Support NeoGAF

[Dr.Morris79]

Is this any good? Always been curious about it. Is it available for purchase on any modern store front?

It's certainly different. The opening has your character being inplanted with an alien through their forhead, which turns out to be a dream when you wake up, with a headache.. it only gets weirder from there. It certainly blew my 13 year old head coming from point and clicks like Monkey island, Operation stealth and future wars

But the main draw from me was the art from HR Giger and loving Aliens

It's probably one of the hardest point and click adventure games i'd played

It's not available anywhere anymore, you might find a sharware version somewhere, I've still got my big box Amiga copy and I think there was a CD32 version, I think..

It works great on the Deck, mind you

 

[Dr.Morris79]

Yep

Infact the whole game was that to me when I first played it!

 

[SCB3]

Pretty Clear to me, Git Gud scrub

 

[01011001]

Metal Gear Solid

There was that bit with Psycho Mantis where you had to plug your controller into the player 2 slot. This was mentioned in the game's pamphlet, but there is nothing in-game that tells you how to stop him from beating the shit out of you.

that's just a trick to beat him easier. also the game does hint at him reading your inputs

 

[AV]

Have fun.

Guide Dang It! - TV Tropes

Games often have puzzles to solve and hidden secrets to uncover. A game may try to provide hints to the player in order to lead them in the right direction. Other times, a game may present a scenario to a player where the correct set of actions …

tvtropes.org

 

[SCB3]

that's just a trick to beat him easier. also the game does hint at him reading your inputs

Yea I did it a couple of years ago on a replay and you can beat him without switching, its harder but doable, I wanna say Speedrunners don't bother switching controllers, also he drops a lot of hints that he can read inputs and the like

 

[01011001]

Yea I did it a couple of years ago on a replay and you can beat him without switching, its harder but doable, I wanna say Speedrunners don't bother switching controllers, also he drops a lot of hints that he can read inputs and the like

yeah, I mean he does start by reading your save files. the game instantly makes clear that the guy has access to your console's ports. if you have a dualshock he makes it "move" with his mind n shit.

 

[DelireMan7]

Yeah. I feel like the cd code at the back of the case thing in the same mgs also qualifies

I was so confused on this one. Especially since the same character gives you a CD few minutes before.
Baker : "Look at the back of the CD's case"
Me trying everything possible on the inventory on this CD : "How do I do that motherfucker !"

Hopefully at one point, if I remember well, Campbell calls you to give you the frequency or tell you to watch behind the game's case.

Amazing moment.

Literally any souls side quests

I get they are obscure but most of them are easily doable alone. Especially in the later entries.

On Demon's Souls and some of Dark Souls 1 are quite cryptic (for not saying not well designed)

The first time I played Dark Souls 1 was offline too so I wasn't able to see the messages/bloodstains...

Message and bloostains help a lot. Hoepefully the dev, added the "crystal flakes" falling and breaking into this invisible bridge. It's actually how I always traverse those bridges.

You don't need a guide for this. The game tells you if you use the codec.

Also if anyone says Water Temple, I'm laughing at you.

What is wrong with the Water Temple ? I have play and beaten for the first time OoT last year, and I have seen a lot of "jokes" and complaint about the water temple but I can't get why.
It's my favorite one actually.


EDIT : On topic, true ending of Valkyrie Profile... Impossible without a guide. Really !

 

[MasterCornholio]

 

[Dr. Suchong]

The corked well in Monster boy was a bit of a faff to get into iirc.

 

[Shut0wen]

What are some sections of games or whole games that would be impossible to beat without a guide?

Inspired by Enter the gungeon's

Spoiler: ETG spoiler

4th level has an essential item you can only get by walking on an invisible path over a pit of spikes in a room that doesn't indicate anything about the item in it. I can imagine anyone who figured this out stumbled on it by noticing the particles off a gun settling on apparently empty space.

Not even gunna lie but i did the enter the gungeon part without a guide, though id say castle vania 3 is impossible without a guide

 

[RoadHazard]

Literally any souls side quests

I mean, sometimes you get lucky, but yeah, pretty much. They are ridiculously obscure.

 

[SirTerry-T]

Jaffe Room

The "Jaffe Room" is an unofficially named room in Artaria. It appears in Metroid Dread. The Jaffe Room is a large chamber in the upper right corner of Artaria, and the first in the thermal energy region that is near Cataris. It is of primarily artificial construction. Curved red pipes are...

metroid.fandom.com

 

[Naked Lunch]

Phantasy Star II - the game came with a printed hintbook for a reason.

I would put some of the Soul Reaver 1 block puzzles on that list too - absurd game halting design on those.

 

[existensmaximum]

early 90s point and click games which you can progress block without knowing

This is some of the worst game design ever. I absolutely hated these kinds of games as a kid, and it's also the reason why I loved Lucasarts adventure games so much. Fuck King's Quest and many other Sierra games..

 

[SCB3]

What is wrong with the Water Temple ? I have play and beaten for the first time OoT last year, and I have seen a lot of "jokes" and complaint about the water temple but I can't get why.
It's my favorite one actually.

Its overplayed, but the main issue was the constant Item Management of having to equip the boots, walk around, unequip them, rinse and repeat

If you played the 3DS version it was a non issue anyway as it was all handled on the second screen with 1 touch, but I played the N64 version fully last year and yea, wasn't that big an issue at all

 

[existensmaximum]

I would love to see some statistics about how many people who have completed the sidequests in Dark Souls/Bloodborne/Elden Ring without any help or hints at all, offline. Also, accessing the DLC and all the secret areas...

 

[Werewolf Jones]

Every playthrough it's randomized too. Still better then the remake.

 

[Mr.Phoenix]

I would just point out some things that no sane person would have done, be it intentionally or accidentally unless they were using some kinda guide. Or at least were told about it.

FF7, the Gold Chocobo, FFX lightning dodging sigil side quest and Vagrat story, fabricating any of the ultimate weapons. Then we have several instances from various souls games, which on their own are not that difficult to do, but you're usually given so little information so it makes it hard.

 

[DelireMan7]

Its overplayed, but the main issue was the constant Item Management of having to equip the boots, walk around, unequip them, rinse and repeat

If you played the 3DS version it was a non issue anyway as it was all handled on the second screen with 1 touch, but I played the N64 version fully last year and yea, wasn't that big an issue at all

Ok I see. I played it on N64. It didn't bother me.

 

[SCB3]

FF7, the Gold Chocobo, FFX lightning dodging

I feel like these would've been found out in time, there are people that do crazy speedrun or challenges now on new games, I've seen the records for the Marion Odessey Jump rope challenge for example

 

[TonyK]

Cutting the Moon in Bloodstained Ritual of the night.

 

[Mr.Phoenix]

I feel like these would've been found out in time, there are people that do crazy speedrun or challenges now on new games, I've seen the records for the Marion Odessey Jump rope challenge for example

Maybe the lightning thingy, but the Gold Chocobo? Not a chance. I mean, even if someone, somehow accidentally did that, they wouldn't even be abet to remember or reproduce the sequence to which they arrived at it.

 

[Vindicator]

Niobe Labs in Destiny 2 seemed painful, fortunately didn't care about doing that.

 

[Kev Kev]

So many things in FF7, 8 and 9. I'm sure other FF's are guilty as well, but Square was absolutely trying to sell strategy guides back in the day with some of the ridiculous things that were nearly impossible to figure out on your own. Even if you stumbled across a few of the things, there were dozens of other missables throughout the games that you would almost certainly not find.

I don't miss those days tbh. I used to think that was a great feature of old school gaming, but my OCD brain really hates stuff like that these days.

 

[SCB3]

Niobe Labs in Destiny 2 seemed painful, fortunately didn't care about doing that.

And was fucking broken on Launch to where Bungie had to tweet out the solution

Destiny's Raids and puzzles arn't too hard to figure out tbh

 

[Needlecrash]

Golgo 13: Twilight of the Gods aka Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode.

WIthout maps you are FUCKED.

 

[nightmare-slain]

as much as i love From Software games there is no way I'd have been able to get through them without a guide. for dark souls 1/2/3, bloodborne, sekiro, and elden ring i always used a guide. i don't know how they expect anyone to work out things.

For Persona games you don't need a guide to progress or finish it but i find myself constantly checking guides.

 

[Thabass]

What is wrong with the Water Temple ? I have play and beaten for the first time OoT last year, and I have seen a lot of "jokes" and complaint about the water temple but I can't get why.
It's my favorite one actually.

Water Temple is meme'd because when the game first came out people were stuck on the Temple due to various reasons. One of them was because they didn't understand the water level puzzles and another one, which is pretty similar to the water level is that there is a key in the center pillar that most (include me when I was younger) would forget about.

 

[01011001]

What is wrong with the Water Temple ? I have play and beaten for the first time OoT last year, and I have seen a lot of "jokes" and complaint about the water temple but I can't get why.
It's my favorite one actually.

the annoyance of constantly equipping and unequipping the boots is what made it infamous.

did you play the N64 or 3DS version? because on 3DS they fixed this due to the new inventory system on the touchscreen

 

[RoboFu]

Metal Gear Solid

There was that bit with Psycho Mantis where you had to plug your controller into the player 2 slot. This was mentioned in the game's pamphlet, but there is nothing in-game that tells you how to stop him from beating the shit out of you.

Hope you never play X-men on genesis

 

[Days like these...]

That one dungeon in Phantasy Star 2 took me forever without a guide. I basically memorized after hundreds of tries. It never occurred to me to use graph paper. I was a dumb kid.

 

[Mistake]

I had a real problem with Maniac Mansion when I was little. It was a big game with no way to save, so I usually just blew up the house

 

[DelireMan7]

the annoyance of constantly equipping and unequipping the boots is what made it infamous.

did you play the N64 or 3DS version? because on 3DS they fixed this due to the new inventory system on the touchscreen

I played the N64. I don't remembered being annoying by this. But I can get why some might have ^^.

 

[01011001]

I played the N64. I don't remembered being annoying by this. But I can get why some might have ^^.

yeah, it's not an issue on 3DS anymore because you can just click on the screen to equip and unequip.

but many really hated it on N64. it's not something I found to be too much of an issue either tbh.

 

[drganon]

A healthy chunk of point and click adventure games require you to literally try everything, become a deranged nutcase that is able to get into the minds of the developers, or look up the solution.

Still like them though.

 

[rhodesianshepard]

Not really a level, but finding the Monumental in the Nexus in Demon Souls. It is the most obscure small plastic doll in a sideroom 3 stories up. Absolutely ridiculous. You need it so your character can have the ability to level up, kind of important

 

[MALpractice311]

This is some of the worst game design ever. I absolutely hated these kinds of games as a kid, and it's also the reason why I loved Lucasarts adventure games so much. Fuck King's Quest and many other Sierra games..

Agreed. Fuck King's Quest and Sierra games especially hard, but fuck most adventure games in general. You have to read the minds of the games creators to understand the solutions. There were so many times when I was playing these games I would say to myself, "But I could accomplish the same goal with three other items in my inventory. Why is this one particular item, that was hidden in some other obscure place that I had to back track for 20 minutes to find, specifically the solution?"

 

[Laptop1991]

I did use youtube to do all of Stilton's mansion in Dishonored 2, and also For Bethesda's SP games for the best choices or the one i prefer, Tomb Raider back in the 90's as well.

 

[existensmaximum]

Agreed. Fuck King's Quest and Sierra games especially hard, but fuck most adventure games in general. You have to read the minds of the games creators to understand the solutions. There were so many times when I was playing these games I would say to myself, "But I could accomplish the same goal with three other items in my inventory. Why is this one particular item, that was hidden in some other obscure place that I had to back track for 20 minutes to find, specifically the solution?"

Yeah it sure was frustrating - but as long as you could use the tried and trusting method "try everything in everything" you could usually progress. Unless it was a Sierra game.

Oh, you didn't try to pick up the HOLE in the fence earlier in the game? Well fuck you, restart the game then because you're not getting out of this labyrinth!

 

[Fuz]

I would just point out some things that no sane person would have done, be it intentionally or accidentally unless they were using some kinda guide. Or at least were told about it.

FF7, the Gold Chocobo, FFX lightning dodging sigil side quest and Vagrat story, fabricating any of the ultimate weapons. Then we have several instances from various souls games, which on their own are not that difficult to do, but you're usually given so little information so it makes it hard.

FFXII chest...

 

[DelireMan7]

Not really a level, but finding the Monumental in the Nexus in Demon Souls. It is the most obscure small plastic doll in a sideroom 3 stories up. Absolutely ridiculous. You need it so your character can have the ability to level up, kind of important

Isn't the Maiden in black tell you to find the monumental "above" and you can't teleport out of the Nexus ?

If I remember well the game makes you find him by locking you in the Nexus. He's quite hidden but you can't go anywhere without finding him so you will end up finding it.

 

[PrimetimeKnight]

Hope you never play X-men on genesis

I never did complete that Mojo level as a kid because of that ridiculous trick of having to push the reset button on the console.

 

[MALpractice311]

Yeah it sure was frustrating - but as long as you could use the tried and trusting method "try everything in everything" you could usually progress. Unless it was a Sierra game.

Oh, you didn't try to pick up the HOLE in the fence earlier in the game? Well fuck you, restart the game then because you're not getting out of this labyrinth!

Christ. Yeah, I had that happen many times. Looking back now, if I wasn't a child and therefore constricted by what games my parents bought, I would've dipped the fuck out of Sierra games really early on.

 

[Games of Today]

Raiders of the Lost Ark (Atari 2600).
So funny.

 

[Roberts]

Riven

This. To be honest, I played 2021 version of Myst last year and couldn't figure pretty much any of the puzzles myself. And I think I completed it way back in 93, pre-internet. Maybe friends helped me out.

P.S. Never had problems with Sierra, Lucasarts adventures and stuff like Discworld, Beneath the Steels Sky, Neverhood, etc. Maybe I'm going senile, who knows. Wait, where am i?

 

[sigmaZ]

+1
Was going to post that. What the f*** they were thinking ?!?

You beat me to it.

 

[lyan]

The original Yu-No.

 

[TexMex]

This. To be honest, I played 2021 version of Myst last year and couldn't figure pretty much any of the puzzles myself. And I think I completed it way back in 93, pre-internet. Maybe friends helped me out.

P.S. Never had problems with Sierra, Lucasarts adventures and stuff like Discworld, Beneath the Steels Sky, Neverhood, etc. Maybe I'm going senile, who knows. Wait, where am i?

I definitely didn't do Myst legit 100% either, I definitely referenced the guide a couple times in a Comp USA. But I was younger, and at the very least I could see how it would be possible to do without a guide.

Riven? Leagues beyond Myst in terms of difficulty. I just don't see how it is possible. Immediately suspicious of anyone who tells me they beat that 100% without any help.

 

[BTHR Zero X]

X-Men Mega Drive/Genesis

in Mojo's Level after you beat him and get to the end it tells you to restart the computer but there is no computer to restart.

Turns out it meant soft reset the console, as the MD had a function to keep some date going after a quick reset press. took my around 3 or 4 months as I used to just press and hold the reset all the time and play from the start again.