What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

[Blinge]

Last blade 2 is really cool isn't it!

no one to play with though -_-

[iconoclast]

Persona Q
I'm a little over 20 hours in and the game isn't bad so far, it's just boring. The story is practically non-existent; 99% of it is just pointless banter between the characters.

Well, it IS meant to be reminiscient of a dungeon crawler. Those are generally less about plot and more about actually exploring, battling, finding rare loot, etc. The game itself is basically a P3/4 fanservice wankfest. Etrian Odyssey is less known for its plot and more for its massive class system and crazy boss fights.

The thing with Persona Q is that there are quite a few cutscenes during the dungeon crawling, it's just all pointless banter between the characters. It would have been much more interesting if those scenes were more about the plot (which is hardly ever addressed) than filler dialogue. The lack of plot wouldn't be a big problem if the combat were good, but it's incredibly shallow since one or two skills make quick work of every non-boss enemy. And it's not like the bosses are hard or interesting either; they're tedious damage sponges. There's just nothing compelling about the game.

[BulletMagnet]

The thing with Persona Q is that there are quite a few cutscenes during the dungeon crawling, it's just all pointless banter between the characters. It would have been much more interesting if those scenes were more about the plot (which is hardly ever addressed) than filler dialogue.

As someone slowly working his way through Persona Q right now I'd put this one down to personal taste; it's definitely true that the story/dialogue (at least so far, though the game somehow still earned an M rating...maybe that changes?) takes a decided turn towards the cute and silly, without being especially consequential, but personally I don't mind that. For one thing I like it when a series occasionally lets its hair down and stops taking itself too seriously (not that Persona has been without humor before, but here it's front-and-center), and think that it fits well with the "stumpy" art style created to fit the 3DS's limitations; moreover, as someone who hasn't finished the previous Persona games, this keeps the back-and-forth mostly spoiler-free. I can definitely understand why some might be disappointed with the direction this entry takes, but I wouldn't call it a total negative.

As for the combat, I'm not exactly a dungeon crawling expert, but at least at the "Normal" difficulty level I'm having a decent time with it; while there's not a huge amount of depth outside of fusing and mix-n-matching secondary Personas, the main draw is playing the odds. Your characters are powerful when properly outfitted, but enemies can still bring you down pretty quickly, especially if they get the jump on you, so it's a matter of both having an ace up your sleeve for those times and also being able to take full advantage of situations that go in your favor. The hama/mudo thing is actually a good example; you'll definitely want them in your arsenal, but aside from not being as sure a thing as other spells there's also the "leader ability" meter to consider, i.e. if you think you can win this encounter without instant-death spells, should you draw the battle out with less-powerful techniques to fill the meter for use later, or is there a good chance the enemy could turn the tables and drain your resources if you try?

Again, I can absolutely understand why this style of game wouldn't appeal to everyone, but at least for an "uninitiated" type like myself it does its job pretty well.

[Sinful]

Phantasy Star for the Master System, I had good fun mapping one of the dungeons. To be honest I never played any Sega games before, except a few Sonic games

First person dungeon crawlers like Shining in the Darkness and Phantasy Star 1 should be played without grid paper map making or online maps in my opinion. Not doing these things is what truly made these games very fun instead of just another typical mindless turn based RPG. Took a bit to get used to playing like this for SitD, but when I craved more and decided to go to PS1 next, I thought maybe it would be way too hard to play PS1 with no maps/map making since every step of a dungeon looks the exact same. But nope, my mind adapted to that as well and was able to make it to the last dungeon in PS1 without ever making/using maps.

So in short, using & training your mind alone to keep track of where you've been and going is what made these games much more fun & one heck of a new experience to me. This way you also really immerse yourself in the game too. Feels like you really are lost in a dungeon without a map, grid paper or break crumbs. Just you and your wit for a ride of your lifetime.


SitD is now my fave 16-Bit RPG experience. PS1 is good too, but not in the same league as SitD. So I strongly suggest anyone play SitD without maps to see what I mean. And don't give up. It takes some getting used too (at first a got lost over and over in the very tinny first area of SitD :p), so don't give up!

[Mischief Maker]

Phantasy Star for the Master System, I had good fun mapping one of the dungeons. To be honest I never played any Sega games before, except a few Sonic games

First person dungeon crawlers like Shining in the Darkness and Phantasy Star 1 should be played without grid paper map making or online maps in my opinion. Not doing these things is what truly made these games very fun instead of just another typical mindless turn based RPG. Took a bit to get used to playing like this for SitD, but when I craved more and decided to go to PS1 next, I thought maybe it would be way too hard to play PS1 with no maps/map making since every step of a dungeon looks the exact same. But nope, my mind adapted to that as well and was able to make it to the last dungeon in PS1 without ever making/using maps.

So in short, using & training your mind alone to keep track of where you've been and going is what made these games much more fun & one heck of a new experience to me. This way you also really immerse yourself in the game too. Feels like you really are lost in a dungeon without a map, grid paper or break crumbs. Just you and your wit for a ride of your lifetime.


SitD is now my fave 16-Bit RPG experience. PS1 is good too, but not in the same league as SitD. So I strongly suggest anyone play SitD without maps to see what I mean. And don't give up. It takes some getting used too (at first a got lost over and over in the very tinny first area of SitD :p), so don't give up!

That's most definitely true of Phantasy Star 2, the greatest JRPG ever made. People who call that game a grindfest were obviously cheating with online maps (or the book that came with the US release) because the time spent lost in the dungeons provides all the gold and XP you'll ever need.

[Formless God]

Not doing these things is what truly made these games very fun instead of just another typical mindless turn based RPG.

It never did anything to change or alleviate that mindless turn based aspect though.

[Ruldra]

So in short, using & training your mind alone to keep track of where you've been and going is what made these games much more fun & one heck of a new experience to me. This way you also really immerse yourself in the game too. Feels like you really are lost in a dungeon without a map, grid paper or break crumbs. Just you and your wit for a ride of your lifetime.

I agree with this, but I felt that Phantasy Star 1's dungeons become harmless when you learn the spell to immediately return to the exit. Then cast another spell and you're back in town. So as long as you save a little MP you're never really in danger.

There's a way to make the dungeons terrifying though. Follow these rules:

- Once you enter a dungeon, do not save
- Do not use spells/items to get out of the dungeon
- Do not use maps of any kind

I played like that for some time and you legitimately get scared as you go deeper into the dungeons. Especially when you trigger a trap door and you suddenly lose your bearings. Reaching the exit feels like a true victory. I truly recommend playing the game like that for a while, makes things a lot more fun.

[broken harbour]

Outrun 2 - XBOX, Got it for 5 bucks a couple weeks back, never played the original, I like how you sort of have to approach like a shmup, you probably won't even make it to the first checkpoint on you first play, and you learn where to drift and how to approach each corner and you get a little bit farther each time you play. Traffic can be a bit annoying sometimes, so I've been playing time attack mode first, have to spend a bit more time with this.....

Crazy Taxi - DC, I think I want to like this more than I do. Its fun when its controls aren't frustrating, and stringing together multiple trips perfectly one after the other feels good, and of course the OST is great stuff. But god I hate the controls, first of all steering is way too sensitive, and half the time trying to accelerate from a dead stop the car just doesn't move or gets hung up on scenery or something, and it feels like it was done on purpose just to eat more quarters. Then gear changes between D and R feel wonky, since most arcade style games let you just hold down the brake for reverse. Tons of pop-up in the graphics too which is surprising, it's not Daytona-USA-on-the-Saturn bad but I don't remember the arcade machine having that.

[Obscura]

Gigantic Army and Gunhound EX.

So far, not certain which I like more. Gigantic Army has much better stage design; Gunhound EX is much better in every other way. Gigantic Army's double-tap dash is starting to really piss me off; I use the double-tap input instead of the button input in Gunhound EX as well, but it seems a lot more responsive in that game; GA, it just doesn't come out about a third of the time for no apparent reason.

[Mischief Maker]

Sanctuary RPG - Black Edition

Best described as FTL meets Diablo with a dash of Candy Box. I hate the "wacky" humor of this game, but the never-ending smorgasbord of combat and character development is incredibly addictive, not the least because there is zero dead time in this game -it proceeds as fast as your fingers. How I wish someone would make a game with an interesting setting, like Sunless Sea, wedded to the fast and fun gameplay of Sanctuary RPG!

The old freeware version is available as a demo. The ASCII art is greatly improved in the full game.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Then gear changes between D and R feel wonky, since most arcade style games let you just hold down the brake for reverse.

I like my car games best played with two analogue sticks, but in Crazy Taxi gear changes are necessary for the sake of quick starting (possibly some other special techniques too; see the tutorial).

[Blinge]

Phantasy Star for the Master System, I had good fun mapping one of the dungeons. To be honest I never played any Sega games before, except a few Sonic games

First person dungeon crawlers like Shining in the Darkness and Phantasy Star 1 should be played without grid paper map making or online maps in my opinion. Not doing these things is what truly made these games very fun instead of just another typical mindless turn based RPG. Took a bit to get used to playing like this for SitD, but when I craved more and decided to go to PS1 next, I thought maybe it would be way too hard to play PS1 with no maps/map making since every step of a dungeon looks the exact same. But nope, my mind adapted to that as well and was able to make it to the last dungeon in PS1 without ever making/using maps.

So in short, using & training your mind alone to keep track of where you've been and going is what made these games much more fun & one heck of a new experience to me. This way you also really immerse yourself in the game too. Feels like you really are lost in a dungeon without a map, grid paper or break crumbs. Just you and your wit for a ride of your lifetime.

Man, each to his own. I played PS1 a few months back and tried to get through the first few dungeons without drawing maps, it sucked; falling down pit traps and being unable to find your way out before the enemies slowly kill you off and remove your progress? Fuck that. Hell, it's hard to stay oriented even when mapping things yourself after youve fallen down about 4 holes. "Training your mind" sounds very admirable etc but in several labyrinths of plain bland walls and nothing to distinguish it from any other part of the dungeon, I just felt like there are many other games or pursuits that are a better use of my time. Found mapping to have its own enjoyment also.

[Stevens]

I mapped the shit out of Phantasy Star's Baya Malay when I was 10. It was interactive in a way games today aren't : ).

I loved it!

[Leandro]

I've just finished Tomb Raider 2013. Lara died a lot. I think I got her killed in every QTE in the game and in most of the firefights encounters, lol. But the game was enjoyable overall.

[broken harbour]

Started Eternal Sonata today.

Already I love the game world, and the OST. I'm only 2 hours in, but it seems really underrated, I don't remember anyone talking about this game 7 years ago, but so far it's great, some of the voice acting is a little suspect but otherwise no complaints so far.

[gbaplayer]

Persona Q
I'm probably going to drop it and play Monster Hunter 4 instead.

That´s going to be my next game, after i finish Persona 4 Golden.

[system11]

I'm playing Unmechanical Extended at the moment on the PS4. It's fantastic and has been on PC for a while I think in normal form.

http://www.grip-games.com/games/unmechanical/

It's the perfect antidote to bro-shooters and AAA hypewagons.

[MOSQUITO FIGHTER]

Hooked up the NES for some Ninja Gaiden. The game gives a whole new meaning to bird watching.

[Mortificator]

I'm playing Unmechanical Extended at the moment on the PS4. It's fantastic and has been on PC for a while I think in normal form.

http://www.grip-games.com/games/unmechanical/

Between the name and banner, I thought it'd turn out to be a Machinarium spin-off.

[Immryr]

playing castlevania and Zelda 2 at the minute. I temporarily gave up on etrian odyssey 3 after dying, losing an hour or so of progress, playing back for almost two hours and accidentally hitting the power button on the ds -_-;. I will go back to it though.

[ACSeraph]

Bought Dark Souls because it was like $6 on Xbox Live. It feels solid, but I don't really get the hype. Coming off Splatterhouse 3 into that it feels incredibly slow and boring.

I think I'm starting to finally accept that for the most part I don't like modern video games.

[Ruldra]

Sanctuary RPG - Black Edition

Best described as FTL meets Diablo with a dash of Candy Box. I hate the "wacky" humor of this game, but the never-ending smorgasbord of combat and character development is incredibly addictive, not the least because there is zero dead time in this game -it proceeds as fast as your fingers. How I wish someone would make a game with an interesting setting, like Sunless Sea, wedded to the fast and fun gameplay of Sanctuary RPG!

The old freeware version is available as a demo. The ASCII art is greatly improved in the full game.

Someone gifted this game to me and I'm playing it now. I do appreciate how quickly you can reach places and finish battles once you know the right commands. There's little time wasted overall.

Lots of content, great soundtrack and pretty tough. Great game right here, recommended if you don't mind ASCII graphics.

And I'm really loving the humor myself.

[JBC]

Bought Dark Souls because it was like $6 on Xbox Live. It feels solid, but I don't really get the hype. Coming off Splatterhouse 3 into that it feels incredibly slow and boring.

I think I'm starting to finally accept that for the most part I don't like modern video games.

Hang with it a bit, it's a great game. Demon's Souls is more solid, but Dark is still pretty good. When I played it it was kinda broken though with some bad frame rate issues & easy exploits. They fixed them in updates though.

I've held off on 2 since the PS3 version is supposed to have it's problems. Really can't wait to get the PS4 version & hope for the best.

[jonny5]

pestro87 was nice enough to lend me his Bravely Default - honestly haven't played an RPG of any kind in at least 20 years, I think the last one I played was Chrono Trigger when it was new. About 7 hours in, having fun with it.

[Sir Ilpalazzo]

I just finished my first hard mode playthrough of the Resident Evil remake (with Chris).

I've played through the game a couple of times in the past, and I've always come away from it thinking that although it's a very solid game (crimson heads are, of course, fantastic, and the art is godlike), it's just too easy for the kind of game it is to have left an impression on me. For a game focused on survival, it gives you far too many resources on normal mode. Hard mode is definitely much better though - I never actually ran out of ammo, healing items, or ink ribbons, but I at least felt somewhat pressured. I'm looking forward to playing through Real Survival mode next.

[iconoclast]

Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate
Been playing this a ton over the last few days, just got into the High Rank (7-star) village quests. Out of all of the improvements they made to the game, I like the verticality they added to the environments and combat most of all. Leading a monster towards a ledge/pillar/wall, then leaping off of that, hitting him with a perfectly timed strike, and mounting him is always really satisfying. Pretty much all of the new stuff is great, really. The Insect Glaive and Charge Blade are especially fun to use, and there are a ton of small improvements all over the place.

The only thing that I don't like so far are the Gathering Hall quests because all of the monsters have buffed HP. Those missions were designed to be played in co-op (the game even tells you this), so they can be tedious to solo. I don't understand why Capcom doesn't simply adjust the monster's health based on how many hunters are on the quest like so many other games do. That would make it more fun to solo the quests and more fun to play with a full group, since four people can basically steamroll most of the monsters. It's not a big deal either way, but it would be nice if they tried to balance that better.

I've just barely scratched the surface of the game, but so far it seems better than MH3U in every way. And that game was already awesome.

[Tregard]

I am now completely obsessed with EDF. Been playing 2025 on the PS3, but also picked up 2017 for the Vita and have been hitting that pretty hard while I'm visiting the in-laws in china. Both games are obviously very similar, but I think I'm leaning towards 2025, just for having the different classes up front and for the sheer scale of the skirmishes on the big screen.

So many incredible moments! My jaw is frequently left hanging. I'll never forget a frantic escape down an alley of low houses while my jetpack was stuck offline in an emergency recharge; backpedalling with guns blazing while ants swarmed over the rooftops above me, their drooling mandibles leering, their bloated bodies spewing acid. I stumbled out into a small courtyard where yet more of the ants swept up on my flank, my health by now dangerously low. I thought I'd had it, but it was then that my jetpack whirred back into life and I blasted up and away from the streaming acid, flicking a V as I went. I could almost see them shaking their little legs at me in anger.

Or there was the first time I used my new triple plasma cannon: ants and spiders were swarming toward me down a narrow street; I'd softened them up a bit with my lightning bow, but they were overwhelming us with sheer weight of numbers. I pulled out the cannon, pressed the trigger, and watched in awe as fifty segmented bodies erupted, rubble raining down around me as the buildings on either side buckled and collapsed, the framerate staggering under the weight of the particle effects and destruction physics.

These games have helped re-invigorate my love of gaming. I haven't had this much fun since Brutal Doom.

[BIL]

I can tell you too are a connoisseur of The Real Gaming Violence. Exactly the sort of controllable chaos I love in BDOOM's crazier straits. Been meaning to get into the EDFs once I'm back home with all my current/recent-gen consoles.

[MOSQUITO FIGHTER]

Almost there. I'm totally going to try for a 1cc on this after I get the hang of a few more areas.

[Tregard]

Actually BIL, it's you who got me into BDOOM. I was lurking on this board, took one look at your thread, and 3 minutes later had it all up and running and was laughing like a maniac at the obscene carnage. So I salute you and your fine taste!

I've only played through Doom 1 so far - been waiting for v20 before I tackle Doom 2.