Cy Dra

Cy Dra's Activity

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   Cy Dra added a post in a topic Games that you recently finished    1 August

   I just completed a hard mode, 100% map and soul completion run of Castlevania of Sorrow. Some of the souls were an absolute pain to get. Alastor coming immediately to mind.
   

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   Cy Dra added a post in a topic Games that you are currently playing    22 July

   I'm playing Majora's Mask onthe Nintendo64 with my new clear green controller. I'm also attempting one of the fastest glitchless any% runs. The 6 day challange. 3 total days so far, and I have reached Ikana.
   

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   Cy Dra added a post in a topic Games that you recently finished    20 July

   Castlevania Aria of Sorrow has been conquered! 100% at only 6 hours and 22 minutes.
   

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   Cy Dra added a post in a topic Games that you recently finished    11 July

   I beat Castlevania 3 Dracula's Curse for the first time! The game is hard as nails, and pulls no punches. So what do I think of it? Let's find out. This is going to be a rough review. When I do this sort of format, I do tend to spoil things such as plot. Just a heads up, there will be spoilers for say a 30 year old game. I can't add spoiler tags on mobile device, so I do apologize for the gargantuan post. 
    
   The story is very simplistic like most games in that era were. Being at the beginning of the Castlevania timeline (At the time of release), Konami had a bit more liberty to do something different. The Belmonts were banished from the country by the church, until Dracula causes problems. Armed with the mighty Vampire Killer, it's up to Trevor (Ralph in the Japanese version) to put the boots to vampire glutes. That's pretty much it. Actually, now that I think about it... That's the basic idea of thefirst game, too.
    
   What I like about 3 over the original title is, that the game doesn't take place exclusively in the castle. The first half of the game is just the build up and the trek to the castle were Dracula awaits. Along the journey, you encounter the three partners you can play through the game with to make it a slightly less frustrating experience. Grant, who can climb walls and is the fastest of the bunch. Syfa, with her trusty stick and magic spells has the easiest time. Finally; Alucard, making his debut. Alucard can turn into a bat at the cost of 1 heart per second, and has his trusty "Balls of Destruction". Yes that is the name.
    
   The trek to Castlevania is the real meat and potatoes of the game, with its branching pathways. The only 'real' branch is going either to graveyard or the swamp. This is were you can encounter either Syfa or Alucard. But, the real fun is in the castle itself. When you reach the castle, things get pretty familiar. Familiar as in it's Castlevania 1 all over again, minus the majority of the castle. 
    
   While in the castle, the stages get pretty short, but get much harder to compensate for the shorter stages. Enemy placement gets pretty obnoxious, including an absolute ton of stairs. And I mean a TON of stairs. I hate the stairs in old school Castlevania. Why? You can't jump on, or really defend yourself in general while your on the stairs, leading to a bunch of pot shots. That's design I don't like, and really wish they changed.
    
   Most of the bosses on the adventure, are really underwhelming and go down pretty quickly with Syfa and the lightning orbs (One of the three spells Syfa can use, the others being fire and ice). Trevor does have a fairly difficult time with the bosses because of the rather short range of the Vampire Killer, so he has to more so use the sub weapons to deal with bigger problems. 
    
   Castlevania 3 comes packed with everything from the first game and improves. It's all present and accounted for, from whip upgrades, to sub weapons, to wall meat. While Castlevania 3 improves on what made the original great, it also improves the difficulty. Meaning, cranked the difficulty to 80 on a 10 setting knob. This game is HAAAARRRRD. 
    
   When you get passed the Doppelganger in the third stage of the castle, it's on to the last quarter of the castle, and the home stretch of the game. In traditional Castlevania fashion, you haveto travel through the clock tower to reach the Grand Staircase. Unlike the original Castlevania, if you die to Dracula amd get a game over to Dracula, instead of spawning at the bottom of the Staircase, you have toplay through the whole stage again. That's draining, especially if you aren't that good at Classic-Vania. I.e... Me.
    
   Dracula himself, is really easy with Syfa and the fire spell. The fire spell does 3 hit points on Dracula. Dracula can only be damged by bopping him on the noggin. Even though the Count is really easy, his damage output can catch you off gaurd. Dracula only raises three fire pillars. The third homes in on your location, while the other two, are completley up to RNG. After defeating the first form of Dracula, the Count transforms into his second form which is a group of five floating heads that spit something. What? I don't know. The second form is also really easy with Syfa and the fire spell, as the fire spell can hit multiple times on Dracula, draing his health rather quick.
    
   Normally, there's only to forms of the Prince of Darkness, but... surprise! After beating Dracula's second form, he has a third form! The third form, lools like a giant bird. Dracula's third form is also really easy. Even as Trevor. The easiest time I had against Bird Dracula, was with Trevor and the axe sub weapon.
    
   Dracula's third form shoots lasers. That's it. Nothing else. Avoid the lasers, and with a final attack, Dracula goes down in a firey glory. Trevor escapes the crumbling castle, and whoever you beat the game with, affects the ending. Alucard sort of stands there. Grant jumps into the air. Syfa, just leans against Trevor. 
    
   The credits roll, marking the end of Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse. 
    
   The game is hard, but not entirely unfair. There are times I did call unfair, but that was few and far between. The enemy placement at times can be cheap, but that's par for the course with Classic-Vania. Swinging the whip does feel really good, even though there is a tiny delay. If t wasn't for the soundtrack, I would have gone insane with all the deaths I suffered. You can take a litle bit of the difficulty off by using some of the special codes that are in game (The most famous being the "Help Me!" code).
    
   Trevor's control is also very reminiscent of the Castlevania 1 control. Stiff, and you can't control your jump in mid air. If the game was tweaked just a bit, I think it would be a little more playable to causal gamers. The difficulty is fine for a Castlevania game, but it's that reasoning that I can also say the game is not beginner friendly. If you're looking for a hard game to play, give this game a try if you're interested in this particular genre. It's not for everyone and I can't recommend it to just anyone, because of it's difficulty and the control. 
    
   I loved it personally, and got great enjoyment out of it. A fantastic game from a fantastic franchise. I can easily rate Castlevania 3: Dracula's Cure... 7.5/10. It's not my favorite, but I don't hate it. It is better than Castlevania 1, so it has that going for it. 
    
    
    
   

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   Cy Dra added a post in a topic Games that you recently finished    5 July

   I beat Metroid Prime 3 Corruption just minutes before posting this. I haven't done a proper "I beat this game I never played before" in a while. So, my initial thoughts on the game. I will avoid all plot important spoilers as best as I can. So, on with the pseudo review!
    
   For a game on the Wii, the motion controls to move the arm cannon were rather responsive and were rather easy to get accustomed to. However I do have one problem with the motion controls, I found it very easy to overshoot your aim, and that led me to missing my beam shots quite a few times, but isn't really that much of an issue as I did miss shots on the Gamecube titles.
    
   The story picks up and slows down and up and down and up and down... The story goes by really consistently and very smoothly until the only real problem I have with Prime 3... The story comes to a hault when you're forced to backtrack to get items that are mandatory for plot progression. For an example "I have to get this item in area A so I can progress in area C. However the game wants me to do 3 other things in area B before I can go back to area C with the item from are A". The only thing I have a problem with is the story pacing. But, that's just a nitpick.
    
   The design of the planets was really interesting. My favorite being Elysia, Skytown if you will. The design of tge planets may have been interesting but the actual level design did have me callkng foul in a couple places, but nothing that had me legitimately mad or upset. The level design is easily the most confusing and the most Metroid-y (That's not a word but I just made it a word) in the entire Prime series in my opinion (Aside from Prime 2 but that was confusing for the wrong reasons). So the level design gets a pass.
    
   The boss fights were a laugh and a half because of how simple they were in terms of the actual patterns. Point and shoot at the big glowing "Hit me here!" lights, stun, blast with the Phazon Beam. The Phazon Beam was introduced in Prime 1, but made a bonified gameplay mechanic which you have available almost  right out of the gate at the cost of an Energy Tank. But you get health back so fast that it doesn't really matter. The only boss that I had a good time fighting was (Spoiler if you haven't gotten all collecables in Prime 2 or watched a video of it) was Dark Samus, who's boss battle is basically right from Prime 2. The boss fights are lackluster at worst and okay at best.
    
   The soundtrack? It's Metroid. The soundtrack is going to be absolutely amazing, and it is. The soundtrack is absolutely fantastic! Not my favorite Metroid soundtrack though. That honor still belongs to Super Metroid. Phaaze was actually my favorite track from the game. I do appreciate the remix of Theme of Samus though. The soundtrack for Prime 3 scores Metroid out of 10.
    
   Thanks to Hyper Mode, the game is actually really easy because of Hyper Mode. Then again, a person could always just NOT use Hyper Mode. But... The enemies also have access to Hyper Mode, and the best way to deal with that is by using Hyper Mode yourself. Sooo...
    
   Prime 3 is super beginner friendly, and is a great place to start with the Prime series. Prime 3 is excellent for teaching newcomers to the mechanics of the Metroid Prime series and is a perfecr starting point. If you want to get into the 3D Metroid games, start with Prime 3. When you feel comfortable with Prime 3, move on to Prime 1. Prime 1 in my opinion, is still the definitive 3D Metroid experience.
    
   All in all, I had a great time getting 100% in Prime 3, and I can easily say thag right now, it is my second favorite Metroid Prime game. My favorite being the original Metroid Prime. I can easily recommend Prime 3 to anyone looking for a great game to play. Retro Studios has proved yet again, that they know what they're doing in terms of Metroid. I give the game an 8.5/10. Here's to Metroid Prime 4 and Metroid: Samus Returns.
    
   That was long. Anyway, long story short: I enjoyed Prime 3.
   

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   Cy Dra added a post in a topic Games that you are currently playing    4 July

   I'm playing through Metroid Prime 3 Corruption for the Nintendo Wii. That's where all my time has been spent right now, because I love the game right now even though I have called foul on a couple things. Nothing major, just some little stuff. I am aiming towards that 100% completion, because the Metroid Prime console titles have always counted only pickups towards final percentage.
   

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   Cy Dra added a post in a topic Games that you recently got    3 July

   Me being a big Metroid fan, decided to pick up a copy of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption for the Wii in celebration of 2 new Metroid titles being announced. I also bought a physical copy of the N64 version of Majora's Mask. That's coming in the mail on the express train! So, I think those will look very nice in my collection.
   

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   Cy Dra added a post in a topic Games that you recently got    16 May

   I got a new game... Again. This time I picked up a copy of Luigi's Mansion 2 Dark Moon. I loved the first game and didn't get the sequel until I memorized the first game. I'm enjoying the heck out of Dark Moon. I'm not too far in, I've only beaten the first mansion. I'm not tackling the second mansion until I find all the boos in the first mansion.
   

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   Cy Dra added a post in a topic What's Your Favorite Song?    14 May

   So... I have a new favorite song. Not quite better than Old Man. But my new second favorite song is Springsteen by Eric Church. I saw him live and I can't get enough of his music.
   

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    Cy Dra added a post in a topic Games that you recently finished    18 April

    I finally beat Paper Mario for the N64, after my last playthough seven years ago. However, I'm not quite done with the game yet. I am aiming for 100% (Curse my cleptomania!) 
     
    I used a neat little grinding area to get a crazy amount of coins so I could buy all the badges from Rowf's badge shop. I also used a guide to find all the star piece locations (I couldn't remember where they all were), so I could get the badges from Merlow. So I have all 80 badges.
     
    With getting all the badges, it requires getting all 160 star pieces as well, so that's something that was a bit of a pain even with a guide...
     
    The Chuck Quizmo stuff was just recalling all the subtle things about the game, which I answered all 64 questions.
     
    I also got every party member to level 2, but there is still a bit I have left to upgrade for Mario himself.
     
    All I have left to do really is do the Tayce. T sidequest, which is just recipes. I still have another 45 left to discover though. Sigh.
     
    Other than that, it's my favorite Mario RPG. The star spirits are fun to play around with, and some of the badge combos can absolutely break the game by making super bosses such as the Anti-Guy in chapter 4 an absolute joke, including regular bosses! If you're really good qith the power bounce, you can deal tons of damage obscenely fast. I love the game, it's also really beginner friendly. I have no problem recommending it to anyone who's looking for a fun game.
    

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    Cy Dra added a post in a topic Games that you recently got    5 March

    I recently picked up a copy of L.A Noir for the PS3.
    

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    Cy Dra added a post in a topic Count to 50 before a mod or admin posts 2.0!    3 January

    Oh hai! I'm back here! Oh shoot. I need a rhyme! Uh... Umm... I got nothing. Seven.
    

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    Cy Dra added a post in a topic Games that you recently finished    7 Dec 2016

    I finally got around to beating Super Metroid for the first time. Yeah, i'm a big Metroid fan that never actually beat Super. I dabbled with it now and then but never actually beat it, until 3:30 in the morning. So, my final run time was 4 hours (Not bad for a first time through the game and a pretty beat up Gamecube controller), but I think that might have been my cleptomania acting up, making me go for 100%. Oh well, fantastic game, though. I'm definitely going to play it again very soon.
    

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    Cy Dra added a post in a topic Games that you recently got    10 Jul 2016

    So I got more things. This time, for mobile platforms! I got... Five Nights at Freddy's 1 and 4 for my phone.
    

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    Cy Dra added a post in a topic What do you want in a STH game?    3 Jul 2016

    I know what I want from a Sonic game. The characters should be able to move fast, for one. Some of the newer 3d games, i've noticed that there has been a definite lack of high speed action. I think that's a requirement in a Sonic game.
     
    The story shouldn't be overly complex and convoluted... Sonic '06, I am looking directly at you! It's a Sonic game. Not Metal Gear Solid. The last really great title (In my opinion), was Generations. The story was goofy and lighthearted. That's the way I like my Sonic story. Which is one of the many reasons I detest '06. '06 was trying way too hard to take itself seriously, and came off as a gigantic mess.
     
    Two words: Level. Design. A main reason why I adore the classics, and hold them with such high esteem. You get rewarded with goodies for going off the intended path. Spring Yard Zone is a fairly good example. At the end of I believe act 2, that line of rings, you can nab an extra say 20 to 30 rings and an alternate exit to the stage. As much of it I dislike, Sonic '06 had some good level design. For the Sonic stages. It's one thing I will complement '06 on, is it's level design.
     
    To sum everything up in this horribly messy and disastrous post, SEGA and Sonic team have proved that they can make truly fantastic Sonic games. I have faith in them as a loyal follower. The Advance games, Advenyures 1 and 2, Generations, Colors. It's all my personal opinion, though. All in all, I just want a good game, lol.
    

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