What Games Are You Playing?

[PorgPrince98]

thanks for the backwards compatibility Sony...

Laughs in Xbox backwards compatibility. /s

(It's not much of a boast as that program ended years ago. Hopefully because of the Activision deal, we may get some more games added. I can dream at least. )

Sucks that the backwards compatibility isn't the best on PlayStation. At least its slowly getting there with the premium sub.

 

[Geriatric hedgehog]

Laughs in Xbox backwards compatibility. /s

(It's not much of a boast as that program ended years ago. Hopefully because of the Activision deal, we may get some more games added. I can dream at least. )

Sucks that the backwards compatibility isn't the best on PlayStation. At least its slowly getting there with the premium sub.

Ah I didn't realise Xbox ended backwards compatibility, I had always rated them for that. That's a shame... At least the few original Xbox games I have I can still play on my 360 but even that's a relic now heh.

My biggest irritation is that all these manufacturers have a lot of the older games available in digital format for the newer consoles. Would it really kill them to have some way of verifying previous purchases and allowing users to download digital copies? Surely the revenue from happy and loyal customers willing to fork out with reassurance and out of loyalty will make them as much if not more money than expecting the odd nostalgic buffoon to pay premium to download their old school favourites...

 

[Lordhippos]

I played the Unicorn Overlord demo right to the end basically but am def hyped for it, I'd encourage anyone who likes RPG/Tactical Strategy to give it a go, the demo is essentially a 5 hour trial of the game so quite a good tester to see if you'd like it.

Very true, I was playing Zelda BotW ages ago, almost finished it but got bored of slogging for currency and finishing side quests being a completionist

Every game is longer if you're a completionist to be fair! I am not one, so I tend to try and do the main quests and as much of the side stuff as I can be bothered with. If it's too grindy I'll usually just stop there, so this really depends on the game in question.

If the side quests are good I don't mind doing them, but if they're just fetch quests or kill quests with no real interaction I am much less inclined to bother.

Absolutely agree, but my issue is the opposite and the same I have with anime - I want to constantly go back to the classics that I adored that it's a struggle to get to all the newer ones I've bought. I really wanted to play the remastered chrono cross (adored that game when it first came out) and FF VIII (my first and still personal favourite of the series). To add to my headache I've also bought all the xenoblade chronicles games on the switch to play, even though I only partially played the second one before getting bored of the gameplay. At least they'll be easier to play on the switch than the drakengard ones which need old consoles to be dug out, thanks for the backwards compatibility Sony...

Play the shorter ones first, I get bogged down when my list of options is too long, and then I can pick nothing at all

It helps that I very rarely re-play something I've already played, or re-watch something I've already watched when it comes to anime, always looking for new stuff here or things I've missed.

 

[Lordhippos]

FYI for anyone who hasn't yet got pre-orders for things, and in the absence of a better place to put this really, Ebay are running another 20% off code until 29/02, anything sold by TGC outlet is usually pretty well priced after taking off the 20%.

https://www.hotukdeals.com/vouchers/20-off-selected-sellers-ebay-w-code-1150-sellers-ps999-min-spend-max-ps75-discount-three-redemptions-4302904

I've pre-ordered Rise of the Ronin for £55.96 and Unicorn Overlord for £39.19 which I think are both fairly decent, though Rise of the Ronin I will keep an eye out because I'd like it for a bit less.

 

[Aeon]

So I played at least a good hour of the Unicorn Overlord demo and I’m sold, though I was already looking forward to it anyway, getting to try it out has convinced me that I’m gonna have a blast with it most likely; despite the fact that a lot of strategy RPG’s tend to have really obscure mechanics that require a university degree to play, I found that what I played of Unicorn Overlord was pretty intuitive and did a good job of explaining itself where it needed to; also I found the game to be quite a lot of fun for what I played, though I actually plan on starting over after getting the full game so I didn’t want to dig too deep into it before then but this demo has convinced me to get the full game; especially seeing as I don’t think the character I wanted to recruit above all others is in the demo from what I’ve read so that’s yet another reason to look forward to the full game, overall, this is very much on my to play list.

 

[Lordhippos]

Yep I'm really hyped for it and I can't stop thinking about it lol!

I know I'm going to play through it at least twice I think, going for different options each time on the choices.

The strategy stuff isn't too insane but in general (and without spoilers here) you want to make sure some of your squads have leaders that are useful for support. For example if you have one squad where the archer/ranger is leader, then you can use fire support from them during battles if they are nearby, and likewise for mages/healers (remote magic barrage or remote healing).

Using these actions often consumes some of their stamina as well, but they get XP for helping out, and it can be the difference between winning battles or not

 

[Aeon]

Yep I'm really hyped for it and I can't stop thinking about it lol!

I know I'm going to play through it at least twice I think, going for different options each time on the choices.

The strategy stuff isn't too insane but in general (and without spoilers here) you want to make sure some of your squads have leaders that are useful for support. For example if you have one squad where the archer/ranger is leader, then you can use fire support from them during battles if they are nearby, and likewise for mages/healers (remote magic barrage or remote healing).

Using these actions often consumes some of their stamina as well, but they get XP for helping out, and it can be the difference between winning battles or not

It also helps that Vanillaware has a genuinely excellent track record with titles such as Odin Sphere and the excellent Dragon’s Crown; regarding the strategy, I just put the OP knight guy (can’t remember his name) at the front during the first couple of missions as I’m planning on starting over after getting the game so exp sharing didn’t matter so much for the demo though I will approach it differently during the full game as I doubt the game will let me cheese it like I did in the demo much longer lol.

 

[Lordhippos]

1st play on the demo I used OP knight, 2nd one I skipped OP knight entirely, was playing on expert from the 1st moment I could select it. Feels like the right kind of challenge as you can't just steamroll all the fights and positioning/unit management matters more.

Perfectly doable without the OP knight (or even his gear as I didn't use it on anyone else either).

 

[NormanicGrav]

We continue the journey to finish more games! I started off with a rather lengthy but integral game to sort out to complete one physical game collection and then we replay an older title remastered in preparation for the latest anticipated release.

---

#04 - Nioh 2 Remastered (PlayStation 5)
Acquired: February 2021

Spoiler: My thoughts on Nioh 2 Remastered

When it comes to challenging games I pretty much never bother to check them out primarily because of time. I don't mind taking on tough boss fights but I also don't want to spend endless hours just to get through them each time. When I first played Nioh I was impressed that I was able to manage my way through the game's soulslike gameplay and eventually I would finally get my hands on a physical copy of The Nioh Collection, which consists of both Nioh games with their expansion content and remastered additions for PS5.

In 2022 I played and finished the main story of Nioh. I really enjoyed the game, managed to progress through each mission and successfully defeat the bosses throughout. I did make use of some sneaky tactics that would be considered cheating like Onmyo magic talismans but I like to think it balances out on the difficulty. In 2023 I felt like I wanted to try and complete Nioh Remastered as a whole with the expansion content and while I was able to get more trophies for the main game, I was unable to progress onto the expansions due to the game's high level requirement to progress which essentially means you need to replay the entire game on higher difficulties to get the correct gear to proceed which I didn't want to do.

So here we are with Nioh 2 Remastered. This is a prequel and continuation of the first game in itself, following a character who has the ability to turn themselves into a Yokai from time to time. In the first game, William used Guardian Spirits to add elemental abilities to their swords/weapons but in this game, you instead have Guardian Spirits to transform into a Yokai type and Yokai from Soul Cores as assistants for your battles. This does change the gameplay aspect a lot because you have new ways to combat bosses and enemies a like.

A new addition to the combat are burst counters, which allows you to counter the enemies' special red attacks that can deal tons of damage against you if you fail to dodge. This game allows you instead change the tide which is very useful but it is a risk and reward approach. I do like it a lot, however it does depend on which Guardian Spirit you are using because of the timings. I found the red burst types are much easier to use compared to the blue or yellow but it does depend on your personal combat routine.

A lot of enemies from the first game do make their return, however the game is very sneaky in which they have added new attack moves to throw you off guard so you still need to be more careful when fighting because it's not the same as before. New enemies also make their appearances and there are some annoying ones but also some neat battles.

View attachment Nioh 2 Sukuna Fight 1.mp4

The boss battles themselves are pretty solid. You will likely struggle with the snake boss in the third story mission as it is an absolute pain to defeat but as long as you receive new gear that improves your stats and spend your Amrita on higher levels, you will make it through the fight. Talismans are just as useful as before, but they have toned it down a bit to probably avoid exploiting the battles too much. That being said your Yokai Soul Cores, which is the new addition to the game, does make up for the talisman part because they can help you a lot in boss fights.

To explain soul cores I will also need to recap the UI of the combat. In addition to your health bar and stamina (also known as Ki), there's a third bar that's purple which is dedicated to your Yokai abilities. You can fill this up by attacking your enemies and it is used for burst counters and using your yokai assistant powers i.e. soul cores. These soul cores are from the enemies that you defeat which are randomised, but the higher the level the better the stats against your foes.




My favourite has been the Kasha Soul Core, from one of the main bosses of the later missions, who gives you an umbrella that targets your enemy and adds fire attacks and even helps restore bits of your health. Using that soul core and hitting the enemy at the same time absolutely makes boss battles much easier to fight, but you will need to use them wisely otherwise the enemy can dodge it. Successful burst counters or finding new soul cores can automatically refill the purple bar.

As much as I have enjoyed Nioh 2 I do have some second thoughts on whether I prefer this over the original. The story is pretty solid and the characters are likeable but I found William and his rival throughout the first game to be a much more interesting storyline than what we have here, plus the final few missions does feel thrown in. There's also inconsistencies with the character designs because time goes through fast in the story and everyone looks the same as if they haven't aged at all.

Other than the story, the enemies introduce a new zone called Dark Realm which turns everything black and white and adds more challenges to the fight especially with how it impacts your stamina. The best way to describe this is how the characters in Jujutsu Kaisen use their domain expansion abilities, it's a bitch when it happens but there are ways to survive them, only barely. I'm not a massive fan of the dark realm during the big boss fights but I suppose its the developer's solution to countering your new advantages in the combat. From what I have seen, using your Guardian Spirits and Yokai Soul Cores will help turn off the realm much faster but it is tough so I often focus on defence and dodging when I can.

I finished the main story after 47 hours 47 minutes, with each story mission completed per day outside of some days on the weekend where I was able to finish more than one. Considering the challenge and how long this game can be, I am very happy with how I was able to progress throughout this journey. Nioh 2 is a solid continuation to the first and while there's a lot of similarities to the first game, it is essentially one of those 'if it isn't broken, don't change it for the sake of it'. I very much recommend both games in The Nioh Collection as it's worth the investment.

---

#05 - Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade (PlayStation 5)
Acquired: February 2024

Spoiler: My thoughts on Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade

With the arrival of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, I wanted to take this opportunity to refresh myself on the remake's storyline and be more prepped for what's to come for the second game in the Remake trilogy.

Four years ago I played Final Fantasy VII Remake for the first time as a newcomer to this part of the mainline series. My first interaction with Final Fantasy VII was in fact the CG anime film Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children which I watched like 30-40 times when I was younger but the DVD did include a retrospective of the original Final Fantasy VII which was cool to see. So while I was aware of the surprises throughout I mostly didn't know what to expect when it came to going into the games.

Final Fantasy VII Remake adapts the first disc of the original PlayStation story which covers the introduction and Midgar portion of the game. Remake takes those four to six hours of content and expands it drastically with new ideas, more context and interesting elements that make for a well done package. Yes it's just the start of the long journey ahead but it felt complete for Part 1 of the story.

I have already written up my thoughts on the PS4 version for Final Fantasy VII Remake in general in the past so you can view my initial experiences here if you want to take a look. But I do think it's worth revisiting parts that I enjoyed and disliked, because as much as I have loved replaying this game it is not perfect by any means.

Let's start with the good things that I have enjoyed. I still think the story itself is really solid and well in-depth. It's pretty much like playing a visual novel in a way with more dialogue, more interactions and side characters expanded into having more to do than just appear for a bit here and there. The side quests are decent too. I also really enjoyed the combat which is a mix between classic turn-based with the game's ATB system but also action oriented. It did take a while to get used to it, but once I figured it out it became way more enjoyable. I actually think Barret's gameplay is underrated because he can be pretty useful in a lot of fights for his chaingun skills.

The gameplay was updated to 60 frames per second for the PS5 version which is well done and had no major issues on that part, and the presentation of the characters and buildings are well-detailed too. Music is strong and the theme that appears when Sephiroth appears is chilling and epic.

In terms of mixed thoughts, the remake introduced shadowy beings that show up here and there. This is a great concept but I have found myself torn over how the game progresses with these ideas because in reality - this remake shares the same problem that God of War 2018 had in terms of accessibility. Yes, you can jump into this without playing the previous game, but the way it unravels itself will make you feel like you have missed out on the best way to experience a lot of what's to offer. Long story short, this is a sequel to the original PlayStation game in disguise. Now this perspective can definitely change when I start playing Rebirth but because of how I felt about my time playing the Remake, I actually went straight into the original PlayStation version (via the PlayStation 4 release) straight after.

Other negatives that I have is that the middle portion of the game does have pacing issues, especially when you are going through the town where the Don is, and the journey back to Sector 7. I feel they could have made this portion shorter, now for clarity I have nothing against the town storyline because that was a lot of fun to watch - my issue is everything before and after that. Another negative is the skybox is badly designed and easily noticeable which is a shame as it feels like a demo at times. This issue is mainly during the part where the group climb up a sector. The final boss is epic but it does feel thrown in and out of place.

Overall I really enjoyed revisiting Final Fantasy VII Remake for this PS5 remaster. I spent a total of 32 hours 28 minutes playing through the main story on Normal difficulty from scratch and getting the side content sorted. I also managed to get some mini games and VR combat content sorted this time around as I didn't get the trophies for those in my original playthrough. It is interesting that despite doing more content in this playthrough I finished the game faster than before.

Next let's talk about Final Fantasy VII INTERmission, the new content that I haven't played before because it's exclusive to the PlayStation 5 version which stars everyone's favourite ninja girl Yuffie. I really enjoyed Yuffie as a character, I found her attitude and charisma really fresh and would work well to both Tifa and Aerith in Rebirth. Yuffie's combat is also pretty interesting because it's like a mix between Cloud, Aerith and Barret's combat with close-combat weapons and long-combat elemental skills.

This expansion also introduced Fort Condor mini-game which was a lot of fun and I got the trophy for getting all of the challenges sorted. I was also able to secure the summon Rafah which was very handy for the boss fights later in the game. And there's also the poster side quest which was short and simple.

In terms of the story, I would say it doesn't stand out much but it may bring back these elements in Rebirth because it does introduce some surprising ideas especially with characters from a different part of Final Fantasy VII making their appearances in the remake. I also enjoyed the chemistry between Yuffie and her partner who I felt had enough background to be likeable, though the Avalanche characters introduced here are mostly throwaway. What this expansion does well is also fill some gaps for the middle portion of the Remake's story which you only saw from Cloud's perspective for a while so it was nice to see how things played out.

Overall I also enjoyed the INTERmission expansion and got about 6 hours of playtime for the story and side content. I also played the box mini-game but I didn't manage to finish the SOLDIER difficulty one because it would take too long.

So with this now done. What do I think of this remaster package? I actually think it's the best way to be introduced to the Remake storyline as there's better framerate and resolution and we have extra content that adds value to the experience. Now I am ready to check out Rebirth.

---

My backlog so far:

Spoiler

#​	PC/Steam Backlog - Game Name:​	Genre:
1​	The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky	Turn-Based RPG
2​	The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC	Turn-Based RPG

#​	PlayStation 3 Backlog - Game Name:​	Genre:
1​	3D Dot Game Heroes	Action RPG
2​	Bleach: Soul Resurrección	Fighting
3​	Castlevania: Lords of Shadow	Action, Hack n Slash
4​	Catherine	Puzzle
5​	Drakengard 3	Action RPG
6​	Eternal Sonata	Turn-Based RPG
7​	Folklore	Action RPG
8​	Gran Turismo 5 Academy Edition	Racing
9​	inFAMOUS	Action
10​	inFAMOUS 2	Action
11​	Katamari Forever	Puzzle
12​	Prince of Persia	Action, Platformer
13​	Puppeteer	Platformer
14​	SEGA Rally	Racing
15​	Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time	Action, Platformer
16​	Split/Second: Velocity	Racing
17​	Stranglehold	Action, Shooter
18​	Tears to Tiara II: Heir of the Overlord	Tactical RPG, Visual Novel
19​	Way of the Samurai 4	Action

#​	PlayStation 4 Backlog - Game Name:	Genre:
1​	13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim	Tactical RPG, Visual Novel
2​	AI: The Somnium Files	Adventure, Visual Novel
3​	Black Clover: Quartet Knights	Action, Fighting
4​	Bullet Girls Phantasia	Action, Shooter
5​	Burnout Paradise Remastered	Racing
6​	The Caligula Effect: Overdose	Turn-Based RPG
7​	Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions	Sports
8​	Catherine Full Body	Puzzle
9​	Chaos;Child	Visual Novel
10​	Conception Plus: Maidens of the Twelve Stars	Turn-Based RPG
11​	CRYSTAR	Action RPG
12​	Cyberdimension Neptunia: Four Goddesses Online	Action RPG
13​	Danganronpa 1 Reload	Visual Novel
14​	Danganronpa 2 Reload	Visual Novel
15​	Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls	Action, Shooter
16​	Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony	Visual Novel
17​	Date A Live: Rinne Utopia (Rio-Reincarnation)	Visual Novel, Dating Sim
18​	Date A Live II: Ars Install (Rio-Reincarnation)	Visual Novel, Dating Sim
19​	Date A Live III: Twin Edition: Rio Reincarnation	Visual Novel, Dating Sim
20​	Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth - Hacker's Memory	Turn-Based RPG
21​	Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories	Adventure, Simulation
22​	Dissidia Final Fantasy NT	Arcade, Fighting
23​	Dragon Quest Heroes II	Action RPG, Musou
24​	Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition	Turn-Based RPG
25​	Dragon's Crown Pro	Action RPG
26​	Fairy Tail	Turn-Based RPG
27​	Fate/Extella Link	Musou
28​	Final Fantasy IX	Turn-Based RPG
29​	Final Fantasy VIII Remastered	Turn-Based RPG
30​	Full Metal Panic! Fight! Who Dares Win	Tactical RPG
31​	Gal*Gun 2	On-Rails Shooter
32​	Gintama Rumble	Action, Musou
33​	GOD EATER 3	Action Hunter RPG
34​	Gravity Rush 2	Action, Platformer
35​	The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures	Visual Novel
36​	The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve	Visual Novel
37​	Gundam Breaker 3 BREAK EDITION	Action, Arcade
38​	The Hong Kong Massacre	Top-Down Shooter
39​	Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Infinite Combate	Action RPG
40​	JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven	Fighting
41​	Kotodama: The 7 Mysteries of Fujisawa	Puzzle, Visual Novel
42​	Langrisser	Tactical RPG
43​	Langrisser II	Tactical RPG
44​	The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel	Turn-Based RPG
45​	The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II	Turn-Based RPG
46​	The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III	Turn-Based RPG
47​	The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV	Turn-Based RPG
48​	Legend of Mana	Action RPG
49​	Megadimension Neptunia VII	Turn-Based RPG
50​	Megadimension Neptunia VIIR	Turn-Based RPG
51​	MELTY BLOOD: TYPE LUMINA	Fighting
52​	Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm	Action, Fighting
53​	Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 2	Action, Fighting
54​	Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 3	Action, Fighting
55​	Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 4: Road to Boruto	Action, Fighting
56​	NEO: The World Ends With You	Action RPG
57​	Neptunia Virtual Stars	Action
58​	Neptunia x Senran Kagura: Ninja Wars	Action
59​	Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Remastered	Turn-Based RPG
60​	Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom	Action RPG
61​	Nights of Azure	Action RPG
62​	Nights of Azure 2: Bride of the New Moon	Action RPG
63​	One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4	Action, Musou
64​	One Piece: Unlimited World Red	Action
65​	One Piece: World Seeker	Action
66​	Our World Is Ended	Visual Novel
67​	Persona 5 Royal	Turn-Based RPG
68​	Persona 5 Strikers	Action RPG, Musou
69​	Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney	Visual Novel
70​	Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All	Visual Novel
71​	Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations	Visual Novel
72​	Punch Line	Visual Novel
73​	Raging Loop	Visual Novel
74​	Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-: Prophecy of the Throne	Visual Novel
75​	Robotics;Notes DaSH	Visual Novel
76​	Robotics;Notes ELITE	Visual Novel
77​	RUINER	Action, Shooter
78​	SD Gundam G Generation Cross Rays	Tactical RPG
79​	SD Gundam G Generation Genesis	Tactical RPG
80​	Secret of Mana	Action RPG
81​	Sengoku Basara 4: Sumeragi	Musou
82​	Senran Kagura Burst Re:Newal	Action
83​	Shadow of the Colossus	Platformer
84​	Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster	Turn-Based RPG
85​	Star Ocean: First Departure R	Action RPG
86​	Star Ocean: The Last Hope HD Remaster	Action RPG
87​	Steins;Gate Elite	Visual Novel
88​	Super Neptunia RPG	Turn-Based RPG
89​	Super Robot Wars 30	Tactical RPG
90​	Super Robot Wars OG: The Moon Dwellers	Tactical RPG
91​	Super Robot Wars T	Tactical RPG
92​	Super Robot Wars X	Tactical RPG
93​	Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet	Action RPG
94​	Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum Sessions!	Music, Rhythm
95​	Tales of Berseria	Action RPG
96​	Tales of Vesperia	Action RPG
97​	Theatrhythm Final Bar Line	Music, Rhythm
98​	Tokyo Xanadu eX+	Action RPG
99​	Trials of Mana	Action RPG
100​	Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception	Tactical RPG, Visual Novel
101​	Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth	Tactical RPG, Visual Novel
102​	Utawarerumono: Prelude to the Fallen	Tactical RPG, Visual Novel
103​	Utawarerumono: Zan	Action, Musou
104​	Valkyria Chronicles 4	Tactical RPG
105​	Valkyria Revolution	Action RPG
106​	WipEout Omega Collection	Racing
107​	The Witch and the Hundred Knight Revival Edition	Action RPG
108​	WORLDEND SYNDROME	Visual Novel
109​	Yakuza 3 Remastered	Action, Beat em up
110​	Yakuza 4 Remastered	Action, Beat em up
111​	Yakuza 5 Remastered	Action, Beat em up
112​	YU-NO: A Girl Who Chants Love at the Bound of this World	Visual Novel

#​	PlayStation 5 Backlog - Game Name:	Genre:
1​	Alan Wake Remastered	Action, Shooter
2​	CONTROL Ultimate Edition	Action, Shooter
3​	Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII -Reunion-	Action RPG
4​	Cyberpunk 2077	Action
5​	Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles	Fighting
6​	The DioField Chronicle	Tactical RPG
7​	DOOM Eternal	Action, Shooter
8​	FANTAVISION 202X	Puzzle
9​	Final Fantasy VII Rebirth	Action RPG
10​	Forspoken	Action RPG
11​	Ghost of Tsushima	Action, Adventure
12​	Ghostwire: Tokyo	Action, Survival Horror
13​	GrimGrimoire OnceMore	Real-Time Strategy RPG
14​	Hades	Dungeon Crawler
15​	JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R	Fighting
16​	Judgment	Action, Beat em up
17​	The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie	Turn-Based RPG
18​	Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name	Action, Beat 'em up
19​	Lost Judgment	Action, Beat em up
20​	Mobile Suit Gundam BATTLE OPERATION Code Fairy	Action
21​	MONARK	Tactical RPG
22​	Monochrome Mobius: Rights and Wrongs Forgotten	Turn-Based RPG
23​	Neptunia ReVerse	Turn-Based RPG
24​	Neptunia: Sisters vs Sisters	Action RPG
25​	One Piece: Odyssey	Turn-Based RPG
26​	Pac-Man World Re-Pac	Platformer
27​	Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit of Wonder Labyrinth	Metroidvania RPG
28​	Relayer	Tactical RPG
29​	SD Gundam Battle Alliance	Action RPG
30​	Soul Hackers 2	Turn-Based RPG
31​	Star Ocean: The Divine Force	Action RPG
32​	Star Ocean: The Second Story R	Action RPG
33​	Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin	Action Souls RPG
34​	Tactics Ogre Reborn	Tactical RPG
35​	Tales of Arise	Action RPG
36​	Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2	Sports
37​	Valkyrie Elysium	Action RPG
38​	Yakuza 7: Like a Dragon	Turn-Based RPG
39​	Ys IX: Monstrum Nox	Action RPG
40​	Yurukill: The Calumniation Games	Shoot em up, Visual Novel

#​	PlayStation Classics (via PS5) Backlog - Game Name:	Genre:
1​	Disney/Pixar's Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue	Platformer
2​	Everybody's Golf 2	Sports
3​	Grandia	Turn-Based RPG
4​	Kurushi Final: Mental Blocks	Puzzle
5​	The Legend of Dragoon	Turn-Based RPG
6​	Twisted Metal 2	Action, Racing
7​	Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth	Turn-Based RPG
8​	Wild Arms	Turn-Based RPG
9​	Wild Arms 2	Turn-Based RPG

#​	PlayStation Vita Backlog - Game Name:	Genre:
1​	Bullet Girls	Action, Shooter
2​	Freedom Wars	Action
3​	Valkyrie Drive Bhikkhuni	Action

#​	Nintendo Switch Backlog - Game Name:	Genre:
1​	Akai Katana Shin	Bullet Hell, Shoot 'em up
2​	Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition	Adventure, Point & Click
3​	Castlevania (Anniversary Collection)	Action, Platform
4​	Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge (Anniversary Collection)	Action, Platform
5​	Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (Anniversary Collection)	Action, Platform
6​	Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse (Anniversary Collection)	Action, Platform
7​	Castlevania: The Adventure (Anniversary Collection)	Action, Platform
8​	Castlevania: Bloodlines (Anniversary Collection)	Action, Platform
9​	Contra (Anniversary Collection)	Side-scrolling Shooter
10​	Contra Hard Corps (Anniversary Collection)	Side-scrolling Shooter
11​	Contra III: The Alien Wars (Anniversary Collection)	Side-scrolling Shooter
12​	Cursed to Golf	Sports, Platformer
13​	Cytus Alpha	Music, Rhythm
14​	Deathsmiles	Bullet Hell, Shoot 'em up
15​	Deathsmiles II	Bullet Hell, Shoot 'em up
16​	Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze	Action, Platform
17​	Final Fantasy	Turn-Based RPG
18​	Final Fantasy Adventure (Collection of Mana)	Action RPG
19​	Final Fantasy II	Turn-Based RPG
20​	Final Fantasy III	Turn-Based RPG
21​	Final Fantasy IV	Turn-Based RPG
22​	Final Fantasy V	Turn-Based RPG
23​	Final Fantasy VI	Turn-Based RPG
24​	Fire Emblem: Engage	Tactical RPG
25​	Fire Emblem: Three Houses	Tactical RPG
26​	The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero	Turn-Based RPG
27​	The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure	Turn-Based RPG
28​	The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails	Action RPG
29​	The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild	Action RPG
30​	The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening	Action RPG
31​	Live A Live	Tactical RPG
32​	Mario Kart 8 Deluxe	Racing
33​	Metroid Dread	Metroidvania
34​	Metroid Prime Remastered	Action, Shooter
35​	MUSYNX	Music, Rhythm
36​	New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe	Platformer
37​	Octopath Traveler	Turn-Based RPG
38​	Operation C (Anniversary Collection)	Side-scrolling Shooter
39​	Paper Mario: The Origami King	Turn-Based RPG
40​	Powerslave Exhumed	Action, Shooter
41​	Rhapsody II: Ballad of the Little Princess	Turn-Based RPG
42​	Rhapsody III: Memories of Marl Kingdom	Turn-Based RPG
43​	River City Girls Zero	Action, Beat 'em ups
44​	Secret of Mana (Collection of Mana)	Action RPG
45​	Senran Kagura Peach Ball	Pinball
46​	Senran Kagura Reflexions	Simulation
47​	Shadow Man Remastered	Action, Adventure
48​	Super Castlevania IV (Anniversary Collection)	Action, Platform
49​	Super Contra (Anniversary Collection)	Side-scrolling Shooter
50​	Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury	Action, Platformer
51​	Super Mario Galaxy	Action, Platformer
52​	Super Mario Odyssey	Action, Platformer
53​	Super Mario Sunshine	Action, Platformer
54​	Super Smash Bros. Ultimate	Fighting
55​	Syd of Valis (SD Valis)	Action, Platformer
56​	Trials of Mana (Collection of Mana)	Action RPG
57​	Valis: The Fantasm Soldier	Action, Platformer
58​	Valis II	Action, Platformer
59​	Valis III	Action, Platformer
60​	Valis IV	Action, Platformer
61​	Witch on the Holy Night	Visual Novel
62​	Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition	Action RPG
63​	Xenoblade Chronicles 2	Action RPG
64​	Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna - The Golden Country	Action RPG
65​	Yoshi's Crafted World	Action, Platformer

The 2024 '40' Games Goal:

Spoiler

No.	Game	Console​	Acquired​	Genre
1​	Quake	PS5​	2023​	Action, Shooter
2​	Quake II	PS5​	2023​	Action, Shooter
3​	MushimeSama	Switch​	2023​	Bullet Hell, Shoot 'em up
4​	Nioh 2 Remastered	PS5​	2022​	Action Souls RPG
5​	Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade	PS5​	2024​	Action RPG

 

[DragoStark]

I finally finished OG FF7 the other week after various hiatuses. It was a good experience. Will definitely check out the remakes and crisis core sometime in the future. Also, while I haven't actually finished Elden Ring, I'm at the point which is good for the DLC coming out in a few months (we do not play DLC on a NG+. I made that mistake in DS3), so I've just been spending my time as a summon and helping other people. Honestly I'm enjoying it a lot more than the actual base game. I know the Haligtree like the back of my hand now
For now however, my friends kindly gifted me a copy of Baldurs Gate 3 for my birthday (which is at the end of March but they wanted to give it to me sooner so we can all play together) so I will be spending the next few months playing nothing but this haha.

 

[D1tchd1gger]

Hit 200 hours on my first Elden Ring play through!

 

[HWR]

I finished Persona 3 Reload recently and platinumed it as well. The only thing I didn’t do was the secret boss, as it was just an arseache to do, but thankfully didn’t affect the trophies. Despite the music being worse off in some areas (mainly when vocals were featured) this was a great remake - a shame the FemC route wasn’t included as well though.

I’m now playing Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth and have been exploring Hawaii head-to-toe.

 

[Gemsy-chan]

I completed Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and I loved it. So good and can't wait for the final installment.

I didn't complete absolutely everything as I want to do the story first, but I can go back now on chapter selection.

 

[Lucky_Deity]

I completed Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and I loved it. So good and can't wait for the final installment.

I didn't complete absolutely everything as I want to do the story first, but I can go back now on chapter selection.

Almost finished it myself though I've been doing absolutely everything though a few of the final side content bits I am really struggling with...

Spoiler: Possible Spoilers

...which are Hard Mode Cactuar Crush and the Nightmare Survival on Queen's Blood. Apart from that I'm pretty sure I've done everything prior to going to the Northern continent.

Oh and that the final Chocobo challenge in Cosmo Canyon I'm pretty sure is bugged meaning I can't achieve Rank III on it).

There are also the final Combat Simulator challenges actually but I'm not Level 70 yet so I'm going to leave that and the other bits mentioned until post-game.

There's probably a few tiny bits I'm forgetting about as this game feels endless in content and I've loved almost every second of it (some of the mini-games can be infuriating though when going for the top scores ).

 

[Lordhippos]

I'm fairly near to the end of FF7 I think and hoping to wrap it up this week before Dragons Dogma 2 and Rise of the Ronin both arrive on the same day! Will add some of my own thoughts once I'm done with it.

 

[HWR]

I’ve sunk around 30 hours into Infinite Wealth and 1/3 of that feels like it was just for the Sujimon quest which I have to redo the final fight for as I was under-levelled for the events afterwards and got mullered.

 

[Lordhippos]

Ebay are doing a 20% off code again, so once more, worth mentioning in case people were after any new game pre-orders or similar.

https://www.hotukdeals.com/vouchers/20-off-selected-sellers-ebay-w-code-1000-sellers-ps999-min-spend-max-ps75-discount-three-redemptions-4313163

Using TGC outlet I have pre-ordered Rise of the Ronin and Stellar Blade for £56 each which is a pretty reasonable price for those I think.

 

[Lordhippos]

In the last couple of weeks I've been on a mission to complete two games ahead of Dragons Dogma 2 and Rise of the Ronin both arriving on the same day.

Unicorn Overlord

This game was awesome and I highly recommend it for people who enjoy tactical RPG games. Vanillaware animations are top tier and the story and action have a good pace of delivery to ensure you're never bored. The game introduced some new systems and mechanics slowly and this allows even novice players of this genre to grasp how the game works without needing to read lots of instructions.

There is like a 6-7 hour demo you can try as well before buying it, they are that confident in the demo that they are willing to give you plenty of time to try it out.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

I've not played the OG FF7 games so hard to get nostalgic about things here, but I have played FF7 Remake part 1, the Intergrade DLC, and the Crisis Core one so I did enjoy seeing some throwbacks to events/places out of those.

With that said, I think that for the most part the story elements here were very good, I'll add some comments/issues I had in spoilers here as I don't want to spoil anything for people who haven't reached the end yet. I have a fair bit to add here so this will be quite long.

Spoiler

There are quite a few issues I had which stop this game being as good as it really should be. I could probably write more, but you guys may get the idea.

In no particular order:

Open World

Open world traversal was largely a pain and the open world locations were copy/paste objectives. Poor map design meant that there was usually only one route to get to something, and it could be that you need to traverse from elsewhere, or find a cave, or a hidden path or similar. I wish they made the map traversal a bit more open, more than one route to places to discover.

Gongaga jungle was the worst zone of them all. Nibelheim was the most fun to traverse as your chocobo could practically fly.

Chocobo bouncing off the smallest thing you bump into was meh as well, and the car driving into anything instantly stopped it dead as well. Physics engine not really at work here.

I hated how involved Chadley was as I don't like his character really, and every time you did something he'd give you a little video message and a chat. I did joke with him at the start and said I didn't remember him

Side Quests

A lot of side quests were kind of boring and simple. Side quests such as find ingredients for dinner, or go rescue some chickens, are simply lazy quest design. I wish they took a leaf out of Witcher 3's book and made each side quest interesting so they were always worth doing. I started skipping the later ones.

I feel like this game doesn't necessarily really respect your time, so it's happy to add filler to slow you down.

Example of a quest which just wasn't fun was the one where you had to rescue to bird in Corel. You have to visit 3 different bird cages and lay bait, and then re-visit all 3 locations again to complete the quest.

Mini Games

There are far, far too many mini games, and some of them were really not fun at all. It was almost a game of "what can become a mini game?". Highlights for worst mini games include:

• Moogle babysitting
• Cactuar protorelic (esp as Aerith)
• Glide de Chocobo (which for some reason had no inverse ascend/descend control - every single flight based game I've ever played you pull down on the stick to go up!).

I quite liked Queens Blood but I had to change up my deck that I had been using to reach the end totally for the last fight.

Enemies

There were a lot of annoying enemies to fight to be honest, the combat in this game isn't that amazing to me to begin with, but when you throw in:

• Flying enemies in general
• Enemies that turn you into a frog
• Enemies that petrify you
• Enemies that become invincible (jellyfish)
• Enemies that are hard to hit (cactuar)
• Enemies that one shot kill you (or your whole party)

These kinds of things don't really make for fun or engaging fights.

I wish they transplanted the combat from Granblue Fantasy Relink into this because that had way more fun combat (to me).

Levelling Systems

They've turned everything into a levelling system, there is:

• Your level
• Your party level
• Your crafting level
• Your weapon level
• Your relationship level with characters
• Your Queens Blood level
• Your Moogle vendor level
• Materia levels

It felt like they just wanted to gamify everything. The weapon level/SP stuff really sucked from a visual point as well, I was mainly just putting points into whatever because trying to optimise this for all of your characters was just a chore I didn't want.

As a general note, the lack of continuation of your character from the 1st game kind of makes all of this levelling pointless as well, I suspect we'll get a brand new character set in the 3rd instalment as well.

Main Story

The main story was the best of the game really, but was probably 25% of my actual playtime, the rest was spent on sort of filler open world and quests. I completed this with an 82 hour save file, and with some stuff left not done still such as Gilgamesh island, because the thought of fighting two bosses at once instead of one was enough to put me off.

I tried to do basically everything I could though, some of the mini games I liked so I went for higher scores, some of the open world bits were OK so I didn't mind them, though it got a little zzz after the first 2-3 zones.

My least favourite main story bit was probably the Cait Sith section. I liked the boat section and the bit leading up to it where you get your own little squad of Shinra troops from the seventh.

The ending sequence was a little too long winded for it's own good I thought, with multiple phase/character Sephiroth battles, and the final move he does (the end is nigh) was a totally out of the blue thing which is a DPS check, if you fail, you have to start that bit of the fight again. I wouldn't mind but you also get no opportunity to swap gear or materia etc after this like 2 hour long battle starts, so if you get here and you can't finish it, you have to accept going quite far back or retrying this fight at least a few times.

As for the actual ending itself, honestly mostly just confusing, Aerith died, but she didn't, and then she is there helping you, but she's not there at the end, and only you can see her. As a general rule I dislike multiverse stories unless they can make it coherent enough to follow what is going on, here the "is this real?" vs "is this imaginary" played a little too often for me, this takes away impact of things as you're second guessing yourself as to whether it's a real event or not.

 

[Titan]

Ebay are doing a 20% off code again, so once more, worth mentioning in case people were after any new game pre-orders or similar.

https://www.hotukdeals.com/vouchers/20-off-selected-sellers-ebay-w-code-1000-sellers-ps999-min-spend-max-ps75-discount-three-redemptions-4313163

Using TGC outlet I have pre-ordered Rise of the Ronin and Stellar Blade for £56 each which is a pretty reasonable price for those I think.

My wallet hates you right now.

 

[Lordhippos]

My wallet hates you right now.

I'm glad I helped!