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[revbrandon]

For all you DS owners out there, Shiren The Wanderer was released the other day. There's been a translation patch for the SFC version for quite some time, and I fell completely in love with the game through the translated ROM. You can probably just play the SFC game if you want, since the two versions aren't that much different, but the draw of

Comments

[transfestunerix]

I don't know. I still remember that time you recommended I play Mega Crap.

[revbrandon]

Oh come now, Mega Man 5 is a completely adequate game, and Bryan's personal touch adds that special je ne sais quois that raises Mega Man 5 from being a weak entrant to an illustrious series, yet still a reasonably solid and fun game, to being a full-on classic that will be remembered at least until we decide to stop paying for the Zeroesunlimited domain.

But without a hint of Zeroes Unlimited ethos, Shiren is a beautiful game. I've sunk far more time than any healthy, well-rounded individual should over this weekend. It's Sunday night - well, Monday morning now - and I'm feeling as if I just spent the weekend sampling "a handful of each" out of the medicine cabinet, responsibilities and relationships having fallen to the wayside to a wholehearted, wall-eyed obsession with grabbing myself a piece of the Full Extent of the Jam. Except I've just been trudging around randomly generated dungeons all weekend.

[transfestunerix]

It's probably better than what I did: go through the very same dungeons and such I have before an unknowable amount of times since 1992, in the Gamboyadv Final Fantasy iv (and not, as the apparent internet odds would suggest: smashing brothers with the Wiiii I won't have this decade). It's a bit depressing... I've tried a bunch of games for that thing and it's this one I've seen to the end ad largenumberum that claims my interest. You know how it is.

I can tell you that should I accumulate adequate imaginary digital bravery to dare risk random levels, it will be as Shiren and not the rube who lugs an egg around for no reason that is ever explained in Dragon Crystal, one of maybe five games I owned for Game Gear. That has not endured so well (but still better than Fatal Labyrinth).

[revbrandon]

Oh man, that's practically a yearly ritual for me; to go through Final Fantasy IV again despite having already played through it thirty or forty times already. It's worse for me, since I can literally play through any of the scenes in my head and don't actually have any *need* to play it, aside from my brain pumping nostalgia through my brain like so much cooking fat and coffee grounds down the kitchen sink. I'm actually off-and-on playing the DS version right now - in Japanese, since Square Soft With New Enixes has been lollygagging and neglecting to announce its inevitable release - but even with my barely-there knowledge of Japanese, that game is imprinted on my DNA now.

You owned Dragon Crystal? No wonder you haven't beelined to your nearest House of Ill ROMpute and picked up a copy of Shiren yet. Did they actually expect ten year olds to understand the how and why and why the hell anything even matters at all of that game; did the manual actually tell you anything useful as to why you were plodding through forests of

[hentaikid]

Hey, the domain ecchiattack.com is available.

Just sayin'

[mechanic_virus]

Hey Brandon,
I'm about 94.33% sure you've seen this before, but if not...
Here is the link to the Angry Video Game Nerd website:
http://cinemassacre.com/AVGN/Nes_Nerd.html
I find it fairly amusing, and have a feeling you may appreciate some of the videos.

[revbrandon]

Yeah, you guessed right. FINGER ON THE PULSE and all that.
He's done pretty well for himself. I'm not the hugest fan of the "swear at games a lot" video genre, but he's done some okay stuff.
The money in game videos these days is in Zero Punctuation: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/zeropunctuation - I don't know how much a non-player would get out of it, but Yahtzee Crowshaw is fantastic. The videos are at least visually amusing if you don't "get" them.

[mechanic_virus]

Thanks for the link, Brandon. It may speak a little to my level of maturity, but I much prefer the swear words.
The Zero Punctuation videos are also entertaining, but I'd probably get more out of it if Mr. Crowshaw took a fucking breath every once in a goddamn while.

[kermix]

Found you and your post via Interest search.

Shiren is fabulous.

I'm enjoying the living crap out of this game even while I am praying for a rescue in the Old Mine right now. I stepped into a level of the mine that was a Monster House(!) - and I mean the ENTIRE LEVEL IS A MONSTER HOUSE. And I'm in the middle. And the exit is way over there in the corner. And everything in here is faster than me.

It is one of the most awesome games in my library right now. And I also have New International Track & Field, so I'm pretty masochistic about my gaming. Maybe that says something.

I've heard Contra 4 will fuck your shit up too.

[revbrandon]

After beating the main quest a few times, I keep thinking that the mines are trivial now. Then I get wiped out by a stray tank or something because I get too cocky, but so it goes. Man, just wait until you hit Table Mountain. And then the Ravine of the Dead. And then the bonus dungeons, oh shit. (If you've played any Nethack you know what to expect out of the hardest of the hardcore bonus dungeons, at least.)

If you have no luck on a rescue, send me your rescue request number or password or whatever and I'll see what I can do.

Contra 4 is great. I'd say that its only real flaw is that it still wasn't quite Contra 3. But what does that say? It's like hoping that someone will ever write a better song than "The Ace of Spades", it's just not going to happen. And it's a good sight better than the Gameboy Advance, anyway.

On the topic of tough DS games, I'd recommend the Etrian Odyssey games, too, if you don't mind a traditional RPG. I mean, very, very traditional. Like, I don't know, Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord