Law212 wrote on 2026-04-08, 17:17:

fix_metal wrote on 2026-04-08, 00:07:

Lately on PC I've played Mario's missing, street fighter 2, another world, and warcraft 2 expansion set.
These last couple days I've got back my NES with Faxanadu.

AWesome. I love Mario is missing, but I havent been able to track down the CD rom version with the additional countries.
Which SF 2 are you playing? I need to finish warcraft 2 as well. I have also gotten my NES up and running and played some Legend of Zelda and Ninja Gaiden 2.

I'm sure Mario's missing got localized in Italian and played that version when I was a kid. Though, to a friend's house with his PC, and he never shared. I found the English version online. It was funny as I visited many of the playable countries, and there are various inaccuracies down the line.

SF2 is the standard version. I got (bought it back) the Italian big box version which was just booklet localized, and game adapted (hacked? Who knows) to match the security checks from the new language. The game is English alright. This was a odd one as I forever had the backup floppies (call them copies) with the original manual, and then the manual just disappeared. Possibly, I trashed it and I don't even recall the moment. But as I've said, I bought it now full box. I've also got a set of floppies (originals) along with the manual only from the same editor - which is Futura Games, there are some Italian enthusiasts who wrote about the company.

Warcraft 2: ah, I LOVED it when I was a kid, but I always sucked at RTS. I still remember connecting to an early dial up number with an external 28.8K modem to get the cheat codes from blizzard.com as I couldn't manage to get through some level. I always dreamt of having the expansion, and some years back I finally got it - Italian localized. Rarest than rare gems in my collection.

These nights I'm just enjoying the NES Faxanadu game though.

Hollow Knight

Got this on the GOG spring sale and started playing it recently. It was described to me as a Metroidvania with some minor Soulslike elements, so I figured it should be right up my alley. And indeed, I'm liking it quite a bit so far. The art style kinda reminds me of those Macromedia Flash games from the mid 2000s, but thankfully, it's much more detailed than that. The areas are finely crafted with a lot of minor effects like grass moving as you brush past it and so on. The game starts out very slow, and is needlessly bogged down by having to purchase items like the map, the compass (which shows your location on the map) and tokens which display vendors, benches (save/rest checkpoints) and fast travel locations. In my view, things like that should have been unlocked from the get go. There is no XP/leveling system here, but you can upgrade your health by finding the relevant powerups. There are also equippable items (charms) that can further improve some of your skills and attacks, but you need to pick which one you want to use since equipment slots are limited. The input is very snappy, and the game plays great on my Xbox controller.

So far, I only made it past the second (or third?) boss, that being Hornet. She had a lot of health and a very fast moveset for such an early boss fight, and I had to do the Dark Souls thing and learn her attack patterns to win here. I'm playing this completely blind, so it's entirely possible that I missed some powerups that could have made this fight easier, but I got through it anyway. After beating her, you get the cape which grants the dash ability, and that unlocks a lot more places for traversal. I'm currently farming some coins to buy some stuff from the charm vendor, and it looks like the game is about to open up a bit more. So far so good, though I'm a bit weary of fast paced platforming sections that might await me in the future. Not sure if my old man reflexes can handle that, but I'll give it a shot.

newtmonkey wrote on 2026-04-11, 13:34:

Dishonored
It's been a while since I last played this. I was really enjoying it, but got toward the end of the first real mission and started to get annoyed. I'm not a fan of stealth games, and this was throwing out all the red flags--having to sit around waiting for enemy patrols, trial-and-error gameplay where it seems you have to save in every room, etc. On a whim, I launched the game this morning and, before I knew it, I was addicted again.

The problem was not with the game, but with me. It's not really a "stealth game." Sure, you can stealth your way through the entire game (the game actually tracks this)... but it's more like Deus Ex, in that you have many approaches and alternate routes through levels, so that you only have to be as stealthy as you want. Once you realize that, the game really opens up for you. Very nice!

Dishonored pretty much lets you play the game any way you want, and mixing stealth and combat is a perfectly valid approach. There are even abilities specifically aimed at that, such as Shadow Kill.

That said, the in-game tips do warn you that taking the lethal approach too often will have consequences. Without spoiling anything, I'll just say that certain people talk to you differently depending on how bloodthirsty you were during the missions. There are also some changes to the areas based on that, and the ending can be affected by your kill count as well.

Been playing King's Bounty Warriors of the North for a while. After I arrived at Greenwort I thought I was supposed to stay there since I couldn't figure out how to leave. I fought past hordes of Deadly and Invincible enemies, until there was nothing more to do and it became obvious that there must be a way to do long distance travel after all. Now I'm going to other locations and the enemies are super weak.

Inquistors, Axe Throwers, Paladins, Jarls, and Warrior Maidens make a pretty good party. Inquisitors and Paladins can resurrect troops. Paladins and Jarls can give units an extra turn (and they have high defense). Jarls and Axe Throwers have attacks that can hit multiple enemies. Warrior Maidens have high initiative and a ranged attack that can take out enemy archers before they fire. The only problem is the limited number of Warrior Maidens available to hire. Horsemen or Berserkers are an OK substitute.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2026-04-13, 14:12:

That said, the in-game tips do warn you that taking the lethal approach too often will have consequences. Without spoiling anything, I'll just say that certain people talk to you differently depending on how bloodthirsty you were during the missions. There are also some changes to the areas based on that, and the ending can be affected by your kill count as well.

That's great! Good motivation to take a stealthy approach if I ever decide to replay it.

--

Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar (Apple II)
I've become completely addicted to this, and now I'm very close to the end. I completed the Famicom version a few years ago, so I generally knew what to do and where to go, so I've been able to get through much of the game very quickly.

All that's left now is to tackle the Abyss, but I need to prepare a bit more. I've got all the best equipment, tons of food, and lots of spells mixed... but I definitely want some of the spells that require Mandrake Root, so I'll probably have my adventurers camp out for a few moon cycles and gather some. I could use some more levels (only the main character is level 😎, too, but I might just give the Abyss a try as is and see how it goes. Before I do that, I will probably go around touching some more magic orbs to get half my party maxed out on their stats (they are already pretty close).

I really was not expecting to enjoy this so much the second time around! Although the Famicom version is a decent port, I now realize that it's much more simplified than I originally thought. I'm surprised at how nicely the original plays today, although it did take me 15-30 minutes to really get used to its quirks.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2026-04-13, 14:12:

newtmonkey wrote on 2026-04-11, 13:34:

Dishonored
It's been a while since I last played this. I was really enjoying it, but got toward the end of the first real mission and started to get annoyed. I'm not a fan of stealth games, and this was throwing out all the red flags--having to sit around waiting for enemy patrols, trial-and-error gameplay where it seems you have to save in every room, etc. On a whim, I launched the game this morning and, before I knew it, I was addicted again.

The problem was not with the game, but with me. It's not really a "stealth game." Sure, you can stealth your way through the entire game (the game actually tracks this)... but it's more like Deus Ex, in that you have many approaches and alternate routes through levels, so that you only have to be as stealthy as you want. Once you realize that, the game really opens up for you. Very nice!

Dishonored pretty much lets you play the game any way you want, and mixing stealth and combat is a perfectly valid approach. There are even abilities specifically aimed at that, such as Shadow Kill.

That said, the in-game tips do warn you that taking the lethal approach too often will have consequences. Without spoiling anything, I'll just say that certain people talk to you differently depending on how bloodthirsty you were during the missions. There are also some changes to the areas based on that, and the ending can be affected by your kill count as well.

Dishonored is one I want to revisit some time soon. I bought and played it when it came out day one and I loved every minute of it. You had a lot of freedom and I have some memories of funny events. I walked into a room with a man sleeping on the couch so i picked up him and threw him out the window into the water below thinking he would wake up and it would be funny. He was eaten alive by fish and I lost my no kill streak.

I did start teh game a couple times a while ago but other games got in the way but the point it the graphics hold up super well because of the art style. I want to go through this again and clean up some acheivements and start dishonored 2

As for me i finished Re 9 and have Pragmata pre-loaded on my computer ready for friday

Ultima IV (Apple II)

Wow, what an experience! It took me just 15-30 minutes to get used to the slower pace of the game and the need to swap disks, but after that it was smooth sailing. It felt better balanced than what I'd played of the DOS version (combat was far less tedious), and obviously offers much more than the simplified (but still decent) Famicom game. In comparison to the console version, I really like how your character gains EXP simply by finding quest items; it really reinforces the fact that the point of the game is to become the Avatar, not to slay a bunch of things (you can leave that to your companions).

I didn't think I'd enjoy this very much, since I had already completed the Famicom game, but I had an absolute blast playing through it. I honestly had trouble pulling myself away from it! The quest is so fascinating that I even found myself thinking about it when I wasn't playing it. Because the game is so nonlinear, you're almost always making progress in one way or another, and it's perfect for setting little goals for yourself.

The way that the quest is designed is simply amazing. I love how everything connects, how you have eight virtues, each with a town, mantra, and companion. And then you have the three principles of love, truth, and courage, which are combinations of the virtues. And then you have dungeons which are the opposites of each virtue, but connected by altars representing each principle! As you play the game, it all starts fitting together in a way that actually guides you along this massive nonlinear quest without just telling you exactly what to do. It's a work of genius, and it's still compelling today.

It's a very contemplative experience. Is it a pain to have to buy reagents 9 at a time and then tediously mix your spells one-by-one? A little bit, but I ended up looking forward to this "downtime" in between questing. Is combat sometimes a drag? Yeah, but I quickly learned to avoid traveling overland as much as possible, which meant making full use of the moongates until I finally found a ship. Battles in dungeons are far less annoying and much more rewarding.

I must mention the soundtrack. It's a beautiful soundtrack overall, but it really shines with the Apple II and Mockingboard. There is just something about how this thing sounds that is just perfect for this game. I kept the soundtrack on the entire time, and never got bored with it.

---

I went ahead and transferred my Avatar into Ultima V, and I'm really looking forward to playing it! I watched the intro and listened to the music player a bit (the game looks and sounds great for the humble Apple II!). I'll probably play something else for now, but I definitely plan on putting some serious time into U5 this year!

The way that the quest is designed is simply amazing

Yes, even after all these years, this game is such a masterpiece and if I had to choose between any later Oblivion or Skyrim I would still pick U-IV every time. It unfolds a magic of its own hard to describe but the experience is unparalleled by any other game I tried.

Aui wrote on 2026-04-18, 07:34:

Yes, even after all these years, this game is such a masterpiece and if I had to choose between any later Oblivion or Skyrim I would still pick U-IV every time. It unfolds a magic of its own hard to describe but the experience is unparalleled by any other game I tried.

Agreed 100%. Although you're just moving an icon around a tile map, it feels so much more like a true adventure than a game like Skyrim. I also like the earnest dialogue, which is actually quite moving at times. The virtue test you undertake at the end is such a beautiful moment, and it's paced perfectly as the game slowly draws the symbolic representation of the virtues and principles before your eyes with each correct answer. Days after finishing the game, I still think about it.

The experience of playing the game is just as you described, "magic."

I experimentally loaded up the SEGA Master System version of Ultima IV the other day and it was really wonderful, gorgeous graphics and very engaging from the get-go. It's supposed to be a great version of it, I'll have to give it a proper look.

newtmonkey wrote on 2026-04-16, 16:04:

I went ahead and transferred my Avatar into Ultima V, and I'm really looking forward to playing it! I watched the intro and listened to the music player a bit (the game looks and sounds great for the humble Apple II!). I'll probably play something else for now, but I definitely plan on putting some serious time into U5 this year!

I'm happy to read how much you enjoyed the Apple version! I remember feeling the same way after beating it on my Apple ][e with a Mockingboard. My experience with Ultima V was different though. I never got very far in it. And if I remember correctly, at least part of that was due to a bigger game = more floppies = more disk swapping. I even had a dual floppy, but still remember it being much more laborious than U4. Also, the story didn't grip me immediately like it did in U4 and those two combined with the fact I'd just started my college education, had my first serious relationship and had more of a social life from living in dorms, meant I never got very far in it. I don't think I'd ever give it another run at my age. As I approach 60, I find it harder to find games I like enough to stay with them to the end. KCD2 may have been my last hurrah.

I'm still playing Sniper Elite 5 and enjoying it, but usually playing in very small spurts - 15-30 minutes at a time, maybe 3 or 4 days a week. At that rate, it'll take me 2 months to finish.

clueless1 wrote on 2026-04-18, 12:24:

I'm happy to read how much you enjoyed the Apple version! I remember feeling the same way after beating it on my Apple ][e with a Mockingboard. My experience with Ultima V was different though. I never got very far in it. And if I remember correctly, at least part of that was due to a bigger game = more floppies = more disk swapping. I even had a dual floppy, but still remember it being much more laborious than U4. Also, the story didn't grip me immediately like it did in U4 and those two combined with the fact I'd just started my college education, had my first serious relationship and had more of a social life from living in dorms, meant I never got very far in it. I don't think I'd ever give it another run at my age. As I approach 60, I find it harder to find games I like enough to stay with them to the end. KCD2 may have been my last hurrah.

Thanks! I had a blast playing it. I think we should both play through Ultima V this year. 😀 It will be like back in the day! We can update each other on our progress, share hints and tips, etc!

Been playing Mahokenshi it's a CCG rogue-alike.

At first I didn't think it had much to offer, the initial introduction missions and limited card options made it seem pretty simple. As you get further in though you realize you were learning pretty import strategies from those early missions. This game is as much about board positioning in the overworld as it is about building your deck. Once you get a few characters levels maxxed out, which really doesn't take long, the strategy really opens up with deck design as well. It doesn't really have all that many cards or things to unlock but I don't think the game itself is actually super long, I'm 12 hours in and am fairly close to the end (At least as far as I can tell).

The strategy involved like I mentioned before is really 2 parts, the positioning in the overworld and the deck building. The missions themselves are designed to push you into combat earlier than you want which really keeps things interesting and supports the board positioning aspect of strategy. You have to start engaging while your deck is still weak and this keeps things exciting throughout deck building . It's deeper than it first appears, but pretty simple to get into.

For those of you who enjoy these types of CCGs I would recommend checking it out.

newtmonkey wrote on 2026-04-18, 13:08:

Thanks! I had a blast playing it. I think we should both play through Ultima V this year. 😀 It will be like back in the day! We can update each other on our progress, share hints and tips, etc!

You might talk me into this. I started messing around with Applewin and I can't get the Activate Music option to show in the main menu. Can you share your settings?

clueless1 wrote on 2026-04-19, 21:09:

You might talk me into this. I started messing around with Applewin and I can't get the Activate Music option to show in the ma […]
Show full quote

newtmonkey wrote on 2026-04-18, 13:08:

Thanks! I had a blast playing it. I think we should both play through Ultima V this year. 😀 It will be like back in the day! We can update each other on our progress, share hints and tips, etc!

You might talk me into this. I started messing around with Applewin and I can't get the Activate Music option to show in the main menu. Can you share your settings?

I'm using the same settings and get sound, so there must be something else going on. I'm able to move the cursor down to the "Activate Music" option and select it with Enter to get to the Music Configuration screen:

It's possible that the disks are bad, or music has been stripped out? The woz-a-day collection has a set of clean disks in .woz format (non-hacked).

Also, in case you didn't know (or forgot!), the game does support dual drives, even though it doesn't indicate it anywhere. You can leave the Britannia disk in drive 2, and it will cut down on disk swapping a lot!

newtmonkey wrote on 2026-04-20, 02:00:

I'm using the same settings and get sound, so there must be something else going on. I'm able to move the cursor down to the "A […]
Show full quote

clueless1 wrote on 2026-04-19, 21:09:

You might talk me into this. I started messing around with Applewin and I can't get the Activate Music option to show in the ma […]
Show full quote

newtmonkey wrote on 2026-04-18, 13:08:

Thanks! I had a blast playing it. I think we should both play through Ultima V this year. 😀 It will be like back in the day! We can update each other on our progress, share hints and tips, etc!

You might talk me into this. I started messing around with Applewin and I can't get the Activate Music option to show in the main menu. Can you share your settings?

I'm using the same settings and get sound, so there must be something else going on. I'm able to move the cursor down to the "Activate Music" option and select it with Enter to get to the Music Configuration screen:

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The attachment A - Program_000000001.jpg is no longer available

It's possible that the disks are bad, or music has been stripped out? The woz-a-day collection has a set of clean disks in .woz format (non-hacked).

Also, in case you didn't know (or forgot!), the game does support dual drives, even though it doesn't indicate it anywhere. You can leave the Britannia disk in drive 2, and it will cut down on disk swapping a lot!

Thanks for your help @newtmonkey. If anyone else is curious, we determined that I needed to clear the Applewin registry keys via the DELREG.INF file that is in the program directory. My Applewin directory has been around for years, kept backed up, and when I built this new system a couple of years ago, I just copied it over, which might explain the weirdness.

I completed Return to Castle Wolfenstein and indeed, like before i really like the earlier missions and have less regard for the supernatural bits and the "super soldier" stuff, basically the game slowly grinds down into less and less interesting parts after a while and the finale isn't really interesting at all imo

Also some playing Empire Earth, an RTS which places lots of click quick or die demands! I really like the scenario editor and the blatant "stacking things in my favor" opportunities it gives me 😀 ! I have the Art of Conquest expansion, which to be honest doesn't add much, just some sci fi stuff that doesn't quite sit well with the rest but is ok

Now I'm playing Far Cry again , its just fun to replay this, lots of choices and still, even now, looks great to me - it has its own style that makes the environments interesting to be in, especially the big open sections

Hollow Knight

Dropping this one for now. During the later stages of the game, a lot more emphasis is put on precise platforming, and my old man reflexes are struggling with that. With a bit more effort, maybe I could power through some of these sections, but it's a tall ask. I also don't like how you need to purchase a new map from an NPC every time you enter a new major area. Without that, the automap doesn't update even if you visited the area several times, making you practically blind. This is contrary to how Castlevania SOTN and Super Metroid handled things, and it doesn't sit well with me. I kept my saves in case I decide to revisit this in the future, but I'm done for the moment.

I've finished for the first time in my life Diablo. I only played it once in 1997 for a few minutes and I didn't like it. I used DevolutionX mod and higher resolution helps a lot.

It took me three days and I reached level 26 in normal mode. Now I will repeat it using higher difficulty to reach higher level of experience.

Ultima V (Apple II)
This game is really quite difficult when starting out, or at least compared with U3 and U4. Although you start with a party of three, one character is seriously wounded and requires healing; this means you have to immediately use some of your precious reagents to cast heal a few times, or camp outdoors and risk being attacked (and also use up a day's worth of your precious food).

Combat is much more interesting and rewarding than in previous games... but it is also a hell of a lot more difficult. Skeletons are extremely resilient, and rats and spiders can poison you at a point where you have very few resources available for curing. You do get resurrected if your party wipes, but that also penalizes your EXP points, which can actually drop you down low enough to lose an experience level.

The game does throw you a bone or two. You can rest in the wilderness once per day for a decent amount of healing. Randomly, a projection of Lord British will visit you in your sleep, healing all of your wounds. Finally, since enemies now drop chests containing not only gold but food, items, and equipment, you usually end up better off than you were each battle.

Even so, I found myself in a pretty desperate situation. I had picked up too many party members too quickly, and each party member consumes one unit of food per day. Food is much more expensive here than in previous games, so a party of six really burns through your food quickly. I also spent way too much gold on a bow, which no one in my party was able to use accurately. With that in mind, I decided to start over and just use the initial three-person party (Avatar, Shamino, Iolo) for a while as I explore and hopefully reach a point where I'm not so starved for resources. Restarting in this game really doesn't set you back much, since much of your progress is just in the notes you keep yourself.