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Scattered Groves - Flashback - Tri-Odyssey Draft

[njgroves]

Super Metroid Game Review

Super Metroid

Genre: Side scrolling platform adventure

System: SNES

Story: This classic Super Nintendo game starts off where the Nintendo and Game Boy games left off. Explained at the beginning of the game, Samus rescued the last Metroid and delivered it to a research facility. A band of pirate mantises, led by Ripley the dragon monster, stole the Metroid and took it back to the original planet of Zebes.  Samus must fight through the four sub bosses of Mother Brain, gaining special items, weapons, and power ups along the path.  The adventure takes Samus through a couple familiar places seen in the previous game on NES, but showcases areas of water, lava, crashed space ships and more. No real plot development along the path, but a few helpful creatures show you some tricks along the way.

Gameplay: The SNES controller was designed for this game.  Every button has a purpose and mastering the moves and tricks abates over time.  The game’s design and path almost forces the player to find and gain items to progress through the game.  Though some tricks and mastering of the controls can skip some areas and puzzles, those actions are difficult to master. Each new addition to the suit opens new areas or temps exploring.  The enemies are basic, but unique, adding more of a bump then a challenge.  The four boss battles can be difficult depending on the amount of item hunting completed prior.  The number of hidden items, energy tanks, and missile boosts…is a lot.  Finding all of them the first time around is almost impossible, but adds to the replay.

Pros:  The controls, built in map, power ups, and basic platforming is the perfect mix of the old, upgraded with the new, at least the new of the SNES when the game came out in 1994.  Each new area is fun to explore and randomly finding a bonus item or missile tank is always fun.  Easy to pick up and play, hours of fun, and re-playable.

Cons:  The back tracking can get frustrating along with the dead ends requiring an upgrade that you can’t find.  A new player made need accouple hints to get some upgrades, but placing super bombs in each room can also help find those secrets.  The other major frustration is the knock backs from enemy hits. They can be used as a boost in speed running the game, but are very frustrating for a first-time player.  

Rating (1-10 compared to other games from its time and genre)

Graphics – 9 (upgraded from the NES and GameBoy, but still blocky at times)

Premise – 7 (Side view platforming games have been around for a while when this came out, its just a good next step for this genre)

Gameplay – 9 (Awesome upgrades, great controls)

Originality – 7 (Similar to premise, it’s still a sequel to a sequel)

Difficulty – 9 (the perfect mix of hard, but not too hard)

Overall – 8.2

[njgroves]

Scattered Groves Extra - 20 MTGO Chests

[njgroves]

The epic conclusion of Day of the Tentacle.

Want Some Rye? Day of the Tentacle - Part 3 - End

[njgroves]

New name, new format to tackle.  

Scattered Groves - Standard UR Control - Deck Tech and Round 1

[njgroves]

Changed the name of my video series for Magic games to Scattered Groves, because of things.  Enjoy. 

Scattered Groves - Mirrodin Standard - Round 1

[njgroves]

You had me at sausage tower. (at Hofbrauhaus Las Vegas)

[njgroves]

I’m a little behind posting this...you know work and things, but here is my box of Amonkhet, enjoy. 

Vivid Groves - Amonkhet Unboxing

[njgroves]

I love these flashback drafts, I missed playing at this time in magic history due to college and “work abroad” so its nice to catch up and play a little older stuff

Vivid Groves - Triple Mirrodin Flashback - Draft

[njgroves]

Game Review – 7th Saga

System:SNES

Type: JRPG

Developer: Enix

 Story/Premise.

Like other RPGs of its era, the core goal presented at the start is to collect some number of orbs, spheres, gems, crystals, sea bass, breakfast cereals….in this game its Runes. 7th Saga begins as a race between various treasure hunters looking for orbs presented by the king at the starting castle.  The quest obviously involves various fetch quests as you move from town to town with mixed in dungeons to explore and defeat evil characters.  Eventually you get a choice of different partners to join you on the remainder of the quest, offering some originality and variance.  There are a few options in those characters with magic, offense, and defense.  The collected runes offer reusable bonus for use in battle or the over world, but are lost if you fall to a boss like enemy.  I didn’t get to see much beyond the third rune, the game is unknown.  The third Rune boss requires a unique character build and punishes players for over leveling.  As for the Non-playable characters (NPCs) encountered throughout 7th Saga, they are as generic as they come, offering little mission support, hits, or direction instead repeating a common message of that town.  The main playable character has little depth and back story (at least up to the point I played), but the class is selectable at the start.  The overall evil character that must be defeated is unknown and instead each Rune is “threatened” by the other adventures in the quest.  The game is very reminiscent of Dragon Warrior with some updated graphics.  

 Gameplay/controls.

Dragon Warrior  I on NES. If you understand how that game operates as far as commands and functions you are fully ready for 7th Saga.  Talking, picking up items, and opening treasure chests all require menu actions, which build frustration when trying to hurry or avoid enemies.  Though similar to the NES game, a few updates have occurred since the 1986 NES release, but lacks compared to the interface and operation of other RPGs of the SNES.  Like the NES Dragon Warrior, 7th Saga uses only 2 of the buttons on the SNES controlling, which sports four additional buttons then the predecessor. Over world and dungeon movement is clucky but includes the added feature of a radar that shows enemy movements and locations.  The menus are sparse and annoying to operate, lacks a sorting feature, and limits items to nine each.  7th Saga plays like a NES port for the SNES.  

 Pros.

When analyzing pros, I like to compare the game to others in the genre and on the same system. For 7th Saga, comparing this to Crone Trigger, Secret of Mana, and Final Fantasy is not remotely close to fair.  Yes, the radar is neat, but it only offers small warnings to where enemies are located, it doesn’t give the ability to dodge or avoid.  The other nicety in the game is the low cost of Inns, usually cheap (6 gold) and an auto save tucked into every use, not really a reason to buy the game, but nice.  The battle buddy option offers some replay ability and uniqueness, but the one additional character limit even lacks compared to Dragon Warrior II and Final Fantasy I, which goes to the four-character norm.  

 Cons.

There are several areas lacking in 7th Saga: the battle system is bland with little options and annoying with constant enemy dodging, the spells are easy to obtain with levels, but require large amounts of magic points to utilize, and the lack of inventory management and quantity.  NES RPGs built on the originals and slowly improved and added features that made the game more enjoyable and fun. 7th Saga stripped all the improvements made in the NES era and started over, like the NES didn’t exist.  I get the idea that this might be a throwback to a simple style of game, but the SNES was a building block to greater and better games. More reasons there isn’t an 8th Saga.

 Rating.

Overall this is a decent RPG for the NES, only problem is that it’s on the SNES, with many great RPGs to compare against.  

Graphics – 6

Premise – 6

Gameplay – 6

Originality – 4

Difficulty – 5

Replay-ability – 6

Overall – 5.17

Buy if its cheap, play until you grow tired, shelf it until next time.  

[njgroves]

Part 2 of Day of the Tentacle.  Come watch to see how far we get.

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIoadPK10-k)

[njgroves]

Review: Gabriel Knight – Sins of the Father

You can find (most?) of the videos of us playing this game (live on Twitch) on YouTube. Check out the Want Some Rye? playlist.

Story:

Gabriel Knight is a point and click adventure game, a once popular genre in the 90s. But it is anything but a standard run-of-the-mill adventure and has one of the best stories to follow and experiences of its time. Set in 1993 New Orleans, the journey follows a writer and book store owner, Gabriel Knight amid writing a book on voodoo murders in the area. Gabriel quickly gets involved with the local police in an ongoing case of murders that Gabriel thinks are linked together through voodoo practices. Gabriel tasked himself to hunt down clues and suspects to not only get to the root of the murders, but also add some excitement to his book. Several aspects of the games are based around the next step to the story, solving small puzzles and collecting items that will help build the case. Gabriel travels to various real locations around New Orleans and the world, learning more about his ancestry (which links into the plot). A solid story that is more fun to experience than read about: crazy puzzles, unique characters, and an ending that is meaningful and climatic. One of the best point and click adventures games ever made.

Gameplay:

If you have played any Sierra or LucasArts point and click adventure games from the 90s (Kings Quest, Space Quest, Day of the Tentacle), this game fits right into the similar mechanics and engine of the others. Gabriel Knight features some refinements compared to the other games with detailed and unique icons and support screens to help the player immerse themselves into the New Orleans state of mind. The continual reference to “Point-and-click” is exactly what you will be doing the entire time playing the game, along with some pencil and paper to take some notes. While movement and control are simple, finding objects to obtain or use can involve some hunting or random clicking about. But there are enough clues in the game to help facilitate the hunt.

Deaths! Sierra is known for adding various deaths, along with unwinnable scenarios that would require loading a save file; saving often is a must and helpful when playing a longer game. Some of the puzzles can be difficult at first, but taking notes and interacting with NPCs (nonplayable characters) can shed some light on the frustration. Players will find themselves stuck at several points in the game, not able to figure out the next step. Using the action icons on everything, visiting each site again, and speaking with each NPC one more time usually allows for progression in the game.

Pros:

The stand out feature of this game is the story along with the voice acting, showcasing Tim Curry as Gabriel Knight and Mark Hamill as his lovable friend Detective Mosely. The history and learning aspect is realistic and gives the player more buy-in for the story and the characters. Like playing a movie, you won’t want to stop the adventure; you’ll want to do just one more task or puzzle before saving for the day.

Cons:

You dead! Restore? Lines will occur just when you think you are making progress and at the completely wrong time.  Though not occur as often as Dark Souls, the delay can be frustrating.  Apart from the random deaths, the player will reach several dead ends in the game, missing one item or forgetting to do an action that leaves the game unwinnable and usually results in a death. Item hunting and interactions are not intuitive and add to frustrations. 

Overall:

This is a fun game. It has lost a little value with time, presenting problems that can easily be solved with current technology. But the immersion into 1993 New Orleans coupled with the story and voice actors pull this game to the front. Great for the casual adventure by yourself or great with a friend. Buy, play it to completion, then play it again with a friend.

Rating (1-10 compared to other games from its time and genre)

Graphics – 8

Premise – 9

Gameplay – 8

Originality – 9

Difficulty – 7 (Note from editor Matt: I slightly disagree with this difficulty rating! If it weren’t for GameFAQs we would probably be spending a lot more time than we did)

Overall – 8.2

[njgroves]

Vivid Groves extra: Amonkhet pre-release pack opening.  I missed the event so I made my own sealed pool.  What do you think?

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXh_oShlW5k)

[njgroves]

Ever wonder what that old volleyball game for Gameboy was like, well, wonder no more, I have played the game, learned from life, and made a video to showcase the events.  Enjoy

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KphgX2PoGE)

[njgroves]

Newest installment of Want Some Rye?  This week we start Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle.  

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFisT547oVs)

[njgroves]

The first of hopefully many of these draft.  Fun format, lots of possiblities. 

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2OvnnBEezY)

[njgroves]

Meat Juice! They specialize in roasted chicken and wine...not the type of juice one hopes for late at night. #Sendai #japan🇯🇵