Topic: The Chit-Chat Thread

@Zuljaras Star Fox 64 3D, Zelda Ocarina of Time 3D, Zelda A Link Between Worlds, Codename S.T.E.A.M., Metroid Prime Federation Force and Ridge Racer 3D.

And I bought one of those Circle Pad Pro contraptions, because I still have the regular 3DS XL, not the newer model.

@ThanosReXXX I already let gravity push me down the mountain, I spent three hours sliding down a 45 degree slope after I summited. This was all between 7:30 to 10:30am, so I was already dead. Then we had a breakfast and then we did another nine hour hike to camp. That day was the longest day I've had in my life, and I had to experience it twice.

@ThanosReXXX OMG I really didn't put a name there, I be tired not to say the name of the game I'm talking about. Its Dead cells I'm gonna edit that comment.

@ThanosReXXX
Yo, you played Metroid Prime Federation Force ? 😛
I have that game too. 😉
It was my first shooter games that i ultimately allowed in my gaming area after very long deliberation.
I still at Mission 11, 12, 13 and still haven't continued the progress for very long time.
1 mission for around 15 minutes was really tense because i should pay attention with my surrounding and shoot the targets wisely as i could run out ammo. From my point of view, Federation Force was looks like Armored Core according from my sibling's gameplay when he played Armored Core on PS2.
Well, actually i prefer the Europe cover version but i got the cheapest option from USA version so... Yeah. Just play the game regardless of the cover.

Btw, today is my 4th Anniversary of my New 3DS XL USA Pearl White purchase day that i bought on 5 February 2017. 😀
I will play some USA 3DS games to celebrate.

Yo, i'm playing Fantasy Life 3DS right now while i'm listening to Super Eurobeat song Save Me by Annerley. Drifting in Fantasy Life. 😎

@ThanosReXXX Nice! I got the 2 Zelda games. The rest are not my type. Actually I was wondering about that STEAM game. Have to research it some more.

Cartridge based games are just perfect. I was surprised that the Switch was going cartridge based. Can you imagine if it went with discs like the PSP. That would have been terrible and funny in the same time!

@Anti-Matter I didn't even open up the cartridge, lol. Nor do I have the necessary tools to replace the battery. Like Zuljaras said, you can replace the battery and it'll be back to saving your games.

By the way, not all SNES games use battery backup for saving games. Some games (like Mega Man X) use passwords that you can write down, so you can continue where you left off. Others have a level select code, so you could use that as a makeshift save feature.

@Anti-Matter Well, played it...
I've only just bought the game, so all I played is the training missions and after that I stopped. I tried out all the 3DS games I bought, but currently, I'm still busy playing Wargroove and Dragon Quest 1 on the Switch, so Federation Force will have to wait for now.

@Zuljaras There's a demo of Codename S.T.E.A.M. still available in the 3DS eShop, so you could download that and try it out first. It's actually a pretty big demo, and the cool thing is that if you play it, the experience points/achievements carry over to the full game, AND you get a special weapon for free, which the demo apparently unlocks, as I found out when I booted up the full game.

By the way: did you already play Rise of the Argonauts? I'm looking forward to your initial impressions and/or mini review.

@ThanosReXXX I have to check the order. I have problems with orders lately. Tomorrow I will issue a refund from Amazon.uk as my order is more than a month late.

I finally received a shipping confirmation for my first LRG purchase. Return of the Obra Dinn should be speeding to my mailbox before too long. Looking forward to playing it!

@Heavyarms55 I always cross my fingers for Rare Candy or stones! I'll take both kinds of the latter, but it seems like I'm always hurting for Sinnoh Stones.

Thanks for the raid invite earlier btw, but I unfortunately had to miss out.

@MarioLover92 I had access to Super Mario All-Stars back in the day and really enjoyed it! It was my first memory of playing The Lost Levels, Super Mario Bros. 2/USA, and Super Mario Bros. 3. So much so that it was a jarring experience to play the originals years later lol. At least I experienced the original Super Mario Bros. as nature originally intended!

I've heard of Drill Dozer, though it isn't a game I've played. I might pick that one up as well before the eShop inevitably shuts down. Hopefully that's some time away yet!

@TheJGG Death Stranding definitely sounds like a wonderful experience on many levels! I don't know much about the game admittedly, but some seem to like it while others don't. It's possible it was one of those games where the hype raised the expectations of some too much. That's why I much prefer Nintendo's usual method of not announcing something years in advance. Not that they have a clean track record on that front, but it's not common.

@ThanosReXXX Ah. Same sign, or one of those signs that gets along well with mine? The Zodiac isn't something I really pay attention to or put any store by, but it is fun to learn one's sign as a conversation point. XD

@Tyranexx Believe me, some games have been dismal in keeping expectations realistic. As we found out in January 2019 with the restarting of Metroid Prime 4, no news is usually good news with Nintendo and their associates. No Man’s Sky was a game that set unrealistic expectations and ended up over promising. You could argue that that game has redeemed itself, because of the tireless community support, patches, and new updates Hello Games provided for free. Even three to four years after it came out they were still giving out free content updates, and even offered a free PS5 upgrade.

That’s how you redeem a game. Just ask Cyberpunk 2077. That game promised so much and it was an almost different game at launch. I saw a Crowbcat video on it and it summarises things perfectly. You know you’ve messed up when your in-game physics engine is worse than GTA IV and Saint’s Row, which were both released fifteen years ago. That comparison made me laugh, it was that bad. They also overhyped the game in marketing by making Keanu Reeves the poster child, which already felt like a desperate move.

And then there was the pre-release skepticism, with CDPR refusing to give out review codes until after the game had launched, probably to try and keep sales to a high. I hadn’t even been following Cyberpunk before it came out (only time I’ve heard of it was when they delayed it for the fifth time) and that really broke any hype the game could have registered on me. Not that I was interested in buying it, it wasn’t even my kind of game to begin with.

I’ve watched a few of Death Stranding’s trailers and having done by my approximation half of the game I’ve been able to recognise everything cinematic wise. The trailers were about seven to nine minutes each, which meant they couldn’t have been faking it.

It had actually been the reviews that influenced my decision the least when it came to buying it. I knew it was a polarising game but something told me it would connect with me, and it did.

@ThanosReXXX One of the most fun games on 3DS was the remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for me. It felt like it was made just for 3DS, and the graphics looked so good compared to the original. I had too much fun beating the game, and it moved me to tears, something that doesn’t happen much when interacting with media.

The Fault in Our Stars made me cry too. Frozen II as well did, some of the songs were magical.

@Tyranexx Well, I have mentioned it a couple of times over the years, so some blonde hasn't been paying attention, now has she?

All kidding aside I do agree with you that your everyday tabloid/newspaper horoscopes are BS, and I also don't put much stock in them but professional astrology is another thing altogether. I'd almost say that it is rather arrogant to think that we, in relation to the planet, and in following the universe, infinitely small beings/sacks of bones, water and flesh, are not in any way influenced by the magnetic field of the Earth, or the movement of the Earth and the surrounding planets. If a moon can pull ENTIRE seas back and forth, that immediately sounds highly unlikely. And just think about what light and temperature does to us: currently, there's a LOT of people around the world suffering from what is commonly known as "winter depression".

So yeah, in that regard, I do think some points about star signs are valid, because the character traits are all too often hitting the mark in the more predominant areas, if you get what I'm trying to say. Just a simple test: would you describe yourself as somewhat of a fiery, passionate person in most things that you do? You've already shared that you're kind of introverted, especially when it comes to mingling with people, but that doesn't discount being passionate, so the two traits can definitely exist in one person.

Then there's also stubborn, somewhat impulsive, adventurous, emotional, tough and to some extent, impatient. Those are actually some specific traits of your sign. They'll not count for EVERY ram, obviously, and some traits will overflow in others, but it's usually the combination of the traits that ticks the boxes. And in my experience, it's obviously more in line with real life than those "today you're going to meet someone who will be very important for the next step in your career" kind of prediction blurbs...

But I'll stop there, otherwise you'll think that I'm some astrology nut, but it's just that on an objective level, I'm always curious about it and interested in how it does match up in real life, but definitely WITHOUT blindly believing all of it. And especially the Asians have invested thousands of years into researching all that kind of stuff, so there's bound to be some truth in it, right?

Anyway, I'm a Taurus, according to the Western zodiac, and was born in the Year of the Dog according to Asian astrology. So, yeah. I'm a bull dog, basically. Does match up REALLY well with real life me: tenacious, tough, loyal, unafraid and highly social.

@TheJGG Yeah, Ocarina of Time does look better on the 3DS, but that is also because they've redrawn all the character models, and made them look less blocky than on the original. Combine that with the whole 3D window view thingy, and you instantly get a more immersive, superior experience. And I also like how it makes estimating distances for jumps and so on more clear, even though the camera is still a pain in the behind sometimes, so they definitely didn't fix that.

The aforementioned improvements are also true for Star Fox 3D, by the way. Although in space, no one will hear you scream, and there isn't a whole lot of estimating jumps going on...

As for getting emotional/feeling sad about games or movies: there isn't a single game out there that made me that invested that I felt a lump in my throat, let alone a tear well up in my eye. And in movies, it has to be real movies, with real actors, not animation. That just doesn't work on me at all, because I'm too logical of a person to get emotional about fictional characters that aren't even real persons.

Fictional does work on me when it's real actors, and the delivery is key, as is all that comes before, the build up to that specific scene, so to speak. To give you one perfect example, I can still feel a lump in my throat every time I watch the scene in Lord of the Rings, when near the end of the final chapter, Viggo Mortensen as the then finally crowned king prevents his Hobbit companions from kneeling before him and then says:
"My friends, you bow to no one."

That whole scene oozes emotion and grandeur, and THAT gets me. Stuff like that. Big, sweeping sagas, with pivotal, moving endings. Even just typing that already gives me visions of the scene and the accompanying emotion. But as mentioned, it's also the way it's delivered, and Viggo Mortensen does so in a masterful way. It'll be seared into my brain for the rest of my days.

The last animated movie that made me cry was probably Bambi, when I saw it in the cinema, decades ago, when I was still a little, lovable Titan, and not the confident, crushingly candid, and dominant Mad Titan that
I am nowadays...

EDIT:

Yup, just as I suspected, even just watching that specific clip affects me. Of course also because now that I've seen the trilogy about ten times, I can literally recite all that comes before, but still. Powerful scene, great acting and superb camera work and sweeping musical score all combining to succeed in bringing a Mad Titan to his virtual knees...

@ThanosReXXX Funnily I can't blame nostalgia for reducing this elite gamer to tears, because I only played the game two years ago. I didn't even like Frozen when it came out. So these were... acquired memories. Not many games are able to do it, though if the story's executed well I think Death Stranding could be the next one (though maybe not because I can't cry tears of confusion), or maybe KH3.

I completely understand your argument though, and with The Fault in Our Stars I even agree. In case you haven't seen it, the movie (and book it was based on) is centred on two lovestruck teenagers who are both suffering from chronic cancers. Hazel from thyroid cancer , and Augustus from bone cancer. The book is told from the first person, and is witty, sardonic and heartbreaking.

You're right as always, oh Mad Titan overlord that you are! That scene is just awe-inspiring. Bold, sweeping sagas seems to also hint at Star Wars but that franchise ended on such a pathetically awful note that it's diluted the meaning of the word.

Speaking of Disney... I bought Kingdom Hearts III! It has so many worlds from movies I love, so I can't wait to get stuck in. The music so far is bombastic and screams grandeur. I'm super excited to see what it does. Though I have to question why a rhythm game is a canonical sequel to this one.

@TheJGG Wasn't that a love movie about terrible disease? If that is the one It is made to make people cry. I tend to avoid such movies as they are too depressing. I have watched couple of those and regretted it at the end like "Sweet November" and "A Star Was Born".

Why people like such movies is beyond me.

But about Frozen 2 I LOVED the song where Elsa sing in Ahtohallan. (don't really know the name!). It is like more intense version of Let it go.

@TheJGG Yeah, I know the movie alright. It's not my kind of thing. Too mushy, and very predisposed in its purpose, as @Zuljaras so correctly stated. I don't like tear jerkers. The emotion is actually that much more powerful/potent, if it comes unexpected, or as in the case of my example, after a long and rich build up.

Now, a prime example of unexpected twists and turns, and truly heart breaking is the movie "Love & Other Drugs" with Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway. Go give that a watch, if you haven't done so already, then come back with your new-found understanding of what moves and/or impresses me...

The critics definitely got that movie all wrong, because if you blindly believe the ratings, this is a below average movie that you should probably avoid. I couldn't disagree more, though. But perhaps that's also in part because it's a movie about a sales rep, and seeing as I've got the same job, albeit in a completely different industry, it might appeal to me a little bit more than the average Joe. (edit: and I might just perhaps be a bit too fond of miss Hathaway... )

P.S.

Fun fact about that bench alongside the canal in Amsterdam from "The Fault in Our Stars": originally, there was never really a bench there. It was placed there deliberately, for the sole purpose of having a great movie moment in a picturesque place. After the movie was shot, the bench was initially removed, but ultimately, the Amsterdam council actually decided to put it back again to not disappoint the thousands of hapless tourists who came to see it and take their selfie on it...

Just goes to show you how fake all these kinds of things are. It's all about the money and reeling in the tourists...

I was wondering if anyone else here ever played Osu! It's a free rhythm game that you can download from your web browser, and there are a ton of custom songs that you can play. I've been downloading a ton of anime music I like to play and I'm slowly getting better. The hardest song I've completed so far is the hard version of Excuse My Rudeness, But Could You Please RIP by Mori Calliope. I highly suggest it! Especially since it's free!

@Anti-Matter Do you mind me asking what country you live in? I've been wondering.

@ThanosReXXX Last time I cried when watching something was probably Clannad or Toradora. Normally the romantic kinda stuff hits me in the feels. The Lord Of The Rings movies are some of the best ever made. I have the extended versions of each of them and they are all astounding films!

@TheJGG I got KH3 recently too. But, I still have the Story So Far that I want to finish beforehand. Probably won't finish it all (heck I can hardly get through the first game so far) but I'm hoping I can get close at least.

@Blooper987 I do like the odd romantic movie, or rom com, and I can definitely get some "feels" about them, but as mentioned before, only in live action movies. Animation simply doesn't really move me that way. I can still REALLY like these movies, to the point of watching them several times, such as the simply brilliant Studio Ghibli movie Princess Mononoke, but I don't shed a single tear over them.

Any news on a follow up on that job interview of yours, by the way?

@ThanosReXXX Nope still nothing back. I sent an email thanking her for the interview but she hasn't replied back yet. Hopefully I'll get a response soon.