What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

[schleichfahrt]

Taking a stab at Thimbleweed Park later today. It's been sitting here for a while, was too busy with work stuff. But now my body is ready

[Nick Jack]

I always play GTA, it's a way to relax for me, to kill some ppl after an office working day Old and good!

[FinalBaton]

Ok done with Ys : Memories Of Celceta, so here's my review.

In short : this game is, without a doubt, the best action RPG I have EVER played. bar none.

DISCLAIMER : I'll admit that the game's charm really appeals to me personnally. And so if your preferences are very different from mine for action RPGs, then you might end up a tad less impressed with the experience than I did. But for me it hits all the marks. it's a 9.5. But on a more objective/mass appeal level; well it's GOTTA be at least an 8. Maybe a bit more. So now I don't want any faggit telling me "OMG the game is not that great, what r u doing omg, get rekt". This is MY rating that reflects MY experience with the game deal with it



First an overview of what I think the game does well : well, pretty much everything! that's why it blows my mind so much. I honestly am hard pressed to find aspects I don't like about the game.
Some of my favourite aspects are :
-the weapon/armor upgrade system. I'm usually not a alchemy/combining materials guy, but here it was so fun and intuitive that I got really into it. I found a couple beast materials/plants that provided upgrade packages that I thought were really badass, and got stoked whenever I had enough money to reinforce my weapons/armors with the stats upgrades I wanted. Great fun right there. I even got a bit into trading materials, that tells you how much I enjoyed it!

-the story. the twists were great. also I liked the pace at which it developped (this aspect is quite masterful IMO). The "unlock memories" aspect intertwined well with the plot development, providing additional puzzle pieces that gave you very critical information on the background of characters and character interactions and various important events. The dialogue is fun and cozy to experience. It's always just the right lenght, never drags on for too long, and is engaging, I don't really know how else to describe it. It's obviously well written.

-the world aesthetic and level design. I really enjoyed running around in the Celcetan Great Forest, there were so many sub-regions with cool atmospheres and looks. The environnements were well fleshed out with good lighting and great use of colour, and just lots of good designs in general. Especially in forested areas, with not just trees but TONS of plants and shrubsthat looked beautiful and eerie. I guess what I'm trying to say is that the environments are all appealing and have ton of personnality. I also thought that the level design was very good, the map is fun to explore and uncover(this is a BIG step up over Ys Seven in this area). I like that instead of "having to go from point A to point B", you just explore the forest until you find something of interest, wether it's an old ruin, a hidden town, or a character encounter. Having money prizes for each percentage of the forest uncoverd is also a great incentive. Very clever level design and objectives, I really liked that. The dungeons are also fun, while they don't have crazy puzzles like in Zelda, finding where to go is a nice little challenge in itself and is fun. Lots of water areas which I thought I would hate but no, it's great.

-the music. holy hot damn... this OST is just straight up crazy. Filled to the brim with tragic power-metal. And with a couple of electronic-ish tracks sprinkled in, including a crazy techno-celtic hybrid(!) and some gorgeous ambient works. Oh and a lit town track! haha that first town BGM made it's way to the top of my all-time faves "RPG town" tunes! This is one of the best OSTs in the whole Ys series, which is quite the accolade in itself. So make sure to check it out

-And I saved the best for last : the combat. The motherfucking combat... This is where the game truly shines (Ys Seven is nothing compared to this). I have personnaly never experienced combat so fun and involving. It is electrifying. Switching on the fly between characters to use different attack types and exploit the enemy's weakness is awesome, of course. But the best part is that the Skill attacks themselves are so much fun to use and so badass. They are VERY varied and allow you to approach enemies in various ways. For example, Adol's Sonic Slide is kind of a tackle and lets you dash through the enemy without taking damage. So while it's somewhat weak, it's incredibly useful against some monsters since it gets you out of arms way in addition to dealing damage. There's just a myriad of special moves that tailor your combat that way. Some Skills have longer animations than other, thus leaving you vulnerable, so choose wisely. There's a great risk/reward balance here, since the Skills with longer animations usually deal more damage. Another great aspect of combat is the Skill Point management. Some accessories increase the rate at which your Skill Points' gauge replenish, such as "more skill points obtained on Skill finish", or "skill points obtained while walking" (and you can also boost a particular stat on your weapon, so that it gives more Skill Points as you land regular hits with it!). This is some very interesting tweaks you can make to your combat strategy. Sure these accessories take up a slot in lieu of a "Life Max up" or "Strength up" one, but being able to use more skills per-minute is damn rewarding too. AND tons of fun. This is, simply put, the BEST hack 'n slash fighting I have ever experienced. Nothing compares to this.

If I were to state some flaws (well, in this case it's nitpicks), then there's the camera that doesn't let you see a lot sometimes since it's not always behind you (sometimes the camera will be on your side and quite zoomed in). When this happens you obviously can't see very far in front of you, so monsters may surprise you. But that personnally doesn't bother me. Other than that the camera was good, I don't remember spots where there was an obstacle between the camera and my characters.




So, yeah, a fantastic game. To me it has become a cherished one, up there with the Final Fantasy games I experienced as a teen (and people who know me know that I get mad nostalgic and almost teary-eyed over those games >w< ). Thank you Falcom for this extremely fun and moving experience

I'll conclude by saying : if you're an action RPG fan, then this absolutely is a must-play for you. I mean... you HAVE to play it now. It's an INSANE game. Get it, and a PSTV, and enjoy the game on your couch using a Dual Shock 3 controller and with the music blasting through your main sound system. You will thank me

[soprano1]

Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse
The setting is more interesting than IV, too bad there's no dual audio or simply the JP dub.

[ZacharyB]

When I was playing Shin Megami Tensei IV, I just turned the voice tracks off. It was a lot more fun to imagine what they might sound like, instead of what they did sound like.

[Blinge]

Makaimura. Jesus stage 5 doesn't fuck around.

[soprano1]

When I was playing Shin Megami Tensei IV, I just turned the voice tracks off. It was a lot more fun to imagine what they might sound like, instead of what they did sound like.

They aren't THAT bad that I want to turn the voices off.
It's an idea, though. I guess when the Strange Journey remaster comes out the situation will be the same.

[Sumez]

Makaimura. Jesus stage 5 doesn't fuck around.

For a game that has a reputation for being difficult mostly due to the 1st stage... Stage 5 is where the game actually shows its teeth. Amazing game.

[Blinge]

The game is poop.

I'm on stage 6 trying to bait those ogre fellas into doing what you want sucks.
I'm also trying to bait the last arrimer on the top right next to the skull so I can quick kill him but he takes flight every time.

Edit: Just face&credit mashed my way to end of 1st loop. might call it a day here.

[WelshMegalodon]

Something people don't usually mention about Gen I:

"Hey, check out these moves I came up with - Body Slam, Blizzard, Earthquake, Thunder Wave, and Explosion."
"Wow, these all seem like really useful moves! How about turning them into TMs that can only be found once in the game?"
"That's a great idea! It's not like they'll be widely used in competitive play or anything."*

...

*

Spoiler

You can buy Hyper Beam, and Golem will learn Explosion on its own, but still.

[mamboFoxtrot]

Hey, at least those one-use TMs are useful! Its more than Gen 2 can say most of the time...

But yeah, infinite-use TMs are one of the best thing to happen to the series.

Also I have a hard time imagining that Game Freak really cared too much about competitive balance, given the complete jank-fest Gen 1 is...

[WelshMegalodon]

I too have seen the "how Gen I is broken" image macro.

The MissingNo. glitch effectively nets you infinite TMs, so I guess it wouldn't be an issue for people in the know. And given how long it takes to Stat Exp. train even one team you might as well do another playthrough on the side.

[gbaplayer]

How many hours long is the main story of Persona 5? I´m 23 hours into it and just conquered palace no. 2. ^^
Does the game also feature a section near the end where it is possible to find the real culprit with the right decision?

[iconoclast]

It took me 130+ hours to finish Persona 5 (on Hard), but the play time can vary a lot. If you're not listening to all of the voiced lines, talking to NPCs, completing sidequests, trying to complete the compendium, following a decision guide, etc, you could probably finish in 80-90 hours.

And yes there are decisions near the end that affect the outcome. The game warns you to save in advance, so you can reload if you get a bad ending.

[kaicooper]

beated HOLLOW KNIGHT and what a game!!! where did this come from?
best metroidvania ever made..yes it is
========

played these too
Shock Troopers
ICY

now buzzy with Nostalgia Yooka Laylee

[FinalBaton]

beated HOLLOW KNIGHT and what a game!!! where did this come from?

eh, checked some clips and the game looks gosh darn cute! I love the visuals and the theme (little beetle samurai FTW!)

Did you feel that the progression (rate at wich you gain new ability and the map opens up) and the level design (how well the levels are constructed, making for fun navigation and backtracking) were very very good? or just okay?

[Squire Grooktook]

TFW the boss lands a crit on you in tabletop and the gm asks you which 5 internal organs you want to lose.

We're in magitech bio-horror hell though where body parts are easily regrown but still. I fucking love this shit.

also TFW you cut off the bosses legs and think you can just snipe it from a distance, but it turns out to have a gatling cannon hidden inside it's chest cavity, which it reveals by blowing one of your friends face off.

[Ruldra]

Been absent for a while. During this time I went on a nostalgia trip and replayed Warcraft 1. So many features we take for granted nowadays are missing here. You can only select 4 units at a time, no move-attack command, no right-click to move, unit AI is super dumb, you can only build structures near roads...but despite everything still had a lot of fun with it and went on to beat both the orc and human campaigns. Nothing like summoning a dozen demons and watch them absolutely wreck everything.

AI War: Fleet Command has been on my backlog forever so now I want to finish it once and for all.

[Immryr]

beated HOLLOW KNIGHT and what a game!!! where did this come from?

eh, checked some clips and the game looks gosh darn cute! I love the visuals and the theme (little beetle samurai FTW!)

Did you feel that the progression (rate at wich you gain new ability and the map opens up) and the level design (how well the levels are constructed, making for fun navigation and backtracking) were very very good? or just okay?

it is honestly amazing on all levels. it does start off a little bit too easy and prosaic feeling, but after a few hours it ramps up nicely and the map just..... keeps getting bigger. so many great areas to explore and secrets to find.

i'd highly recommend it.

[FinalBaton]

it is honestly amazing on all levels. it does start off a little bit too easy and prosaic feeling, but after a few hours it ramps up nicely and the map just..... keeps getting bigger. so many great areas to explore and secrets to find.

i'd highly recommend it.

Awesome, thanks for the review Immryr!

[Marc]

Recently finished Yakuza, and I’m pretty astonished by how much I missed. Didn’t see Pocket Racing or Cat Fight Club at all, didn’t really get started in either of the businesses, didn’t touch the baseball, Shogii or Mahjong or fishing…. Anything else I missed? I’d love to go back with a guide, but given the time it would take, that’s probably not gonna happen, and I’d hate to burn out before I get to play Kiwami and 6.
Restarted Dishonored 2, and wow, I must have been in a shitty mood last time I started it. It’s everything that made the original great massively expanded upon. The levels are beautifully intricate, packed with stuff to discover, numerous way of achieving objectives, and it manages to feel far more natural than Deus Ex’s somewhat clinical sneak/shoot approach. Great stuff.
Anyone that owns a PS4 (Xbox? I dunno) and likes 90’s Midway arcade racers, or Hydro Thunder Hurricane, needs to go and pick up Riptide GP: Renegade. Although the initial few courses look somewhat dull, the later one’s go full Midway, with some really attractive environments. Basically, it looks like Hurricane at a higher resolution, locked frame rate, and a fantastic sense of speed. Only change from Hydro is that boost is obtained by doing stunts of ramps rather than picked up during the race, but it still has the same approach whereas the CPU opponents are basically markers to tell you how far to running a perfect race you are. Apart from the boss races, which are BS. Huge, huge fun.
Tried to start Demon’s again, but, no…. not going there.

[Ghegs]

Anyone that owns a PS4 (Xbox? I dunno) and likes 90’s Midway arcade racers, or Hydro Thunder Hurricane, needs to go and pick up Riptide GP: Renegade. Although the initial few courses look somewhat dull, the later one’s go full Midway, with some really attractive environments. Basically, it looks like Hurricane at a higher resolution, locked frame rate, and a fantastic sense of speed. Only change from Hydro is that boost is obtained by doing stunts of ramps rather than picked up during the race, but it still has the same approach whereas the CPU opponents are basically markers to tell you how far to running a perfect race you are. Apart from the boss races, which are BS. Huge, huge fun.

Also available on PC, and a great racing game indeed. Takes Riptide GP2 and pumps everything up to 11.

[Stevens]

beated HOLLOW KNIGHT and what a game!!! where did this come from?
best metroidvania ever made..yes it is
========

played these too
Shock Troopers
ICY

now buzzy with Nostalgia Yooka Laylee

Shock Troopers is fucking tits. Been working on the mountain route with Loki, Milky,and Mama. Only complaint is Loki and Jackal should have been Ralf and Clark.

[Mischief Maker]

I picked up Saint's Row: Gat Outta Hell because it was on sale for less than 4 bucks so why not?

I'm shocked to find that it's a superior game to SR4 in terms of gameplay. The enemy variety is more challenging, the flight system is better (basically the wing cap from Mario 64), and the map is built vertically to accommodate a flying player.

Make no mistake, Saint's Row 3 is still the high point of the series, but this black sheep title is the bees knees so far!

[WelshMegalodon]

Last I checked we were doing a fairly good job of keeping the weeaboo scourge in check here.

I recently cleared Gym Leader Castle in the first Pokemon Stadium. (Well, technically, it's the second, but you all know which one I mean). It's worth a look for anyone seeking some semblance of challenge from Gen I Pokemon - for starters, the AI actually bothers to switch out Pokemon at a type disadvantage, unlike 99% of trainers in the core games, and is fairly aggressive with trapping and status conditions. And while there isn't any information available on the subject, I suspect the DVs of the AI Pokemon aren't anything to scoff at, either.

Round 2 is supposedly where all the real challenge is, but unlocking it requires clearing all four Stadium cups, which entails assembling at least one more full team... maybe some other time.

Here's the team I used if anyone's interested:

Spoiler

Jolteon
- Double Kick
- Pin Missile
- Thunderbolt
- Thunder Wave

Lapras
- Body Slam
- Confuse Ray
- Surf
- Ice Beam

Kabutops
- Slash
- Swords Dance
- Surf
- Body Slam

Victreebel
- Razor Leaf
- Hyper Beam
-Wrap
- Stun Spore

Persian
- Slash
- Bubblebeam
- Hyper Beam
- Screech

Cloyster
- Hyper Beam
- Explosion
- Blizzard
- Clamp

Yeah, no Earthquake or Psychic users. To be honest, it's hardly a well-rounded group. But a team like Rhydon, Tauros, and Alakazam would have made this too easy. The relative lack of defense against Fighting- and Psychic-type moves also put my team at quite the disadvantage in Stadium 2's Castle, though it was only the Elite Four and Champion that gave me trouble.

While the entire setup was done via emulation, no external cheating devices were used. I did abuse the MissingNo. glitch for Rare Candys and vitamins, and the Mew glitch to obtain Bellsprout and Meowth without trading, but move assignment and Stat Exp. training were all legit. None of these were bred for maximum DVs, either - in fact, the Lapras and Persian turned out to be female when transferred into Stadium 2 (Due to the manner in which the Gen II games determine gender, female Pokemon will never have high Attack DVs unless they belong to an all-female species like Milktank or Chansey. This also means I should consider replacing my Persian.)

The currrent release of Project64 doesn't support the Transfer Pak, so I had to settle for the 1.6 release with graphical glitches. Dolphin barely supports save transfer in Colosseum and doesn't offer it at all for Battle Revolution, so I'm wondering whether I should just use a save editor for those.

Bonus: It's true, the Escapist forums suck. Compare:
https://smashboards.com/threads/pokemon ... ms.325630/
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/ ... ver-Played

[soprano1]

Megalodon, try out Bizhawk for N64.

[Blinge]

Zeldo Link Between Worlds.

I think I've cleared 3/4 dungeons in Lorule? So far it's like a faster, easier, funner version of LttP.

The rented item mechanic isn't as revolutionary as reviewers made it out to be imo, because if you stay alive never have to give any of it back, and renting is cheap enough that after one or two dungeons you could have every piece of equip in the game. Excluding the very few un-rentable items that have to block progress somewhere or other. Haven't got them all.

Despite the overworld being a bit too similar, I think die hard LttP fans will like this one.

You can actually do all the Lorule dungeons out of order in this game it seems, rather than the LttP's copout version whereby you have to half-ass a dungeon to get its item before you can go off-script
However the trade-off is that I can't see any increase in difficulty between them, other than Thieves Hideout being even more of a sleepwalker.

Slow start but then the game fucks off and actually lets you play it, unlike SS.
It feels like the first real zeldo experience I've had since TP so I'm a happy bunny..

~

Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate

Actually got a friend to grab this for 3DS and play with me, and we've even had a session! I'll be damned..
Playing on that little handheld+screen makes my eyes and hands bleed.

Gone for Hunting Horn this time. Feels clunky as hell but I've gotta provide them sweet buffin' melodies.

[Obscura]

Well, I was playing Bayonetta, and I'm to the Epilogue, but I really don't know that I'm going to bother finishing it.

You want me to play 10 minutes of dumb motorcycle minigames before seeing the last boss's patterns every time? Nope, fuck off with that. And Prey comes out in just a few days, so as soon as that drops, I'm never touching this disappointment again.

Six years of hearing about how it's the best brawler EVAR, and I find a typical Kamiya game -- total kusoge trash trying to keep itself aloft with visual style (he really might be the worst videogame director ever, right down there with David Cage. There's no one else who's made so many games I rate at one star, and he's never made anything I rate better than that). Favorite bit was probably enemies glitching out of the playable area in Mission 15, and the lock-on not retargeting, or even letting me re-target by tapping RB -- nope, gotta keep comboing the air, and hope its teleport-back-into-play happens before your wicked weave goes off! I can only assume that the fans of this game don't actually like videogames, or have never played DMC 3 or 4.

And before people say "lol, u must have gotten stone in every level" -- because, around here, the argument goes that the only reason anyone thinks a game is bad is because they're bad at it -- I played with no healing items or continues and got silver or better (not great, but a whole lot better than most people who talk up the game told me they did on their first play) on every mission except 14 (because I wasn't willing to play Kamiya Space Harrier ever again) and Epilogue (because, like I said, I don't know that I'm bothering to finish this shit at all).

[NYN]

Zeldo Link Between Worlds.

Aah. Finished it a couple o' days ago, so I can chip in some now.

Despite the overworld being a bit too similar, I think die hard LttP fans will like this one.

I'm no die hard on this, but I finished Zelda3 again in preparation. So maybe this gots me thinking Between Worlds is in world terms a bore. Sure great for peeps who 'waited' 20 some years to get a 'sequel'. It's just that it's the same map layout with slightly alteration. I would not call that exploration then.

You can actually do all the Lorule dungeons out of order in this game it seems,

No spoiler here, but there are one or two who require an order.

All I hear is about the low difficulty on normal in terms of enemies and heart supply. Just thinking that the dungeons are pushovers too.

Started Yoshi's New Island after this. World1 is a smack in the face. And not the enjoyable kind.

[Blinge]

Well, I was playing Bayonetta, and I'm to the Epilogue, but I really don't know that I'm going to bother finishing it.

You want me to play 10 minutes of dumb motorcycle minigames before seeing the last boss's patterns every time? Nope, fuck off with that
*snip*

I played with no healing items or continues

Yep definitely the game's fault, forcing you to repeat the bike part.

Spoiler

and before you lay into me calling me a fanboy or w/e, no I don't particularly care about Bayo