Topic: Games you recently DROPPED

I hate to say it because it is a good game and I got pretty far in it, but I think I'm done with Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake. I'm going for the orbs, I got one of them, and I'm at the boss fights for three other ones and I just get the floor wiped with me on all three of them. The problem is I know what I have to do. I have to go and change my characters' classes so they can get more powers, and the grind of doing all of it just throws me off of wanting to play. Especially since I'll have to do it multiple times because you can't change them all at the same time or you'll get killed. I just hate the thought of going through all that grind for a game that I only thought was pretty good but not amazing up till this point anyway. If I had nothing else to play I'd stick with it, but I have too many other games that I've put on the back burner for this because I really wanted to try to get into Dragon Quest, so I think it's time to cut my losses and move on.

@Xyphon22 felt the same way as you did. By the time I got to the end, I dropped the difficulty just to finish it.

@NintendoByNature I actually forgot dropping the difficulty was an option. Maybe I'll try that and see if I can get farther without having to change classes and grind. Or maybe not and I'll just be done. We'll see.

@Xyphon22 it’s kinda cheap since you can’t die, but it’s good in a pinch if you’re getting wiped and don’t want to grind

@NintendoByNature Oh, you can't die? Well I definitely won't have to grind then. I'll probably do it then, at least for the boss battles, just because I've already come this far. Thanks.

@Xyphon22 no problem. I really didn’t want to go that route personally but the tail end of that game was tough as nails. I had no choice.

Just to make the stakes a bit higher I ended up using medicines and healing to at least use some MP items. Felt like it was a fair trade off.

@NintendoByNature I normally would never do it, either. But if it's between doing that or just quitting and not finishing it, I guess I'll do it since I'm this far and would like to see the end. I did the three boss battles (which was weird because two of them just never used the one move they had that would keep me from beating them normally. I don't know if dropping the difficulty eliminates those moves or if I just got weirdly lucky). I plan on raising the difficulty back up to continue on since I was generally fine except for those battles. Two orbs to go!

The way I did it starting about halfway through that game was using the option where you can't die for grinding only, so that I didn't have to zoom to a town and heal after every other battle 😅. I defeated every boss without it though. Still, if you don't have the patience or time for all that grinding, or just want to chill while playing, then wanting to use that option is definitely reasonable 😀.

I'm about ready to drop Advance Wars 1+2 Reboot Camp. I'm on mission 13 and I just don't understand what I'm doing wrong. I already turned the game down from classic to casual several missions ago and I'm still being decimated no matter what I try.

Edit: I finally did it blocking off both bridges and only attacking enemy units who were at full health, meaning they'd retreat on their next turn and not attack me.

Berzerk Boy - It's got heart, excellent music, beautiful environments, and you can just tell they really tried and poured their hearts into this, but it's a bit messy and second rate in excecution compared to Mega Man X. It was more annoying than fun, and the excess dialogue was driving me nuts. I'm just going to save it's OST to my YouTube playlist and leave it at that.
Anomaly Agent - Lacks the kinetic rythmatic precision and tight controls of better titles that seep into this genre like Kitana Zero.
Raging Blasters - It's too generic. Music is solid, but it's not doing anything out of the ordinary that we haven't already seen before within the genre. It's an 80's throwback and nothing more.
Retro Revengers - Fun NES-styled plot, lead characters & visuals/art style. But the game itself is as mediocre as it gets in the land of 2D action platformers.
Heretic + Hexin - Couldn't get into either, compared to DOOM + DOOM II or Power Slave. Still are both miles ahead of PO'd.

Pepper Grinder - I might actually get back into this. This is a fantastic Indie gem, that's practically ruined by it's horrendous missmatched soundtrack, which sounds like it slithered out of some down and out hipster coffee shop. It tarnishes the games atmosphere and is typically just too slow paced, depressing and completely lacks the games perky surrene vibe. It feels so out of place, that I'd rather just mute the music and play some other games OST. Seriously, Rayman's OST for PS1 would actually be a really nice fit for this game.

@NeonPizza I actually really enjoyed Heretic and played through to the end. It's basically Doom in a dark fantasy setting. I went into Hexen expecting more of the same, however it forgoes the traditional level based structure for more of an open ended labyrinth of interconnected areas, which I was very much not into. I promptly dropped it after that realization.

@OldManHermit
i'll take your word for it and give Heretic another shot. I just wasn't in the right mood or frame of mind. There's so many games coming out these days, and with digital releases frequently being on sale sometimes it can be tough to really savour, focus and cherrish whatever it is you're playing when a giant back log is looming over you.

But if it clicks, it sticks. lol i just never gave Heretic enough time to form a decent opinion. I do like the visual style, and NightDive(Or whomever developed it) nailed the Pro Controller Gyro Aiming, once properly fine tuned. There's no saving PO'd though in regards to modern boomer shooters. You can only polish a turd so much.

Killing Time Ressurected, DOOM 64 & Duke Nukem 3D World Tour are all great games that have been degraded by poor gyro aiming implentation. They need to patch those 3 to ramp up the gyro sensitivity. Instead, even when it's maxed out Gyro feels slow and not responsive enough. DOOM + DOOM II, Quake 1&2, Power Slave, and the recent update for Turok 1&2 have perfect Pro Controller gyro aiming after some tinkering in the games settings.

Pepper Grinder

Recently redownloaded and got back into PG, and I'm now currently on the 3rd world after 5-coining every single stage, and it's frikkin fantastic. Another wonderful indie gem that ranks amongst the best on NS. BUT, what really and I mean really hold it back is it's missplaced awful down and out burn out hipster coffee shop OST. It's horrendously out of place and does such an awful job at conveying any sense of atmosphere or energy. I can't stand it.

Not only that, but collecting every little itty bitty last piece of treasure within each stage feels boarderline pointless. Because you're not rewarded for 100%ing' a stage in terms of treasure collecting, you don't earn anything by doing so other than the ability to purchase more life for your character or 'stickers'...Yes, you heard that right. Stickers for sticker books that will appeal to 1/10 players. Like really!?

Other than that, the controls, art style, use of Rumble, the way your character's drill gun rotates in circular motion when using the analog stick and overall distinctive game play are top notch in the land of indies. I haven't played anything else like this before, so it feels like a mighty breath of fresh air.

And if collecting every last piece of treasure in each and every stage amounted to something, or at least was marked as 'Teasure Collected: 100%' with each stage on the stage selection map, outside of collecting the 5 coins per stage, than this game would of been S-tier. As is, you don't even know if you've collected all of the treasure in each stage. Scouring each stage and strategically aquiring every little piece is part of what makes this game, but if something like that nearly loses all purpose than the fun factor and sense of reward slips.

As is, based on what I've played, it's all held back by those very 2 things. I'll give you an example of how poor the music is in this stage below. Now imagine Berserk Boy's 'Electric Flora' track below replacing it. it pumps you up, and does a decent job at capturing that tropical beachy' atmosphere.

River City Saga: Three Kingdoms

The game itself is fine. But the track used for the towns is beginning to grate on me. It seems fairly inoffensive at first. But after hearing it for hours on end...

I guess not technically dropped since I didn't ever actually start playing them, but I just sold a couple of 3DS games that I most likely will never get around to playing - Dragon Quest VIII and Bravely Default. Both were a bit of a FOMO buy when the 3DS store was closing, but I've since played DQ7 and didn't really vibe with it so felt like DQ8 probably wasn't for me either. I can always pick up BD on Switch at some point if I ever get the urge to give it a go, but I'm not really playing long RPGs any more as I just don't have the time any more.

On the plus side, my backlog probably just got 150+ hours shorter - only around 8000 hrs to go 😅

@dmcc0 As I’m starting to get older I appreciate shorter games, I feel that on not having time.

The game I recently dropped was Winter Burrow. It started off cute and fun but then became a tedious fetch quest and I found myself getting bored and dropping it.

Ball x Pit though I am not sure if 'dropped' is the right word after playing both New Game Plus and NG++. It is unclear to me whether the game ever has a true ending but I think I have sucked every drop of interesting play out of it. Very fun game even though it tapers off in late game.

I've been taking a break from Kirby Air Riders. I got burnt out from the Road Trip mode... maybe because challenges aren't really my thing? I think it got a little repetitive for me as well. It takes a little while to get a full room in online as well, and I don't really like that... I wonder if you could at least practice during the matchmaking process. I might come back to that game sometime, but right now I want to focus on Super Mario Galaxy 2.

Donkey Kong Country Returns HD

Love how this game feels control-wise...not so much a fan of the level design. As with the original DKC, this went off to a good start but the frustrating difficulty of the last few worlds has left a sour taste in my mouth. I'm on the final boss and decided to cut my losses rather than push through more of the frustration. I think if not for Dixie's inclusion I would've quit much sooner.

Potionomics

Great voice work and I like the animation. But the performance on Switch is rough. Pretty much on the same level as Cuisineer. Severe dips in framerate in some places. Which is especially weird for a sim-management game where you're mostly just navigating menus.