Which version of The Secret of Monkey Island does Frank swear by, again? Having trouble finding a specific recommendation in show notes. I think I remember he disavows the Special Edition but does playing that version with old graphics do the trick?
i can't speak to the special edition not having played it, other than seeing that the graphics were a big mistake, but the original dos version is still wonderful
https://archive.org/details/monkey_dos
If you switch the graphics in Special Edition it‘s basically the same game, yeah. Though I encountered a lottttt of weird graphical/audio/stability issues in SE, so my preferred way to play is still the DOS version via ScummVM. If you want to, you can even mod the SE voice acting into the DOS version and get basically the same experience. (I haven’t done it myself cuz I prefer to just read it, but I hear it's pretty simple.)
@“captain”#p131544 he (and I) swear by the original DOS EGA release
The Mark Ferrari background art is _gorgeous_ in this version. They got painted over for the VGA release, and simply are not as good (in my (and Frank’s) opinion)
Shoot yeah I forgot about that: Special Edition only has the weird VGA graphics.
@“copySave”#p76147 I would add that in the US version you can also customize your stats instead of going the route handed to you, this is how you gain an “unfair” advantage.
@“phylaxis”#p131564
@"Bbtone"#p131613
@"rejj"#p131622
Thank you all, removing Special Edition from my GOG wishlist pronto
@“captain”#p131646 https://archive.org/details/mnkyega
It came up on the podcast again, so I'm wondering, how do you enjoy Kessen? I was a big ol Dynasty Warriors fan back when, and when I ran out of those I tried Kessen and could not make any sense out of it.
Maybe not a how to enjoy question because I get the appeal and think it's for me, but which Earth Defense Force game should I start with? I heard @exodus on the 8-4 podcast today talk about one of the EDF games mixing up the dialogue for humanoid enemies and frog enemies so the humanoid enemies were talked about like they were bizarre monsters and the frog enemies were talked like they were an ordinary site and thought that was hilarious and I wondered if I could start with that one.
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How I’m enjoying Sonic Adventure this time on Dreamcast hardware:
Don’t play through entire character chapters at once. Skip around and try to play as close to chronological order as you can, kind of like how SA2’s story mode goes.
Since I’ve heard SA English VA ten thousand times at the point I’m playing with Japanese voices and really enjoying it, especially after a Yakuza binge.
I’ve never played Contra. I’m going to try Contra. Which Contra should I play?
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It’s hard to go wrong with contra. I’d start with the nes, snes and mega drive games.
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I think Super C is the best one and a great place to start. Probably a bad idea to start with Hard Corp even though a lot of folks consider it to be the best, the American version is oppressively hard.
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The answer depends on whether you’re intent on finishing a Contra! (and on what you think “finishing” ought to mean)
Quick answer: NES or FC versions of Contra or Super C, Contra III (NA version is harder), Shattered Soldier or Neo Contra, or Hard Corps: Uprising
If you want to drill down into one of these go for it, but I might recommend just getting the Anniversary Collection and messing around with everything in it.
more info than you're asking for
Contra (NES/FC) - I’d say go for this version rather than the arcade game it’s based on. Limited continues. Use the Konami code for 30 lives. NA and JP versions feature co-op, where EU version (Gryzer) features a hot seat multiplayer mode.
Super C (NES/FC) - NA version has 10 lives code, where JP and EU have 30. EU version is called Super Probotector and has a lot of altered visuals (you play as a robot guy).
Contra III (SNES/SFC) - JP has unlimited continues by default and cheat codes. A “true ending” is only playable on Normal or higher difficulty; in the NA and EU versions, there are limited continues, no cheats, and the true ending is accessible only on Hard mode. EU version once again has the Probotector guy.
I haven’t played Shattered Soldier, which was directed by Contra mastermind Nobuya Nakazota and co-scored by Akira Yamaoka, but Neo Contra is an interesting 3D interpretation of the game (I assume similar to Shattered Soldier). The art is not as nice as the 2D games and in my opinion slightly more difficult to parse, but that could just be because of my mild color blindness. The music is aughts-era electronic dance/rock music.
Hard Corps: Uprising is a newer 2D Contra game with Guilty Gear art and music. No cheats in this one, but one of the single-player modes allows you to accumulate points and purchase permanent character upgrades and new moves. If that doesn’t appeal, there is a regular arcade mode that is just as difficult and dependent on memorization/mastery as the others.
(I wouldn’t recommend it to start but I like Contra 4, although keeping an eye on both screens makes things pretty challenging. Enemy bullets are a particular shade of red that is difficult for me to see.)
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This is two questions that feel related to me, but I’m sure aren’t:
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How do you understand how to play a Civ? I have never played one, and I managed to break the tutorial in Civ V and I still don’t understand how to play it. Is there a video less than an hour long that explains the basics – as if one has never ever played a Civ before? I have Civ 3-5 and Beyond Earth, apparently.
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Similarly, how do you understand how to play a Total War game? I have friends that were obsessed with Shogun and Medieval back in College, but I couldn’t understand. Where’s a good resource to learn about the tactics that one might employ on the battlefield? I tried total War: Shogun 2 a couple weeks back and lost the first tutorial fight. I just don’t understand why I lost or how to be better.
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With Civ I would just play a couple games with the difficulty and complexity options (world size, # of Civs, game speed) dialed down.
Total War games are kind of messy spectacles that don’t bear much deep thought tbh so don’t stress about “learning” those games imo
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I agree with @yeso that unless you’re going for total and complete system mastery, just kind of playing on low difficulties and figuring it out and will do you a lot of good
I would wager most people’s fun casual Civ games are reaaaally different from how the pros play on hardcore pvp servers
THAT SAID, they key a lot of times with games that got their start in older eras is the same for both of these series: read the manuals. Manuals back in the day were the tutorial and it’s where the devs told the player how to win. If I’m remembering right, the TW:Shogun manual is huge and has a whole history of Japan thing in it too
Always always the manual
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I’ll just add that while IV is a wonderful game, if you’re looking to get into the series you might be better served to start with V bc it is not only excellent in and of itself, it’s the first of the nu-Civs mechanically, initiating major changes in the move to hex maps with no unit stacking. It’s also really clean looking design wise and the tutorializing has a light touch. So possibly a tidier point of entry and a more direct line to the current games.
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