I separated them based on my own perhaps imprecise understanding, but, let’s say that Randomizers mix up sequence/unlocks/whatever within individual games, and Shufflers cycle through different games according to certain parameters/conditions on the fly.
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Oh, that makes sense. So a randomizer is an internal shuffling and a shuffler is a meta-shuffling.
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Note about my vote: I have never tried to emulate the Xbox.
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Perhaps it also goes without saying but let’s also say that, whatever we end up starting with, we ping pong to something unlike it the next club activity. For example, if we start with something like a breezy JRPG with GameFAQsian style parameter/mechanic restriction challenge runs, which are the frontrunners of the two polls at time of writing, we’ll do something like Symphony of the Night Randomizers after that.
Also. at least for JRPGs, we’d have a nigh inexhaustible supply of choices without even including the PS2/Gamecube era. @Gemstonez , I wouldn’t want to exclude you just because there’s more desire to play games from that era, so I feel like I need to ask, what’s stopping you from emulating PS1/Saturn/etc. games? Hardware, or just lack of familiarity?
As someone who up until somewhat recently had been quite apprehensive and distrusting of emulating PS1 games at least, I can tell you that these days it is very easy and not hardware intensive. Duckstation for example seems as stable and easy to setup and use as ZSNES or something like that.
There’s not much we can do to help you with a lack of capable hardware unfortunately but I’m sure we can help you through setting up a PS1 or Saturn emulator!
I think if we end up landing on JRPG it might also be fun to do something like, pick a single classic challenge run format like Single Character, and instead of everyone playing the same game, it’s up to you to choose a game for yourself. So, say if it was a Single Character challenge run, part of the strategy would be picking a game where you know you can make single character very powerful. Or maybe you want to go the other route and pick a game where you know you’ll have a bad time by picking a single character who you know sucks lol.
There’d be less co-operation than if we were playing the same game but we’d all have interesting individual stories to share. Also I think it would be funny if one of you jokers fulfilled the Single Character challenge run requirements by doing a totally normal playthrough of Vagrant Story, which, according to the parameters of “complete any JRPG utilizing only a single playable character in your party,” would 100% qualify.
On the flipside we could all play the same game but all get (randomly?) assigned different challenge runs. Then we could end up sharing strategies and all have a shared sense of progress.
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Oh, just lack of familiarity! I could probably figure it out with a helping hand. Definitely do whatever feels right regardless.
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Ok I got one more question.
I would enjoy, or at least not be discouraged from participating, if Challenge Run Club Activities had some kind of (strictly friendly) competitive elements between club participants. Results anonymized so be honest!!
- Yes, that sounds fun
- Yes, but it depends on how interesting the structure of the competition is
- I’m not interested in that but I’ll probably just ignore that aspect of the club and just play the games
- Nah, I feel that would harsh the vibe entirely
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voters
Let’s also just say I got a wacky concept if we end up choosing JRPGs.
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I have too much free time on my hands these days but at least I’m choosing to use it in cool ways
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If we are all picking different games and challenges, I think for me it kind of loses the attractive community quality that I liked about this idea.
Personally, I’d prefer the same game for everyone at least. I’d also like the same challenge because I’m no super gamer, and I think I might need help to complete a challenge run (something I’ve never attempted). If we’re all doing the same thing, we could help one another.
I really want to stop now and have a discussion about why you think Undertale is not a JRPG, but I’m using all my restraint.
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I agree. Everybody playing the same game is a strong part of the appeal for me.
(Undertale is definitely a JRPG)
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I say this in the gentlest way possible: ain’t no way I’m reading 10 pages of single-spaced text.
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dw y’all I just love to think of ways to overcomplicate things to pass the time.
Looks like so far JRPG and some kind of a classic challenge run format is what people want to start with, so I’ve made a poll for submitting suggestions for games.
Results are viewable here: Untitled form (Responses) 11 - Google Sheets
It probably makes the most sense to pick a challenge run type after we pick a game, so let’s hold off on that.
Also Undertale is a Bullet Heck (as in a Bullet Hell-lite) which uses some genre conventions of JRPGs to structure difficulty and deliver narrative (and especially jokes), but the primary genre realm in which gameplay exists within is Bullet Heck.
In direct contrast, Deltarune is the inverse, it’s undoubtedly a JRPG with Bullet Heck inflections in combat.
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Undertale is a rhythm game
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Undertale is a Mother, which is 100% JRPG.
The specifics of combat are irrelevant.
I feel like the main distinction between Undertale and Deltarune is single character vs. party, which is more a Dragon Quest vs. Dragon Quest II thing than a JRPG vs Bullet Heck thing.
Also, am I wrong to associate bullet hells strongly with being able to shoot back? If it’s not a shmup, can it be a real bullet hell?
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I am not entirely certain the very first Dragon Quest would be a very interesting game to do challenge runs for. Tactically the combat is dead simple, one player character vs. one monster can only have so much depth to it, and mostly boils down to trading blows and healing when necessary. In terms of character progression/customization options like weapons and armor, it’s pretty much just linear upgrades in efficacy.
In other words I’m not sure there are really many interesting solutions to dealing with various restrictions beyond either level grinding or stockpiling healing items, thus mainly overcoming things numerically or via more tedium rather than more strategy
Dragon Quest II is a significantly longer game, but still short by JRPG standards, and has a lot more tactical depth, since you get 3 party members and enemies come in packs and internal groups. So maybe that would be a better choice to still reflect the intent of the suggestion.
Just wanted to put that out there, but also, I think anyone should feel free to submit as many games as they want. We can narrow down a single game from a big list using more polls in this thread (either one big ranked choice poll or one round to whittle it down to a smaller number of finalists and then a much smaller ranked choice poll (I love ranked choice polls))
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There are also some redundant submissions already but don’t worry about avoiding redundancy, or rather, I encourage being accidentally redundant. I can easily identify redundant submissions and I’ll even make note of that information so that you can take that into consideration once we go to whittling things down to a single game. Maybe those games can automatically get seeded to the second round of the polling to choose a single game?
In my mind, there are enough variables in DQ1 for some challenge runs. You could do low-level, restricted equipment, restricted magic use, restricted herb use, etc.
But you’re right that 2, and especially 3 have a lot more room for changing things up.
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