Still playing Borderlands 3 as my main PS game. 2 vaults down, don’t know how many more left.
ATOM RPG is hard! I don’t recall having such trouble with Fallout 1 and 2. Either they weren’t this hard or I have become used to easier games. I think my problem is how I distributed my stats, giving me a very intelligent but a weak character, that keeps dying in actual fights.
Read up a bit on it about character stats, and thinking about starting a new game with new character.
While I kept dying in ATOM RPG, I looked through my backlog and started Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All. I loved the first one, but took a break before diving deep in the next one. So, playing through that now. Still a great game, might even be better than the first one. I’ll probably finish this before I go back to ATOM.
Also started Trails in the Sky: Second Chapter on PC. Prologue was very interesting, just started Chapter 1. Playing it slowly on the side, when I generally don’t have access to PS and Switch, not cause the game isn’t fun, but because I don’t enjoy playing on PC much. Fortunately only Trails in the Sky is left on PC, and all other games are available on console, so shouldn’t be too much of a trouble.
What about all of you? What have you been playing?
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Playing Senren * Banka!
This VN has a very different story structure than what I’m used to. Most games tend to ramp up in the later parts of the story, adding tension and focusing more on action, but this one goes in the opposite direction and cuts most of the action in favor of slice-of-life moments and romance. It’s unusual but not a bad thing, and shows the developer’s commitment to the romance theme.
So far I’ve completed 3 of 5 routes:
- Yoshino: Has little plot outside of the romance, but since she has the weakest chemistry with the MC the romance doesn’t feel natural and the end result is very bland and uninteresting.
- Mako: My favorite so far, has the best pacing of the routes I’ve finished and balances comedy/romance/plot very well.
- Murasame: Has the strongest emotional moments and her banter with the MC is the best one, but revolves around a weak and repetitive plot line that drags the route down. However, if I could choose one route to be the “canon” one I’d definitely go with hers.
I’m currently playing Lena’s route which has been a very positive surprise - she had very little involvement in dealing with the curse on the first half of the game, so I never expected her route would be the one to give us its backstory and origins. Plot-wise it’s easily the best route so far, but the romance parts are not as good as Mako or Murasame.
After that there’s still the Roka/Kohahu shared route, but I’m hoping to finish this game in a couple more days.
I think the next game I’ll play will be Loopers which is another short Key VN.
Interesting. What do you generally prefer? More action? Or more slice of life / romance?
More action? Or more slice of life / romance?
My favorite stories are the ones that do a good balance of the three, but if I had to choose between them I’d say slice-of-life.
A strong cast with a good dynamic is the main thing I need to enjoy a story, and you’re more likely to those in games with slice-of-life segments.
I hope I am ok to join in here, and if not please let me know. I lost my Switch in a house fire and have been relying on my tablet for entertainment. Emulators have been a blessing.
Currently I am playing the Final Fantasy I Pixel Remaster. I really did not expect to enjoy it as much as I am. The story is loose, the text is sparse, but that is actually right up my alley.
The locations are fairly varied and pretty. The dungeons aren’t too much, and some might actually benefit from having a little more.
It is a simple, to the point JRPG and I really appreciate it for that. The hardest thing to get used to is the magic system. You are alloted three slots per level of magic (I don’t even know how to tell what my magic level is, but I haven’t been locked out so far) and you purchase your magic in towns in the same way you would any item or equipment. Each level of magic has it’s own amount of uses, that I believe goes up with your magic level. Ethers restore 1 point for each level of magic. Once you sort it all out it isn’t too bad, but I find myself reluctant to use magic some of the time.
I believe I have crossed the halfway threshold, and am excited to finish it. I’m not sure if I will dive straight into II or play a pallette cleanser
So sorry to hear about your Switch (and house fire - hope you all were safe).
These weekly threads are for everyone. Doesn’t matter what you are playing, and where you are playing. You are welcome to join and share. So, don’t worry about this.
Earliest FF I have played is VII. Though I do plan to play the earlier games in the series, they aren’t high on priority.
Thank you, everyone made it out, and we were able to save quite a bit of stuff. Just not my Switch, and I was pretty attached to it. I got it at the midnight release And my buddy bought me a shell in my favorite color I put on it. Of course, being a gen 1 I had to mod it
Final Fantasy X is still my favorite, followed by IV. FFI is nice and simple, and I’m digging the hell out of it. I’m almost finished with it now actually. Not sure what I will play after, but I’ll need a break before FFII. The Pixel Remasters have a lot of awesome QoL changes that I really appreciate, and make it so that it is not a chore due to archaic mechanics
Good to know that there wasn’t too much damage, but I can understand losing something you are attached to. I also got Switch on launch, and am pretty attached to it.
My favourite is FF XII. It’s the first one I played, and fell in love the series. Have since played 13, 14 (didn’t even finish the base game though), 15 and 7 remake. From older ones, I have played 9 and 7. Thought about starting 10 a few times but haven’t been able to get myself to play it.
And yeah, it’s only because of the QoL changes in Pixel remaster that I am even thinking about playing the older ones.
I am on the final dungeon of the first Final Fantasy, and I can easily recommend the Pixel Remasters. As for X, you shouldn’t need much convincing lol, I think a lot of people will tell you to play it
On the final case of Edgeworth Investigations 1, which i was already playing when the remasters were announced. I’m going to play the second one with the fan translation, partially because I’m cheap, partially because I’m intrigued to see a fan translation of something this dense with text.
Otherwise, just bought Powerwash Simulator and have been enjoying that as a good unwind game! Saddened that it only has crossplay with PC/Xbox, and my friend on PS5 can’t play it with me. I would love to play this with others though.
Is there any difference in Investigations games? Gameplay vise, I mean.
It’s only my second Ace Attorney game, but as much as I am loving them, will go through all of them, but for me, this means years to complete them all.
Oh, that’s weird. If PC/Xbox has crossplay than why didn’t Sony allow it? Though now that I think about it, Sony has changed quite a lot in this regard, maybe if devs tried it now, they could get Sony to agree to crossplay now.
Investigations (1 at least since I haven’t started 2 yet) has the greatest change in gameplay I’ve seen, I’ve otherwise played the first game up to Apollo Justice, then investigations 1.
Instead of exploring the town from a “first person” perspective, you instead explore a singular crime scene area of a few rooms in a more, sort of side-on almost beat em up esque perspective. You walk Edgeworth around as a character and interact with objects and people by walking up to them.
Instead of only having evidence (which you still have), you can also collect “logic subjects”, which you can connect in pairs when you think something is related to something else. For example, you might notice a string of objects scattered on the floor, adding the logic point “scattered objects”, then you might find a high powered fan, adding that logic point, and then you can connect that, logically, the fan was likely turned on and blew the objects around, and connecting them furthers your investigation or allows you to ask people about that subject.
You also don’t go to court to prosecute, though you still have testimony that you can refute and disprove, it just happens while you’re walking around the scene and talking to people, so you may not even necessarily be disproving witness testimony, you’re just trying to convince somebody of something or establishing the crime’s timeline by presenting evidence and pressing statements, much like you would in mainline Ace Attorney.
Overall, I really like Investigations! It’s a neat change of perspective, but still scratches the itch, has a good soundtrack even though it’s not as good as Ace Attorney 1, the GOAT, and overall I only had maybe three occasions where the logic was so obtuse I had to look up, which is par for the course for these games.
I also found it refreshing to follow Edgeworth and Franziska von Karma because their personalities are so different from Phoenix or Apollo, though there’s still a ton of returning characters, there are some new ones, too. I’d say if you like Ace Attorney so far you’ll certainly enjoy investigations.
And with Powerwash, I’m not sure why the crossplay wasn’t extended to PS. Xbox and PC are under Microsoft together, so that seems an easy crossplay negotiation, but I’m not sure why PS didn’t play ball since theyve it with other games.
Thanks for such a detailed response. This does sound interesting.
I have just met Franziska, my first case with her, would be interesting to see her in the future.
As for Powerwash, I recall that Sony wasn’t very open with crossplay in the start, it took them quite a while to make up their mind for it. And I think Powerwash was released in that period, when Sony wasn’t open to it.
Kitsune Tails - Cute little platformer, but maybe a little too on the nose in just how much it copies from SMB3. I think they didn’t need to put Kuribo’s Shoe in there. Then I got to act 2 and I’m just replaying the same levels with a character who has a bunch of strong movement abilities. New levels designed for this character would’ve been great, but why am I replaying the same ones but now way easier?
Dungeons and Degenerate Gamblers - Liked the demo a lot, but my opinions keep going back and forth on the full version. At first it felt like there just isn’t enough player agency to consistently get out of the early game or deal with everything the endgame throws at you, but then I started to work out the winning strat by just repeatedly forcing the opponent to bust. Doing that all the time is a little linear though, and the gap between broken cards and worthless cards is a lot.
Under Night In-Birth II [Sys:Celes] - Did alright in this week’s bracket. Hyde still terrifies me.
Splatoon 3 - lol, lmao
Mahjong Soul/Riichi City/IRL mahjong - Came up with a new strategy at club this week where I just draw good tiles over and over.
Oooh, congratulations on 4th position! And good luck for next one!
Wow, getting three in row! Nice one. I am usually the one getting wiped out like this. 😀
Don’t even know what you are talking about in Mahjong, but it looks “neat” 😀
I’m still playing Zelda: A Link to the Past. I’m already a few dungeons in and have some of the more important items. I’m guessing I’m close to the middle of the story, it seems like it’s a matter of carrying on and finishing the dungeons I have left now. As I said last week, it’s not the best Zelda game, particularly in combat. But I am getting used to it and I’ll finish it for completion’s sake. It’s not a game I’d come back to 😅 (I do go back to Link’s Awakening every few years)
I am also playing the new and revamped DOOM + DOOM II, since I got it for free because I had the “originals” on Switch. It’s pretty cool, I particularly liked playing with the remixed music. Might play some more of thay during the weekend.
Finally, I’ll see if I can finish the demo for Bakeru.
Someone didn’t like your comments about A Link to the Past 😀
Are there any gameplay or QoL update in Doom or just music?
Yeah, I knew some people wouldn’t like that, but oh well… 😁
I need to play them rught after each other to compare performance precisely, but yeah they added a ton of stuff: “adds online Co-op and Deathmatch multiplayer support for up to 16 players with cross-platform play, a brand-new episode, performance improvements, community Mods and much more!”
Ahan, that sounds interesting. I am not a big fan of original Doom, but it can be worth a try.
This weekend I’ll probably keep playing Cat Quest 3
Oooh, how are you enjoying it? I loved the first two Cat Quest game, and am excited about the third one.
It’s very much in the same vein. If you liked the first two, you’ll like the third. 😊
I’m playing Outward, I’m loving the world and the artwork, and how challenging the combat is. It’s an entirely different sort of RPG, and super-refreshing.
I also occasionally play dwarf fortress, and mech arena on iOS when I have a short break.
Outward is on my wishlist, though I am a bit unsure because of the survival elements. Not a big fan of those.
The survival elements are certainly a big part of rhe game, but if you want to reduce thier impact, there are a few mods that help.
I use a meditation mod, which alows you to slowly regen all three major stats (hp, stamina, mana) by sitting and doing nothing. This makes a HUGE difference in that you then only need potions for healing during fights, you never need to worry about having items to heal up.
Another one links all your stashes (one in each city where you buy a house) so that you don’t have to carry everything with you al the time.
Another one (that I don’t use) is improved inventory. It allows for sending items from your backpack directly to your stash. So again, you don’t have to worry so much about how to carry loot back from dungeons, etc.
There’s still a bit of inventory management, and both illnesses and environmental factors still need to be dealt with, but that’s it.
Thanks for the info, but I’ll most probably play this on Switch, so don’t think I’ll have access to mods.
Saving the post though, in case I end up getting Steam Deck some day.
Glad I could help.
Unicorn Overlord, the tactical JRPG. I love how much depth there is to team building, there are so many classes, skills and synergies to plan with. After everything is maxed, you can build 10 squats of 6 units each.
However, about halfway through the game, I’m starting to feel burned out a bit. My squats are mostly done, further upgrades are rather expensive and there is little need to swap units if the old ones win every battle. Without the constant planning, the core gameplay gets a bit stale. But nothing a break won’t fix, I’d assume.
It’s fine to take a little break if you are feeling burned out. This is how I end up starting 5 games at a time 😀
Baldur’s Gate 3. I’ve played every Baldur’s Gate and Divinity: Original Sin entry, so it was nice to finally have the time to play this one. I’m about 70 hours in. I’m a Paladin/Sorcerer do-gooder who smites the enemies of peace what for.
I have played the first two Baldur’s Gate, but want to play through Both Divinity: Original Sin before playing BG 3. It’s going to be a while…
You should also look up Baldur’s Gate: Siege of Dragonspear, an official “interquel” set between BG 1 and 2 and bridging those games. It was built on the same Infinity Engine as the originals. There were some nit-picky reviews at the time of its release given the buildup and fond memories of the originals, but it really is a solid (albeit linear) game with some excellent companions unique to that game. I enjoyed it.
A few years ago in preparation for BG3, I played 1, Dragonspear, and 2, along with all the expansions, in one continuous play-through with a single main character. It was incredibly satisfying.
Ahan, thanks for the info. Don’t think I have heard of Dragonspear. Will look it up.
How do these games hold up today? I played the separately, it would be interesting to play them all in a series with a single character, but I am worried they would feel too dated.
The engine is definitely dated graphically, but they are still a blast. I played the Enhanced Editions on Xbox. I had never played any of them before, although I do like RPGs and enjoy older games.
So coming in cold and playing them quite thoroughly without any outside knowledge (I never follow guides), I would rate them as follows (out of 10):
- Baldur’s Gate: 8.5
- Siege of Dragonspear: 6.5
- Shadows of Amn: 9
- Throne of Bhaal: 8
And just to make people upset (and show that I’m not an easy grader):
- Planescape: Torment: 7
I haven’t yet finished the Icewind Dale games.
I did also play the first Dark Alliance game and would give that a 7.5.
I have receipts for all of these scores, lol.
Interesting. Thanks for the review scores!
