Sharp as a Katana - Sega's Dreamcast

[SlushieCat]

Can't believe this place full of retro loving queer furries has existed for nearly a week and nobody's made a Dreamcast thread. Guess I get to do the honors.

Sega's final console is home to many beloved nee entries into the world of gaming, from Crazy Taxi to Soulcalibur to Jet Set (or Grind) Radio, but those have been talked about to death, bro. I wanna talk about a few lesser discussed titles.

Record of Lodoss War is a diablo inspired top down action rpg. You play as an Important Past Figure returned to life by a wizard to stop the resurrection of the evil goddess Kardis. Along the way you meet up with Parn, Deedlit, and some others. It's long and it gets really difficult if you don't do some grinding but it's really interesting to see one of the first console interpretations of this genre. Maybe the first (not counting direct ports)? It was a year and a half before Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance and its mechanics are a bit more complex than BGDA. It's pretty neat!

Another game I want to talk about is Silver. This one got a PC release but as far as consoles, it's Dreamcast exclusive. It's been a while since I played so I'm a little less up on the story, but it's also a top down action rpg, just not a Diablo-like. I've really never seen anyone talking about Silver but I think it's so cool. The gameplay is smooth, the combat feels good, it's beautiful and (iirc) fully voice acted.

I think the Dreamcast has a lot of really cool games beyond the classics but they're so rarely talked about or looked at. Tell me about your favorite obscure Dreamcast games! Tell me about your experiences with the console! If you don't have a favorite obscure game, take a peek at the library and try one, tell me how you like it. Despite all the love it gets, I do feel the Dreamcast isn't explored enough. Get out there and play!

[Enbyeon]

Record of Lodoss War is a diablo inspired top down action rpg. You play as an Important Past Figure returned to life by a wizard to stop the resurrection of the evil goddess Kardis. Along the way you meet up with Parn, Deedlit, and some others. It's long and it gets really difficult if you don't do some grinding but it's really interesting to see one of the first console interpretations of this genre. Maybe the first (not counting direct ports)? It was a year and a half before Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance and its mechanics are a bit more complex than BGDA. It's pretty neat!

I've been in my ARPG era the past few years and this has gotten me very interested...

I think the Dreamcast is fantastic! I don't know what I'd count as an obscure favorite, because outside of the mainstream games, what I played the most as a kid was Chu Chu Rocket (which slaps).

[EdenCoven]

it got a PS2 remake but our big hidden dreamcast gem is Fur Fighters. They made a really weird like, third person shooter structured like a Banjo Kazooie. Plus you can be this cutie

[Lolo De Puzlo]

Fond memories of having mine. The first Phantasy Star Online machine I owned until the Gamecube became my Phantasy Star Online machine.

Also memories of visiting stores multiple times awaiting for a game to release because I saw it in magazines because something about it called to me. 12 year old me was so excited to play this game and then got really excited when I finally got my copy of the game I'd been so excited for...Blue Stinger.

[Sugar Meowth]

it got a PS2 remake but our big hidden dreamcast gem is Fur Fighters. They made a really weird like, third person shooter structured like a Banjo Kazooie. Plus you can be this cutie

I love them.

[RueAzure]

I played the absolute SHIT out of Phantasy Star Online on Dreamcast. It still is one of my favorite games of all time.

And the funniest part is that I never actually played the game online on Dreamcast. I could never afford to actually hook the damn thing up and get a Hunter's License.

I still play PSO to this day, but on PC, on a Blue Burst private server... god I love PSO.

Also, Shenmue!!! Shenmue walked so a lot of the modern open world games could run. I absolutely loved the slow burn mystery while exploring Dobuita and Yokosuka. I wish there were more third person mystery/exploration adventure games with modern settings. Being able to explore a living city while pulling on story threads is great. (Don't talk to me about Shenmue 3, it makes me sad.)

[RueAzure]

Not really directly related to the Dreamcast, but close enough: I just saw this furry robot boy inspired by the Dreamcast flash across one of my timelines and i felt compelled to share him.

(art by https://kuwapowr.straw.page/)

[rhubarb_nido]

That's a cute critter!

I never had a dreamcast, but I remember going over to my friends house to play Powerstone 2. My local arcade has a cabinet of this and it holds up well!

In college I also played Rez and goodness that was amazing! Blew my mind at the time. Listening to the released OST doesn't hit my brain as good as hearing it in game.

[RueAzure]

That's a cute critter!

I never had a dreamcast, but I remember going over to my friends house to play Powerstone 2. My local arcade has a cabinet of this and it holds up well!

In college I also played Rez and goodness that was amazing! Blew my mind at the time. Listening to the released OST doesn't hit my brain as good as hearing it in game.

Rez is great, I'm so glad it broke out of the Dreamcast and made its home other places as well. And we even have a modern version. :>

[plumpan]

Cosmic Smash fun. Crazy Taxi fun.

If you can swing it, get those Brook adapters so you can use xbox controllers on it. Downside, no VMU. Upside, controller much nicer. And most Dreamcast games seem to be fine with you loading from a card in controller 2.

[JenniferSkunk]

In 1999 before the Dreamcast had been released in the UK, a local games store imported a Japanese system. I remember walking in to look at PlayStation games and instead being blown away by Sonic Adventure. The DC's probably been my favourite system ever since.

So many of the games still hold up as being incredibly fun, especially with friends. Power Stone 1+2, Soul Calibur, Chu Chu Rocket, Crazy Taxi, Virtua Tennis... It really was something special.

And it had selectable 50/60Hz for most games! Finally we got to play games without PAL slowdown!

[Flygon]

I'd love to own a Dreamcast someday - I somehow simply never wound up owning one. Master System? Mega Drive? Saturn? I have access to those, but somehow never a Dreamcast.

It is a machine that mystifies and fascinates me.

[EdenCoven]

Thinking about it, the Dreamcast was our first disk-based console. We think about the hardware itself more than we normally do: the screeching VMUs and the loud click of reading the data. It was closer to a computer than any console we'd had previously.

[hanalei]

The coolest bout of video game preservation I've ever seen is for the Dreamcast, and I'm still in awe about it.

People were able reverse engineer the network protocol for Phantasy Star Online, then configure a Raspberry Pi to answer the call placed by the Dreamcast's modem for online play. And it works. I've experienced it myself and it's amazing.

Sega shut down the servers, but it doesn't matter! People continue to log in on their Dreamcasts to this day. What a treat.

Oh, also, Skies of Arcadia is one of the greatest RPGs ever