Alright, I started to realize just how big Dragon Quest V is, and came to the conclusion that my heart wasn't really in it right now. So I'm tabling that one for a minute because I had a new release game calling out to me from my shelves and I decided it would take precendent. I've never played an Etrian Odyssey game before, but they always seem to be highly regarded. And this one has been sort of hyped as a sort of 3DS JRPG swan song (until Persona Q2 arrives, I reckon). I couldn't resist jumping in now.

I had literally no idea what to expect outside of some anime inspired sprite work. And sometimes, going into a game blindly is half the fun, right? So I started it up and found that you don't have preset characters and instead make up a party out of a huge list of possible classes and customizations. I sort of freeze up when it comes to making new names for characters in games. So the first thing that popped into my head was Xenomorph mythos. I guess cuz Alien Day is approaching. So I named the guild LV-426 and made up a party of five named after characters from various Alien films (and Blade Runner, for good measure).

I haven't played many first person dungeon crawlers, though I did love the original Phantasy Star back in the day, and the auto map makes this far less frustrating. I don't know how I really feel about annotating my map with the stylus (yet), though. We'll see.

I did a few quests - about two hours worth - and am starting to get the hang of things. I'm having a pretty good time, and can see how this could work as a bite sized quest compulsion for sure. So far, I pretty much like my party. I've got two frontline attackers, a healer, a defense and... um, some other one that I guess does like dark spells or whatever but right now feels slightly useless.  I might try to swap in a different fifth and play with the party lineup until it all clicks with me.

Played a bit more Etrian Odyssey Nexus, though still getting the hang of things. I swapped out the Zodiac party member I had in the back line and made a new... um, I forget the class. The one that uses bow and arrows. I like her better than the Zodiac, as now I have a Hero, Defender and one of those spear-wielding warriors in the front, and a medic and archer in the back. Feels like a good (albeit basic) lineup.

Dicked around in the 2nd labyrinth for a while. A limit on what you can carry seems weak. It doesn't take long to pick up 60 pieces of loot, y'know? So I went back to the castle, sold some stuff, bought some better gear, and then did a bit of side-questing. Everyone's around level 8 or so, and I'm probably 3.5 hrs in, which is still super early. But the nice thing about the way the game is set up (IE: selecting quests from a hub menu rather than truly exploring the world map) makes me think that this will be a good "hour before bed" kind of game where I can just make slow and steady progress over time.

I'be been juggling a few games lately, but played s'more Etrian Odyssey Nexus last night. I'm five or six hours in now. My party is around level 14. It's definitely growing on me. Having never really spent much time with a true dungeon crawler like this, I realized last night that I can give it one rather high piece of praise: It sort of reminds me of Phantasy Star Online. Not in execution exactly. It doesn't play similar. This has first person dungeons and you need to make maps and it's turn based battles... but just, the structure. There's like a main hub and you choose some missions and go back and revisit dungeons again to do them. There's def a PSO vibe there in a good way.

It's the sort of structure that can compel me even when it's effectively just busy work. So like I keep revisiting the same dungeon and it's to grab a certain plant for a shop keeper; or a water sample for HQ, things like that. It's all about the grind, right? The turn based battles and leveling and looting - it may as well be clicky clicking in Diablo. Which again, is a compliment. Because even when not much is happening, I'm finding myself lose an hour or two in a flash.

There's allegedly some boss monter for me to kill in this dungeon but I can't seem to find it. Hmm.

Okay, so the claws of Etrian Odyssey Nexus have officially been dug in. You guys ever see the movie Brain Damage where that little alien Elmer sticks his needle in that kid's brain and shoots some weird blue stuff that drugs him all out? It's like that kind of. Less extreme, though. But damn, the loop of going into a dungeon, grinding, looting, going back to town to sell shit, get new weapons and armor, activate side-quests, rinse/repeat... it works. It's almost hypnotizing.

I dug through enough menus to find the automap feature and thank you. I don't care if that makes me less hardcore. It's super helpful. And I mean, you still need to annotate the map for everything, but at least it shows me the walls of the hallways I've been down now.

My party is all around level 17-18 now. Oh, and this is rich... I had leveled up 10 times before I remembered I had skill points to spend for each level. So yeah. I went ahead and upped some stats, haha. Spent a lot of time in the Lush Whateveritscalled dungeon (the 2nd one) and finally managed to beat the boss of that one before I forced myself to get to bed last night. Good stuff.

Also made s'more progress on Etrian Odyssey Nexus cuz I'm addicted. I killed the Wyvern in the third labyrinth. Which... have you ever seen a movie or TV show where someone is playing a video game in a scene and y'know, it's an Xbox One but it's making bleeps and bloops like an Atari 2600 and the dialogue of the characters in the show make it clear that the writers have never played a video game before? They would say something like "I just killed the Wyvern in the third labyrinth!"

I'm about ten hours in and my party is around level 24. At level 20 you unlock new skill options which is cool. Sort of like a job system I guess. Right now I feel like my healer is the one doing the least work. But I have a feeling keeping her leveled for later in the game will be smart. I have no idea how many (main quest) labyrinths are in the game. The only FAQ I can find shows four of them, so I don't know if that's the main story quest stuff, and then there's just a bunch of side quest stuff to flesh everything out, or if the dude just hasn't finished the FAQ. Side-thought: who even writes FAQs? It's such a huge undertaking, and I'd assume a fairly thankless endeavor. I'm impressed that someone could play a game like this and actually create a walkthrough in their spare time.

I continue to play Etrian Odyssey Nexus. And I found a list of all the dungeon bosses, which would seem to confirm to me that - my gawd - there is an incredible amount of content ahead of me here. With that said, it'll probably be the sort of game that I play for a bit before bed and make slow and steady progress on rather than being the sort of game that I can focus solely on, which would totally burn me out. Then again, I know my gaming habbits and probably around the time Persona Q comes out I'll get distracted by that game which is probably a lot like this one. But hey - I'm having a good time. I've sunk in a good 11 hours already and I feel like I'm getting my money's worth.

Y'know what? I don't know if I've ever played Mega Man 5 before. Weird. I didn't find it familiar. I had the first three NES games as a kid. And I do remember a buddy of mine getting the fourth game. And I wasn't too into that one. And then I think by the time that the fifth game came out I was more focused on 16-bit games. Hmm. So yeah I guess I must have missed this one until now. Which of course is why archival releases like the Mega Man Legacy Collection on Switch are so awesome.

It was actually kind of neat going into an 8-bit Mega Man game without being familiar with it. I was taken aback by the ability to charge your shots in this one. Now, I don't remember Mega Man 4 that well, so maybe that ability was in that game too? I don't know. I guess in my mind I always assumed it had started in Mega Man X, but apparently - what the heck do I know?

I have to admit something weird, though. Lately I've found that I'm enjoying jumping into the Mega Man games on these Switch collections and not actually beating them. I don't know what it is. I basically just really enjoy playing through all the main robot boss levels and then just quitting instead of doing the endgame stuff. I guess I just find those main levels more interesting - especially going against the robot masters and seeing how they behave.

Given that these robot masters were all new-to-me, it was kind of an interesting and fun little one-sitting endeavor. For instance, Charge Man? Wow. Capcom was really running out of... steam. (Sorry). But... on the flip (sorry), I thought Gravity Man's stage was cool and actually I wonder if it could have inspired stuff like VVVVVVV. So there's that.

All in all, Mega Man 5 seems like a fine 8-bit Mega Man game. It's not the greatness that is Mega Man 2 or 3, but it's certainly not a terrible game. Or even a bad one. It's pretty middle of the road, but definitely fun.

Over the weekend I fired up Sonic The Hedgehog via the Switch's Genesis Classics collection. In my mind, this was going to be a quick one sitting run through of the game. Over the years, I've played (and beat) the original Sonic many times. And while I contend that both Sonic 2 and Sonic CD are way better games, I've grown to find something really commendable about that first game. I last played it through maybe five years ago or so, and I found that by ignoring the hyped speed of the game, and taking things a little more slow and deliberate, it actually shows some impressive level design and fun platforming. Of course, not running super fast constantly as Sonic sort of feels like it's going against the point of the game. And really, in Sonic CD I can just hold Right on the d-pad for most of the game and feel awesome. So whatever.

The real pain in the ass for me in this game is that water level. Oh man. That's the level that really kills the momentum of the game as a whole. And for me, the only way to play that level without stressing out is to go super slow, and stop at every little bubble patch to get a fresh breath. I hate games where you need to keep replenishing air so you don't drown. (Hello, Ecco). But for the most part I've always had great nostalgia for this game. The bright colors, the wonderful music. I mean, that chill music on the bonus stages sounds like Christmas morning to me.

However...

For years I've been a total Sonic apologist. And really, that comes from being a big Sega kid back in the day. I mean I had all the Nintendo platforms and all the Sega platforms. But for a long time I feel like I just really connecting with Sega. And for all the bad Sonic games that have mucked up the Sega name, I always swore they were better than people gave them credit for. And that *probably* I was a bigger Sonic/Sega fan that I was a Mario/Nintendo fan. But the past few years this seems to be really shifting.

Over the past year or so I've been doing a lot of replays of stuff that meant a lot to me as a kid. And y'know what I've been finding out? I think maybe I've been wrong for a while. Having replayed Super Mario World a few months ago, it's clear to me that it's not even close. When I was a kid I loved that game and I loved Sonic. But Sonic seemed so NEW and flashy. It was brash and Sonic had 'tude. Meanwhile, Mario was just doing Mario. Albeit, to perfection. When I think back, this is really a good metaphor for Sega vs Nintendo as a whole. I probably played way more games on my Genesis as a kid. But the games I played on SNES (Link To The Past, NBA Jam, Street Fighter II, Mario Kart, etc) are games that really really hold up. It's a quality over quantity thing, the way I'm looking at it now.

So yeah. I still really respect that first Sonic game. And I still think it's pretty impressive. And it still holds a TON of nostalgia for me. But playing it so soon after Super Mario World, I'm realizing that I don't actually enjoy it nearly as much as I thought I remembered. Huh.

If forced to choose, I'd say without hesitation that Mega Man X is my favorite MM game of all time. No question. I grew up playing the NES games and was definitely a fan. But it was this release on SNES that cemented itself as the pinnacle for me. I spent so much more time on MMX than any other game in the series. Part of that is because of all the secret stuff in the levels which gave you a real reason to go back and explore. I still remember how amazing it felt when I first go the haduken back then. Oh my goodness. And so throughout the years, I've found myself revisiting this one time and time again.

For all the baffling decisions that Capcom has made in recent years (most recently this stupid arcade plug-n-play, or their approach to the Resident Evil games on Switch), I must give props where due on these Mega Man collections. Okay, okay, obviously I'd much rather if ALL the games were included on the cart. But my favorite of the original Mega Man Legacy Collection were in the first volume anyway, and I'd say the same about Mega Man X Legacy Collection as well. So I can't be toooo bitter.

Mega Man X is such a comfort game for me. And it totally defines the SNES era in my mind. It's up there with stone cold classics like Super Mario World, A Link To The Past, Super Street Fighter II Hyper Awesome Edition Featuring Jumpman, NBA Jam, Mario Kart and so on as these games that filled hours upon hours of my youth. These are chicken soup for the soul games, baby.

Everything about Mega Man X is spot-on perfect for me. The color palette; the sprite work; the level design; the music. I love how cool X looks in this one. I even love the bosses. And I mean little things... that opening level that's meant as a quasi-tutorial. Or the way that Launch Octopus taunts you with his "you're going down" animation at the start of the battle. There is just layer upon layer of love put into this game.

So over the holiday weekend, I crammed in some Mega Man X and played through the main boss stages. Now I'm going back and working on getting all the upgrades before I make my way towards Sigma. I think I did this again like five years ago or so and had a blast. And once again, I'm loving every moment of this replay. Just the fact that I want to go back for the upgrades is a testament to how much I love playing this game. Most retro games that I revisit for the umpteenth time it's like I just wanna rush through. Not with Mega Man X. I savor every moment.

Played a bit more Mega Man X. The one upgrade that drives me nuts - and I'm sure drives most players nuts - is the one in Flame Mammoth's stage. The jump needed to get to the blocks just feels SLIGHTLY too far a jump. And then pulling off the block-breaking takes some precision. It took me like fifteen minutes of attempting to jump there properly before I pulled it off. And in the end, I ended up needing to do with the Pro Controller in hand rather than playing in handheld mode. But ugh, glad that's done.

So now I've got all the upgrades... except that Hadoken. I totally forgot that you need to have gotten ALL of the the heart tanks and ALL of the e-tanks in order for the Hadoken upgrade to even appear. So I'm not sure I'll bother. I don't feel like I need all those extra hearts and e-tanks to beat the game. I don't know. Maybe I'll give it a shot. I guess a couple of them would be helpful. We'll see how it goes. Maybe I'll give it a shot, but if I get impatient I'll just make a rush for Sigma instead.