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Post by RagnarokMike on Dec 24, 2023 13:23:12 GMT
Finished up the platinum on Gaiden, was a nice bite size experience by Yakuza standards, still quite a while, but they streamlined most of it, don't have to fully beat every last aspect, stuff like Mahjong you just have to win a certain amount and certain amount of times, Shogi you just have to play win or lose (except the puzzzles, which there are guides for). The only thing I didn't complete in the end was the claw machine, I did the requisite to finish off the task, but didn't clear the list. Was already too many, and now they added new varieties that feel damn near impossible to get; and they always respawn in the exact same spots, so you can't get the one that you finally need up in a favorable spot. Still, was another solid entry story wise, though also bite size at only 5 chapters, the scene with Kiryu with the tablet at the end is one of the most powerful scenes in the entire franchise. I really wish they gave him a different new hairstyle, could have made him grey with his traditional cut, or just a buzzcut, but that's just me being petty. I am going to play Infinite Wealth, even not liking turnbased as much, I love their stories. Hopefully they make more action pieces between those games, be nice if Judgement comes back, don't know if the turmoil with the lead was ever settled, but I'd be fine with moving on from Yagami if now. Just need some traditional action on top of the turnbased.
Either way, going out of town for X-Mas, going to the Frontiers of Pandora when I get back.
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Post by RagnarokMike on Jan 13, 2024 6:59:20 GMT
And for the first platinum of the year, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, was a solid enough game, but not one I think I'd return to. One, hurt replayablity with needless fluff, a ton of side content just drags it down. Bladewing Trails, Ikran Gear Baskets, Aolean Wind Flutes, and Budding Watchers add basically nothing; and Memory Paintings were just downright terrible, take way too long, and even with the "autocomplete" option, rather than just automatically completing, you get to sit there and watch the game play the still too long thing for ya, playtesting should have definitely cut those.
Ikon was a dipshit, a lot of times, you'd leap off a cliff and call it to catch you...and fall to your death. Just a little asshole.
Thankfully, 100% of subquests weren't required for platinum, because one was glitched out, and evidently a common isue.
But, other than that, the gameplay was pretty fun one you realize you can't play stealth the same as Far Cry, despite the overall feeling of the game, and you need to be a lot more careful.
Story was pretty solid, but nothing you haven't seen before.
It was a good game, fun, just not remarkable. A decent one time player. 7/10
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Post by System on Jan 16, 2024 10:29:30 GMT
And for the first platinum of the year, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, was a solid enough game, but not one I think I'd return to. One, hurt replayablity with needless fluff, a ton of side content just drags it down. Bladewing Trails, Ikran Gear Baskets, Aolean Wind Flutes, and Budding Watchers add basically nothing; and Memory Paintings were just downright terrible, take way too long, and even with the "autocomplete" option, rather than just automatically completing, you get to sit there and watch the game play the still too long thing for ya, playtesting should have definitely cut those. Ikon was a dipshit, a lot of times, you'd leap off a cliff and call it to catch you...and fall to your death. Just a little asshole. Thankfully, 100% of subquests weren't required for platinum, because one was glitched out, and evidently a common isue. But, other than that, the gameplay was pretty fun one you realize you can't play stealth the same as Far Cry, despite the overall feeling of the game, and you need to be a lot more careful. Story was pretty solid, but nothing you haven't seen before. It was a good game, fun, just not remarkable. A decent one time player. 7/10 That’s incredible, well done. It’s legitimately one of the hardest games I’ve ever played so I don’t think I’ll be able to beat it let alone platinum it :lol:
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Post by Blindy on Jan 22, 2024 13:56:01 GMT
So the Blindy of DEC 2022 played the original game, I just finished yesterday the sequel to Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion, with the 2024 release of "Turnip Boy Robs a Bank" and it is a much better game than the 1st one! I actually had a really good time with the 6-7 hours of this game and it was so good I got all 13 achievements! Not that it's overly difficult or anything. Unlike the 1st game where it's a a Zelda inspired 2D game where you go room to room in a dungeon and experience different fights, the sequel is a roguelike that you have a timer of a couple of minutes to loot, earn money, get new weapons to cash in for XP before the place gets swarmed with a ridiculous amount of enemies and eventually poison gas that is the M.O. to get the heck out and stop being greedy. The areas aren't CPU generated differently each time. However, the elevator rooms/side areas where NPC's reside are so you aren't necessarily getting the NPC that you want to finish a quest line for or cashing in currency for strong weapons each run you are doing but that's the beauty of a roguelike. Maybe it's because I barely dap into the genre as a whole but IDK I really enjoyed this game. The humor much like the 1st one is super tongue in cheek and even though some of it went over my head since I didn't play the original in over 1 year so the returning characters references didn't really click, I can def. see if you play the games back to back that you'd get even more appreciation for the dialogue. The game is super fun to just get right in and I think it hits the perk of a roguelike perfectly where no run feels wasted or means little and getting more gold or weapons to sell to power your character up is where this game clicks. Stuck on a boss to progress the story? That's okay have a run getting as much loot as you can carry and take home 2 weapons to sell to get XP/level ups to get better perma-weapons. The simplicity of the game for me is the strongest selling point, there's little to no real explanation or deepness to the combat which is fine. You attack, and dodge roll and that's about it. The lone blemish is a game choice decision made during the very end where the final boss chases you all around as you try and progress through to stop the bombs that you set off in the 1st place. So the game has you try and blow up the bank at the very end and this requires you do to a boss gauntlet of some sorts with each of the bosses you fought in the game(There's only 4) which isn't the end of the world since your character is stronger and you can literally wipe them out in a minute or two each time. The problem this game has is the final boss that chases you around hits super hard. We're talking shoots lasers all over the screen or throwing out a giant laser buzzsaw that if it hits wipes out nearly your entire HP. Add to this is you needing to destroy obstacles to progress in a room to get to where you set off the rockets/bombs alongside new enemies that also add to the bullet hell and you're going to die at this point, it's just really tough. I was playing this on normal mode mind you! What becomes a frustration is if you don't fully complete this in 1 run, you have to start over from the boss gauntlet which includes getting to the rooms, getting the weapon(for me, the reaper blade is the best weapon in this game) via RNG from a NPC and then after beating all 4 bosses again, having another crack at the final boss. I feel like at that point, after beating the boss gauntlet once, that should be permanent and if you die in the final boss chase, you shouldn't have to set the bombs again. Part of my frustration with this was it felt like a giant waste of time and more than anything, I just wanted another crack at the traversal through the bank while the final boss is chasing. That was the lone real game design choice I disagreed with. I am all for challenge and making you earn it by the end............but time wasting you to rinse/repeat the same stuff wasn't the right choice. For a roguelike game, Turnip Boy Robs a Bank is super fun and borderline addictive. So addictive enough that I beat it in 2 days! Again, not a super long game and on normal, not a overly frustratingly tough game excluding the final boss sequence so yeah the sequel was a much better experience for me than the original. I think maybe more so due to the addictive nature of it being a roguelike and where progress is slowly built & earned which makes it feel like you aren't wasting your time as a whole. Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion: Quite the name huh? It's cute in what it tries to be, it runs about 3-4 hours tops and it's very simplistic from a combat perspective. There's no real deepness to the combat and it's very fetch questy where you need to go to point A and get an item to progress to Point B but there's nothing really wrong with that for this type of Indie game. The humor is a selling point to some, with some very Quarantine/2020 Pandemic timed puns as well as some puns you'd expect from a game that pokes fun at itself and while it all doesn't necessarily hit, there were a couple of laughs out of me to this game's credit. Not a hard game which is a plus for this one, there's again little evolvement with the combat which includes the final boss of this game. This game is very Zelda like with a top down perspective and needing to unlock puzzles to progress further but these puzzles are far from challenging and it ultimately requires timing and using one of the few game mechanics to allow you to progress. The enemy design is very samesy and the bosses are more of less fought similarly enough so if your looking for a game with clever, innovative combat, Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion isn't your game. Overall though, it's a game that comes, goes and lasts for a mere 1-2 nighter. Not a bad game, but probably something I will forget within a few months.
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Post by RagnarokMike on Jan 31, 2024 9:18:15 GMT
Platinumed Prince of Persia: the Lost Crown, is a great little Metroidvania, one of the best recent examples (and there's quite a few). Definitely buy it eventually.
Started in on Infinite Wealth and already have an issue, aside from turn based being ever disappointing, it immediately (upon character introduction) completely contradicts Gaiden. In that game Kaz refused to acknowledge the name Kiryu, VEHEMENTLY, he said repeatedly that Kiryu was dead, even people who flat out knew him, like Majima, he denied being Kiryu; the game ultimately ends with him taking the name Suziki and heading off into the world. In IW, that all goes right out the window, he immediately acknowledges himself as Kiryu and all the people he's introduces you to call him Kiryu, I've yet to so much as hear the name Suzuki. Completely undercuts what was a pretty great entry, that name was supposed to be erased, it's right there in the title.
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Post by Emperor on Feb 4, 2024 23:27:39 GMT
Recently I've been playing Slay the Spire, a rogue-like deck building game. A simple premise: you have a deck of cards which deal attack damage and block against enemy attacks. Go through the dungeon, kill enemies, acquire new cards and upgrade existing ones. The maps are laid out in D&D style with encounter rooms, puzzle rooms and treasure rooms.
There's a surprisingly limited amount of enemies and bosses yet the game is endlessly replayable. That's due to the immaculate design of the cards. There are four different characters each with different playstyles. The card combinations are endless and there are many different strategies each character has at their disposal. Some cards are better than others but there are no worthless cards - any card could be a huge boost to your deck in the right situation.
I've sunk 70 hours into the game. There are 20 ascensions (levels) which get increasingly difficult. I've reached ascension 14 with Ironclad, the starting character, and I'm working my way up the lower levels with the other characters.
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Post by System on Feb 15, 2024 2:16:30 GMT
One of my Valentine’s Day gifts from Sandra was a PSN gift card so decided to take a break from people trying to doubt the Dhalsim and get Tekken 8. Why does Kazuya look like he’s waiting for me in the prison showers? Even more unsettling when his eye turns red.
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Post by RagnarokMike on Feb 22, 2024 11:33:05 GMT
Finished up Infinite Wealth (no platinum for this one, other games to get to, just all story content), and it's another great entry in the franchise, as far as turn based go, it is one of my favorites (I do miss different characters each having a unique fighting style). Great having an all new map for a change. Though I will say one odd quirk of the game for playing Subtitled, for the American characters, a lot of them got Japanese voice actors who could speak English, instead of English actors who could speak Japanese, so they speak in stilted unnatural ways when speaking English, especially noticeable for one of the main characters, in Bryce, who plays one of the most important roles in the game. Story was better in 7, but this story was still pretty good, and the game itself was better. I'm really disappointed they still didn't let go of Kiryu, they set him up as dying of cancer, do this whole memory lane thing, felt like the perfect end would have been him in a bed, surrounded by the Sunshine crew, and finally letting go. Instead what we get is Haruka walking into an empty room and being optimistic about seeing Unc, then it cuts to an emaciated Kaz in a wheelchair, a doctor asks his name, and he replies "Kiryu Kazuma" and the trophy "the Man Who Regained His Name" pops, which could have been a great moment...IF HE WASN'T USING THE NAME THE WHOLE FUCKING GAME! It was literally like chapter 8 before he first says the name Suziki, yeah, it was when he finally went back to Japan, but him freely using it in Hawaii ends up getting him caught, because of course it does. Should have been Suziki the entire damn game, refusing to acknowledge Kiryu like he did the whole previous game, and that moment would have meant something.
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Post by Lony on Feb 22, 2024 12:40:57 GMT
I'm not too far into the game, I've only just beat Shocker in the Bank, but man, I'm loving the crap out of Marvel's Spider-Man. Also, have Mortal Kombat 1, downloaded and waiting to be played.
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Post by RagnarokMike on Feb 23, 2024 11:58:50 GMT
Oh, I forgot to bitch about Amon, every time I think they can’t possibly make Amon a cheaper little bitch, they prove me wrong.
As soon as the fight starts, Jo summons 3 other Amons, not only are they spongey as hell, but if you manage to defeat any…you have to clear the rest quickly quick enough, they can just resummon them with way too much of their life bar back. One time, I defeated 3 of them at the same time, Amon had the next move, and brought them back to life, literally the first move after I destroyed them.
And when you get them down to about half life, they go into rage mode, which gives them extra moves and more quicker turns. They get double team moves like your crew, but they don’t have to charge them, they can just keep on doing them turn after turn. They also get a full team move that takes off a ton of life, and if they combo a double team with a full team on Kiryu, guaranteed death with a 100% full lifebar. And they get 4 turns for every 1-2 you get.
I was losing my mind at this fight, so close to just passing on. When I finally did win, all my team was down, and if that particular hit didn’t do it, I was dead (as I couldn’t risk healing because that would have given him the opportunity to summon the others back).
Really exacerbates my problems with turn based, as winning ultimately comes down to RNG being merciful, rather than just using skill to out fight the opponent. Tedious as it gets.
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Post by Lony on Feb 24, 2024 16:25:19 GMT
So I just wrapped up story mode in Mortal Kombat 1, I dug it for the most part. One thing I'm not sure about is Kameos, on the one hand, the fatal blow is a neat little update on X-rays. Having said that, if I'm being honest though, I'd rather play as the likes of Goro, Kano, and Sonya Blade, than have them come in for a cheap assist.
Overall, as a lifelong fan of the Mortal Kombat franchise, I had fun with the latest installment in the long-running series. I suppose next up, will be doing towers and unlocking character endings and whatnot, so I'll no doubt get a few more hours out of the game.
Edit: plus invasions, I'll have to check that out as well.
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Post by Emperor on Feb 25, 2024 19:20:52 GMT
Normally I'm decades behind the times, but I've fired up Final Fantasy 7 Remake which only makes me a few years behind the times.
Having seen the entire game played through on YouTube several times, I know it's awesome, so I was unsurprised by the sheer force of video game power. The Scorpion Sentry battle very nearly ended my career in humiliatingly early fashion, but I hung on by a thread for several minutes, using my entire supply of Phoenix Downs, and just about won.
Apart from that the game has been pretty easy so far, and I don't mean that as criticism. The combat is incredibly fun, the story and voice acting is great, and it's simple a breathtaking game. Full marks.
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Post by c on Feb 29, 2024 4:34:41 GMT
Pacific Drive is out now and perhaps one of the best horror games made. Survival crafter, where you take a station wagon through an area where an unknown disaster hit, salvaging things to be used to upgrade your car. Gameplay loop is a ton of fun, pretty deep crafter with a ton of upgrades, amazing atmosphere and a really wild story.
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Post by Blindy on Feb 29, 2024 16:41:55 GMT
Normally I'm decades behind the times, but I've fired up Final Fantasy 7 Remake which only makes me a few years behind the times. Having seen the entire game played through on YouTube several times, I know it's awesome, so I was unsurprised by the sheer force of video game power. The Scorpion Sentry battle very nearly ended my career in humiliatingly early fashion, but I hung on by a thread for several minutes, using my entire supply of Phoenix Downs, and just about won. Apart from that the game has been pretty easy so far, and I don't mean that as criticism. The combat is incredibly fun, the story and voice acting is great, and it's simple a breathtaking game. Full marks. Just did the FF7 Rebirth Demo last night to get ready for later today when I come home after work & dentist. Loving that the demo content carries over into the main game. I also beat FF7 Remake Intergrade's Yuffie DLC 1-2 days prior as I had never played that before but didn't play the remake for a 2nd time. Rebirth recaps everything anyway and it'd be overkill IMO to do that but I am all in.
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Post by Ness on Feb 29, 2024 22:04:34 GMT
Damn didn't even know Rebirth was out. Not that it matters for us lowly peasants
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Post by Blindy on Feb 29, 2024 22:41:48 GMT
Damn didn't even know Rebirth was out. Not that it matters for us lowly peasants SquareEnix is banking on FF7 to once again save the day after they had a letdown 2023 with games like Forspoken and FF16(For their expectations) didn't sell as well or to their expectations. It's like WWE calling on The Rock or Undertaker to save the ship. Nostalgia is a heck of a drug.
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Post by sandylea on Mar 1, 2024 17:46:53 GMT
My Dad was interested in Skull and Bones, not sure how he saw it/what peaked his interest etc. but he started questioning me about it. I played an hour of the beta and honestly didn’t like it at all, the controls were annoying, the fact you have to be online with others annoys me, and actually the controls are fucked - annoying is an understatement. I told him as much, I didn’t like but a lot of people seemed to enjoy the combat once they got the hang of the controls etc (this is based off the reviews I watched) but considering the wait for it - it was disappointing. Anyway my father decided to buy a PS5 specifically to buy and play this game. As part of his birthday present (which is officially today) I bought him the PS+ deluxe subscription so he could play Skull and Bones and so he can get other free games. The man is impossible to please when it comes to video games, essentially he is the goldilocks of gaming. Ironically he is the one who got me into video games when I was younger but he has become much more picky with age - somethings I can understand he hates online gaming which is fair, but he doesn’t like anything that seems too big or too difficult, he doesn’t like anything with hard to see font, there is some games he just straight up isn’t interested in just because eg. Spiderman, Guardians of the Galaxy, The Last of Us. He isn’t interested in remakes because they are different than the original eg Resident Evil 1/2/3 etc. He doesn’t like the new Resident Evils because they are too different/puzzles are too hard eg. Biohazard/Village etc. He doesn’t like episodic games, or simulator games. He finds fighting games boring over time, same with racing games and even sports games now. He religiously played on the PS4 Days Gone (he finished this game at least 10 times if not more), Fallout Shelter, Uncharted franchise, and The Witcher 3. Annoyingly I bought him The Witcher 2 on the Xbox 360 and he wasn’t interested because it was a sequel, then he bought the third one himself and was obsessed??? Like? Anyway what I’m trying to say is, the man is a pain in the ass when it comes to picking out games for him. So why out of ALL THE GAMES, did he want Skull and Bones so badly he bought an entire console? He does also want Rise of the Ronin but that’s later this month. I have zero idea. BUT I tried to help him with the game tonight, keep in mind I didn’t play much of it and I hated it and my Dad doesn’t take instructions very well. We are at the start of the game basically, he needs wood to get a better boat, other players get the wood first and he can’t harvest it. The meltdowns he has: controls are shit, the boat doesn’t slow down it just stops, I hate online games, I don’t want to be friends/play with anyone, where the fuck is west when it doesn’t say it on the map, how do they all have better boats - I’m trying to google things are the stupid respawning of the trees, the game is basically broken, who knows. I give up, and go play fornite and cry (I wish I was joking). He then somehow magically finds the tree he needs that no one else has cut, gets A LOT of the wood, kills a bunch of crocodiles and a shark, buys a boat and is all super happy and loves the game and stops complaining about it. Soooooo my review for Skull and Bones is Ubisoft can suck my dick because fix your bloody controls!!! And lord help me if Dad has any other further issues or if Rise of the Ronin is a pain in the ass as well. Obviously I love playing games with my Dad and I’m glad he is finally enjoying the game, but what possessed him to what this game so badly?!! He doesn’t even like pirates? I just really really need them to make Days Gone 2 because that would make him really happy and we can enjoy that together 😂😂 System got to enjoy my meltdown earlier and asked to post this so enjoy!
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Post by RagnarokMike on Mar 2, 2024 7:42:38 GMT
Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely softening in my old age...REALLY enjoyed Sea of Stars. Only didn't get 2 trophies, as one you need to do NG+, and the other is the platinum. Similar to Like a Dragon, much prefer the action predecessor, the Messenger, but was another great addition to the world. I think the way magic replenishes with basic attacks really helps, so you don't feel like you're hoarding or short on magic. Solid cast of characters, another great touch is not having to burn a turn just to get the member you need in. Also really like the lock system, where enemies would start charging up a special move, but with a specific combination of attacks you could break it and stop the move entirely, though there are a lot of these moves that are not possible to actually break in time. They made pretty much all the right choices on gameplay to keep from the turn based combat from dragging too much. Add it to: Y7/LaDIF, Persona/SMT, and the South Park games to turn based games that I'll own, this was just on PS+ premium for now, but they have a physical release coming up I'm going to jump on.
Finished just on time, well, a day late, to start up FFVII Rebirth.
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Post by Big Pete on Mar 2, 2024 8:31:21 GMT
I bought him the PS+ deluxe subscription so he could play Skull and Bones and so he can get other free games. That's a smart idea, it sounds like he wants a specific experience and while you could have the right genre it may not provide exactly what he's after. Like you say he doesn't like big games, yet the Witcher 3, one of the biggest open world games, happened to be a hit with him. It sounds like back in the day, he would have been right at home at the gaming section of a video shop and being drawn to certain games. Now you're basically in for the penny, in for a pound and I can't see it getting any cheaper from here on out.
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Post by Blindy on Mar 2, 2024 13:01:21 GMT
Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely softening in my old age...REALLY enjoyed Sea of Stars. Only didn't get 2 trophies, as one you need to do NG+, and the other is the platinum. Similar to Like a Dragon, much prefer the action predecessor, the Messenger, but was another great addition to the world. I think the way magic replenishes with basic attacks really helps, so you don't feel like you're hoarding or short on magic. Solid cast of characters, another great touch is not having to burn a turn just to get the member you need in. Also really like the lock system, where enemies would start charging up a special move, but with a specific combination of attacks you could break it and stop the move entirely, though there are a lot of these moves that are not possible to actually break in time. They made pretty much all the right choices on gameplay to keep from the turn based combat from dragging too much. Add it to: Y7/LaDIF, Persona/SMT, and the South Park games to turn based games that I'll own, this was just on PS+ premium for now, but they have a physical release coming up I'm going to jump on. Finished just on time, well, a day late, to start up FFVII Rebirth. Yessssssssss welcome to the darkside. Next have to get you into Strategy RPGs like Fire Emblem or Shining Force or FF Tactics. Sea of Stars was a top 5 GOTY of the year for me last year. You did better than me, I got like 80% of the trophies. Never got into the minigame it tried and also didn't get all the treasure(The game does tell you which places you didn't get them) The fact that you enjoyed Sea of Stars gives me hope you would like more older RPGs since Sea of Stars is heavily inspired by Chrono Trigger and has Super Mario RPG's rhythm based gameplay in an RPG. Speaking of, if you can find the Super Mario RPG Remake or the next Paper Mario game(The Thousand Year Door) on sale for Switch, you're going to be in for a treat.
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Post by RagnarokMike on Mar 3, 2024 6:27:31 GMT
Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely softening in my old age...REALLY enjoyed Sea of Stars. Only didn't get 2 trophies, as one you need to do NG+, and the other is the platinum. Similar to Like a Dragon, much prefer the action predecessor, the Messenger, but was another great addition to the world. I think the way magic replenishes with basic attacks really helps, so you don't feel like you're hoarding or short on magic. Solid cast of characters, another great touch is not having to burn a turn just to get the member you need in. Also really like the lock system, where enemies would start charging up a special move, but with a specific combination of attacks you could break it and stop the move entirely, though there are a lot of these moves that are not possible to actually break in time. They made pretty much all the right choices on gameplay to keep from the turn based combat from dragging too much. Add it to: Y7/LaDIF, Persona/SMT, and the South Park games to turn based games that I'll own, this was just on PS+ premium for now, but they have a physical release coming up I'm going to jump on. Finished just on time, well, a day late, to start up FFVII Rebirth. Yessssssssss welcome to the darkside. Next have to get you into Strategy RPGs like Fire Emblem or Shining Force or FF Tactics. Sea of Stars was a top 5 GOTY of the year for me last year. You did better than me, I got like 80% of the trophies. Never got into the minigame it tried and also didn't get all the treasure(The game does tell you which places you didn't get them) The fact that you enjoyed Sea of Stars gives me hope you would like more older RPGs since Sea of Stars is heavily inspired by Chrono Trigger and has Super Mario RPG's rhythm based gameplay in an RPG. Speaking of, if you can find the Super Mario RPG Remake or the next Paper Mario game(The Thousand Year Door) on sale for Switch, you're going to be in for a treat. Just a good thing it was tied to the Messenger, one of my favorite indie games of all time. Got it bumped to the top of my list when I saw it on PS+ Premium, which I got to play FFVII Integrade before Rebirth dropped. Speaking of which, only at the beginning, but Red XIII is a badass. Tearing shit up. Barely into it though.
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Post by Blindy on Mar 3, 2024 18:31:54 GMT
Yessssssssss welcome to the darkside. Next have to get you into Strategy RPGs like Fire Emblem or Shining Force or FF Tactics. Sea of Stars was a top 5 GOTY of the year for me last year. You did better than me, I got like 80% of the trophies. Never got into the minigame it tried and also didn't get all the treasure(The game does tell you which places you didn't get them) The fact that you enjoyed Sea of Stars gives me hope you would like more older RPGs since Sea of Stars is heavily inspired by Chrono Trigger and has Super Mario RPG's rhythm based gameplay in an RPG. Speaking of, if you can find the Super Mario RPG Remake or the next Paper Mario game(The Thousand Year Door) on sale for Switch, you're going to be in for a treat. Just a good thing it was tied to the Messenger, one of my favorite indie games of all time. Got it bumped to the top of my list when I saw it on PS+ Premium, which I got to play FFVII Integrade before Rebirth dropped. Speaking of which, only at the beginning, but Red XIII is a badass. Tearing shit up. Barely into it though. Seeing that ice level from Messenger return for this with that bopper of an music track for Sea of Stars was awesome. Am 15 hours into FF7 Remake Rebirth, really good game. Given I don't really play too much open world type of games or really limit myself to them per year, the collect-a-thon elements of this game I can see be frustrating for some but I am digging it. The minigames are wonderful though. There's a Frog Guys/Fall Guys style of minigame, Queen's Blood is addictive as serious heck(The card game of this Final Fantasy game) and even the Fort Condor game that was in Intermission DLC returns with a little bit of a twist, did it all in one night. The moogle minigame is whatever and the Chadley combat simulator stuff is a bit much but this game works so good. Much like with Persona 3 Reload, had another 7 hour plus session. Anytime you get me to do that, that means you got something really good with this game. I am legit hunting for the Queen's Blood games in each town, such a rough intro to the game but once you're in, man you're in.
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Post by Emperor on Mar 3, 2024 19:53:53 GMT
Final Fantasy 7 Remake. A game hasn't got its hooks in me this much in a long time. Now I understand how Blindy can play games for 25 hours a day, because it feels like I've been doing just that. 17 hours in now.
Retro games are fun, but deep down I am playing them out of a sense of stubborn obligation rather than a genuine desire. It doesn't mean these games are not fun, because they are, but I can't deny that modern games are so much more slick, and essentially better. Legend of Dragoon got pretty close to having its hooks in me but I'm glad I put that on hold to fire up my most-wanted game, a game I've irrationally put off for a long time.
Back to FF7R, I'm in the middle of the Wall Market chapter. Experiencing the game through streamers made me very aware of what goes on, which comes in handy at times, such as the Hell House battle. I knew going in he switches weaknesses to any one of the four elements, so I made sure to have all four spells equipped before the fight. Without that knowledge I would have struggled a lot more. The combat is so brilliantly designed, a seamless blend of intense real time action and high-level strategy. The best of both worlds. I was a bit intimidating by the nuts and bolts of the combat at first but now I feel my fingers dancing away. I still fumble at switching between characaters and issuing commands to non-active characters but for the most part it's all good. Some of the combos are magnificent, even Aerith is a powerhouse when used correctly. The only character I don't enjoy is Barrett. I'm pretty sure he has a solo mission later which I'm kinda dreading.
I couldn't have asked for anything more for a remake/enhancement of the best video game ever made. The original FF7 may have to be demoted to second place.
While playing that I'm attempting to keep up with Rebirth via streamers since it won't be on PC for a while. It looks fantastic so far, the Kalm flashback was brilliant. I've not the open world yet.
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Post by Big Pete on Mar 4, 2024 12:25:11 GMT
Count me doubly surprised.
Surprised it took you this long to play FF7:R
And surprised you didn't keep up the bit of FF7:R being the best game of all-time and never playing it out of sheer enjoyment of the craft. For when you play FF7:R no other game will ever compare and it will zap all other enjoyment out of every other video game.
Godspeed Emp.
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Post by Emperor on Mar 4, 2024 20:41:00 GMT
Honestly, it probably is the best game of all-time.
Having witnessed a bit more of Rebirth, I'm not too fond of what I'm seeing. Following the modern trend of running around an open world, picking up bits of nature from the ground like The Witcher, and a crafting mechanic. Not my cup of tea. But in terms of the story and the characters, still perfect. The Queen's Blood minigame looks very interesting too.
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Post by Ness on Mar 4, 2024 21:41:35 GMT
Does it ruin it, watch someone else play the game before you do?
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Post by Emperor on Mar 4, 2024 22:09:56 GMT
Does it ruin it, watch someone else play the game before you do? You'd think it would, but not really. I accept I am not going to play the game in real time, so it's fine. While I remember a lot of the bigger picture stuff on FF7-R and even some details like boss fights, playing it myself still feels like a fresh experience. Plus there are some details in the cutscenes that I didn't notice or didn't remember. Also I get to play the game properly, unlike the derps on YouTube who never used magic when the game was clearly signalling that this is the way to beat the boss (i.e. Hell House). Watching them was so frustrating, so I'm glad I could get that satisfaction doing it the proper way.
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Post by Blindy on Mar 5, 2024 1:13:30 GMT
Finished Chapter 5 of Rebirth, half of that chapter was superb. We're talking Yugioh Duelist Kingdom sort of shit Big Pete, 5 rounds, you go and find someone on a boat and challenge them to a game of cards/queen's blood. No 10 starchips or anything evil but it's just a near hour of card game addiction.
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Post by RagnarokMike on Mar 9, 2024 10:42:57 GMT
Rebirth, ya couldn’t let me just enjoy one minigame, really enjoyed Queen’s Blood, then you get to the Golden Saucer and find “Boot Camp.”
Was already annoyed the brought back Fort Condor and changed the rules, but seriously, Boot Camp SUCKED. No reason to change the rules and not let you draw cards. Even with a perfect deck it comes down to the pure luck of drawing the right cards per round. Took so long to finally get the right drop to actually win 55 to 50.
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Post by Blindy on Mar 9, 2024 13:24:45 GMT
Rebirth, ya couldn’t let me just enjoy one minigame, really enjoyed Queen’s Blood, then you get to the Golden Saucer and find “Boot Camp.” Was already annoyed the brought back Fort Condor and changed the rules, but seriously, Boot Camp SUCKED. No reason to change the rules and not let you draw cards. Even with a perfect deck it comes down to the pure luck of drawing the right cards per round. Took so long to finally get the right drop to actually win 55 to 50. I had the lead going into the 3rd series but got a really bad hand, may need to try this again. I'm also in Chapter 9 at the moment, trying to finish up all the side quests and intel before moving on. I also gave up on trying to master the situp challenge, awful way they set this one up. The 2nd match relies heavily on not holding down the R2/L2 buttons but they are so sensitive on my controller that it is tough. This is also the 1st game I noticed minor analog drift on the right analog stick, had no idea this was even a thing but seems like it. When I was playing the piano minigame, I saw a down press as if I am holding my analog stick down. This became frustrating when doing 3D Brawler too as I know I was entering inputs to dodge but they weren't counting. May need to hook up my spare Dualshock 5 in the future.
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