(Archived 2022) The thread in which we talk about games we are currently playing

video games
2898

Knights in the Nightmare! has anyone here spent much time with that game? it seems like an objectively insert credit type of experience: ambitious to the point of being to its own detriment, full of cool ideas and good aesthetics, and really only playable on the hardware it was designed for (Nintendo DS).

i bounced off of it back in the day, despite my friend insisting that i stick with it. but now, it seems that i am ready for it. perhaps this is a way of saying that the game was ahead of its time. or i am behind the times. or both.

the game looks like an isometric Japanese tactics game, and it is that, to a certain extent. but you control a little cursor called The Wisp, which ultimately dictates how each of your units acts, and also collects gems that burst out of fallen enemies (and which replenish MP), and you must dodge bullet heck-style enemy fire. you've also got to fiddle with UI-related bits, such as equipping special items, or switching the conditions of battle from lawful to chaotic.

there's uh... a lot going on! you've got to be really ready to dig in and work with this game, hear what it's got to say. as a concept, i love the way this evokes ancient ideas of fate (or invisible spirits) conspiring to affect the tides of battle. as a game play conceit, it's just fun and engaging and really unlike anything else. you're just constantly zipping around, making snap decisions, which messes with your brain, because the game appears to be a SRPG, which tend to be slow and plodding. good job, Sting!

EDIT: oh also, i'm playing in English, and the localization is really good! remember when Atlus used to constantly put out shockingly good localizations? i miss those days.

ANOTHER EDIT: oh i guess you could also play this game on PSP or Switch, although... i find it hard to imagine how the mechanics would work, especially on PSP! the dual screen/stylus setup seems pretty essential!

2899

@“whatsarobot”#p83887 I didn’t end up liking Knights in the Nightmare as much as I had hoped I would— especially after how much I had enjoyed Riviera and especially Yggdra Union! Sting really had some great ideas around the late 2000’s! I think I eventually bought it and Gungnir on good discounts for PSP.

Edit: looks like [Yggdra Union got a Switch rerelease](https://www.gematsu.com/2020/02/yggdra-union-well-never-fight-alone-for-switch-debut-trailer-screenshots) that’s Japan only for now. Extremely tempted to buy it and struggle through it in Japanese! Maybe someday Yggdra Unison will get an English language release!

2900

@“Karasu”#p83892 ha, yup, i owned all those games as well. (wish i still owned that Riviera GBA cartridge!) Knights in the Nightmare is definitely the most complex of the lot. i like Riviera and Yggdra Union a fair bit.

2901

@“Karasu”#p83892 I want to play Riviera, but I want it to be the wonderswan original, in English. Haha

2902

I’ve been binging the Horizon games and dang they’re quite good

2903

@“seasons”#p83759 I also just finished Immortality and was also really impressed. I'm not usually a huge fan of intuiting the story, but this game (and Her Story) really worked for me. The only minor complaints I had were that the characters never really looked like they aged, even though the story takes place over a 30-year span, and that finding the last dozen scenes or so was really like taking a shot in the dark. Other than that, I had a great time with it. Definitely a game for this crowd.

2904

@“treefroggy”#p83930 the Japanese version of the GBA release isn’t that challenging language-wise, especially if you already know the game, FYI. I’ve got a copy of the Wonderswan version but no Wonderswan to play it on, sadly! I should change that someday, lol!

2905

@“edward”#p83577

>

As for me: spent three weeks not FFT even though that’s what I wanted to be doing. Jumped back in last night and got to the duel with Wiegraf and got so severely decimated that I couldn’t stop laughing. Feels, though, like I must have made mistakes hours ago to end up like this here. Fortunately, I have a save from before I got locked into this sequence of battles, so I might do some grinding tonight while I watch 15 year old episodes of Chopped.

The trick seemed to be Dual Wielding.
Finally onto Chapter 4.

2906

@“leah”#p81107 finished this the other day. the difficulty spike in the middle of the game is brutal and makes it feel like a completely different game. i gave up on 100% completion on the second to last level or so; as much as i liked spending time in the game, it felt like the effort wasn't worth it anymore.

i do think the difficulty is the point, though, and i liked the contrast between the aesthetic and the gameplay; there was something really magical about it that i can't quite put my finger on. despite how finicky the grapple is, the running-and-jumping aspect of the movement felt so nice, and pulling off some of the harder tricks to get better times or access secrets felt really rewarding. it's secretly an excellent speedrunning game because the mechanics are so flexible, despite their sloppiness.

i don't think i'll ever come back to it, but i had a very nice time playing it! i never felt bored and i never wanted to give up.

2907

@“leah”#p84015 I think I must have run into the difficulty spike you‘re talking about the other day, which caused me to give up on finishing Frogun! It stinks, because until then I had enjoyed it. Still, I’m always skeptical about new games that so heavily reference the aesthetic of older games, including all of the lack of quality of life changes. If Frogun had just… I don‘t know, made checkpoints closer together, or even done away with them in favour of pretty instant respawns, I might have hung in there. I know that was a choice the devs made, but it’s the thing I don‘t care for about the games it references. It would still be tough even if they’d made it faster to retry.

I finished Tinykin this weekend and I really can't recommend it enough! The levels are clever and cute, it does 2d sprites in a 3d world the right way, and the difficulty often comes down to issues of imagination and exploration, so progression doesn't end up feeling as gatekept. But there will always be one or two items or collectables that you can see but not reach, and because the game does such a good job of teaching you its systems, they always feel attainable, even if you don't know exactly how you'll do it. I think the only really complaint I have is that there's not more of it, although if it was longer it might not seem as special.

It was a hard game to follow, so I started in on my first playthrough of Castlevania Circle of the Moon since I played it at launch for the GBA. It's (obviously) far from the best Castlevania game, but the music is top notch and it's wild to see it on a screen that isn't the incredibly dark original GBA's. I can't remember where I saw the tip, but if the person who suggested that the rewind feature is key here to more easily grind for DSS cards, THANK YOU.

2908

@“Karasu”#p84021 yeah it's definitely the make-or-break moment in that game - it just suddenly asks you to do some ridiculous things and never stops asking. i think the devs are working on a patch to make the game more approachable, and i might return to it after that goes live; it would be nice to live in its world without feeling so stressed and annoyed!

2909

Just a few hours ago I beat Koudelka, which was my first time playing. Gotta say - it was incredibly hard for me to put that game down!! Looking around the internet it seems like people think the RPG gameplay weighed it down compared to more typical horror games, but I thought the battles were impressively well-balanced (I never died once, but most boss battles did have me close to the wire so every victory felt satisfactorily earned) and allocating characters‘ stats proved to be meaningful and engaging, something which other games can flounder with. And for someone like me, who doesn’t do especially well with scary stuff (I usually get my friends to play scary games so I can watch…), Koudelka wound up being pretty perfectly tuned to my exact sensibilities of wanting that creeping, dreadful, oppressive atmosphere with some abstractly-gruesome imagery, while never being anything that discouraged me from playing by being “too much” (a balance I‘ve only ever really found in Silent Hill games). What an incredible little thing!! A horror RPG that even wimps like me can have a wonderful time with - and doesn’t waste that time either, clocking in at only 13 hours in my sometimes meandering playthrough. Not even to mention some of the absolute best voice acting and choreography I‘ve seen in any game, let alone one on the original Playstation. What a refreshing gem to have stumbled into by accident. Going in I knew nothing, but coming out I’m leaving with a new favorite.

2910

A bit into Chapter 4 of FFT and I feel like I have a really good squad together that’s cruising and bruising. I still have four of my initial generic units who have been awesome. They’re Chemist, Ninja(with Monk for sub-abilities), Dark Knight(previously Monk and Geomancer for large stretches), and Black Mage with Ramza of course and ||Orlandeau|| in my pocket if needed. Dual Wield on some and Auto Potion/Move +2 on everyone. I’ve spent a fairly significant amount of time grinding for abilities which I’ve found meditative and nice while I watch old Godzilla movies.

I don’t think I’m doing anything too kooky with my team really, I’ve realized I really like having strong bread and butter characters that can move, groove, and stab well while also having everyone sport some kind of healing utility as well. I think it has made the game nicely playable for me. It is exciting to think of some of the weirder combos you can do though, maybe in a future play through!

2911

@“sabertoothalex”#p84043

Dark Knight!

I don't remember exactly how to get them but I think I'm a long way from there despite also being at the beginning of Chapter 4. My team doesn't have many surprises. Have some mages, some bruisers, and some who can run all over the map and stab around a bit.

I like the idea of the Samurai class, but I think I may be wasting my time leveling one of them. I like the idea of the Dragoon class, too, but not so sure I want to invest in one. Did a few battles where I had a team of ninjas and cackled like an idiot but it seems more fun to have a mix of everything. Though exploring and trying out different classes has led me down some annoying culdesacs.

2912

@“sabertoothalex”#p84043 this is totally the way to play. If you play through again it’s fun to mess around with weird builds and strange classes to have some fun. I’ve played through the game many times, but nowadays always use all generic characters - I give them little personalities in my head and if any of them permadied I would be very sad. Agrias and the gang are great but I have more fun training up like 3 ninjas, a white mage, and a black mage and just going bonkers.

2913

@“edward”#p84046 samurai sucks unfortunately. Kind of useless, though it has some good abilities to apply to other classes. Dragoon is a very viable tank/melee class however.

2914

@“sabertoothalex”#p84043 wow, I want to challenge you to the multiplayer missions, your team sounds fun, haha

2915

i finally got around to streets of rage 4 and teenage mutant ninja turtles: shredder's revenge over the weekend. both really fun games, though i remembered that i suck at beat em ups and have not been able to get passed the final stage on sor4 (tmnt was easier for me. managed to beat the story mode in a few hours)

2916

@“Cheddahz”#p84067 I actually just palyed through Shredder's Revenge a couple weeks ago with some homies, it‘s a fun game. It has some cool tech and combo extension stuff that is there if you wanna be all stylish and such, but isn’t necessary to beat anything. For the last boss, we were all tired and we just mashed our way through it. It's a very forgiving beat-em-up that is definitely worth a run-through.

Played through SoR4 again (but on my phone this time) while traveling for work recently, and I'd confidently call that game a masterpiece. Unlike SR, you have to use all your tools and mashing will get you killed by the end. It's just got that _mechanical depth_ which is a big reason I keep going back. Every character feels very distinct, and every time I play through it, I feel like I have so much room to get better at the game, but that's a good thing.

Ain't nobody here talking about _Rollerdrome_, that's a shame. That game kicks ass, give it a go. I think if you're a PS+ subscriber you get a trial included with your sub.

2917

I bought Tinykin shortly after release and devoured that game. I loved it. Absolutely gorgeous game with just a ton of charm. Came out of nowhere for me and has cemented Splashteam as one to watch. Took me around 7 hours to beat and I enjoyed every second of ‘em. Download the demo if it’s still available. If you like that, the whole game is just as good and keeps surprising you the whole way through.

Also just finished up Prey (2017). Game rocked. Near the end it gets maybe a little too much of a sense of urgency to it (given the amount of side stuff to do) but I loved exploring that there space station.