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Post by masterdoctor on Jan 6, 2023 3:25:25 GMT
In the first few hours of playing the newest Marvel game, Midnight Sons. Love the team in the comics, and despite the non-members added to this game for better sales(though the in story reason does work). Gotta say that I am really enjoying it! It's a real nice mix between a card battler and a real time strategy game, both genres I've dabbled in, but don't have much experience in, and its a really solid (relatively) first major foray into those genres. The gameplay is really smooth and works well, and I've already had a couple of moments where I've gotten really excited about combos of different abilities alongside mechanics that I can use for really powerful turns. The characters are all solidly written, with a few standing out, and the cameos for NPCs has been very engaging alongside the story
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Post by Star Platinum on Jan 6, 2023 23:15:51 GMT
I've been playing a lot of Pokemon Scarlet, and Diablo 2 Resurrected over the last few days.
Scarlett is a very flawed game, lots of bugs and performance issues, but there is a good game buried in there in spite of it's issues. With any luck a few patches and it'll be one of the best pokemon games they've released in years. Frankly, it's the game I always dreamed of as a kid while playing Pokemon.
Diablo 2 is an excellent remaster of an old classic. It's fresh coat of paint looks amazing and helps it look a bit more modern. It's still quite on the grindy side, but the fun is watching your characters grow. I've had wuite a bit of fun with my skeleton Necromancer watch him overwhelm the hordes of monsters looking to attack me. It works excellently as a game to play while focusing on Big Finish stories.
I'm looking forward to Fire Emblem Engage which is coming out in a couple weeks, looks like it'll be a nice throwback game to the fire emblems I used to play before the franchise got rebooted with Awakening and Fates.
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Post by Timelord007 on Jan 7, 2023 1:03:35 GMT
I've been playing a lot of Pokemon Scarlet, and Diablo 2 Resurrected over the last few days. Scarlett is a very flawed game, lots of bugs and performance issues, but there is a good game buried in there in spite of it's issues. With any luck a few patches and it'll be one of the best pokemon games they've released in years. Frankly, it's the game I always dreamed of as a kid while playing Pokemon. Diablo 2 is an excellent remaster of an old classic. It's fresh coat of paint looks amazing and helps it look a bit more modern. It's still quite on the grindy side, but the fun is watching your characters grow. I've had wuite a bit of fun with my skeleton Necromancer watch him overwhelm the hordes of monsters looking to attack me. It works excellently as a game to play while focusing on Big Finish stories. I'm looking forward to Fire Emblem Engage which is coming out in a couple weeks, looks like it'll be a nice throwback game to the fire emblems I used to play before the franchise got rebooted with Awakening and Fates. My cousin been enjoying Diablo 2 he got the version with Diablo 3.
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Post by Timelord007 on Jan 7, 2023 1:05:01 GMT
Halo Infinite what a awesome game & a strong return to form for the franchise.
I got Callisto Protocol, Evil West & Steel Rising to play next few months.
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Post by masterdoctor on Jan 10, 2023 0:05:26 GMT
Still playing Midnight Suns and still really getting into it. The combat and RTS portions are great fun, and leave a lot of avenue to explore and experiment, and the relationship building and battle prep mechanics are equally as fun.
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Post by tuigirl on Jan 14, 2023 10:23:42 GMT
Finished my first run of Shadows over Loathing. Very enjoyable great game, with amazing writing, Easter-Eggs, challenging puzzles and great setting. They thoroughly succeeded with the idea of "Can we create a great game, but instead of graphics, we just use black and white stick-figures".
All the praise is totally deserved. I just love how clever it is.
Here is one example why I fell in love with it
Since I enjoyed this so much, I have now re-installed the previous game, West of Loathing, to give it another chance. Created a new character, and will see how I go (decided to go with the "Beanslinger").
Maybe I was just not in the mood for it last time I tried.
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Post by sidestep on Jan 14, 2023 10:53:30 GMT
Halo Infinite what a awesome game & a strong return to form for the franchise. My nephew plays it & I watch. Or he calls me over if something cool is about to happen (or a character we know appears or a toy he owns.) Same when he played the MCC, ODST & Reach. Infinite is indeed awesome & compares favorably with the games that preceded it. A worthy addition. 👍🏻⭐️
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Post by Digi on Jan 14, 2023 20:06:04 GMT
Been revisiting Star Wars: Dark Forces via the new sourceport, and also been playing Luigi's Mansion 3 since getting it for Xmas from my sister. Having a fabulous time with both. Finished both, had a great time.
Now I'm mucking about in Hitman: Codename 47. It was pretty clunky when it first came out and 22 years have not been kind to that clunkiness, but I'm still having fun. No doubt enhanced by nostalgia.
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Post by Kestrel on Jan 15, 2023 4:59:38 GMT
Picked up some Final Fantasies for Steam. Trying to decide whether to go with FFVI or FFVII Remake.
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Post by christmastrenzalore on Jan 16, 2023 20:08:42 GMT
Spiritfarer A bit long, but a very lovely game. It reminded me of playing the old Mata Nui Flash games, only more bittersweet.
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Post by Star Platinum on Jan 16, 2023 22:22:35 GMT
Picked up some Final Fantasies for Steam. Trying to decide whether to go with FFVI or FFVII Remake. FF VI is my second favourite game in the franchise after V. It's peak SNES rpg, but I heard that the PC release of it had an atrocious font for it's text boxes. VII Remake is also great. Fantastic visuals, an excellent soundtrack and some really good ARPG gameplay in it. The story is a point of criticism for many players, but I won't go into details as I don't want to spoil it. That said, it's still an experience well worth having.
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Post by nucleusofswarm on Jan 17, 2023 0:16:39 GMT
Continuing on with Castlevania Lords of Shadow.
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Post by Timelord007 on Jan 17, 2023 8:49:11 GMT
The Ascent, awesome game.
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Post by Kestrel on Jan 19, 2023 9:58:32 GMT
Picked up some Final Fantasies for Steam. Trying to decide whether to go with FFVI or FFVII Remake. FF VI is my second favourite game in the franchise after V. It's peak SNES rpg, but I heard that the PC release of it had an atrocious font for it's text boxes. VII Remake is also great. Fantastic visuals, an excellent soundtrack and some really good ARPG gameplay in it. The story is a point of criticism for many players, but I won't go into details as I don't want to spoil it. That said, it's still an experience well worth having. lol, yeah, thankfully I'd already been spoiled on FFVIIR. If I'd gone into Final Fantasy VII: Remake expecting it to be a remake of Final Fantasy VII, I'd probably be pretty upset. It's kind of impressive -- everything Square-Enix does is like a wish on a monkey's paw. Anyway, I opted to start playing FFVIIR first, reasoning it'd be shorter, so I could knock it out of the way relatively quickly and then pop on over to the VI remaster (and hopefully finish that before the Suikoden remasters come out). So far I've played up to the the residential neighborhood area. And, so far... it's a solid game, I think. The music is definitely the best part. They really pulled out all the stops. Story-wise... it's more of a mixed bag. The bits that are faithful to the original game (thus far) have all been phenomenal -- but all the changes and additions are... baffling at best. And, man, the pacing is all over the place. Combat is also a highlight. Definitely more fun to play than any other SE game I've played that not FFXII (aka the GOAT).
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Post by Star Platinum on Jan 19, 2023 22:00:03 GMT
FF VI is my second favourite game in the franchise after V. It's peak SNES rpg, but I heard that the PC release of it had an atrocious font for it's text boxes. VII Remake is also great. Fantastic visuals, an excellent soundtrack and some really good ARPG gameplay in it. The story is a point of criticism for many players, but I won't go into details as I don't want to spoil it. That said, it's still an experience well worth having. lol, yeah, thankfully I'd already been spoiled on FFVIIR. If I'd gone into Final Fantasy VII: Remake expecting it to be a remake of Final Fantasy VII, I'd probably be pretty upset. It's kind of impressive -- everything Square-Enix does is like a wish on a monkey's paw. Anyway, I opted to start playing FFVIIR first, reasoning it'd be shorter, so I could knock it out of the way relatively quickly and then pop on over to the VI remaster (and hopefully finish that before the Suikoden remasters come out). So far I've played up to the the residential neighborhood area. And, so far... it's a solid game, I think. The music is definitely the best part. They really pulled out all the stops. Story-wise... it's more of a mixed bag. The bits that are faithful to the original game (thus far) have all been phenomenal -- but all the changes and additions are... baffling at best. And, man, the pacing is all over the place. Combat is also a highlight. Definitely more fun to play than any other SE game I've played that not FFXII (aka the GOAT). You haven't "heard" anything yet, some of the late game boss fights, the remix work done on them is downright stunning. I'm withholding a lot of judgement of where the story goes, at least until the trilogy is done and dusted, but I will say, that first chapter, the bombing run is about as close to perfection as FFVII will ever be. There isn't a single misstep in that entire chapter. I've got a weird relationship with FFXII, it took me years and several attempted playthroughs to finally get into it, I kept giving up around the mandrake cave on the way into the empire. The ps4 remaster certainly helped, but I get too bogged down in trying to figure out who should get which summons and classes trying to optimize the characters. Still, it's a very good looking game for something that was originally on ps2.
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Post by Kestrel on Jan 20, 2023 4:59:02 GMT
You haven't "heard" anything yet, some of the late game boss fights, the remix work done on them is downright stunning. I'm withholding a lot of judgement of where the story goes, at least until the trilogy is done and dusted, but I will say, that first chapter, the bombing run is about as close to perfection as FFVII will ever be. There isn't a single misstep in that entire chapter. I've got a weird relationship with FFXII, it took me years and several attempted playthroughs to finally get into it, I kept giving up around the mandrake cave on the way into the empire. The ps4 remaster certainly helped, but I get too bogged down in trying to figure out who should get which summons and classes trying to optimize the characters. Still, it's a very good looking game for something that was originally on ps2. You say that as though I didn't immediately exit out of the game after the first hour of play to buy the soundtrack. It's good. Real good. After checking out the Distant Worlds stuff, I've been on a bit of an FF music bender (among other music). But, yeah, that first chapter is incredible. I really hope, at the very least, the Shinra Tower and Slums Church segments are even just half as good. That, alone, would make the whole thing worthwhile to me. Re: FF12... that's a complicated discussion. First time I played it? I hated it. Today, I consider it my favorite FF game -- not necessarily the best one, though. Like... it has a ton of problems (typical of SE mismanagement, it released in a conspicuously unfinished state that the Zodiac Age remaster did very little to improve on)... but when FF12 is at its best, it is so much better than any other game in the series (for me, at least). Those high points are just so damned high. And, frankly, that's really saying a lot for a game without an Uematsu score. There's some parallel world out there where FF12 released in a more complete state, with each party member getting a similar level of characterization and development to the Squaresoft "golden age" -era FFs... and in that world, this version of FF12 would essentially be the platonic ideal of the JRPG. Anyway, if you feel like giving Zodiac Age another shot (and you should!) use this chart when assigning espers: gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ps2/459841-final-fantasy-xii/map/13297-esper-locked-licensesThe actual classes/jobs you assign each character don't really matter much at all unless you're min-maxing (and even then the differences are pretty negligible) so you can do whatever you like. IIRC both the PC and Switch versions of Zodiac Age (but not the PS4 version) also allow you to re-assign those jobs and respec your license board whenever you want, so it's a lot easier to experiment around with different things.
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Post by Star Platinum on Jan 20, 2023 5:35:41 GMT
You say that as though I didn't immediately exit out of the game after the first hour of play to buy the soundtrack. It's good. Real good. After checking out the Distant Worlds stuff, I've been on a bit of an FF music bender (among other music). But, yeah, that first chapter is incredible. I really hope, at the very least, the Shinra Tower and Slums Church segments are even just half as good. That, alone, would make the whole thing worthwhile to me. Re: FF12... that's a complicated discussion. First time I played it? I hated it. Today, I consider it my favorite FF game -- not necessarily the best one, though. Like... it has a ton of problems (typical of SE mismanagement, it released in a conspicuously unfinished state that the Zodiac Age remaster did very little to improve on)... but when FF12 is at its best, it is so much better than any other game in the series (for me, at least). Those high points are just so damned high. And, frankly, that's really saying a lot for a game without an Uematsu score. There's some parallel world out there where FF12 released in a more complete state, with each party member getting a similar level of characterization and development to the Squaresoft "golden age" -era FFs... and in that world, this version of FF12 would essentially be the platonic ideal of the JRPG. Anyway, if you feel like giving Zodiac Age another shot (and you should!) use this chart when assigning espers: gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ps2/459841-final-fantasy-xii/map/13297-esper-locked-licensesThe actual classes/jobs you assign each character don't really matter much at all unless you're min-maxing (and even then the differences are pretty negligible) so you can do whatever you like. IIRC both the PC and Switch versions of Zodiac Age (but not the PS4 version) also allow you to re-assign those jobs and respec your license board whenever you want, so it's a lot easier to experiment around with different things. I'm planning on revisiting all of the Final Fantasy titles (barring the MMOs) at some point this year, just waiting on the pixel remasters to drop on playstation at some point this spring, though I'll never forgive Square Enix for stripping all of them of the GBA bonus dungeon content. So I'll definitely revisit XII at some point, fingers crossed that this'll be the time I take down Zodiark. Honestly I feel like the quality of the Final Fantasy titles took a hit after the Square Enix merger, I know that there were issues with the development with XII that you touched on, but XIII had some questionable plot and gameplay choices (putting a cap on experience you can get in a chapter, really?) XIII-2 and LR couldn't hold my interest, and XV's story is a convoluted mess that needs it's movie, side games and DLC to tell a coherent story. Still, all of it's issues aside I still adore the franchise and the good always outweighs the bad. It's a franchise I love, warts and all, even if I prefer the older titles. Edit: On the topic of the music of Final Fantasy VII you may want to take a listen to the Final Fantasy Final Symphony It's arrangements from Final Fantasy VII are absolutely breathtaking and the Final Fantasy VI arrangement Born With the Gift of the Magi is spectacular. it stands shoulder to shoulder with the amazing work done in the distant worlds releases.
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Post by Kestrel on Jan 21, 2023 15:16:11 GMT
Ooh, neat. I'll be sure to check those out.
Re: the Square-Enix merger... yeah. Final Fantasy definitely took a big hit there. Though, oddly, Dragon Quest didn't seem to be very affected. Well, depending on how you feel about the MMO pivot, I guess.
FFXIII is also on my list to try again. I never finished it the first time through, running out of steam pretty much immediately after leaving Cocoon. I don't really remember there being XP caps -- rather, I seem to remember there not really being XP at all, or any real reason to fight random enemies (maybe the progression curve was just really slow?). What I remember most is definitely how all of the Coccon areas were long, narrow corridors filled with trash mobs you had to fight one-by-one that were impossible to avoid. If and when I replay, I'll probably see if there are any mods or cheats to skip that stuff. At least as I recall, the story/characters/music/ etc. were pretty decent, at the very least.
FFXV on the other hand... so much could be written on that particular trainwreck. Even just the wikipedia article on it is a real journey.
My favorite part of the game is when you have this great big boss battle in a volcano or something, and when you're done you're immediately captured by the big bad in an airship. Oh no! Then the screen goes black and it transitions to your party just... hanging out in the woods. Because the Big Bad (apparently) decided to let you go. Off-screen.
Like... it's amazing how they didn't even bother with trying to hide gaps left by content they either cut from the game entirely or never actually got around to making in the first place.
That said, I do really appreciate FFXV simply for giving you a big open world to ride a chocobo around on. That's always fun.
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Post by christmastrenzalore on Jan 27, 2023 3:15:22 GMT
Yakuza 3 Another one under my belt. ( Now just 4 5 6, Paradise Lost and Lost Judgement to go. :S )
I've been playing it intermittently over a few months, so I was surprised to see the play time only clocked in at 40hrs. The Orphanage back drop gave it more of a laid back vibe than 1 and 2, though I was little bummed Sayama was written out. It was nice to finally play a full game with Dragon Fighting style, rather than it being a bonus side style.
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Post by Star Platinum on Jan 27, 2023 22:51:10 GMT
Played just a little bit of the Xbox port of Goldeneye 007 last night, It's funny how it can catapult me back to playing it as a kid, The levels felt so big and complex, but now really are anything but.
Either way, the few missions I've played have been a delight, and perhaps now I'll legitimately unlock 007 mode. I still wish a little bit more effort had gone into the port though. Upscaling of the ingame fonts and parity between the switch and xbox 1 releases certainly would have been nice.
First chance I get, I'll be unlocking paintball mode.
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