Sorry, I just kinda dread all the notifications so I don't wanna do it, but is there a charitable soul to post wybp ?
Ok, let it be this. Mine will be in the comments (later, I have to go rn).
Worst case scenario you can take over the comments and I'll edit the post ... :-/
Have a wonderful weekend everyone btw !
What's that now ?
Dégonflé since 1987
[NSW friend code in pinned chost]
I did a bluesky, it's r-l-z and whatever the normal bluesky thing is.
Also a pillowfort.
https://www.pillowfort.social/R-L-Z
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in reply to @R-L-Z's post:
I picked up Alan Wake II and it’s ok so far. Game has a bit too much story to the extent that it feels walking sim-ish at times. The survival horror elements are there, so that’s a plus, but it doesn’t ever settle into a comfortable loop the way something like RE2 Remake does right away.
Did they add survival horror? Because the first game wasn't survival horror. It was just an action game telling a horror story. There's no item management with tons and tons of bullets, even on Nightmare. I mean most of the boss areas have a infinite ammo box. You can just stand next to it and never run out of bullets.
Yeah it’s nothing like the first game, which I was never a big fan of for the record. The sequel is closer to what I want from a horror game, but there is a massive focus on story.
Movement and shooting is re4-ified. It has inventory management, manual saves, a ton of item stashes that often require a key or puzzle solution, and the levels are large semi-linear sandboxes with a good amount of exploration at times. Resources aren’t exactly scarce but the game doesn’t shower you with bullets, or enemies for that matter. Combat is surprisingly rare.
Why did Square's mid-tier games strategy fail so miserably? Since I started posting in Dtoid, I noticed a significant portion of commentators claim they missed the mid-tier games that defined the PS1/2 era, and that was supported by the gaming scene in YouTube. Yet, when Square unleashed a deluge of such game last year, none of them succeeded in making an impact.
Indeed, Front Mission 2 Remake, which was released in the West for the first time early this month, barely got any acknowledgment beyond a poor review by someone who couldn't gather how to play the game from Nintendo Life. This is a game people wrote to Square in the past demanding that they localize it.
Now, Square-Enix are reportedly abandoning their plans for those kinds of games, opting to focus fully on AAA games and such. Which is a shame, since those games released last year, despite their flaws, showed much more creativity and originality than the entirety of Square-Enix's AAA output of latter years. Only the work of Team Asano, which is not actually mid-tier, but looks to be deliberatly channleing that era, is passable for me.
Why did this happen just when it seemed we could get back to the best of Square?
Check out my latest PS1 Review of Jade Cocoon,a cult-classic JRPG that is partially inspired by Pokemon and Studio Ghibli. It has a surprisingly good narrative for a PS1game and innovative Monster fusion mechanic. However, some sluggish pace, repetitive dungeons, and poor Monster designs holds it from greatness.
Also, check out my latest Mega Man Retrospective blog about Mega Man X6, the point where the series jumped the shark in the opinion of a lot of people, and I am one of them. Despite some excellent music and sprite graphics, the game is simply poorly designed from top to bottom.
Finally,check out my weekly updates on the games I am playing now. The information in brackets is how long I have been playing the games and how close they are to the checkpoint that decides if I continue with them or not.
-Wild Arms (PS1) [1/4W]: This is exactly the kind of "mid-tier" game that I terribly miss. An extremely confident and competent JRPG that exudes a unique kind of style and charm that simply does not exist in other games. For Wild Arms, that charm was in fusing the Cowboy Western genre with JRPG and Anime tropes to create a unique world, with amazing music, and a really good story. Here is a game that has full confidence in itself, that it opens with a starting credit roll over an amazing funeral sequence three hours into the game. To humanity's eternal shame, they allowed the Wild Arms series to wither and die, but the legacy of the first two games on the PS1 lives on, and I will thoroughly enjoy this one.
-The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (Switch)[4/5W]: Nintendo, thanks to their dual home and portable console business, were operating with a model such that the portable games could be defined more as "mid-tier" games when compared to their home console cousins, even for the same franchise. With the merging of the two lines with the Switch, I feared that the Nintendo "mid-tier" game might disappear with that merger, and I think that has largely been the case. However, there are still some portable games to remake, and that's where Link's Awakening comes in.
This is the perfect bite-sized adventure for our green-clad hero, and it is a charming game from top to bottom. However, I don't particularly enjoy Dempe's make-a-dungeon system.
-CrossCode (Switch) [2/3W]: I am still enjoying my time with the 16-bit world of CrossCode. Mechanically, the combat system is really solid, while all the supporting systems mostly sync well together. However, my feeling that the game needed some editing persists. Besides the large number of side-quests, there is one system that I feel is at odds with the rest of the game. At one level, this is a game that wants you to explore each nook and cranny of every area. Yet, in order to maximize your combat gains, you are asked to go into a combat combo where you go fight one enemy after another with a countdown timer pushing you to fight before the combo is reset. This means that you will need to rush through areas to keep that timer from going down, which goes against the spirit of exploration. A better system would have been not to have a timer, but to keep you from auto-healing while the combo is still going. After all, the timer doesn't really add much to the experience.
-Judgment (PS4/5)[1/6W]: This is basically a Yakuza (Like a Dragon) game with a different coat of paint. Hell, the coat of paint is not that much different. This means this is a game full of bloated bullshit on top of a melodramatic soap opera of a story, filled to the brim with illogical characters, illogical actions, and a mountain of wasted time with maybe 10% good stuff.
Yet, despite knowing all of that, I continue playing those games. Is it because the good 10% is so damn worth it? Is it because I actually like playing Mahjong and Shogi? Regardless of the reason, I am giving myself a hard cap of 6 weeks to finish the story and be done with the game.
-Upcoming Games in my Backlog in Uncertain Order: Wild Arms 2 (PS1), Dragon Quest XI (Switch), Panzer Paladin (Switch), The Last of Us Part II (PS4/5)
Square lost the golden egg, and has been chasing quick buck trends long after they've proven to be ineffective in order to to get that egg back ever since.
I think you mean the Golden Goose.
They slaughtered that goose a long time ago when they made the first Final Fantasy movie. Since then, they managed to unearth some golden eggs every now and then, but I thin the HD-2D stuff of Team Asano is a new Golden Goose that I hope they don't kill.
I couldn’t get into Yakuza 0 when I played it earlier this year sadly. It’s a series I thought I’d love but maybe it just wasn’t the right time for me - might go back to it next year.
What’re your thoughts on the Links Awakening Switch art style? I’m not going to lie, I hate it lol.
Square’s situation is really interesting and personally my hope would be that they stick to the AA development a bit longer. Seemed like some good games came out of this strategy this year.
It takes Y0 a little while for the story to get really trucking along. Plus there's so much to do and so many distractions in it....played it early on during the pandemic lockdowns where it was easy enough to drop 120hrs into it without much effort lol.
I dropped it in the first Mishima chapter (I think that’s what he’s called). The hostess business wasn’t really my jam and it was way more boring than the story in the chapters with the other guy.
Definitely smart to hold off when you did then. It's a real commitment to get through it, no need to force yourself to enjoy it. You only get to play through Y0 for the first time once.
The hostess mini-game is an optional side-quest. You could go through the rest of the story without having to go through it. The same goes for Kiryu's real-estate side-quest.
If you are not going to engage with the side-quests and side activities, you should lower the difficulty and go through the critical story path, which is only about 20-25 hours long.
Thanks for the advice, I feel happy in the knowledge this series may not be for me. Reduces potential backlog haha! I’ve recently taken note of how little time I actually have to play videogames, and it’s given me the confidence to move on from games and franchises which won’t fulfil or entertain me, rather than battling through things I feel I ‘should’ play.
We all have to deal with a limited time for our gaming time.
In my opinion, the only game that is a must-play in the Yakuza series is 0. If that game doesn't hook you with its story or mountain of side activities, then the rest of the series only gets worse (1 & 2 are fine, then it falls off a cliff).
Again, if the story DID interest you, but you are not interested in engaging with all the other stuff, then just change it to Easy and rush through the story. But only do this if the story REALLY interested you. Otherwise, just follow your instincts.
If you can't get into Yakuza 0, then this series is not for you. It is the best game in the series by a margin for me.
As for Link's Awakening, I like the art style. Its toy-like aesthetic fits the style of the original and is perfect for depicting the dream-like quality of the game.
Also, I think that this game proves that AA titles still have a place, and like you, I hope Square-Enix keeps up with those kinds of games. However, if the lack of marketing for Front Mission 2 and Star Ocean 2 remakes is any indication, it looks like the new direction completely ignores those titles.
Yeah that’s a shame, especially considering the critical reception SO2 is currently getting. Fingers crossed that turns into game sales for them.
I guess the Links Awakening art looks too plasticky for me - makes it hard to imagine it’s a real adventure with threat etc. not sure why the original allowed me to imagine that haha I guess it’s just personal preference.
After all, Link's Awakening is NOT a real adventure with threat. It's all happening in a dream, which is why I think that the toy-like aesthetic of the game fits so well with it. Also, there is a dream-like border around the screen the subtly reinforces the effect.
Been mopping up AC6 bosses in NG+. It's amazing what a stun needle up anyones ass does.
Also playing Hunt: Showdown too late into the night and regretting it at work functions the next day.
You know, I read that as Assassin’s Creed 6, then Armored Core, but am back to AssCreed w the mention of a stun needle. WHATCHA PLAYIN, PAIZANO? 🤌🏻🤌🏻🤌🏻
It's obviously Animal Crossing !
Really though, I almost asked the question but then thought Armored Core because I don't know of Assassin's Creed having bosses (never played it though). Maybe a stun needle is more like some electrified rebar that mechs stick up each other's butts when angry ?
I DONT KNOW! 😂😂😂 it could be Animal Crossing. Maybe Arcade Cabinet? Ace Combat?
Armored Core, but I do enjoy that the stun needle fits for both.
Whenever I've some free time I've been, you guessed it, glued to my Wii U.
But Playing PSX games on it. MDK, CTR, and FFVII for the most part.
Nothing New has really caught my attention 🤷
I only played the demo for MDK and a good part of 2. It was a fun franchise, I hope it gets unearthed again.
I just now realized at 18:49 that it was Saturday today lol. MY BAD and thanks for subbing in!!
Edit: beat Remnant 2 earlier this week and it’s def a solid 8.5 or 9/10. I really really enjoyed it most of the way through and if Spidey 2 wasn’t out I’d prob have played Adventure Mode and checked more stuff out. Only two real negatives for me: the final boss is hot fuckin trash, and the protag’s voice acting and writing is totally at odds w the epicness and seriousness of the rest of the game. Your character’s lines are like a smarmy asshole - the tonal shift is totally off putting. Thankfully they don’t speak much!
Started Spidey 2 and just love it already. Never a doubt.
Still SNAP, but I’ve reached hate-playing it. I think I’m almost done for a while.
Went to Estonia for the week and had a lovely/mixed time there. The city is gorgeous and there was loads to see and do. It’s snowed twice here in Riga and I’m loving the weather.
Still reading Winter World by AG Riddle and it’s becoming a slog. Idk why. So I started HP Sauce and the Sorceror’s Stone which, Rowling herself aside, the book is lovely. I’ve never read the series and I’m actually excited to do so.
Book-wise I’m working through beta reader feedback, reworking my first 15-20 or so pages, and have started emailed literary agents in the ever dreaded querying process. Fingers crossed there.
Been doing pretty poorly mentally, idk what’s going on. Playing Spidey has helped, so has cooking and snuggling my dog. So I’ll keep doing that.
Hope you’re all doing ok out there. Pat loved ya.
No problem, also I hope your mental state improves. I'm almost kinda jealous that you get to hug dogs and have snow, so do use that especially if it makes you feel better.
Henry Pooper is a good time too, I hope it brings you comfort as well.
Have a lovely weekend !
Thanks! Tbh the fact that it’s not Charles Martinet really ruins it for me. Idk if I can play it.
Well, at least there's Spider-Man and cute puppies then. Just keep away from what I've been playing and you'll be fine.
😂😂😂 I’ll be eating good going from spider-man 2 to Alan wake 2 to any number of other amazing releases.
Spider-Man always brings a smile to my face. Hope it helps make you feel better too! And fingers crossed for you to snatch an agent soon!
Thank you! It definitely helps me feel good for sure. It’s such a positive game and everything there is to do is a nice little dopamine hit :)
Maybe ✨seasonal depression✨ is hitting early? Whatever it is, I hope you feel better!
"Still SNAP, but I’ve reached hate-playing it. I think I’m almost done for a while."
Oh I get that. Very addictive but was more angry playing it than feeling good. I already have twitter in my life for that 😂
Haha yeah. Rage playing? Idk. And yeah I try to avoid doomscrolling and realized lately it’s been anti-corporate IG that’s gotten to me lol.
More Lies of P. I'm almost done with the game, but I don't really want to be. Might commit myself to at least one NG+ in the future.
Some of Slay the Princess. Good game, more variety in routes than I expected.
My three primary games of course, Pocket Camp, Nikke and Splatoon 3 as well this week I got some nostalgia and returned to classic titles, installed in my PS Vita Street Fighter Aplha 3 and The King of Fighters ‘97, yes I do love fighting games as well, used to spent the 99% of my free time at the arcades when I was younger, good old fucking times when life was easier as well I was able to make tons of friends at those times, damn it really miss those times 😭
So which monsters do you rep in the Splatfest ? I'm going with ghosts.
Also I don't remember where you are in Mexico, I hope the storm didn't cause you or any close people any trouble.
I was team ghost, yes, we won, sorry man was kinda busy, daughter has been playing a gatcha game for a while at her cellphone and she wanted me to play it as well, at my city everything remains the same like always, the only difference is that right now is cold, love it 🥳
Hi everyone, sorry for the fumbling post.
So I capped off last weekend with some Splatoon 3 and hope to get some matches in this weekend to represent team Ghosts, staying true to my original Splatoon choice. Zombies stink and them bones are brittle.
Other than that I made some progress in Super Mario bros. Wonder. At the point where you can choose where to go I decided to go with lava and work backwards from there. I only have to cap off that world with the castle and then I think it's bog time. Wonderful game, I never thought I'd like 2D Mario as much as other 2D platformer franchises from Nintendo but here it is, about as good and inventive as Tropical Freeze or Woolly World.
One other game I picked up on a whim because Halloween is Layers of Fear : Legacy. I'm over halfway through and it's a bit of a mixed bag. At first I expected it to be more of a P&C thing with puzzles and looking through all the stuff early on I thought I wouldn't have it in me to do much, but then came the more linear part and while it felt less overwhelming it was also kind of underwhelming. There's no real danger and the jumpscares are rare and not really scary. I went through a part featuring dolls though and it finally delivered some spectacle to make it more than a tedious slog through everchanging rooms that get locked as soon as you step through a door with the occasional poltergeistey effect to barely make a dent in the monotoneousness. It also doesn't help that the hero seems to build up to be a giant asshole that I don't feel like helping out. Other things that made me a little wary were some of the writing that felt tonally wrong for what I guess the period this takes place in is (1930s ? Though at one point it mentions tapes so maybe it's later) and how some paintings repeat even before stuff goes to hell. It feels weird that an artist would hang several copies of a painting throughout their house.
So I'm still giving it the benefit of the doubt but at over halfway through, the climax would really need to blow my socks off for the overall impression to be more than a big "meh".
I also kept playing both Super Mario Run on mobile for the plat points and Watermelon/Suika game on Switch once in a while.
I was also stupid and ordered the Persona games from LRG as well as Tokyo Dark. I hope that won't backfire too bad on the budget.
In reading, I kept advancing through Demon Slayer and am now up to volume 14. It's a better manga than I first gave it credit for. I like the art a lot and the writing is okay. I'm in view of the end since there are 23 volumes in all and I already have some later volumes so I'll soon complete the collection.
And that's all I have to say. I hope everyone has a nice weekend and does well enough.
Big hugs and stuff.
Oh, hey so an update on Layers of Fear Legacy.
I finished the main game and it stayed meh.
Some set pieces were good but it felt like it was muuuuuuch too long for what little it had to tell, and it's not a long game. I also lost half an hour being stuck in looping rooms that turned out to be a glitch.
However I then started the inheritence scenario that I believe was DLC and unlike the main game, I'm having a very positive impression. It goes with the premise of a child character of the first game revisiting the family house as an adult and it does great by having a rather more poignant subject (a child with disabled and abusive parents rather than an alcoholic narcissist losing his mind), more inventive setpieces and basically dropping the pretense of horror that the base game didn't really do all that well with.
I haven't yet completed it but I sincerely believe that getting Layers of Fear Legacy on sale is totally worth it for that extra part. It is better appreciated if you have played the base game, and that's a rather meh time. But Inheritence ? I recommend it wholeheartedly.
Hey that’s interesting about inheritance! I never played that game and I remember quite enjoying LoF to begin with. Need to get back to that, thanks for the reminder!
Also, sounds like you managed to miss all the donkey riding content in the main game! It’s a real shame because that’s some of the best game design I’ve ever seen in a game and completely blows all other games out the water!
Yeah, the donkey rides eluded me, the closest thing was a pink horse.
Inheritence doubles on the pink horse though !
I don’t remember a pink horse haha I think I’ll give Inheritance a go soon
I would, but I in the southwest and by the time I'd post it, everyone is already off doing other things.
Resident Evil 3 remake: Beat - So I enjoyed it for the most part. I never played the original so I can't compare. This seems to be where the RE games start moving more to action horror over survival horror, which is fine I guess. There is some bad design like the bug hive and the stage 2 Nemesis fight. Also, one hit kills is cheap garbage.
Alan Wake Remastered: Started - It's Alan Wake with better graphics.
Pokémon Yellow: I'm debating if it's worth collecting as many Pokémon as passible in this game or just finish it off. I have no way to trade, so I can't get those evolutions, and there's no real way to transfer it over to the new games anymore. I did start tracking what I've caught on a online dex, but meh.
It's Halloween time, so we been watching It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and so on. None of these need any introductions I'd assume.
"It's Alan Wake with better graphics." Is it a good thing? 😅 I downloaded Alan Wake but didn't get the chance to play it before MK 1 came out.
Alan Wake is a solid game. Nothing amazing since it's gameplay is muddling, but it's worth a playthrough if you like Stephen King's kind of horror.
Having only read volume 1 of The Dark Tower, I don't know if I do 😂 But I still want to give Alan Wake a try... at least the first game. Will I get lost if I jump straight to the second one?
Dark Tower was King's attempt at fantasy (with horror elements). Alan Wake is more akin to Misery/The Mist/It.
I haven't played AW2 and probably wont for a long time, so I don't really know. I do think it's a continuation of AW, so you might want to look up the story and events if you chose not to play the first game.
Yeah not being able to collect 'em all can be a drag on the Pokemon experience. What's your current lineup?
He can't evolve and he has a mediocre move set.
Should note I'm not a Pokémon fan. I haven't seen the show and I've never played the card game. I'll never really get into any of that, I was already too old when the craze stated.
I'm just taking the video game for a spin so I can say I've tried it out.
No, you're doing it the right way! It's hard not to feel obligated to use Pikachu in Yellow for the gimmick of it all. How are you enjoying the game so far?
I remember a feature used to sell yellow was a surfing minigame, I think you need the pikachu for that ?
Oh yeah probably! Was that with the Pikachu stepcounter thing too? Can't remember what was just a playground urban myth and what were actual secrets lol.
I like how it's different than other JRPGs I've played. Collecting Pokémon is fun. The gameplay however is dated and pretty hot garbage.
Daymare: 1998 was less than five dollars, and it was about time I cleared it from my wishlist.
Haven't played much of it, but it seems like a competent Resident Evil 2 remake-adjacent horror game (the lobby of the facility you're stuck in even looks similar to the lobby of the RCPD) with a little more emphasis on fringe (albeit somewhat clever) mechanics like an "overdose" function for health and multiple forms of reload ('x' to drop reusable clips and reload another, hold 'x' to more slowly reload ammo like you'd expect) to punish impatient or panicked players.
Story and writing are garbage, but it's no skin off my back. Doesn't really get in the way, at least. Visually, it's pretty damn good. Presentation, as well. Lighting, animation, sounds, all of it like these developers have had many years of experience. Gameplay, thankfully, also solid.
Steam reviews complain of hard to land shots, and I'm getting that sense. It'd likely be a much bigger issue on the harder modes. If the game is fun enough and as short as some other reviews are alluding to, maybe I'll give that a try out of curiosity.
Also, Super Mario Bros. Wonder. My only gripe is that, especially early on, some of the level design can be a nothing burger if you don't shoot for the Wonder Seeds or play around with any of the other collectables. However, there's so much imagination throughout the game thus far (coming up on the end of W3 and doing all I can) that I can't fault it too much.
An easy 9/10! Has prompted me to put Super Mario Maker 2 on my shortlist (for the time being).
Welllllll Daymare took a large, sudden dump!
Began to notice the audio is actually pretty silly-awful and even the gameplay falls completely apart under very light scrutiny. Sadly had to stop it.
Take the reins, RLZ! :D
As I've just posted, I got the Platinum trophies for Mortal Kombat 1 and Marvel's Spider-Man 2 today.
Insomniac did it again, creating an even more exciting experience in terms of story but especially in terms of gameplay. Swinging around New York never felt so good!
Oh, and before I forget, fuck NRS and WB for putting a $12 (shitty) Fatality on the store.
*Marvel SNAP: I caved in and bought the season pass to get Elsa and revive my bounce decks, including my beloved Sera/Angela one (even though they nerfed Angela 🥲). Reached level 90 to get the precious gold, and now I'm focusing more on the Conquest.
Hope you're all having a good weekend!
This week I beat Donkey Kong Country 3. I bounced off of it hard earlier in the year, wasn't sure if it just wasn't as good as DKC2 (I mean....it's not) or I just didn't have the nostalgia for it like the previous two I had on SNES. This time I was able to make my way to the end. I finally understood the hook of the game, each level having its own gimmick, and the overworld being more open which are things I ended up really liking about it. When I talk about it, it feels like I have more gripes than compliments (controls felt off, art style I didn't care for, weird gameplay things like nothing exists offscreen or some cheap deaths). Thankfully on NSO the rewind ability took away most of the frustration. I don't think the true ending is worth the hassle of achieving it ethically lol. Now I can move on to Tropical Freeze!
Also spent some more time with Wii Sports Resort. Got my pickup basketball rating up to 1000. Swish!
Speaking of DKC I feel like Return would deserve a Switch port/remaster. It's now the only one that's not on the platform and my memories of it are fuzzy by now.
Tropical Freeze is very good, but I'm not sure I liked it as much as some.
I feel like my memories of DKC:R is thay it was an ok game that was made great by the temple levels - idk why in my head theres such a disparate gap between dkctf and dkcr
I'd be down for a Return remaster especially since I've never played it!
Started TF earlier today and my only issue so far is that it feels like it's missing the punchiness (don't know how else to describe it) of Jungle Beats. Still very early on though.
Played a few things this week
Thoroughly explored the first world of Super Mario Wonder - and was pleasantly surprised by how much there was to find!
In BotW, I gave up on the Master Sword trial for now, finally tamed the Lord of the Mountain, and am still girding myself for a successful trip up Death Mountain.
Played a few levels OG Castlevania for funsies and got my ass whooped in F-Zero 99.
Some Sex and the City... still not great. And then watched Totally Killer which was fun!
How did it come to Sex and the City ?
I feel like I'm missing a bit of the story.
Lol - my wife and I are fairly open to whatever has at one time been popular. Like if ita some big cultural phenomenon, whether tv, movies, etc, we'll give it a fair shake. SatC is something neither have watched but is obviously this huge thing so obviously it cant be terrible - and its not and it is interesting from a tv history perspective what theyre saying and doing on the tv screen. The characters thougj are a bit much
Oh cool castlevania. First one is still up there as a favourite :) where did you get to? I tend to get up to clock tower and then everything goes to shit lol
Been going hard on Like A Dragon after I got the urge to play something JRPG grindy.
Thanks to the business side quest I am happily doing mindless tasks and wasting my life.