It's hard to compare your argument to mine because we're talking about different games. I've never played the original Final Fantasy Tactics, but from what you're saying you have a lot more freedom in Tactics than you would in a standard JRPG with a job system. You speak of the best soldiers having the best abilities from multiple jobs, but isn't that an instance of over-customisation? Is that so different from the FF7 model of using materia to customise roles? I don't think the materia system is that complicated at all, and once you have defined roles for your characters, assigning materia is fairly easy. But because there are finite slots, I had some difficulty in choosing which materia to assign and which to leave out.

I would argue that FFT is a good example of the job systems flaws. By mid-game, recruiting new soldiers is pointless because they all start from square one. To make matters worse, their progress will be slower in comparison to your original party because most of your other units would have progressed to other jobs. The game actively encourages you to forget about it and rely more on your original cast and a handful of story characters.

If you're willing to put in the time, you'll have some amazing units who can teleport anywhere on the map and do absurd amounts of damage.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 - I'll do a full write up in the XC2 thread, but this has been my addiction of late. I was stuck on Chapter 2 for most of December and January, just doing side quests and exploring Gormott, and within a week I finished the main campaign. I'm just watching through all the cutscenes on YouTube (all 13 hours worth...) to get a good grasp on the story. It's something I want to touch on and I hope I can provide more insight on the game beyond criticing the tutorials and all the surface level observations found in most reviews.

Monster Hunter World I did not like until I went bow. I hate melee weapons as sharpening is lame, and guns while ok, were a bit weak until you learn to make extra sticky or slashing ammo during a fight. Bow is a beast though. I may not be using it the best way, but spamming circle for quick shots and lobs is fun as hell and messes up everything I faced through the Vale so far.

Combat is good when you find a usable weapon. Before going bow I felt the same. Now I am making process I am seeing the beauty of the game is most fights are different. Coolest fight I had so far was my cheap as hell T-Rex wannabe win. I was fighting him and a Rathios got involved and tore him apart. Got him to skull and he went to sleep. I woke up with barrel bombs and it was all over.

At the moment, I've been playing through Injustice 2 again.

I'm rage quitting God of War. I don't have the patience for these skill-heavy pain in the ass games anymore. The breaking point was this gauntlet where you have to push an object up a hill. Let it go and it slides down, so you have to get it up to these rocks that stop it rolling down. On the way enemies are constantly spawning. Not just any enemy though. The most annoying grunts in the game. They block your attacks randomly, even in the middle of a combo, and then counterattack. They take like 20+ hits to kill. The arbitrary blocking makes it painful and time consuming because you can't string any long combos together. And when there's four on screen at the same time, it's extremely difficult to keep your health whittling down.

You should play Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy. It requires no skill and is not a pain in the ass at all. Trust me.

On a totally unrelated note, I just started playing Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy. It is a massive pain in the ass. I ragequit after falling all the way down from a point I was certain must have been near the top of the hill that it took me like 30 mins to get to. I then got back into it an hour later and was able to get there quicker this time in about 20 minutes. Then I was stuck on this unpassable bullshit passage for like another 15 minutes straight. I finally figured out the insanely unique method you had to utilize to even get into it and once I got all the way through it 10 minutes later, I immediately flung myself through a background scenery tree that looked like a real object all the way back down to the bottom of the hill.

In other news, I figured out the trick to getting gold on most levels in Link's Crossbow Training pretty quickly. It turns out where you hit them doesn't matter much since the multiplier is infinite. So if you take your time and never miss, you will have a crazy multiplier giving you more than enough points to get gold by the end. Some levels require using a machine gun like bow to kill hordes of enemies though (which means no multiplier) so it may be a little tricky to finish off those.

Also, I am incredibly unfocused so also started playing Dungeons 2. The replication power of Dungeon Keeper it contains is great indeed. Enough so to be pretty entertaining. The above ground mechanic is a bit clunky and nonsensical since you don't have to pay minions if you just leave them up there and also you can't defend your dungeon while your army is up. I know this sounds like you have to balance your forces between below and above ground, but it is simply impossible since you need your full army to accomplish most things on the surface. Luckily your dungeon heart has a lot of health so you have to let them just hammer away at it to beat the level. Perhaps Dungeons 3 has improved things a bit, but I'm satisfied enough to complete Dungeons 2 first.

I may never get to all those other games I got the same day as Crossbow Training mentioned in my last post at this rate...

I'm currently playing through Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth on the PSP at the moment. I really wish Square Enix will bless us with a fourth game since this universe just has so much lore and potential. I remember being so entranced as a young high school girl when I first saw someone trying out Valkyrie Profile in a shop that sells Playstation games that I had to buy it myself. I was at awe at the voice acting and the animations and just how badass both Valkyrie and Freya were during the prologue chapter. Of course back then, I pretty much sucked and wasn't good at playing games and kept dying in one of the tower dungeons in Easy Mode. But I revisited the game in college on a PS emulator and I've loved going back to it every now and then since it's pretty easy to pick up. And the long story sections lower the pressure on spending too much time focused on it, I guess? I'm still back in Chapter 2 and just got Lawfer and just hoping I get a good draw on the order of Einherjar. Lol.

Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria has to be one of my top favorite Square Enix games. I'm not sure if you've heard of a game called Indivisable Kaye88, but I heard it's basically a love letter to games like Valkyrie Profile. The Demo on PSN seems promising.

G/B, No, I have not heard of Indivisible but looking at screenshots, it definitely gives off a VP:Lenneth vibe with the battle screen. And the art style looks cute! I might have to look deeper into this. Thanks!

And yes, VP:Silmeria was definitely tons of fun to play. That game's story may have been a bit suspect, but the gameplay was ace. And it made archers kinda overpowered as a class, and I love games that feature powerful archers (and don't gimp them versus characters that use a sword). I do wish the einherjar in that game were a bit more memorable, though.

Even though it's a genre I've typically found little to no enjoyment in, I've rented South Park: the Stick of Truth. Way I figure it, I haven't dabbled in more than a decade, and if I can't get into this one, I think I can declare that the genre just has no chance with me.

Picked up Horizon Zero Dawn yesterday and started playing it some this afternoon , about two hours in and am lukewarm on the game so far. Should I stick with it? Does it get way better or pick up from here? Just curious because I assume this is a game I'm going to end up pouring 20 hours into.

Feb 12, 2018 23:31:33 GMT UT said:

Picked up Horizon Zero Dawn yesterday and started playing it some this afternoon , about two hours in and am lukewarm on the game so far. Should I stick with it? Does it get way better or pick up from here? Just curious because I assume this is a game I'm going to end up pouring 20 hours into.

I think it took me 6 hours to get into it.

Definitely picks up when you start fighting larger prey and unlocking helpful moves, but hunting is the core mechanic, and fighting people is always lackluster, so if you can't find enjoyment in hunting and scavenging, might just not be your cup of tea. I loved the unfolding of the story as well, but if you can't enjoy the gameplay, that's secondary. I'd say stick with it for a bit.

Taking a break from Xenoblade and the SNES Classic to focus on Tales of Xilia 2.

The game has a really strange story, where you have to travel to alternative dimensions and defeat these body-snatcher type creatures. It's a far-cry from the FF6 esque plot of the original.

If it wasn't a Tales of game, I'm not sure if I would bother beating it. The game makes too many changes for the sake of being different, and I can't say they're especially good. For example, there is this debt system where you must acquire enough funds to explore new areas of the map. While grinding for cash isn't a problem, you're constantly bombarded with deadlines and you rarely have enough time to buy items/equipment for your own party.

They also messed around the combat and made it far worse than the original. While the first Xilia was flawed, one element it shined was the battle system. The game made you feel like an anime super-hero through out and everything was fairly straight forward. Meanwhile, Xilia 2 is obtuse as possible and requires frequent micro-management. Instead of recycling the sphere grid from the first game, they opt for a Tales of the Abyss system where you pick an element and gain skills through that. The problem is, you really don't know what you're going to learn and whether it's suitable for that character. All you're shown is the next skill or move they'll learn next, nothing else.

The party is also constantly changing and you can't swap out characters on the fly anymore. One of the best aspects of the original was to change the team on the fly, so if one combination wasn't working, you could easily change it up.

On the plus side, the skits and the post-battle celebrations are as enjoyable as ever. As much as the main narrative sucks, the side conversations are always fun and do a good job of endearing the characters towards you.

Despite me saying I rage quit God of War, I returned to it a couple of days later, and with a cool head I got through that gauntlet by taking my time and letting the enemies spawn one at a time rather than trying to kill everything in one go. Then I ploughed through a mixture of fun levels (the peak being the metal Minotaur boss fight) and hair-pullingly frustrating gauntlets/platforming sequences, and I reached Ares. Ares Part 1 seemed impossible at first, but I steadily improved until the point where I could beat him pretty easily. Not so much Part 2. This is the gauntlet people mentioned earlier when you have to protect your family from endless Kratos clones. I must have put one or two hours into repeating this challenge over and over, and I only got close to completion once. Twas tragic: two clones left, then the asshole on the floating rock throws a Zeus bolt at the family, taking away their last sliver of health. Now I am quitting God of War for real. Not a rage quit, but an disappointing admittance that the game wins. God of War on Hard mode bested me.

Thus my hack-and-slash marathon comes to an end (no, I'm not playing God of War 2). My Playstation backlog is enormous. What should I play? Ico? Dino Crisis? Disgaea? Dragon Quest VIII? Vagrant Story? Second Sight? Sly Raccoon? XIII? PW decides!

Dragon Quest. Its a top rpg and arguably the FF7 of DQ. Then perhaps Sly Cooper. If I were you.

Let's go through them...

Ico - An auteur's game with enjoyable puzzle/platforming segments. An interesting look at what was turning heads at the time the PS2 was released. Relatively short as well, so it's an easy game to cross off the list.

Dino Crisis - A borderline spin-off of the RE series that has been lost in time. A good deep-cut and an oft forgotten chapter in Capcom's legacy.

Disgaea - A relatively in-depth game that requires a working knowledge of how to exploit the game in order to progress. It's a classic of it's genre, but you'll often find yourself running into walls and having to grind to get over.

Dragon Quest VIII - The most accessible of all the DQ games, an enjoyable adventure with an amazing score, a tough difficulty and plenty to do. Like Disgaea, it's a large investment of time and you have to be ready to commit to it if you wish to beat it.

Second Sight - Honestly not familiar with this one. All I know is that it was developed by the team that made the TimeSplitters series, which were among the best FPS games of that generation. Well worth a look just to see if it' worth a run through.

Sly Racoon - Largely considered one of the greatest 3D platform series in existence, Sly is a Saturday morning cartoon in a video game format. The original is worth a look, albeit it's 2 and 3 that gave the series it's reputation.

XIII - Is an OK FPS at a time where game companies were obsessed with cel-shading.

Vagrant Story - Probably Square's biggest release of the fifth generation outside of the FF series, Vagrant Story represented a big risk for the company as they strived for more innovation in the JRPG genre.

Narrowing it down, I reckon it's time you take a break from the PS2 and go with a PS1 game. If you're after action, give Dino Crisis a look, if you want an RPG, go Vagrant Story.

I love the first 2 Dino Crisis games, a great survival horror followed by a great action title, both I'd classify as the best dinosaur related games. Now it's most remembered for its abysmal 3rd entry.

Play the last 2 hours with an easy mind Emperor when it comes to God of War, believe me you haven't experienced anything yet.

I'd go with Sly 1 since there's 3 entries on the PS2. Just to not be playing them back to back to back, I'd go after Sly 1 which a lot feel is the best since much like with Jak 1, it purely focused on the platforming and was not a sandbox game which later entries of both series became(Which I liked both series btw. Sly 1 has good humor, isn't long at all and I think isn't too overwhelming of a platformer to get stuck on which after GOW, seems ideal.

Dino Crisis 1 is good if you like Resident Evil 1-3 on PS1 and don't mind the tank controls. 2 became more Arcade-ish by rewarding you for hit strings/kill streaks and you can farm ammo and items which makes it easier IMO. 1 was more survival horror, 2 became survival action. I liked both though as you'd expect, the stories of both are laughable and you cannot take it seriously what so ever.

Feb 15, 2018 14:06:56 GMT Blindy said:

Play the last 2 hours with an easy mind Emperor when it comes to God of War, believe me you haven't experienced anything yet.

Whatchoo talking about? In my last post I was at the final boss, and gave up there. Also I've finished the game before so I sort of knew what was coming, but I didn't remember quite how difficult that Kratos gauntlet was.

I play a mean game of Triple Town on my phone.

Beat the first 4 colossi in Shadow of the Colossus, still as great as ever, though I forgot how tedious it could get going from colossus to colossus. I only remembered the excitement and wonder of fighting the beasts.

Feb 15, 2018 16:44:57 GMT Emperor said:

Feb 15, 2018 14:06:56 GMT Blindy said:

Play the last 2 hours with an easy mind Emperor when it comes to God of War, believe me you haven't experienced anything yet.

Whatchoo talking about? In my last post I was at the final boss, and gave up there. Also I've finished the game before so I sort of knew what was coming, but I didn't remember quite how difficult that Kratos gauntlet was.

Ah oops I didn't read that part for some reason. I am impressed you made it out of hell but if I recall, you had to cheese Ares with one attack on HARD mode and I often tried to trigger stalemates/duels and tapped a button to win and get damage off. That was such a terrible fight honestly, so much luck is involved on HARD. It took me about an hour to win. Thankfully there's a checkpoint during each phase. 

I finally dove deep enough into Assassin's Creed: Origins to give a shit about playing the game. Not sure if anyone else had the same experience as me, but it was really hard to get into at first.

I wasn't expecting the combat mechanics to be so drastically different from the other games, so the controls took some getting used to. I was a bit annoyed at first, but even more annoyed that the story just sort of...is. I'm sure we find out more about Bayek as the game progresses (I've only made it to Giza so far and there's a lot to explore), but so far I don't care about him or the fact his kid got killed or anything.

Even AC: Syndicate did a better job of establishing character with Jacob and Evie and we got almost no background on them at all. They discuss their dead father/former assassin a little bit but aside from that, we don't learn much. Yet the player still cares, they're still likeable characters and you enjoy playing as them.

Bayek I'm not getting that at all, but the game has won me over anyway. Now that I have the fighting mechanics nailed down, I'm enjoying exploring Ancient Egypt and having fun with the game overall.

I will finish this game but I don't see myself replaying it like I did AC2 or AC:Black Flag. It's so, so massive it might take me 3 years to finish it anyway. :lol:

EDIT: Oh one other thing...this is supposed to be an origin story about the assassins but none of that is being explained. Right from the start, Bayek can hide in plain sight, leap of faith from towers, etc...all that mystical shit the assassins can do but no one else can't doesn't get explained. He can just do it, and so can his wife. Doesn't make sense.

Feb 4, 2018 21:23:44 GMT Lionheart said:

Nov 29, 2017 1:07:48 GMT Call said:

Sims 4 on console is proving to be very glitchy, i've had to reset a few times just to keep progress going.

The company I work at actually made those console versions.

Hopefully those glitches have been resolved

Just noticed this, i'm not playing as much now but it was a saving glitch. I couldn't overwrite previous saves, had to use a new slot and save manually so when I filled 5 up, had to go into the PS4 main area and delete the older saves from there

Started in on Stick of Truth, and while I am thoroughly enjoying it so far, it's not changing my mind on the genre. If not for the South Park side of it, not sure how much fun I'd be having, as I'm still only so-so at best on the combat, but everything else I'm really digging.

Tales of Xillia 2 (Bandai Namco Games; 2012)

This turned out better than expected. The original ToX was an OK game that suffered from lazy writing and a rushed development. The sequel has a better understanding of what it is and is a far more fascinating game as a result. The main objective of ToX2 is going around and destroying a bunch of 'fake' universes. The writers spare no expense, going in all sorts of wild directions, including a universe where everyone has been transformed into data and another where the entire party has been killed off. As the story goes along, all the new characters become interesting and by the end, I was more enamoured with their story than the original troupe.

On top of that, the game plays very similarly to Persona. In between main missions you can go out and face a dozen or so side-bosses or enter social links with other characters. These individual stories give the Persona social links a run for their money and continue to toss up some interesting what ifs. Specifically you can reunite players with characters who were killed off in the original and give them a sense of closure they were denied in the original. What I liked about this is that the game never felt like a slog and I enjoyed mixing it up. It's always good to have a bit of veg with your steak.

As much as I enjoyed the game, it's plagued by a few issues that prevent it from being a classic. The studio must have been low on money, because the game looks ugly. The textures are unrefined and the world itself is made up of dungeons with one linear pathway. It makes exploring feel repetitive and none of the environments stick with you. I was also disappointed they got rid of the fixed camera. This was probably linked to the dungeons being boring pathways but the fixed camera usually made the towns more impressive. A lot of these issues were prevelant in the former, so it isn't fair to single the game out entirely but it's an issue all the same.

Going in, I thought it would be an OK but largely inferior version of a solid but unremarkable original. Instead I got an enjoyable adventure with some great twists and a great last act.

Finished Stick of Truth, enjoyed it so much I just hit "Keep It" from GameFly, only 12 bucks, decent price. I enjoyed it well enough that I'm definitely checking Shattered but Whole, hopefully that'll ship tomorrow. Opinion held true for the entirety of the game, I loved absolutely everything about it except for the combat. But the combat was serviceable enough that I was able to find some enjoyment, not enough that I think I care about the genre though. Such perfect South Park though, like being right in an episode, and one of the better episodes...I was rolling start to finish. Really have my hopes up for SBH, I enjoy Super Heroes more than fantasy.

I haven't even beaten Fractured But Whole which says something that the game hasn't gripped me the way Stick of Truth did. Stick of Truth just clicked on so many more cylinders at least for me. South Park: Fractured But Whole is on my backlog though. Game just isn't must play like the first installment was.

I am rotating between Bayonetta 1(Switch) and Resident Evil: Revelations at the moment. I am very much enjoying Bayonetta 1 action wise but heck if the story just isn't all over the place which I knew coming in was the common opinion of the game. I think for a game like that, story doesn't necessarily mean the world as far as liking the game or not but it would have helped to have it more fleshed out admittedly. Heard Bayonetta 2 solves that complaint so I am hoping to tackle both Bayonetta games by month's end.

Resident Evil: Revelations isn't necessarily scary but it has that Gears of War/Dead Space tank mode that you'll either like or dislike only without the cover fire. I wish there was a run button for this game because lets be honest, Jill is wearing tight spandex and isn't lugging around a Rocket Launcher or big guns for some portion of the game. The dodge mechanic is so bad in this game, I know its a 3DS port so the game won't utilize all the buttons on a Dualshock 3 or 4 or XBOX controller but still....some of the buttons serve no purpose, you could not tell me that the dodge button could not have been better? Hell I would have loved a roll mechanic like in Gears of War. Running in narrow tight hallways against enemies who can easily grab you with such a half assed dodge mechanic is rather maddening. The voice acting is wooden at best and the side characters besides Chris and Jill rather suck but hey it's more Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield so you know they are at least consistent even if neither has any kind of massive character development. It's an alright game, I appreciate the action survival style Resident Evil had for a decade even if some prefer the survival horror element portions of the series.

Only a bit into it, but I agree, Stick of Truth is easily the superior of the two. I get them wanting to change it up a bit, not just make the same game with a different story, but why the hell did they ditch the run button? Took me like an hour to stop trying O and just deal with the walking speed. I do like some of the new things they're doing, still enjoying it well enough.