i guess follow me @bethposting on bsky or pillowfort


discord username:
bethposting

seria-mau-genlicher
@seria-mau-genlicher

I figure I might as well make a post about what I've been doing instead of posting on Cohost: playing games on my RG35XX.

My previous "daily driver" for retrogaming was the Anbernic 351MP, a horizontal form-factor handheld with a metal body and super premium feel. But it turns out I don't want a metal handheld with a super premium feel. I want a cheap piece of plastic shit. I want something lightweight, small, and that can be thrown into a bag or backpack in less than 200 grams. I want something I can hold above my head while playing Picross in bed for 2 hours without my arms getting tired.

The system itself is basically the size of a Game Boy Color, with a great 4:3 IPS screen and a pre-DualShock PS1 controller's worth of buttons. It also comes in translucent Atomic Purple, the best console color. It has two SD card slots, and with a little finagling, you can swap between multiple OSes on SD1 while keeping your ROMs on SD2.

The RG35XX running MinUI is my ideal retrohandheld. "It's so easy to install and there's nothing to configure that I'm actually playing games." While I respect RetroArch on a technical level, I find its pages and pages of reverse-Polish controller configuration and three different screen filter modes (overlays, shaders, core-level modifications) to be an endless nightmare. Increasingly, I find that "just play games" solutions like MiSTer FPGA or MinUI are where I actually play games. I just want two display modes: pixel-perfect and kinda-authentic-looking. Anything else threatens to drive me down an OCD rabbit hole of visual tweaks and run-ahead threads that should really just be satisfied by playing with original hardware on a CRT.

Anyway, here are the games I've been playing (mostly ROM hacks):

Grond's Final Fantasy - Final Fantasy NES "Remastered". Lots of QoL fixes, long item names, equipment stats, dash button, you can buy potions 10 at a time, and tons of bug fixes. This is the "ideal" Final Fantasy 1 and was a real pleasure to play through again.

Final Fantasy Ultra Championship Edition - Final Fantasy NES "Remixed". New classes, new world map, new spells and equipment, rebalanced difficulty. This is for people who know Final Fantasy 1 backwards and forwards and wish they could play it again for the first time.

Final Fantasy IV - Ultima - Like Grond's, this starts out as the "ideal" form of Final Fantasy IV - basically, the Japanese version with a revised script, improved inventory management, and complete bestiary. But once you hit the endgame, it goes beyond being a "really good version" of FFIV and tosses in a ton of fannish extras. The Lunar Whale unlocks a ton of new features: party swapping, new dungeons, hidden superbosses, new gear and spells (unlocked by sidequests, even!). This has replaced the PSP version as my "favorite" version of Final Fantasy IV.

Final Fantasy VI T-Edition - Maybe the most famous Final Fantasy hack. Hundreds of hours of additional sidequests and content (so many, there's an entire second "EX" cartridge you can transfer your save into). I played through the right after the first party split, once everyone joins back up again, but this version is HARD, and I'm going to replay FFVI Pixel Remaster first to refamiliarize myself with the core game before attempting this challenging remix.

The Legend of Zelda: Ancient Dungeon - Turns the first Zelda game into a 255-room roguelike. In its early stages, and kind of repetitive, but an amazing basis for what threatens to be a really good time.

Arcana: Seal of Rimisia - Do you think Arcana is a forgotten classic? So does the creator of this ROM hack, who has spent years polishing every aspect of the SNES RPG to bring it up to modern playability standards. Do you think Arcana is a janky mess? Well, why not check out this ROM hack, which polishes every aspect of the SNES JRPG to bring it up to modern playability standards.

Golden Sun - Never played it; might as well.


bethposting
@bethposting

hmm i have been a little annoyed with configuring little things on retroarch/garlicOS. maybe i should check minui out


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