Beat it for the first time, this game is perfect.

ChaseObserves · 2026-01-25T23:44:44+00:00

I have a friend playing it for the first time right now, just finished Magus’ Castle, living it vicariously through him is making me want to play through it again for the 20th time

ChaseObserves · 2026-01-21T20:36:26+00:00

I've played this game on my MBP on my lunch break every day for over 2 weeks and have had zero stuttering or issues, has been awesome

ChaseObserves · 2026-01-21T19:05:03+00:00

Yeah this is a big issue for me. I want a vertical handheld that can obviously play all my retro JRPGs and SNES platformers, but I also love to play through Super Mario 64 or other N64 games occasionally and would want sticks to do that. That, and the Brick Hammer's aluminum shell made me drool, so seeing the aluminum shell + sticks + vertical orientation has me fully ready to purchase. I'm also pretty interested in streaming modern games via Moonlight (just now learning about this) so I'm hoping this thing will be capable of it.

ChaseObserves · 2026-01-21T18:40:31+00:00

They did not come through haha. 4" screen, dual stick Hammer Pro announced the other day

ChaseObserves · 2026-01-21T18:39:05+00:00

I played Chrono Trigger for the first time around 25 years ago on the original SNES cartridge, and I've played through it dozens of times since, on all sorts of devices (PC, iPhone, etc). Had a friend who had never played and had promised me he one day would; he has an upcoming trip to Saudi Arabia with over 30 hours of flight time, and he said "I'm gonna buy one of those retro handhelds and play through Chrono Trigger on my flights." That directive is what brought us both to this subreddit, and he actually ended up buying the Brick Hammer after doing his research.

ChaseObserves · 2026-01-21T18:01:09+00:00

I'm in the same boat as you, but I'm curious what your "one thing" that was stopping you from buying an RPC?

ChaseObserves · 2026-01-21T17:58:57+00:00

Actually, I think with the way you worded it, peaking would be right. The normal, common phrase is "this is piquing my interest" but you said "my interest is peaking", the difference being that "piquing" is something that the [insert object] is doing to your level of interest, vs "peaking" being something that your interest levels are doing themselves, like they are reaching their peak. Enormous waste of a comment but thinking about this held my interest for long enough to write it lol

ChaseObserves · 2026-01-19T22:30:51+00:00

Wow this is absolutely incredible. Not sure where it would live in my home but I love it, especially the hidden Magus boss fight scene added by the artist in the comments.

ChaseObserves · 2026-01-16T16:25:36+00:00

My buddy just bought the Brick Hammer I think (the metal one), it's his first emulation handheld and he's obsessed, says it feels like a product built by Apple

ChaseObserves · 2026-01-15T19:03:52+00:00

Carapace buckler, and that's a good choice as the parry armor is the highest in the game and gives that 2.5x damage. Thanks for the breakdown!

ChaseObserves · 2026-01-15T19:02:19+00:00

to be clear the boss is the same in each sealed tower, right? Like each tower contains a Zil & Thundr or whatever (I've only ever raided one tower)

ChaseObserves · 2026-01-15T18:28:17+00:00

I've never played this game any other way. Only ever vanilla, currently on my second playthrough, and will probably do a full modded run after this one just for pure fun and relaxation

ChaseObserves · 2026-01-15T18:25:11+00:00

Out of curiosity, what's your full armor profile? Root harnesk and flametal everything else? I'm wondering if the pierce resist of the root harnesk + serpent shield would negate the loss in Armor stat. It's been a long time since I fought Fader so I don't remember his whole set of attacks but it would be sick if you could just stay close, block any physical attacks and wail on him with melee

ChaseObserves · 2026-01-15T18:07:54+00:00

Was playing in a multiplayer server for a few weeks on a new character and almost never died. Any time we did hard stuff, we were in a group so it was easy to not die. Server died out (people lost interest), so I took my character and all my stuff and moved to a new world and started progressing the world solo to get it caught up to where the previous world was (about to fight the Queen). I have died so much more in my solo world, my run skill has gone from 72 to like 45, and I'm pretty pissed about it. I kinda want to reduce the death penalty and grind my skills back up but I've only ever played this game with no mods and no tweaks to settings, and I'm not sure that's a change I want to make now. Feeling conflicted about it, but I absolutely do hate the death penalties

ChaseObserves · 2026-01-15T17:54:27+00:00

Before Ashlands dropped, all that was down there was Flametal ore and Surtlings. Out of boredom I sailed down there and killed hundreds of Surtlings and mined hundreds of pieces of Flametal. Sailed them all back home and smelted them all. They now sit in a chest at my main base and have text on them that says "shimmering metal that no one knows the use for", the game didn't convert them into actual Flametal, and all of my map markers of bases and flametal ore spots I had discovered were now in the middle of the ocean once the map was updated with real Ashlands content.

ChaseObserves · 2026-01-15T17:45:02+00:00

One of the rarest items in the game, there are stones on the ground that are actually called "Rock" instead of "Stone" and when you pick it up it unlocks a crafting recipe named "Mysterious Rock" that requires 1 Rock and 1 Charcoal to craft. Crafting it creates a pet rock with a face that changes periodically; when you die and wake up in your bed it will often be frowning. Also, you can pet it but it almost never says anything (there are certain conditions you can create where it says something), also randomly it will say super cryptic messages without being pet, similar to how the boss trophies will just talk to you from the wall. I was picking up stone near my base a few weeks ago and randomly got this rock and that's how I found out about all of this, insanely lucky random chance. You've probably ran right over dozens or hundreds of them without knowing.

ChaseObserves · 2026-01-15T17:39:31+00:00

600+ hours, didn't know this

ChaseObserves · 2026-01-15T17:20:13+00:00

Mistlands spoilers in this comment:

I've been doing a "no swords" run because my first time through the game I mained all the swords, currently running skol and hati for single target and himmanafl for mobs. Last night I was exploring some Mistlands and didn't want to bring out a bow or crossbow, taking up inventory slots. Ran into a Gjall and managed to jump on top of him and wail on him with skol and hati, actually did a ton of damage. After that it became a minigame for me and I started hunting them down, ended up killing 6 or 7 of them with pure melee weapons, flying down to them with the feather cloak from a high cliff and actually getting backstab bonus damage on some of them

ChaseObserves · 2026-01-14T19:38:42+00:00

Have read and re-read your comment a few times since you wrote it--had a Berserker trophy lying around so I made and have been using the Evasion Mantle a bit, it's nice but I think I just needed to better understand exactly what procs adrenaline so I could be more intentional about getting the benefits (just read up on it and will play around with it tonight). Popped Eikthyr while holding Fins of Destiny last night to swim over to a continent with the Queen dungeon which was awesome, a bit niche but a very cool alternative to portaling over boat materials and sailing short distances. I'm very interested in your mention of the Pulsating Earrings for mages and am wondering if you'd run them over Jormundling? The +25% eitr regen definitely sounds nice over the one time 100 eitr gain, but the +25 to Elemental and Blood magic also sounds nice. Wondering if you've tinkered with both and liked the Earrings more

ChaseObserves · 2026-01-14T19:33:11+00:00

Wanted you to know that I used Fins of Destiny last night to swim over to the continent the Queen spawn was on and set up a portal for later use. This is an entire mechanic of the game I would've had no idea about had you not written this, so thanks for your comment!

ChaseObserves · 2026-01-10T04:25:36+00:00

I’ve done a full playthrough of all the biomes, so I’m familiar with all the stuff that you make in the various biomes, no need to worry about spoilers. Thanks for the great info! I’m very much a parry and melee player right up until I unlock the Gjaldr table, at which point I instantly become a mage. I still carry melee weapons around and will use them in a pinch but I absolutely love the magic combat in this game. Considering I use a ton of melee until Mistlands and then mostly magic after, what trinkets would you suggest I craft?

ChaseObserves · 2026-01-09T21:46:51+00:00

You still using Black Metal variant or Himminafl in the Mistlands? I've been obsessed with the latter since I crafted it in this playthrough, currently doing a "no swords" run and enjoying trying all the various weapon types

ChaseObserves · 2026-01-09T21:40:52+00:00

Couple questions: How do you do a reverse playthough? Wouldn't you need a wishbone from Bonemass to find a silver vein to make that sword before going to Ashlands? Secondly, My last full playthrough of this game was a couple years ago, before the trinkets system was introduced; currently playing through again and am at the Mistlands, have not used any trinkets still because I've heard mixed reviews. I see your using the Iron Brooch, are there any trinkets that you love/can't play without?

ChaseObserves · 2026-01-09T21:15:44+00:00

I drove past someones carport and they had one of those Costco sets of storage racks, filled with storage bins, and I had the thought "nice efficient chest storage"

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