July Game of the Month Club ft. Chants of Sennaar, Monster Boy, and Metroid

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Board 8 » July Game of the Month Club ft. Chants of Sennaar, Monster Boy, and Metroid
Chants of Sennaar beated!

Fun game overall.

I ended up leaning on guides a bit near the end because I was tired and a bit mentally exhausted. I had somehow missed a screen in the Alchemist area with 3 glyphs; it was annoying because I knew, from being unable to translate some of the terminal conversations, what the words were.

In the last area, I had to confirm what I was supposed to do with the circular puzzles. I was pretty sure of what I needed to do, because it seemed the most logical thing, but I couldn't get it working.

The one thing I didn't like was the part at the end. Trying to fill in the door locks with the Exile symbols on top (I just looked up the answers) and the chase sequence.
"That was unnecessarily dramatic". - NY Mets motto (courtesy of InnerTubeHero)
Congratulations to azuarc, the guru of gurus and winner of GotD 2020!
Nominate:
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2
A Plague Tale: Requiem

(BTW, I know I nominate the same games over and over. It's not that I'm waiting for them to be selected, I just haven't had the time to play them.)
"That was unnecessarily dramatic". - NY Mets motto (courtesy of InnerTubeHero)
Congratulations to azuarc, the guru of gurus and winner of GotD 2020!
So I've been playing NES Remix 2 and based on the OG Metroid challenges on there I can confirm that the game has aged like absolute dog shit.
darkx
I have finally cleared the volcano in Monster Boy, and I've never going there again
KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
IIRC the volcano was the worst part of that game, or at least the place where I died by far the most
"You're childish. What are you getting? Are you getting strawberry? Ha! That's such a childish flavor, only children eat strawberry."
Beat Metroid Zero Mission

like I think it was about 3:40 and 71% completion.

I'm also pretty far into Monster Boy right now, just before the volcano boss.

Nominate Command and Conquer: Red Alert and Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil
The only certain death in the universe is Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons.
Not changing this line until I beat Seven Heroes (2/24/07) - Fulfilled 2/20/18
KCF has beaten Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom

75% complete in 14:31:58, but I felt like an hour or two of that was idling.

Overall, I think it did a great job at straddling the line between staying true to an 80s and 90s game franchise and modern game design. The pacing felt off, with the volcano really dragging the game down, but I think that the latter parts of the game were strong, especially the Haunted Manor.
KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
For my third nomination, I will choose Princess Farmer .

I will also support Castle on the Coast.
KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
Monthly Progress
Chants - Kenri, KCF, Sean
Monster - KCF
Metroid - Kenri, Abacus, Paul, darkx, Sean, Crispy

Nominations
Ark - NORCO
Cody - Bugsnax, Call of the Sea
Crispy - C&C: Red Alert, Klonoa 2
darkx - Borderlands, Peach Showtime, Yoshi Crafted World
KCF - Blossom Tales II, Stray Gods, Princess Farmer
Kenri - Space for Unbound, Alice Madness Returns, Castle on the Coast
Paul - Metal Gear Solid, Pokemon TCG
Sean - Wolfenstein II, Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 , Plague Tale: Requiem

Supports
darkx - MGS
KCF - Coast

Drawing tomorrow
KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
Support Call of the Sea
"You're childish. What are you getting? Are you getting strawberry? Ha! That's such a childish flavor, only children eat strawberry."
Support Alice: Madness Returns and Plague Tale: Requiem
~Abacus' Alt~
You can only choose one Abacus. Support rules were changed this year to simplify it to everyone can support one song per month.
KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
Aha, in that case Plague Tale.
~Abacus' Alt~
Support Alice
"Video games are meant to be just one thing. Fun. Fun for everyone." -Satoru Iwata
"11533 >>> 1001 imo" - Jeff Zero
Abacus nominates "Animal Well" and "Bendy and the Ink Machine"
~Abacus' Alt~
I said that I wasn't going to return to Monster Boy's volcano, but I lied. I decided to do collectible cleanup while I was listening to music
KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
Support Animal Well
The only certain death in the universe is Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons.
Not changing this line until I beat Seven Heroes (2/24/07) - Fulfilled 2/20/18
Tag. It's a bit late, but I will start and finish Metroid before the month ends.
Guinness Book of World Records is the name of the diary that belongs to azuarc , the winner of the Game of the Decade II guru contest.
Last call for noms, changes, and supports
KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
I've been considering changing my support but... I think I'll keep it as it is.
darkx
Everything is closed . I will draw soon-ish
KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
And your August Games of the Month are...

Castle on the Coast (PC/XSX/PS5/Switch/XB1/PS4)
NORCO (PC/XSX/PS5/XB1/PS4)
Call of the Sea (PC/XSX/PS5/XB1/PS4

Congrats to Kenri, Ark, and Cody for having their games selected!
KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
Castle on the Coast is on sale for $2 USD on Switch
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/castle-on-the-coast-switch/

NORCO is on sale for $7.50 USD on Steam
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1221250/NORCO/

Call of the Sea is on PS+ Extra

Call of the Sea is on sale for $8 USD on Steam
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1042490/Call_of_the_Sea/
KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
As for deals regarding games from the current month

Chants of Sennaar is on sale for $15 USD on Switch
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/chants-of-sennaar-switch/

Monster Boy is on sale for roughly $10 USD on both Steam and PS4/5
https://store.steampowered.com/app/449610/Monster_Boy_and_the_Cursed_Kingdom/
https://store.playstation.com/en-us/concept/217487/
KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
  1. Castle on the Coast
  2. NORCO
  3. Call of the Sea
  4. Princess Peach Showtime
  5. Metal Gear Solid
  6. Plague Tale: Requiem, A
  7. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
  8. Command & Conquer: Red Alert
  9. Call of the Sea
  10. Alice: Madness Returns
  11. Alice: Madness Returns
  12. Senua's Saga: Hellblade II
  13. Animal Well
  14. Princess Farmer
  15. Plague Tale: Requiem, A
  16. Pokemon Trading Card Game
  17. Metal Gear Solid
  18. Bugsnax
  19. Yoshi's Crafted World
  20. Space for the Unbound, A
  21. Animal Well
  22. Borderlands
  23. Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical
  24. Castle on the Coast
  25. Bendy and the Ink Machine
  26. Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil
  27. Blossom Tales II: The Minotaur's Curse
KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
I also want to announce what we will be doing for August/September. It may be hard to believe but this project is about to reach its 10 year anniversary. I have been a participant of this project since the beginning, but some of you may not know/remember that it was MegamanX who created and originally ran it. He asked me to take over in May of 2016 and gave me all of the info up to that point, so I know that the first monthly topic began in October of 2014.

However, we have a double birthday for that month, so I'm going to celebrate the project's creation instead of when we had our first month of games (they were Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy and Tales of Xillia for those wondering).

So here's what is going to happen:
  • For the month of August, everyone gets a flat five nominations
  • Also in the month of August, everyone gets unlimited supports
  • While I'm still debating if I want to have four or five games drawn that will be featured in September, the winning games will all be from unique original nominators to get as many people represented.


In case there's any confusion about the first bullet point, everyone will get five nominations (you don't have to use them all) that won't be increased with beating any of Castle on the Coast, NORCO, or Call of the Sea.

As for the final bullet point, what I mean is that if I were to nominate Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, and Halo: Reach for my five, everyone supports all five, and a Halo game occupies the first 25 spots in the drawing, only the first one drawn will be featured in September as I was the original nominator for all five of those Halo games. I can do a visual example using a mock post-drawing list that I do every month for transparency, but I hope my explanation was good enough.
KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
Wow, 10 years! I think I only started participating a few years ago (somewhere around when Horizon: Zero Dawn was selected).

Might be in for Call of the Sea next month but probably not any of the others. Could be a good time to clear off 1-2 of my regular, ongoing nominations...
"That was unnecessarily dramatic". - NY Mets motto (courtesy of InnerTubeHero)
Congratulations to azuarc, the guru of gurus and winner of GotD 2020!
I know I only started participating pretty recently but it's cool to be here for the 10 year anniversary!

Gonna do Castle on the Coast and hopefully Call of the Sea. Maybe NORCO if it goes on deep discount; I'm still mad I just missed playing it when it was on Game Pass.
"You're childish. What are you getting? Are you getting strawberry? Ha! That's such a childish flavor, only children eat strawberry."
Ah nuts. Would have played #4 and #5 but instead a nothing month for me.
darkx
Looks like I picked up Call of the Sea on Epic at some point, and it looks neat, so I think I'll end up going for that, too.
Our eyes were removed
For our own safety
Of Metroid games, I have previously only played the original, Super and the Prime trilogy.

Damn they added more than I thought to the remake. I thought it was mostly just updated gameplay but it's close to a new game with the same story. Lots of new abilities (at least new since the original) and even a few new locations.
Guinness Book of World Records is the name of the diary that belongs to azuarc , the winner of the Game of the Decade II guru contest.
TheArkOfTurus posted...
Looks like I picked up Call of the Sea on Epic at some point, and it looks neat, so I think I'll end up going for that, too.

This is basically why I nominated it lol, found it buried in my Epic catalogue and thought it looked interesting.

Congrats on the upcoming 10 year anniversary KCF!
"Video games are meant to be just one thing. Fun. Fun for everyone." -Satoru Iwata
"11533 >>> 1001 imo" - Jeff Zero
I've got Call of the Sea on Epic and on Steam and I don't think I paid for it either time.
"You're childish. What are you getting? Are you getting strawberry? Ha! That's such a childish flavor, only children eat strawberry."
Zero Mission apparently doesn't end when the original does. It's getting more and more difficult to compare the two directly. The section immediately following the end point of the original isn't very good imo.
Guinness Book of World Records is the name of the diary that belongs to azuarc , the winner of the Game of the Decade II guru contest.
Spoilers for late Zero Mission just in case.

it's a shame playing as Zero Suit Samus is easily the weakest part of the game because it's cool that you could otherwise. Also the whole extra part of the game feels unnecessary to me. I guess it's partly because of success of Prime?
Guinness Book of World Records is the name of the diary that belongs to azuarc , the winner of the Game of the Decade II guru contest.
Ctes has beaten Metroid: Zero Mission

Overall the quality of life improvements make this a better game than the original but I don't think the difference is as big as made out to me here. The biggest QoL upgrade to me is crouching and shooting. I don't think the extra section of the game past the original final boss, Mother Brain, made the game any better, even if playing as Zero Suit Samus is cool, in particular at the time. The whole area was the weakest part, even after getting the suit back. Mecha Ridley being the final boss is super random.
Guinness Book of World Records is the name of the diary that belongs to azuarc , the winner of the Game of the Decade II guru contest.
I like the extra section but I do feel like it should be optional, at least on replays. As for whether it was partly because of Prime, I'm not sure but I always assumed it was more because of Fusion, since that game also had stealth sections.
"You're childish. What are you getting? Are you getting strawberry? Ha! That's such a childish flavor, only children eat strawberry."
I meant more the atmosphere of the area than the stealth element. That felt like Prime influence to me, but I also have yet to play Fusion so perhaps take it with grain of salt.

Also I still consider the original a good game, and I played it no longer ago than last fall!
Guinness Book of World Records is the name of the diary that belongs to azuarc , the winner of the Game of the Decade II guru contest.
Monster Boy beaten

Got 100%, although I looked up how to get in the well because fuck that.

Generally I felt like it suffered a lot from trying to pad out a 10-15 hour game into a 20-25 hour game. After the temple, the pacing felt like it slowed down a lot and forced you to detour through side areas (pirate ship, haunted house) for flimsy reasons or you had to stop to gather a bunch of stuff to continue (the stew ingredients, the relics, the golden sword parts, the animal forms after you lose them ). Also having to grind up money. A lot of the equipment was pretty useless or only used in a few very limited situations, and many of the upgrades were pointless (like the gold armor upgrade is basically only used in one room... which you probably already got past by the time you get it). Like you could probably just get rid of a couple entire sets of equipment without affecting much. Magic is pretty useless most of the time, but there's a bunch of upgrades to find (which are kind of pointless to get in the first place, since puzzles that require magic often have an enemy that drops that spell nearby). I'm pretty sure that the coin chests just exist to maybe make you waste rainbow drops to find chests. Just a lot of stuff that exists to be check boxes to check off for completion.

Also I didn't think it was too hard most of the time, but the balancing felt a little weird at times. Mostly environmental hazards do a ridiculous amount of damage, a third or half your life bar even with supposedly max armor (like the lasers in the final area taking off 7 hearts) which often causes you to lose your potion.

I'm probably being a bit too harsh, though I do sincerely believe that the best Wonder Boy game is Super Adventure Island 2 (although I have only beaten 1 and Dragon's Trap, and I haven't played 4 or Asha yet.)
The only certain death in the universe is Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons.
Not changing this line until I beat Seven Heroes (2/24/07) - Fulfilled 2/20/18
Cody has beaten Metroid: Zero Mission

I enjoyed it, but put me in the camp that doesn't think the late game additions to Zero Mission landed well. I found the stealth sections as Zero Suit Samus rather frustrating . Neat idea though.

2D Metroid games have some of my favorite atmospheres in gaming, they really nail the presentation. I'm terrible at these games but I can't help but love them.
"Video games are meant to be just one thing. Fun. Fun for everyone." -Satoru Iwata
"11533 >>> 1001 imo" - Jeff Zero
Me: "Ah, now would be a good time to play some Games of the Month!" It's the 31st. I may play Monster Boy anyway, but I'll keep an eye on next month.
"God Hand is the ultimate expression of the joy of humanity, specifically the punching part of the joy of humanity."-Shigeru Miyamoto
Board 8 » July Game of the Month Club ft. Chants of Sennaar, Monster Boy, and Metroid
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