What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

[Steamflogger Boss]

Beat Onimusha. Thankfully fairly short because ugh the controls.

[Xyga]

So I was planning on giving some translated and undub PS1 oldies another (or first) look, and then I've realized there's a number I wasn't aware of, also some I knew about but cannot find at all anymore.

Some of the patches I'm interested in;

Front Mission 2 - translation - available
Grandia - undub - available
Thousand Arms - undub - available
Choro Q 3 - translation - available
Cotton: Fantastic Night Dreams - translation - available
Brigandine Grand Edition - translation, dub, difficulty - available
King's Field - translation - available
Policenauts - translation - available
Super Robot Taisen Alpha Gaiden - translation - available
Star Ocean 2 the Second Story - undub - available

However;

Valkyrie Profile - undub - ??? (patch author removed links bc of an issue and gave up it seems *sob*)


Any of the listed not worth bothering with, or any info on the whereabouts of the latter two, anyone ?

[Steamflogger Boss]

Brigandine is pretty bad and I never have been able to finish Thousand Arms though I've tried a few times. I went through Policenauts recently (I think last year) and while it's not Snatcher it's okay.

[Xyga]

Yeah I suspected so but there's so little written about those I needed to ask. Will skip.

PS: SO2 undub found after all. but from the few vids around even the original jp dub is low quality. welp.

[Stevens]

Resident Evil 4 (PS 2)?!

Haven't played it in over ten years. Took me a good two tries of starting, saying fuck these controls, and shutting the game off. Eventually figured it out again and I'm having fun with it. Turns out I remember more of it than I thought, but there is still a lot that feels new even though I played the fuck out of this for like four months my 1st go.

Wait, follow, and wait in a trash can make escorting Ashley a breeze. Haven't played anything after 4 so I can't comment on the AI of later friendly NPC's.

90% of my deaths have come from QTE.

Not sure how long I'm going to play, although the armor for Ashley makes me likely to play through Separate Ways (I'm pretty sure I played it back in the day) so I can get another go at the main game and just use her as bait.

[vol.2]

Resident Evil 4 (PS 2)?!

Haven't played it in over ten years. Took me a good two tries of starting, saying fuck these controls, and shutting the game off. Eventually figured it out again and I'm having fun with it. Turns out I remember more of it than I thought, but there is still a lot that feels new even though I played the fuck out of this for like four months my 1st go.

Wait, follow, and wait in a trash can make escorting Ashley a breeze. Haven't played anything after 4 so I can't comment on the AI of later friendly NPC's.

90% of my deaths have come from QTE.

Not sure how long I'm going to play, although the armor for Ashley makes me likely to play through Separate Ways (I'm pretty sure I played it back in the day) so I can get another go at the main game and just use her as bait.

introduction of QTE in RE is soooo horrible. I still haven't played 6 (and probably won't) because they are supposed to be the worst.

But RE4 is so good outside of those events that I think it's still worth it. I especially like find all the medals side-game.

[Steamflogger Boss]

Yeah I suspected so but there's so little written about those I needed to ask. Will skip.

PS: SO2 undub found after all. but from the few vids around even the original jp dub is low quality. welp.

I should add that I am a strategy game nut. I've completed some Idea Factory stinkers so that might say even more about Brigandine that I couldn't be bothered.

Valkyrie Profile is worth playing through even if you have to experience the dub imo.

[Stevens]

introduction of QTE in RE is soooo horrible. I still haven't played 6 (and probably won't) because they are supposed to be the worst.

But RE4 is so good outside of those events that I think it's still worth it. I especially like find all the medals side-game.

Yeah totally into it now that I wrapped my head around the controls again. Leon is a great character, Ashley is OK enough, and the cast of villains is great in that B movie sort of way. As far as the QTE's go they'll flash buttons on the screen and unless it's L1 and R1 I'm as good as dead:D Had to watch the Village Chief kill me five times in a cut scene before I could fight him proper. Then I didn't die.

At the castle now, just got the gallery key. Rolling with Blacktail, standard shotgun, and semi auto rifle.

I remember putting a fair amount of time into Mercenaries too.

[BulletMagnet]

Finished Witch and the Hundred Knight the other day:

- The Witch does mellow out a little bit as the story progresses; she's still terrible, but nowhere near as abhorrent as in the early hours. I imagine some folks would criticize the developer for "wimping out" or "diluting the impact" or some such thing, but for myself I was just glad that her character became somewhat more bearable and rolled with it.

- On a related note it feels like a lot was left on the cutting room floor, even in the PS4 "Revival Edition"; characters important to the plot show up late or briefly and are never given much chance to contribute beyond existing, and several "I'm totally gonna fight this person at some point, right?" cast members are cutscene-only (the PS4 version does add a side dungeon where you can take a whack at some of them, sort of). Numerous odd developments aren't explained very well, and the ending I got was a massive "WTF". Very disjointed, which is especially disappointing since I found the setting and world somewhat intriguing.

- Maybe I was doing something weird, but I was constantly, absolutely flush with cash; while it's possible to use weaker weapons to upgrade others to a certain extent (IIRC that was another addition to the PS4 version), it's very drawn out and I ended up impatiently selling most of my loot, which there's a ton of, to free up inventory space. Moreover, you'll rarely need to shop since you get the best stuff from enemy drops, and money isn't even needed for gear upgrades, so I wound up with millions of NIS-bucks just sitting there, largely useless.

Overall the game is okay...ish, and this is the improved/expanded version, so I can only wonder what I might've thought of the PS3 original. That said, after finishing I decided to give the sequel a quick shot, just to see if it had anything else to offer; I recall reviews for it being less than stellar, but at least in the early going it appears to genuinely try to tackle a number of the first game's issues. Eager to see if it can stick to its guns...

[Obiwanshinobi]

Valkyrie Profile is worth playing through even if you have to experience the dub imo.

I didn't mind the US dub terribly. Lenneth herself (and some Maddie Blaunstein-voiced roles) came out particularly well, I thought. Then again, just the studio recording, overall sound quality, laid a more serious impression on me than your average PSX game (starting with Symphony of the Night, and who doesn't remember those awkward pauses due to loading times in Silent Hill, somewhat reinforcing the clumsiness of voice act? "Have you seen a little girl", anyone?)* Speaking from perspective of someone who listens to radio drama, audio art and such a lot on the radio, I think the "serious" (rather than "candid") tone does it for me in English-voiced VP1&2.

I am also under impression that Japanese audience, the whole Japanese school of voice acting (and directing!) takes - for the lack of a better word - emphasis much better than English speaking world can take it. Different tongues appear to sport very different levels of tolerance to that, just listen to Russians reciting Russian poetry.

*) To not render Konami a poster child for PSX-era voice acting cheese, I must admit respecting much of the voice job heard in Metal Gear (Solid) series. It's worth watching The Big O anime voiced in English just for the sake of listening to that school of doing the stuff outside of video games.

[Steamflogger Boss]

I'll be completely honest when I say I don't remember it. It's been many years since I last played it. Which means it's likely not *that* offensive at the very least. I played Onimusha recently and the dub work was super bad. Other really bad dubs I tend to remember like Shenmue 1/2, Chaos Wars etc...

[Leandro]

Currently playing Mass Effect for the first time and liking it. Looks good for it's age, the music is great, the story and characters are interesting me, even though I'm not a fan of Star Wars/Star Trek stuff. Just the gameplay seems to easy, I just unlocked space travel and now it finally opened up.

Also played the Capcom Beat'em up Bundle on Steam and 1cced Final Fight, but there's no special credits in this version it seems, I miss MY NAME IS POM. Gonna try the Japanese version next.

[Xyga]

Valkyrie Profile is worth playing through even if you have to experience the dub imo.

Oh I've played it many times, love that game. Obiwanshinobi is right the US dub isn't atrocious, I was just thinking if I want to play it one last time I'd like for once to experience the original voices.

[ryu]

I think I deserve a pat for beating the original Breath of Fire on SNES. Phantasy Star I and II were a lot easier to stomach. Game still had some interesting aspects though.

[bottino]

I think I deserve a pat for beating the original Breath of Fire on SNES. Phantasy Star I and II were a lot easier to stomach. Game still had some interesting aspects though.

Congratulations. And I definitely mean that.

I confess that I have an aversion to both Breath of Fire games, specially the second one. The first one is super boring in every department; the second one is truly dreadful and one of the few games that I could never bring myself to finish.


Phantasy Star II on the other hand... yeah, it's one of the best and to this day remains my favorite game within the genre.

[EmperorIng]

Breath of Fire 3, though, despite having a slow start (I actually initially gave up on it 4 hours in before restarting months later), was a pretty enriching experience, though the plot is as laid-back as you can possibly get, sans a few moments. It's a very relaxed and comfortable game.

I still haven't started up BoF4, since after 55 hours with 3 I was taking a break before starting another mammoth undertaking. I've only ever heard good things about 4 though.

[Steamflogger Boss]

I couldn't get through Phantasy Star II. I find I struggle with wanting to slog through those early JRPGs.

Ing I agree with you, BOF 3 was quite fun. I banged out it and IV not that long ago. Good games.

[ryu]

III to V are all great games imo. If I weren't a fan of those I most likely would have dropped the Super Famicom game a couple hours in...

[Steamflogger Boss]

III to V are all great games imo. If I weren't a fan of those I most likely would have dropped the Super Famicom game a couple hours in...

Many people would blindly view saying V is better than I and II as a scorching hot take but actually playing the games I'd tend to agree. It's been a looooong time since I played either of the first two though.

[Marc]

I still need to get my ass around to playing more than the first hour of FFVI, Lost odyssey has me hankering for another ATB-type battle system.

[Steamflogger Boss]

Lost odyssey has me hankering for another ATB-type battle system.

I absolutely loved this game.

[FinalBaton]

I still need to get my ass around to playing more than the first hour of FFVI

Definitely do, it's a great game. Genius game structure and massive amounts of side quests/optional stuff that was nuts for the time, and still represents a very decent amount of extras. There are a couple FF I like more, some of them for shallow reasonsl(IV for the lighter mood and better look/sound/feel, and IX I like equal), but VI is like... damn *bites lip*. Pretty good gameplay too. I mean the combat is not as involving as X, but there's lots of customization and some neat stuff like a character having Street Fighter style inputs for his special command(and if you mess it up, you loose your turn) etc, and many little setpieces to break the flow.

It's near the top o' the list for jrpgs of the time, that's for damn sure.

Lost odyssey has me hankering for another ATB-type battle system.

That, I really wanna play. Bunch of people whose reccos I usually follow, have said that the game has a special place in their heart. Really makes me curious

[Ajora]

VENDETTA

SLIME BALLS RULE OK!

[Steamflogger Boss]

That, I really wanna play. Bunch of people whose reccos I usually follow, have said that the game has a special place in their heart. Really makes me curious

This game will not let you down, bro Baton. It is easily among my favorite games of that generation. Easily the best straight up JRPG, I don't think anything else comes close. Not counting Valkyria Chronicles (also love this game) which is not the same genre/type of game.

If you like JRPGs and it seems like you do, it's absolutely worth your time. The TRUE Final Fantasy of the gen.

[FinalBaton]

The TRUE Final Fantasy of the gen.

Love reading that!

If I ever find a 360 for peanuts, I'll grab it for this

[Steamflogger Boss]

The TRUE Final Fantasy of the gen.

Love reading that!

If I ever find a 360 for peanuts, I'll grab it for this

I'd say it's worth grabbing a 360 just for it, but there are some other goodies on 360 as well. I have three of them so I will offer one up but I think shipping would be pretty bad, maybe even more than you'd see one for in a local marketplace.

[Sumez]

Lost Odyssey feels like the true sequel to Final Fantasy 9 or 10, it's very along the lines of that place in the series' timeline, and doesn't try to hide it. But it also has some of its own unique qualities. It's a very Japanese game, but not obnoxiously so.
It's not ATB btw, but DQ-style full turns.

Personally I was crazy excited for it when it came out, and ordered the English Asian version to play it before it came out here - and I accidentally ordered NTSC-J, which is region locked, so I spent a ton of money on two versions of the game.
Nowadays you can find it anywhere among stacks of used games, for like $5. Poor games.

[Xyga]

Talking about FF, yesterday I gave 7 my first play in something like 20 years lol.

Played until out of Midgar, and I was more than pleasantly surprised, it's a rollercoaster of things that haven't aged well, and many that remained awesome, overall still great.
The amount of work and creativity that's been put into that game remains impressive.

Think I'll keep playing.

Only annoying thing is that I've used ye olde pSX emulator 1.13, which hasn't been updated since the late paleolithic yet still works great but... but always forces black borders on top/bottom of the output even with NTSC/60 games no matter the video settings. That was never corrected by the emu author (definitely could help a mod here) which is too bad.
I was playing on a 17" laptop so this was mildly irritating, guess I will continue on one of my displays that feature overscan.

(why an emulator when I have the game, the console and an ossc? because I'm an old lazy fuck who lacks enough patience and time now and the emulator features savestates and fast-forward, so I can zoom through the few fastitious portions of the game)

[Steamflogger Boss]

Fast forward seems perfect for the obnoxious unskippable bs in that game.

[Xyga]

Essentially the awful translation of a script written by 15yo drunk mangaka, and some boring minigame/action sequences, in typical old Squix fashion.
But besides those the game's a treat, can't remove that, if we're honest with RPGs being essentially stroll/travel, farming, and sci-fi/fantasy pulp feelgood material.

PS: aw yeah feels so good to be the open, really, RPGs that lack either explorable overworld-map or 'full'open world don't feel right for me.