Game Progress: 2/18

It's been a few weeks since I last posted one of these. The reason is simple: I swore on the grave of some random stranger that I would beat Pid if it killed me. Well, that and I was working on reviews for White Mirror and X-Men: Wolverine's Rage, both of which are live.

Pid is a slog. Yeah, I beat it, but it took more effort than it should've. One review I read called it "harder than Super Meat Boy." No, it really isn't, but it is far less enjoyable. There are some neat and inventive stages, such as a playhouse from which you must exit without disrupting any of the dramas taking place. Sadly, though, the game suffers from an abundance of dull puzzles, wonky mechanics, and frustrating segments.

I'm still playing Clicker Heroes. Right now, I'm attempting to secure all of the level achievements, and am currently at Zone 545. I was trying to get Dread Knight to level 1000, but I think I'll end up getting Treebeast (and maybe Ivan, the Drunken Brawler) to 2000 before that. Of late, I've been loading myself up with DPS-elevating ancients and artifacts and have gotten myself to new heights. Sadly, the game is still repetitive, but too addictive to give up. At least it's not as involving as Puzzle and Dragons. I will have to say that (and I think Never3ndr made this point earlier): the game is addictive as all get out, but it doesn't require you to be present. You can go about your daily life, put in a few minutes here and there, and not completely disrupt the routine of daily living.

I tried out five other games that I may or may not review for Alphabet Marathon:

1) Iesebel (PC): A Diablo clone with less than impressive reviews that I have on my Desura account. I can see why it's not held in the highest regard, honestly. The play control is strange, forcing you to use the keyboard to attack rather than the left mouse button. I'm not far into this one, so I might not review it for AM. I've kind of been toying with the concept of taking on Insanity's Blade instead, since that seems to be more up my alley...

2) Joe & Mac (NES): Okay, I played this one as a youngster, so I wasn't just "checking this out." I do intend to review it, though. I fared better this time than when I first played it, getting through the second boss.

3) Legacy of the Wizard (NES): Same. I rented this one a couple of times, but never could beat it. I hope to get through and review it nonetheless. It's difficult to say if I've made any progress, since 99% of the game consists of wandering and hoping you're going the right way.

4) Qbeh (PC): Pronounced "cube" and not to be confused with its less obscure prequel Qbeh-1: The Atlas Cube. This game seems like it would work better as a VR title (I think it's available on Oculus Rift), but it's an otherwise dull puzzler thus far. You have to play through the whole thing in one sitting. I didn't get too far because I didn't have time. Hopefully it'll improve in the coming levels.

5) Universe Sandbox (PC)- You know what you're getting with this one. It's the universe, except you can mess with it. You can make moons crash into each other, freeze the earth, turn Mars into a black hole, or have a golf ball orbiting Saturn. It's uh... I guess okay...?

Comments 6

honestgamer Staff Feb 18, 2016

In Clicker Heroes: You're VERY early in the game process, so right now, Treebeast is, well... a beast. It's worth putting your energy and gilds into him. Once you can conveniently do that with the Samurai instead, then that becomes your winning strategy for quite a while.

With Joe & Mac, I love the SNES version of the game, which released first. It was considerably different, and doesn't hold up as well as I would like, but back in the day I rented it a few times and eventually beat it. I still think it has a very attractive visual style. I need to hurry up and buy the sequel. It has been on my wish list for decades.

joseph_valencia Feb 18, 2016

The bosses in the SNES Joe & Mac took a ridiculous amount of hits to kill. I remember we made it to the final boss (little devil guy) back in the day and the battle felt like it went on for half an hour with no end in sight.

Never3ndr Feb 18, 2016

I never owned a NES growing up, but my best friend had one (and a sizable game collection), and some of my best early gaming memories are from weekends spent playing the NES at his house. One of the games he had was Legacy of the Wizard and I remember it being interesting...but way too difficult for us as kids. I'd like to come back to that one myself at sometime (maybe if I ever get satisfied with playing / reviewing old SMS games)...I heard it was part of a series of games? Anyways, looking forward to your take on it when you get to it.

overdrive Staff Feb 18, 2016

I've tried Legacy of the Wizard a couple times. Once borrowed my friend's copy and once did the emulator thing. Both times, I quickly got annoyed (or lost first and then annoyed after I couldn't get "un-lost") and gave up.

Never3ndr
It's part of the Dragon Slayer (with Legacy being the American title for the fourth game). Most of those games were Japan-only. On the NES, there is Faxanadu, which was a side-story to Dragon Slayer II: Xanadu, though. I liked Faxanadu; one of my favorites growing up.

JoeTheDestroyer Blogger Feb 19, 2016

Jason:
I never played the SNES version, though I've wanted to. I've always had a secret obsession with caveman-themed video games.

Joseph:
I've always hated boss battles like that. The bosses in Ninja Crusaders were similar, except I think you can charge up your shots to do more damage or something like that. It's been a while since I played it.

3ndr:
Ha! I was just the opposite. I had an NES, but my buddy had SMS and I always regarded it as a curiosity. I've been mentally amassing a list of games to go through thanks to this site. So far, the only SMS game I've managed to complete is the first Phantasy Star.

OD:
That's basically how I've felt about the game. I recall there being some item you have to locate, then you have to get to the dragon, but you can only beat the dragon with the son or something like that. I always played as the pet, because enemies can't hurt him. He was good for exploring.

I aim to spend the next few nights pounding out reviews. I still need a rough draft for Mortal Kombat II (which I'll be working on tonight). I already have roughs for Pid and Qbeh (the latter of which will be a community review instead of staff, because the playable trailer game lacks substance).