I just found out that I still have Icy Tower installed on my machine. So I'm going to play this for a while. It's an endless game, so it's not something that one can complete, but I will try to reach at least rank C.

I didn't realise we were going for the very first release date.
Here's the intro and super move videos for it so people know what it was about.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdiyVHcoa_U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4cvjn3cS_Q

Some of them were a little silly like this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4cvjn3cS_Q&t=327s

Congrats bluethief and PaterAlf.

I've played Anachronox for about 5 hours now. Some more observations:

Almost nothing of consequence happens in the plot until the end of the first dungeon or so, after which some tension actually is introduced, which is nice (basically the protagonist is in debt and has to pay it off or get murdered, a pretty common plot device).

You're offered quite a lot of side quests which reward you with money and sometimes equipable items and skills. Unfortunately, while the game has a journal, it doesn't remind you of any of those, only the required objectives. Still, I guess I can write my own reminders.

I found the first dungeon and boss fight to be a slog. The movement system (party members can move between different spots in combat, which mostly affects range) is implemented well for the boss, but otherwise there wasn't any strategy or challenge involved. I did only have two party members available, and just got a third, so I hope things get more interesting.

Thank you :)

Completely agree. And, imo, the game does also a good job of giving the impression that some levels are huge, but then you explore them and see how they loopback and realize that it's no the case.

Yes, show and tell ftw for me. Imagine if in the first Lord of the Rings movie, instead of showing the first battle were Sauron was defeated, it was being narrated while we were seeing Gandalf arriving at The Shire.

Don't know. I saw some playthrough videos on youtube and those areas were also very dark.

I tend to replay games some years after, so yes, that's a plan.

Nice, op updated.
Tbf, in this case the game was released in 2000 in two major markets: Japan and NA. Don't know why it only came to Europe in 2001.

Did you play it? I'm not a big fighter fan, but I always preferred the 2D ones over 3D. But I played a lot of Tekken 3 back in the day.
Thank you!

The combat in this game is turned based, right?

ATB

Totally off-topic matter, but just wanted to share that my second son was born last night :). Everything went well and both he and the mom are alright.

Taking into account the year this thread is based upon, it's crazy to see where I was and who I was in 2001 compared to where and who I am now.

However, gaming has always been a part of my life and hopefully it will continue to be, now with two kids to accompany me.

Now let's continue our 2001 journeys.

That's great, congratulations!

Congratulations to the whole family! May your son have a long and happy life!

Yeah, turn based with ATB like Cavalary said. Not especially dissimilar to something like Chrono Trigger or old Final Fantasy games, if you've played those.

Also, congratulations to you and your family.

I will try :)

Yeah, it is a wee bit clunky, but i'd perhaps take that over the super hard gameplay of the Demons/Dark Souls games.
(that said, those games do look very nice, and have some nice lore/etc)

Speaking of clunky: I now remember playing Rune, and being irked at how hard it was/is to get rid of the Hel minions(you need to jump up while fighting them and lop off their heads, else they get back up).

Small tip: make sure to keep an eye out for the secret areas(iirc they're marked by runes on the walls/etc nearby their entrances) while ya play :)

3 is set mainly in a mall, iirc......it's actually one of my faves(of the bits I played), as I love the setting and etc. I also somewhat like the intro section(which *semi spoiler* one can complete in two ways, either by being kylled while going through it, or by getting to the end of it *end spoiler*).

As for 4: iirc I found the bits I played to be decent as well.
Small tip if you ever play 4: make sure to look out your apartment door's peephole every so often.

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A small (prolly obvious) tip: make sure to keep note of various things you find in the environment, as some things can only be gotten to later on(like some areas/items which need certain characters or skills to enter/obtain)

Thank you everyone for the congratulations :)

Congratulations bluethief & family! More happiness to all of you! Enjoy & support each other in your long and very prosper lifes! :)

Edit: Fixed bold format. Fails if symbols

First (re)Stop: Undying

Where to begin......well I guess at the beginning :) As for the story: in a nutshell, you play a supernatural hunter(akin to Van Helsing/etc) who takes a jaunt over to his war buddy's secluded island family estate to help solve a mystery.....things then begin to happen.

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Some snaps of my "journey"

1- The nice menu art.....I like the nice animations when hovering over options and selecting them....a nice touch, imo

2- What a horrible night to have to deal with a curse(d family)
GR note: I love the many little cutscenes sprinkled throughout the game's areas/levels

3- Upon touching the manor gates after hearing a strange sound, I seem to notice something......peculiar

Scry- One of the powers(spells) you get, and a nice touch for the game.....it allows you to see in low light, highlights others in the world(green/blue aura for friendlies and red for foes), and sometimes shows hidden secret things.
GR note: I always get "hooked" on this power, and tend to use it a lot throughout the game(no matter how many times i've played the game itself), as it is very useful/fun to use

4- I meet some of the help, who for some odd reason isn't given a name.....eh, she'll prolly be fine

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

More to come soon(going off to do chores/errands for a bit)

Reached Rank C in Icy Tower and I accomplished that faster than I thought I would. Game is fun to play. And the good thing is that each run only takes a few minutes at best (very often it is over in under one minute). So it's the perfect game to play when you don't have a lot of time or just want to waste some minutes.

Rank B might be possible for me, even if I'm not sure I can do a 35 floor combo.