tank/Heart Tank playthrough. Violen and Sigma were not fun during that playthrough, heh.
Cool underrated moment: Destroying Wire Sponge with a Sonic Slicer and he gets cut in half samurai style.

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GOGZero posted...

The OST is ace.

Man, how did I forget to mention this?

GIVE ME ALL YOUR LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE

GOGZero posted...

Cool underrated moment: Destroying Wire Sponge with a Sonic Slicer and he gets cut in half samurai style.

One of my favorite things about the MMX games in general are the unique reactions to Mavericks getting hit with their weaknesses, but yeah, that one's one of the best.

GOGZero posted...

I liked Metropolis Zone's music but the entire zone can die in a fire with the enemy placements.

why would you put exploding enemies in the wall where you can't ever hit them while you're manually powering those screws to move up and down between levels

it's literally the worst

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Filler post for new page.

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