What [not shmup] game are you playing now?
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Obiwanshinobi
- Posts: 7463
- Joined: Sun Jul 26, 2009 1:14 am
Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?
Pretty much exclusively playing the 2003 Fire Emblem still, but I had a dream this morning about playing a game I'd THOUGHT was Kororinpa, first rather than second one. Amazing - to me, once woken up - was that the stage played was dream-exclusive, a jolly good one at that. Who else than I is to be credited with designing it, then? Well, I had not completed it eventually, so I can't justly say it was all that great, but enjoyable enough for a debut!
(The core concept being, stage within a showcase or a fishtank, escape room of transparent boundaries - I feel obliged to experiment with Kororinpa 2's level editor soon.)
(The core concept being, stage within a showcase or a fishtank, escape room of transparent boundaries - I feel obliged to experiment with Kororinpa 2's level editor soon.)
The rear gate is closed down
The way out is cut off
The way out is cut off
Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?
Picked up Dangerous Driving while it was on sale. As a HUGE fan of Burnout 1 & 2, not so much so the rest, I’m struggling. The handling (at least on the opening cars) is simply too light feeling, more like those shitty F1 cars from Burnout 3 that the relatively weighty handling on the first two. I did manage to get to grips with it to a degree, but even then the cars seem to flat out refuse to drift at times, taking just a little too long on the brake to kick in. The viewpoint is also really poor, it’s quite low to the floor and hunkers down even more when boost is activated, severely restricting visibility. Visibility itself is a huge problem, the horizon is just a huge smudge of scenery and blur at times, making it really difficult to use the boost with any confidence. Designers seem to know it as well, because all but the most severe of corners will quite happily guide you round with crash barriers. In short, from the first hour, it’s Burnout 3 without the production values.
XBL & Switch: mjparker77 / PSN: BellyFullOfHell
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Obiwanshinobi
- Posts: 7463
- Joined: Sun Jul 26, 2009 1:14 am
Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?
Of the first three Burnout games, 3: Takedown (I once enjoyed handsomely as my very first Burnout game) seemed the least finished (most rushed) one, in hindsight, when I re-visited it with aplenty of 1 & 2 experience under my belt. No ghost cars in time attack mode, really? Digging through slow menus again just so I can replay an event, making a little minigame out of pressing pause just in time to restart without the ordeal? I can imagine how market pressure, EA's whip cracking, clock ticking, would make for such glaring omissions, but trying to bring Burnout back with even fewer hands on deck this time seems like a daring attempt, all those things considered.
The rear gate is closed down
The way out is cut off
The way out is cut off
Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?
Oh no! Touhou Labyrinth 2 also has invisible text! Something must be done!ED-057 wrote:The Touhou Scarlet Curiosity 東方紅輝心 demo from dlsite runs on Windows 2000, except there is some mojibake even with JP codepage.
I looked through the registry and FONTS directory on my laptop with JP Windows XP. (Laptop can't actually play the game because it only has Radeon 7500 w/ 32MB.) Then I added some files to Windows 2000, as well as registry entries from
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Fonts]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\FontMapper]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\FontSubstitutes]
Labyrinth 2 is fixed now but Scarlet Curiosity is not. I wonder if there is a way to find out what font a game is trying to load.
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third_strike
- Posts: 1191
- Joined: Mon Sep 17, 2007 7:34 pm
- Location: Brazil RJ
Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?
Sengoku 3 no miss.
Done last year.
This was hard but I did it.
https://studio.youtube.com/video/dr8Xar4B_Fw/edit
Done last year.
This was hard but I did it.
https://studio.youtube.com/video/dr8Xar4B_Fw/edit
Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?
I think the URL might be incorrect? I got this one from google, seems to work.third_strike wrote:https://studio.youtube.com/video/dr8Xar4B_Fw/edit
Will watch that now, I've been curious about the Sengokus!
Have you considered posting in the non-shmup 1CCs thread, by the way? I'd love to know what you've been playing. I'm slowly clearing more arcade stuff, after ten years mooching around on consoles.
光あふれる 未来もとめて, whoa~oh ♫
[THE MIRAGE OF MIND] Metal Black ST [THE JUSTICE MASSACRE] Gun.Smoke ST [STAB & STOMP]
Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?
With the release of the GBA core for MiSTer, I've been playing some Astro Boy:Omega Factor today. This has always been one of the best GBA action games, but it really shines on the big screen with minimal latency. Truly a joy and up there with Treasure's best IMO.
We here shall not rest until we have made a drawing-room of your shaft, and if you do not all finally go down to your doom in patent-leather shoes, then you shall not go at all.
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third_strike
- Posts: 1191
- Joined: Mon Sep 17, 2007 7:34 pm
- Location: Brazil RJ
Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?
Yes, you are right.BIL wrote:I think the URL might be incorrect? I got this one from google, seems to work.third_strike wrote:https://studio.youtube.com/video/dr8Xar4B_Fw/edit
Will watch that now, I've been curious about the Sengokus!
Have you considered posting in the non-shmup 1CCs thread, by the way? I'd love to know what you've been playing. I'm slowly clearing more arcade stuff, after ten years mooching around on consoles.
Here is the right link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dr8Xar4B_Fw
I upped another video this time an Alien vs Predator no miss: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAskKSmJpCo
Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?
Romancing Saga 3 Remastered on PC. My head hurts a bit from all this freedom.
Amazing soundtrack, wish they used the battle tracks from the fantastic Re:Birth albums (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOe2mghTqp8), or just payed Kenji Ito to do a remastered soundtrack with synths or something.
Amazing soundtrack, wish they used the battle tracks from the fantastic Re:Birth albums (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOe2mghTqp8), or just payed Kenji Ito to do a remastered soundtrack with synths or something.
ChurchOfSolipsism wrote:I'll make sure I'll download it illegally one day...
Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?
Knee deep in Bloodborne.
Of the Souls games I have only played Dark Souls and I loved every minute of it. Never hit a wall, died a few times on some bosses but it never frustrated me.
I feel like the best way to play these games on your initial play through is slowly. I really can't stress enough how much more enjoyable it is. There is just so much detail and atmosphere in everything - if you're rushing through a Souls game on your first go around you're selling yourself short. Like a 25 year old scotch these games are meant to be savored.
So several hours in here are my thoughts so far - spoiler tags if ya ain't played yet.
Like Dark Souls I want to play it right now. When I'm not playing it I'm thinking about playing it - which is a calling card of a great game. Will I grow to love it like others here? Unknown. I do know it will be an unforgettable first experience though.
Of the Souls games I have only played Dark Souls and I loved every minute of it. Never hit a wall, died a few times on some bosses but it never frustrated me.
I feel like the best way to play these games on your initial play through is slowly. I really can't stress enough how much more enjoyable it is. There is just so much detail and atmosphere in everything - if you're rushing through a Souls game on your first go around you're selling yourself short. Like a 25 year old scotch these games are meant to be savored.
So several hours in here are my thoughts so far - spoiler tags if ya ain't played yet.
Spoiler
Played a lot, did things, died a few times, found short cuts and really did what I could to open up the first area. Stumbled upon the Cleric Beast and what ensued was an epic six minute or so battle that I eventually won. Played some more, found some more cool shit, and eventually stumbled upon Father G. My 35+ years of gaming instincts told me to turn back, but I moved ahead anyways.
Big mistake. Proceed to get my ass handed to me. Repeatedly. He almost gets the best of me (read: Stevens has a rare rage quit moment of FUCK THIS GAME) but I persevere and eventually beat him. However not before I learn the importance of using your gun to stun attackers, fighting him on high ground, and being patient (particularly after he rages out). I was playing it a bit too much like Dark Souls I suppose.
I've moved on to the cathedral. I've gone as far as I can one way - passed the giant with the wrecking ball down to the treasure chest by the door that won't open. The other way I found the smaller church where I opened the secret passage but don't have a light yet. Way three - the way I will be proceeding - is up the stairs through the gate (I bought the thing you need to open the gate).
Big mistake. Proceed to get my ass handed to me. Repeatedly. He almost gets the best of me (read: Stevens has a rare rage quit moment of FUCK THIS GAME) but I persevere and eventually beat him. However not before I learn the importance of using your gun to stun attackers, fighting him on high ground, and being patient (particularly after he rages out). I was playing it a bit too much like Dark Souls I suppose.
I've moved on to the cathedral. I've gone as far as I can one way - passed the giant with the wrecking ball down to the treasure chest by the door that won't open. The other way I found the smaller church where I opened the secret passage but don't have a light yet. Way three - the way I will be proceeding - is up the stairs through the gate (I bought the thing you need to open the gate).
You're sure to be in a fine haze about now, but don't think too hard about all of this. Just go out and kill a few beasts. It's for your own good. You know, it's just what hunters do! You'll get used to it.
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Steamflogger Boss
- Posts: 3087
- Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2017 3:29 pm
- Location: Eating the Rich
Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?
Bloodborne is great. My first playthrough was very long, I would have to check it to make sure but it was probably over 80 hours including The Old Hunters. I was of course taking my time and exploring on my own. I almost screwed up being able to fight the true final boss. I won't spoil how or the name of that since it sounds like you are wanting to play naturally.
Speaking of Old Hunters I was actually really low statting the whole game until THAT MOTHERFUCKING ORPHAN. Orphan broke me, I just couldn't do it at the level I was doing everything else. Everyone has different experiences but the struggle was on a whole nother level compared to other bosses. Ludwig took me a bit but then that fight just clicked. I ended up absolutely dumping up my stats, especially vitality and crunched Orphan. At some point I want to try some oddball builds. Especially to see if an alternate approach could make Orphan work for me at a lower level.
About your spoiler text: if you get really good at parrying it's a pretty legit way to fight. Oh and your next boss fight should be pretty easy, but I look forward to reading more of your reports on this lovely game.
Speaking of Old Hunters I was actually really low statting the whole game until THAT MOTHERFUCKING ORPHAN. Orphan broke me, I just couldn't do it at the level I was doing everything else. Everyone has different experiences but the struggle was on a whole nother level compared to other bosses. Ludwig took me a bit but then that fight just clicked. I ended up absolutely dumping up my stats, especially vitality and crunched Orphan. At some point I want to try some oddball builds. Especially to see if an alternate approach could make Orphan work for me at a lower level.
About your spoiler text: if you get really good at parrying it's a pretty legit way to fight. Oh and your next boss fight should be pretty easy, but I look forward to reading more of your reports on this lovely game.
Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?
I'm another one very late to the party, just beginning to play BB, also planning to savor it.
(specifically avoided reading/watching anything that could spoil a first playthrough)
(specifically avoided reading/watching anything that could spoil a first playthrough)
Strikers1945guy wrote:"Do we....eat chicken balls?!"
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Steamflogger Boss
- Posts: 3087
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Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?
I look forward to reading your thoughts/experiences with the game as well. Always fun to see through the eyes of another player a game that you have played thoroughly for a potentially different perspective.Xyga wrote:I'm another one very late to the party, just beginning to play BB, also planning to savor it.
(specifically avoided reading/watching anything that could spoil a first playthrough)
Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?
You lucky Xyga and Stevens, 1st playthrough is always the best.
Bravo jolie Ln, tu as trouvé : l'armée de l'air c'est là où on peut te tenir par la main.
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TransatlanticFoe
- Posts: 1746
- Joined: Mon Jan 24, 2011 11:06 pm
- Location: UK
Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?
My PC died so I'm re-buying some games for 360 and xbone, because it's cheaper than getting a new PC. First up is recent Resident Evil...
Resident Evil 5
I was surprised how much fun I had with this after a fairly woeful opening few stages where you sort of run around in circles a lot while getting a handful of shots off until everything is dead. There's the odd bullshit instant kill and the game gives you a tonne of variations on weapons which are pointless because to unlock the good stuff you need to fully upgrade just the default ones. It's totally just a straight up 3rd person action game and decent fun once you come to terms with that... and learn never to give Sheva healing items. It's not especially challenging and the plot goes off the rails towards the end, with a couple of very silly and uninteresting boss fights. That aside, yeah it's okay and certainly a step above....
Resident Evil 6
Fucking hell. I remember why I played this first time around on easy mode now. Not just because it disabled the QTEs (though this one has the option to disable them for all difficulties) but because even on normal the enemies just have so much health and a lot of the early bits for Leon are "here's a wave of zombies to fend off in a small area". The melee combat is dreadful - half the time you'll swing and miss because you're a little too far away, the other half you'll be too close and get grabbed at the start of a ridiculous kick animation - but necessary because a couple of hits will kill most zombies yet emptying a clip into them sometimes does nothing. You can't pop a bullet into zombies you just know will wake up, so instead you shuffle past and hope you have time to do something before it lurches and catches you into a QTE (not disabled by the setting). On normal this takes a chunk of health off whether you succeed at the QTE or not so a few and your herb supply starts to run down. I quit when I got stuck into a tiny room with a bunch of NPCs and a fat bastard zombie that just would not go down, getting hit repeatedly because I kept getting stuck on the dumb NPCs while trying to run around the fat fucker. Back to easy mode it is.
Resident Evil 5
I was surprised how much fun I had with this after a fairly woeful opening few stages where you sort of run around in circles a lot while getting a handful of shots off until everything is dead. There's the odd bullshit instant kill and the game gives you a tonne of variations on weapons which are pointless because to unlock the good stuff you need to fully upgrade just the default ones. It's totally just a straight up 3rd person action game and decent fun once you come to terms with that... and learn never to give Sheva healing items. It's not especially challenging and the plot goes off the rails towards the end, with a couple of very silly and uninteresting boss fights. That aside, yeah it's okay and certainly a step above....
Resident Evil 6
Fucking hell. I remember why I played this first time around on easy mode now. Not just because it disabled the QTEs (though this one has the option to disable them for all difficulties) but because even on normal the enemies just have so much health and a lot of the early bits for Leon are "here's a wave of zombies to fend off in a small area". The melee combat is dreadful - half the time you'll swing and miss because you're a little too far away, the other half you'll be too close and get grabbed at the start of a ridiculous kick animation - but necessary because a couple of hits will kill most zombies yet emptying a clip into them sometimes does nothing. You can't pop a bullet into zombies you just know will wake up, so instead you shuffle past and hope you have time to do something before it lurches and catches you into a QTE (not disabled by the setting). On normal this takes a chunk of health off whether you succeed at the QTE or not so a few and your herb supply starts to run down. I quit when I got stuck into a tiny room with a bunch of NPCs and a fat bastard zombie that just would not go down, getting hit repeatedly because I kept getting stuck on the dumb NPCs while trying to run around the fat fucker. Back to easy mode it is.
Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?
Glad to see how much love BB is still getting in 2019. It's a true classic, among my all time favorite games. Interestingly I hated Soulsborne when l first tried it (I had just finished up Bayonetta 1 and 2 on their highest difficulties and it definitely wasn't what I was looking for action-wise). But from the very beginning the game intrigued me, no matter my hatred for the combat and camera there was something deeper pulling me back, and when the combat finally clicked, my god did it ever click. Now I'm a rabid fan of the series. (Side note: thank you Blinge for constantly nagging me to finish DS1 way back when. You opened my eyes to what is now an all time favorite series).
I spent the first half of this year binging DS1, 3, and BB (fuck 2), but after hundreds of hours I've been craving something new so I've been playing through some non-FS soulslikes. Got Darksiders 1 and 3 for free and finished both. I hated Darksiders 1. God of War clone with bad Zelda puzzles and terrible trying way too hard art. But Darksiders 3 was actually pretty good as a simpler lighter Soulslike. It does a lot right. The art and world are honestly well realized, the story isn't bad and the combat is satisfying (though too easy). I doubt I'll play through it again but I liked it.
The other Soulslike of late is of course Nioh courtesy of PS+. This game has blown my mind completely. I actually love Tecmo's games in general, but this one looked like a shameless Souls clone in Japan starring weeb-Geralt so I never picked it up. My god how wrong I was. It's definitely not FS level artistically and a lot of reviews gave it shit for that, but I think it looks nice and does a great job realising it's Edo fantasy visual theme. The combat is where it shines; so many techniques and options. The stance system is genius, and everything comes together to create a system as technically demanding as Souls but with the potential for badassery of Ninja Gaiden. I love this game, and I'm so happy it goes beyond being a clone and is more of a different take on the same new genre.
I spent the first half of this year binging DS1, 3, and BB (fuck 2), but after hundreds of hours I've been craving something new so I've been playing through some non-FS soulslikes. Got Darksiders 1 and 3 for free and finished both. I hated Darksiders 1. God of War clone with bad Zelda puzzles and terrible trying way too hard art. But Darksiders 3 was actually pretty good as a simpler lighter Soulslike. It does a lot right. The art and world are honestly well realized, the story isn't bad and the combat is satisfying (though too easy). I doubt I'll play through it again but I liked it.
The other Soulslike of late is of course Nioh courtesy of PS+. This game has blown my mind completely. I actually love Tecmo's games in general, but this one looked like a shameless Souls clone in Japan starring weeb-Geralt so I never picked it up. My god how wrong I was. It's definitely not FS level artistically and a lot of reviews gave it shit for that, but I think it looks nice and does a great job realising it's Edo fantasy visual theme. The combat is where it shines; so many techniques and options. The stance system is genius, and everything comes together to create a system as technically demanding as Souls but with the potential for badassery of Ninja Gaiden. I love this game, and I'm so happy it goes beyond being a clone and is more of a different take on the same new genre.
Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?
Thanks for the tip re: Nioh on PS Plus. I would have missed that one had I not seen your post. Probably won't install it any time soon but a good option for a rainy day.
We here shall not rest until we have made a drawing-room of your shaft, and if you do not all finally go down to your doom in patent-leather shoes, then you shall not go at all.
Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?
something like a dozen hours into death stranding and man oh man this game is bad. quests might as well procedurally generate themselves and there's basically only two enemy types, both of which more or less just act as total nuisances. i was down for a walking sim but the amount of times this game asks you to tread the exact same stretch of land with randomized busywork hazards is fucking obscene :[
there's no design here and almost no sense of discovery, either. after unlocking places you just run like a rat between them and hope to not run into problems. you get vehicles, but i've so far only gotten a motorcycle and it gets stuck on everything and is a huge pain to navigate through areas with the ghosts. everything really, really just feels like a chore.
story is some barely-compelling nonsense about kojima's latest epiphanical discovery that likes on social media deliver oxytocin and how this is good or bad depending on variables. sorry, but gatchaman crowds handled this way better a few years ago!! i imagine one plays a kojima game for the kojima-isms, though, but they're a trickle feed in this one like every work of his since the abysmal peace walker.
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also finished the outer worlds, which i really liked a lot but kind of failed to come together with as exciting and varied a conclusion as new vegas' numerous ways to wrap things up. like everything obsidian does, it's very flawed but made charming through the quality writing and characters. the quality of life improvements and less ugly visuals help make up for its lack of variety in quest content when compared to new vegas and i'd put them on about even levels, overall.
there's no design here and almost no sense of discovery, either. after unlocking places you just run like a rat between them and hope to not run into problems. you get vehicles, but i've so far only gotten a motorcycle and it gets stuck on everything and is a huge pain to navigate through areas with the ghosts. everything really, really just feels like a chore.
story is some barely-compelling nonsense about kojima's latest epiphanical discovery that likes on social media deliver oxytocin and how this is good or bad depending on variables. sorry, but gatchaman crowds handled this way better a few years ago!! i imagine one plays a kojima game for the kojima-isms, though, but they're a trickle feed in this one like every work of his since the abysmal peace walker.
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also finished the outer worlds, which i really liked a lot but kind of failed to come together with as exciting and varied a conclusion as new vegas' numerous ways to wrap things up. like everything obsidian does, it's very flawed but made charming through the quality writing and characters. the quality of life improvements and less ugly visuals help make up for its lack of variety in quest content when compared to new vegas and i'd put them on about even levels, overall.
~Imagination and memory are but one thing, which for diverse considerations have diverse names~
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~*~*~*~*~*~* If there's a place that I could be ~ Then I'd be another memory *~*~*~*~*~*~
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~*~*~*~*~*~* If there's a place that I could be ~ Then I'd be another memory *~*~*~*~*~*~
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Steamflogger Boss
- Posts: 3087
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Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?
But Kojima so 10/10 best game ever. If you think otherwise you are just a hater. /s
Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?
I was with you until this part... wha? What's wrong with Peace Walker?kitten wrote:abysmal peace walker
We here shall not rest until we have made a drawing-room of your shaft, and if you do not all finally go down to your doom in patent-leather shoes, then you shall not go at all.
Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?
It's weird because from your writing I'd guess that you actually do like Obisidian's stuff. I've never heard anyone reach or appreciate the endings of New Vegas unless they really dig the game. Most people would've just quit some 30+hours before.kitten wrote: like everything obsidian does, it's very flawed but made charming through the quality writing and characters. the quality of life improvements and less ugly visuals help make up for its lack of variety in quest content when compared to new vegas and i'd put them on about even levels, overall.
So unless i'm wrong and you're not actually an Obsidian fan, I have to ask.. what is actually a good RPG?
Fixd(Side note: thank you Blinge for constantly nagging me to finish Undead Burg way back when. You opened my eyes to what is now an all time favorite series).
Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?
Hey! I spent hours in the catacombs and New Londo before getting that farBlinge wrote:Fixd(Side note: thank you Blinge for constantly nagging me to finish Undead Burg way back when. You opened my eyes to what is now an all time favorite series).
Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?
I remembered I'd downloaded Penguin Wars for Switch last night, and spent WAY too long playing that. Simple, dumb fun, that reminds me of a Dreamcast game in its presentation. I need to get a bunch of friends and a few crates in to really appreciate this one, but even single-player made me smile. Oh and GoatUp/Gridrunner in VR. Gridrunner..... WOW.
XBL & Switch: mjparker77 / PSN: BellyFullOfHell
Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?
I've always been intrigued by the entire line of SaGa games, but never bothered finishing one. I've got both SaGa 1, Minstrel Song, and Frontier 2 still sitting in my pipeline. And Romancing 3 is one of the few fantran hax0r patches I've played just because of how much I generally enjoy open ended JRPGs. People tend to employ complete linearity as a defining factor for the genre (mostly due to the latter FF games I assume), which is completely unfair as my favourite parts of any JRPG was always the nonlinear part (FF6 world of ruin, almost all of DQ2, etc.).
But with Romancing 3 now officially out in English, what better time to finally delve fully into Romancing SaGa 2.
I can see why a lot of people consider the game tedious, because if there was ever an unnecessarily tedious RPG, this one is it. It's based around a "succession" system - as in you're playing an emperor and four of their soldiers, and any time you party wipe, lose the emperor, or make a couple of conquests for your empire (which causes 100-200 years to pass), you must choose a person to inherit all of the previous emperor's skills.
As for his or her party members, it's time to recruit a new party from around your castle or other places in the world where you've made companions throughout your generations of conquest, which in turns opens up new classes.
While this sounds a lot like a strategy RPG, it's a completely traditional exploration based team-on-team JRPG. But the world is huge, and the further you get into the game the more places you get to explore. This happens in a bunch of different ways. Either you overhear anyone in towns or elsewhere talking about a location, and it will subtly unlock as a choice on your map which wasn't even visible until then. This can be anything from a random PCB in a bar, or a major part of an existing questline. Otherwise, there are a few larger locations you can go to which are dangerous to traverse but are required to reach paths to yet unknown locations. A lot of these can be difficult to get to, but completing certain quests will add the regions to your empire, allowing you to instantly travel to these areas.
Keeping track of all the possible places you can go to is almost a quest in itself, and as for the ways you interact with the world, there seems to be a lot of choices and consequences. For example I chose not to strike a deal with the merchants that was occupying a town, as they were obviously pirates. It seemed like the game would give me two ways to deal with the situation, but when I rejected both I was thrown out of any further interactions, and it wasn't until a later generation that an internal struggle within the pirate organization allowed me to interfere and take control of their band for myself.
All of this sounds incredibly fascinating, but in practice playing the game gets a bit frustrating. There's a billion hidden mechanics to the point where you might think this was an early From Software game, and since it's a digital only release, there's no available manual, which left me in the dark about a lot of the more important mechanics.
Everyone in your party gains skills as they use them (instead of having an overall character level), but whenever you get a new emperor and need to recruit a new team, their skill levels depend on a bunch of obscure factors. And you'll need to teach them all the moves individually, as well as take out gear from storage and equip everyone again. It gets incredibly cumbersome, and though I like the aspect that wiping and moving on to a new emperor isn't a bad thing (in fact, it's often an advantage), all the work involved with each succession really does get extremely tedious.
But with Romancing 3 now officially out in English, what better time to finally delve fully into Romancing SaGa 2.
I can see why a lot of people consider the game tedious, because if there was ever an unnecessarily tedious RPG, this one is it. It's based around a "succession" system - as in you're playing an emperor and four of their soldiers, and any time you party wipe, lose the emperor, or make a couple of conquests for your empire (which causes 100-200 years to pass), you must choose a person to inherit all of the previous emperor's skills.
As for his or her party members, it's time to recruit a new party from around your castle or other places in the world where you've made companions throughout your generations of conquest, which in turns opens up new classes.
While this sounds a lot like a strategy RPG, it's a completely traditional exploration based team-on-team JRPG. But the world is huge, and the further you get into the game the more places you get to explore. This happens in a bunch of different ways. Either you overhear anyone in towns or elsewhere talking about a location, and it will subtly unlock as a choice on your map which wasn't even visible until then. This can be anything from a random PCB in a bar, or a major part of an existing questline. Otherwise, there are a few larger locations you can go to which are dangerous to traverse but are required to reach paths to yet unknown locations. A lot of these can be difficult to get to, but completing certain quests will add the regions to your empire, allowing you to instantly travel to these areas.
Keeping track of all the possible places you can go to is almost a quest in itself, and as for the ways you interact with the world, there seems to be a lot of choices and consequences. For example I chose not to strike a deal with the merchants that was occupying a town, as they were obviously pirates. It seemed like the game would give me two ways to deal with the situation, but when I rejected both I was thrown out of any further interactions, and it wasn't until a later generation that an internal struggle within the pirate organization allowed me to interfere and take control of their band for myself.
All of this sounds incredibly fascinating, but in practice playing the game gets a bit frustrating. There's a billion hidden mechanics to the point where you might think this was an early From Software game, and since it's a digital only release, there's no available manual, which left me in the dark about a lot of the more important mechanics.
Everyone in your party gains skills as they use them (instead of having an overall character level), but whenever you get a new emperor and need to recruit a new team, their skill levels depend on a bunch of obscure factors. And you'll need to teach them all the moves individually, as well as take out gear from storage and equip everyone again. It gets incredibly cumbersome, and though I like the aspect that wiping and moving on to a new emperor isn't a bad thing (in fact, it's often an advantage), all the work involved with each succession really does get extremely tedious.
Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?
I don't hate it or anything, but you can't deny that it has some awful bullet sponge bosses. Shooting is super easy, melee is super easy, and the enemy soldiers are really oblivious.it290 wrote:I was with you until this part... wha? What's wrong with Peace Walker?
Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?
peace walker's relative popularity really confounded me because it's got to seriously be only something like 10% of the game you actually spend doing new missions & story content and 90% replaying missions, micromanaging & collecting crewmembers, and replaying the fuckawful bullet sponge boss fights. kojima's games have been growingly obsessed with repetition and tedium, and i genuinely think death stranding is just the logical conclusion of where that shit was going. i honestly think his games have been headed in this direction since mgs2, but peace walker was the obvious leap into this kind of shit being an inevitability given if he were to continue working on games.it290 wrote:I was with you until this part... wha? What's wrong with Peace Walker?
i'm sure he's baffled that he's finally receiving popular backlash. given how much he's gotten away with.
i like the outer worlds and new vegas. i like the first fallout. WRPG's aren't really my thing, in general, but i think i'm willing to overcome or even enjoy a lot with a strong enough narrative and/or player agency.Blinge wrote:So unless i'm wrong and you're not actually an Obsidian fan, I have to ask.. what is actually a good RPG?
~Imagination and memory are but one thing, which for diverse considerations have diverse names~
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~*~*~*~*~*~* If there's a place that I could be ~ Then I'd be another memory *~*~*~*~*~*~
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~*~*~*~*~*~* If there's a place that I could be ~ Then I'd be another memory *~*~*~*~*~*~
Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?
More thoughts on Bloodborne:
Level design
Now at the same time when I'm not going to the above -
Stevens combat skills are improving too -
Level design
Spoiler
Like Dark Souls every area is seemingly connected with multiple areas. Unlike Dark Souls you can warp between discovered "bonfires" from the get go and I feel there are far more paths to choose. I haven't been overwhelmed yet, but I'm not above using pen and paper to keep my thoughts organized as far as where I want to go next.
Spoiler
Because of the level design I've been comfortably playing the game on multiple fronts. For instance from the cathedral I went left, found the hidden passage in the church, and discovered the bonfire in Old Yharnam. From there I discovered I could go down into the depths of some sort or I could head towards the clock tower. I went with the latter. I killed both hunters (guy on the roof wound up falling and I couldn't get his item, hope it's not important). Next is the building behind the clock tower. When I discover the next lantern I will return to the Old Yharnam fire and head down into the depths.
Spoiler
I'm making progress towards the Cathedral. I don't know if I'll get to that lantern first or to the next lantern after Old Yharnam, but whichever I hit first I will go back to the other and push forward there before continuing on if that makes sense. I don't feel married to one path or the other in Bloodborne, in fact I feel like the game is encouraging me to explore every inch of it cause it is making convenient to do so. I really like this aspect of BB. Right now I'm playing on two fronts, but depending on what is down in the depths of OY it could be more than two fronts very soon. In the end I want to make progress as evenly as I can.
Spoiler
Finally starting to learn the timing on pistol to the face/visceral attack. The lurch guys at the cathedral and the cloaked fuckers by the clock tower have helped a lot in that regard.
You're sure to be in a fine haze about now, but don't think too hard about all of this. Just go out and kill a few beasts. It's for your own good. You know, it's just what hunters do! You'll get used to it.
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EmperorIng
- Posts: 5069
- Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2012 3:22 am
- Location: Chicago, IL
Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?
I need to eventually pick up The Outer Worlds. I've been trying to work up the motivation for an RPG for a while and between that and Disco Elysium, they might finally provide the game to let me scratch that dull itch. Plus it would give me something to play on this barren, empty Epic Store that I downloaded for Control but ended up never buying.
DEMON'S TILT [bullet hell pinball] - Music Composer || EC2151 ~ My FM/YM2612 music & more! || 1CC List || PCE-CD: The Search for Quality
Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?
Valid points all, and certainly agreed about the boss fights (never really a strong point of the series aside from a setpiece here and there IMO), but for me the fun part of MGS is faffing about and messing with soldiers, which MGS5 does to perfection (another game criticized for a lack of new missions and story) and Peace Walker started. You have to bear in mind also that it's a portable game and I think the design is excellently suited for playing in short bursts. I think for people who enjoy MGS as a sandbox as much or more than as a story experience, Peace Walker is up there with 3 and 5 as a standout entry.kitten wrote: peace walker's relative popularity really confounded me because it's got to seriously be only something like 10% of the game you actually spend doing new missions & story content and 90% replaying missions, micromanaging & collecting crewmembers, and replaying the fuckawful bullet sponge boss fights. kojima's games have been growingly obsessed with repetition and tedium, and i genuinely think death stranding is just the logical conclusion of where that shit was going. i honestly think his games have been headed in this direction since mgs2, but peace walker was the obvious leap into this kind of shit being an inevitability given if he were to continue working on games.
We here shall not rest until we have made a drawing-room of your shaft, and if you do not all finally go down to your doom in patent-leather shoes, then you shall not go at all.
Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?
Quit being a pussmun and play Romancing SaGa 1.Sumez wrote:But with Romancing 3 now officially out in English, what better time to finally delve fully into Romancing SaGa 2.
I dare ya