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  • FrancoisFrancois Member Posts: 452
    edited November 2016
    Today, we are the enemy. In time this will change. Soon, you will come understand the boon of slavery we force upon you. And then, you will revere and even love us for this gift.



    Human! I was just thinking of you! Ah, but I see you are not
    surprised, and why should you be? Amazing psychic occurrences are
    commonplace for us Pkunk. I am filled with love at the sight of you.
    Perhaps we can converse together, or just coexist for a few special
    moments.

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    ChildofBhaal599
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  • ChildofBhaal599ChildofBhaal599 Member Posts: 1,781
    edited December 2016
    I see. I managed to find it now, around the time the game launched. The soundtrack is definitely good. Might have to just leave it in the background while I do my finals :)

    Stardew Valley- Song of Feathers (spoiler alert: This one is not in the soundtrack so I had to use a scene with the song. It is Emily's theme added in 1.1. If you want a listen and worry about spoilers, look away after pressing play! I like how calm and zen it is. I might just go to the jukebox and make an audio recording for myself, seeing as this wasn't released yet.)


    Stardew Valley- A Golden Star is born (so victorious feeling, I wish time just stopped in the community center so I could take this in without having to pause)


    Sonic master system- Bridge Hill Zone (Dance remix. I really like having it in the background while playing something like Overwatch.)
    mlnevese[Deleted User]
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  • batoorbatoor Member Posts: 676
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  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
    edited December 2016
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  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
    edited December 2016
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  • ChildofBhaal599ChildofBhaal599 Member Posts: 1,781
    edited December 2016
    Shantae: Half Genie Hero - Dance Through the Danger
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  • ChildofBhaal599ChildofBhaal599 Member Posts: 1,781
    edited January 2017
    Playing the Shantae series now, at least those released on PC steam (this excludes the first, which I watched a playthrough of to start rather than emulate) Some Risky's Revenge highlights for now. Moving on to Pirate's Curse.













    This one has got to be my favorite. I'd let it pass at least twice every time I was at a magic fountain. So soothing.


    I probably could've put in less XD I just liked pretty much all of the soundtrack. They all fit the situations well. These are easier for me to still enjoy just listening back on youtube. Seeing as I pretty much bought these games because of the previously posted theme song for the newest game, I am glad they have a record. Also, the dialogue is very good at times. When they use humor, it was pretty much always of different types so it didn't really get stale for me. I at least chuckled at every joke. Story is simple, but enough to engage. Gameplay was well put together. This game was short, but worth the 5 dollars I paid for it on sale. Would easily go $10, and $15 might stretch it due to length but I'd consider it. On to the next 2 now.

    edit: just remembered the normal price is actually $10, so I guess it is well priced. Also, still at this time going through Pirate's Curse. It is longer, that is for sure, but I also take longer than I could because I am playing multiplayer games as well.
    Post edited by ChildofBhaal599 on
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  • ChildofBhaal599ChildofBhaal599 Member Posts: 1,781
    edited January 2017
    Finished Shantae and the Pirates Curse :) I decided to 100% this one! Mainly because in game they actually tracked stuff, so I could see my progress without a guide which I've been avoiding as much as I can. Why solve puzzles in a dungeon if I know the answers?

    Also, here is bandcamp for the full soundtrack, because there is so much good stuff: https://virt.bandcamp.com/album/shantae-and-the-pirates-curse-ost

    And here is Risky's Revenge: https://virt.bandcamp.com/album/shantae-riskys-revenge-original-soundtrack

    And now, some highlights:
    I am waiting until after Half Genie Hero to bring in a special song to this series, that has returned every game. I'd kind of just like to listen to every version back to back and know my favorite.

    3 versions of Scuttle town follow in this spoiler tag. It changes throughout the game, which is neat. I can't say it is entirely spoilery that it evolves from happiness to sadness throughout a story as stakes continue to get higher.








    The following easily wins my favorite background level theme.




    Old spice memes intensify in the comments on this one XD Luckily I played the game first, so I didn't have that parody replacing the song in my head.






    Ok seriously, this one is also absolutely fantastic. A lot of Shantae songs are remixes, and this is a remix of the first game's night theme. But wow... this is super good. I didn't get to properly enjoy it in game, though. I sprinted through this area full speed with my boots!


    And lastly, this beauty of a final boss theme! Seriously, the final boss had me super happy! The music, everything on the screen, it was such a great climax! Difficulty could be higher, with only one attack giving me problems. However, I learned it before the end and it was smooth sailing. The other difficulty just came from the tears of joy blinding me :D It is a long, epic battle full of spectacle, amazing music, and the end of the world approaching. Everything went together very well, and I left satisfied.


    Seriously, check out the bandcamp links if you like this stuff and want more. I liked this way more than the Risky's Revenge stuff, and that was already pretty great! But this... everything fits the moods they want to evoke. Graphics and music intertwine into a masterpiece! But my highlighted tracks are the ones I'll probably be having on my phone for casual listening :)


    General game thoughts/review:
    Other than that, it is also a superb game. Controls were probably a complaint for me when I started Risky's Revenge, mainly up and down being too sensitive so sometimes I would crouch or enter a dungeon/door when I don't want to. Luckily, it is all better here. I appreciate the travel system showing the items to be found on each island, so I could search each individual one until I see for sure I've collected everything. I will say, you need to kill all of the cacklebats to achieve the true ending, so that is something that should be done. I actually kind of miss the dancing, as it showed off good animation and the animal forms provided different gameplays. However, the pirate gear is also super fun, so no complaints and they mix things up. The gear also doesn't force you to stop and shake those hips, so they keep the flow going which I know many people really appreciate. Also, dialogue is more plentiful than RR. With so much dialogue, I'll also say the jokes are far more plentiful. Luckily people were right, the series has great humor and I didn't mind it. I got a lot of laughs.

    I am, however, trying to make of what I think of the increase in fan service. Sure, we can talk about the characters' clothes and that already is fan service, but I can say in RR I could only really think of that, the image of naked Shantae in a fetal position at the fountains (covers everything up), and a bikini picture for a 2 hour speedrun when it comes to that kind of content. Really, it was super tame. PC has a fair bit more, one of the biggest examples being the desert temple which has Shantae mistaken for the princess and placed in the royal attire... which is basically just a metal bikini. They also mistake literally every main female... so you get to see all of them in this attire. I will say, at least, that although it was obvious of the dev's intent, they also did well enough to turn it into a joke that I could just laugh at. It gives people something to look at, while also poking fun a bit at fan service like that. They also only have one portrait for each of them at this part, so every time Shantae talks you can see her discomfort with the whole situation, or that Risky just wants to kill someone! I guess I'd like to think that Shantae and the female cast could be sexy, but not need to have focus put on showing their stuff and just get by on being a good game with questionable fashion choices that are even called as such by the character themself, which to me was a nice line from her that isn't even related to the previously mentioned temple. And I certainly wouldn't ask them to get covered up. These are the characters WayForward made, and they didn't bother me at all up to this point. They just tried a little too hard, when it wasn't what I specifically was looking for. It is always there just by their designs, but that in itself isn't really shoving it in my face.

    Anyway, I don't mean to make that into any sort of huge deal. I initially expected such stuff to be more common, but then it wasn't. Then suddenly it was, and it brought back my expectations which I buried after the previous two and was happy to. The game is still rated E10, so obviously nothing is really bad anyway. It isn't THAT kind of game, with that audience. It was just a little something for them, that would still keep the game appropriate for the younger people.

    Shantae and the Pirate's Curse is $20 and I really highly recommend it. I got such joy out of everything in this, I wish I could go play through a first time again right now! I am thinking about playing them all twice sometime soon after I finish, while not using potions to add some challenge now that I know the games. Not all of the jokes will work twice, but these games are well put together.


    Welp... time for me to get to Half Genie Hero I guess! The new game that actually made me play the others.
    Post edited by ChildofBhaal599 on
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    edited January 2017
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  • ChildofBhaal599ChildofBhaal599 Member Posts: 1,781
    @typo_tilly I really hope that is a list of games to play, and not just soundtracks :) I am trying to talk a bit about the games in general because I am having so much genuine fun with this series. Went in for a soundtrack, left with some really good games. I actually put off starting Half Genie Hero a bit because I was trying to beat the final boss of PC with no items or hits taken. I really think I will actually replay these with no items all the way through as well.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
    edited January 2017
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  • ChildofBhaal599ChildofBhaal599 Member Posts: 1,781
    Well, I am glad :) I haven't had a regret, and I'm glad I bought all of the games I could on steam. Of course, I would also hope you don't limit yourself on a first playthrough anyway. They put in all of those features to be used! However, I guess I like a bit of difficulty to my games. And with me having a good time, I feel a desire to actually go through again with added challenges. When I can hold 9 healing potions it is easy to tank through stuff, so I feel I could get a lot better at various bosses, or against certain enemies. If anything, the difficulty came to me in the form of puzzle solving. That in itself probably kept me from really considering these a cakewalk, although many probably trivialize them with guides :(
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  • ChildofBhaal599ChildofBhaal599 Member Posts: 1,781
    I didn't really grow up on nintendo much, although I did have a gameboy color and advance so I could've played the original long ago. And I would say there isn't much in the way of major platforming. They belong more to metroidvania, and have more focus on combat, puzzle solving, and getting new abilities to open new areas. The new game has more platforming focus, however. Also, the end of Pirate's Curse had a pretty hard platforming area that uses all of the pirate gear. Hope you have fun with them.
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  • mlnevesemlnevese Member, Moderator Posts: 10,214
    edited January 2017
    I don't remember if this has already been posted but it's one of my favorites :)

    Amiga - Cannon Fodder intro



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  • ChildofBhaal599ChildofBhaal599 Member Posts: 1,781
    edited January 2017
    Oh wow... I got a comment awaiting approval. I guess it was so long that a mod now needs to read through it all to make sure it isn't spam. I am sorry to whomever may have to do so. I rambled and wrote a little bit too much XD I have some strong feelings on this one.

    edit: Also, I really hope I didn't mess up the spoiler tags...
  • ChildofBhaal599ChildofBhaal599 Member Posts: 1,781
    edited January 2017
    Half Genie Hero is now finished. Again, 100%. Well, I can't really think of very many songs I do not like in this game at all. Again, more great stuff, but so many of them are easy to listen to out of game because they went mostly for a dance sound, with a bit less focus on environment but it is still there. So, I am going to try and be a little extra picky to keep from music overload. Full bandcamp soundtrack: https://virt.bandcamp.com/album/shantae-half-genie-hero-ost

    First of all, I am going to finally bring up burning town. This is a recurring song throughout the entire series, and I think in the end I couldn't really decide if I like PC or HGH better. But here is it's evolution.
    As a little bonus because I love the theme, I edited Shantae dancing to Dance Through the Danger. It fits pretty well :) Although 3 minutes of the dance animation get's repetitive!



    I think I like Mermaid Falls slightly better than Mermaid Factory, and I am trying to do one per level. Also, Mermaid Slide is best experience in game as the tune kind of goes along to the rhythm of the level. It is still very good, though.


    This track makes me wish I had more reason to go to this area after a few times. The first part of Tassel Town is also pretty good, but this steals the show of OSTs in this level. Chase is a pretty generic running away song, and remains doesn't really get me a bunch but is still good enough.


    This song plays through this entire level, so at least it is pretty good. Not as good as the above songs, but I like it for sure.


    Again weaker than the others, and used for a full level. Honestly, the castle is quite short though. Only even has 2 relics.


    I am skipping the level theme for the final area, because it gets me even less. But I like the first phase of the final boss here. Has a very heroic feeling to it, especially the part beginning at 45 seconds. The second phase isn't as good though, which seems backwards XD It serves it's purpose well enough, but I still feel I would've preferred something else. Honestly, compared to the other 2 final bosses I've witnessed in this marathon, this one pales in comparison on all ways. However, the first game seemed worse when I watched it.


    Ok, so let's talk about the game.
    To start with, this game is easily the best looking, the best sounding, the best moving in the series. The aesthetics are all so well done, I enjoyed taking all of it in. Truly, it is a work of art.

    However, beyond that, it only stands somewhere around Risky's Revenge for me. And they seem to have a lot in common, anyway. It feels like the ending comes out of nowhere, but that is mostly because the plot of "a great evil is threatening both the genie and human worlds" is largely ignored until the end, even though it is introduced in the first scene. Whereas Risky's Revenge had 3 open labyrinths (actually, scratch that. one was a speed run battle tower, so that wasn't much), HGH has 6 relatively linear platforming sections. I suppose HGH did a better job at hiding how short it is by not outright stating there are 6 places, as RR states to find 3 important items.

    There is also the problem of how loosely connected everything is. Everything is kind of just an episode with nothing tying them together. In fact, most of the finding dynamo pieces plot takes place after your first time through areas, so you are expected to return to these places after the big events happen there, instead of the story of these areas really truly being involved in the main plot. Even just going to the various labyrinths for important items in the past games was enough to make them relevant.

    Puzzle solving and platforming take a role swap. There is very little puzzle solving, while there is plenty of the other. I probably had the most falls in this game, but it still isn't very punishing. All of the games have merely taken a single point of health for falling/hitting a spike trap. Meanwhile, it wasn't challenging to achieve 100% completion because the extent of puzzle solving was usually only getting a specific form to do the obvious. Usually I still had to think a bit about how to use the form to get the item, or perhaps it just involves using my brain and experimenting without dances or gear being involved.

    Bosses are up and down. Some are better than the past, others not. Final boss though is the weakest of the final bosses.

    Lastly, there really is some serious power balancing problems. It is actually a feature that you can become permanently invincible, by having unlimited magic and the invincibility shield that runs on magic. Luckily, you can disable to enable different relics, so you can define your difficulty in some way with the items you use. Still it feels weird to purposefully limit yourself, and I wouldn't think just being completely invincible could be fun for anyone.

    edit: I feel character building and interaction is also a major point missing here. Pirate's Curse had some amazing character moment, and I'd hate to spoil some of them. One in particular was really good even, and quite an emotional one. HGH feels like it is trying to reintroduce some of the characters, and would prefer to just bring out some particular traits. They weren't as deep, basically. Especially poor Sky, that just acts as your means of travel for the most part. She even had one of my favorite mini plots in PC that was entertaining to watch.

    Basically, I just got finished playing what has got to be my absolute favorite 2d game of all time, and certainly still high up there if I include every game I've played. Pirate's Curse was an absolute masterpiece to me, and it isn't about Pirate Gear vs Dancing. Just everything else. The pacing, the dialogue, solving puzzles that really made me think. After something as good as PC was, it was going to be hard to top. But I didn't think I might possibly like Risky's Revenge better. Don't be mistaken, these are all great games, but they are varying levels of greatness. And I do not think it helps to have played PC before HGH. At least RR didn't have competition. I suppose it is all the more reason to replay these I guess. To really decide if HGH or RR is the superior game.


    As a tl;dr, Pirate's Curse was simply too good for HGH to live up to my expectations, even if it is a good game. I also did not like some of the change in design philosophy.

    Honestly, if I could somehow have someone at Wayforward see this and look for my opinion, I would say that HGH has amazing artistic direction, and that should be moved in that direction. However, I really do want the labyrinths back, and a better story. These have all been very simple stories, but they had solid structure. You have to go a bunch of places to take things away that the villain needs, and along the way get new powers. I can't find a solid structure to HGH's story. HGH was just one step forward, 2 steps back, but I did not hate my time with or any other game.

    If I were rate the Shantae series, I think PC would be a 9.5, whereas RR and HGH would be an 8 or 8.5. I hope there is more to come, and that we get something that blows me away in every way once again. However, the music and everything else artistic has improved each time.

    If you were to get just one, get Pirate's Curse. There will be zero regrets. However, it is more than worth getting whatever you can and going in order. 1-3 in particular are true sequels, and HGH may be a little disconnected but there are references that make me think it isn't a complete reboot but rather trying to make it easy for newcomers.
    Post edited by ChildofBhaal599 on
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  • ChildofBhaal599ChildofBhaal599 Member Posts: 1,781
    edited January 2017
    edit: really long post was double posted
    mlnevese
  • mlnevesemlnevese Member, Moderator Posts: 10,214
    @ChildofBhaal599 Problem solved. Let us know if this happens again.
    ChildofBhaal599lolien
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
    edited January 2017
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    ChildofBhaal599mlnevese
  • ChildofBhaal599ChildofBhaal599 Member Posts: 1,781
    edited January 2017
    @typo_tilly The Tassel Town track really is one of my favorites :) But Dance Through the Danger is that corny lyric theme song I think every game needs :) I just love voiced theme songs, because they say so much about the character and game.

    The price plays in to the game not selling well at all when it released, due to Gameboy Advance being release and the game coming out for Color. Which is partly why I chose playthrough. I could've gone searching for a ROM as well, but I decided against it. I heard of many of the archaic design flaws, and in general I felt like I wanted to fully introduce myself, with gameplay and everything, into a game after they've learned from mistakes. For example, all of the future games have skulls coming out of bottomless pits to indicate it. You should, in fact, pay close attention sometimes for holes that don't have the skull effect :) Also, just the fact that RR was made for more modern hardware allowed many problems to be fixed.

    Yeah, they very much belong to metroidvania. They seem to slowly back away from it a bit, but up to HGH it gives that feel for sure. HGH feels more like a platformer with some secrets to get with new abilities or items. I guess that in itself is part of the Metroidvania genre, but it really loses a lot of the feel without open dungeons and worlds. It feels more like experimenting for the right balance, and PC seems to have had it.

    In HGH there are references, such as being fired or defeating Risky right away rather than having to stop her later that Shantae will exclaim. And anyway, there is very little direct effect the ending of PC could have on the future. You defeated the bigger bad alongside the usual villain, who decided that despite everything they cannot stop being evil, and thus the usual cycle is set to continue. The first 3 games were able to very easily set up continuations from major plot points. In Shantae, you met Risky boots and stopped her. So, in RR she wants, what else? Revenge. These events have an effect on Shantae going into PC, and play a large part of who she is at this point as well as setting up further development to Risky, as well as Rottytops, that play a part on their interactions due to these previous events. However, PC has a pretty conclusive good ending, that puts it's own story at an end and wraps up some plot lines it had going in. However, there were some major points of character development that could've recieved some more importance. I am sure something could've been done. However, what little there was seems to tell me that at least all of these things happened, it is merely a soft reboot as most of us think it is. They tried to not confuse new players with old stories. But, I enjoy watching a character grow, and having some really cool development pushed aside in the name of a new audience is always sad to me. Luckily, I feel we could see more of these things in potential future games.

    As for complete invincibility, it seems like a huge oversight when they made an unlimited magic item. Basically, there is a magic spell that, fully upgraded, provides invincibility. Normally it would use your magic... but when you have infinite magic then you know what happens. But infinite magic should be a very clearly overpowered thing to give. There is a reason we limit resources XD So yeah, I switched that off immediately because I clearly didn't want the game in a state where, maybe by luck, I could give a baby the controller and they win just because losing is a 0% possibility XD Of course in that case winning isn't a 100% possibility either, and I have doubts anyone could bother to test that. Although, I did watch a young child kill someone in CSGO for their AFK brother on video, so things can happen.

    Really, I make HGH sound like a very bad to mediocre game :( I definitely really did enjoy it, but these feelings of disappointment came after when I started thinking back to my time with PC and comparing. It is a disappointing Shantae game to follow it's predecessor, but still a good game. A game that may have been better off played first, considering how little relevance the past story has. Still, it was fun, and I could still get fun out of it in the future after I've gotten over it. However, I think Pirate's Curse will have my priority.

    I also think I can admit at this point that I probably have a very slight preference for HGH over RR. I think the aesthetics may just give the very slight edge. Maybe if I do get to replaying RR soon enough, I can make the call. However, it was unlucky enough to be done last and have some very serious competition. Also, you usually hope a series only gets better with future installments, so it is easier to forgive older games being worse than newer ones because that is the hope. You just look at each for their merits.
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  • ChildofBhaal599ChildofBhaal599 Member Posts: 1,781
    https://www.humblebundle.com/overwhelmingly-positive-bundle BTW, Shantae and the Pirate's Curse is a pay what you want in the current humble bundle. As I've mentioned, I highly recommend that one. It managed to lower my feelings of the new game by just being that good in comparison.
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  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
    edited January 2017
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