Got Darksiders for PS4 on a whim. Cannot believe I passed on this the first time around. Such a fun game. Just about finished and already got the second one lined up.

Also playing Blood Bowl 2. Badly. Grr... Learning Mordhelm as well.

Really love Darksiders, a bit of Zelda, a bit of God of War, a bit of its own thing, all fun. Glad Nordic picked up the property, hope they do justice to the 3rd.

Speaking of which, God of War shipped, hopefully have that by Saturday, should be Monday at the latest.

God of War is pretty damn amazing so far, takes a little to get used to the new controls, but once you're in the flow of it, the combat is just as brutal as it always was. Not too far into the story yet, but I'm having a blast.

I'm currently playing Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection on the PSP. Final Fantasy IV is the one Final Fantasy game that I always keep repeating whenever I feel like it. I think I play it at least once a year, the most out of all the Final Fantasy games. I've always loved just how simple the mechanics are in this game that I don't get too stressed whenever I play it: the perfectionist in me doesn't go crazy (unlike sometimes with Chocobo Hot & Cold in FFIX or grinding espers in FFVI). And this is the game that made me realize what my perfect JRPG character archetype is: the archer with healing powers! Go Rosa! <3

God of War is fucking dense, finally got most of the stuff done, but god damn those Trials of Muspelheim. Already the single most difficult thing on normal mode in any God of War title (can't even imagine hard), but you work your way all the way to the top, complete the last trial, and it goes "Oh, you did all of those really challenging things? SURELY you can handle these last few even more challenging trials." You son of a bitch Humphrey.

Still looking like my GOTY the though, took the frenetic combat and made it a bit slower, more meticulous, but still brutal as hell (thankfully minus the button mashing finshers); while doing much of the same with the story, a bit slower, more intimate, old man Kratos is turning out to be a hell of game. I'm either going to finish up the Muspelheim after the Council of the Valkyrie and finish up the story, or just finish up the story after the Council of the Valkyrie, because I'm not quite sure I've got those final few brutal bastards of trials in me right now, and I really wanna see how the story goes.

Apr 17, 2018 21:40:24 GMT Emperor said:

Cuphead
I can't find fault with this game. It's perfect. Flawless game design, simple mechanics, plays extremely smoothly, and the art is sublime. It's difficult, but never unfair or unbeatable. Enough practice and you'll beat a level in a reasonable time. It's clear the game underwent significant playtesting. Single player and co-op are two different experiences. For example, a lot of bosses use targeted attacks. In single player you know where the projectile will go so you can plan in advance. In two player you're not sure which player will be targeted which can trip you up.

I first played Cuphead local co-op with Lionheart . Using some techno-wizardry I remote connected to his computer and we have slowly worked through the game. Currently stuck at the final boss. The problem is I experienced input delay and occasional lag spikes. It didn't make the game unplayable, but much more difficult than it otherwise would be. Any dodging that requires precise small-step movement was pretty much impossible for me to sustain. However you can revive each other in 2-player so it wasn't a huge deal. It would be much more fun to co-op Cuphead in person, but our setup isn't bad at all.

While I wouldn't say the game is perfect, it is definitely my favorite game at the moment. The game design is better than most games but there is always room for improvement.

In particular, the biggest thing in this game is that the item/ability balances could use a lot of improvement. The dash is far more helpful than any other utility ability, making all the others almost useless. The first super basically grants you the same bonus as the second super and also does damage and the third super is completely impractical in 90% of cases because you can't dodge attacks while using it. The charge shot for the main weapon does way more damage than anything else and there is little reason to use anything else if you can master the slight increase in difficulty dodging things while using it.

That being said, even with this issue the game is so great in almost every other area that they it seems very insignificant when you are actually playing. The pacing of every fight has clearly been honed so well and the controls and difficulty escalation is spot on (with the exception of the second to last boss being much harder than the last one). The art isn't just normal good...it's so good that you are wowed on each and every level with the unique and comical events that unfold through it. In most games, I'll occasionally think a boss or two was "pretty damn cool". In this, it was all of them.

I just voted for Cuphead in the Windows Game Creator of the Year developer awards. It is currently in first place. Enter The Gungeon, which I have been planning to talk Emperor into playing next, is in second place but currently doesn't even have half as many votes as Cuphead.

Finished up God of War, actually one of the easier games to platinum, as I completed all the trophies in a single playthrough on normal. The Valkyries and Trials of Muspelheim are definitely the hardest tasks in any God of War game on normal, so I'd assume they be the all around most difficult, since I doubt they're not comparatively harder on the highest difficulties.

The move to a semi-open world was a great choice, just gives the whole thing so much room to breath. And the mythology is fantastically explored, I'd often spend extra time on boat trips just so Mimir could finish his stories. Much like the first God of War, the boss fights were more scarce in this entry, but still had a memorable couple. Haven't hit anything the scope of say, scaling the titans, or just the big sweeping scenery shots, but still an entirely epic feel.

Also, I think they use the one continuous shot to great effect, the only time the game cuts away is when you die, otherwise the you're always following the camera. This does lead to a tighter focus in combat, rather than the pulled back full screen shots of the originals, which can be bothersome, but it does cause you to be more cautious in battle, even more so if you turn off the danger indicators.

Did excellent with characters, there's only a scarce few legitimate characters, but they all felt distinct and fully realized. Great performances all around.

Right now it's definitely standing as my game of the year, but there's still a few games big games to challenge that mantle. Next up, Yakuza 6: The Song of Life.

I agree with most of your criticisms Lionheart, but not the weapons. The charge shot may be the most powerful weapon in terms of damage over time, but it's not always the most appropriate or versatile. All of the other weapons except the lobber are very useful in certain situations. The homing shot and the spread shot especially. I was even using the default peashooter for some bosses quite late in the game.

Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir (2016; Vanillaware)

An enjoyable if not mindless Action RPG with a heavy emphasis on resource management. Boss battles boiled down to how many magic attacks and potions you could throw down in one wave. While that sounds easy, it never got old hitting a 700 hit chain attack. The Grimm Brothers fairytale aesthetic was a nice touch and papers over the repetitive gameplay. While no beat 'em up should ever last 30 hours, Odin Sphere puts up a compelling case.

Resident Evil 4 (2005; Capcom)

One of the best action games of all-time that retains elements that made the series famous while doing it's own thing. A memorable series of set-pieces with a great supporting cast that prevents the game from over-staying it's welcome. Very few games utilise their environment as well as RE4 does and there's still lessons other games have yet to learn. The Village section in particular is a crowning jewel and one everybody should play at some point. 

I wish I could write as many nice things about my playthrough. I was extremely rusty and died some 60 odd times. I forgot to upgrade my guns and the location of a lot of the treasure, so I wasn't as well equipped as I should have been.

WWE SmackDown vs Raw 2008 (2007; Yukes)

After all these years, season mode remains an unpolished repetitive mess, lacking the direction to make for an engaging experience. During my play-through my decision to show modesty saw Johnny Morrison try and make-out with Maria only for Orton to steal it and HBK to randomly attack both of us. A week later, I bonded with Orton before the show, only to face him later in the show and HBK interfered on my behalf before chewing me out for being a SmackDown guy. As perplexing as all that was, at least it wasn't as forgettable as the gameplay. With the flick of the analogue stick, I'd enter a cut-scene where I'd hit a signature move that had all the impact of a feather.

Started in on Yakuza 6, every Yakuza game has to have something I didn't like, the damn near broken highway section in the original, to the Catfighting/Insect cards of recent entries. In this one it's these things that majorly get to me:

1. Puyopoyo. The computer is insane at this, lightning fast combos that can beat you in less than a minute. I can generally win a match or two in a row, but beyond that, not much. The real issue is it wants you to beat 10 rivals, but I can't get 5 of them to spawn AT ALL, so winning several matches in a row may be the only way to do that. But your screen doesn't reset between victories, which makes each consecutive match that much harder. If it'd just spawn the five people I need in the first match, I wouldn't have much issue.

And 2. god damn RTS(light) sections. One of my least favorite genres, the only control you have is spawning allies and occasionally a special move, I don't buy Yakuza to not kick ass personally. So that's a real downer.

Plus, it was a bitch beating Dural on Virtua Fighter 5, so that's something I'm going to hate every playthrough, that takes a good bit of luck to nail.

Also, the baby has some pretty tedious sections, but nothing too egregious so far. But those two not as much as the first two.

The baseball is improved, and I enjoy the baseball manager minigame. Spearfishing is enjoyable, though underwhelming. And all the other arcade games are just repeats.

Not too far in all things considered, just a few thoughts on some of the side content.

Finished Yakuza 6...and it's a real mixed bag. Story wise, actually pretty great, still below the holy trinity of stories (0, 1/K, 2/K2), but stronger than others, 5 especially. It was a perfect send off for Kazuma Kiryu.

But the gameplay? Sadly, kind of a let down. Trimming it back to a single character from the 2-4 of of the previous entries, I thought they'd really go in on the combat system, but honestly, it may have been the most shallow it's ever been. Limited combos, don't learn very many new moves, weapon system is entirely removed except for what you pick up in battle, just didn't feel any where near as dynamic as even the PS2 originals. The impact was great, punches really had a great pop to them, just the combos weren't there. And you're now constantly getting even your most powerful of moves blocked mid-combo, really breaking up the flow. Another big issue is that the heat moves just don't like to work in this game, worse than I ever remember. The grapple heat moves were somewhat reliable, but in action heat moves were just constantly reluctant to activate, leading to a lot of frustration. Even moves that have worked perfectly in recent entries, like reversing enemies with weapons, simply wouldn't trigger, even when the prompt would. It's still a fun beat 'em up, but just a step in the wrong direction, especially from what we just had with Yakuza 0.

I saw Kiwami 2 is built off the same engine of 6, which now somewhat worries me, as 0 and Kiwami were much more fun from a combat stand-point, so if Kiwami 2 (a remake of my favorite Yakuza story) runs off the 6 engine..I hope they're adding and refining. As if it plays as much like 6 as Kiwami did 0, it'd be supremely disappointing.

Also, I hate Puyo Puyo, and it's the only reason I didn't 100% the game, could never get those rivals. Probably my least favorite thing in the franchise.

Outside of playing through Shining Force, I've just been playing rounds of Splatoon 2.

Recently they had a three week tournament to decide the best Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. The first weekend saw Team Raph take on Team Leonardo. Of course, I had to represent Raph and it seemed like a good luck omen because I had my best Splatfest performance to date. I actually forgot all about it until it was 3am in the morning when I pulled myself out of bed and grinded two hours to reach King status. I was surprised later on to learn we lost the popular vote by a fair margin 57-43, I don't think I've ever seen a one more one-sided setting.

Last week saw Team Mikie take on Team Don. I wasn't really fussed either way, but went with Mikie thinking it would attract the older players who loved him when they were young. Big mistake, instead of getting the good older players, I got the ones who must have been drunk passing the controller around because it was some of the most frustrating games I've played. We'd either just get our noses in-front or we'd get stomped easily, which didn't help my already foul mood. I was salty getting up to Champion, but then I took a break, came back and got to King relatively fine.

For the final between Team Raph and Don, I decided it was time to change weapons. I'd been using the N-Zap '85 with the view to pick off opponents from the side. This time around with the Sploosh-o-matic which has far more mobile support options and made sure my gear allowed me to retain my speed and preserve my ammo. Looking around, it appears everyone struggled on Team Raph, but my night was largely good. A few downs but on the whole far more wins than losses which wasn't bad against really good opposition. The highlight was winning one with a one man disadvantage and then absolutely curb-stomping the last opponent to finish the night.

I then decided to check out the old Splatoon for old times sakes. At times I catch myself cursing the lag in the second game, but it's still nowhere near as bad as the original. It's barely playable at times, especially when the opponent somehow destroys you without ever firing a shot in your direction in real-time.

So, I've been away awhile, but I'm with Rags. God of War is my GOTY, so far, with Far Cry 5 a close second.

Rags, the Trials were tough, but screw those damned Valkyries and not in a good way, either.

Finished up a run through of Detroit: Become Human, while I still think I may prefer Heavy Rain and Until Dawn, D:BH definitely sets a high bar for the genre, looks to be a plethora of different directions the story can take. I'm gonna play it at least once more, contrary to the noble way I played the first, where I got what I'd consider the ideal ending. So now, I'ma fuck shit up and see what happens.

Have been playing Dark Souls Remastered, it seems like a straight port but enjoying it. Looking for help to beat Gravelord Nito if anyone else has it on PS4.

I rented Owlboy, as it's a game that looks right up my alley, but I'm just not really feeling it like throwbacks Ori and the Blind Forest or Shovel Knight. Kind of just boring me.

Played Life is Strange: Before the Storm and Tales of Berseria.

Life is Strange prequel was a nice little extra but it isn't nearly as enjoyable as the main game to me. The students all seem more like normal students this time which is a plus. The ones in the main game especially toward the beginning seemed like they were over the top to show how bad bullying can be. You would also think this would be more emotional since if you screw up you can't fix your choices as easy as you could with Max.

Tales of Berseria has become my favorite Tales of game next to Vesperia. And one of my all time favorite rpgs. I think it may be the only rpg were I don't hate anyone on your team.

Started in on Vampyr, reviews pretty much nail it, mediocre combat but with a great world, aside from enemies, absolutely everyone has a reason to be talked to, you get extra story, extra missions, and if you're going the violent route (I'm going passive, only killing enemies), extra XP if you get to know them. Barely skimmed the top of it, already fantastically realized. You gotta talk to the right people to open dialog branches for others, and if you mess up, that branch is closed off.

Also played a little bit of Fallout Shelter, since it's on PS4 now, nifty little game, only dabbled, but could be good fun.

So much for a pacifist run on Vampyr, one of my decisions had one of the civilians turn into a monster, but I had no idea so when the giant wolf thing jumped out at me I killed it. I can no longer get the "Kill no Civilians" trophy...so everyone is gonna die.

Dark Cloud (Level-5; 2000)

For years, this was one of gaming's mysteries to me. To my untrained 10-year old mine, this appeared to be Sony's answer to The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, except somehow better. The game was so dense, even the hydration of your character was a cause of concern, truly it was a magical time to be a gamer. However, it was one of the few Sony games that retained it's value. It must have only received a single print in PAL regions, because after awhile it would only appear in hobby stores and would always hold it's value in the second hand market. Even to this day, the game can still go for $100, which is a far cry from the US market. So ultimately I had to settle for a demo disc and the promise that one day I would get a chance to play through it.

As soon as Sony announced the PSN service for the PS3, I thought it would only be a matter of time before I would get my grubby mits on the game. Unfortunately there was an unforseen drama. Once again, being a filthy PAL gamer denied me the opportunity to experience the game. To make matters worse, Sony must have been clued onto the demand, because as soon as the PS4 PSN marketplace was announced, it was brought over as an exclusive. Those thieving bastards got me with a 15-year old game.

That's right, forget about Bloodborne and the Witcher 3, Dark Cloud was the main game I wanted to get for the console.

So after all these years, I've come to the realisation the game is merely average. I'm sure in the year 2000, it was an 8/10 and the type of game that kept gamers occupied but by no means a classic. It's the game you buy because you bought a PS2 on launch and you have to justify that purchase somehow. You can only watch the Fight Club, Gladiator and The Matrix so many times on DVD before they lose their charm.

What initially drew me to the game was the story. As the player you take charge of Toan, a bootleg version of Link in a quest to take down an evil genie who is in cahoots with a literal nazi. It's not exactly War and Peace, but I was curious to see how Toan eventually went onto to take out the devil and what that fight would look like in a game. So I spent a surprisingly brisk 25 hours getting myself ready for the ultimate showdown, only to find out they get disposed of in a cutscene. 18 years of speculation only to find out the genie was an imposter and the real enemy is the 'dark cloud' that consumed a young prince 400 years earlier.

Still, as disappointing as that was, I did find myself enjoying the town building mechanic. While you go through a bunch of boring randomly generated dungeons, you come across these huge balls of clay that contain parts of the town. When you assemble them the right way, you can build their house well they'll tell you exactly how they want it placed. It's an enjoyable change of pace and usually the rewards were well worth it. The OST was also a pleasure to sit through and definitely a step above all the other generic action RPG fare of the day.

As for combat, I usually spent more time worrying about my weapons than my own HP. Dark Cloud has an atypical approach to the RPG genre. Instead of the focus being on the characters, it's actually on your weaponry and ensuring you take care of it. If you smack the enemy too many times with the weapon without repairing it, the weapon will be lost forever and your progress will be halted. It's kind of like in Breath of the Wild where at times you actively avoid combat because you don't want to lose that weapon you've spent hours forging. So by about half-way through the game I'd usually kill every enemy until they dropped a key, then I'd avoid them, collect the towns pieces and any treasure chests I could find.

Dark Cloud was like stumbling upon an old cult tv show from decades prior. I'm sure in it's day, it had some merit but in 2018 it's merely a relic. Basically a console game that promised the moon, only to take short-cuts to meet a tight deadline.

I'm holding out hope Dark Chronicle (Dark Cloud 2) holds up better.

Phantasy Star Online: Episodes 1 & 2 (Sonic Team; 2002)

From one Action RPG to another, PSO has been on my radar for a similar amount of time as Dark Cloud. Truth be told, I didn't know a lot about the Dreamcast. To me it may as well been a mythological creature, capable of amazing things, but I hadn't seen what it was capable of. My only encounter with it was in a Dick Smith store which was virtually always a ghost town and they'd have Sonic Adventure running which looked amazing in the year 2000.

Unfortunately for SEGA, the launch of the Dreamcast was an unmitigated disaster in Australia. You could barely get your hands on every game, the system had online issues here and there was barely any marketing to speak of. Trying to get information was like pulling teeth and so it was a console that disappeared into the night.

The only exception for me was Phantasy Star Online. When that game came out, it felt like the Dreamcast finally had something big to talk about. An online RPG with Action RPG mechanics? Was the world running on sprockets or something? Were we all about to receive robot maids? Before these questions could be answered, the Dreamcast died a sad lonely death and the world was consumed by PS2s and X Boxs. While the PS2 seemed to be pumping out quality release after quality release, it's competitors seemed to be lagging a lot. Sure looking back the games weren't that bad, some would even call them great but it wasn't the golden age of the mid-90s any longer. If you wanted to play quality releases, you really had to dig and find some studios who were willing to go that extra mile.

SEGA ports were usually in that category of hidden gems, but they were pretty rare. Unless you were willing to fork out to some random on ebay, chances were you'd never see these games in the wild down here and may have not realised they existed. As soon as I saw PSO, I knew I had to have it and added the game to my collection.

If you know one thing about PSO, it's that people love this game A LOT. Browsing on Gamefaqs, people openly brag about spending 2000 hours of their life on this game. Clearly this sounded like a great investment so after all these years, I decided to dust off my copy and see what the fuss was about.

Initially when I played this game way back in 2005, I must have only played it once or twice. All I remember is the forest area, defeating a bunch of were-beasts and feeling lost. In truth it's basically the first hour of the game and you're supposed to do a bunch of tutorial missions to level up and learn the system. You've got a choice of different characters, but I chose a fat yellow android who wields a light-sabre capable of a three hit combo. You go through each room, either activating a switch or killing all the enemies to proceed and eventually you reach your destination which is either a horde of enemies or a boss fight. Pretty simple, but it has MMO design sensibilities that make you an addict. Sometimes enemies will drop rare items, sometimes you'll want to forage for random items or just grind and make your character stronger.

Suffice to say, I've spent 50 hours on the game and I've never set my kitchen on fire a few times.

Okay I'm not that addicted just yet, and I've heard that you can beat the main campaign in 20 hours. I'll try my best to speedrun through it, but I'm curious to see if anyone has played it at some point?

I really love Fallout Shelter, a free to play game that doesn't feel like you NEED to pay for the perks to get enjoyment out of it. Got a nice little shelter of 36 right now, gonna focus on bulking them up a bit, then start expanding more.

I was inspired by a friend to play Pokemon again, so I did. Pokemon FireRed to be precise. It's an excellent remake. I get the nostalgia of the original while still encountering frequent surprises. The first of those being a Mankey on the route between Viridian City and Victory Road. As far I remember you couldn't get a Mankey in the original Red. Him and Bulbasaur made quick work of Brock's gym. Picked up a Nidoran male on the road to Mt. Moon. In the Pokemon Centre there was a guy selling a Magikarp for 500. The game made sure to tell me it was an outrageous deal, but I don't care- Never had a Gyarados on my team before so I figured it'd be an interesting experience.

In other news, I reached Dhoulmagus in his dark island cave in Dragon Quest VIII. He obliterated me. It's clear I'm way underlevelled. So I'm spending my time exploring the world with the ship while levelling up. I will be ready for him soon.

Dholmagous destroyed me as well, and I made a point of being thorough and grinding for the best equipment through out. I believe you can pick the fight back up from whatever form you left him in, so if you return it shouldn't be too difficult.

What level are you currently? The prima guide recommends to be at Level 28 at a minimum.

I don't see anything I'm particularly hyped about coming out for a month or two, so I've finally started in on Skyrim. Pretty good so far, but wholly hell the enemies are overpowered at the start, I do some decent damage but I keep running into enemies I can barely nick, and I'm just starting out. I was doing "the Companions" quests, when suddenly the enemies can kill me in 2-3 hits, and I have to run in circles at whittle them down while healing, 2-3 enemies at once? Total bitch. I'm just starting out though, so of course I have plenty of room to grow, but it does not start out by easing you into things.

Level 28?! :lol: I have L22 x2, L21 and L20. I have a lot of explore-grinding to do.

Jun 26, 2018 9:46:48 GMT Emperor said:

Level 28?! I have L22 x2, L21 and L20. I have a lot of explore-grinding to do.

It maybe too excessive, I'll quote the entire passage for you.

LEVEL UP

Theoretically (and with good equipment) you could tackle the Dark Ruins at Level 26, but you will be making life unnecessarily hard for yourself, not least when you confront the boss. It is better to take some time to level up, as your chances improve significantly at Level 28 or 29.

There are metal slimes around the royal hunting ground, so you could grapple with those for a while, or you could visit remote areas such as the Holy Isle of Neos (check an online map) or Savella Cathedral and surrounding area, to collect items and seek out the local merchants. You should also try out your Call Team skill in the field if you had already managed to achieve Rank E in Morrie's Monster Arena. Finally, you should ensure that your party members have a supply of Yggdrasil leaves, Yggdrasil dew and elfin elixer in their bags.

For the first time in probably 15 years or more, I'm doing something I never do the first time through a game...cheating. I started in on Skyrim, and now they have the convenient "Mods" section, at first I just took a few experience sharpening mods, jump a little higher so it doesn't feel useless (but not the overpowered jump), vendors have more gold so you don't have to go through the trouble of waiting 2 days (they essentially get infinite gold anyway), a marker that identifies the exact material in a particular mine, stuff like that. But I'm just trying to enjoy myself, and was quickly annoyed by being over encumbered, so I took a mod that heralded into the the bottomless pockets of old, and gave way more carry weight than I could possibly use. I also took a mod that gave an extra perk on melee combat in "Double handed," because they really should have had a way to upgrade a weaponless build (it's the only real thing the skill tree is missing). In a few years, when I replay it, then I'll worry about a proper runthrough.

Holy hell does it make me feel underpowered though, I've been legit grinding the fuck out of things, got to level 60 already, and I still feel like almost everything is kicking my ass, only on adept. Every now and then I'll hit a mission with some people I'll walk through, but it seems like 9/10 fights, I'm overmatched. I'll hit them and their life will barely ding down a notch. Also kind of a bummer that it takes a ludicrous amount of grinding to get even a reasonable portion of the perks. If you leveled everything up to 100, you wouldn't even half of the total (counting perks with multiple levels). And yeah, now you can level infinitely, but each level becomes that much more of a grind. Have to see where I end up yet.

Beat 2 dragons, and they're annoying as hell. They always want to attack me directly in the air, then fly half-way across the map to land (lifting off well before I get there), so I can't deal much real damage to them. Got lucky with the second one, and just happened (after about a half hour of chasing the fucker around) have it fly into a battle amongst 2 warring factions, which kept it occupied enough for me to shoot lightning up it's ass until it died. Still not very far though, did a few missions, but my first days were mostly grinding up some key skills.

I've gotten obsessed as hell with Stardew Valley. It has a charming simplicity which means you can play for hours at a time and not notice.

Finally got things down in Skyrim, I was focused mainly on combat abilities but it's really alchemy, enchantment, and smithing that gets you into badass territory. Now I can drop a dragon with relative easy, and beat pretty much any other creature to death with my bare hands (well, gauntleted hands).

Phantasy Star Online Episode 1 & 2 (Sonic Team; 2002)

It's been 16 years since Phantasy Star Online found it's way onto the GameCube, and 13 years since it made it into my collection. After years of neglect, I decided I was finally ready to investigate the mysterious and dangerous land of Ragol where an entire civilization was wiped out in the blink of an eye.

If Phantasy Star Online taught me one thing, if you want to play an MMO, you better be prepared to learn the games mechanics inside and out. Looking back, my decision to make a HuCast (A Hunter Android) wasn't the best for single player and made the playthrough a lot longer than it needed to be. While other classes are a lot more self sufficient, the HuCast is constantly taking damage and doesn't have the resources to replinish it's own health. That means every few rooms I would have to back-track to the hub, buy some more medicine before pushing forward.

On paper, a normal playthrough of Episode 1 shouldn't take you any longer than an afternoon. The main campaign is divided into four levels - the forest, cave, mines & ruins and skilled players will make their way through no problem, but for the less initiated there's other avenues to pad the gameplay out. In Episode 1 there's the Hunter's Guild which serves as a hub for side missions which will task the player with all sorts of challenges. These can vary from fetch quests to time trials even to endurance runs. While nothing amazing by modern standards, these side missions flesh out what's otherwise a bland campaign mode and introduce players to a lot of different personalities and companions that breath life into what's an otherwise lonely experience.

From my experience, the main campaign was fairly straight forward with few exceptions. Most enemies could simply be taken out with a sabre, which was an extremely accurate and powerful katana that could destroy most enemies in a single combo. However, by the mines they start to introduce more aerial enemies that require the player to carry a gun in order to make short work of. While it can be a pain to constantly switch through weapons all the time, the change in strategy was welcome and gave the game some much needed variety.

Once players have made their way through the Ruins and the closing credits, they can either skip ahead to Episode 2 or New Game + which presents all the bonus' you'd come to expect from games of that genre. Enemies yield a lot more EXP and will drop higher quality items while posing a larger threat. Meanwhile Episode 2 essentially introduces four new stages, two of them a remix of the original while the final two were completely new with brand new enemies. These levels are a lot more challenging with enemies posing skills that can kill players in an instant. Lord knows even when I was over-powered I still died half-a-dozen times as the enemy would freeze me and then pound away at my full bar of HP. Episode 2 is essentially more of the same, but they're two of the best levels of the game and welcome DLC for new players.

It really is a shame I couldn't have experienced this game in it's prime. Had I got my hands on it during it's 2001 hey-day I could only imagine the number of hours I would have spent on New Game +++ farming for rare drops and protecting my character from online hackers. As a relic of the past, PSO is an important milestone in the Action RPG genre and a good companion piece to all the current From Software-lite games.