Kestrel
Chancellery Guard
Likes: 2,715
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Post by Kestrel on May 18, 2024 14:46:08 GMT
Color me excited about the Wildermyth DLC! A bit disappointed that the campaign lacks any of the randomness that gave the base game so much replayability, but I'm still very interested in what one of their campaigns will be like when they can tell a more conventional, linear story. I'm gonna hold off on buying it until the 28th, when another piece of highly-anticipated DLC launches. I am speaking, of course, of the grand strategy game Old World, which is quickly becoming my favorite of the genre -- yes, surpassing even Civilization. The focus on the bronze age is fantastic (I will simp for the Hittites every day of the week, thank you very much) and overall it comes across as all of the best bits of Civilization V, minus all of the annoying bits, plus a really nifty event system (and there are sooooo many events) and much better diplomacy. Not to mention combat that never quite falls into that interminable slog that always happens in Civilization games. Finished Skyward Sword on Wii and it was interesting experience. The motion controls can be a real pain at times, so I understand why the Switch incarnation made this optional, but the art style and story are nice. It feels like just with a little less padding and a little less reliance on the motion controls would have made this a better experience. I personally loved the motion controls, but yeah, the game feels a lot better on the Switch because they really did cut almost all the padding and tutorializing, so you get to actually *play* the game as long as you like without being arbitrarily pulled out of the experience. Mechanics-wise I think it's probably one of the most-fun games I've played in my life, just on a moment-to-moment basis, and the dungeon design is just... absolute peak Zelda for me. Though I suppose that final boss was pretty annoying to fight, regardless of input method. One other difference between the Wii and NS versions that might be salient here: the Joycons are far less precise at registering motions than Wiimotes, which is both a pro and a con. The con is fairly obvious: it makes precise maneuvers with things like the beetle and bow more difficult than they were with the Wiimotes. But on the pro side? It means you can do all of the most-common inputs (sword slashes) with even smaller wrist motions, as the Joycon gyro is especially sensitive. So depending on which parts of the Wii motion controls annoyed you the most, you might find the same thing feels considerably less (or more) annoying with the NS version.
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Post by sherlock on May 18, 2024 17:01:02 GMT
Color me excited about the Wildermyth DLC! A bit disappointed that the campaign lacks any of the randomness that gave the base game so much replayability, but I'm still very interested in what one of their campaigns will be like when they can tell a more conventional, linear story. I'm gonna hold off on buying it until the 28th, when another piece of highly-anticipated DLC launches. I am speaking, of course, of the grand strategy game Old World, which is quickly becoming my favorite of the genre -- yes, surpassing even Civilization. The focus on the bronze age is fantastic (I will simp for the Hittites every day of the week, thank you very much) and overall it comes across as all of the best bits of Civilization V, minus all of the annoying bits, plus a really nifty event system (and there are sooooo many events) and much better diplomacy. Not to mention combat that never quite falls into that interminable slog that always happens in Civilization games. Finished Skyward Sword on Wii and it was interesting experience. The motion controls can be a real pain at times, so I understand why the Switch incarnation made this optional, but the art style and story are nice. It feels like just with a little less padding and a little less reliance on the motion controls would have made this a better experience. I personally loved the motion controls, but yeah, the game feels a lot better on the Switch because they really did cut almost all the padding and tutorializing, so you get to actually *play* the game as long as you like without being arbitrarily pulled out of the experience. Mechanics-wise I think it's probably one of the most-fun games I've played in my life, just on a moment-to-moment basis, and the dungeon design is just... absolute peak Zelda for me. Though I suppose that final boss was pretty annoying to fight, regardless of input method. One other difference between the Wii and NS versions that might be salient here: the Joycons are far less precise at registering motions than Wiimotes, which is both a pro and a con. The con is fairly obvious: it makes precise maneuvers with things like the beetle and bow more difficult than they were with the Wiimotes. But on the pro side? It means you can do all of the most-common inputs (sword slashes) with even smaller wrist motions, as the Joycon gyro is especially sensitive. So depending on which parts of the Wii motion controls annoyed you the most, you might find the same thing feels considerably less (or more) annoying with the NS version. For me I think the problem was the level of precision and speed that was sometimes required for the motion controls. Swinging the sword at just the right angle in time to take advantage of a gap in enemies’ defences just do not play to my strengths, probably in part due to my dyspraxia (Ghirahim took me a fair while because of this), and that got frustrating at times. I do love the mechanics though (the beetle might be my favourite Zelda item; using it as recon and dropping bombs on annoying enemies was a delight), and I agree the dungeon design is awesome. Skykeep especially. I certainly enjoyed it, but it definitely felt more of a trial than Twilight Princess did. I hadn’t heard of Old World before, but sounds intriguing. I might give it a look.
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Post by fitzoliverj on May 25, 2024 16:02:31 GMT
"Dangeresque Roomisode X: Inspection Certificate on File in Building Office", a new chapter added free, gratis, and for nothing to "Dangeresque: The Roomisode Triungulate", featuring Dangeresque Too in a plummeting lift!
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Post by tuigirl on May 26, 2024 20:46:00 GMT
This weekend, I was playing:
Duck Detective- The Secret Salami, which is a short but sweet silly little detective game. You play as a duck detective (lots of semi-funny duck puns) with a serious bread addiction who is called to a office building to investigate a lunch theft.
Yep, you try to find out who steals the food from the staff. However, it escalates from there and the crimes spiral from bad to worse. It is fun and lighthearted and takes around 3 hours if you take your time (like me). I just needed something light and fun to play and this totally fit the bill.
And I just started with Star Trek- Resurgence.
It is a Telltale style adventure game with quick time events. It was made by people who worked for Telltale beforehand and reviews said it was slower pace and the story on par with "golden era" Trek- so fitting in with TNG, DS9 and Voyager.
There is even some original cast voice acting (Jonathan Frakes).
All of this was an instant buy for me. This is not an action shooter, but a story heavy game, like a 10 hour interactive movie.
You can even tour the ship, like you could with Voyager- Elite Force back in the day.
I like it so far, this is pure nostalgia and my kind of Trek.
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Post by sherlock on May 28, 2024 10:27:48 GMT
I have finally caught up with the modern world and bought a Switch, and have been playing Breath of the Wild. And yeah I get why this is lauded as one of the best games now.
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Post by timleschild on May 28, 2024 13:04:53 GMT
I have finally caught up with the modern world and bought a Switch, and have been playing Breath of the Wild. And yeah I get why this is lauded as one of the best games now. Should have waited for Switch 2.
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Post by bethhigdon on May 28, 2024 14:25:11 GMT
I have finally caught up with the modern world and bought a Switch, and have been playing Breath of the Wild. And yeah I get why this is lauded as one of the best games now. Should have waited for Switch 2. We still don't know when that will be out yet... Also have they mentioned if it will be backwards compatible or not?
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Post by bethhigdon on May 28, 2024 14:26:37 GMT
Over the weekend my nephew brought over his Atari emulator and we played a bunch of the classics, like Pong, Space Invaders, Astroid, and Frogger.
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Post by timleschild on May 28, 2024 14:28:55 GMT
Should have waited for Switch 2. We still don't know when that will be out yet... Also have they mentioned if it will be backwards compatible or not? I hope it is, it has to be backwards compatible. I just got the free Godzilla DLC for Dave The Diver.
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Post by sherlock on May 28, 2024 15:32:02 GMT
I have finally caught up with the modern world and bought a Switch, and have been playing Breath of the Wild. And yeah I get why this is lauded as one of the best games now. Should have waited for Switch 2. I mean all Nintendo have said in that is Switch 2 will be announced in next FY, so you’re looking at next year earliest for actual release, plus there’s no guarantee of backwards compatibility beyond rumours. Plus I used an Argos voucher for the cost of the console, so eh not much skin off my nose.
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Kestrel
Chancellery Guard
Likes: 2,715
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Post by Kestrel on Jun 1, 2024 3:59:26 GMT
Picked up the Old World and Wildermyth DLC. Only been able to play around with the former so far, a d it's pretty great -- a huge amount of content at a more-than-reasonable price. Which is kind of unexpected. I mean, have you seen how bad the DLC situation is for the strategy genre these days? Yeesh.
But ever time they add more stuff for characters to do, the more I wish they'd have a better UI for managing your personnel.
Also saw the news about Wildermyth's developer shuttering. Very disappointing -- Wildermyth is a great game, but there are a lot of areas where its design could really benefit from being iterated upon in a sequel. Especially sad when the Shadow Gambit devs similarly shit down immediately after releasing that game. And kind of baffling, too, when both were independent studios and (presumably) less impacted by the current strain of brain-dead executives working themselves into a panic and shutting down studios / mass layoffs. But maybe not.
Kinda feels like as good as 2023 was for games, the coming years are gonna be... considerably dimmer than I'd've hoped.
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Post by tuigirl on Jun 30, 2024 21:15:55 GMT
I picked up Octopath Traveller II in the Steam Summer Sale. I wanted to try out this game for ages now, but it is an expensive game! So I was happy it was discounted. I am enjoying myself, plays very well on the Steam Deck. I started with the hunter girl character who has one of the most upbeat stories (the others sounded quite dark and are about revenge and such). It is a fantastic looking game with some nice mechanics and so far, the story is engaging.
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Kestrel
Chancellery Guard
Likes: 2,715
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Post by Kestrel on Jun 30, 2024 23:44:11 GMT
Once again I am shamelessly shilling for Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical, one of the very best games of last year, which just put out a really good DLC chapter that shines its spotlight on Orpheus. An absolute Must-Play for fans of Greek mythology, musicals, and/or adventure games -- don't sleep on this one, y'all. I picked up Octopath Traveller II in the Steam Summer Sale. I wanted to try out this game for ages now, but it is an expensive game! So I was happy it was discounted. I am enjoying myself, plays very well on the Steam Deck. I started with the hunter girl character who has one of the most upbeat stories (the others sounded quite dark and are about revenge and such). It is a fantastic looking game with some nice mechanics and so far, the story is engaging. I really enjoyed that one! It doesn't quite goes as far as it really should to integrate the eight stories, but it does a lot better than the first game -- and all of the characters are more interesting, I think. I especially liked the merchant character, whose story was very Western-like.
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Post by tuigirl on Jul 1, 2024 7:39:00 GMT
Once again I am shamelessly shilling for Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical, one of the very best games of last year, which just put out a really good DLC chapter that shines its spotlight on Orpheus. An absolute Must-Play for fans of Greek mythology, musicals, and/or adventure games -- don't sleep on this one, y'all. I picked up Octopath Traveller II in the Steam Summer Sale. I really enjoyed that one! It doesn't quite goes as far as it really should to integrate the eight stories, but it does a lot better than the first game -- and all of the characters are more interesting, I think. I especially liked the merchant character, whose story was very Western-like. Thank you for the recommendation! I have seen Stray Gods previously and have been thinking about buying it, but the whole "Musical" thing put me off a little.
I just could not imagine how this could come together as a game. However, after your glowing review, I thought I check it out. It is also verified for the Steam Deck, so should play well on there, too.
I have my hopes up that this will be very weird and wonderful, which is totally my thing.
Too many games recently which I did not finish because they looked nice in the beginning, but in the end turned out to be the same, old same old.
As for Octopath traveller II:
I have not played the first one and the reviews says it is not as good, so I am going to skip on it. But this just caught my eye.
Having played the first few hours, I think what grips me most is that certain whimsy that also makes me like all the Ghibli movies. Yes, they work with tropes- for the hunter girl, we have Aslan from Narnia as teacher for example, but they add a certain sparkle to it. It is hard to describe. I can see very well that they put a lot of work and love into this.
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Post by bethhigdon on Jul 1, 2024 16:09:52 GMT
Once again I am shamelessly shilling for Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical, one of the very best games of last year, which just put out a really good DLC chapter that shines its spotlight on Orpheus. An absolute Must-Play for fans of Greek mythology, musicals, and/or adventure games -- don't sleep on this one, y'all. It's one of the many games on my 'to play list' along with Little Kitty in the Big City. However I told myself no more new games until I actually complete one of the ones I'm currently playing.
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Post by tuigirl on Jul 1, 2024 21:19:21 GMT
OMG. I am totally stunned. Stray Gods is utterly AMAZING. I do not even know where to begin. The characters, the mystery plot, the interweaving of urban fantasy and Greek mythology... and the performances! When I might have been put off by the singing at the very beginning.... it just flows so well and works perfectly. I LOVE this. And OMG, the Minotaur! Can we just shortly appreciate the Minotaur? This is just THE most adorable character ever.
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Post by tuigirl on Jul 6, 2024 14:30:06 GMT
Totally in love with Octopath Traveller II. Very well done, and all the variety and options on how to create your team and gear them up and upgrade skills. Battle system is also quite good. Plus, all characters have their own stories which you can follow and lots of different settings / backgrounds and skill sets (samurai character, Western / American character, "wood elf" character, nurse.....). I just love all the variety.
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Kestrel
Chancellery Guard
Likes: 2,715
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Post by Kestrel on Jul 8, 2024 2:18:53 GMT
I'm hoping to start Trails Through Daybreak tonight. We have any Trails or Falcom fans here? Totally in love with Octopath Traveller II. Very well done, and all the variety and options on how to create your team and gear them up and upgrade skills. Battle system is also quite good. Plus, all characters have their own stories which you can follow and lots of different settings / backgrounds and skill sets (samurai character, Western / American character, "wood elf" character, nurse.....). I just love all the variety. Yeah, the combat feels really engaging. It's weird because just off-memory I can't really point to any big changes they made compared to the first game, but in Octopath 1 the combat really felt like an unending, tedious slog. I really like the animation, too. (And, I must say, as a connoisseur of JRPG-defeated-monster-animations, I quite like the effect that dissolves enemy sprites.) Anyway, if you have t already, check out that Live A Live Remake for something similar, but a bit more focused. And also a spectacular soundtrack.
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Post by Star Platinum on Jul 8, 2024 19:50:27 GMT
I'm hoping to start Trails Through Daybreak tonight. We have any Trails or Falcom fans here? Totally in love with Octopath Traveller II. Very well done, and all the variety and options on how to create your team and gear them up and upgrade skills. Battle system is also quite good. Plus, all characters have their own stories which you can follow and lots of different settings / backgrounds and skill sets (samurai character, Western / American character, "wood elf" character, nurse.....). I just love all the variety. Yeah, the combat feels really engaging. It's weird because just off-memory I can't really point to any big changes they made compared to the first game, but in Octopath 1 the combat really felt like an unending, tedious slog. I really like the animation, too. (And, I must say, as a connoisseur of JRPG-defeated-monster-animations, I quite like the effect that dissolves enemy sprites.) Anyway, if you have t already, check out that Live A Live Remake for something similar, but a bit more focused. And also a spectacular soundtrack. Funny you should mention Live a Live, I put that in my switch after taking a very extended break from it. I finally finished the prehistoric story, gameplay was good, but no dialog really made that part a drag. Onto the imperial China chapter!
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Kestrel
Chancellery Guard
Likes: 2,715
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Post by Kestrel on Jul 9, 2024 5:36:59 GMT
There's definitely something to be said to the Ooga-Booga approach to cavemen that Chrono Trigger took.
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