Ulythium
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Post by Ulythium on Sept 1, 2023 12:43:44 GMT
Thanks very much for that, JuniorFE! Interesting (and helpful) stuff. Most games of this type tend to be pretty long, and I'm the type of sad git 'hardcore gamer' who finishes every game he starts; accordingly, I'm reluctant to start another 100-hour RPG with turn-based combat unless I have good reason to think I'll like it more than Persona 5.
P5 had so many things going for it that the combat aspect was largely insignificant to me (outside of the boss fights, obviously!).
From what I've seen of Yakuza: Like a Dragon, the story is melodramatic guff, and most of the characters don't seem all that likeable; on the other hand, it has some combat elements that Persona lacks, including a real-time block/parry system that might make fights more engaging. Whether that'd make enough of a difference, I don't know - I'd love a demo for that game, but I don't think there is one.
Aunt Alison Is that part of the Pixel Remaster compilation, or whatever it was called?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2023 12:49:52 GMT
I found DQXI’s combat so boring. Well, the game overall. It was a prettier but less interesting DQVIII, IMO.
But yeah, Uly’s biggest problem was thinking stealth was for stealthing. You kinda need to grind in JRPGs.
He should try the Tales of Arise demo. You probably still need to fight most enemies you see to be at level with bosses, but that series’ combat isn’t turn based, it’s more fighting game-inspired.
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Post by Aunt Alison on Sept 1, 2023 12:52:35 GMT
No idea but it's one of the greatest JRPGs/games of all time
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2023 12:57:04 GMT
All the NES and SNES were pixel remastered, so yeah, that includes VI.
Excellent game, but I doubt its turn based combat would sway Uly.
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Post by JuniorFE on Sept 1, 2023 13:26:48 GMT
Well, FFVI was one of the ones with the Active Time Battle system, so your speed (both the player's and the characters' ) matters a bit more than in a "pure" turn-based system (unless you set it to Wait and make enemies unable to act while you're selecting an action)
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MolarAm🔵
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Post by MolarAm🔵 on Sept 1, 2023 14:55:39 GMT
Octopath 2 is probably going to be in GOTY contention for me. It's genuinely one of the best RPGs I've played this year, it was such a delight.
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hicksy
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Post by hicksy on Sept 1, 2023 16:48:42 GMT
Switch physical version on the list by some trades at some point.. looks great!
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malek86
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Post by malek86 on Sept 1, 2023 16:59:50 GMT
Quake 2
Well, what can I say? One of my favorite games of all time, made even better. Ground Zero used to be annoying, now it's pretty good. Reckoning didn't see much of a change, but it was okay already. Quake 2 64 is more like a quick morsel, but not a bad one. The new episode should be the star of the show, but it does have its highs and lows. More highs than lows, for sure, but it's uneven nonetheless.
Shame that it doesn't seem to have an add-on tab like Quake 1. I guess they don't plan on adding extra content. But we're still talking about a good 20-30 hours of shooting goodness. What's not to like, especially for such a cheap price?
9/10
Now I'm in the mood for more shooting... Descent would be a good call.
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Post by Aunt Alison on Sept 1, 2023 17:47:12 GMT
I don't think there really is much custom single player stuff for Quake 2 out there they could add anyway. I remember playing one a long time ago (swear it was called Back to the Front) but couldn't even find that one the last time I looked
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malek86
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Post by malek86 on Sept 1, 2023 19:12:19 GMT
I don't think there really is much custom single player stuff for Quake 2 out there they could add anyway. I remember playing one a long time ago (swear it was called Back to the Front) but couldn't even find that one the last time I looked There was a number of commercial add-ons, but as always, I guess there would be legal issues. We got no commercial expansions for Quake 1 either. Shame, because Malice would have been amazing.
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Post by Aunt Alison on Sept 2, 2023 17:23:04 GMT
I don't think there really is much custom single player stuff for Quake 2 out there they could add anyway. I remember playing one a long time ago (swear it was called Back to the Front) but couldn't even find that one the last time I looked There was a number of commercial add-ons, but as always, I guess there would be legal issues. We got no commercial expansions for Quake 1 either. Shame, because Malice would have been amazing. I did have Malice (big box and everything) but all I really remember about it is it had cutscenes and (I think) someone using an ATM in the intro. Might have had robot enemies
I'm a bit of a purist with Doom/Quake anyway. Love custom levels but always prefer it when they keep the same tone and style of the originals. I didn't really get on with Arcane Dimensions when I tried it because they messed with the enemies which ruins the flow and balance of the game for me. One of the best things about those games is how easy it is to instantly read enemies and react. When you start adding recolours and mixing up enemy attacks, it just isn't as fun to play
I ran into the same issue with the Eviternity megawad for Doom. It starts off well enough but then they start introducing more and more new enemy types - all reskinned Doom enemies with borrowed attacks, like a Baron with the Cyberdemon's rocket attack. The levels get way too sprawling and veer towards slaughter maps at times as well (which I'm not a fan of)
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Post by kilters on Sept 2, 2023 20:07:20 GMT
Brotato 9/10
I think I spent 2 quid on this in a sale and have gotten obscene value. Played it exclusively on Steam Deck and have completed a few level 5 runs. In many ways it's the ultimate SD game.
Ridiculously addictive and a better game than Vampire survivors imho. Good music too.
1 mark deducted for the performance issues in more hectic levels. Will continue to play this to get the remaining cheevos.
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Post by Samildanach on Sept 3, 2023 14:25:21 GMT
Resident Evil 7
Rivalling Alien Isolation for pant-wettingly scary (why do I buy these games?!), this is mercifully not too long, clocking in at just over 10 hours for the main campaign. It starts out very strong for the first third and only really dips in quality to 'rather generic' in the final area. The guest house, main house and old house locations were all excellent in terms of design and atmosphere and creeping around trying to avoid the terrifying family members is brilliant stuff - that includes the very well designed boss fights against them too. Leading onto testing area, boat house and the wreck, the quality is still high but, being more familiar with the set-up and enemies, these parts don't instill the same kind of dread, and the one boss in this section is decent but less unique (shoot all the eyes/glowing orbs trope). Only the salt mines and pathetically easy final boss feel like they just stepped out of the PS3 era of shooters (bland caves and a almost QTE-like boss). The highs massively outweigh the lows, so I rate it a 8/10. Onto the dlc...
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Post by ToomuchFluffy on Sept 5, 2023 14:09:40 GMT
Nice, my second playthrough of Inquisitor - Martyr is done and after moving back to my initial character and finishing off the last of the three side campaigns I'll shelve it for now. Aside from some issues with the performance it was really quite fun.
Back to Infra it is.
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apollo
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Post by apollo on Sept 8, 2023 16:06:52 GMT
Sea of stars
A very well done 16bit era style "JRPG" which is made in canada. Although it would of never worked on the power of 16bit snes even with special chips etc. I got the standard ending which was bit meh but may get the real/true ending at some point. I like the fact you never had to grind for XP like its chore of a job, there is even relics which are gameplay helpers if you buy them ingame, which helped a lot for some bosses as would of been a pain, 2nd phase of the end boss was quite cheap but never that bad
I would say it starts slow and some parts of the game could of had the fat trimmed to make it better experience. The game has done well for the studio, so will be good to see what they do next. Also its on gamepass and psn plus extra
8.5/10
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Post by Aunt Alison on Sept 8, 2023 16:36:05 GMT
Prey Thought that was brilliant. One of the most well realised locations I've explored in a game. It just felt very natural (for a space station) without obvious 'routes' or anything like that. Every door goes somewhere, every area is accessible (and functional), even outside the station. No one creates these kinds of worlds as well as Arkane that has me climbing up on pipes, looking under desks, lifting up pillows to check underneath, reading every email and book Love the story and found it interesting. Was initially really disappointed with the ending until the post credit scene. I had wondered if it was something like that at some point during my playthrough but got swept up enough in the end game for it to still catch me off guard. Really like how they did it. I was initially going to use the Nullwave device, purely out of curiosity, but changed my mind at the last second and went with my gut instead. I asked myself what would Ripley do. Blow the fucker up. Screw the company. Given the ending, really glad I changed my mind. Now I want a sequel that continues the story on Earth
Didn't install any Typhon mods and had a couple of side quests unfinished at the end (still saved enough people that I got the best possible ending, or close to it, as far as I could tell) so might do another playthrough at some point. Huge game though - took me over 40 hours Might be Arkane's best (this or Dishonored 2)
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Ulythium
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Post by Ulythium on Sept 8, 2023 20:07:43 GMT
Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon.
I went into this not knowing what to expect - I'd played all of From's Soulsborne games multiple times apiece, but I'd never played an Armored Core title, nor had I experienced anything else from the 'mech combat' genre (Gundam, MechWarrior, Chromehounds, etc.) before.
Moreover, I'd been advised by fellow members of this fine forum (shout-outs to Spooky, Jambo/Hoya, Feline, and probably others besides!) that AC ≠ Souls... so what is it, exactly?
For the benefit of anyone who shares my initial ignorance, I can now say that AC6 is a fast-paced third-person action game. The combat is mainly of the ranged variety, with a whole bunch of firearms from which to choose; however, there are some melee options for those who want to go down that route.
Missions tend to be pretty short, with only one or two basic objectives to complete per level. There's a good variety of gameplay mechanics on offer though - while it may seem like it at first, not everything boils down to, "shoot all the enemies" or, "blow up all the things."
The boss fights are the only part of the game in which the 'AC ≠ Souls' formula doesn't really hold true, as they'll be instantly familiar to anyone who has played any of Miyazaki's output; that said, they're functionally in keeping with everything else AC6 has to offer, so nothing feels jarring or out of place.
What none of this dry-as-a-bone waffle expresses is that the game's also really bloody good! The combat's thrilling, the presentation is excellent, and the story - while maintaining From's customary obliqueness - is actually pretty compelling.
I was worried that I wouldn't enjoy the mech customisation part of the proceedings, and while I didn't find myself spending hours fiddling with the colour schemes or anything, I did enjoy messing around with my builds before going back to retry a section with which I'd struggled. For someone who has stuck with a pretty rigid build across Demon's Souls, Dark Souls 1-3, and Elden Ring, it was kind of cool to be forced into experimenting, rather than finding something I like and sticking with it.
Armored Core VI isn't going to make mech combat my new gaming 'thing', any more than Persona 5 Royal made me a diehard JRPG devotee, but I'm really glad I gave it a shot.
I'll be back for NG+ at some point, but for now
8.5/10.
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Duffman5
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Post by Duffman5 on Sept 9, 2023 5:59:45 GMT
Aaaaaanddd wishlisted. How long it took you to beat. Edit. Ah. 10h. Perfect. Will get it for sure at next sale to take break from bg3 Also had my eye on this for a while, I'm currently playing about 6 games so why not add this into the mix! The Forgotten CityCompleted this today, played based on recommendations from here, so glad I did. I have only got 1/4 endings so far so plenty of investigations and quests to complete. Such a great change of pace and just a great chilled game.
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apollo
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Post by apollo on Sept 9, 2023 14:05:03 GMT
last case of benedict fox
Started it when it was launched on gamepass back in late april and was looking forward to it as metroidvania with lovecraft horror sort of thing. But it was mess at launch, game breaking bugs and stuttered on series x at time (xbox one or one x was unplayable with frame rate in single figures) It took them to until a few days ago for xbox patch as they have been giving the steam verison all the support. Which is shitty as they just took the gamepass money (and anyone who paid for it on xbox) and left them with a broken game.
Such a shame even after the patch its still has not got any of the QoL improvements gamers were asking for. Its like the devs saw a MV game on youtube and tried to copy it without understanding what makes the genre good. thankfully from day 1 they had option to skip any of their shitty puzzles and be immortal as the combat is arse. Also they have shitty chase sections, a lot better now. Worst thing is if you get to a certain point (the game does warn you point of no returrn) but you can't freeroam. Just put a option to return before the point, its not hard
I didn't have much more to do since the recent patch, so it was not much of a chore. Its just disapointing as it could be amazing game. Gamepass saved me money again
4/10
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MolarAm🔵
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Post by MolarAm🔵 on Sept 9, 2023 14:18:09 GMT
Also had my eye on this for a while, I'm currently playing about 6 games so why not add this into the mix! The Forgotten CityCompleted this today, played based on recommendations from here, so glad I did. I have only got 1/4 endings so far so plenty of investigations and quests to complete. Such a great change of pace and just a great chilled game. I love the dude you can send to do your already-completed quests. "Hey, so I know it seems like we've only just met, but I need you to go off and do all these things RIGHT NOW NO TIME TO EXPLAIN" But yeah, it's a great little game, even better when you get the true ending. It was made in my hometown too, so I've a bit of nationalist pride there. 🇦🇺
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Post by baihu1983 on Sept 9, 2023 14:40:35 GMT
Resident Evil 7 Rivalling Alien Isolation for pant-wettingly scary (why do I buy these games?!), this is mercifully not too long, clocking in at just over 10 hours for the main campaign. It starts out very strong for the first third and only really dips in quality to 'rather generic' in the final area. The guest house, main house and old house locations were all excellent in terms of design and atmosphere and creeping around trying to avoid the terrifying family members is brilliant stuff - that includes the very well designed boss fights against them too. Leading onto testing area, boat house and the wreck, the quality is still high but, being more familiar with the set-up and enemies, these parts don't instill the same kind of dread, and the one boss in this section is decent but less unique (shoot all the eyes/glowing orbs trope). Only the salt mines and pathetically easy final boss feel like they just stepped out of the PS3 era of shooters (bland caves and a almost QTE-like boss). The highs massively outweigh the lows, so I rate it a 8/10. Onto the dlc... Always felt it actually started off too strong for its own good. That whole opening just couldn't be matched.
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Post by Samildanach on Sept 9, 2023 15:08:33 GMT
I think I would have ended up a nervous wreck had the tension of the first couple of hours in RE7 had been maintained throughout!
The DLCs were rather average and probably not worth buying in retrospect.
Banned footage vol 1.
This has three mini games, the best being an escape room scenario. The tension is raised as one of the family members keeps coming back to check on you and you have to quickly put everything back to where it was each time. The other two I games I quickly abandoned as one was just a wave based shoot fest in the basement that seemed to go on forever, and the other was an ultra hard non-canon adventure through areas of the main game. Couldn't be arsed!
Banned Footage Vol 2
Another three minigames, with the best being a short adventure where you play as Zoe at the time of your family's decent into madness. Yeah that one was quite good. 21 was just a rather sick version of the 21 card game. One and done for me. The final minigame is another non canon load of filler nonsense where you have to run around picking up food for the Dad.
Not a Hero
I believe this one was free? Anyway, this is the first bit of proper new content where you play as Chris Redfield as he searches new parts of the mines for the surviving member of the lunatic family. Its alright I guess, if a little ridiculous, and I wasn't exactly thrilled by it. Worth a single playthrough as it is free I guess and it ties up a loose end in the story.
End of Zoe
Rather than playing as Zoe (which would have been good?) you are a completely new character who punches his way through the molded hordes to rescue Zoe. While the initial punching was fun, it quickly became very repetitive. The continued story is so ridiculous, especially the unlikely return of one of the antagonists from the main game, that I almost rather I hadn't played it. All the locations are new, but since you are mostly just trudging through the bayou it isn't very varied. May have been more fun in VR I guess?
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Post by baihu1983 on Sept 9, 2023 16:32:17 GMT
Still want to try the opening in VR.
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Post by rhaegyr on Sept 11, 2023 9:38:53 GMT
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
185+ hours and I could happily keep playing it - haven't had this much fun since Breath of the Wild.
What the fuck am I supposed to play now?
10/10
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dogbot
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Post by dogbot on Sept 11, 2023 10:32:50 GMT
Disco Elysium
First things first, I'd never even have heard of this if it wasn't for this place. I should probably read more.
Well, that was fun. I really enjoyed it, the art style is beautiful, lovely narration, good story and a different sort of pace from most modern games, which was really nice... but I get the feeling I missed a lot and messed up quite a few bits more, despite trying to play it as a fairly straight good guy. And so, I'm left with a certain sense of loss, rather than of completion as I think it's set up to ensure you miss some things. Part of me wants to go back and have a less liberal, more gin soaked playthrough.
But Baldur's Gate is calling.
Solid 7.5/10, though.
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nazo
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Post by nazo on Sept 11, 2023 13:33:29 GMT
Persona 3 Portable (Switch)
Interesting as a historical curiosity but mostly it shows how much the Persona games have improved and built upon their foundations since this was released. The main story and cast are pretty good, though it doesn’t feel as grounded in real world issues as the follow-ups. The rest of it suffers in comparison though, the social aspects are underdeveloped and the dungeons an interminable grind. It’s still Persona so not without appeal but I found it disappointing overall.
3/5
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Post by Trowel 🏴 on Sept 11, 2023 14:57:14 GMT
Children of Morta 9/10
Utterly charming, beautifully presented, fabulous pixel art, terrific soundtrack, great story, wonderful narration, and brilliant gameplay.
Only downside is some of the characters are redundant as the game design is heavily skewed to reward ranged attacks.
But otherwise an essential play for anyone who enjoys shmup roguelikes.
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Post by Aunt Alison on Sept 11, 2023 16:11:39 GMT
Persona 3 Portable (Switch) Interesting as a historical curiosity but mostly it shows how much the Persona games have improved and built upon their foundations since this was released. The main story and cast are pretty good, though it doesn’t feel as grounded in real world issues as the follow-ups. The rest of it suffers in comparison though, the social aspects are underdeveloped and the dungeons an interminable grind. It’s still Persona so not without appeal but I found it disappointing overall. 3/5 The stakes never felt as high in Persona 4 or 5 as they do in 3. I'm sure there's bias because it's the first one I played but as much as I've enjoyed 4 and 5, 3 is still way out in head for me in terms of story and characters. I prefer the more straight forward dungeons as well. Just having the goal of working your way to the top of Tartarus was really compelling for me. As much as they keep trying to make the dungeon aspect more interesting, I prefer just sitting down for a session or two grinding it out then getting back to the social side of it
The main reason I haven't gone back to P5 since having a break is because I know I'm mid dungeon and while I'd like to get back to the main game, I know I'll have to do some puzzle and story stuff in the dungeon before that. The remake should bring the more dated aspects of the game up to date but I hope they keep Tartarus
Aigis is my favourite character in the series
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Tomo
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Post by Tomo on Sept 11, 2023 18:23:39 GMT
Disco Elysium First things first, I'd never even have heard of this if it wasn't for this place. I should probably read more. Well, that was fun. I really enjoyed it, the art style is beautiful, lovely narration, good story and a different sort of pace from most modern games, which was really nice... but I get the feeling I missed a lot and messed up quite a few bits more, despite trying to play it as a fairly straight good guy. And so, I'm left with a certain sense of loss, rather than of completion as I think it's set up to ensure you miss some things. Part of me wants to go back and have a less liberal, more gin soaked playthrough. But Baldur's Gate is calling. Solid 7.5/10, though. 7.5!!!!!!!!!! Ban pls
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Post by pierrepressure on Sept 11, 2023 18:23:55 GMT
FFXVI - 8/10
Lots to like and dislike about the game but in the end I thought it was a strong entry in the series and probably the best since X.
I wish they added a bit more customisation with your character and all the fetch quests needed binning but lots to like still, the story was generally decent, Cidolfus and Gav were great characters, the battle system is fantastic if a little repetitive and it looks absolutely stunning at times.
Bring on XVII!
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