I’ve been playing Mario Galaxy in the 3D All-Stars collection. This is my first time playing Galaxy. I’m enjoying but not loving it.
Galaxy is an interesting midpoint in the design transition between Mario 64 and 3D Land—from sandbox to linear stage design. Galaxy sandbox stages are not as strong as those in 64, and Galaxy linear stages are not as strong as those in 3D Land. So Galaxy feels a bit limp in comparison to its ancestor and to its descendant.
yeah, I would advise waiting on this one until next year at least – at the moment it’s way less fresh-feeling than either of the original sin titles
This is why you would hear so many people clamoring for a more Mario 64 like Mario for Wii U.
Having a seamless hub-world that connects the “levels” like the spokes of a wheel would definitely be a good start in the right direction. It would also be cool to rehabilitate the savepoint/checkpoint system and replace it with hub-points creating some kind of tier system of hubs as you advance the gameworld.
i recall people hoping galaxy would be sort of like that when initial footage came out, it looked like it could almost be a full game of the sunshine FLUDDless segments (though obviously less harshly designed)
i kind of like galaxy and galaxy 2 but they benefit from more measured expectations than that lol
I’m playing more Guilty Gear and settling into Zato. I put the pink costume on so I call him Zato-Bismol. I finally won my first ranked match after calming my nerves. It feels really good to read and react to an opponent. Like with Tetris, my subconscious is trying to solve combos in the background while I go about my day. Does anybody want to play this?
I “beat” (""""“beat”"""") Mario 64 with like 75 stars? And somehow completely missed a whole dang level?
Maybe some day I will no-quotes beat the game and get all the stars, but for now, I’m good.
I’m also convinced the Pro Controller might actually be terrible, from playing this. My experience with Mario 64 on the proper hardware is limited, but even then I don’t think I’ve ever constantly beefed long jumps like I have playing this collection.
Went from that into some Mario Sunshine, got mad at a level, and spent…the whole goddamn day, just about, playing Hades. Really digging that. Made it to the boss fight on Elysium on my last run before dying.
Oh! And I’ve been playing Star Wars Squadrons. Should, uh, probably wrap up the campaign and jump online before that becomes a ghost town. It’s pretty good though.
The way that SM64 presents its levels, a couple of which are hidden or out of the way and can be missed altogether is something I take for granted having played it to death. That generous difference between the total number of stars in the game and the amount needed to beat the final boss, plus the sense of occulted experiences throughout, was an important part of the allure when it came out and something I always appreciate in a game.
something i think that gets overlooked about sm64 is how much it tries to really utilize analog movement, and i suspect the n64’s stick had a lot of care lavished on it (which probably accounts for it wearing out so easily) because sm64 and a few other games really pushed the full range of motion. Challenges like tiptoeing past the piranha plants, and a lot of the later levels using narrow platforms (and awkward camera angles…) where you benefit from slowing down and walking. It was novel i suppose
Yeah I wouldn’t be surprised if they had a list of Analog Stick To-dos (swing Bowser by the tail, run circles around poles/eyeballs, etc.). Pretty sure I read somewhere that the analog stick was basically developed for SM64, they grew up together, whereas the analogue triggers of the GameCube came first and a designer thought “This would be great for a kind of squirt gun mechanic” and then it was insinuated into a Mario game. The Galaxy games probably had a similar relationship with the Wiimote.
I’ve been playing through Strawberry Cubes and it is pretty swell. The game is basically begging you to break it and it is fairly easy to do so once you start to figure things out. The only mark against it is that there appears to be no actual goal to work towards and quite likely no actual “ending” so I think I’m likely about done with it as over the past little while with the game I’ve sorta struggled to find new things to do or find. Still I’d definitely recommend picking away at it for a couple of hours.
I’ve wondered whether Strawberry Cubes has an ending. I played it for a while but I eventually didn’t know where else I could go. I would second the recommendation, though.
Yeah, this looks very cool but like many games of this sort I did not have fun with it and wonder precisely what I’m supposed to be up to.
Today I have completed hacking the PS4 and I have started Bloodborne. I am planning to play the game only once. Which build should I aim for, in order to enjoy the game the most?
Ignore magic, it essentially doesn’t exist on a first playthrough
There are barely any builds in Bloodborne, it’s all: Raise HP + endurance, obviously, get enough stats to meet stat requirements, and maybe get a little more of your primary damage stat if you want
I suggest going for strength since it has the coolest looking weapons ( The kirkhammer, the wheel and the giant Pizza Cutter) but YMMV
Pure magic/arcane is not viable, don’t try it
it can be worth getting arcane to 15 because you can use a couple fun low level hunter tools like the hunter’s bone (grants improved dodge speed for the cost of a few bullets) but no point beyond that
A high damage strength weapon makes the game relatively easy. there’s one in the dlc that looks like a giant pizza cutter which i used in my last playthrough and it made the late game a breeze
strength or skill, most likely with some points but into the one you didn’t choose.
it’s very viable to just build for weapon requirements early on and then decide on a build later, so you can just try out weapons and see what kinda stuff you vibe with.
early on you should be focusing on hp anyway regardless of build. stat-based damage gains are negligible until your weapons are properly upgraded, and the one healing item heals a set % of your max hp so upgrading hp simultaneously upgrades heals.
edit: skill + bloodtinge is also EXTREMELY viable with some very nice feeling weapons but gives you a rough start, and there’s only two proper weapons in the game for it
lol
I was really disappointed when I got my bloodtinge high enough to use a weapon like the Reiterpallasch just because its DPS and damage wasn’t really any better than the other swift chopper weapons you could be using. The Chikage was also not my style. So I see that Skill and Strength are essential because they are beneficial in every respect, but Arcane and Bloodtinge have very niche uses that are sometimes more novel than actually helpful.