I'd be interested to know what the dialogue is like when there's only 3 days left, given that's the last possible opportunity to send the calling card and beat the boss.

If you don't beat the palace, it doesn't tell you anything (hence me beating the entire palace having no idea it was coming), just moves on like any other day; if you beat the palace, it tells you that you have to send the calling card that day. It has to tell you about the calling card at the end of the palace to bring it up.

Yeah I didn't expect the game to be like 'WTF are you doing Joker, we need to go and send the calling card already! This is not a drill! Move it!' but I doubt it gave the impression you still had plenty of time to get it done.

When do they start letting you buy SP items? That first palace was kind of a bitch because I only found one place that had them, and only 4 of them, and they each only recovered 5 SP. If not for the 2 I recovered in the castle, I might have been screwed in the later stretch where you're only fighting stronger opponents.

The local doctor starts selling them SP recovery items and accessories during the later stages of her social link.

Early on, it is very difficult since all you have are those vending machine items and random drops. You'll need to use them and any other items you can get your hands on to ensure your party remains in good shape. Just be mindful of your SP and do everything you can to conserve it for emergencies. Don't be afraid to save often and load up saves if you run into some bad luck.

Of course if it proves to be too difficult and you're not having much fun, just do it in two trips.

Onimusha 2: Samurai's Legacy (Capcom; 2002)

After 14 long years, I can finally scratch this off my backlog.

Firstly, Emp wasn't joking about the village. About 1/3 into the game the village becomes inaccessible, so as soon as I progressed the story I was whisked away. It may have caught me off-guard, but I was relieved the bulk of the game wasn't about running backwards and forwards.

That initial shift in gameplay proved to be the most difficult. Yagyu village is crawling with a diverse cast of enemies, so you're constantly moving to avoid their swords and arrows. It was the most challenging portion of the game, as you were constantly under attack, but weren't decked out like later sections of the game. Still, I was doing OK until I arrived at Fog Forest.

On first impressions, Fog Forest seemed simple enough. It felt like the distant cousin of the Lost Woods where you've got to find the correct path in order to move forward. I made it through relatively unscathed, but the boss exposed one of my achillies heels - off-screen attacks. In fairness, the game gives you fair warning by telegraphing where he will attack, but if you summoned a partner, they could knock it off screen, giving you less time to prepare for the attack.

What really did me in was that the last save point was right before the Forest. Through out the series, the save point is right before the boss, making it easy to dust yourself off and try again. Here, you had to run through six rooms before you were ready and deal with the shoddy auto-aim feature that would constantly prevent you from hitting the necessary target. The frustration got the better of me, fortunately the game was a lot more generous from that point on.

From that point up until the final encounter, it was just more of the same. Collect items, kill enemies, spam magic attacks at a boss monster, move forward. The only difficult parts were some of the box puzzles that would hide healing items or health/magic upgrades. One in particular had 3/4 of it solved and you had to somehow move the bottom right pannel, from the top left of the puzzle. That may have taken me 20 minutes to figure out and in the end, I believe I went for a process of elimination approach. I still don't know how I did it, but those puzzles were usually the most enjoyable parts of the game.

Did a couple of the phantom zones, spent a lot of my healing items just so I could get the ultimate sword and plow through the last couple of bosses. I was making good progress until I got to the final form of Nobunaga. The game shifts from fixed cameras to a third person view and basically turns into contra as you're just blasting projectiles at Nobunaga and avoiding his fire. Fortunately I realised the error of my ways, I wasn't using R-1 to move, so I was a sitting duck for a lot of his attacks and wasn't quick enough to get my own hits in. As soon as I started using R-1, the boss became a cake-walk and I was able to see the ending.

Emp, the enemies are the highlight of the game. The main protagonists are so flat and milquetoast, while the enemies are teeming with personality and are a joy to be around. Overall, I found the game to be an 'addition' as opposed to an enhanced experience. Level design & combat remain largely untouched, with the only design change being repetition. Whereas the original kept a brisk pace, here you'll find yourself completing the same puzzles over and over again and two of the bosses are encountered three times. It's basically the 'Lost Levels' as opposed to 'Super Mario Bros. 3. A game that gives you more of what you enjoyed, without looking to improve on it.

Onimusha 3: Demon's Siege (Capcom; 2004)

I'm on a roll with this series, so felt like there was no-time like the present to check out the final entry of the trilogy.

Going in, I expected this to be like the Super Mario Bros. 3 of the series. A return to the core premise with a few enhancements that make it the definitive entry of the series. Instead this is more like Onimusha 8 where they throw all these crazy ideas on the board and try to make the game out of it.

Samonosuke returns, but is instantly transported 500 years into the future and finds himself in Paris during a demon invasion. He links up with Pierre this middle aged special ops dude and they form a covert operation. Then Pierre is transported 500 years into the past where he runs into an alternative version of Samonosuke so we get this crazy trading places/buddy-cop premise with time travel and all sorts of nonsense going down.

The biggest change to the game so far is that the analogue stick is now functional. Thank god, as movement is a lot crisper and is necessary given the spacious level design. Party members also feature more prominently in this version than in others. In contrast to the second game where party members would only appear randomly, here they'll accompany you through large portions of the game. Their presence allows for a more aggressive style of play, and this feels a lot more action oriented than prior entries.

It's still only early days through the playthrough. I just arrived at the village which is about two hours into the game, having just completed the Paris sewers and acquired the first weapon for Pierre.

When I finished Onimusha 3 I took it back and figured I'd never play it again. I thought the whole story was stupid, and the boss battles weren't as good as the previous games, but at its core it still has all the fundamental combat and charm that made me fall in love with the series in the first place. Now that you've brought it up, I kinda want to play it again, so I will seek out a copy.

By the way, there's a fourth Onimusha game. Dawn of Dreams. It's worth checking out, but expect the unexpected.

Wasn't Dawn of Dreams an attempt to take the series in a whole new direction?

It doesn't seem to rate a mention alongside the trilogy.

Yes, it's pretty different in terms of gameplay, pretty much an action RPG, but it's still part of the main series. The story continues from that of Onimusha 3.

Mar 3, 2018 4:27:26 GMT G/B said:

Kaye88 ,

www.playstationlifestyle.net/2018/03/02/new-valkyrie-profile-lenneth-teaser-posted-by-square-enix/

OH MY GOD!!!! Thank you so much for tagging me to this, G/B! I've been around the internet the past few days but have yet to see this. This may just be an HD re-release of the first game, so I'm not really expecting much. But if they tweak stuff a little bit, then I'm all in.

I'm still wishing for a new game in the future though. The mythology in this series is just amazing.

Mar 7, 2018 22:57:55 GMT Kaye88 said:

Mar 3, 2018 4:27:26 GMT G/B said:

Kaye88 ,

www.playstationlifestyle.net/2018/03/02/new-valkyrie-profile-lenneth-teaser-posted-by-square-enix/

OH MY GOD!!!! Thank you so much for tagging me to this, G/B! I've been around the internet the past few days but have yet to see this. This may just be an HD re-release of the first game, so I'm not really expecting much. But if they tweak stuff a little bit, then I'm all in.

I'm still wishing for a new game in the future though. The mythology in this series is just amazing.

Hey, us VP fans got to stick together.  I haven't played Lenneth in a VERY long time, so I look forward to replaying it again.  So I'm super excited.  If they can port VP2 Silmeria too, that'll make my year.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
When we decided to buy a Nintendo Switch for Christmas as a big family gift, this was the game I wanted most. We bought two games: Mario Odyssey and Mario Kart 8 (my wife and daughter wanted Odyssey more, and we agreed to buy one multi-player game for all of us to play together).

No matter, I could wait. I had Assassin's Creed: Origins to keep me busy and was still working on wrapping Shadow of Mordor. And I'm also constantly playing Overwatch.

Last week my wife went out shopping and she picked up Breath of the Wild as a surprise. I love her very much.

Big Pete said in the Nintendo Direct thread that this game is like playing OoT the first time, and I completely agree. I'm getting slapped with waves of nostalgia constantly while playing this game and getting to share the experience with my daughter while we play through different parts of the game together (on separate accounts, of course..she made sure of that) is amazing.

I'm taking my sweet time with this one, almost to the point where my daughter and wife are annoyed with me. I scour every corner when I'm playing and it drives them nuts. My wife is very goal-driven when she plays: the map says go here so I'm going here. If I find some shit on the way, cool. My daughter likes exploring too but she gets distracted easily: I am looking for Stamella Mushrooms and only Stamella Mushrooms. Hey, what's up that mountain? Oooh, a lake!

Because of this I was the only one to find out how to get the warm tunic from the old man before climbing Mount Hylia, and I have discovered the most shrines despite traveling the least distance.

I've been busy with work but I played a lot last weekend, and I plan to play a lot again this weekend because my wife and daughter are going out of town and it's just me and the 2-year old for a couple days. I got off the Plateau, explored a bunch, made way too many random meals and elixirs, found the climbing bandanna, have discovered 12 shrines, explored Kakariko Village and have finally made my way up to Hateno Village. I spent a lot of time trying to find the Fairy Fountain near Kakariko Village but couldn't find it (if that's even where it is, I'm still not sure). I've also been chasing down horses and boarding them.

There's so much you can do in this game and it feels like the world is endless. It's an incredible game and I'm loving every second.

Gonna put Persona 5 on the backburner, Life is Strange: Before the Storm will be a quicker playthrough, and Far Cry 5 is around the corner...so I'll beat that and get it sent back real quick before hitting P5 again.

Finished up Before the Storm, give it a resounding...MEH. It wasn't bad by any means, but unless you absolutely want to see the relationship develop between Chloe and Rachel, doesn't really add anything of note, or do anything markedly compelling in the story. Strictly middle of the road fare, glad it was only 3 episodes, unlike the main game I was kind of just twiddling my thumbs waiting for everything to wrap, relieved when it finally ended. 2.5/5

Mar 12, 2018 17:20:44 GMT RagnarokMike said:

Finished up Before the Storm, give it a resounding...MEH. It wasn't bad by any means, but unless you absolutely want to see the relationship develop between Chloe and Rachel, doesn't really add anything of note, or do anything markedly compelling in the story. Strictly middle of the road fare, glad it was only 3 episodes, unlike the main game I was kind of just twiddling my thumbs waiting for everything to wrap, relieved when it finally ended. 2.5/5

It was disappointing in the sense that it could've just been a super-long cutscene. Without time rewind powers you were just making choices in the dialogue, which like most choices in these kinds of games probably leads to the same outcome so it's really just if you want to be a smartass or not.

Onimusha 3: Demon's Siege (Capcom; 2004) Pt. 2

So I should touch on something that would be obvious to anyone who's played this game...

The sole reason this game seems to exist is because they French actor Jean Reno to star in the game. That's why it's set in modern day French, why you play as multiple characters through out the game and for even existing in the first place. If this was any other medium, the decision would get torn to shreds but in video games, it's actually really cool that the guy from Leon: The Professional is playable in a Capcom game.

Right now, I'm up to a section where you're constantly switching between the two MCs in the one dungeon. The actions caused by one character will affect the other and you're constantly swapping keys and items from different dimensions. It's still relatively straight forward, albeit the enemies are beginning to get harder. I just came across one which is a doll that comes to life, blocks and counters your attacks and can hurl a lethal projectile when it feels like it. At first I didn't think much of it since I was able to crit it in one shot, but when there is 2-3 in the room, I have to equip my regen cloak afterwards.

I also ran into some trouble with the boss in the area. It was a repeat of the first boss in the game, but he was a lot faster and harder to predict. He kept triggering my auto-ressurect item, so it took me a couple of resets before I was able to put him away.

Ordinarily when you beat a boss in Onimusha, you move onto the next phase. This time around, it appears I'm only 50% through, so I decided to put it down for the time being. The game feels like more of a slog than the others and the introduction of regen items only re-enforces the slower pacing overall.

Mar 12, 2018 17:20:44 GMT RagnarokMike said:

Finished up Before the Storm, give it a resounding...MEH. It wasn't bad by any means, but unless you absolutely want to see the relationship develop between Chloe and Rachel, doesn't really add anything of note, or do anything markedly compelling in the story. Strictly middle of the road fare, glad it was only 3 episodes, unlike the main game I was kind of just twiddling my thumbs waiting for everything to wrap, relieved when it finally ended. 2.5/5

First two episodes are pretty awful, the final two(Including the Max+Chloe episode) are actually on par with the original Life is Strange. There just isn't anything worthwhile that occurs in the first two episodes and the "twists" don't grip you the way they did in the 1st season. There's a reason I put the final episode aside for months, it is the lack of the supernatural ability Max has that occurs so much and the lack of resolve of a somewhat relevant character in Season 1 in Rachel was mind puzzling. She was a character that was missing so you wanted to know why she was missing and what the hell happened to her and well.....Things like the board game just lengthen the game and drag on far too long.

The one positive this has over the original is collector mode, got the platinum in LIS:BTS but did not for the original Life is Strange because of this. Cannot tell you how convenient it was to pick a scene, get the item and leave.

Haven't played much in a while, so I downloaded Rad Rodgers. Run and gun shooter and it's pretty fun, although have a feeling it'll be rather short.

This week worked on getting that Bloodborne Platinum/100% Old Hunter DLC, while it is one of my favorite games this generation, getting 100% has always alluded me. With the help of Blindy , (especially in the challices) I achieved that goal and I will say it has to be my favorite 100 percent on anything. This game is so satisfying. Lot of good and funny moment in our sessions together too.

Yeah most of the funny moments is me falling for a boulder rolling(TWICE), goo falling on me, activating a floor trap that has statues shoot out arrows, falling down a hole, getting sucked by the ground. Shit the guillotine was the only thing that didn't kill me LMAO. And my rage on the final boss of the DLC was paramount but I downed the fucker solo and beat Bloodborne to get a full 100% as well.

I did enjoy the Chalice Dungeon run, it was nice to fight some of the exclusive bosses to it. Well done G/B and congrats.

I started up Battle Chasers: Nightwar despite already playing 20 other games and was immediately blown away. It's basically like an old school Final Fantasy game but with all the annoying issues removed and a crazy good modern art style complete with good voice acting. I already know it is a game I will be completing after only a half hour of playtime.

The overworld map has random battles like most FF games except you move on a pre-plotted path and the battles aren't actually random. You earn items, exp, unlock abilities, equip stuff...all the bells and whistles. You earn temporary mana for use per-battle with each attack so you don't have to worry so much about becoming depleted. It has that Paper Mario thing where you can use a skill out of battle in dungeons in order to engage and get an immediate bonus for striking first.

It combines Trine-style graphical power with oldschool RPG gameplay. But more importantly everything just feels so professional and smooth and they didn't mess anything up. I don't think I've liked a new game this much since Bastion.

Finally got past it, but holy hell Persona 5 really hits a wall in September. It's like an hour and a half or more of set-up before you can get to the 5th palace, and that's going at the speed of reading, be a lot higher if I let anyone finish a sentence. Thankfully actually be able to play resume tomorrow, stuck with it longer than I planned on just to get back to actual gameplay.

Mar 19, 2018 5:56:26 GMT RagnarokMike said:

Finally got past it, but holy hell Persona 5 really hits a wall in September. It's like an hour and a half or more of set-up before you can get to the 5th palace, and that's going at the speed of reading, be a lot higher if I let anyone finish a sentence. Thankfully actually be able to play resume tomorrow, stuck with it longer than I planned on just to get back to actual gameplay.

Surprised you made it that far so quickly.

The fifth dungeon was definitely the weakest segment of the game for me. Forced conflict and the party just going through the motions without learning anything new about the over-arching story. Even the dungeon itself seemed like a real slog and a real downgrade from the crypt.

It picks up again not long after, but it's certainly the weakest spot of the entire game.

I have no life, and I'm an insomniac, so I've been playing the hell out it. Especially the last couple days, I started around 4-5 and played until midnight.

Yeah, that whole sequence of events was definitely the largest lull in the game so far, least interesting set-up, conflict, palace, and boss. Plus I've barely found use to use Haru...Makota, Ann, Ryuji, and Yusuke all get regular rotation, but Haru doesn't bring anything to set herself apart from the Personas I have. Maybe in this final stretch, but Psy powers seem to be one of the more rare weaknesses to find.

Strangely the boss of the fifth dungeon was one of the few times I died in the game. I didn't realise how important it was to knock out all the re-inforcements in one-go and just didn't have enough control of the battle. I can't remember if I died or if time expired, but I was surprised given how easy the rest of the game was.

Some characters are merely there for support so you can sub in and out characters while taking on the dungeon. Haru has three main issues which become handy later on. Not only can she use Psy attacks, but she has the best gun build of any of the confidants and her buff skills are handy against boss characters. I believe towards the end of the game I used her ability to buff and de-buff my characters often.

Haru's social link is useful with her plants giving you MP which is big time if you want to run through a dungeon in one day and save time for other social links. I didn't max her out because much like with Naoto in P4, she comes too dang late but I can see the uses in it. Ultimately Takemi was my go to girl for MP healing since you get her social link very quickly but I can see Haru's use.

It doesn't help that her social link is behind a high skill point wall.

Of all the social links, hers felt like the biggest New Game + bait.

But yeah, MP wasn't much of a problem since I'd buy one of those accessories from Takemi that would recharge a certain amount.

Yeah, once you get SP Adhesive 3, there's not much worry about anything, I've ran through all dungeons in a single day, which became incredibly easy once I stocked everyone with one of those (I got tired of switching out, and had plenty of mone anyway for 50k a piece), once I got those, I was barely even using any items. With one of my Personas I get an extra 3 back each turn, which means 10 returned if I have it equipped. With Mediarama and Samaricarm, I'm not much worrying about life or energy.

5th boss also killed me, but only because I didn't realize the Big Bang special was going to obliterate full life bars WITH the enemy's attack weakened.

As for Haru, Makota has debuff allies (and cure ailments), Ann weakens them, and my guy has debuff foes plus weakens defense, I haven't seen anything she has that I don't have access to something similar or better, I pretty much only put her in if an area is heavy on Psy weakness enemies, seems like her and Morgana die the fastest of the allies. Which wastes 2 turns, 1 because I don't have her there to attack, and 2 to revive her.

I had to look into Milady again. Her support spells are handy because she can reflect attacks/spells which will make the AI think twice before hitting you with either attack. Later on she learns an attack that will heal every ailment and the best buff skill of the game that enhances all three major categories.

Naturally with games like Persona, you're going to gravitate towards a certain team. Outside of story purposes, the supporting characters are usually more effective in some areas more than others.