What games are you playing?

[KobaBeach]

im trying to beat the true arena (真 格闘王への道) and i'm Suffering. managed to get to marx soul tho

also at chapter 2, the great battle of bolt (ボルト大決戦) in white witch pc

[Bean]

Got 100% in Bowser's Fury. Would've died only once due to a bad jump that landed me in non-lethal but still damaging goop, but I just soft reset. Ha. Interesting game overall. It's not exactly the way I'd go with Mario games in the future, but it's a neat enough deal here as add-on content.

[yoshicookiezeus]

Currently replaying Xenoblade X for the first time since its release. The game is a mess in a lot of ways, but it has a sense of exploration that among the games I have played has only been matched by Breath of the Wild. I absolutely love that other than a few small areas that can only be reached after you acquire flight, there is no gatekeeping whatsoever on where you can and can’t go other than “can you get there without being detected and beaten up by the local wildlife”. Still hoping we get a sequel at some point.

[KobaBeach]

Beat The Great Battle of Bolt, and now I'm headed to The Illusion at the Tri-City Bridge in TLoH3 White Witch (TLoH2 Moonlight Witch PC).

[thatguyif]

Played more Bioshock 2 last night. This is once again a case of "it has good ideas, and is playable, but not great execution." I found out via a faint text (rather than the giant tutorial boxes I get every time I hack a camera) after my third weapon upgrade that the Power to the People stands are limited in number. I get the point of trying to specialize, but I'm one of those people who will not specialize for the simple reason that I want a holistic experience where I can experiment, not some compartmentalized take that's really based on assuming the player has very narrow view of the world. In addition, while I get the idea of having a one-two combo situation, the fact that switching plasmids is keyboard rather than mouse-based makes it not particularly useful.

There are definitely good ideas with the new research camera, though I'm not sure about its execution. It's very easy to screw up a method of racking up points, and then when you try it again better, you get less points because you've "done it before." Plus I don't like the fact it cuts you off when you reach a rank, which is a problem when you're dealing with splicers in limited numbers/spawns (or the Big Sisters, which I assume are also limited spawns). And it's not particularly conducive to immobile objects, i.e. "security devices." (It also doesn't help that I always want to hack, not destroy, turrets and cameras, while the latter gives you more points).

One thing I noticed it doing right was expanding on the "moral choice" situation. For one, it greatly expands on your handling of the Little Sisters, choosing to harvest right away or waiting until after they gather some ADAM to do so. That's a nice touch. Plus, it seems like the game actually gives you choices beyond the Little Sisters (such as choosing to spare or kill

Grace Holloway

). Granted, the point of Bioshock was about the absence of choice, but even so, it's a good touch.

Still, issues with the plot abounds. They ignored another plot point (Dr. Suchong explicitly brings up "Big Daddies" in his recordings, and 2 makes it sound like his successor came up with the name). The Little Sisters calling you "Daddy" instead of "Mr. Bubbles" is really weird and off (plus the voiceover/fx just doesn't feel as jarring), not to mention the mood whiplash from to is a little unsettling. Fontaine is really absent, outside of the game's narrative destination being his company HQ (which I assume is a plasmid manufacturer), which is bothersome because of the simple question of "how did Fontaine/Atlas deal with Lamb?," which is unexplored at this point. While they do a really good job of exploring the immediate aftermath of the 1959 attack in ways the original did not, it also pretends the civil war between Atlas and Ryan never happened (Grace Holloway never brings up Atlas in your interactions with her, and only Fontaine once...and the story at Ryan Amusements with the schoolteacher and her kids would make more sense if there was a nuclear holocaust, not a single terrorist attack). The Ryan/Lamb debates are EXTREMELY hokey and set up like a call-and-response thing—with Ryan always being the call and Lamb always the response—that sets up Lamb as being this hero in a really stupid YASKWEENSLAY/mic drop/"this woman spoke to authority and her words shocked the world" sort of manner. It's all so self-righteous and masturbatory.

I recall from the (also masturbatory) Keighley interviews in Bioshock that the devs originally had Atlas as a Southern voice, only for the voice to be replaced because audiences were immediately suspicious of him. I didn't see how that alone would be an issue. Then I started listening to Augustus Sinclair, and I understood why. He's a Southern dandy through and through, and the game basically goes out of the way to say "this guy is a fucking villain" right from the start. It doesn't help that his characterization seems to be "What if Fontaine did more short cons, and was smart enough not to challenge Ryan?"

The plot does some interesting things, at the least. It truly showcases the logical conclusion of the "free market" through the story of the Atlantic Express. The use of anticommunism as a means to take out a (by all intents and purposes) non-communist movement is a very powerful element and tracks extremely well with history (though it's unable to really stick with Objectivist philosophy that well).

Still...one problem sticks out...

This game does not handle race well at all. In fact, the game would've been better off if they never inserted race in the first place. (Granted, Bioshock isn't good at it either with Dr. Suchong, but still).

Grace Holloway comes off as very liberal whitewash of African-Americans in that time period. She doesn't mention being black once, and only hints at race in a couple different statements that seem to deliberately avoid bringing the term up. She doesn't talk about being from, say, black cultural centers of the time such as South Side or Harlem (given she's implied to be a jazz singer, though we never hear her sing), but the St. Louis Hooverville. Which is weird enough until you realize it was the only integrated one. She talks a lot about being poor, but never about being black and poor. And there's no mention of racism at all despite there being no other major black characters around. Now, I despise race reductionism, but it's absurd that a black woman in the 1950s and 1960s never brings up racism. Like even I'm not that much in denial.

Plus, it's heavily implied that the Brute Splicers—the giant, physical, mindless Splicers they added who throw rocks and charge at you—are mostly just black men. (supposedly, some of the Big Daddies are also black men). Racial stereotyping much?

[Argumentable]

Things feel slow lately so I'm doing the Mighty Switch Force collection cause I played the first way back and liked it. Going through it again and it's still alright. Fun little speedrun levels that I can do one or two of then go do something else. Rebeat the first, doing the bonus levels. I have no idea if any of the other games are good, but I did have an interest in them way back and just didn't bother.

I like the style of the game but I could do without the wayforward horny sometimes

Edit: I'm onto 2, it's better so far, and hornier

[KobaBeach]

At Orange Ocean in Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land and Ieras Iello Adventure in Kirby: Canvas Curse.

Poyo~

[hardcore_crispy]

Finally 100%'d this and am currently editing to put it up on YT.

Got around to buying Borderlands 3 when it hit the Steam sale, I've barely started and am around level 8. Fun so far.

When I just want something to pass the time, I've been trying to Ace Score and Full Clear Peggle Nights lol

[HatKid]

Got the true ending of Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity yesterday, and this morning I got the last achievement, the one for getting to level 99. It's a decent, quick game, but not really something I'd recommend unless you're a realy big Touhou fan.

A few days ago I finished Ys VIII. I had a fabulous time with the game! Except for when the plot

became a copy paste of Seven's plot, but at least they didn't copy the "person you thought was ally was actually the antagonist!!" which I was totally expecting it to but pleasantly surprised the game didn't go that route

. I'm still a teeny bit sour on how the only way for me to feasibly get Adol's classic armor is to either pirate the PC version (which is what I have) or buy the Switch version. It's a little dumb that the only platform that even has all the costumes in the first place is the Switch version, but what ever. I get some of them were preorder bonuses so that's probably part of why it is the way it is. ANYWAY, Falcom Sound Team was really on point with this game! And the graphics are really impressive for what was originally a PS Vita game, especially compared to its (meh) predecessor, Memories of Celceta, which VIII is better than in basically every way.

Played some more of Rune Factory on PS3. I've noticed farming simulators aren't really for me so I'm glad that Rune Factory isn't just the farming aspect. I've had some fun, though I'm still not totally sure if I want to try one of the newer ones, like RF4 or the forthcoming 5.

Also, started the Android version of Dragon Quest 1. I basically got it for free since I paid for it with gift money. Haven't played it too much yet but hopefully I'll stay the course and actually beat a Dragon Quest game.

Oh, also, turns out I only had like 20 minutes left of Chapter 6 in Legend of Heroes 3, so I finished that up and got to Chapter 7. I can appreciate the game for what it is, but I'm not really into it like at all. I was more invested in LoH4's plot, but I also didn't like that game very much. I imagine part of it is the very shoddy translation, which is very unfortunate.

[Cyril]

mario 3D world: it continues to be pretty good. very easy so far though but i'm okay with that it's a fun chill time. i hear the postgame gets a bit mean though mostly just the gauntlet level so

[Cyril]

all green stars/gold flags done & all levels cleared as mario

champion's road is probably the series' best attempt at a "brutal final marathon level" to date since the level itself is just the right length (unlike odyssey) and not too unforgiving (like galaxy 2's perfect run). dunno the 3D land one because i could never be bothered to 100% that game but iirc it's fairly weak? anyways bowser's fury next then i'll go back to do full clears for all the other characters

[Bean]

Rogue Heroes: Ruins of Tasos is a top-down Zeldaish game on the Switch and PC. I played as a co-op partner in the Switch version and found it to be all right other than be rushed through the plot by my overpowered player one friend going through the game for a second time. We definitely sequence broke some stuff as a result on my data while flying through this one. Ha-ha.

A single-player experience will probably see you lose in a dungeon, level your health and attack up back in town, and then retry through these procedurally-generated dungeons. Interesting idea that also kind of rushes itself to a half-hearted conclusion. The game itself was fun, though.

[raekuul]

;ashrgf;awr drowning in new game starts

I'm up to the first bonus map in Fire Emblem (the one with Lyn and Eliwood and Hector), I'm on the road to Lich in Final Fantasy 1, I'm on my way back to Altair after the first trip to Finn in Final Fantasy 2, I'm about to start the Sector 5 Bombing Mission in Final Fantasy 7, I'm still cleaning up core battles in Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, and I'm still scratching away at Vast Poni Canyon in Pokemon Ultra Sun

send help

[KobaBeach]

At the Eternal Watchman's House in PoPoLoCrois Monogatari, beat Don Maestro, heading to the quiz section. My favorite part about this is how the GameFAQs guide literally just says "answer the bottom option all the time and sometimes you'll win" which is hilarious.

Answer sheet:

オーケストラのネコの数は、全部で８匹である ⇒ Ｘ (Are there eight cats in the previous room's orchestra?)
カイは、ショート・カットの女の子である ⇒ Ｘ (Is Kai's hairstyle a short cut?)
カナリシアの換気扇は、町の人がお風呂に入らないためついている ⇒ Ｘ (Is the ventilation fan in Canaricia on because people there don't bathe?)
ガミガミ魔王がかぶっているのは、青い帽子である ⇒ Ｘ (Does Gami Gami have a blue hat on his head? (believe this is because he has a helmet instead))
ここは、番人の館の中である ⇒ ○ (Are we in the Watchman's House?)
コロシアムでは、連続５回戦う ⇒ ○ (Are there five rounds in the Colosseum?)
サボーの耳は立っている ⇒ Ｘ (Do Sabor's ears point upwards?)
四天王の名前は、ヤブー、ゾルダン、カウパそして、ドリルである ⇒ Ｘ (Are the Four Heavenly Kings named: Yaboo, Zoldan, Kaupa and Doril? (Dorun, not Doril))
四天王の一人、カウパは、杖を持っている ⇒ ○ (Does Kaupa use a staff?)
ジャンボは、ラダック仙人の弟子である ⇒ ○ (Is Jumbo, the hermit Radack's disciple?)
謎の少女は、白いエプロンをかけている ⇒ ○ (Does the mysterious girl wear a white apron?)
ナルシアとギルダは姉妹である ⇒ ○ (Are Narcia and Gilda sisters?)
パーセラのエレベータ好きな青年は、決してエレベータには乗らない ⇒ ○ (Has the Elevator fanatic in Pasela, never actually gotten on an elevator?)
ハープの部屋の振り子時計は、２時を指していた ⇒ Ｘ (Is the grandfather clock at the harp player's room say its 2 o'clock?)
番人の館を外から見た時、全部で六枚のドアがある ⇒ ○ (When you look at this house from the outside, are there six doors in total?)
ピエトロ王子は、２０才である ⇒ Ｘ (Is Prince Pietro 20 years old?)
ピエトロのお母さんの魂は、闇の世界にとらわれている ⇒ ○ (Is Pietro's mother's spirit trapped in the world of darkness?)
ポポロクロイス城には、部屋が全部で２３ある ⇒ Ｘ (Are there 23 rooms in totality, within Castle Popolocrois?)
ラダック仙人は刀の山に住んでいる ⇒ Ｘ (Does the hermit Radack live in the Mountain of Blades? (Slight pun here, it's wrong because it's meant to be 剣の山))
竜の玉は、全部で三つある ⇒ ○ (Are there three dragon spheres?)

Ｘ - wrong
○ - right

Also at Stage 40: Marill in Pokémon Shuffle, which I had on my 3DS for a long time but I recently boot up for a quick run on occasion with the five hearts I get. I can't purchase anything other than stuff that takes jewels since I have a hacked 3DS, but that's good, the microtransactions were gross anyway.

Also been trying to get medals in the Main Game of Kirby Canvas Curse, trying to find the second one in the Silver Submarine stage of Iello Adventure. Unlocked three nostalgic song collections, the Zebra line and the Beads line. The lines are really cute, really enjoying the beads one. Need to try out the straight pride one sometime too lol

Edit: Now at the Ruined Town on the Demon's Star in PoPoLoCrois Monogatari. Difficulty is ass. I'll trudge onwards slowly but surely. The encounter rate and the sequence of battles before the

scene where Pietro meets his mother Sania

are really annoying and even with auto-battle it's random whether I win or not. Ragequit when getting owned in the

Dorun of the West

battle sent me all the way back to outside the

ruined Popolocrois Castle Town

and next to Mack the Whale. I'll reload from a save at the

ruined school

, rewatch the scenes and

fight Dorun again

. Apparently his Giga Storm attack can have its attack reduced by Wind Talismans, but I think I might only have 3 of those (or I'm confusing the 3 with Ice Talismans, no idea).

[Argumentable]

I'm officially done with the Mighty Switch Force Collection. I got all the par times in 1, 2 (and the babies), and Academy. I didn't realize Hyper Drive Edition was just an improved version of the first game or I woulda just went to it first, but as I was playing through it to see if I could be bothered with the bonus content I found I'd pretty much beaten all that was in 1 again. So I did all the Hyper levels too. I gave HyperB a shot, but those levels seem to be about precise timing (I gave up on 2) and less about solving some platforming puzzles and figuring out the fastest way to do it. Like, if I know what I'm supposed to do but I can't do it because your game is asking me to be too precise then I'm not gonna bother. The game is picky enough already with where you stand when you switch platforms without making that window even tinier.

I'd still recommend it if you can get it for cheap. 1 is good and the par times aren't hard. 2 is good but the par times feel pretty "optimized" but 100% doable. Academy is still fun but the gimmick is you can see the whole level and the game kinda loses its charm a bit with that, but still fun.

[Cyril]

bowser's fury is neat. it's way closer to SM64 than it is to odyssey admittedly, it's more isolated islands that just happen to exist in the same larger overworld but there's very little interaction between "levels" and it's mostly just nonlinear 3D world levels, which

i'm totally fine with? it's fun. it's got a good gameplay loop. fury blocks are incredibly dumb but everything else is coolio

[KobaBeach]

Beat

Dorun

, which felt like I got lucky on top of having two Wind Talismans and two Dragon Talismans on my party, so it didn't feel good. But yeah Chapter 4: The Ice Demon on PoPoLoCrois Monogatari, boyeeeeeee. Rescued Narcia after she

went into a deep sleep due to Pietro discovering she was Kai when she detransformed in front of him as he was waking up from being unconscious

by getting a Sorm Flower at the Fountain of Hurry (Fountain of Gallop in the PSP version, that name doesn't feel like it makes sense). Now I have to go back to the Fountain and head to the Lands of Ice in the distant north.

[KobaBeach]

At the Temple of Ice in PoPoLoCrois Monogatari. Beat Zoldan of the North, next area is a maze so. Gonna look up a fucking guide for that lmao

EDIT: At Chapter 6: 動きだす予言 (A Prophecy in Motion) in The Legend of Heroes III: White Witch (PC).

[Enjl]

my GOTY is just gonna be CrossCode again.

[KobaBeach]

Beat PoPoLoCrois Monogatari!

An excellently, heartwarmingly written game with gorgeous graphics and an interesting battle system, sadly marred by an unbalanced difficulty curve. Literally the only thing keeping me from giving me a full on 5. Worth the experience.

The story is a fairytale like story of a young prince searching to bring back his mother from the World of Darkness, turning into a battle where the outcome could rewrite the fate of the kingdom of Popolocrois! Full of charm, full of love, full of soul. The battle system is an interesting mix of traditional turn based and strategy with positioning, but also with a guts meter that you have to keep a handle on to maintain your attacks' strength or beef them up. Honestly a bit of a hassle but w/e.

If I had to choose one thing I have a problem with is the gag involving Gami Gami's crush on Narcia in chapter 2, considering Gami Gami is very much a middle aged manlet and Narcia looks to be about Pietro's age, i.e. ten? Once MatatabiMitsu and their mistery hacker's translation patch comes out, promise me you'll play it!

Or else... (#・∀・)

EDIT: Chapter 7 of The Legend of Heroes III: White Witch heyoo

[NastCF]

I've finished all the data battles in KHIII ReMind. I left Xehanort for last and he was without a doubt the hardest of the bunch, the only one I needed more than one session to beat. All that's left now is

Yozora

. Two several hour long sessions have not been enough to beat it so far lol

What a bombastic fight this is, and a really interesting one in the grand scheme of things. He's got this move where he'll trap you and steal your keyblade and you gotta focus on dodging until you get it back, but you can also avoid it altogether if you learn to predict it. That's such an interesting mechanic that I don't recall ever seeing in a KH fight. He'll also steal anything else he can from you, like your max HP, your focus gauge, items and even your kupo coin which is super rude lol. Also he's got a small chance of starting the fight with a long attack phase he otherwise only uses when he's at half health? Wild

After going through all thirteen data battles I feel like I see a pattern in how they're designed. They're hard, obviously, but they're all super learnable, because while they attack relentlessly they do so in a consistent, almost static manner. It'll seem impossible at first because you know nothing about the fight, but through repetition distinct 'defend/dodge' and 'attack' phases become apparent. Then success lies in memorizing each behaviour in order and executing with the right timing. For some bosses that have little to no variation in the order of their attack behaviours, it can end up feeling like you're going through the same motions until you've cleared every 'wall' in the fight. The fight becomes less about reaction and more about prediction, if that makes sense. As a result, some of the best bosses in my opinion are the ones that add just a bit of unpredictability to their pattern - whether by mixing up the order of their attacks, making you and the opponent's positioning a factor in avoiding attacks, or something else - enough to encourage you to pay attention to visual or auditory cues and actually react to the opponent. Dark Riku and

Yozora

are good examples of this. That said even the more static fights are still pretty dang fun, so long as they don't drag on for too long.

[KobaBeach]

Beat The Legend of Heroes III: The White Witch (TLoHII: Prophecy of the yadda yadda PC) yooooo

EDIT: Past chapters 5-7 (Wasteland of Recollection ~Missing Link~, The Silent Demon ~Silent Destroyer~, The Hand Which Sows Wars ~Team Acute~) and I'm at Chapter 8: The Lost Spirit Child ~Funny Girl~ in Summon Night, for now. I'll continue later.

[Argumentable]

I'm in the Hyrule Warriors: AoC zone

[KobaBeach]

At the final boss in Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes (PC98). Not putting the incredible strategic sequence of:
1) getting owned on purpose
2) choosing to be transported to the last town I was in (Phaeth)
3) stocking up on items on various shops to prepare for

both forms of Agni'ja

properly
4) then teleporting back to Bernice Castle
out of the picture just yet though.

[KobaBeach]

Started Dinosaur Resurrection. The Berserker you fight is pretty hot tbh. I'm at the Temple of Nira Underground 2B. Ash x Orlic otp

Really fun dungeon crawler, having an easier time getting into it than like. Digital Devil Monogatari: Megami Tensei 2