I always leave a copy of a chapter 7 save on my cartridge, For reference. It’s the most “open world” chapter. While everyone has sadly moved to the city, you can explore far and wide, fight most enemies, etc.
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The answer is “kinda but not quite”.
Here is my breakdown by team, which makes it easier to analyze them I think: There are too many videogames. A thread of polls for the indecisive. - #27 by bnn
I’d say Arise and Berseria are the better ones overall. They are all roughly similar but also different in places that make it hard to pinpoint The One To Play.
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I stopped playing for quite a while because August has been an extremely anxious month for me, but I managed to get back to it and play quite a bit of Boku no Natsuyumi 2, and the game feels like the perfect comfort summer game. Not only does it give you the mechanics at your own pace (maybe except fishing and swimming, who felt less intuitive for me), but with the info you had, the game managed to be just a perfect game to sit a little bit or even more time if you want in order to get you going as a wholesome experience.
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checked out that hacked dreamcast port of Dolphin Blue for a bit. I don’t think it’s as good as any metal slug and was kinda bummed out to be honest.
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I just got to the ending of Boku no Natsuyasumi 2, one day at a time throughout August (more or less). It’s a great game to sit with for twenty minutes at the end of the day.
I didn’t use a guide and definitely missed some things, but overall I had an excellent time.
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just now learning MLB 24: The Show has a woman mode ??
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Does it come with authentic anti-woke protestors in the stands and a twitter harassment campaign?
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you play as a woman player breaking into the big leagues and you text your lady bff for emotional support. Theres also a lady color commentator who seems to be suffering some kind of motor-neuron disease. I’m not in the habit of keeping up with these annual sports game releases but this is kind of wild isnt it
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Okay I was wrong about Dondoko Island.
I’m really into it.
Maybe “into it” isn’t the most correct way to put it though.
It’s a real “number go up, brain feel good” kinda thing.
It’s a good way to get some money, much like the hostess club in Yakuza 0.
Anyway, i stayed up till 2 playing it last night so i think the best thing i can do is make sure I finish it today so that never happens again.
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I think it’ll take me longer to get through the baseball dude’s chapter of Yakuza 5 (in real-world time) than it took me to get through Yakuzas 1-4, but I also impulsively picked up Peglin and it’s pretty fun. It could use a touch more juice and a slightly better UI/UI feel, but danged if the bones aren’t healthy. It’ll give you that Peggle + Something More that you’re wanting, at least it did me. Definitely stuck in enough to keep trucking until I at least complete a run – the pachinko-ing feels springy and plunky and good enough for sure
Other than that, the Castlevania Dominus collection is immaculate. I straight-up missed out on these in their time, always knowing what they were and that’d I’d love them, so starting with Dawn of Sorrow (and peeking at the Haunted Castle remake) has been a treat that I want more of. Let me retire and play Castlevania (but they’re also the most perfect format for busy times with lots of gaps – even more so with that lil map right there all the time – because you’re never gonna be lost for too long)
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I know you don’t mean it this way, but this is literally my only complaint about this collection: I sure can’t find a way to display the map larger (other than when it displays as an overlay during teleporter use). Am I missing some completely obvious control?
But the whole thing is a blast, and it makes me remember why I loved these games in the first place. Although: the key art and character portraits for DoS and PoR haven’t and probably will never appeal to me!
A cool lil detail though: the Mina doll in Yoko’s room that is the goofy bonus for having Aria of Sorrow in your DS GBA slot is enabled automatically! Kinda half expected M2 to have a toggle for it in options!
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yeah, bit weird that there’s not a button to just bring up the map. I don’t think you’re missing anything obvious that I’ve noticed – best I can think of is to change the settings so that the second screen/sidebar shows less stuff (two info screens on the side instead of the default three) or if you’re playing on Switch, enable that zoom accessibility feature where you press the Home button twice to zoom in around the screen (a little cumbersome, though)
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MLB 24 The Show woman mode is something. You first have to create a player ofc which involves selecting one of about 40 or so “Female Heads”. Then you’re with your big lady lifting weights then she gets a text from her friend another lady named Mia Lewis talking about being selected in the MLB futures combine. You text back and forth about being nervous and use the word UGH in caps several times. You do combine drills and play in exhibitions. After that you’re in a hotel room in your PJs and you have a knockoff luis Vuitton (sp?) suitcase there with you. That’s the brand with the wingdings pattern, right? In one scene the suitcase was just on the floor and I though to myself: you really should put that on the luggage rack; then lo and behold in the next scene it was, which was nice. You text more words of encouragement back and forth with Mia. Then on to the draft. Both you and your friend get picked by different teams. You’re both wearing palette-swapped blazer turtleneck outfits. Then you answer some questions from reporters about being the first woman drafted by a MLB team (KC in my case). I think they’re setting up some narrative where you play against your friend - if your player is a pitcher then Mia is a position player and vice versa. After that you’re whisked away to your minor league team. You meet a couple of the players and have a dialogue tree conversation. These are somewhat surreal because they operate like a silent film: written dialogue on the screen, then cut to your player pantomiming the lines. You talk to the manager who points out that you were provided with your own personal locker room trailer, the implication being that you’re not changing around the fellas. Makes sense but why even bring this up? Should also note you’re wearing a xmas sweater for some reason. Then your player is alone in her isolation trailer wearing her uniform. In my case the AA affiliate for KC is the North Arkansas Naturals, which means my player is now a woman with the word “NATURALS” printed across her chest. Some interesting choices from the The Show team this year
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I haven’t posted in awhile. Mostly to real life stuff.
But I wanted to update on where I’m at for video games! I’ve started Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth and Like a Dragon 8: Infinite Wealth as my big beefy story-driven games. I’ve just started, so I’m excited to see where these games go.
Call of Duty Black Ops 6 started it’s BETA access for it’s multiplayer mode. It feels a lot better than the previous entry: MWIII. Menus aren’t bloated, there’s new movement and “tech” that makes the game feel more active and adrenaline-fueled. It’s been a fun time so far! The multiplayer is my “brain-off” grindset type of game after work if I don’t want to play a story focused game.
On the side, I’m playing some Powerful Pro Baseball 2024-2025. I can’t read Japanese but I’ve played enough of these games that I get the basic gist of the menus. Some help from various translation apps help provide any info I need that I haven’t memorized yet. A side effect is that this series finally kicked me in the ass to finally start learning to read Japanese!
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i done did it. or i started it, at least. i’m having a kind of interesting experience with it; i’m playing the ds port, which i’ve had for years and have started two other times. whether it’s because of that or because this game is just a part of the lexicon - maybe both - i’m not receiving it as a new experience. something about the game feels so predetermined and familiar; i’m not playing it, i’m playing my real and received memories of it.
which is not to say that i’m not enjoying it. i am! the skill of its narrative design is really impressive - it feels play-like. things like the bell ringing when crono first meets marle, the sudden tone shifts in the trial/dungeon sequence, the setting of the apocalypse being roughly contemporaneous to when the game was released, the way the art and music contributes to the game’s energy. it’s unbelievably coherent. but it’s the kind of classic thing that feels like the ultimate evolution of something, an endpoint rather than a place to evolve from - totally complete. it makes sense that this lead to chrono cross, which feels basically like the opposite - a game full of loose ends and idiosyncratic decisions that are made to be elaborated on.
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This is such a great description of both games imo. Totally feel this.
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Anyone else playing Gundam Breaker 4 here? Spent a good chunk of my Labor Day weekend playing through some of it with a friend. It’s not the most interesting combat ever but the customization is so fun. I appreciate how there are basically no limits to what you can strap onto your gunpla. Leads to some goofy ass looking builds.
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I’ve been thinking about picking it up. Seemed like people REALLY hated the last one(New Gundam Breaker) but this one has generally been more positively received. I liked 3.
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I want you all to know that I am playing Bubsy 3D at the moment. Haven’t had time to play it for a week or so, but I am half way through it. Trying to get all of the rockets too for 100% completion, so I imagine it will take a little longer to explore all the levels.
Mind you, I am not playing it ironically, or because of how bad it is, on the contrary I think it’s pretty neat actually. These early 3D games are commendable, and the fact that Accolade tried to make such big worlds to explore on the Playstation is pretty impressive. It’s just a shame that it released after Super Mario 64 and found itself outdated before it even had a chance. But such were the times I suppose.
I also love the visuals, not gonna lie. The abstract shapes and environments make it look entirely unique. Much of it is limitations, however I can’t help but see a lot of intentional artistry in it as well. It truly does capture the alien landscapes in a very particular way.
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