What Video Games Are You Playing Right Now?

[Fred the Barber]

9 hours ago, Jun Inoue said:

Inb4 the save file has disappeared forever and the PS4 no longer recognizes the Disgaea 5 disc.

Nah, I'm not that dumb - I backed all the data up to the cloud, and I got the disc out before mailing the console. That meant I had to actually pay for a 3-month Playstation Plus subscription (since the free trial only lasted long enough for me to upload), but whatever. I already pulled down the save data and started playing, no problems (and it seems they actually did fix the hardware problem, since the game no longer crashes after 5 minutes of playing). Losing 70 hours of gameplay would have resulted in some rage...

Most surprising part of the PS4 return experience: the instructions for sending back the console had three groups of items to make sure you didn't mail back:

- No cables or controllers

- No disc inside the console

- No insect-infested consoles

Each came with a helpful picture, including a "no cockroaches" sign for the last one. I just wonder how bad and how many were the horrifying experiences that resulted in that last line item being added to the instructions...

[Eclipsed]

47 minutes ago, Fred the Barber said:

- No insect-infested consoles

Jeebus, that can actually happen to people o_O

~~
I'm stalling Trails in the Sky cuz whenever I boot up / unsleep my Vita I play Danganronpa instead

[Funyarinpa]

7 minutes ago, Eclipsed said:

I'm stalling Trails in the Sky cuz whenever I boot up / unsleep my Vita I play Danganronpa instead

Let the despair flow through you

How far are you in DR2?

[Jun Inoue]

28 minutes ago, Eclipsed said:

Jeebus, that can actually happen to people o_O

~~
I'm stalling Trails in the Sky cuz whenever I boot up / unsleep my Vita I play Danganronpa instead

The shame on you! Stalling the greatest JRPG...

[Eclipsed]

Only like 10 minutes, I'm still unlocking shat for the first game

But based on that 10 minutes I can say that this cast definitely looks more, uh, out there, compared to the first, I mean like WTF happened to "Byakuya". Also it seems the protag isn't the Ultimate Lucky this time, wonder how Nagito will compare to his predecessor.

Usami......................... heh

[Decay]

Still playing Dark Souls 2. I posted some thoughts on it in today's VNTS for no good reason, I'll just crosspost them here:

 

Quote

Meanwhile, in Dark Souls 2, I started that game off thinking that it’s more of the same Dark Souls I loved. Then I started liking it a lot more. And now suddenly I’m liking it a lot less, thanks to The Iron Keep’s obnoxious enemy placement and The Shaded Woods’ generally easy but annoying bullshit. Really, “annoying” is the word that would most accurately describe DS2: Scholars of the First Sin’s mid-game. I’ve also come to the realization that the game is basically structured more like Demon’s Souls than Dark Souls, which I feel is a downgrade. I hope it gets better, I’ve heard some real good things about the DLC content. I’ll soldier on in lieu of actually reading VNs like I should be doing.

 

I guess it shows that it's not a Miyazaki game, The gameplay is still good, there's some core improvements over DS1's gameplay so I can't complain about that. I never played Bloodborne (no PS4) so I can't feel spoiled by that, either. But the structure is something that has kind of bummed me out. The progression of areas sometimes feels totally nonsensical. That's something I felt Dark Souls 1 did very well. Like how you would continually descend through a sewer system and end up in a swampy hell, and then descend further to end up in an actual fiery hell. Or how you could see that area from the tomb of the giants, Or how every area was connected to every other area in cool ways. Meanwhile, in Dark Souls 2, there are like four or five linear paths to traverse with some smaller branches along the way and sometimes the areas feel like total non-sequiturs. Like how you reach the top of a building and magically there's a massive elevator chamber that leads further up (despite there being no such thing visible from the outside), which takes you to a lava-filled area sunken into the ground?? What? 

It seems like a minor thing, but the linear-branching style of level design somehow makes the design feel less focused. You aren't supposed to do things in any particular order and perhaps one of the best strategies is to go a little bit into each area until things get a little tough and move on to the next one. And instead of exploring and traversing some huge area, it feels like you're just selecting levels to play from a menu. Like Demon's Souls. I get the feeling that whoever designed this game was a bigger fan of Demon's Souls than Dark Souls. Thankfully Miyazaki is back on the case for Dark Souls 3, and it sounds like its design will be more along the lines of DS1.

[Jun Inoue]

22 minutes ago, Decay said:

Still playing Dark Souls 2. I posted some thoughts on it in today's VNTS for no good reason, I'll just crosspost them here:

 

 

I guess it shows that it's not a Miyazaki game, The gameplay is still good, there's some core improvements over DS1's gameplay so I can't complain about that. I never played Bloodborne (no PS4) so I can't feel spoiled by that, either. But the structure is something that has kind of bummed me out. The progression of areas sometimes feels totally nonsensical. That's something I felt Dark Souls 1 did very well. Like how you would continually descend through a sewer system and end up in a swampy hell, and then descend further to end up in an actual fiery hell. Or how you could see that area from the tomb of the giants, Or how every area was connected to every other area in cool ways. Meanwhile, in Dark Souls 2, there are like four or five linear paths to traverse with some smaller branches along the way and sometimes the areas feel like total non-sequiturs. Like how you reach the top of a building and magically there's a massive elevator chamber that leads further up (despite there being no such thing visible from the outside), which takes you to a lava-filled area sunken into the ground?? What? 

It seems like a minor thing, but the linear-branching style of level design somehow makes the design feel less focused. You aren't supposed to do things in any particular order and perhaps one of the best strategies is to go a little bit into each area until things get a little tough and move on to the next one. And instead of exploring and traversing some huge area, it feels like you're just selecting levels to play from a menu. Like Demon's Souls. I get the feeling that whoever designed this game was a bigger fan of Demon's Souls than Dark Souls. Thankfully Miyazaki is back on the case for Dark Souls 3, and it sounds like its design will be more along the lines of DS1.

Well, a big part of DS was that feeling of adventure and "exploring the unknown". All the places and areas interconnected in such interesting ways, the bosses were generally memorable and challenging, and so on. DS 2 does upgrade on many things, but it's very clear that it's lacking the Miyazaki touch. It's missing that feeling of awe.

[HotTrax]

HaloMCC - I still have not finished the anniversary campaign of 2 after stated it when this came out. Made some progress. It is Halo. Also Halo5 - [complaints here]

Also watched someone play Dragon's Dogma PC for a while. Man, that is a game that I would probably not like actually playing. Maybe I will try on steam? It looks does look like a interesting game. (There is always refund option.) 

[Funyarinpa]

5 minutes ago, HotTrax said:

HaloMCC - I still have not finished the anniversary campaign of 2 after stated it when this came out. Made some progress. It is Halo. Also Halo5 - [complaints here]

Also watched someone play Dragon's Dogma PC for a while. Man, that is a game that I would probably not like actually playing. Maybe I will try on steam? It looks does look like a interesting game. (There is always refund option.) 

Abusing the refund system likw that can get you banned from using the refund syatem again. 

[Decay]

Trying a game, deciding you don't like it, and asking for a refund isn't abusing the refund system at all and won't get you banned. They specifically say that it's intended for customers to refund games they don't like.

Anyways, I played some Dragon's Dogma today. It was pretty fun! I think I was expecting the combat to be slower paced for some reason. But it's actually really fast and snappy and I liked what I played, as a dagger character.  It seems like some more nuance to the combat opens up once you unlock some core skills. I got as far as going down that huge pit in the Pawn's Guild. That sequence was a little frustrating, there are some things the pawn AI doesn't seem very adept at but it doesn't come into play very often, thankfully.

I wouldn't have minded a dodge roll button. I don't know how I'm supposed to defend myself as a dagger character. Can't block, can't evade. Only thing I can think of is to keep them stunlocked by comboing them. Basically kill them before they can kill you, lol. Also I'm not sure it was a smart decision to branch into Magick Archer if I'm going to be mainly using daggers but thankfully it wasn't a costly mistake, I'll try out Assassin tomorrow.

[Deep Blue]

If i'm not wrong that class(dagger) can unlock a move after a certain level to dodge or avoid attacks. 
The refund system is for that, if you don't like a game you can ask for a refund 

"You can request a refund for nearly any purchase on Steam—for any reason. Maybe your PC doesn't meet the hardware requirements; maybe you bought a game by mistake; maybe you played the title for an hour and just didn't like it."

http://store.steampowered.com/steam_refunds/?l=english

[Seth]

1 hour ago, Decay said:

Trying a game, deciding you don't like it, and asking for a refund isn't abusing the refund system at all and won't get you banned. They specifically say that it's intended for customers to refund games they don't like.

Anyways, I played some Dragon's Dogma today. It was pretty fun! I think I was expecting the combat to be slower paced for some reason. But it's actually really fast and snappy and I liked what I played, as a dagger character.  It seems like some more nuance to the combat opens up once you unlock some core skills. I got as far as going down that huge pit in the Pawn's Guild. That sequence was a little frustrating, there are some things the pawn AI doesn't seem very adept at but it doesn't come into play very often, thankfully.

I wouldn't have minded a dodge roll button. I don't know how I'm supposed to defend myself as a dagger character. Can't block, can't evade. Only thing I can think of is to keep them stunlocked by comboing them. Basically kill them before they can kill you, lol. Also I'm not sure it was a smart decision to branch into Magick Archer if I'm going to be mainly using daggers but thankfully it wasn't a costly mistake, I'll try out Assassin tomorrow.

You can purchase the dodge move for all dagger-users at rank 5. As far as I know modders try to enable the roll for all classes but I'm not sure if they had any success yet. I would also recommend getting the mod with the original title song from B´z, most people like it far more than the one from Dark Arisen (they had to replace the song because of licensing issues)

[Nashetania]

Am I the only one who still plays Medieval II Total War...?

[Jun Inoue]

12 minutes ago, Nashetania said:

Am I the only one who still plays Medieval II Total War...?

Yes.

Whenever I feel nostalgic, I just go back to Shogun 2.

[Funyarinpa]

13 minutes ago, Nashetania said:

Am I the only one who still plays Medieval II Total War...?

Given that someone was still playing Bubsy 3D by 2013, I don't think you can be the only one playing a critically acclaimed Total War game. 

[Nashetania]

13 minutes ago, Jun Inoue said:

Yes.

Whenever I feel nostalgic, I just go back to Shogun 2.

E-Eeeeh... But Shogun 2 is so.... Shogun-like. Though have you played the new Total War Rome?

11 minutes ago, Funyarinpa said:

Given that someone was still playing Bubsy 3D by 2013, I don't think you can be the only one playing a critically acclaimed Total War game. 

Thanks, Funya. It feels like you are my only ally here...

[Jun Inoue]

41 minutes ago, Nashetania said:

E-Eeeeh... But Shogun 2 is so.... Shogun-like. Though have you played the new Total War Rome?

Far too much. I have played Rome 2 far too much.

[Funyarinpa]

The last few hours, I've been humming or whistling the Velvet Room theme from Persona 4 Golden. 

Time to get P3P I suppose. 

[Turnip Sensei]

21 minutes ago, Funyarinpa said:

The last few hours, I've been humming or whistling the Velvet Room theme from Persona 4 Golden. 

Time to get P3P I suppose. 

DO IT!

Anyways, I took a break from everything and played through Ys Origin once again. Best action RPG I've ever played, it always feels so good to play.

Gameplay is fast, fluid, responsive and really satisfying despite being fairly simple. All you have is one button combo, three different chargeable spells, dash attack and jump, but since the game is crafted to such perfection it's more than enough. And better yet, there's three different characters to choose from. The principles are the same, but the different attacks and spells means wildly different play styles. 
The boss battles is where the combat system shines and all of them are really intense encounters. Precise movement, dodging and carefully planned attacks are needed, especially on higher difficulties which brings out all the intricacies of the combat system. Beating a boss with just a sliver of health left, while barely dodging the final attack really gets adrenaline flowing.  

It also has kick-ass music and best story out of all Ys games, so if anyone's ever in a need of concise, no-nonsense ARPG experience give Ys Origin a go.   

[Funyarinpa]

31 minutes ago, Turnip Sensei said:

DO IT!

Anyways, I took a break from everything and played through Ys Origin once again. Best action RPG I've ever played, it always feels so good to play.

Gameplay is fast, fluid, responsive and really satisfying despite being fairly simple. All you have is one button combo, three different chargeable spells, dash attack and jump, but since the game is crafted to such perfection it's more than enough. And better yet, there's three different characters to choose from. The principles are the same, but the different attacks and spells means wildly different play styles. 
The boss battles is where the combat system shines and all of them are really intense encounters. Precise movement, dodging and carefully planned attacks are needed, especially on higher difficulties which brings out all the intricacies of the combat system. Beating a boss with just a sliver of health left, while barely dodging the final attack really gets adrenaline flowing.  

It also has kick-ass music and best story out of all Ys games, so if anyone's ever in a need of concise, no-nonsense ARPG experience give Ys Origin a go.   

Can I play this on vita

[Eclipsed]

^I was going to say yes, but apparently Ys Origins only had a PC/Steam release

[Turnip Sensei]

Yup, Origin is PC only.

But from the same series there's a similar game called Ys: Oath in Felghana (PSP) on PSN. It's not as amazing as Origin, but great game still.  (The PC version of Oath is superior though)

But there's Ys Seven (PSP) and Ys: Memories of Celceta (Vita) if you want to play Ys for vita, on Vita. They have somewhat different combat systems, but the feeling is the same and the games are equally fun and awesome. And all of the Ys games are stand-alones, so you can start from any of them.

My personal recommendation is start from either Origin on PC or Celceta on Vita.    

[Funyarinpa]

Interested in mainline SMT, is starting with Devil Survivor Overclocked a bad idea? I've onlg finished P4G before in terms of JRPGs. The story looks interesting as hell. 

[Decay]

7 hours ago, Nashetania said:

Am I the only one who still plays Medieval II Total War...?

I know several people who do, there were a lot of mods made for it that people still play. Shogun 2 did melee-focused Total War better, IMO, so there's not much reason to go back. Rome 2 is total garbage. I heard Atilla was better but I haven't had a look at it yet. 

Medieval 1 is still one of my favorites in the series. I like the simplified board game-esque turn-based strategy layer. And it may have been the last Total War game with acceptable AI, lol.

[Jun Inoue]

15 minutes ago, Decay said:

I know several people who do, there were a lot of mods made for it that people still play. Shogun 2 did melee-focused Total War better, IMO, so there's not much reason to go back. Rome 2 is total garbage. I heard Atilla was better but I haven't had a look at it yet. 

Medieval 1 is still one of my favorites in the series. I like the simplified board game-esque turn-based strategy layer. And it may have been the last Total War game with acceptable AI, lol.

Atila is slightly better, but probably not for the reasons you might think. It introduces the nomad/horde factions, which are done interestingly, which is a bonus. Sadly, it's still very similar to Rome 2, so it cannot be considered too much of a good game overall.