Topic: Recent Retro/Misc Gaming Purchases? (Not PS4/PS5)

@RogerRoger The original Deus Ex is still insanely impressive. The RPG mechanics and immersive world are honestly better than 99% of games even now. Haven’t played the reboot yet.

@RogerRoger I can't speak to the Switch port (yet), but I had a lot of fun with it on the Wii U. It essentially takes the linear, 'obstacle course' design philosophy of the 2D Mario games and translates that to three-dimensions, much like its predecessor, Super Mario 3D Land. With that said, being developed for a home console allowed 3D World's environments to be more complex and creative, and the game almost constantly felt like it was throwing interesting new ideas at the player over the course of the game.

The other distinguishing characteristic of 3D World is how, like Super Mario Bros. 2, you're able to select between playing Mario, Luigi, Toad, and Peach. Peach is probably the easiest to play as, thanks to her insanely cool hovering ability carrying over from SMB2. There's also an unlockable character (Rosalina, of Mario Galaxy fame), and a decent amount of stuff to find and unlock. I dunno what they replaced them with in the Switch version (or if they replaced them at all), but one of the cooler features in the original was how you could find stamps portraying different images and characters, and could use those stamps to customize posts on Miiverse (Nintendo's brief foray into a sort of gaming-specific social media service).

I can't say it was the best platformer on the Wii U (IMO, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Yoshi's Woolly World, and Rayman Legends are some of the best platformers ever made, and while Legends was eventually delayed before release to launch as a multiplat, all three were at least initially planned as Wii U exclusives), but it's a game I'd recommend wholeheartedly if you want something simple, charming, and fun to play.

Oh, and it's also built to support both local and online multiplayer (with people on your friend list), although it's very competitive and chaotic multiplayer, so keep that in mind.

The Switch version's big changes are boosted resolution (1080p in TV mode, up from 720p on the Wii U) and small QoL changes that make the game snappier. And Bowser's Fury, of course, which is almost a complete mystery to me.

Just bought a 3DS eshop exclusive called Kokuga. Apparently it was delisted in a few regions in 2020, and there has already been at least one exclusive that was delisted from the eshop before I could buy it, so I just went for it.

@RogerRoger It's nice to see a lot of these Wii U classics finally getting the recognition they always deserved now that they're on the Switch. In the case of 3D World, there was a noticeable amount of resentment of it in corners of the Nintendo fan community because fans were hungry for a new sandbox Mario game, and Nintendo was releasing what seemed like an HD 3DS game. Since then, we've gotten Super Mario Odyssey, which seems to have satiated the fanbase, and people can appreciate 3D World on its own terms now.

@RogerRoger Yeppers. It's a spinoff of 3D World, actually, since Captain Toad levels first appeared in that game as fun little optional minigame levels.

Nintendo later took that fun little concept from 3D World, fleshed it out, and created Treasure Tracker on Wii U.

Etrian Mystery Dungeon for Nintendo 3DS for $36, which is higher than I'd like to pay for a six-year-old game, but it comes with all the pack-ins, and I want to secure a physical copy now that the digital version has been delisted. It'd be just my luck to wait and the price to jump like it did with some other games I could mention.

Also, after this little retrospective with @RogerRoger about 3D World, I became nostalgic and decided to repurchase Super Mario 3D Land for the 3DS.

Brought Carnage Heart(ps1) off Ebay. its a mech fighting game with a twist: you don't directly control the mechs you have to programme the AI yourself, very fun game but hard game.

Just ordered The Evil Within 1 & 2 for under £30. Have heard mixed things about the games but I have noticed as time has dragged on the positive comments seem far more common. I’m taking on quite a few platinums that are rated as being very difficult to obtain in the next year or so, these will be added to that particular list.

Edit. Lol wrong thread 😅

My favorite steelbook to date. Simply beautiful.

@Ralizah That steelbook is looking mighty fine. If they had sold them over here, I wouldn't have been able to resist buying one.

That's a really lovely steelbook indeed just like the other persona 5 ones @Ralizah. I may not of got on with P5 all that much but the vanilla version's steelbook is gorgeous and royal's isn't bad either!

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Now I just need the PS4 one to complete my P5 steelbook "collection."

I'd love it if they did something similar with SMT V, which is going to be another huge release for them.

I get pretty much everything else digitally, but MegaTen games are physical for me.

@RogerRoger In fairness, those battered-box GBA games are likely a lot more valuable and rare. Even most loose GBA cartridges cost a pretty penny at this point.

@RogerRoger Yeah, I certainly appreciate the move to plastic cases, which is perhaps selfish as I know it's worse for the environment. Bizarrely it can still sometimes be a challenge to find certain plastic-cased games in good condition. Maybe I'm just too fussy? I guess ultimately a lot of people don't look after their things. I treasure my games and have 20-year-old titles that are still pristine, so it's always sad to see something in really manky condition of eBay. It's strange how the Zelda and Pokémon games are so expensive boxed, because they tended to be the among the systems best sellers. I had no idea A Link to the Past was worth so much! I still have my original boxed copy.

Ouch, it must have been really upsetting to find your PS2 cases ruined like that. I think I'd have screamed! How many do you still have left to replace? Enjoy your new GBA games. Are they something you might post impressions of? I'm curious how the LEGO game compares to its console sibling.

Spent most of the day setting up my New 3DS, and it's been an exercise in torment! The system transfer kept failing because the wireless on the original 3DS is crap and doesn't play ball with modern routers. Eventually I got it to work, but then there were issues copying the SD card's contents to my computer. It took a while to work out which game's file had the problem, because Nintendo don't name them. It was Shin Megami Tensei IV causing all the trouble! Anyway, it's all sorted now and I'm quite chuffed with the upgrade from my original 3DS.

@mookysam My glasses don't get on with the face-tracking 3D (which you can turn off, thankfully), but the newer system is worth it if only for the boost in speed when turning on the system, suspending games, etc. It's a much snappier system.

Have you played SMT IV before?

@RogerRoger It's crazy how expensive some older games can get. Sometimes to my benefit, at least. I sold my used copy of Haunting Grounds on ebay for $250 recently, and I think my copy was the cheapest one on there at the time!

But yeah, old games in new condition are insanely rare, so it makes sense they'd be more expensive.

@Ralizah I noticed that with my glasses a little. It mostly works, but it's not super stable. I have thin lenses, but perhaps the anti-glare coating affects it slightly. My launch 3DS is now a decade old so barely holds charge, but that wasn't too much of a bother given I could keep it plugged in. I mostly wanted a New 3DS XL because my original one had become increasingly uncomfortable for me to hold. The analogue slider also kept falling off and the d-pad and bottom buttons are peeling (build quality of those was not good). The bigger screens are a massive bonus too.

I haven't played SMT IV yet, and have that and Apocalypse lined up to play. They were both digital only in Europe, so I snapped them up when they were on sale. I'll probably start IV after I finish Persona 5 Royal and Strikers.

@mookysam I actually like the smaller version more, but NoA, in its infinite wisdom, decided to only release the bigger version in NA.

It's a massive upgrade over the original unit. OG 3DS was boxy, uncomfortable, and scratched its own screen. Although I really liked the red color scheme of the one I bought that first year.

I got an anti-glare coating on my glasses to see if it'd help with the face-tracking, but it hasn't. I never had an issue with the original 3D tech to begin with, so I stuck with that to avoid the obnoxious flickering when it couldn't see my face.

IV: Apocalypse wasn't received well by the core fanbase because of its lack of atmosphere and more anime-ish characterizations, but I really loved it. The QoL improvements over IV are substantial, and the game is just pure fun to play. The combo of Persona-esque character dynamics with SMT's challenging, polished mechanics was an amazing move.

SMTIV is good as well, though. I'm glad I held onto my physicals, as they've exploded in price recently.

Sounds like you have a lot of Atlus goodness in your future!

@RogerRoger Old games go for a hefty price all the time. I also sold an old NES game of mine for $140.

The funny thing is that I kept tabs on the dude who bought Haunting Grounds from me. He tried to flip it for an inflated price in his own listing shortly afterward. I know for a fact it's mine, because it's the seller who bought it from me, and there's a physical imperfection on the manual that's identical to a picture he posted in that listing.

I made sure to rip the disc ISO image before I sold it, so I can play it on my PC if I want.

@Ralizah Yeah, lots of Atlus. 😁 I'll be sure to write up some impressions when I get to them. I can't wait for SMT III HD so better get a move on!

I quite like the smaller New 3DS and even have some 20th anniversary Pokémon themed plates. When the "new" systems originally launched I wanted the small one, but in the years since they've become very rare. I think the XL must have sold considerably more.

The original 3DS is some sort of monstrosity forged in a primordial fire by a vengeful gaming deity. It's almost uniquely uncomfortable to hold with those spiteful edges and the horrendously unergonomic boxiness. Luckily my top screen never got scratched, but I was annoyed no end by how grease from my fingers would cause the plastic surrounding the bottom screen to leave grotesque prints on the top one whenever I closed it. The build quality was surprisingly poor and it's still the only Nintendo system I've ever had issues with, but the games were so bloody good it was worth every single hand cramp.

@RogerRoger That's not surprising given the amount of of manky stuff people trade in, and I'm sure the staff were grateful to not have to handle anything horrid. I honestly wonder if some people use their games as coasters or makeshift cat toys. :-/

Not that I think you'd ever sell your Zelda copy, right?

Of course not. 😂 I could probably make a lot of money selling certain GameCube games, but they hold far too much sentimental value and I know I'd end up heavily regretting it. In 2015 I sold a load of cartridge-only N64 games on eBay as I was strapped for cash and it was nearing Christmas. I think Conker's Bad Fur Day went for around £70, which was at the low end of what I'd have expected, but I guess that's the risk when running auctions!

A 24: The Game steelbook sounds very nice indeed. Good find!

@mookysam I honestly don’t remember having any issues with my original 3DS other than the charger port falling out and me having to use the charging cradle thingy. My hands were smaller then though and the New 3DS XL feels great to use even now.

@nessisonett Yikes, how did the charge port fall out? Nintendo stuff is historically very well made and their hardware is traditionally known for being very durable, but my 3DS was less robust compared to my other Nintendo systems. The analogue slider fell off for the first time when I played A Link Between Worlds in 2013. I superglued it and it was okay for a while, but it fell off again when replaying ALBW.

@RogerRoger I wouldn't buy something without a case and manual, but the price I'd be willing to pay depends on the game and how much I want it. I guess for a lot of gamers it's more about the personal value they get from an item. Years ago a friend paid over £100 for Final Fantasy VI Advance, but is a massive fan of the series, so for him the value was there.

Eek, that sounds like a deeply offensive trade-in value to me! Have you managed to buy back many of your PS1 favourites over the years?

Your recent assortment of Bond reviews reignited my interest in the games, so I bought 007 Nightfire for the GameCube.

@mookysam I have absolutely no idea but I did spend a good few thousand hours on it! I think playing it in bed while plugged in just caused some wear and tear. Also have fun with 007 Nightfire, one of my favourites growing up! Seriously great fun in multiplayer because the bots are unintentionally hilarious and the selection of weapons is fantastic for split screen.