Rinoa Carmichael

2 Jan

Rinoa’s Gaming Completion Thread 2026 Why not do one of these

Well, I was right about Gunvolt 3 being the one I want to try being good at. And while I know the ranking system does in fact go a few steps beyond S... I think if I can get most stages S rank I'll be pretty happy.

Ok, I did love lost dimension. I know this is a rogue game but it’s time to give it a shot finally! It can’t be THAT bad can it?

Also, while the slight horror/mystery vibes are here, the whole thing comes off as quite flat. Not that LD was overflowing with unique personality, but I quickly found characters I liked in the cast, which so far hasn't happened here.

I got Monark cheap, and I want to give it about 5 or 6 hours before I call my curiosity satisfied. I hope I come out liking it, but who knows with Furyu....

Ok, I did love lost dimension. I know this is a rogue game but it’s time to give it a shot finally! It can’t be THAT bad can it?

Character systems, so far it does seem to be following through on good skill trees and I am already enjoying plotting out the extremely small team I have. But... that leads me to...

Small party size. I hope this expands quickly, but with only a small party of three early on, it feels very very limiting. And while LD had a big problem with grinding, here the game more clearly seems build around it, but this combat system is not fast, so I'm not sure how good it is for that?

Ok, I did love lost dimension. I know this is a rogue game but it’s time to give it a shot finally! It can’t be THAT bad can it?

So, some early thoughts - This really does look significantly worse than Lost Dimension, perhaps not in a technical sense, but how conversations are presented looks quite cheap compared to the pretty nice animated portraits in the LD.

With some of the Arcade discourse yesterday, I have to say, starting Gunvolt 3 today I think feels very timely. The whole "lock on, dash, have a moment to fire/jump/do another dash, btw the floor is lava" gets a lot of moments to be used in "normal survival" gameplay, and is always a blast.

And the game makes it clear that you COULD be playing like a lot, I think this really helps bridge the gap between why not play for score instead of survival, because when you do the score stuff, it looks like a lot of fun, while also looking quite different to regular play. So it feels exciting.

I'll have to keep playing and see if this holds up, but I personally am way more interested in trying to get some high scores on these levels and the previous two gunvolts.

.... Lunch pie?

@sarahseeandersen.bsky.social

I know I’m very late to this, but finally playing Copen in Gunvolt 2, I realize - Copen’s air dash > lock on gun shots was exactly the mechanic shadow the hedgehog needed.

Rinoa Carmichael reposted

Sarah Andersen

Rinoa Carmichael reposted

LAKESPIRIT

@lakespirit.love

i like the current arcade reassessment, but if I were to play epic contrarian 😎 to any part of it, it's coins. I recognize and agree the dynamic that coins make you weigh your options much more carefully than infinite credits. basically anything involving real world money cannot be considered pure

I had a lot of mixed feelings on Gunvolt 1, but I will say starting gunvolt 2 it’s immediately a much nicer game despite in many ways being much the same. Even just the simple clear visual on when prevasion is getting used helps make the game way more readable and learnable.

That’s not to say gunvolt 2 is hard! It’s still on the pleasantly easy side of things if your goal is survival as opposed to thriving. But I felt like I had to pay attention to get my wins. And I feel like I actually learned my toolkit a lot more and would like try being maybe a little good at it?

I’m looking forward to Copen tomorrow.

Also I just love the word prevasion, evasion you are prepared for. Excellent. No notes.

Gunvolt route of gunvolt 2 finished. This is such an incredible improvement of the first. The first game had all the style and systems it needed. The sequel really adds those touches and find a lot of way to stop prevasion completely trivializing the game.

Apps are cool sure, but you know what’s also great, websites. Of course I love a good local app but when it’s just a repackaged website too… I’ll just take the website please.

I think there's something interesting here about expectations that is really important. So, it is a deeply held belief that these games are shallow quarter munchers, before people actually play them, that's the perception there. If you think a game is already shallow and unfair, why learn?

Derek Yu@mossmouth.bsky.social

Painful review of the Capcom Beat 'Em Up Bundle on Steam that really highlights how destructive the continue system was to people's perception of arcade games. The beat 'em ups mentioned play wildly different from one another if you're actually trying to survive on 1 credit.

@chaputranslations.bsky.social

This assumption, means that players just don't even start learning, and even if you throw a credit limit, that feeling of unfair is just going to be hard for a lot of players to overcome. It's hard to really make a big shift in mindset, without games being really step by step about it.

Rinoa Carmichael reposted

Chapu

THE CURSE IS COMING ON HALLOWEEN! 🎃 I'm elated to announce the upcoming release of our English patch for "Ningyo no rakuin": "The Curse of Ogaeritō". Out on Oct, 31st! An amazing work with @vervalkon.bsky.social @laytonloztew.bsky.social and Whowasphone404 #retrogaming #ps1 #fantranslation

Verneri Kontto@vervalkon.bsky.social

Our fan translation for Ningyo no Rakuin (人魚の烙印) is done. Patch scheduled for release on October 31, 2026 We'll drop some translated marketing materials every 2 days just to tease you. Get hype! Thanks to the wonderful team @chaputranslations.bsky.social @laytonloztew.bsky.social & whowasphone404

Wait, final fantasy resonance is developed by lancarse???? Gets better every minute.

Today I went to the Edo museum. I saw this A yomi-hon. Combining reading and book. I look at the English side, and honestly, I would just feel like I've walked into a trap with the English being "books for reading."

automaton-media.comDisgaea creator Sohei Niikawa says he had to take out a $127 thousand loan to complete his new dark comedy SRPG, Demons’ Night Fever - AUTOMATON WESTDemons' Night Fever is out today on Steam, PS5, and Switch.

This explains so much about the history of NIS.

AUTOMATON WEST@automatonwest.bsky.social

Disgaea creator Sohei Niikawa says he had to take out a $127 thousand loan to complete his new dark comedy SRPG, Demons’ Night Fever The game's success is crucial for Niikawa's plan to create 66 games by the time he turns 75 automaton-media.com/en/news/disg...

Me while playing gunvolt - Man, this is neat, but a little too easy. Gunvolt 1 - Ok, well now suddenly, here's the multi boss gauntlet. I appreciate it, in the abstract, I understand why these games do this. I also haven't found it fun a single time...

rinowase.pika.pageBoomerang X - Games I love Across The Alphabet B - Rinowase Down The RiverI need to make something very clear before we go into this. I hated first-person-shooters. The moment a game was in this perspective, I was out. I know it is...

This series is just for rebuilding that writing muscle, but keeping it going. These aren't really supposed to be in depth, but I liked how this one ended up being a little about the contrast of "games for beginners" vs "games that actually get people into a genre" rinowase.pika.page/posts/boomer...

I can’t say I loved a lot of BioWare’s work. Unironically I only really enjoyed Dragon Age 2, Sonic Chronicles and Neverwinter Nights. But Dragon Age 2 was extremely important to me. At the time I identified as a gay man, and it really was special for me to be able to be that in a game.

And for the many pros and cons of ea over the years, it really was something to see one of the biggest companies in gaming, outputting queer media. I was comfortably open at the time without a lot of worry, but we were still fighting for marriage.

Play dragon age 2.

I also think Dragon Age 2 is just a great ride with a delightful pace and a surprisingly short run time making it one of the only western RPGs I’ve replayed.

So right now I am going through a few skill rebuilding projects, because over the last 4 years in my past jobs, I have neglected my writing, and my Japanese study. I am really looking for some good easy Japanese novels to help rebuild that muscle. I was approaching N2, but out of practice.

I've already got my anime and manga sealegs back, so it's time for text! I know news stories is kind of the best next step... but that's no fun.

OK, gotta pick out a game that starts with B to reflect on for my little games of the alphabet challenge. There are a lot of good options I am mulling over, Bayonetta Blackbar Blue Reflection Bound Destiny Boomerang X Are all very compelling choices...

I think one thing that is telling, in all of this, is that no one is taking what could be an easy approach. Why not bring up the environment? That’s potentially a pretty easy argument to appreciate and understand even if folks disagree with it, there’s a principle. But no, not at all.

Eurogamer@eurogamer.bsky.social

PlayStation founder Ken Kutaragi says discs became "metaphor for 'owning' games", and that upset at their discontinuation is a "mentality issue" www.eurogamer.net/ken-kutaragi...

rinowase.pika.pageAstro Boy: Omega Factor - Games I love Across The Alphabet A - Rinowase Down The RiverAstroboy: Omega Factor is an excellent way to start this list off. It's a game that I've come back to over and over again over the years, and each time...

I've been so out of practice with writing, and also getting to in my head about trying to write to do something other than just consume while I'm unemployed. I'm just glad to have written something. We shall see how far in the alphabet I get. rinowase.pika.page/posts/astro-...

Also, I hope you all appreciate the fact I used the Australian box in the image. Although it is missings the large torn section in the corner where an EB Sticker said "TRADE IN 2 GAMES TO GET THIS FOR JUST 20 DOLLARS"

I’m not going to tell you Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara is the most incredible platformer of all time. But if you were someone who played astrobot and want a good simple platformer with a lot of joy in its heart, Koa is it.

I think a lot of the platforming challenges really balance between those playing “normally” with the run button and those being roll mad and challenging those players to space carefully.

Go play Koa!

I love this simple role mechanic in the game. When you land press the dash button for a fast roll, if you jump during the roll or the extra speed, you get a fast long jump. So getting good at the game is about spacing these rolls and jumps, because it’s so easy to overshoot.