What games are you playing?

[GenesisJames]

Been playing Touhou 16 after taking a break from 15 and I'm having WAY more fun; this might be one of my favorite games in the series now!! It seems like it won't be too bad to get a 1cc; gotta practice later. Don't know how the hell I'll get through 15, but that comes later lmao

[Jongseok]

After beating Touhou 8 IN Lunatic Final B 1cc, I'm currently trying Touhou 15 Extra a.k.a Stage 7. I promise I WILL NOT USE REISEN. Oh ZUN, thanks for giving everyone's favorite Junko's non-spell in Extra boss. You give me 0.0% Bonus for that. (oh god... why?) I appreciate it so much.
Normal 1cc Done: 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15(L, P), 16, 17
Hard 1cc Done: 6, 8, 10, 11, 14, 15(L, P), 16, 17
Lunatic 1cc Done: 8, 15(P)
Extra Cleared: 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17
Youyoumu Phantasm Cleared!

[Alice]

I was recommending a friend some games for a change of pace. One of the ones I recommended was the GBA remakes of FF1 and 2 which kinda got me in the mood to go and replay FF2.

About four hours into the game this was my front line character. Maxed out shield skill and endgame level evasion. She's got so much evasion that while sequence breaking to get to Mysidia early I accidentally ended up getting lost and made my way to Palamecia instead which is the last area you go to before the endgame iirc and had little trouble. (Current equipment is a bit different though. I traded out one of the shields for a fire spear from Mysidia and got her spear level up to 6 or 7.)

Firion and Guy have similar shield skill levels but they're using just bows now and are in the back row which kinda makes the shield skill superfluous. (For progression I just got to Kashuan Keep at the end of my play session.)

[KobaBeach]

ff2's gba version adding the little exp bars makes it so much more fun to break

[HatKid]

The things I missed out on by playing the NES version of FF2...

Been playing Ys: Memories of Celceta lately, just finished up the main plot in Selray and did a few sidequests there. I'm liking it so far, but the occasional enemy that is like 10 levels higher than you and nearly one shot you are a bit annoying. At least they're super big so thery're east to spot.

Started a New Game + of Trials of Mana remake with Charwotte as the main character and Angela and Kevin as the other two party members. Charlotte and Kevin's story is the one I've fully played through in the original game, not that there's much difference between the three storylines in the first place... Had the 300% exp boost on for a while so now I'm super overleveled.

[KobaBeach]

Started Popful Mail, Sega CD version, out of being somewhat tired of Suikoden. Made it past the Elf Forest and the Giant Tree Tower. At the Golem Tower before I finish Stage 1: The Jungle, gonna backtrack to the village to stock up on Oranges before fighting the Wooden Golem. Got the Leather Breast, the Wooden Shield and the Dagger. Playing the NTSC-J release, fuck working designs

Between this and Suikoden, I honestly do not see what's so dry about Japanese scripts outside of most of them sticking exclusively to the Tokyo dialect. Suikoden had very soulful dialogue, even if it gave more attention to the plot critical characters, and Popful Mail had a rather nice, saturday morning atmosphere, reminded me of Slayers, even down to Mail being rather similar to Lina Inverse. I guess people just want "gag dubs" like some of WD's work, I legitimately do not know.

I do understand that English translations require more effort and flourish, though, I much prefer localizations with lots of flourish that still respect the original text like Bravely Default or Moon Remix RPG Adventure, over Lunar 1&2's insistence on slapstick and real world references. Compare the latter to the doge joke in Triforce Heroes (US) but a lot more blatant and shoehorned. And all over the place. Even in more subdued works like Arc the Lad, some of the dialogue feels off. Like in a sort of Saban/4kids dub way. The only "gag dubs" I like are Dragon Quest, really, as those don't omit text to replace it with awkward jokes due to "the original being dry and boring", merely just going overboard on ridiculous accents, which honestly, I find funny.

I'd probably be able to appreciate the Popful Mail localization but the difficulty adjustments and Working Designs' insistence on putting their credits before the developer's (in this case Falcom), is something I cannot support.

[Bean]

I think I'm getting closer to the ending of Dragon Quest VIII. Kind of sneaking up on me since it doesn't really feel that way, but I heard there's a postgame deal anyway. I'll probably keep going and try that since most of the fights now are afterthoughts due to some easy level grinding. They throw those King Metal Slimes at you real early in this one.

[Ashan]

Finished reading the last book in the Witcher series last night, just in time for Mario 3D All Stars today.

So far I've only hopped into Sunshine. I still don't really know how I want to attack this game. I think Galaxy is the only game of the 3 I've 100%ed (I might have done 100% in SM64 DS, but not the original). So I figured this release would be an opportunity to check the other games off the list.

I'm currently 30 shines into Sunshine, and I've been having fun. Controls took a little bit of getting used to, in part because I haven't played it in a long time, but also because I'd say the FLUDD mechanics add a layer of control that makes it one of Mario's more complex movesets compared to any other game. I didn't know about backflip spraying, or spray bursts (which I guess are kinda the same thing?). I didn't make good use of the spin jump which turns out to be pretty useful. And I had no idea about being able to travel quickly with a belly slide by diving into a puddle of water.

It generally looks and plays pretty well so far, though I've encountered some pretty embarrassing framerate issues in Delfino Plaza, particularly when a lot's going on, like I'm chasing shadow Mario. I'd like to hope that they could fix that in a patch, but I'm not gonna hold my breath.

I was curious as to how they'd handle FLUDD's voice-acted controls tutorial since it mentions specific buttons, and I found it funny that they just cut out when she says a specific button name, so the captions don't match up with what she says. i.e. the captions will say say "use the ZR button to shoot water" but FLUDD will say "use the button to shoot water." Slightly awkward phrasing. Except for X, since that's still the nozzle change button.

[thatguyif]

Between this and Suikoden, I honestly do not see what's so dry about Japanese scripts outside of most of them sticking exclusively to the Tokyo dialect. Suikoden had very soulful dialogue, even if it gave more attention to the plot critical characters, and Popful Mail had a rather nice, saturday morning atmosphere, reminded me of Slayers, even down to Mail being rather similar to Lina Inverse. I guess people just want "gag dubs" like some of WD's work, I legitimately do not know.

I do understand that English translations require more effort and flourish, though, I much prefer localizations with lots of flourish that still respect the original text like Bravely Default or Moon Remix RPG Adventure, over Lunar 1&2's insistence on slapstick and real world references. Compare the latter to the doge joke in Triforce Heroes (US) but a lot more blatant and shoehorned. And all over the place. Even in more subdued works like Arc the Lad, some of the dialogue feels off. Like in a sort of Saban/4kids dub way. The only "gag dubs" I like are Dragon Quest, really, as those don't omit text to replace it with awkward jokes due to "the original being dry and boring", merely just going overboard on ridiculous accents, which honestly, I find funny.

I think it's important to consider historical context with Working Designs. They were mostly active in the mid- to late-90s. We have to take into account the following from that time period:

• Western localization was still a niche business
• Translating scripts was incredibly spotty well into the early 2000s (and onward)
• Anime was still a niche form of culture in the Western world until the late 1990s
• Game writing was still a struggle in general (note that Popful Mail was made in 1991...think about the quality of game scripts around that time)

By anchoring your focus on the original Japanese script and viewing translated scripts from how well they compare to the original, I think you miss a key point of how well they function as scripts in their own language and culture. WD wasn't just localizing these games for anime nerds, who were a sliver in number in the 1990s to what they are now. If they did, they would've gone bankrupt after the first Lunar PS1 game. Rather, they were targeting a broader audience, including nerds who weren't as acquainted with anime, or whose exposure was limited to syndicated dubs. And I think they did that job well in part because the work they did was highly professional. The script was clean: No typos, very few moments of incoherent gibberish (both common features of translated English scripts at the time). The characters had life and distinction to them that previous English translations of other games struggled to put in. The jokes and references were a nice change of pace from the standard fare fantasy script work for an audience that was looking for something different. It was written and edited well.

Would a WD-esque team be able to pull such a blatant take of a translation nowadays? Absolutely not. But in those times, it could work. People just didn't care that much that the translation was inaccurate or there were out-of-place references. The scripts themselves, independent of their translations, were fine for the time.

[KobaBeach]

Anime was still a niche form of culture in the Western world until the late 1990s

uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh *points to dragon ball z's entire european and latin american syndication*

also i know that wd was easier to digest in the 90s, doesnt make their balance wrecking and out of place humor any less problematic
i'm that bitch that doesn't like the digimon english dub at all outside of the soundtrack

sorry if im coming off as harsh

[HatKid]

At the very least someone did make patches to restore the difficulty to the Japanese originals. Doesn't fix the made up scripts though

If you (as, the person reading my post and no one in particular) already knew about these feel free to ignore me, I've nothing to add to this discussion lol

[thatguyif]

Allow me to correct that then, Koba: The Anglosphere wasn't as exposed. Sailor Moon had just been in syndicated dubs for a short time in the mid-1990s before being shuffled off for a while. DBZ, did have an okay start in the initial syndicated broadcast, but also got shuffled off. Same with Canada and the UK. Things didn't really pick up until the late 1990s with Toonami.

Also, I don't think the out-of-place humor was problematic. Annoying, perhaps. Outdated in a short time, definitely.

Anyway...

My last Fiesta was made unofficial. I was able to get to the Rift/Cleft before deadline, but I got too busy with my vacation to finish it in time. I still finished it, just a few days later. Having Summoner and Samurai was a lot of fun, especially toward the end when I could Iainuki/Odin my way through most anything.

After that, I started up Starlink. I want to like this game, I really do. It's got interesting mechanics for space combat. But it's secretly a loot shooter, and I've come to dislike those games a lot. Loot shooters are just not that interesting because it feels like you're just going from place to place without really getting a chance to explore. It turns into a super complicated shmup. In Starlink's case, I feel like I'm just going to go through the main story and not explore the game too deeply.

I've returned to Fallout New Vegas in the meantime. It's been actually quite fun to explore, and I've taken a more quest-based approach to places. I'm mostly friendly to NCR, but I want to throw them under a bus when I get a chance (I'm mostly helping who they're supposedly helping). Haven't entered New Vegas proper yet, but I might do that weekend and possibly start one of the DLCs.

[The Doctor]

Started Popful Mail, Sega CD version

Hey, that's one of my hopefully future Royal picks. I adored that game.

I'm playing Ys: Oath in Felghana after a several month long break. I like to play the Ys games on Nightmare diffculty, but Nightmare on this game makes Nightmare on the rest of the series look like casual mode. I started a playthrough of this series a while back, but I've been stuck up on this game for about 3 years now. I'm near the end though, so hopefully I can move onto Ys: Origins soon.

I'm also playing Stand Tall and Shake the Heavens. A kaizo hack that was recommended in the discord as a good follow-up to YUMP 2. Unlike YUMP 2 it's 100% kaizo, but that's what I wanted. I'm a little over halfway through and I'm really enjoying it so far. This kaizo hack is a nice break from the crushing difficulty of Ys.

[KobaBeach]

I know about the Unworked Designs patches, I just also don't like the scripts

Allow me to correct that then, Koba: The Anglosphere wasn't as exposed. Sailor Moon had just been in syndicated dubs for a short time in the mid-1990s before being shuffled off for a while. DBZ, did have an okay start in the initial syndicated broadcast, but also got shuffled off. Same with Canada and the UK. Things didn't really pick up until the late 1990s with Toonami.

Also, I don't think the out-of-place humor was problematic. Annoying, perhaps. Outdated in a short time, definitely.

Anyway...

it's okay to like working designs. i just dont.

please stop defending working designs to me. i'm sorry.

I'm also playing Stand Tall and Shake the Heavens. A kaizo hack that was recommended in the discord as a good follow-up to YUMP 2. Unlike YUMP 2 it's 100% kaizo, but that's what I wanted. I'm a little over halfway through and I'm really enjoying it so far. This kaizo hack is a nice break from the crushing difficulty of Ys.

i think ive downloaded that but i think im gonna leave it for later when im more used to kaizo

hope you enjoy

[Leet]

Game writing was still a struggle in general (note that Popful Mail was made in 1991...think about the quality of game scripts around that time)

There have been games with good (well, "interesting" at least, good and bad aren't really useful words) writing since the very beginning of adventure games, this is ahistorical

[HatKid]

I'm playing Ys: Oath in Felghana after a several month long break. I like to play the Ys games on Nightmare diffculty, but Nightmare on this game makes Nightmare on the rest of the series look like casual mode. I started a playthrough of this series a while back, but I've been stuck up on this game for about 3 years now. I'm near the end though, so hopefully I can move onto Ys: Origins soon.

Ys Origin on Nightmare has the same sort of brutal difficulty that Oath has so... good luck. I can't imagine playing these games on Nightmare! Easy/Normal is more than enough for me haha

Speaking of Ys, making progress in Memories of Celceta. Finished the first set of mapping and then returned to Casnan. I'm a little disappointed that the plots for Selray and Comodo

turned out to be practically identical, other than that they both introduce two different characters

. I wonder if I should expect more of that or not. I miss Adol's classic armor; he just doesn't look right without it.

[Alice]

I'm playing Ys: Oath in Felghana after a several month long break. I like to play the Ys games on Nightmare diffculty, but Nightmare on this game makes Nightmare on the rest of the series look like casual mode. I started a playthrough of this series a while back, but I've been stuck up on this game for about 3 years now. I'm near the end though, so hopefully I can move onto Ys: Origins soon.

Felghana, Origins, and Ark of Napishtim all are a fair bit more difficult than the other modern entries in the series due to the fact they were the first modern entries. They tend to have some balance issues that don't exist in the later games. Most notably the fact that not grinding out enough levels/higher level equipment far too frequently means enemies in an area you're supposed to be in don't take any damage and deal absurd damage. This issue is far more common on the higher difficulties from what I recall due to them having increased stats.

Personally I would recommend not bothering with those three on nightmare/inferno difficulties because there are some parts that are nigh impossible without a ton of grinding. In Felghana in particular I recall getting stuck on a lot of bosses but especially the fire dragon/serpent thing, the bird thing on the bridge, and especially Galbalan who I couldn't beat even with the best equipment and at max level because he just dealt such absurd amounts of damage.

[Ashan]

I did the dreaded lily pad red coins level in Mario Sunshine today. The level itself didn't even take me as long as just getting in the level. I remembered there being a lot of waiting but holy cow it's even worse than you probably remember. And one tiny mistake and you have to repeat the whole process over again. At one point I got to the last ship transfer but I couldn't remember if you have to transfer to the other boats or if the boats are going in the same cycle, so I didn't transfer and by the time I figured it out it was too late and I missed my last ditch effort to transfer. Another time later I actually make it to the last boat but somehow when the boat did its sharp U-turn to go back towards the island, the floor slipped out from underneath me and dropped me in the water. I'm sure it must have taken me at least a half hour before finally succeeding.

And all this makes the level that much more stressful. I'd probably enjoy the challenge if there wasn't the everlooming threat of having to do 10 minutes of waiting around with occasional janky jumps between boats. Thankfully I went in with 20+ lives I had accumulated throughout the game and managed to succeed in like 10 attempts or so

[The Doctor]

Nah, it's Nightmare or nothing for me. I'm having fun, so I'm not going to drop the difficulty. I've already beaten Napishtim, so Origins is the last bump in the road.

[Ashan]

Finished 120 shines for my first time


I encountered some weird bugs throughout my playthrough. Aside from the framerate issues that occasionally pop up in Delfino Plaza, I was also having issues with the durians there, where whenever I touched them it was treated as a hard kick and they'd go flying, which made the blue coin where you have to kick 3 durians into the lady's basket a nightmare. I also accidentally cheated in the Scrubbing Serena Beach episode, where I only cleaned up a bit of goop from the beach, and suddenly it counted me as being done even though I had just gotten started. And also if you try to water belly slide across the bridge at the beginning of Pianta Village, you consistently fall through the bridge somehow. It makes me wonder what other occasional frustrations with the physics were due to emulation bugs and weren't present in the original game. It's been so long since I played it that it's hard for me to know.

Still had a great time though

[Ashan]

Moved onto Mario 64 and holy cow, it turns out a significant portion of my issue I've always had with this game is just that the N64 controller's joystick sucks balls. Playing it with the Switch Pro controller, I feel way more in control with the movement, even including flying, swimming, sliding, etc.

[raekuul]

While the N64 Joystick does suck balls, it's also 100% analog. Make it sturdier and it'll be the single most precise joystick you'll ever use.

in other news, I've finally got my PS2 modded to play my PS1 games in 480i instead of trying to play them in 240p, with copious amounts of hard drive shenaniganry, so now I can go back to trying to play the original Final Fantasy Tactics (and once I move my PMC saves into the VMCs I can finish my current FF7 game).

[KobaBeach]

Made it past the second area in Popful Mail, the Caverns of Antiquity and a bit of the third area, the Dwarf Mountains (it doesn't really have a name). Got past the Mine and heading towards the Ancient Shrine. The podoboo area didn't have crumbling blocks so I don't know if WD programmed those in or not. Either way it made the challenge pointless, but WD's challenge also sounds like it goes completely on the other end of the difficulty spectrum, so it's not the best either. Them's the breaks, I guess lol

[Alice]

After all the recent conversations around the talkhaus about the Ys series I decided to start replaying Memories of Celceta. Though I decided that since I already beat it once I'd just play however seems most fun and cheated for a bunch of money so I could buy the gold urn items from the guy in the barter/smelting shop which can instantly upgrade a piece of equipment to max. It actually doesn't do quite as much as you'd expect. Not too far into the game there's an area (just inside the forest I believe it was) where there's a level 18-19 enemy on the far right of a screen and you'll be maybe level 10-11 at most when you reach it (I was 9) and I was still not capable of defeating it. Given enough time I could have but it hit for like 60-70 damage and when it did it would always knock you down and frequently get in a second or even third hit. (I had about 230ish hp at the time.) After five minutes of barely surviving it I'd still taken it down by only about 20% hp. I kinda figured having armor with level 9 in every upgrade and a weapon with the same (and both being the best equipment obtainable when you get there) that you'd actually stand a chance of coming out on top.

[BurntTenda]

I played through Resident Evil 7 since that got added to PS Now.
It was super fun honestly.
I liked it enough to go for the speedrun trophy.
Currently trying a Madhouse playthrough. The barn fight is tough.

I also have played through Bug Fables. What a cute game!
An excellent successor to the first two Paper Marios.
I still need to do what postgame stuff there is.