zeehond
2024
Cool game. I really love the aesthetic, vibe and overall presentation. However, after the novelty wore off I felt that runs are far too samey. As long as you get a decent setup at the beginning and figure out what works you go for the same strategy every time. I really like deck-builders that have you try to make the best with what the game gives you but in Balatro, some items are great while others are completely useless or extremely unreliable.
The difficulty levels that are the stakes are just not any fun and only serve to make the game more RNG dependent and frustrating. With the notable exception being the Eternal Jokers. They are the only interesting addition to the gameplay that these stakes offer. The later stakes are way too RNG dependent and just not fun to play. Orange and Gold stake are especially annoying.
In the higher difficulty levels, you will be restarting runs over and over again until you get a decent start and then you'll have to be lucky that you won't get screwed over by any of the boss blinds. As they can sometimes completely counter your strategy and oftentimes you can't really properly prepare for them.
Then there are the different decks which actually aren't all that different and they basically all play out the same. Some are just more annoying to get going.
These problems became more and more apparent as I spent more time with the game. When I first booted up Balatro I had a blast though and I was hooked right from the start. And while that enjoyment started to turn to frustration as time went on I never lost that initial feeling of fascination with this game. It's strangely addictive.
I am more than done with this game now though after getting gold stake on one deck (Blue) and getting 100% of the collection. I don't feel like beating any of the challenges or to beat every deck on gold stake as that's just a giant RNG-fest and that would just feel like a chore to me.
The difficulty levels that are the stakes are just not any fun and only serve to make the game more RNG dependent and frustrating. With the notable exception being the Eternal Jokers. They are the only interesting addition to the gameplay that these stakes offer. The later stakes are way too RNG dependent and just not fun to play. Orange and Gold stake are especially annoying.
In the higher difficulty levels, you will be restarting runs over and over again until you get a decent start and then you'll have to be lucky that you won't get screwed over by any of the boss blinds. As they can sometimes completely counter your strategy and oftentimes you can't really properly prepare for them.
Then there are the different decks which actually aren't all that different and they basically all play out the same. Some are just more annoying to get going.
These problems became more and more apparent as I spent more time with the game. When I first booted up Balatro I had a blast though and I was hooked right from the start. And while that enjoyment started to turn to frustration as time went on I never lost that initial feeling of fascination with this game. It's strangely addictive.
I am more than done with this game now though after getting gold stake on one deck (Blue) and getting 100% of the collection. I don't feel like beating any of the challenges or to beat every deck on gold stake as that's just a giant RNG-fest and that would just feel like a chore to me.
1992
Seemed a bit easier than the previous games but that might also be because the charged shot is very strong in this game. Anyway, I barely had any trouble at all beating this game while some sections in the earlier games were pretty difficult/annoying.
I liked this game about the same as Mega Man 4 maybe just a tad less but still pretty enjoyable. The powers were cool and so were most of the bosses. The stages weren't bad either.
And I absolutely loved the little bird Beat.
I liked this game about the same as Mega Man 4 maybe just a tad less but still pretty enjoyable. The powers were cool and so were most of the bosses. The stages weren't bad either.
And I absolutely loved the little bird Beat.
2004
First of all, I did not like how the characters controlled compared to the earlier X games.
The stages are either meh or complete ass. Dynasty, Inferno and Primrose especially stood out as very bad stages.
One stage that I did find cool however, was the elevator level.
Because of these stages I really appreciated the Retry chips.
I liked the many upgrades that were available with chips. However, it also meant that in order to be effective you would have to focus on one character because you get nowhere close enough chips to upgrade all three characters a reasonable amount.
The beginning is a little rough but as soon as you get armor the game becomes extremely easy. The Icarus body armor especially trivializes the game.
As for the bosses, they were alright. I found most of them somewhat interesting and unique.
Although, the final boss did kill me twice with some bullshit. First time he pushed me off the platform which was an instant kill and then in his last phase he just has an instant kill attack? Fucking stupid.
The stages are either meh or complete ass. Dynasty, Inferno and Primrose especially stood out as very bad stages.
One stage that I did find cool however, was the elevator level.
Because of these stages I really appreciated the Retry chips.
I liked the many upgrades that were available with chips. However, it also meant that in order to be effective you would have to focus on one character because you get nowhere close enough chips to upgrade all three characters a reasonable amount.
The beginning is a little rough but as soon as you get armor the game becomes extremely easy. The Icarus body armor especially trivializes the game.
As for the bosses, they were alright. I found most of them somewhat interesting and unique.
Although, the final boss did kill me twice with some bullshit. First time he pushed me off the platform which was an instant kill and then in his last phase he just has an instant kill attack? Fucking stupid.
2000
First of all, this game is almost impossible to get to run properly on modern hardware. It took me hours to tweak and fix all the problems before I was finally able to play the game properly without any lag or graphical issues. I will not hold that against the game though obviously but it did frustrate me quite a bit.
JC is a great dude. Loved his interactions and there were some absolutely great lines in this game.
I liked the skill system too although some skills didn't feel worth it to invest in, like swimming and environmental training. Demolitions too if I think about it since I believe explosives are a one-shot kill against anyone anyway even at the Untrained level. I also wasn't impressed by Pistols even though it was the first skill I achieved the "Trained" level in. Rifles seemed far better.
Other than that, the gameplay was great. Having all kinds of different ways to approach the missions is superb. At the beginning of the game I had this compulsion to search every nook and cranny to find every secret and/or different path but I started enjoying the game way more when I stopped doing that and just focused on finding my own way in and sticking to that approach and just experiencing what I would find organically.
Combat was alright but could get kinda annoying. Especially some enemies. All bots were annoying to deal with and those little spiderfuckers were the worst of them all. I also found it pretty ridiculous how many shots enemies could take in their body compared to their heads. And fuck those enemies with Energy weapons. I couldn't see shit when they were shooting.
Augmentations were a cool system as well but I didn't like how you had to activate them and how quickly they drained energy. Some of the augmentations were a blast though, like Speed Enhancement. Regeneration was very strong too. Regeneration combined with Ballistic Protection basically meant that I was invincible as long as I had energy left. Usually, Regeneration on its own was already enough to allow me to easily tank shots without having to worry about my health.
The story was fine although I couldn't really get into it. I also didn't bother reading most mails nor newspapers.
Finding some plot stuff took me way too long too at times, for example, finding Dowd in Hell's Kitchen. And I got lost in Hong Kong more times than I'd like to admit.
Overall, an enjoyable game with some great moments. The combat wasn't the best but the infiltrating was a lot of fun.
JC is a great dude. Loved his interactions and there were some absolutely great lines in this game.
I liked the skill system too although some skills didn't feel worth it to invest in, like swimming and environmental training. Demolitions too if I think about it since I believe explosives are a one-shot kill against anyone anyway even at the Untrained level. I also wasn't impressed by Pistols even though it was the first skill I achieved the "Trained" level in. Rifles seemed far better.
Other than that, the gameplay was great. Having all kinds of different ways to approach the missions is superb. At the beginning of the game I had this compulsion to search every nook and cranny to find every secret and/or different path but I started enjoying the game way more when I stopped doing that and just focused on finding my own way in and sticking to that approach and just experiencing what I would find organically.
Combat was alright but could get kinda annoying. Especially some enemies. All bots were annoying to deal with and those little spiderfuckers were the worst of them all. I also found it pretty ridiculous how many shots enemies could take in their body compared to their heads. And fuck those enemies with Energy weapons. I couldn't see shit when they were shooting.
Augmentations were a cool system as well but I didn't like how you had to activate them and how quickly they drained energy. Some of the augmentations were a blast though, like Speed Enhancement. Regeneration was very strong too. Regeneration combined with Ballistic Protection basically meant that I was invincible as long as I had energy left. Usually, Regeneration on its own was already enough to allow me to easily tank shots without having to worry about my health.
The story was fine although I couldn't really get into it. I also didn't bother reading most mails nor newspapers.
Finding some plot stuff took me way too long too at times, for example, finding Dowd in Hell's Kitchen. And I got lost in Hong Kong more times than I'd like to admit.
Overall, an enjoyable game with some great moments. The combat wasn't the best but the infiltrating was a lot of fun.
1990
A step down from Mega Man 2 in my opinion. The improved controls and the addition of sliding weren't enough to make up for the flaws of this game. The stages were frustating, some of them were actually Mega Man 1-tier annoying.
Furthermore, the new powers are a lot worse than the Mega Man 2 powers. Both in terms of effectiveness and in terms of how good they felt to use.
The Proto Man fights were pretty lame as well and holy shit the amount of lag in this game. Hard Man's and Gemini Man's stages might also be two of the worst stages I have encountered in a Mega Man game. I also did not enjoy the Doc Robot section which basically boiled down to replaying four stages just to defeat a recycled Mega Man 2 boss. After that point with Doc Robot we get the Wily stages and these stages were a lot better than the ones before in my opinion. Some decent bosses too, except for that motherfucker Yellow Devil. Not sure why they've brought the worst Mega Man 1 boss back for a sequel. Well now that I think about it they do recycle a lot of content in these games...
Even though I didn't enjoy the fights with Proto Man, I did enjoy seeing his first appearance in the series. His tune is pretty good too. The whole soundtrack is pretty good actually. Also, I loved Rush. Such a good boy. Rush Jet is sooo good in this game that they (sadly) nerfed it later.
Furthermore, the new powers are a lot worse than the Mega Man 2 powers. Both in terms of effectiveness and in terms of how good they felt to use.
The Proto Man fights were pretty lame as well and holy shit the amount of lag in this game. Hard Man's and Gemini Man's stages might also be two of the worst stages I have encountered in a Mega Man game. I also did not enjoy the Doc Robot section which basically boiled down to replaying four stages just to defeat a recycled Mega Man 2 boss. After that point with Doc Robot we get the Wily stages and these stages were a lot better than the ones before in my opinion. Some decent bosses too, except for that motherfucker Yellow Devil. Not sure why they've brought the worst Mega Man 1 boss back for a sequel. Well now that I think about it they do recycle a lot of content in these games...
Even though I didn't enjoy the fights with Proto Man, I did enjoy seeing his first appearance in the series. His tune is pretty good too. The whole soundtrack is pretty good actually. Also, I loved Rush. Such a good boy. Rush Jet is sooo good in this game that they (sadly) nerfed it later.
1995
The way Mega Man walks and jumps in this game I don't know man it's kinda weird. He also feels really slow. Not a big fan of the sound effects either and the music feels off?
On the other hand, I do like that they added a little story and fleshed out the characters some more. Makes the world feel more alive. Furthermore, the boss fights were pretty enjoyable and unique for the most part. But damn that final Wily fight was hard.
I always feel like with these games that I am using the special boss powers far too little. I only used the boss powers for the actual bosses and for the stages I basically only used the Mega Buster and later the Rush Adapter.
Overall, an alright Mega Man game.
On the other hand, I do like that they added a little story and fleshed out the characters some more. Makes the world feel more alive. Furthermore, the boss fights were pretty enjoyable and unique for the most part. But damn that final Wily fight was hard.
I always feel like with these games that I am using the special boss powers far too little. I only used the boss powers for the actual bosses and for the stages I basically only used the Mega Buster and later the Rush Adapter.
Overall, an alright Mega Man game.
2001
Terrible game. All stages are a complete mess and have some extremely frustrating mechanics.
Fuck that Totem Pole level. Fuck the Magma level and fuck those red ring bosses with the green gems in particular. Jesus Christ, whoever thought that was a good idea should be shot. And you don’t fight just one. You have to fight FIVE! of them.
The North Pole, Temple, Recycle Lab and Laser Institute stages were extremely unfun and frustating as well.
The Gate Lab levels were somehow even worse than all the stages that came before it.
The bosses weren’t much better either. The worst offenders being Infinity Mijinion and Gate.
That fight with Gate is probably the worst boss battle I’ve ever encountered in a videogame.
It wasn't all bad though. The soundtrack was good and I did enjoy messing around with the parts. Especially the Jumper and Hyper Dash parts. It was pretty fun to go fast.
Fuck that Totem Pole level. Fuck the Magma level and fuck those red ring bosses with the green gems in particular. Jesus Christ, whoever thought that was a good idea should be shot. And you don’t fight just one. You have to fight FIVE! of them.
The North Pole, Temple, Recycle Lab and Laser Institute stages were extremely unfun and frustating as well.
The Gate Lab levels were somehow even worse than all the stages that came before it.
The bosses weren’t much better either. The worst offenders being Infinity Mijinion and Gate.
That fight with Gate is probably the worst boss battle I’ve ever encountered in a videogame.
It wasn't all bad though. The soundtrack was good and I did enjoy messing around with the parts. Especially the Jumper and Hyper Dash parts. It was pretty fun to go fast.
1993
Maybe the Mega Man fatigue has set in a little bit because this is the 6th Mega Man game I finished in like three days, but I liked this one a bit less than the previous one even though it feels like I 'should' like this one better. This game is clearly the most polished one yet and most of the powers were pretty strong and fun to use. Rush Jet is pretty cool too, but the fact that you could just fly over most rooms made it a little too good in my opinion. Rush Power is whatever. Very strong though. It annoyed me that you lose the ability to slide in these Rush forms.
Most bosses were extremely easy. Others very annoying, like the Dino. Energy Balancer should really just have been already been a thing since Mega Man 1 and unlocked by default.
Most bosses were extremely easy. Others very annoying, like the Dino. Energy Balancer should really just have been already been a thing since Mega Man 1 and unlocked by default.
1993
This game introduced the dash and wall climb. Both of which are great additions to Mega Man's kit.
The Dash in particular is fun and a very welcome addition. I love the speed at which you can zoom around the stages thanks to the dash, especially when compared to classic Mega Man's snail's pace.
The Wall climb is neat too. The bosses were pretty good as well.
But idk the stages are kinda boring? Just long stretches with very little enemy variety. The soundtrack isn't anything special either. It's a shame when considering that this is the best that Mega Man has ever controlled and then we get stages like this...
Don't get me wrong, the stages aren't bad, just boring.
I still had fun with the game though, thanks to the great movement and the cool weapons.
The Dash in particular is fun and a very welcome addition. I love the speed at which you can zoom around the stages thanks to the dash, especially when compared to classic Mega Man's snail's pace.
The Wall climb is neat too. The bosses were pretty good as well.
But idk the stages are kinda boring? Just long stretches with very little enemy variety. The soundtrack isn't anything special either. It's a shame when considering that this is the best that Mega Man has ever controlled and then we get stages like this...
Don't get me wrong, the stages aren't bad, just boring.
I still had fun with the game though, thanks to the great movement and the cool weapons.
1996
I did not like this game very much.
Most of the stages were frustrating. Especially Frost Man's and Astro Man's stages. The Frost Man stage was one of the worst experiences I've ever had in any videogame and Astro Man's stage is a giant pain in the ass.
Another problem I have with this game is that Mega Man moves so damn slow.
And let's not forget the voice acting. It is laughably bad.
I did like the animations (for the most part) and the graphics. And the music was decent as well. The weapons were pretty alright too.
Still, that isn't nearly enough to save this trainwreck of a game.
Most of the stages were frustrating. Especially Frost Man's and Astro Man's stages. The Frost Man stage was one of the worst experiences I've ever had in any videogame and Astro Man's stage is a giant pain in the ass.
Another problem I have with this game is that Mega Man moves so damn slow.
And let's not forget the voice acting. It is laughably bad.
I did like the animations (for the most part) and the graphics. And the music was decent as well. The weapons were pretty alright too.
Still, that isn't nearly enough to save this trainwreck of a game.
1989
Way better than the first. Mega Man's movement is still a bit clunky but since the enemies are less bullshit than in the previous game it is far more manageable. The bosses are a complete joke though since you can just spam their weakness and they die in 2 seconds.
The E-Tanks were a welcome addition. On the other hand, I did not enjoy the instant-kill stuff like beams in the Quick Man stage and the jellyfish in the Bubble Man stage.
Another small issue I had with the game was that you get so many different powers but there's just not enough game to really try them all out for more than a few seconds. But at least you actually get to use them in the actual stages since most of them don't drain a full bar of energy in 5 seconds as was the case in the first game.
I don't plan to revisit this game anytime soon (if ever) but I did have a good time with it.
The E-Tanks were a welcome addition. On the other hand, I did not enjoy the instant-kill stuff like beams in the Quick Man stage and the jellyfish in the Bubble Man stage.
Another small issue I had with the game was that you get so many different powers but there's just not enough game to really try them all out for more than a few seconds. But at least you actually get to use them in the actual stages since most of them don't drain a full bar of energy in 5 seconds as was the case in the first game.
I don't plan to revisit this game anytime soon (if ever) but I did have a good time with it.
2022
I did play the browser version quite a few times and I did enjoy it but after a while you kinda have the whole game figured out and you're going to have to use the strategies that you know that work or you won't get far. You cannot really "go" for a certain strategy and you have to work with what you got which is of course the point of the game but sometimes you just get dealt a bad hand and it's almost impossible to beat the third act. Balancing is still going on since the full version hasn’t released yet so that might improve but as of right now it's just a decent game that you can pick up and do like one run. Purse, CR8 and Satchel are nice characters but I am not really liking Tote and Pochetta. Pochetta is a chore to play as with all of her pets and managing every one of their inventories. They're just a bit underwhelming and I expected more of them than just being glorified extra backpacks. I do think they are charming and I'd like for them to stand out more with more abilities or maybe even allow them to level up or something. Tote is just weird and unintuitive to play as. She did get a balancing update but I still do not really like her.
2010
Oh shit I'm sorry
1987
Copying the powers of the bosses you beat is cool but that means that a boss is either trivial (if you have their respective weakness) or a giant pain in the ass to fight. Furthemore, I would have liked to be able to use the different powers a bit more in the actual stages but that wasn't really feasible since all the powers drain your energy extremely fast and you will want to reserve this energy for the boss fight.
Mega Man controls pretty terribly too. His jumps are pitiful and so is his movement speed. That makes the platforming in this game extremely frustrating and just not enjoyable at all. The only reason why this game was somewhat palatable for me was because I used save-states and even then I found it pretty frustrating.
Also the guy who designed the Yellow Devil boss fight should be shot.
Mega Man controls pretty terribly too. His jumps are pitiful and so is his movement speed. That makes the platforming in this game extremely frustrating and just not enjoyable at all. The only reason why this game was somewhat palatable for me was because I used save-states and even then I found it pretty frustrating.
Also the guy who designed the Yellow Devil boss fight should be shot.
1991
The best of the NES Mega Man games I have played so far. First time we get somewhat of a story which was a welcome change in my opinion. The one-screen sub screen was a very welcome addition as well. What a huge improvement compared to the previous three games that was.
I enjoyed most of the stages and most of the bosses. The bosses were a more difficult than they were in the previous games but they were fair. No replaying stages either. And yes we still get the boss rush room which I am not a big fan of but other than that most bosses were unique and had interesting patterns.
The weapon variety was a lot better than the previous games too.
I enjoyed most of the stages and most of the bosses. The bosses were a more difficult than they were in the previous games but they were fair. No replaying stages either. And yes we still get the boss rush room which I am not a big fan of but other than that most bosses were unique and had interesting patterns.
The weapon variety was a lot better than the previous games too.