|
Post by TG Barighm on Aug 14, 2021 1:28:26 GMT -5
BOYFRIEND DUNGEON: Half rogue like, half dating sim. Being woke is one thing, but when every character in the game is flirting with you...it gets disturbing real fast.
DODGEBALL ACADEMIA: This game came out of nowhere. It's a dodge ball RPG, with the plot and feel of a Saturday morning anime and draws many influences from Pokemon. Yes, really. Dodgeball. You dodge, you throw, you counter...you heal, you cast spells, you blow up the entire court, fight ghost balls, evade tornadoes...yeah, it's quite something. The game is oozing with charm and the animations do a lot to sell the world. It's surprisingly simple, yet still very much an ARPG. It also has an 87% Metacritic and a 100% (yes, really, over dozens of reviews) user review score. This is definitely an indie darling.
|
|
|
Post by TG Barighm on Aug 15, 2021 16:58:34 GMT -5
HADES: Well, I see there IS a way to make rogue-likes fun. Just have combat that is smooth and fluid and effortless, and reward every run with very real and noticeable progress. A run usually rewards new weapons, powers, and special items, and if you already have those items, you instead get a nice buff. A bow that shoots a poison that knocks off half an enemy's health? Deadly with the fan shot. A spear that rapidly strikes three enemies in rapid succession? Murder with the lightning buff that explodes the next time the enemy moves and chains to all nearby enemies. So, instead of repeatedly dying over and over again to the same early level enemies, you will quickly gain enough power to smash through them especially if you beat the boss. I guess that is why this game was many publications' Game of the Year.
BACK 4 BLOOD: Yep, plays like Left 4 Dead, although they might have overcomplicated things a bit with all the extra gear and resource system. Final act is radically imbalanced though. Some tweaks are definitely needed.
|
|
|
Post by TG Barighm on Aug 16, 2021 17:16:15 GMT -5
ZOMBIE ARMY 4: Perfectly fun little third person shooter that reimagines WW2 as a zombie apocalypse. Handles well. Looks great even at low settings. Lots of characters with their own perks and ways to power them up including the entire cast of Left 4 Dead (both games). Crying shame this game doesn't support local co-op. My sister would have enjoyed this.
SUPER HOT: Undoubtedly cool and stylish, and I appreciate the gameplay, but ultimately it's more of a puzzle game than a shooter. A very enjoyable puzzle game to be sure, but considering I only have a few days left in my sub, I'd rather dedicate that time to something that grabs me more like Hades and Zombie Army.
|
|
|
Post by TG Barighm on Aug 21, 2021 1:46:48 GMT -5
Ogre Battle finally beaten after 20 years!
...now I wanna play Front Mission 3, heh.
|
|
|
Post by acathala on Aug 21, 2021 3:17:49 GMT -5
That one definitely has two endings.
|
|
|
Post by TG Barighm on Aug 22, 2021 18:49:51 GMT -5
This is starting to turn into a replay of my older PS1 games, but I'm hesitating at Star Ocean 2 and Valkyrie Profile. Star Ocean 2 doesn't have any room for builds, you pretty much just make a mad dash for the best abilities and gear, and VP...great for what it is, but again, you just use the best party members and level them up. And the combat is actually pretty simplistic. Suddenly I don't find myself all that interested in replaying these games even though they're classics (plus I have backups, and apparently SO2 got a PS4 remaster in Japan).
|
|
|
Post by acathala on Aug 22, 2021 19:15:23 GMT -5
I played the second one Silmeria. Quite enjoyed it at the time. Not sure if I would again though.
|
|
|
Post by TG Barighm on Aug 23, 2021 17:48:09 GMT -5
I remember it feeling like they upped the complexity enough to make battles feel like a slog, and some of the dungeons felt simplistic to the point of insulting. They also cut out a lot of the hero death scenes which is a huge part of the game's charm. Just felt like a lackluster effort overall to me.
Anyway, a couple demos:
ULTRA AGE: Button mashy stylish action game. I think there are RPG elements, but it's hard to tell. The gimmick in this game is harvesting crystals allows you to craft weapons that don't last very long, but once they're about to break, you can cast these big spells with them. Heavy sci-fi/fantasy feel with a touch of Engrish in the dialogue. Pretty straightforward game, but the combat did feel pretty nice. Might be worth a weekend rental.
TALES OF ARISE: Feels much better than recent games. The menu is a mess, but at least I have time to actually digest combat this time. In Bersaria, it felt like everything would just happen at once and it would be over before you realize what was happening. It's still pretty chaotic, but the battle areas are bigger and abilities are a little more measured this time around, so while it's hectic, at least there is a moment to breath between each volley of crazy spells and explosions.
|
|
|
Post by TG Barighm on Aug 25, 2021 5:51:23 GMT -5
Front Mission 3 has more flaws than I remember. It's still fun to mix and match skills and gear types, but some skills are blatantly more useful than others, and the AI of enemy teams are TERRIBLE. Way too easy to outsmart the AI. But the biggest annoyance is it's WAY too easy to miss important upgrades. Simply not talking to some guy, twice, AFTER you leave a certain location (and return) can cause you to miss a major upgrade to the battle simulator. Maybe if it was as simple as just talking to NPCs, it wouldn't be so bad, but you often need to talk multiple times and after other conditions are filled. It's basically impossible to get the most out of the game without a guide handy.
Of course, I have a guide, but I was hoping to enjoy the game without it. Really sucks that I'll never be able to properly level my units just because of some minor oversight. Worse, there are no good FAQs for this game.
|
|
|
Post by TG Barighm on Aug 29, 2021 5:25:50 GMT -5
RESIDENT EVIL 8: It really is accurate to say the game is like a first person RE4. Although it doesn't quite go that far, it's certainly in the same ball park.
|
|
|
Post by TG Barighm on Sept 14, 2021 19:45:52 GMT -5
Shelved Front Mission 3. Still love the game, but I wasn't able to find a fun new way to enjoy a second run. The whole affinity system makes sense and all, but it completely kills replay value when a character, say, has no trouble learning every shotgun skill there is, but, when you want them to do something new with defensive skills, they don't learn a single one after hours in the simulator (then I've got Linny learning every single one in about 30 minutes). It was fun seeing Jose trigger a ridiculous number of Double Shots without any kind of extra effort to build him that way, but it make me feel like I have no control of my characters.
Anyway, back to Final Fantasy 7. Can't believe it's been a year. Just finished off Gold Saucer and ended the night at Cosmo Canyon. Damn, the soundtrack in this game still rocks all these years later.
|
|
|
Post by TG Barighm on Sept 17, 2021 2:50:16 GMT -5
DAYMARE 1998: You can permanently lose the ability to reload your gun just because the game thinks you tapped reload instead of holding the button. Yes, the dev actually thought this was a good idea. Nothing more needs to be said about this crap fest of a game.
|
|
|
Post by TG Barighm on Sept 26, 2021 5:13:23 GMT -5
Finished FF7. Still a great game, although I was little annoyed at the end because of a lack of New Game+. This game really needed one what with all the great materia you get at the very end of the game. Still a great game, no doubt.
Now replaying Valkyrie Profile. Was going to replay Star Ocean 2, but it sold. Sad, but I was starting to notice weird marks in the disk and I don't see the point of passing up good cash for a game that will likely die on its own (unlike DVDs which apparently still haven't shown signs of dying even after 20 years; CDs, however, are known to rot after just 7). Man, I remember the game's platforming being...well, not great, but better than this. It's outright janky at times due to the forced double tap to walk. There's actually an option to adjust it, but weirdly they didn't include an option to just turn it off so you can run, and properly time your jumps, all the time. There are also lots of elements that aren't very intuitive, and Tri-Ace always had a bad habit of introducing elements without explaining them.
|
|
|
Post by TG Barighm on Sept 28, 2021 15:34:39 GMT -5
ALIENS FIRETEAM ELITE: My biggest issue with this one so far is how loose the aiming is. No matter how much I tinker with it, I just can't get the aim to cooperate which is making precision kills pretty much impossible. You'd think that wouldn't be a big deal in a game like this, and this is especially true of Left 4 Dead, which is what this game is aiming to be, but, unlike brainless zombies, the aliens dodge and roll and climb and do all sorts of things to evade your fire. The game also has "faux" offline elements, meaning there is an offline campaign, but it's entirely dictated by online mechanics such as being unable to pause. If you do walk away for a bit, the game will kick you for being AFK, so even if you are playing offline, you have to stay glued to the screen at all times (outside the mission select area). Finally, the RPG elements, while welcome, are definitely pushing the carrot on the stick thing a bit much since your rewards for a mission feel awfully finite (basically one gun/mod per mission; compare that to something like Borderlands where you can potentially find dozens of guns). And this game was definitely not optimized for the PS4. Can't comment on mission variety yet as I'm still working on the first chunk of a 4 stage campaign, although so far it really is just going room to room clearing out hoards of baddies when I get there. This game didn't need to be an Aliens game. It could have been anything. Games like Earth Defense Force or Gear of Wars' Hoard Mode definitely do it better; however, this doesn't mean the game is bad. More like it's "good enough". If it weren't for the RPG elements, it would suck.
|
|
|
Post by TG Barighm on Sept 30, 2021 17:54:24 GMT -5
So my PS4 went ahead and downloaded the massive update for Fire Team elite without my say so-thought I disabled that-which revealed that the game plays more like Destiny with the full suite of features included. This doesn't necessarily make everything better. On the contrary, it proves this is really meant to be an online only game and that much of its economy depends on online play. This still doesn't mean you can't play the game offline. It just means you're wholly dependent on random drops for new gear. You can't just buy anything from the online shop. And there are incentives to leveling everything since apparently you can use bonus traits from other classes to gear up your preferred class. Right now I've gotten pretty attached to the Heavy due to his use of a machine gun that auto tracks everything. Wish I could give him a Magnum. I dunno if that gun has a big hit box or something but it's really easy to headshot things with it.
*Well, I've gotten more into the feel of things with Valkyrie Profile, but I'm not quite feeling it like I did the first time I played it. It's fine, for the most part, but the gameplay is based entirely around timing and grinding more than anything else.
|
|
|
Post by acathala on Oct 3, 2021 18:39:55 GMT -5
I might pick up something new as it's my birthday on Tuesday. Or I might go back to the romance of the three kingdoms. My character had just gotten married and made governor of a region, and I'm a bit curious how my character's familial dynasty works.
|
|
|
Post by TG Barighm on Oct 3, 2021 21:22:46 GMT -5
Which Romance? I never went past 7. Yes, it plays more like an RPG than the others but that's why I enjoy it.
I'm enjoying Valkyrie Profile more than Fireteam Elite. VP definitely gets better by chapter 4 when enemies and abilities become more varied and interesting although I might have broke the game by grabbing some powerful gear early. Anyway, Fireteam is getting on my nerves. I keep failing missions due to factors beyond my control. In a recent mission you're supposed to shoot synths until they drop a power core so you can finish the mission, but when it dropped the core disappeared from the map even though the game told me to pick it up. So there I am, fighting off infinite wave after infinite wave of baddies, and by myself for quite a while, until finally being overwhelmed. All because the mission glitched. This happens way too often and it's getting annoying.
The weapon collecting and gearing element is pretty cool though, but I might be looking at this as more of a bargain bin game.
|
|
|
Post by TG Barighm on Oct 7, 2021 19:06:12 GMT -5
You're probably aware Valkyrie Profile has its own little take on the Siegfried legend.
Approaching the end of the game, I gotta say, I'm actually relieved its over. I've discovered a good deal of the stats are bugged and don't really work...a fact hammered home when Bloodbayne hit Mystina for 30k fire damage HP with 90% fire resistance (basically, it made no difference). Kind of makes me feel like the whole game is nothing more than a race for the highest damage weapons and knowing which exploits to use and when.
Although I shouldn't be too critical. This was always considered an "average" RPG after all. I guess what I'm really saying is I now see why whereas before...well, before I'd only get one game on my birthday and at Christmas, so I loved pretty much any new game to fill that void, heh.
|
|
|
Post by TG Barighm on Oct 8, 2021 3:49:41 GMT -5
I wasn't planning on this, but decided to give Vagrant Story a look-see. This one has some annoying aspects to it, BUT it does have the whole build quality thing I like more of these days. Not sure if I will do Suikoden 2 afterwards. That game has tons of cool little secrets and things you can do, but none of it really matters because of the way characters work. Basically, just get the strongest character in the chapter and gear them up. Sure, you can make the effort to collect powerful gear and runes, but you really don't need to.
|
|
|
Post by acathala on Oct 10, 2021 20:58:50 GMT -5
If we went with a traditional Siegfried, he would have been a bastard. About the only things they'd have in common would be blue eyes, blond hair, sword mastery, and items that grant invisibility. Our Siegfried was a much better hero. I played the romance that came out for the PS4. I think only one game came out for that system in the West, unless yet again Europe was screwed over. Picked up maneater with birthday money, as well as the game based on pathfinder. Maneater takes a bit of getting used to combat wise. I wouldn't be surprised if those alligators are over levelled, but I think I got the hang of fighting now.
|
|
|
Post by TG Barighm on Oct 10, 2021 21:27:31 GMT -5
Oh! Right. It was your birthday. Whoops.
Moved on from Vagrant Story to FF8. Vagrant Story's stats systems just got too annoying. Constantly fighting enemies with zero chance to hit to deal 0 points of damage until you use the right weapon for the job, assuming you have the right weapon, got annoying quick. I know the trick, but it still feels like a chore to properly prepare yourself. It would still make a great Souls-like though.
|
|
|
Post by TG Barighm on Oct 13, 2021 2:31:24 GMT -5
FF8 still sucks, so moved on to FF9.
|
|
|
Post by acathala on Oct 15, 2021 21:20:34 GMT -5
I liked FF8. I know I'm in the minority there. Maneater continues to be fun so far. As predicted it got better once my shark hit adult. I think the battle with the apex Hammerhead was my favourite just now. Genuinely even battle. The last two apex predator were fairly easy.
|
|
|
Post by acathala on Oct 16, 2021 13:05:00 GMT -5
Just killed the apex great white. Hammerhead put up more of a fight, but still a fun fight. I've also been killing off the bounty hunters, and to be honest this has mostly been the weakest part. The bounty hunters have been quite easily defeated. I don't know if that's because I'm at a higher level because of the side quests I'm doing, or if they're easy to kill. They've changed it up with the second last guy I think. I can't sink his boat easily, as he has a shark shield which damages me if I get close.
|
|
|
Post by TG Barighm on Oct 16, 2021 14:16:27 GMT -5
Do you get any crazy superpowers towards the end of the game? I remember seeing shock jaws.
Also, I believe there is an expansion.
|
|
|
Post by acathala on Oct 16, 2021 17:55:13 GMT -5
You can get them during the game. The first good ones you'll likely get is bone jaws off the apex barracuda. Shock jaws are part of the electric set, and they are rewards for killing bounty hunters.
|
|
|
Post by TG Barighm on Nov 4, 2021 2:00:49 GMT -5
RECOMPILE: Cute little 3D Metroidvania...although it's more platform puzzler at the moment. Not bad. Overuses colour saturation a bit too much though.
|
|
|
Post by TG Barighm on Nov 6, 2021 1:37:47 GMT -5
ASTRIA ASCENDING: Turn based RPG that takes its exploration cues from Valkyrie Profile. Nice music and art style. Combat steals some ideas from better RPGs. So far it feels rather generic aside from the production values, although I don't understand how this game could possibly slow my PC down.
FLYNN SON OF CRIMSON: Cute little Adventure Island clone. Combat feels a little stiff but it's serviceable. Wondering if RPG elements will ever come into play. I've cleared a good number of levels so far and hit a town, but haven't found anything yet. I'm wondering what all these red coins are for.
UNSIGHTED: A very capable ARPG in the vein of Secret of Mana or Illusion of Gaia. Very woke though.
|
|
|
Post by acathala on Nov 7, 2021 19:39:14 GMT -5
I played shadow of war a while ago. Gameplay is much improved over Mordor. Nemesis system is so much better and there's a bit more you can do with your orcs now. I was genuinely sad to lose one of the main orc captains I had been using, due to me botching the rescue. It also triggered the betrayal of his blood brother, who turned out to be one of the orcs that can resurrect after you kill him. I'm hoping the fourth time is the charm. My orc bodyguard is a big bastard, that's like a mini siege weapon. Really a great help in clearing mobs out.
|
|
|
Post by TG Barighm on Nov 7, 2021 19:56:23 GMT -5
I really need to get around to playing that. My PS4 backlog is getting ridiculous. Even my 360/PS2 backlog has been knocked down to just a hand full of games.
|
|