@“notthetoilet”#p63705 that is a fine way to play Disco Elysium, i reckon. sip it slow, and savour every bit of it.
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@“notthetoilet”#p63705 Also started Disco Elysium and that shit is dense, so I’m playing like 10 minutes at a time.
It’s probably very suitable as a “30 minutes intense premium HBO show with a cliffhanger for the next episode” kind of experience.
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@“notthetoilet”#p63705 Still on Ys VIII (but surely coming to a close?)
Famous last words… That game is obtusely _grandma generous_^TM as the Elden peeps would say.
I happen to be playing its sequel **Ys IX** at the moment, which is a very contrasting experience from Elden Ring. The game is both way clunkier and way more interesting to analyze than I had anticipated.
Based on the premise 「_explore a fortified city as if it was a giant dungeons with various transversal powers_」, I had set my expectations to "what if Assassin’s Creed but Dreamcast?". There is some of that, but Ys IX still features social link elements and some kind of (stupid) tower defense variation just like Ys VIII.
The social and overall team building element makes a lot of sense here. I have never been a fan of the “swap between three characters” mechanic introduced the series from Ys Seven, but I felt it finally worked well mechanically in Ys VIII, even if I could still not picture why Adol would have two randos tag along with him. In Ys IX, thanks to the context of the crowded city and the band of misfits trying to break a curse from a Boss they have not chosen – it’s basically the Romulan Suicide Squad – this trio configuration makes way more sense thematically but the narrow streets serving as a background and the more vertical stage layouts make combat and the camera way more finicky than in the previous game’s wide beaches and jungles.
I generally despise tower defense mechanics, but it kinda made sense in Ys VIII with the excuse of the castaway camp surrounded by hostile nature. Its shoehorning is way more convoluted in Ys IX and I am not enjoying a minute of it
The extremely pleasant surprise is traversal. This game is full of good ideas and intuitions despite its many technical limitations and PS2-era conjugation of Open World verbs. It’s pretty fun to visit the city of Balduq, even aimlessly, and I am a sucker for RPGs that try to adhere to a classical unity of place.
The story is rightwingly stupid in a uniquely sincere Japanese way. Donating money to critically poor people will not solve their problems and instead make these bums complacent, but opening a flower shop in the slums will apparently cheer them up and have them better accept their social condition. I hope they don’t realize they can neither afford nor eat the flowers.
Overall, it’s cool that this generation of Falcom devs are trying shit, sometimes beyond their means. I am quite curious which direction they go with Ys X.
I’m curious to get to IX eventually, I’m trying to play through the whole series. VIII is interesting for me. I loved about 75% of it but pretty much all of the content they added in the PS4 game felt like it detracted from the experience. It added a lot of empty calories. I guess that’s what modern Falcom feels like to me generally though. They’ve been making their games longer and longer and longer and I don’t think they’ve been good enough to justify the length. I’ve played basically all of the Trails games and CS3 suddenly demanding more than 100 hours was brutal. 4 is even longer. Ys VIII would be an all timer without all the needless stuff in the tower defense (a couple fine, but there are too many of them and they disrupt the pace of exploring), nighttime missions, and the Dana dungeons. There was so much there already!!! My read on IX is that it has a little bit less of the extra credit stuff which sounds good to me.
Fire Emblem Three Houses is overstaying its welcome a bit. I'm ready to be done.
In the fateful words of Dutch van der Linde (just as Red Dead Redemption 2 was beginning to drag):
"We need to move towards a conclusion, Arthur!"
I believe I'm on the 2nd to last month/chapter. There is no motivation to partake in battles that are not story-related on my days off. We are clearly in the endgame. There is not enough time remaining for anyone to learn a new class. I'm realizing that I never used several features, such as stat-boosting items. My characters mostly stuck with upgraded iron weapons through the whole game. I'm flush with gold, but I don't think I ever had to buy anything from the (too many) merchants.
My Professor is in love with, and completely ready to marry, every single student. Every student is also in love with each other. Once I pick which student (!) I want to be my wife, the dominoes will fall and all the other student pairings will cascade down (I assume). I was already planning to write this post, when the game straight up asked me to pick who I love (and want to put a ring on). Hilariously, the list details out the class and HP next to the characters. "Hmm, I probably want a wife with lots of HP just to be safe. But if she's a wyvern rider we can take a flying honeymoon."
Overall, this game has a lot of stuff in it. I actually enjoy the battles and the social aspect about equally. The battles just could have been tougher, and the story tighter.
I should probably pick up an action game to smooth out some brain wrinkles before I (possibly) pick up Triangle Strategy, lol.
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@“BluntForceMama”#p63802 I should probably pick up an action game to smooth out some brain wrinkles before I (possibly) pick up Triangle Strategy, lol.
I'm currently playing Elden Ring but I think I want to play something lighter and less George R.R. Martin-y before I start Triangle Strategy, so I think I'm gonna go for the new Kirby
I think I'm around 47 hours in Elden Ring and I just killed Radahn, which is sort of a relief, because there was a good 30-ish hours after I killed Godrick before I ever even encountered another Elden Lord. I'm at a place in my life where even though this game is constantly surprising me with cool new shit and I genuinely love exploring every inch of this world, 50 hours for one game is pushing it, lol. But I will definitely finish
Hmm lets see
Gran Turismo 7
This is a classic gran turismo game in that I am spending thousands to upgrade my economy car to go incredibly fast. The rebalanced economy to make me grind has me really disappointed, because I play casually if at all, and it will take me literal months (or literal hundreds of dollars of in game currency) to unlock the McLaren F1. This game does have the best feeling driving physics of any game I‘ve ever played, bar none, it feels fantastic. It looks fantastic. And it’s all been ruined because Sony wants that MTX money.
**Forza Horizon 5**
While I loathe the physics, presentation, multiplayer, everything. I still play it because it's still a pretty good car playground, and I have been having fun racing "Unbeatable" level AI in super long races, using very slow cars. You can also customize everything substantially, and the cars are a lot easier to get.
**The Frog For Whom The Bell Tolls**
Still kind of working my way through this game, which is really charming. I have mixed feelings about the battle system because it's kind of abstracted. I feel like if you added a Paper Mario style timed attack/defense system, it would feel just a smidge more game-ey. This is a rare game that makes me want to make a game of my own in the same style of it, which means it's very good, to me that is.
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Saw this today so I guess this means new rune fracking is out
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I'm playing Attack of the Friday Monsters today.
Well, the time has finally come; Kirby and the Forgotten Land is out, a copy has arrived at my door, the cartridge is in my Nintendo Switch, and I‘ve played about an hour. I’ve heard some people online saying things like “it's too easy.” While it may be true that the game is easy, for me the question is where “too” easy comes from. I think what might be happening, which happens often, is people conflating “simple” with “easy,” and “easy” with “lazy.” It likely doesn‘t help that this is coming out while people are still actively playing Elden Ring. Well I’m here to tell you now that Kirby and the Forgotten Land is yes, “easy,” but more than that it's generously thoughtful and deliciously engaging.
Yesterday [an interview between four of _Kirby and the Forgotten Land_'s lead developers](https://www.nintendo.co.uk/News/2022/March/Ask-the-Developer-Vol-4-Kirby-and-the-Forgotten-Land-2187039.html#section-01) was released, notably mentioning something they called "fuzzy landing." When reading the interview, I couldn't help but wonder what the point was. 3D platformers have existed for nearly 30 years now (that's longer than I've been alive!) and some of those have been heralded as some of the best games of all time. To potentially muddy down a genre characterized (most of the time) by its tight, responsive movement with a distant cousin of a fighting game's buffered inputs seems like an odd choice when this genre has been doing fine - in fact, thriving - without anything like that. Jump forward to today, where my first five minutes in this game was spent having Kirby jump around the first scene without any intention of progressing at all; this game feels **good**. _Super Mario 64_'s Shigeru Miyamoto famously had Mario's full moveset prototyped to be fun just to maneuver just on its own without any obstacles. I can't help but feel that same dedication was shown just to Kirby's single jump. The speed, the stylized animation, and of course, the pristinely polished "fuzzy landing" that turns the simple act of chaining jumps together into an addictive rhythm game had me impressed from the first moment of gameplay. I feel like I sound ridiculous saying this, but it's really incredible. Tons of games have great-feeling jumps, but this is the only game I've played where I simply never want to stop jumping; not because the level demands it, but simply because it feels so good to do.
On that note, the levels themselves are similarly polished. Every inch serves a discernible point and constantly encourages you to be curious and explore. _Kirby and the Forgotten Land_ takes a _Kirby's Dream Land 3_ approach to progress, where the only goal is to simply work through the level and reach the end, but there are also miniature objectives to engage with along the way. That's right; where _Kirby's Dream Land 3_ only had *one* sub-objective per level, _Kirby and the Forgotten Land_ has several. Sometimes they involve simply observing a pattern, sometimes they involve you engaging with a bespoke set piece only in that level, sometimes they involve you going down a totally separate path from the main route and exploring delicately crafted pockets of level design. Completing these sub-objectives has you freeing imprisoned Waddle-Dees which will then populate an adorable town the Waddle-Dees themselves are building. The optional content is fun, the reward is endearing, it's just gorgeous all over.
This brings me back to my original point. The difficulty of this game is of course low. It's a Kirby game. Though, it's not at all about being challenging (however there are unlockable areas reminiscent of the copy ability challenge rooms in _Kirby's Return to Dreamland_ which, while not "hard" certainly do have you thinking critically about the optimal way to use any particular ability) - this is a game about using a gorgeously responsive character to comb through beautifully rendered landscapes littered with bespoke set pieces and stuffed to the brim with little crumbs of fun that always has you darting your eyes around the screen trying to detect what new mini-objective may show up and where it may be hiding. The difficulty is low, but the only way to convince yourself to be bored while playing is if you refuse to engage with all the many systems it constantly implores you to be a part of.
That being said... Like I mentioned, I am only *one hour* into the game. lol. If my opinion on any of this winds up changing I'll be sure to report back, but as it stands, this game rules and Kirby is my best friend
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@“BluntForceMama”#p63802 Hmm, I probably want a wife with lots of HP just to be safe.
That’s how we did it in Europe for 1000+ years don’t kink shame us.
Out of curiosity, what difficulty setting did you pick? I regretted my combo for my first playthrough. I went for the Normal difficulty in the Classic “they die” format since I enjoyed that setting on the 3DS games. But normal difficulty was way too simplistic due to the tone down of the triangle ~~strategy~~_while_ still making any reset due to the stupid loss of a character on a random critical hit very annoying. I wished I had gone for the harder difficulty level but with the character death insurance activated.
Some noteworthy stuff I played on gamepass:
**Tunic**: Yes, this is a fun compact Zelda game with soulsy combat, big bosses and great world design. Also, it is a game with an incredibly cute instruction manual that you need to collect pages for so you can learn about mechanics and look at the map. BUT ALSO, it is a game with... well, that would be big spoilers. Know this: this game reminded me of Outer Wilds, Fez and The Witness. There's also an invincibility mode, which might prove useful - the bosses are quite hard.
**Paradise Killer**: God I love that this exists. Feels like one of those inexplicably large and empty walking sims I love, only even bigger and actually has a ton of stuff to find. Honestly, I found the exploration aspect better than the actual mystery. Learning about the world, finding new music, reading the flavor text on the random items and hanging out with the characters was enough for me.
The biggest spoilers imaginable ahead!
||So, about the mystery. As you learn more stuff, it becomes increasingly obvious that everyone is involved in some way. A lot of the big revelations did not feel very impactful (I did like it when you found them lying around in the world), made worse by anyone who was directly involved refusing to talk about them before the trial. And if you go to the trial after finding almost everything like I did, it's just: accuse someone of a crime, read your homework to the judge, they are declared guilty, repeat like 10 times. I wish there were cross examinations or one of the bombshell twists you'd see in a Danganronpa game. When everyone is declared guilty so easily and also says "oh btw carmelina made me do it" it's anti-climactic.
I like the game trying to make you doubt your decisions in the trial... but that kind of falls flat when they all confess. Well, I did get a thing wrong - I didn't find Dainonigate first time I did the trial. It's really cool to have such an entire character be so hidden, but he ends up basically replacing the role of the demon in the box so not like I got someone killed that should have lived. I think it would be interesting to have some of the crimes have no "canon" perpetrator and leave you guessing.
Of course I realize that it's impossible to make a tight, Ace Attorney style trial that works when you don't know how much evidence the player will have. I was just let down because I was looking forward to it for all of the game.||
Wow, I wrote a lot of words. I promise I do love this game!! Didn't even mention the JoJo-posing chest-exposing characters! They are great too.
**Kentucky Route Zero**: Started a bit slow, and I guess it doesn't get exactly faster, but the introduction of more characters and scenarios in acts 3 and 4 especially won me over. It really gets a lot out of the format. There are a lot of games like this that are just controlling one guy, choosing what he says occasionally and dragging screwdrivers over screws.
There are dialogue choices so often that lead to completely different text that they can solely justify a second playthrough. Impressive stuff.
@“chazumaru”#p63933
Yeah I’m on normal mode with no permadeath.
I guess I shouldn’t rag on the difficulty when there’s a hard mode I’m not playing, but it really does seem to lack complexity. My guys (and gals) are just too good. I really start to have a good time if I accidentally lose a few units and the game sends in an overwhelming number of enemies. Ditto that teatime can be the most stressful. I never know what Marianne wants to talk about and I end up embarrassed…
@“BluntForceMama”#p63982 Yeah, in retrospect my advice to friends was Hard + No Perma. The game skews a bit too much in favor of the player’s team in terms of equipment and skill options. Hard mode does not fix that issue but at least it keeps you a bit on your toes.
Triangle Strategy’s challenge seems way more interesting in that regard, as apparently it requires you to think about your approach even if you over-leveled. You can’t just bulldoze your way through.
@“Funbil”#p63931 Just beat the game a few minutes ago. Glad to report: the game only kept impressing. Some of the Dream Land 3-flavored sub-objectives eventually began to be borrowed from previous levels which started to diminish their value, but their implementation in each level still remained fresh, and everything else about the levels themselves only kept one-upping each other. If a new Pocky and Rocky wasn‘t coming out this may have been my Game Of The Year (I did not play Elden Ring, but I’d also prefer Pocky & Rocky over that anyways). Thoroughly enjoyed every minute and would enthusiastically recommend to anyone with even a passing interest. Fans of ||trucks|| in particular should play to the end. My friends and I were screaming our heads off at the insanity. I‘d be more than content if the game was just over now, but it seems like there’s a pretty substantial postgame too! My time with Kirby and the Forgotten Land is not over but I can‘t imagine I’ll have much more to say about it here. I went into this game pretty skeptical but it won me over in a major way. Biggest surprise I've gotten out of a game in a while.
@“connrrr”#p63271 I just saw Jeremy last week, I should've razzed him about this
Also I should finally "get into Kirby"
@“connrrr”#p63271 @“exodus”#p63993
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July, 2003
[b][/b]
Final Fantasy XII: Theoretically to be released this year.
Ah yes, right… Those were sweet, innocent times.
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@“exodus”#p63993 I just saw Jeremy last week
So................ this was in order to ask him to be on the show right
I just beat Triangle Strategy with the >!Frederica!< route. >!I found it kind of interesting that the Chapter 17 ending choice was so abrupt. I understand that the characters discovering the salt mine changes the dynamic between House Wolfert and the Hyzantians, but after several chapters of gaining their trust, it seems like Benedict's route comes out of nowhere. I can tell the game designers wanted 4 very drastically different endings, but his actions just seemed totally out of character. I felt so unsatisfied seeing him in the epilogue defending Gustadolph, because it felt unearned that he wanted to ally with him in the first place. Especially considering Benedict would presumably stay loyal in the other two routes, it feels like a strange heel turn. I wish it had spent more time on what happens to the demesne once we abandon it, but the game all of a sudden stopped caring about loose ends.!<
Overall it's a solid, above-average strategy game experience. It has many ideas it does great and many that just miss the mark. The combat and classes are all very good, and quality of life makes this actually probably the most player-friendly SRPGs I know of. The story is grounded to a fault, it's not about good vs. evil, but instead about compromise and weighing choices with the knowledge that it will create more challenges. Given the very serious tone, I kept hoping the game would delve into political philosophy but that never happens. The game talks _around_ things like Liberty and Obligation and Pragmatism in the abstract, but never makes a statement about any them or challenges them. and I think that is due to it being a choose-your-own-adventure. There are also some pivotal moments that are glossed over because of the choose-your-own-adventure element too. I hope the "Golden Route" fixes this, but I'm probably not going to attempt that for quite a while.
Even having played all of the optional maps, the gameplay is far outweighed by dialogue. Half of the game is about watching characters stand in a circle and talking. Watching the mandatory scenes are essential for getting the full experience. The optional scenes you can safely skip without missing much. The exploration mode on the other hand, I think is largely a waste of time and feels like padding to me. It feels like at some point during development they became scared of releasing a game without player engagement during the story segments, so they added in an unskippable mode where you walk around town talking to NPCs, collecting data logs, and finding consumables. I didn't mind it at first, but the fact your persuasion dialogue options are locked behind NPCs or there are game-over conditions for not 'solving' the 'puzzles' (aka, you didn't talk to the NPCs in the right order) became quite annoying. I think this 'mode' also dilutes the scales of conviction, because all meaningful decisions can swayed by exploring. It's hard to say what exactly the scales influence apart from character recruitment and optional cutscenes.
I have no complaints about the combat. I appreciate that the game never got stale or 'too easy', and that even up to the end they play around with different win conditions and unit types. It's also exciting that there are a ton of battles I have yet to experience. But for me, this is a type of game that I need a long break from before tackling New Game+, yet I look forward to revisiting it.
I finished Attack of the Friday Monsters and am now playing VB Wario Land with 3D glasses.
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So, AotFM was my first Boku no Natsuyasumi game. I actually don't know how much it plays like any of the games in that series—maybe I'm extrapolating too far by saying it is one of them. It's a lot shorter and has kaiju in it, so it stands out in at least those ways. It is definitely cute. The music is pretty. The painted backgrounds (and foreground elements) are lush. I'm a fan of 3D for 3D's sake. It doesn't have to serve the gameplay, it can just be for fun. It worries me how hard it might become to repair or replace my 3DS should it break someday. We've just got to enjoy our time together while it lasts, I guess!!
I decided to kick off my Elden Ring hiatus in style after stumbling across a screenshot someone on here (I think it was @“Syzygy”#279?) posted of this one–I'm playing the 2010 PSP Remaster of Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together, which was initially released on the Super Famicom in 1995, and ported to the Saturn and the Playstation in 1996 and 1997 respectively.
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I'm playing it using the PPSSPP emulator which works fine! Sometimes the music stops playing randomly for reasons I can't discern but it seems to work fine otherwise. I've also never played the original but I see that the remake is highly regarded, so I went with that.
This game is really impressively good. It's good enough that I find myself thinking thoughts like "how much of was in the SFC original??" and I think it's most of it that I've seen so far, right? I must have played more _Ogre Battle 64_ than I thought because picking about through menus to [this music](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpN_a7c2TiU) makes me enter some kind of relaxed-yet-engaged zen state. Some of the best menu music ever.
Also yes all of my fulltime use non-unique units are women, because women are naturally stronger than men, everyone knows that. Actually it's also me following my personal policy of almost always choosing women over men whenever given the option when I play videogames (factoring in annoying gameplay considerations like gender based class requirements or w/e which this game basically does away with which is cool), 'cause I just feel that videogames have enough men. Honestly they shoulda let you pick which of the two siblings was the main player character and just swapped out all the dialogue and events and stuff. That would have been cool. I don't know what sis' role in the story is so far so maybe that wouldn't make sense.