According to Nintendo Enthusiast. (Link above) Emuparadise. One of the biggest (and IMO best places to get your ROMs and ISOs) is making plans on shutting down.
This could likely be due to the fact that other sites like LoveROMs and LoveRetro's owner was slapped with a 100 million dollar lawsuit from Nintendo. Emuparadise took notice and while they comply with takedown request and other things. According to them. Nothing is guaranteed. Meaning they feel they might be next.
So in turn they're taking off all of there ROMs and ISOs. Meaning no more retro games from them soon. While they have have stated to find other ways to get emulation to you. We're on our own in terms of finding ROMs and ISOs.
This is somewhat a problem. As I remember Emuparadise was one of the few if not the only place to get your Roms from without crappy ads, viruses, or having to jump through hoops to get what you want. Definitely a major blow to people who love using roms to play there retro games.
While you can still view Emuparadise and see a list of games for each system. As of right now the download links are gone.
Sad to see a place go down but at least it went down on it's own terms.
Well since I have some access to a PS4 (Some being I can only play in the living room as the family uses it) I figure I buy this game for myself in the time that maybe one day I'll buy a PS4 for myself. Why not play one of the Ratchet & Clank games I've yet to play? The Reboot.
Having saw the movie some time ago I felt like I knew how this game was going to go down. It's not as bad as some people make it out to be. But the game does feel like a tribute to the previous Ratchet & Clank games.
Just FYI there will be spoilers.
Story
Generally throw everything you've learned from the previous games out the window in terms of story. Since it's based on the movie. While it does have the same plot as the first game. Chairman Drek intends to destroy planets and take the best parts of each to create his own planet for him and his people. The rest is based on the movie.
I would like to say if you've seen the movie then you played the game. But that's not the case. This is definitely a reboot and uses the movie as a base to tell the story. It doesn't exactly use all the story elements of the movie just the important stuff. You end up missing out on certain parts of the movie. Like Clank pretty much being forgotten by Ratchet as he's filled with stardom that he's now a Galatic Ranger.
I would say the game's story is between someone that loved the movie a lot and someone that just wanted to make a True HD Remaster version of the first game. It's almost a movie game which I actually would prefer this to be "Ratchet & Clank: The Movie, The Game" rather than Ratchet and Clank Reboot. The issue I have with the story of this reboot (You probably read this and/or heard this 1000 times), this game rather eliminates many of the other Ratchet & Clank games in the series. There's still the bit that has to be explained about the Future Series.
The other things (Which are minor) I miss is that they removed my favorite line from Chairman Drek from the original game. And that you don't get to end the game on the planet you started on, Veldin. It is in danger sure. But having that final boss fight against Drek was great. Also you don't even get to fight Drek in the game. He gets screwed over by Dr.Nefarious. I think it would've been nice to include Drek as a boss fight somewhere down the line.
This line, If not for this scene I probably wouldn't be interested in this series.
Aside from that the story works out. It plays to the movie very well. Even with Captain Quark narrating it. It actually adds charm to the game with him telling the story in the background.
Gameplay
Well the gameplay remains intact. In fact I remember I made a complaint of going from the newer games to the older ones. Well I can't really make that complaint anymore. It's more or less like you're playing the first game but with the polished controls of the later titles.
If I was to bring up issues. It would be that this game was spending maybe too much time paying homage to the older games. Either with changing the weapons you acquire in comparison to the first game. Or with adding certain things from other games that I honestly feel should not be there. Such as the Jetpack and hunting for certain collectables. I remember the Jetpack from "Into the Nexus" and the hunting bits from the older games I didn't really like. It was a good Money (Bolts) maker as well as leveling up my weapons but those sections were just long and boring to deal with.
A minor issue is dealing with the main objectives of the game. No it's not hard or anything like that. It's when you decide to make a side trip. The game likes to nag you to go complete objectives. But you see a stack of crates, or you see a Gold Bolt, etc. The game will quickly remind you to get back to main objective constantly.
The game does make the hoverboard sections A LOT easier. It's far less punishing than the original game. I also felt like I had much better control of the board. Including space ship battle sections was great as well. I wish it wasn't a 1 time only thing. But they're fun while they last.
One of the things the game also has a tendency of doing is keeping most of the enemies you killed dead. Aside from just revisiting areas. If you die the enemies you killed on the way seem to stay dead. They don't reset. I have a bit of a love hate for this. I love it cause that's less for me to deal with and I can pick up where I left off with full health. I hate it cause that means it's harder to level up my weapons.
Small But Needed Changes
There's obviously no more infinite bolts glitch. You can't glitch your way to the races and mess with the infinite spawning boxes.
And even if you did somehow get infinite bolts to buy stuff with. You can't buy the RYNO. Instead you have to collect the RYNO cards to unlock it. Which pretty much mean you're playing through the entire game to get said cards.
Crates stay busted as well. Aside from weapons. And this has been a thing for awhile. But no more busting up crates to farm for bolts. Honestly you get more than enough to buy each weapon as they appear in the game so it's no big deal.
Overall the gameplay is solid. No real complaints that could end up being a dealbreaker for me.
Graphics
While my videos won't show it due to PS3's handling of graphics with it's recording function. The game looks great. Sometimes too great. I learn that I can't stare at the TV for too long without taking a break or my eyes start to hurt. Everyone looks well defined even the infamous Pool Sharks.
It is a bit of a sad note to mention that the Pool Sharks don't really eat you anymore. Instead they chomp and you do a drowning animation. At certain camera angles it looks like they're eating you. But in reality that animation is gone.
I also like the fact that the armor Ratchet wears doesn't always cover his head. He only wears the helmet if necessary (meaning where it makes sense). I was honestly bothered by that in various games cause you couldn't see Ratchet's face unless you used cheats. So this bit here actually pleases me.
Sound
Everyone's voice is still here running strong. Hearing characters comment about what weapon you're using brings a smile to my face.
The music fits the mood. When there's enemies about (Or really when you reach an area full of enemies you must defeat) the music ramps up. There can be sometimes a bit too much talking but I still love all the conversations.
Overall
I wish this was more Ratchet & Clank The Movie, The Game. But this game does a great job. Taking various elements from the previous games and basically bringing them back here into this game. It can be seen as a problem as Ratchet isn't doing anything new. But at the same time it works. If other mascots can do it then so can Ratchet and Clank.
Sidenote: Considering that we're lowkey in this age of Create a Character games. Maybe they should make a Create a Character thing for Ratchet and Clank.
Sunday, July 8, 2018
Took me at least 8 tries to write this out without scrapping it.
I'm not exactly sure how to say this. But this is more of an update video than any kind of ultimatum or big decision like that. But I am considering it heavily. It's also the first time in a very long time I express myself.
Recent string of events have made me consider other options than Youtube. A lot of things have went down that made me look at my life as a whole. In the grand scheme of things I'm pretty much unhappy and struggling to get through each day.
I can't pinpoint one thing specifically that made me consider this. More like a bunch of things and being able to handle it all has become an exhausting chore that never seems to get done.
-My mom went back to the hospital again. I say again cause this chain of events happened earlier this year where she really wasn't feeling well. Took her to the emergency room. The doctors couldn't find out what was wrong. Today as of the day I'm recording this. The same situation is repeating itself. Right now my mom is at the emergency room waiting to be seen. I don't have an update cause my sister is with her. And she obviously can't contact me cause she has no signal up there.
This is just one of the factors. Is taking care of mom worries me leaving me not in the right mindset to do much of anything.
-Another is Youtube itself. The algorhythms change so much that I'm pretty much barely scraping by in terms of how much I get. The only videos I have that get constant views are my old Sonic videos and I have no idea how long that will last since I've had various companies and people try to claim them as there own. The rest of my videos average around less than 30 views.
I can't ask the community why this happens cause anytime I do they see how many subscribers I have and think I cheated. But those subs are all legit. They're likely just having lives of there own. Or don't really care for what I upload. Or like most people say. Youtube is hiding my videos from there cause I'm going through what's called Subscriber Burn. Which as they explain it. Basically because I uploaded something many people don't care to see or they haven't viewed my videos for awhile. I'm taken out of there lineup in place of other people's videos. If I complain about this on generally any site somehow associated with Youtube then it usually takes the response of My videos are no longer attractive and no one's clicking on them. Short of that My videos suck and I need to play more popular games.
I'll get more into this in another post.
There's just too many things I've heard about how Youtube screws people over it's hard know which ones are true and which are false. That's how I see it.
-The lack of support or really I should say negative support, offers a big factor to this. So my family and a good number of friends in real life basically have been telling me to quit. Give up Youtube, you're not making any money, get a real job, Only kids play video games. So many things like that were said to me. It honestly hurts when a child says that to you. My cousins kid literally came up to me and said I should grow up and stop playing videogames. Someone else's kid at church pokes fun at me cause I'm not making a 6 figure salary like his family.
I generally ignore these statements but I still hear them. And even if you can manage to ignore something that doesn't stop things from being said.
-Depression is generally a big part of all of this. FYI I've been off my medication for a good 2 years now. Mainly cause I can't afford it. But I question if it helped at all anyway. I feel like it did more harm to me than good. At the time the doctor I've seen to get those meds didn't care about my well-being just write the prescription and get out. The short 15 minute sessions once every 3 months showed that. I never bothered to change doctors cause it was already a hassle. None of the ones at that hospital at least in the mental health department seemed to care.
Once I changed Insurance. I noticed how tough things got in terms of prices. Not fun.
-There are other factors but I'm afraid to talk about them since something might happen to ruin everything.
That's really it. I can't really think of much else that's a factor. It mainly falls on me to change things. I thought about what I could do to change it. Reopen Patreon, Merchandise Selling, etc. I don't know right now. And I'm rather scared to do so. I just know something's gotta change and hopefully before something else forces me to make a change. I mean I enjoy doing Youtube videos. I don't like how things get in the way or how something changes.
So I found out Bandai-Namco released a small update for Tekken 7 giving away free costumes and stuff....So why not play it again. Well due to PS4 being used by family, my save got corrupted. I tried redownloading and nothing worked. So having 60% of all the unlockables is now gone. Sigh.
Oh well guess this teaches me to go buy my own PS4 instead of using one I have access to.
So we start off the chapter with good news???? Zero's been found (Wooo...hooo sarcasm). So let's head out there and recruit him to the team.
Optional Stuff
Well remember we just recruited Cinnamon and Marino to the group. They need some equipment. The Kitty Gloves for Cinnamon is of major importance. Marino get her whatever you feel like. Also we need to build there levels. Cinnamon's at LVL 1 so she's not gonna be useful till you level her up. Remember a certain secret boss is available but only do that if you feel prepared. But for other leveling and item gathering purposes. Lets go back to the Gaudile Laboratory or really the Eternal Forest.
Eternal Forest
This is a great place to level and gather some rare stuff. A lot of depends on luck. But each path you haven't visited grants you some good items to make use of. The enemies of course get stronger depending on the path you take if you're feeling ballsy try to Abuse Spider for the tougher ones. Remember he does have an instant kill move in his Action Trigger. Marino does as well. Besides that you need them to do some thievery for the rare stuff. If things get too hairy you may wanna back out and take a slightly weaker route.
I note this place cause I managed to pick up some good weapons on these paths before besides Spider's which you should already have. These weapons set you straight for pretty much the rest of the main game.
Ulfat Factory
Before you head in try to buy (Or Make with the Force Metal Generator) some fire resistant gear. And buy some Ice type weaponry.
When you're ready talk to Nana who'll tell you where you're going next. It's a factory for making Combat Reploids. Well this can't be nice. Entering we start
Well these are very beneficial if you're a stat grinding freak. If you're not these are still very beneficial. Usually they'll try to heal there allies. But if they're the last ones on the field they'll use there next turn to heal your for free. The other good thing. There's a rare chance they'll drop the item "Build LE" which permanently boosts a character's LE.
Preon Shielder (New)
These guys got sick of X shooting its brethern. So now they have something to stop that. On there first turn they'll put a shield that can counter S-Type attacks. If they're not attacked or hit with an S-Type attack after this they'll hit with Force Shield. Easily countered by a C-Type attack.
Preon Soldier (New)
Well not too different from the last chapter but these guys do block S-Type attacks. And have a sword.
Mega Mantor (New)
A fire turtle. It actually has a barrier to reduce the damage from S-Type attacks. But hitting it for 1000 points of damage will break that. Or just smack it with C-Type attacks. It also has an attack called Flame Ray which does Fire damage to the party. Easily preventable with Water/Ice attack.
Gulpfast (New)
Fire version of the blowfish from earlier.
Super Tripuffer (New)
Fire version of the pirahnna from earlier. These guys will try to power up there other fire allies by hitting them with fire which is both good and bad. Good cause EXP boost. Bad cause they're stronger.
Fire Glob (New)
EXP GRINDER HERE WE GO! So while looking like our all time favorite Yellow Devil enemy. These guys are great for grinding EXP if you want to risk it. Each time it's hit with a fire attack the amount of EXP gained increases. Problem is so does it stats as well. You could end up powering it up to where it gives you tons of EXP but end up making it more powerful than the final boss. Whoops. It'll run away after it's been hit by fire attacks in 7 turns however so make sure you time things wisely.
Preon Tank (New)
Annoying little guy. He'll basically cover a party member in oil making that character weker to fire. Not fun to deal with here.
Preon Elite Boss: Mach Jentra
Preon Hybrid (only in the end of Chapter 5)
Not much notable. They start with Berserk status. So. Yeah.
Mettaur Commander (only in Main Computer "Duboar" after Chapter 5)
But one thing to note if they're damage by a C-Type attack and not defeated then the EXP given goes up by 50%
Mettaurcure (only in Main Computer "Duboar" after Chapter 5)
Healing Mettuar....NOPE! But one thing to note if they're damage by a C-Type attack and not defeated then the EXP given goes up by 50%
Immediately as we enter the place the alarms are set off. We can't be that bad at sneaking in can we? No Marino says the timing's too perfect and that someone else is causing a ruckus. Zero maybe??? Anyway because of that we have problems the security is up and you gotta deal with it.
Entering the first room Marino yells for everyone to Freeze like it's one of those games I played during Phys. Ed as a child. The room goes red for a few seconds then returns to normal. So that's the gimmick. The security here basically checks for motion whenever the screen goes red. If you're moving. You're in for a fight. But nothing too hard just more Preons. Ironically if you happen to be standing the spot where the Security droid is supposed to land you'll set off the alarms as well. Getting through this is quite a chore.
About towards the end if your trek you're stopped by a cutscene. "Hey X!" Oh no it's a fanboy. X quickly readies to fire but our fanboy reveals himself. It's Axl the guy a lot of fans don't like. (Assuming you never played Megaman X7 and I don't blame you. Did you notice Axl has a different voice actor?). Axl reveals himself and explains that he's doing research on himself. It's pretty much a hint at the plot point of Megaman X8. Anyway he joins the part and now you have who I generally rate one of the best characters of this game. It's also the last new party member. YAY!
New Character: Axl
Shot Type
Stat Changes: Power +100%, Speed -25%.
Hyper Mode Duration: 2 Turns (default)
You could say Axl is mix between Spider and X. He shoots stuff and has the same Hyper Mode as Spider. So Axl benefits with the Hyper Bait strategy. Simply go Hyper Mode use Bait and hit with his Action Trigger. With the reduction in speed thanks to his hyper mode you can avoid a lot of pain from various bosses. His action trigger covers a lot of ground allowing him to transform into the bosses you've defeated previously.
Action Trigger: DNA Change
I honestly say it's the most useful of all of them But then again every action trigger is useful. Axl jumps into the air and then you enter a code depending on the code you entered which is shown on the screen. Axl will transform into that character and use his/her signature move. The more WE he has the longer the time limit you have to enter the code. If you enter one that leads to a ????????????? or just can't get it in time. Axl will just shoot the enemy.
Personally I make use of Wild Jango and Silver Horn a lot. Jango is capable dealing 100 - 200% Thunder damage and it's a Combat type attack. Silver Horn's is an attack all move for Water type damage.
Hyper Mode: Stealth Mode
It's Spider's Hyper mode with a different name. Has the same exact effects too so you can abuse it just like Spider's. Not much else to say on this.
2nd Half of this Factory
Once you're done messing with Axl's gear. Time to move onward. As you get deeper into the factor you now face a different gimmick. A conveyor belt. You can only walk on the ones moving forward. There are switches laid about to reverse the Conveyor's movement and at the end of some them lie enemies in wait wanting to destroy you. But they're Preons. -_- You can't really avoid all of them so just fight you're way through.
After your conveyor adventure. We find a trail of dead bodies. Axl says they're all destroyed...uh....they look more like they been knocked out but okay. The important detail to note is that they all have saber wounds. Hmmm....who could it be? Oh come it's obvious. We then shift to a cutscene of Zero making an unneccessary dramatic entrance as he comes face to face with the boss of this chapter. No need to worry. Zero's got this right?
Examine the dead bodies and 2 of them will give you items. 1 an Ice Missile sub weapon the other Fire Guard Force Metal. Step through the door and shift to cutscene. Zero's breathing hard and on one knee. Guess he didn't know Mach Jentra the Chapter boss can fly and makes him hard to hit. After the classic evil bad guy banter Jentra moves to finish off Zero only to be stopped by X. See Zero this is how you do a dramatic entrance. Jentra runs away, then X and Zero try to have a happy reunion but....Axl interupts saying something that's actually smart but...gets interupted, I guess we can't let Axl be cool for once.
Back out the way you came go after Jentra who's in the room that just got unlocked. Now you come face to face with the boss and it's time to throw down.
Chapter Boss: Mach Jentra + 2 Random Preons
It is all for the ideal!
The 2 Random Preons aren't exactly trouble unless you have one that can heal the boss or one that can lower your fire resistance. Every time you take them out Jentra will take a turn and summon 2 more in there place. So attack efficiently.
Unlike the previous bosses you'll notice Mach Jentra is flying. This makes it harder for combat type Reploids to hit him. You can knock him out of the air with a few well placed shots attacking his weakness. Ice. Once he's out of the air he's free for your combat reploids to hit him with no problems. His fire attack is pretty heavy in terms of damage especially if you have no resistance or worse you're weak to it so be careful.
Pretty much have a character knock him out of the air then have combat character wail on him with everything they got. Cause as soon as his turn pops up, he'll go back to floating in the air.
Once he's dead you should be done right? Well...no. Instead the bird decides to have one last laugh saying that Dubour is out of control the moment he dies. So he blows up and the machine starts producing Preons at an alarming rate throwing you into another boss Fight.
Chapter Boss Fight 2: Preons x20
Yeah you're fighting a massive out of Preons but it's Preons. It's honestly not even worthy of being called a boss fight. But over a decade ago I didn't upload that part and got scolded for it. Seriously these guys aren't noteworthy. If anything as you defeat each wave of 4, you'll notice that some if not all of them are under Berserk status. That's beneficial since they make just attack each other for a round. But seriously these guys are easy to take out.
Once the fight ends X and Zero go "Uh Oh" cause the machine isn't stopping. Well Axl makes an attempt to stop the machine by transforming into Jentra himself. Makes you wonder why doesn't machine require a voice identification match. Oh well the machine's stop and now everyone's happy. X can't wait to introduce Zero to all his new friends.
