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Duchess

Member
Amored Core 6.

Got to the infamous Balteus boss fight. Took me two hours to finally beat it.

I'm at a loss as to why FROM thought that having a boss so early in the game, that represents such a huge jump in difficulty, was a good idea. Sometimes, I really want to see who play tests shit like this.
 

Scary_Larry

Member
Amored Core 6.

Got to the infamous Balteus boss fight. Took me two hours to finally beat it.

I'm at a loss as to why FROM thought that having a boss so early in the game, that represents such a huge jump in difficulty, was a good idea. Sometimes, I really want to see who play tests shit like this.
You just gave me flashbacks to this boss fight. The second phase caught me off guard the first time I encountered it. Such an amazing game. My personal goty last year.
 

Humdinger

Gold Member
Legwart's Hogacy. I'm level 12, about 7 hours in. I'm enjoying it so far.

The combat is fun, the exploration is pretty good. Menus are easy to navigate, although there are too many. Characters and dialog are well-done. The outdoor environments are nice and have an occasional sense of mystery, so that's good. Seems like a quality production. Looking forward to playing it for months, probably.
 
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Gandih42

Member
Been playing The Witness alongside my NG+ run of SMT V: V and about 300 puzzles deep. I was a bit apprehensive at first, not having delved much into puzzle games (or puzzles in general) but I am actually really digging it. It is IMMENSELY satisfying when you figure out the rules and suddenly unlock a bunch of puzzles/areas you can start solving. And then the satisfaction gets a second wind when you solve the really hard puzzles with your newfound understanding of the rules. Also helps that the game looks gorgeous.

Only really frustrating part so far was the jungle, I don't think it quite pulled off the gimmick here even though I liked the concept of it. The "story" (if you can call it that) seems to be quite far up its own ass too, I guess that's Jonathan Blow for you, but at least he swings for something.

Got Space Marine 2 in the mail last week, which I'm planning on playing with a friend who's big into tabletop Warhammer. Looks like it'll be a really fun time.
 
Super Mario Galaxy 2 on the Emulator (ultrawide screen). What a game! It took me nearly 12 years just to go back and complete it and it still holds up today. It's a good taster before Astro Bot so I can freshly make the comparisons after.
 

cman

Neo Member
Baldur's Gate III PC, trying out Honour Mode Run.

Just defeated Goblin Za'krug Boss and his goblin minions + a bugbear and a worg. I had MC and Gale snuck from the center hill and Shadowheart snuck from down north to join the battle later after Mc and Gale so that she could reach and heal any of the mercenaries that would need some healing. MC managed to snipe the boss with an arrow and took him down from far away, from the hill, nice! Gale's Magic missiles took out multiple enemies, Shadowheart kept all the mercenaries alive with her healing. Won the battle and managed to keep the 3 mercenaries alive, yay! Recorded the battle:

 
Finished Astro Bot 100% and now I'm starting Space Marine 2. I still need to finish Wukong and I have Genshin Natlan world quests to finish. Oh, I still play Helldivers 2 regularly and the game has been in a great place balance-wise.
 

Paltheos

Member
Tales of Vesperia Definitive Edition. I completely forgot how cumbersome the combat system is sometimes. Still, a solid JRPG.

Vesperia's fun still but it has a rough start because of the old-school mana resource for special moves it's running. Especially if you're playing Yuri, you really want to end your combos with a special move (or cancel into guard if blocked or something) because the end of his normal strings is this awful sword toss that just leaves him standing there to get hit, but TP is scarce at the start of the game.

I think I had an easier time when I revisited the game a few years ago. I think early game I always started with normals to replenish TP and kept a stock of Orange Gels on hand too but it's been a while. Felt a little easier on the replay.

Edit:

I have finally platinumized all FROM souls games on PS4/5.

Demons Souls, Dark Souls 1-3, BloodBorne, Elden Ring (2x, PS4 & PS5) and Sekiro.

Now I’m off to platinum GOTY Astro Bot.

I've 100%ed most of their games too - DeS(OG), DS1, DS3, BB, ER - but DS2 made me throw in the towel. That medal grind, the Sunshine one in particular, looked absolutely awful. How did you cope?
 
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od-chan

Gold Member
I just started Triangle Strategy. Duuude. I'm on Chapter THREE and I had TWO whole battles. I don't mind a "slow" start, but this isn't slow, this is almost lethargic.

I like the gameplay. I think. I don't know, I'd like to play more gameplay to find out but it's all just story. I don't wanna skip it either, I just wish the pacing would be tighter.
 

Rippa

Member
Vesperia's fun still but it has a rough start because of the old-school mana resource for special moves it's running. Especially if you're playing Yuri, you really want to end your combos with a special move (or cancel into guard if blocked or something) because the end of his normal strings is this awful sword toss that just leaves him standing there to get hit, but TP is scarce at the start of the game.

I think I had an easier time when I revisited the game a few years ago. I think early game I always started with normals to replenish TP and kept a stock of Orange Gels on hand too but it's been a while. Felt a little easier on the replay.

Edit:



I've 100%ed most of their games too - DeS(OG), DS1, DS3, BB, ER - but DS2 made me throw in the towel. That medal grind, the Sunshine one in particular, looked absolutely awful. How did you cope?
I followed this method here. Pretty easy to be honest.

Way easier grind than the concord kept or vertebrae shackle grind in DS3.
 

stn

Member
Bloodborne (PS4)! I beat it recently, so now going for the platinum (71% done) and also completing the Old Hunters DLC. First DLC boss already done, going to continue tonight. I don't plan to play anything else until I 100% all of the trophies. After that, I will either complete the trophies for Kingdoms of Amalur (PS4), or continue my first run through Starfield (XSX).
 

Natsuko

Member
Vesperia's fun still but it has a rough start because of the old-school mana resource for special moves it's running. Especially if you're playing Yuri, you really want to end your combos with a special move (or cancel into guard if blocked or something) because the end of his normal strings is this awful sword toss that just leaves him standing there to get hit, but TP is scarce at the start of the game.

I think I had an easier time when I revisited the game a few years ago. I think early game I always started with normals to replenish TP and kept a stock of Orange Gels on hand too but it's been a while. Felt a little easier on the replay.

Edit:



I've 100%ed most of their games too - DeS(OG), DS1, DS3, BB, ER - but DS2 made me throw in the towel. That medal grind, the Sunshine one in particular, looked absolutely awful. How did you cope?

What really annoyed me at the beginning was the felt input lag in the battle system. You press block but nothing happens because it takes a while between input and the reaction. You get used to it, but it annoyed me for the first few hours. I now ignore blocking as much as possible, but I only play on normal. The delay is part of the game. Items also take a while to work. You notice this clearly with the magic eye when you're working on the combat book. I've had enemies die a few times during this time. It's certainly not the best JRPG and the battle system is not necessarily outstanding compared to other games. But the rest makes up for it.
 
What really annoyed me at the beginning was the felt input lag in the battle system. You press block but nothing happens because it takes a while between input and the reaction. You get used to it, but it annoyed me for the first few hours. I now ignore blocking as much as possible, but I only play on normal. The delay is part of the game. Items also take a while to work. You notice this clearly with the magic eye when you're working on the combat book. I've had enemies die a few times during this time. It's certainly not the best JRPG and the battle system is not necessarily outstanding compared to other games. But the rest makes up for it.
So it's not just me. I thought it would have fluid combat like Symphonia, but it felt stiff and didn't improve - I made it about 1/3 into the game and dropped it. If it gets more fluid eventually, someone please tell me as I'd love to get back to it at some point.


Twilight Princess HD on Cemu. After finishing my first 3D Zelda in BotW 2 years ago, TotK last year and Ocarina of Time a few weeks ago I decided to tackle this one before Echoes of Wisdom and Majoras Mask.

Twilight Princess is awesome, my second favorite Zelda game (after OoT). It gets a lot of hate - certain points show its age, but the dungeons and combat are still top notch.
 

Natsuko

Member
So it's not just me. I thought it would have fluid combat like Symphonia, but it felt stiff and didn't improve - I made it about 1/3 into the game and dropped it. If it gets more fluid eventually, someone please tell me as I'd love to get back to it at some point.




Twilight Princess is awesome, my second favorite Zelda game (after OoT). It gets a lot of hate - certain points show its age, but the dungeons and combat are still top notch.

Unfortunately, it doesn't necessarily become more fluid, but it feels better later on when you have more characters, artes and the like.

It won't be the greatest battle system later on either, unfortunately. You can try out whether a different character feels better for you. Habit also helps to a certain extent at some point. As sluggish as it is, once you get into it you know how to deal with it.

1/3 is a few hours of play. I'm not sure if you'll reach a point where you'll come to terms with it. But I don't think there's any shame in abandoning a game if you don't like it. There are far too many games out there to be bothered with something just to finish it, when there are hundreds of other games out there waiting to be tried, some of which are more enjoyable.
 
Unfortunately, it doesn't necessarily become more fluid, but it feels better later on when you have more characters, artes and the like.

It won't be the greatest battle system later on either, unfortunately. You can try out whether a different character feels better for you. Habit also helps to a certain extent at some point. As sluggish as it is, once you get into it you know how to deal with it.

1/3 is a few hours of play. I'm not sure if you'll reach a point where you'll come to terms with it. But I don't think there's any shame in abandoning a game if you don't like it. There are far too many games out there to be bothered with something just to finish it, when there are hundreds of other games out there waiting to be tried, some of which are more enjoyable.

It's not the worst, just had high expectations for the battle system. Thanks for the info though, it's pretty far down on the list and I don't feel like I'm missing anything or wasting time, one way or another.
 

od-chan

Gold Member
I'm impressed how much thought you guys actually put into the battle system of the Tales Series. Absolutely valid&legit and of course there would be a large base of players like you, with the grade system and higher difficulties exactly being laid out for that kinda thing. It's just so interesting to me that there's this whole layer of these games that I never really cared to explore deeper, despite having played Vesperia for example at least 3 times and loving each time, if not alone for the fact that it's my favorite performance of Nakahara Mai since Estelle is amongst my personal top3 Tales Characters. Combat in each game was fun enough, gun to my head I couldn't point out big differences in the modern 3d titles (didn't play arise&symphonia).

Guess I need to give them each another replay :3
 

Natsuko

Member
I'm impressed how much thought you guys actually put into the battle system of the Tales Series. Absolutely valid&legit and of course there would be a large base of players like you, with the grade system and higher difficulties exactly being laid out for that kinda thing. It's just so interesting to me that there's this whole layer of these games that I never really cared to explore deeper, despite having played Vesperia for example at least 3 times and loving each time, if not alone for the fact that it's my favorite performance of Nakahara Mai since Estelle is amongst my personal top3 Tales Characters. Combat in each game was fun enough, gun to my head I couldn't point out big differences in the modern 3d titles (didn't play arise&symphonia).

Guess I need to give them each another replay :3

The delay is immediately noticeable. This makes it difficult to overlook the aspect. As you're constantly busy fighting in games like this, you're constantly confronted with it. I've only just played through SMTVV and am on the finishing line of the second cycle. Besides this great combat system, the bulky Vesperia system is particularly noticeable. Both are very different anyway, but Vesperia is simply bad in comparison. Ironically, I didn't remember that at all. I started it at launch and recently bought the Definitive Edition. I don't know yet whether I have the nerve to do 100 % here, because that requires at least a second playthrough. The game is okay. I like the characters and the dynamic of the characters. The story is okay. But the battle system really isn't a star in the JRPG sky. I even like some things. For example, the Artes that you learn in different ways. It feels really useful to regularly check the characters' equipment and change it if necessary.
 
Seamless co-op for Shadow of the Erdtree is finally functional so I recently started it again to play with my brother who hasn't played it yet. I've finished the dlc 3x with a faith build, pure dex build, str/arc build, and am now doing dex/int for this current run. It's a shame this is the only dlc we'll get for Elden Ring.

I'm also still making my way through SMTV. Earlier today I took out a Chimera that was 10+ levels higher than my entire party; did it with minimal deaths too. It feels so good when your setup is effective. :messenger_sunglasses:
 

Duchess

Member
Still on AC6.

Seriously, the difficulty of this game is all over the place. After that infamous boss, the game suddenly becomes quite straightforward. Did several new missions and arena challenges, without any sort of grief.

Somewhat baffled..!
 

The Cockatrice

I'm retarded?
Seamless co-op for Shadow of the Erdtree is finally functional so I recently started it again to play with my brother who hasn't played it yet. I've finished the dlc 3x with a faith build, pure dex build, str/arc build, and am now doing dex/int for this current run. It's a shame this is the only dlc we'll get for Elden Ring.

I'm also still making my way through SMTV. Earlier today I took out a Chimera that was 10+ levels higher than my entire party; did it with minimal deaths too. It feels so good when your setup is effective. :messenger_sunglasses:

Do you get base game steam achievements with seamless co-op? I have a friend who may wanna try., I already have the game 100%'ed so idc but he cares.
 

od-chan

Gold Member
Triangle Strategy was great and all, but I was looking for something almost braindead I could play stoned while watching stuff. So I digged up Fire Emblem Engage again.

K2PDmbP.png


That's where my save was at. I think I found my game :3
 
Astro Bot arrived at the door today. I was impressed by the detailed comic-like pamphlet that came with the disk.

If only Sony would release such great pure exclusive (not timed exclusive) games every four to five months, I would stick to the PS eco-system.

So, now my active games at the moment are Elden Ring Shadow of Erdtree DLC (PC; level 137), FF7 Rebirth (Chapter 8), and Astro Bot (yet to start). I hope to complete these by the end of November.
 
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Chuck Berry

Gold Member
Oblivion > Skyrim any day.

Better OST, better atmosphere/ambience, deeper RPG mechanics. I'm curious how Skyblivion is going to turn out.

I know nostalgia is definitely a factor, but yeah I much prefer the tone and atmosphere in addition to the writing. The ragdolling can be pretty hilarious too. And the soundtrack just elevates it to a whole other level.

Sucks what happened to Soule. The series isnt the same without him.
 

Muffdraul

Member
Astro's Playroom. I beat Astro Bot, but there are still five unrescued bots. i.e. the last five void/challenge stages I haven't done yet- one square and all four X. The last square one, Splashing Sprint, yeah, fuck that level and if I ever meet the person who designed it they will be sorry! Anyway, I took a break and started a new file of Playroom. I'm gonna 100% it, unlock those four bots they added recently after Astro Bot was announced, and then after I'm done with all that, I'll start file #2 in Astro Bot. I figure by the time I make to where I left off on file 1, I might be ready for Splashing Sprint levels of bullshit.
 
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Eszti

Banned
nothing i finished everything i wanted to, i played through 20 games in the last few months im on a run lol. waiting on assassins creed shadows and dragonball sparking zero:messenger_beaming:
 
Astro's Playroom. I beat Astro Bot, but there are still five unrescued bots. i.e. five void/challenge stages I haven't done yet- one square and all four X. The last square one, Splashing Spring, yeah, fuck that level and if I ever meet the person who designed it they will be sorry! Anyway, I took a break and started a new file of Playroom. I'm gonna 100% it, unlock those four bots they added recently after Astro Bot was announced, and then after I'm done with all that, I'll start file #2 in Astro Bot. I figure by the time I make to where I left off on file 1, I might be ready for Splashing Sprint levels of bullshit.
is this the one with the lava at the beginning? if so agree haha. Also I have to say that playing Astrobot has given me a little bit of energy to replay some of this games that are referenced.
 
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Muffdraul

Member
is this the one with the lava at the beginning? if so agree haha. Also I have to say that playing Astrobot has given me a little bit of energy to replay some of this games that are referenced.
Yep, that SOB. And same here, in fact I've never played Rift Apart so I just downloaded that.
 

TintoConCasera

I bought a sex doll, but I keep it inflated 100% of the time and use it like a regular wife
Finished Space Marine 2's story. Quite short as expected, but never boring. Game took a bit to get used too which made the first missions a bit frustrating at times, but on e it clicked I was purging the xenos left and right.

I still have the Operations mode to play through, that should give me a few more hours of fun. Might try the multiplayer to check it out but I don't know if I'll stick to it, PvP isn't my thing.
 

bender

What time is it?
Wrapped up EDF6 with all four classes on Hard difficulty. I've dabbled on the first DLC, which I like, but it has some weird difficulty spikes. I'm a little burnt out on it after hundreds of hours so Hardest/Inferno will probably have to wait for a while.

Played through Mafia HD on XSX via Streaming. The game controls so poorly which makes the combat sections a chore. The voice work is pretty hit or miss too.

I played through RE6 for the first time ever with a buddy. I can see why some people like the game as the combat move set available to you is really deep, but that can't make up for everything else that is wrong with the game which is basically everything. It's one of the worst games I've finished in a long time. Playing as unknown solider in Ada's campaign, which we played last, just made me hate my life choices.

And speaking of my co-op buddy, we started playing through Dark Souls 3 which I haven't touched since the DLCs launched. It's amazing how much I've forgotten about the game. It's almost a brand new experience. haha

I'm almost done with the 3rd Galaxy in Astrobot. It's just a joy to play. I'm not sure how much enjoyment subsequent playthroughs will be due to the limited move set, but so far it makes me smiles every few minutes.
 

leonokarin

Member
Black Myth Wukong, this needless to say.
Darkchaser:Battletide, a survivor-like game, easy and fun and i've played it for over 100 hours.
 

Paltheos

Member
Persona 3 Reload: Playing the Episode Aigis DLC. ... Yup, this is about as everyone said it was, at least from FES. It's a long grindathon without a lot of payoff. What you do get tends to be bad, adjacent to if not in Persona spinoff territory, which is categorically awful narratively. I was actually laughing during Ken's flashback at the laughably insensitive and paradoxically attentive police officer Ken converses with (props to the English VAs though - they're making do with what they've got). Metis is firmly Persona spinoff character territory and now that I'm four door sets in I can confidently say this scenario is padded to all hell.

Positive note is that I can confirm you do import your compendium from the main game, as an alternate track to a new one for this scenario. Summoning from the old compendium costs triple the yen. :( Best recommendation if you want to cruise through the early parts is to carryback as many endgame skills that expedite the experience as possible (Victory Cry! Growth 3, Invigorate 3, actual endgame attacks/resists if you want) to low level personas in the main scenario and then select that save to carry over compendium data from.

Metis' theurgy is pretty balling though. Not much else that's new. Scarlet Havoc is gone as a theurgy for the MC - maybe for the best because of how busted it is in the main story. It's been replaced by a similar Pierce-type attack, Shadow Hound. Difference is the level unlock. Scarlet Havoc is accessible relatively early once you can fuse Siegfried at level 54. Shadow Hound wants Scathach, so 75.
 

Punished Miku

Human Rights Subscription Service


This game wasn't on my radar even 1%. Rider's Republic. Having a blast honestly. This is the 1st racer I've played since 1080 Snowboarding where you have tons of awesome down mountain races; no laps, just down the whole time. Pretty much all I've used is the mountain bike but there's tons of other sports too. I'm pretty surprised.

If Ubisoft ever deletes this always online crap I'll buy this in 2 seconds. And actually the online aspect is great. You see people all over. But I cant buy this if it doesnt at least have that option. Hope they patch it. Its good. Its basically Forza Horizon x 1080 Snowboarding x Just Cause x Bikes, snowmobiles, skateboarding, jet pack, etc.
 
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EerieArcade

Member
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
Made my way to Dracula's castle. Absolutely loved my time with this game and it's a shame I'm near the end, I think.

In a retro-horror mood so I might play a PS1 or PS2 game that I've never played. Got Silent Hill 3 on my list. Perhaps that.
 
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