What Games Are You Playing?

Koudelka has the distinction of being probably the only JRPG set in Wales, and it's atmospheric, but it hasn't aged well overall, especially the painfully slow battle system. I seem to remember that playing it on a PS2 sped up loading times for battles at bit, but they were still sluggish.

From what I recall, Koudelka has stronger links to Covenant than the first Shadow Hearts. It's been a long time since I last played those games though.
Well that's why i prefer playing these old games on emulator. With turbo feature the battles go by very quickly. Without turbo this game probably would have gotten tedious quickly because there's lots of running around and enemy counters are quite frequent.

It's to be seen whether part 2 of Shadow Hearts (i mean the Europe part) has connections to this. I don't think there is much connection to it in the Asian part.

I just beat the game and didn't really get interesting story wise until later portion of disc 3. Sadly though the ending felt pretty anticlimactic. I would still say that the game is okay when played on emulator.
 
So I've been unusually succumbing to hype and feeling like I might like to play Resident Evil VIII, so I decided I’d better play VII, because it’s apparently a sequel (I played the very early instalments a very long time ago, but I had heard these were a bit different).

I’m an hour or so in and I already semi-regret this. The atmosphere is great, give me spooky stuff to explore and experience and I like it (hello Amnesia, Soma, Layers of Evil... Hell even old-school stuff like Scratches and Darkfall, frustrating as the latter was) and I know Resi is a bit more action-y than those titles, however... When you give me a GUN, please make it function like a gun. Perhaps Hitman and Sniper Elite have spoiled me here, but if I put a bullet directly into the head of something fleshy using my well-honed mouse aiming, I expect it to drop. If I put say, THREE bullets into something’s head, I at the very least expect the graphics to show me that it no longer has a head left, even if it's managing to still function without one.

What I don't expect is to put NINE bullets into something's head (I counted, on my fourth attempt at the very first boss fight) and for it to have zero effect. This isn’t a side-scroller from 1987. I’m all for suspending my disbelief for supernatural stuff but please, that many bullets doing literally nothing to a human head would have even Mulder thinking this was a bit unlikely. How am I even reloading with only one hand? And call me crazy, but I don’t really find repetitively shooting things which don’t die and so go on to kill you, then repeating that half a dozen times (and having to pick up the gun and all the ammo again each time, from three different rooms) until you win to be a particularly fulfilling game-play mechanic in this day and age. What I also don't expect is to have to google whether the game is going to actually even allow me to kill an enemy, or if I'm just totally wasting my time and ammunition and was supposed to find another way... Perhaps this is not for me.
 
Perhaps this is not for me.
Heh I thought I was the only one. Have been a fan of the original resident evil games but probably the only person who didn't rate the switch up of story and action in the lauded fourth game, but still played all the installments. Until VII that is, which I was really looking forward to after the brilliant demo. So I started on it, found the atmosphere great and all, but the gameplay left me uninspired as well and I dropped it with some distant plans to try again later heh.


Earlier mention of PS2 and Shadow Hearts reminded me of one of the first games I got when the PS2 was first released: Shadow of Memories. Anyone else here play that? I absolutely loved how repayable it was with what I recall to be numerous endings and routes, feeling fresh almost each one by generally not having to retread covered grounds. Also couldn't help but be constantly reminded of that game whenver I heard Homunculus during my eventual viewing of FMA: Brotherhood heh.
Amnesia, Soma
Soma is one of the best games I've played in recent times, fantastic. Amnesia I eventually got but yet to play through. Just not enough time sigh..
 
Soma is one of the best games I've played in recent times, fantastic. Amnesia I eventually got but yet to play through. Just not enough time sigh..
I did like Soma a whole lot, it’s just unfortunate the player character was such a dense mofo who consistently failed to understand concepts that had already been explained to him (I think I wrote about it itt somewhere) and reacted in completely the opposite ways to how I would have done... It is though somewhat of a refinement of Amnesia’s gameplay, so that might not seem quite as good when playing them in reverse order. Still worth a play though, I even enjoyed A Machine for Pigs, which not everybody did. Undecided on whether to give the new one a go or not, maybe when it gets cheap.

Edit: Found my thoughts on SOMA, if you fancy reading them. Would be interested to hear yours (thoughts on Outlast and A Machine for Pigs further down the same page, may also be of interest to someone else who enjoys similar games).
 
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Earlier mention of PS2 and Shadow Hearts reminded me of one of the first games I got when the PS2 was first released: Shadow of Memories. Anyone else here play that? I absolutely loved how repayable it was with what I recall to be numerous endings and routes, feeling fresh almost each one by generally not having to retread covered grounds. Also couldn't help but be constantly reminded of that game whenver I heard Homunculus during my eventual viewing of FMA: Brotherhood heh.

Soma is one of the best games I've played in recent times, fantastic. Amnesia I eventually got but yet to play through. Just not enough time sigh..

I actually just played it before starting Shadow Hearts :D I don't know about the replayability because it was possible to get all the endings by only playing portions of the game. There's one decision in chapter 5 that leads to two paths and those two paths have 3 and 2 endings that mostly come down to one choice or action. I give them probs for making it possible to just load older save to get the other endings. The game remembers which cutscenes you have seen so it's easy to skip all the ones you don't want to see.

I had mixed feelings about the game. I didn't think it really took advantage of the setting and focused on wrong things but it also does things right and the homunculus might not be as eerie as mysterious stranger, but the performance is good (his voice is done by the guy that does Super Mario)


The game is rather short so in that sense it's easy to recommend.
 
For May I went through at least two games from the backlog.

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Completed Game #12 | Blue Reflection (PS4)

From Koei Tecmo and Gust is an original JRPG game about magical girls and school life. The game can be compared to Persona quite a lot as it has a fair amount of similarities, from interacting with your classmates to managing what to do each day to going out of your way to fight monsters in another realm. The difference here is that while Persona is time-based i.e. you have to properly manage what to do before game over, Blue Reflection gives you infinite amount of time to do virtually anything and there is no game over outside of major boss battles from select end chapters.

This is a turn-based traditional RPG that actually has some very unique and solid gameplay mechanics. It's this where the game really shines the most because the combat, while very easy, is really engaging and the concept is well handled from choosing what to do before the enemy begins their turn to being able to unleash an ultimate attack if you focused on healing/defence for a while. The game has a percentage meter which once it hits 100% allows you to make use of that ultimate attack, but you can do a specific number of special moves at one turn if you have to.

The game also has a fixed team where you control your main character as well as a pair of twin-sisters. Each character has different attack moves and they work pretty well against the enemies, since the enemies have their own weaknesses based on specific elements which is similar to other JRPGs. The biggest issue I have with Blue Reflection is that the game for some reason has a very bizarre approach in that you don't level up through combat, but through the bonds you have with your classmates. This approach effectively makes the whole combat aspect of the game virtually pointless or obsolete. In other words, you could probably get from the beginning to the end of the game without really fighting anyone unless you had to get certain items for a fetch quest.

As for the story, I personally did not get attached to it so I skipped the dialogue. It's a shame but if it ain't going to interest me then I may as well keep moving on. The characters themselves are interesting in their own way, though I am surprised they aren't going to tag along with you during the usual combat parts. That being said, they do assist you during the big major boss battles which is a nice added bonus to the mix.

One thing I forgot to talk about is the visuals. The UI design is actually fantastic and I love the way they have approached them. The artstyle of the cast of characters is also pretty good, though I do wish they put more effort into the combat world because it can be very easy to get lost since there is no map available. You also cannot save during these realms but then again you cannot die either. The music is also pretty good.

Overall Blue Reflection is a pretty decent game, and while I wasn't that particularly interested in the story and dialogue, there is a lot of potential for the franchise so I hope the second game will fix a lot of those issues. I do have the Platinum trophy as it was possible within a 30 hour playtime.

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Completed Game #13 | Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 Fortune (PS4)

Back in November 2018 I was able to acquire a copy of the original version for Dead or Alive Xtreme 3, which at the time got a newer version to include more characters (which can be acquired via DLC for Fortune & Venus) however it was affected by Sony's policy so I decided to stick with the original since it was unaffected.

Fast-forward to present time and I finally decided to have a go at the series since it was one of the older PS4 games I own that has yet to be played. What started off as a volleyball spin-off series eventually became a super fanservice adventure. With new console generations comes newer engines and more realistic characters so Xtreme 3 takes advantage of this a fair bit. Now despite the whole fanservice debate, this game is actually not that bad in terms of what you can expect but it is not a perfect experience by all means.

The general concept for Xtreme 3 is that you spend in-game 14 days with a character, and for each day it is split into four parts (Morning, Day, Late Afternoon, Evening/Night-time). In each part you have a mission objective that can range from buying a swimsuit, playing pool hopping, providing a gift to someone and even accomplish a task within a requirement like no loses during volleyball or climb up a hill within a specific amount of time. The missions come at random but for each character they have seven major missions that are crucial to unlock the best outcome, which if you aren't able to complete within that 14-day period can continue from where you left off in a new playthrough so there's no need to try and perfect it in one sitting.

The characters that are included in Xtreme 3 were chosen by a popularity poll with Marie Rose and Honoka winning the top two votes so they were the feature characters. You can also play Kasumi, Ayane, Kokoro, Nyotengu, Hitomi, Momiji and Helena (Leifang is DLC and also included in the Scarlet version with new character Misaki). I like many of the characters shown here though they are very picky when it comes to providing gifts to them, for instance one missions states they want a specific bikini, so you buy that bikini and gift it to them but for some stupid logic they don't want it, like why must you make me suffer? It's even more daft when they still gain hearts (which is how you build up their satisfaction meter in order to get the best outcome of the game) when they reject it.

Before going over the mini-games, the vacation is split into two modes; Owner and Girl. Owner mode is basically you interacting with the character you've chosen for the vacation, while Girl mode is choosing the mini-games and playing them while also being able to gift other girls to build up the bonds.

Now let's talk about what exactly the mini-games are in this game - it's split into two groups; the activities and the casino. The activities include Beach Volleyball, Beach Flag (lie on the ground and run to the flag before your opponent gets it), Pool Hopping (jump on floating platforms based on the buttons shown), Butt Battle (Keijo basically), Tug of War (give them the rope and the opponent falls off immediately lol) and Rock Climbing. You can also have the character relax which is a quick cutscene of them doing something to slip that part of the day, and also buy items like swimsuits and gifts. I liked each activity and the volleyball gameplay took some use to but I got pretty good at it unless it's on Hard difficulty where the AI will just destroy you.

The second group, the casino, only has three mini-games which are Poker, Roulette and Blackjack. The luck for some of the specific combinations is very tedious but I found a lot of fun and enjoyment playing these three especially the roulette one. That being said, save scumming is going to be needed if you want to earn a lot of money to acquire specific items for mission tasks.

Each vacation playthrough depending on how well you can manage the missions, takes roughly 2-3 hours playtime and if you are able to accomplish all 7 missions before the end of Day 14 you can get an S+ rank to help level up your Owner rank. For the Platinum trophy you will want to reach Owner Level 50 which will take a whole ton of grinding unfortunately but I was able to reach at least Level 35 after finishing all 9 character playthroughs, and 7 of them have S+ ranks at least.

Overall, Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 is a fun time and it's got a lot of fanservice, including the girls getting tanned over time and the ability to use skincare items to alter their physics though they mostly reject your gifts if you do that so no point, especially during your early playthroughs. My favourite girls from this game were Nyotengu (she has a lot of ohohoho energy) and Momiji (nice person).​

My backlog so far:
#​
Nintendo 3DS Backlog - Game Name:​
Genre:
1​
Senran Kagura 2: Deep CrimsonAction
2​
Tales of the AbyssAction RPG
#​
PC/Steam Backlog - Game Name:​
Genre:
1​
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the SkyTurn-Based RPG
2​
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SCTurn-Based RPG
#​
PlayStation 3 Backlog - Game Name:​
Genre:
1​
3D Dot Game HeroesAction RPG
2​
Castlevania: Lords of ShadowAction, Hack n Slash
3​
CatherinePuzzle
4​
Drakengard 3Action RPG
5​
Eternal SonataTurn-Based RPG
6​
FolkloreAction RPG
7​
inFAMOUSAction
8​
Katamari ForeverPuzzle
9​
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White WitchTurn-Based RPG
10​
PuppeteerPlatformer
11​
Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in TimeAction, Platformer
12​
Ratchet & Clank: NexusAction, Platformer
13​
Ratchet & Clank: QForceAction, Platformer
14​
Ratchet & Clank: Quest for BootyAction, Platformer
15​
Ratchet & Clank: Tools of DestructionAction, Platformer
16​
Sengoku Basara: Samurai HeroesAction, Musou
17​
Siren Blood CurseAction, Horror
18​
Sly Cooper and the Thievius RaccoonusAction, Platformer
19​
Sly 2: Band of ThievesAction, Platformer
20​
Sly 3: Honor Among ThievesAction, Platformer
21​
Sly Cooper: Thieves in TimeAction, Platformer
22​
Soul Calibur VFighting
23​
Tears to Tiara II: Heir of the OverlordTactical RPG, Visual Novel
24​
Way of the Samurai 4Action
25​
White Knight ChroniclesTurn-Based RPG
26​
White Knight Chronicles IITurn-Based RPG
#​
PlayStation 4 Backlog - Game Name:Genre:
1​
13 Sentinels: Aegis RimTactical RPG, Visual Novel
2​
Attack on Titan 2: Final BattleMusou
3​
The Caligula Effect: OverdoseTurn-Based RPG
4​
Chaos;ChildVisual Novel
5​
Code VeinAction RPG
6​
Cyberdimension Neptunia: Four Goddesses OnlineAction RPG
7​
Danganronpa 1 ReloadVisual Novel
8​
Danganronpa 2 ReloadVisual Novel
9​
Danganronpa V3: Killing HarmonyVisual Novel
10​
Date A Live: Rio-Reincarnation - 1: Rinne UtopiaVisual Novel, Dating Sim
11​
Date A Live: Rio-Reincarnation - 2: Ars InstallVisual Novel, Dating Sim
12​
Date A Live: Rio-Reincarnation - 3: Twin Edition: Rio ReincarnationVisual Novel, Dating Sim
13​
Dragon's Crown ProAction RPG
14​
Fate/Extella LinkMusou
15​
Fist of the North Star: Lost ParadiseAction
16​
Gal*Gun 2On-Rails Shooter
17​
Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Infinite CombateAction RPG
18​
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of HeavenFighting
19​
JudgmentAction
20​
LangrisserTactical RPG
21​
Langrisser IITactical RPG
22​
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold SteelTurn-Based RPG
23​
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IITurn-Based RPG
24​
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IIITurn-Based RPG
25​
Megadimension Neptunia VIITurn-Based RPG
26​
Megadimension Neptunia VIIRTurn-Based RPG
27​
Ni no Kuni II: Revenant KingdomAction RPG
28​
Nights of AzureAction RPG
29​
Nights of Azure 2: Bride of the New MoonAction RPG
30​
One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3Musou
31​
Onechanbara Z2: ChaosAction
32​
Our World Is EndedVisual Novel
33​
Persona 5 RoyalTurn-Based RPG
34​
Punch LineVisual Novel
35​
Raging LoopVisual Novel
36​
Robotics;Notes DaSHVisual Novel
37​
Robotics;Notes ELITEVisual Novel
38​
Saint Seiya: Soldier's SoulFighting
39​
Sakura WarsAction RPG, Dating Sim
40​
Sengoku Basara 4: SumeragiMusou
41​
Senran Kagura Burst Re:NewalAction
42​
Shining Resonance: RefrainAction RPG
43​
Steins;Gate EliteVisual Novel
44​
Steins;Gate: Linear Bound PhenogramVisual Novel
45​
Super Robot Wars VTactical RPG
46​
Super Robot Wars XTactical RPG
47​
Sword Art Online: Fatal BulletAction RPG
48​
Tales of BerseriaAction RPG
49​
Tales of VesperiaAction RPG
50​
Tales of ZestiriaAction RPG
51​
Tokyo Xanadu eX+Action RPG
52​
Toukiden 2Action RPG
53​
Utawarerumono: Mask of DeceptionTactical RPG, Visual Novel
54​
Utawarerumono: Mask of TruthTactical RPG, Visual Novel
55​
Utawarerumono: Prelude to the FallenTactical RPG, Visual Novel
56​
Utawarerumono: ZanAction, Musou
57​
Valkyria Chronicles RemasteredTactical RPG
58​
Valkyria Chronicles 4Tactical RPG
59​
The Witch and the Hundred Knight Revival EditionAction RPG
60​
WORLDEND SYNDROMEVisual Novel
61​
YU-NO: A Girl Who Chants Love at the Bound of this WorldVisual Novel
62​
Ys IX: Monstrum NoxAction RPG
#​
PlayStation Vita Backlog - Game Name:Genre:
1​
Bullet GirlsAction, Shooter
2​
Demon GazeDungeon RPG
3​
Freedom WarsAction
4​
Hyperdevotion Noire: Goddess Black HeartTactical RPG
5​
Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 1Turn-Based RPG
6​
Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 2: Sister's GenerationTurn-Based RPG
7​
Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 3: V GenerationTurn-Based RPG
8​
Hyperdimension Neptunia U: Action UnleashedTurn-Based RPG
9​
MegaTagmension Blanc + Neptune VS ZombiesAction, Musou
10​
Muv-LuvVisual Novel, Dating Sim
11​
Muv-Luv AlternativeVisual Novel
12​
Superdimension Neptune vs SEGA Hard GirlsTurn-Based RPG
13​
Valkyrie Drive BhikkhuniAction
Completed Games Collection of 2021:
#Game NamePlatformGenreMonth
1​
Yakuza 6: The Song of Life
PS4​
ActionJanuary
2​
GOD EATER Resurrection
PS4​
Action RPGJanuary
3​
GOD EATER 2: Rage Burst
PS4​
Action RPGFebruary
4​
Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star
PS4​
MusouMarch
5​
Gal*Gun Double Peace
PS4​
On-Rails ShooterMarch
6​
Odin Sphere Leifthrasir
PS4​
Action RPGMarch
7​
Kandagawa Jet Girls
PS4​
RacingApril
8​
Touch My Katamari
Vita​
PuzzleApril
9​
The 25th Ward: The Silver Case
PS4​
Adventure Visual NovelApril
10​
Everybody's Golf
PS4​
SportsApril
11​
428 Shibuya Scramble
PS4​
Visual NovelApril
12​
Blue Reflection
PS4​
Turn-Based RPGMay
13​
Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 Fortune
PS4​
Simulation, SportsMay
Platinum Trophy Collection:
#Game NamePlatformGenreYear
1​
Saints Row: The ThirdPS3Action2014
2​
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star BattlePS3Fighting2015
3​
Hyperdimension NeptuniaPS3Turn-Based RPG2015
4​
Dekamori Senran Kagura
Vita​
Music/Rhythm2015
5​
Steins;GatePS3Visual Novel2015
6​
NieRPS3Action RPG2015
7​
No More Heroes: Heroes' ParadisePS3Action2015
8​
Asura's WrathPS3Action2015
9​
Saints Row IVPS3Action2015
10​
The Darkness IIPS3First Person Shooter2015
11​
Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2PS3Turn-Based RPG2016
12​
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater HDPS3Action2016
13​
Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus
Vita​
Action2016
14​
Gravity Rush
Vita​
Platformer2016
15​
Hyperdimension Neptunia VictoryPS3Turn-Based RPG2016
16​
Resogun
PS4​
Arcade Shooter2016
17​
Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls
Vita​
Third Person Shooter2016
18​
Game of Thrones: A Telltale Game
PS4​
Adventure2016
19​
Miracle Girls Festival
Vita​
Music/Rhythm2017
20​
Senran Kagura Estival Versus
PS4​
Action2017
21​
The Wolf Among Us
PS4​
Adventure2017
22​
Final Fantasy XV
PS4​
Action RPG2017
23​
Amplitude
PS4​
Music/Rhythm2017
24​
Root Letter
PS4​
Visual Novel2017
25​
IA/VT -Colorful-
Vita​
Music/Rhythm2017
26​
Persona 4: Dancing All Night
Vita​
Music/Rhythm2017
27​
Gravity Rush Remastered
PS4​
Platformer2017
28​
NieR: Automata
PS4​
Action RPG2017
29​
The Silver Case
PS4​
Visual Novel2017
30​
Steins;Gate 0
PS4​
Visual Novel2017
31​
Under Defeat HDPS3Arcade Shooter2017
32​
Tales from the Borderlands
PS4​
Adventure2017
33​
Dragon Ball Z Budokai HD CollectionPS3Fighting2017
34​
Life is Strange
PS4​
Adventure2017
35​
Sword Art Online: Lost Song
PS4​
Action RPG2017
36​
Crash Bandicoot Remastered
PS4​
Platformer2017
37​
Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back Remastered
PS4​
Platformer2017
38​
Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped Remastered
PS4​
Platformer2017
39​
Final Fantasy Type-0 HD
PS4​
Action RPG2017
40​
Corpse Party: Blood Drive
Vita​
Horror2018
41​
Persona 5
PS4​
Turn-Based RPG2018
42​
Zero Escape: The Nonary Games
PS4​
Visual Novel2018
43​
Persona 4: Dancing All Night [Japanese Version]
PS4​
Music/Rhythm2018
44​
Marvel's Spider-Man
PS4​
Action2018
45​
Akiba's Trip 2: Undead & Undressed
PS4​
Action RPG2019
46​
Spyro the Dragon Remastered
PS4​
Platformer2019
47​
Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage Remastered
PS4​
Platfomer2019
48​
Spyro 3: Year of the Dragon Remastered
PS4​
Platformer2019
49​
Tekken Tag Tournament HDPS3Fighting2019
50​
Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy HDPS3Platformer2019
51​
Taiko no Tatsujin V Version
Vita​
Music/Rhythm2019
52​
Utakumi 575
Vita​
Music/Rhythm2019
53​
Jak II: Renegade HDPS3Platformer2019
54​
Jak 3 HDPS3Platformer2019
55​
Ratchet & Clank HDPS3Platformer2019
56​
Ratchet & Clank 2: Going Commando HDPS3Platformer2019
57​
Ratchet & Clank 3: Up Your Arsenal HDPS3Platformer2019
58​
Senran Kagura: Peach Beach Splash
PS4​
Third Person Shooter2019
59​
Kingdom Hearts III
PS4​
Action RPG2020
60​
Zero Escape 3: Zero Time Dilemma
PS4​
Adventure Visual Novel2020
61​
Deadly Premonition: The Director's CutPS3Action Horror2020
62​
Gal*Gun Double Peace
PS4​
On-Rails Shooter2021
63​
Odin Sphere Leifthrasir
PS4​
Action RPG2021
64​
Kandagawa Jet Girls
PS4​
Racing2021
65​
The 25th Ward: The Silver Case
PS4​
Adventure Visual Novel2021
66​
428 Shibuya Scramble
PS4​
Visual Novel2021
67​
Blue Reflection
PS4​
Turn-Based RPG2021
 
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It's been a few years since I played it so I'm sorry I probably can't offer any accurate commentary (though it won't stop me from rambling...). I think you summed up my thoughts on the game very nicely. My favourite aspect was the fascinating way the game questioned the very nature of sentience & consciousness from the physical embodiment of a life form, be it biological or mechanical. Is there such a thing as soul or is that and what we call our personality all biochemical neuronal interactions only? Your comments made me recall how heartbreaking some of the decision-making was in the game. In terms of the main character I'd forgotten the childish behaviour & denials, but likely because I just started ignoring them as they added nothing to an otherwise beautifully constructed game. Probably a silent protagonist would have worked better here heh. Gosh, now I want to go back and play it again...but...but...my burgeoning play/read/watch-lists...nooooooo! I wasn't aware of the others you mentioned but am far too scared to enquire given my latter point heh.

I actually just played it before starting Shadow Hearts :D I don't know about the replayability because it was possible to get all the endings by only playing portions of the game. There's one decision in chapter 5 that leads to two paths and those two paths have 3 and 2 endings that mostly come down to one choice or action. I give them probs for making it possible to just load older save to get the other endings. The game remembers which cutscenes you have seen so it's easy to skip all the ones you don't want to see.
Ah I'm probably remembering the game with rose-tinted glasses then. I think then my residual impressions are from what you mentioned about the game making it easy to get the other various endings without having to repeat the same paths ad infinitum, and likely why I was able to plough through without getting bored. I do recall liking the creepy Homunculus, and haven't seen that mysterious stranger before but heh, that is pretty damned creepy too!
 
I finally finally beat and plat Persona 5 Royal in one play-through.

Spider-Man Miles Morales up next on the PS4. Looking forward to this one.
How's the Platinum for Royal? I recall it was much easier than the main game (which for me took around 140 hours because I had to almost playthrough the entire game just to get the social links maxed out for every character).
 
How's the Platinum for Royal? I recall it was much easier than the main game (which for me took around 140 hours because I had to almost playthrough the entire game just to get the social links maxed out for every character).
Yes it’s not difficult to get at all. I think the plat % is just under 20% which is pretty high for a plat trophy.
One of the achievements is bugged; getting a treasure demon. Have to have at least two slots open before capturing one for it to pop. Other than that the rest are all fairly simple.
 
Completed Hyper Light Drifter and Resident Evil 3 on Steam. I think I'm gonna give Aragami another shot. Been sitting in my library unfinished for a few years now. Time to dust it off and complete it.
My steam backlog is just 😩
 
Been playing a lot of Rust on Xbox with my brother this last couple of days. It's a quite old and buggy game but it's still a lot of fun to search for good loot and fight with other people 😃
 
My replay of Red Dead Redemption II has bloated due to the challenges - some of which are essentially locked behind the epilogue after Arthur dies unless you exploit hard to use techniques. Others like the gambling ones sometimes relied on RNG and luck which is never fun.

That said, I am getting near the end now and have very much enjoyed the rest of the game outside of these challenges and a collectathon sidequest.
 
A twist of Arknights, Honkai Impact 3rd, NieR Automata and a touch of DMC+Dark Souls? ... You know it! 🔥 Been highly anticipating a global release for this title and now we're drawing near.

I know what I'll be playing on the 27th 💃


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Honkai Impact 3rd? Sleep on it because once PGR drops, the surface you stand on will rumble. Still rocking on PGR CBT and my lord how can a mobile game be this godly tier. Embarrassed to say but many Anime styled Console/PC games cannot hold a torch to this godsend.

note: Lucia's seiyuu is Yui Ishikawa (Enterprise -Azur Lane-, YoRHa No.2 Type B (2B) -NieR:Automata-, Violet -Violet Evergarden and Mikasa Ackerman -A.O.T.- . In case that didn't win you over 👀

Quick Challenge Gameplay from yours truly. I'm playing on mobile so it's somewhat uncomfortable but I'll eventually get used to it. Nevermind, the game has PS4/Xbox controller support. Me and PGR are gonna get along real good 👊
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Ah... also pulled the "Vengeance" loving Eula. Definitely love her swiftness as a Claymore and the way she swing her longswords with beauty and finesse 💖

New Gacha Games Thread, feel free to check it out for everything related to the scene.
 
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Resident Evil VII
So rarely do I totally give up on a game, but this time I'm actually done. Not content with making me put 30 bullets into an enemy's head to put them down, now they're getting back up again afterwards, and my character doesn’t think to chop them into a fine red paste in order to stop this from happening. Or y’know, even take their axe away, presumably because doing so would break the story. Protip game writers: If your story relies on the player character being a brain-dead moron who lets his enemies live for no reason, it’s probably not very good.

Perhaps I would be more forgiving if the horror was scarier. It isn’t. I’ve heard complaints the game relies too heavily on jump scares (a common enough problem with horror games) but I can't say it's a problem I’m having as not one of the "scares" has actually made me jump. The creepy, dark abandoned house atmosphere that seemed to promise so much at the start has dissipated leaving generic, predictable, cluttered gore and rusty metal strewn environments.

The more I’m having to engage in it, the more I realise the “combat” in this game is atrocious, especially to say it came out in 2017. The chainsaw fight with Jack proved the absolute last straw, there are no tactics, there is no strategy, there is only button mashing and hoping that when you block, it actually does block and that when you attack, you hit them rather than them hitting you. When your choice is one of two buttons and the likelihood of either having the desired effect seems to be 50/50 and both appear to suffer from massive input lag (and should I be repeatedly mashing the attack button? Holding it down? Waiting for an unspecified length of time before hitting it again? WHO CAN SAY) it leads, once again, to the woeful “die a dozen times before you succeed” scenario. But this isn’t Dark Souls. It isn’t enjoyable; I don’t feel like I’m learning how to fight enemies or getting better, it just seems entirely down to chance. One boss fight, I won on the first try. The current one, I’m on attempt number eight, and I doubt I'll even be making any more. A game has not frustrated me through sheer annoyingly p*ss-poor mechanics like this since the NES. Goodbye, Resi VII. I will not miss you.
 
Frostpunk

I dabble in city management games occasionally, but this is the first one that I've stuck with throughout a full campaign. For starters, you can finish the initial scenario in about ten hours, so it doesn't outstay its welcome. That campaign is well paced so you always feel like you're making progress, but struggling. It presents you with some interesting ethical choices: whether to force children to work, provide palliative care for the gravely ill, lead with an even hand or set yourself up as a religious despot, etc. I also liked that there was no warfare to deal with; I always find it tedious when that's slapped onto a city management game, as in some of the later Settlers titles. Also, its central concept of coping with the temperature as much as resource management gave it an interesting spin. It was a weird experience playing this during the hottest week of the year so far; I was trying to stop my citizens freezing in Frostpunk while trying to stop myself roasting in real life.

I believe it's currently free on the Epic store, and it's well worth grabbing.
 
So since my Windows “reset” took vanilla Skyrim with it, I decided to start fresh and mod the crap out of it, since I’m less concerned about screwing it up than I am my SE install.* However, Vortex is seriously ticking me off due to the fact I can’t simply overwrite files like I can with manual installs and it doesn’t seem to bother to ask me which meshes or textures I want to use if there’s more than one, so currently everyone’s bodies are invisible and I can’t really understand why given that the conflicting mods are both happily installed on my SE with no issues (aside from the dreaded neck seam, but I’ve just learned to live with that). What was supposed to be fun has turned into work. I bring this on myself.

*given all the pricey “remasters” of games these days, some only a few years old, it really was awfully nice of Bethesda to just give everyone who owned the original a copy of the SE for free, but it also makes me very disinclined to pay for things like the Mass Effect and Life is Strange remasters
 
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