GRcade

Franchise Name | Main Title | Subtitle

The franchise name can be a main title for a game, but a Subtitle cannot be used if that is the case.

At least, that's the rules I go by.

What rinks said

i have decided

on my own

for the purposes of integrity, and honour

i will continue to list them as p's (as i already had) - and no changes are required to my submissions

thank you to the council for hearing my case

Always knew you had the true alphabet spirit.

I think it should be allowed but only for Pokemon Pearl and Pokemon Platinum

Z (1996)

Absolutely definitely not one of the "Scrabble tile" games I bought at the turn of this year, no siree Bob...

This is an early RTS game centred around an intriguing intergalactic geopolitical landscape, and the themes explored within - such as the futility of war in general and the wisdom of Western cultural empire-building - are just as pertinent today as they were at the turn of the...nah, sorry, can't do that to you - this game is dumb as bricks and wears it like a badge of honour. There is no story, save for an army of red robots waging war on an army of blue robots because reasons. The cutscenes chart the antics of Brad and Allen, two low ranking but absolutely raaadicalll! Red pilots who are tasked with flying their ship to various battle sites under the influence of a constant supply of cans of "rocket fuel." They often feel they are able to relax, only for the drill sergeant Commander Zod to kick their arses back into gear and into the next fight. Literally, that's the story. Every few levels you go to a different planet but otherwise that's basically it. It is stupid and pointless but it also gives a big nostalgia hit - the rendered FMV CGI takes you straight back to the 1990s. Just look at this playlist - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9JczCU ... ED7549F39E

The gameplay is a bit like Domination mode in modern FPSs - you have to go from your base to secure a number of control points across the map. Owning these control points gives you access to the factories, vehicles and buildings in that zone, which gives you more units, which gives you more territory ad nauseum until you secure the enemy base. It's basically one of those mobile games that has an advert between each level. You can change what each factory makes but you really don't have to. I've got seven achievements still to get on this game and they're all "Build a [Unit]" - I should have got these through the course of the game but I just whacked a few medium tanks around the map and annihilated everyone. I struggled more with the UI and lack of zoom than the actual enemy!

While playing this I am reminded of two contemporaneous games - Command and Conquer and Worms. C&C came out the same year as this and is basically a different species in terms of RTS gameplay and story. Worms also went for a more cartoony look in the OG videos, but the difference is their cutscenes were actually funny! I don't think this is a good game or a good story, so I cannot recommend it.

But I definitely didn't hate it!

What is an acceptable metric to count balatro as completed? Finished run on every deck?

False wrote:What is an acceptable metric to count balatro as completed? Finished run on every deck?

First win outside the tutorial seed for me.

Lmao fair

100% achievements for completion of Balatro. That'd be my metric.

You're such a menace in this thread

do any other games require all achievement runs or 100% stats to be completed?

Maybe Balatro can’t be “completed”. Not all games can.

False wrote:do any other games require all achievement runs or 100% stats to be completed?

As far as I was aware it's just the main story mode which needs to be completed. My gauge is How Long To Beat to be honest, if I get to the credits and have spent a commensurate amount of time to what they have listed on there then I count that as completed. I've just marked Cricket Through The Ages as completed because I've done all the levels. I still need to get three sixes in a row and ten dot balls in a row to complete the achievements but I feel I've seen enough of the game to have a full conversation about it with another player. That's why I'm trying to write a little review for each game.

Dowbocop wrote:

False wrote:do any other games require all achievement runs or 100% stats to be completed?

As far as I was aware it's just the main story mode which needs to be completed. My gauge is How Long To Beat to be honest, if I get to the credits and have spent a commensurate amount of time to what they have listed on there then I count that as completed. I've just marked Cricket Through The Ages as completed because I've done all the levels. I still need to get three sixes in a row and ten dot balls in a row to complete the achievements but I feel I've seen enough of the game to have a full conversation about it with another player. That's why I'm trying to write a little review for each game.

that’s a similar basis to what I have been working from, either a credits roll or where there isn’t one fundamental completion of all main game modes

rinks wrote:Maybe Balatro can’t be “completed”. Not all games can.

I don’t see the value in such a statement in the context of this tickbox challenge

False wrote:

Dowbocop wrote:

False wrote:do any other games require all achievement runs or 100% stats to be completed?

As far as I was aware it's just the main story mode which needs to be completed. My gauge is How Long To Beat to be honest, if I get to the credits and have spent a commensurate amount of time to what they have listed on there then I count that as completed. I've just marked Cricket Through The Ages as completed because I've done all the levels. I still need to get three sixes in a row and ten dot balls in a row to complete the achievements but I feel I've seen enough of the game to have a full conversation about it with another player. That's why I'm trying to write a little review for each game.

that’s a similar basis to what I have been working from, either a credits roll or where there isn’t one fundamental completion of all main game modes

rinks wrote:Maybe Balatro can’t be “completed”. Not all games can.

I don’t see the value in such a statement in the context of this tickbox challenge

I agree not all games can be completed, but from what I've heard of Balatrob second hand there's bosses and a win condition so it can be. I've got to the end of a run of Into the Breach and I haven't for FTL, therefore I've completed ITB but not FTL. Completing a game doesn't mean leaving no replay value at all.

False wrote:

rinks wrote:Maybe Balatro can’t be “completed”. Not all games can.

I don’t see the value in such a statement in the context of this tickbox challenge

Well, if you want to tick that box, maybe pick a game that has clear completion criteria.

rinks wrote:

False wrote:

rinks wrote:Maybe Balatro can’t be “completed”. Not all games can.

I don’t see the value in such a statement in the context of this tickbox challenge

Well, if you want to tick that box, maybe pick a game that has clear completion criteria.

There are plenty of games that can't be completed, like multiplayer games or a daily one off game like Connections.

Balatro gives you a singular objective of 'beat eight bosses' and literally says you have won the game when you complete that objective. All the different decks and difficulties are just optional modifiers on that original task to add some flavour and replay value.

If you complete one run of Balatro you have completed the game.

Sounds like you all want things a bit easy.

I love the discord in this thread