What Are You Currently Playing? 6.65: Neighbor of the Beast

[Avaitor]

I haven't touched any of my PS4 games, since I'm hoping to pick up a PS5 when I'm able to find one without getting bloodthristy. I don't expect to find one at the very beginning of its launch, but I'm hoping to see one or two when it's closer to Christmas.

Which reminds me, I forgot to hit up GameStop's deal of the day yesterday, which had Spider-Man for $15 used. I wanted to see what the hype is all about, but it also doesn't look 100% like my kind of thing, anyway.

Heh, I told myself that I'd stop playing Animal Crossing daily when I could find a steady job that would take more of my time, which I did. I've been intending to play on weekends and maybe one or two nights a week otherwise, but I haven't really been doing much of that, either. It's still fun when I go back, but I think it's for the best that I've fallen off the groove of playing frequently.

Well anyway, I think I'm going to pause on DKC: Tropical Freeze for a while. It's just too damn hard, and this one level has been particularly killing me- Forest Folly. I'm just having a really hard time jumping from those little platforms, especially after the first save point. I can't land at the right time, and keep falling. And when I do land, I just can't seem to pound to the next side at the right time. There are some levels that I've had to pause and come back to the next day, and get through right away. This is not one of those. It's a shame, since I really do love this game otherwise. The design is just bananas.

[Mustang]

Not playing anything. Just watching random people play Among Us. It looks like a good party game that can ruin friendships lol. Some of these have been really funny. Some have been awful because people tend to be too honest for their own good. I've seen a couple videos where they got the imposter figured out, but the imposter just sit their and don't say nothing or say something along the lines of "I hope you're right". That kills the game. I don't play these type of games but it is something I could play with a bunch of random people sort of like an ice breaker.

Edit

I take it back. It's great to play during the 1st hour, but bail afterwards because it is very toxic. Watched 2 streams go south very fast after the 1st hour lol.

I've enjoyed Among Us most in my private groups with friends who are generally on the same wavelength. We've had a blast with it even if I always kind of want to be the impostor. It's especially nice during these times, as we'll sometimes have a few rounds of it on Zoom when we can't see each other in-person.

Definitely. I watched a stream full of people within the FGC play and it looked like 2 of them were on the same wavelength and made it look like they were dominating the game. I'd hate to see 2 people that're good liars as imposters together.

I'm 100+ hours into Trails of Cold Steel 3 on the final chapter. I'm kind of dreading what's to come because we're at the endgame and I've gotten attached to some of these characters. This one is even more Fullmetal Alchemist than ToCS2, plot-wise. I'm 3 games in and while I got a better understanding of the quartz I still don't have it down completely. I know for sure how to make characters have high attack strength. Rean is a monster right now. I can make a decent evade tanker, but when it comes to mages, yeah, I'm completely out of ideas, not to mention you have characters like Jusis who was a dominant force in ToCS2 only to be butchered here and now I have no idea how or what route to even build him up.

Overall, this series has truly won a place in my heart. I already bought ToCS4 and if I ever decide to start gaming on the PC I'll make sure Trails in the Sky would be the 1st game I'd start playing immediately.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I'm still playing through The Wonderful 101 on Hard mode. I'm almost done with this run, and aside from that rant I had about Operation 006-B being one of the worst levels in a Platinum game (mainly because of one single segment, the rest of the level is fine), which I still stand by, the rest of this playthrough has been far better and more fun than my first playthrough of the game. It really is an amazing game once you can get your head around the admittedly complex mechanics. It's a shame that more people didn't give this game a chance when it came out, partly because it was a Wii-U exclusive, limiting it's player-base, but I think even then it sold poorly because it was perceived as a side-project compared to games like Metal Gear Rising and Bayonetta 2 which released within a year or so of this game. I've only played through Bayonetta 2 once, and plan to replay it some more after I get to Astral Chain, but I have played the first game up through the hardest difficulty, and the same goes for Metal Gear Rising.

Basically, I know my shit fairly well when it comes to these style of action games, including those from Platinum, and this is by far one of their best games. I'd argue it has far more mechanical depth than Metal Gear Rising (which I love, but let's be honest it was a rushed product), and I'd say that it's overall design feels more unique than that of Bayonetta in terms of having mechanics that set it apart from any other game in the genre. I feel like people see the Saturday Morning Cartoon style of the game and assume it's easier and less complex because of it's more kid-friendly vibe (which is completely ignoring some of it's more risque humor), but honestly that just gives the game it's charm as it's crammed with so much personality that it can make even other Platinum games seem tame by comparison. However, the actual mechanics are some of the most satisfying and hard to master of any game in the genre. I'm really glad that this game was remastered so that I could finally play it. I'll definitely be playing through this on 101% Hard mode, and while I have no desire to try and Pure Platinum this game, I will try to at least get the highest rank on some of my favorite missions. If anyone was on the fence about this game I definitely recommend it. It's easily become one of my favorite action games of all time as it is. It easily belongs in the same tier as Devil May Cry 3 + 5 and Ninja Gaiden Black, IMO.

I also recently bought No More Heroes on the Nintendo Switch. I was skeptical at first since this was a Wii-exclusive that used some motion controls and I heard that the PS3 version was actually an inferior port. However multiple fan reviews seemed to say that this latest update played really well overall, and that the lack of motion controls didn't really hurt the overal experience all that much since they were more of a gimmick than a mechanical necessity. And I have to say, after having played through the first through Rank Battles of the story mode, it plays pretty smooth with a regular Pro Controller. This is a game where I'm definitely into it for the story and characters first and foremost, with the gameplay being fun for what it is but lacking in depth. I'm not very experienced with Suda but I have learned from some of my favorite YouTubers that there is the unfiltered Suda that made games like Killer 7 and the first No More Heroes (among several others, of course), and the Suda who had his vision warped by big corporate entities like how EA infamously meddled with Shadows of the Damned to the point of it not even resembling Suda's original vision for the game. Even with the hour or so that I have played of NMH so far, though, I can tell that there is more to this game than just wacky shenanigans that pokes fun at Otaku culture. There is clear pathos here and a message that is being built up through the narrative in only the way a video game can. It makes me want to play more of it and possibly seek out some other Suda works from around and before this era. I have also heard that his recent effort of Travis Strikes Again is a return to form of sorts for him with a lot more of his artistic vision left in tact than if it were a bigger studio project, so I'll be sure to get to that eventually as well.

Lastly, even though I wanted to finish off Twilight Princess first (and I will this weekend, when I can play for more than a brief amount of time in a single night), I couldn't help myself and cracked into my Super Mario 3D All-Stars Collection to play Super Mario 64 this past weekend. I haven't even played it that long but before I knew it I already accumulated 27-Stars. What can I say, this game is pure nostalgia for me and even if it hasn't aged the most gracefully I still love it. I mean, yeah, I do get annoyed and rage at times at the more annoying segments due to the poor camera control and the finicky physics of the game, but it's also the kind of frustration that's easily forgotten after I get through those sections and focus on the more fun stuff. This game also isn't that long, and I don't plan on doing a 120-Star run, so I can probably get through this in another solid weekend or so of play-time and move onto Super Mario Sunshine and then Galaxy, which is exciting since I've never played either before.

[Foggle]

I really, really need to get into Wonderful 101 for real. I played a little of it on the Wii U and thought it was great, but never got particularly far. Of course, that didn't stop me from backing the remaster on Kickstarter the moment it went up. Glad to see you're enjoying it so much! I haven't really been around much lately, did you ever end up finishing God Hand? I still think it's the peak of action games along with Ninja Gaiden Black, but I admittedly last played it in over half a decade ago. I just watched a really cool extended interview/documentary with Mikami by someone named Archipel on YouTube, and he had some very interesting things to say about it. Makes me want to revisit the game super badly...

No More Heroes is one of my all-time favorite games, and it's one of the few games where I think parts of it purposefully being un-fun actually work in its favor. It's basically a big ol' satire of open world game design, forcing you through increasingly tedious bullshit just to play the fun boss fights and see the entertaining story. It's still relevant today and pure Suda51, and as you said, it was one of the last games he really got to let loose with (the final one being Fatal Frame 4). He became disillusioned with the game industry and began distancing himself from the development process more and more starting with NMH2 (which is still great IMO) after the horrific failure of NMH1 domestically and being fucked over by companies like EA and Kadokawa at every turn with later projects. We are truly blessed that Gung Ho let Grasshopper go back to being independent after the success of Let It Die, as getting to work on the Silver Case and Killer7 remasters along with Travis Strikes Again revitalized Suda's game-making spirit, and soon the absolutely incredible-looking NMH3 will be upon us. I really liked TSA from what I played but it's a very janky and messy game that feels like it was made on a shoestring budget (it was). I can forgive its rather obvious flaws though since it was the project that made Suda51 fall in love with directing games again.

[Avaitor]

I'm trying to decide if I want to buy the No More Heroes remasters, or wait until I can go back to my mom's place to get my Wii and copy of the first. I was thinking of bringing it anyway since I've been wanting to replay Twilight Princess for a while, as well as try a couple of other games I have for it but haven't touched, like NSMBWii and REmake. So I may just look into buying the second on the Switch, unless I can find a Wii copy for a good price.

And I still need to boot up my copy of Wonderful 101, too. Unfortunately, I only brought a few of my Switch games over here, and that wasn't one of them. If I don't give Tropical Freeze another shot, I may finally go to Xenoblade Chronicles, or try one of the digital purchases I've ordered. I've been hearing a lot about Hades, in fact...

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I really, really need to get into Wonderful 101 for real. I played a little of it on the Wii U and thought it was great, but never got particularly far.

I will say that my first playthrough of the game was a complete mess. Not in terms of the game design itself but rather how deceptively deep it's mechanics are and me not being prepared for it's arcade-style continue system. I am used to more standard checkpoint system like most other action games, so it felt awkward to either have to accept continuing where I left off after a death as if I were popping another quarter into the arcade machine or manually restart from the last checkpoint, which could be a long way off. The latter could be punishing but the former felt far less satisfying. That said, I think what got me through it was, beyond the fact that it's a Platinum game directed by Hideki Kamiya (which means that it has to have more to it than what's on the surface), I had also heard from several reliable sources that I follow that it was best to treat the first playthrough as a tutorial and just have fun with it no matter how badly you do (and I performed really atrociously on my first playthrough). After beating it once I looked up some tutorial videos from better players to get a better grasp on the mechanics. While you could certainly fault the game for having a steep learning curve (even by Platinum's standards) and really requiring you to have quite a few essential purchased upgrades to stand a better chance in some scenarios, it really does feel incredibly engaging once you start understanding the game on it's terms. There's a unique sort of rhythm to the combat and the squad-based mechanics that you utilize which feels like nothing else out there once it all finally clicks together. What's best, though, is that you are constantly learning new things about the enemies and bosses well after your first playthrough that makes the combat continue to feel so interesting and rarely ever repetitive or dull. For instance, I didn't even know that you could recruit certain enemies into your team until well into my second playthrough. The game is just layered with great mechanics to uncover which is what most of my favorite games have in common.

One thing I will say in case you don't already know, but if you ever do get back into the game, whenever you use the mixer don't waste any of it on items since you have unlimited continues anyways and using either one decreases your rank, so you might as well just use the free continues if you need to. Instead, save up all of you ingredients for the credit card as it makes buying the more expensive abilities and power-ups in the game SO much easier and you can get them MUCH earlier than you would if you were saving up the credits for them. Likewise, make sure to get the Energy Converter if you don't already have it as well as Ukemi and Speed Charge. Both make the game SUBSTANTIALLY more forgiving when it comes to taking damage without ruining your rank (Ukemi even allows you to Pure Platinum a fight even after getting hit if you use a well-time Ukemi to negate that damage). Energy Converter in particular is useful since it will heal you as you attack enemies if your battery power is already full. And Speed Charge is essential for refilling your battery quickly if you don't want to be constantly stuck in situations where you're just hanging back for half a minute or so avoiding enemies since you don't have enough battery to dodge, use Unite Guts, or form any substantial attacks. It makes the recharge time so much quicker and really speeds up the pace of fights considerably to the point where it just flat-out makes the game way more fun, IMO.

I haven't really been around much lately, did you ever end up finishing God Hand? I still think it's the peak of action games along with Ninja Gaiden Black, but I admittedly last played it in over half a decade ago. I just watched a really cool extended interview/documentary with Mikami by someone named Archipel on YouTube, and he had some very interesting things to say about it. Makes me want to revisit the game super badly...

I did! I'm pretty sure that fighting Ongra nearly broke my thumbs!

I have only beaten it once, though, and much like Bayonetta 2, I do really want to go back to it for more playthroughs to really master it's great combat system. The only reason I didn't, in this case, was because the way God Hand handles difficulty settings basically means you can't tackle Hard mode (which is what I'd normally do in a game like this) until you have completely mastered Normal mode. Not once did I ever get above enemies at Level 3 on Normal, and seeing as how Hard locks them into Level Die which I could never reach naturally myself, I'm clearly not ready for it. That said, this is also another really unique and interesting action game that is unlike anything else out there. I also think that, in terms of difficulty, people do it a disservice by making it seem like some impossible game to beat much like with games like NGB. It's definitely challenging, but aside from certain scenario fights and boss fights, it's pretty fair and can definitely be managed once you have a solid grasp of the core basic principles of the mechanics.

As for No More Heroes, I will respond to you on that and expand with more of my thoughts as I play more of it, but I will say that it's more "bizarre" gameplay elements so far clearly have an intended purpose behind them rather than just being there to be a "wacky" Suda game. I'm not even familiar with other Suda works but I can already tell that this criticism which I've heard about the game from some of his detractors is a complete misreading of designer intention. Personally, I have my own take on why these sections are included, but I'll save it for when I've played more of the game to really assess if I still hold that interpretation by the end.

[Avaitor]

Oh EK, GameStop's having another used PS4 games sale (buy 1/get 1 half off) and I think that I'm going to use that to get both Nioh games. As well as Red Dead Redemption 2, which is on sale for $20.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Sounds like a great deal! The Nioh games aren't necessarily games that surpass the FromSoftware Souls games, but they are good "Souls-likes" among that sub-genre by playing mostly to Team Ninja's strengths, which is interesting combat and enemy design. That said, sometimes the great combat makes me want to focus more on pure action than RPG mechanics, which is why it would be nice if Team Ninja were to take another stab at a Ninja Gaiden game without trying to compromise their core game design strengths for a more "accessible" experience at the cost of actually making an interesting action game, which is why Ninja Gaiden 3 was such an utter train-wreck. Nioh, if nothing else, though, proves that they are still capable of making a challenging but fun game with deep mechanics even in a post-Itagaki era.

[Foggle]

I'm trying to decide if I want to buy the No More Heroes remasters, or wait until I can go back to my mom's place to get my Wii and copy of the first. I was thinking of bringing it anyway since I've been wanting to replay Twilight Princess for a while, as well as try a couple of other games I have for it but haven't touched, like NSMBWii and REmake. So I may just look into buying the second on the Switch, unless I can find a Wii copy for a good price.

No More Heroes 1 is your call, but you should definitely get the Switch version of 2 instead, as the original release has a nasty bug where a certain boss will hard-crash your console until you unplug it from the wall, making a terrifying noise when it happens. I played the game three times myself and watched a friend play it once, and it happened on 3/4 of those playthroughs, so it isn't exactly uncommon. This was fixed in the Japanese version which I'm sure has carried over into the remaster.

I will say that my first playthrough of the game was a complete mess. Not in terms of the game design itself but rather how deceptively deep it's mechanics are and me not being prepared for it's arcade-style continue system. I am used to more standard checkpoint system like most other action games, so it felt awkward to either have to accept continuing where I left off after a death as if I were popping another quarter into the arcade machine or manually restart from the last checkpoint, which could be a long way off. The latter could be punishing but the former felt far less satisfying. That said, I think what got me through it was, beyond the fact that it's a Platinum game directed by Hideki Kamiya (which means that it has to have more to it than what's on the surface), I had also heard from several reliable sources that I follow that it was best to treat the first playthrough as a tutorial and just have fun with it no matter how badly you do (and I performed really atrociously on my first playthrough). After beating it once I looked up some tutorial videos from better players to get a better grasp on the mechanics. While you could certainly fault the game for having a steep learning curve (even by Platinum's standards) and really requiring you to have quite a few essential purchased upgrades to stand a better chance in some scenarios, it really does feel incredibly engaging once you start understanding the game on it's terms. There's a unique sort of rhythm to the combat and the squad-based mechanics that you utilize which feels like nothing else out there once it all finally clicks together. What's best, though, is that you are constantly learning new things about the enemies and bosses well after your first playthrough that makes the combat continue to feel so interesting and rarely ever repetitive or dull. For instance, I didn't even know that you could recruit certain enemies into your team until well into my second playthrough. The game is just layered with great mechanics to uncover which is what most of my favorite games have in common.

One thing I will say in case you don't already know, but if you ever do get back into the game, whenever you use the mixer don't waste any of it on items since you have unlimited continues anyways and using either one decreases your rank, so you might as well just use the free continues if you need to. Instead, save up all of you ingredients for the credit card as it makes buying the more expensive abilities and power-ups in the game SO much easier and you can get them MUCH earlier than you would if you were saving up the credits for them. Likewise, make sure to get the Energy Converter if you don't already have it as well as Ukemi and Speed Charge. Both make the game SUBSTANTIALLY more forgiving when it comes to taking damage without ruining your rank (Ukemi even allows you to Pure Platinum a fight even after getting hit if you use a well-time Ukemi to negate that damage). Energy Converter in particular is useful since it will heal you as you attack enemies if your battery power is already full. And Speed Charge is essential for refilling your battery quickly if you don't want to be constantly stuck in situations where you're just hanging back for half a minute or so avoiding enemies since you don't have enough battery to dodge, use Unite Guts, or form any substantial attacks. It makes the recharge time so much quicker and really speeds up the pace of fights considerably to the point where it just flat-out makes the game way more fun, IMO.

Thank you so much for the advice! I was absolutely terrible at the game when I tried it too, and I'm sure your tips will make it much more fun for me, even if I'm still bad.

I did! I'm pretty sure that fighting Ongra nearly broke my thumbs!

I have only beaten it once, though, and much like Bayonetta 2, I do really want to go back to it for more playthroughs to really master it's great combat system. The only reason I didn't, in this case, was because the way God Hand handles difficulty settings basically means you can't tackle Hard mode (which is what I'd normally do in a game like this) until you have completely mastered Normal mode. Not once did I ever get above enemies at Level 3 on Normal, and seeing as how Hard locks them into Level Die which I could never reach naturally myself, I'm clearly not ready for it. That said, this is also another really unique and interesting action game that is unlike anything else out there. I also think that, in terms of difficulty, people do it a disservice by making it seem like some impossible game to beat much like with games like NGB. It's definitely challenging, but aside from certain scenario fights and boss fights, it's pretty fair and can definitely be managed once you have a solid grasp of the core basic principles of the mechanics.

Yeah the final boss was brutal for me too. A lot of people say he's easier than Azel right before him but I definitely don't agree. The game is challenging for sure and has some pretty rough roadblock boss fights but I never thought it felt unfair except for a couple times near the end. I was pretty much locked on level 2 during my first playthrough and was able to get into level 3 regularly on my second, sometimes hitting level die (which would, in turn, cause me to die). I haven't dared tried hard yet, and since it's been so long, I might be back to square one on my next playthrough. I bought something called a Retro Tink for my PS2, which makes the games look waaaaay better on my HDTV without input lag, so I'm finally getting back into that catalogue, and I've been itching to replay God Hand now that I can do so easily.

As for No More Heroes, I will respond to you on that and expand with more of my thoughts as I play more of it, but I will say that it's more "bizarre" gameplay elements so far clearly have an intended purpose behind them rather than just being there to be a "wacky" Suda game. I'm not even familiar with other Suda works but I can already tell that this criticism which I've heard about the game from some of his detractors is a complete misreading of designer intention. Personally, I have my own take on why these sections are included, but I'll save it for when I've played more of the game to really assess if I still hold that interpretation by the end.

There's a lot of BS design in Suda's games, but at least in the ones he directed himself I would say there's a reason for it to be there and often it just adds to the charm for me. Grasshopper games would never win awards for their mechanical depth or level design but I've loved just about every one of them. Something about their style is incredibly appealing to me.

[Avaitor]

Ah damn, thanks for letting me know about that with NMH 2. I'll hit that up on the Switch.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Thank you so much for the advice! I was absolutely terrible at the game when I tried it too, and I'm sure your tips will make it much more fun for me, even if I'm still bad.

For what it's worth I still consider myself bad at the game.

That said, the appeal of Platinum's video game titles in general (save for the few occasional duds) is creating mechanically fun games that can entertain you on a surface level but make you want to get better at them. While something like Bayonetta or Vanquish arguably does this better since it is much easier to grasp the basics of those games (IMO), I think that The Wonderful 101 fulfills that drive within me even better than those games, since the real skill of the game comes in using your Unite Morphs as intuitively and creatively as possible rather than being really good at high-level skills or having twitch reflexes. To be clear, I love both Bayonetta and Vanquish to death, and both also reward creativity and don't rely solely on reflex-based skills (as I was able to clear the hardest difficulty on Bayonetta without really being all that great at the combat system even by my third playthrough), while TW101 absolutely has insane things that are possible in it which my level of skill could never pull off. However, I do feel it skews more towards being smart with the use of your abilities and less towards how fast you can perform certain inputs.

Oh, and I'm not sure how far you got when you originally played it, but you definitely need to play it to the end if only to witness one of the greatest finales in video game history (again, IMO). It's some of the most hype shit I've ever seen, EVEN by Platinum's standards.

Yeah the final boss was brutal for me too. A lot of people say he's easier than Azel right before him but I definitely don't agree. The game is challenging for sure and has some pretty rough roadblock boss fights but I never thought it felt unfair except for a couple times near the end. I was pretty much locked on level 2 during my first playthrough and was able to get into level 3 regularly on my second, sometimes hitting level die (which would, in turn, cause me to die). I haven't dared tried hard yet, and since it's been so long, I might be back to square one on my next playthrough. I bought something called a Retro Tink for my PS2, which makes the games look waaaaay better on my HDTV without input lag, so I'm finally getting back into that catalogue, and I've been itching to replay God Hand now that I can do so easily.

The funny thing is that I mostly found the big demonic forms of the Devas to be easier boss fights than their humanoid counterparts since they had such big hitboxes when it came to attacking them while having attacks that were way more forgiving in terms of how well telegraphed they were, whereas the human versions were typically much quicker and while not necessarily as hard-hitting, still felt dangerous and (IMO) more lethal in how they could combo your health down in a matter of seconds. However, as for the difficulty of the game in general, I feel that with the exception of a few legitimately unfair segments (mainly due to how the camera in this game works and some of the scenarios it puts you in which work against that set-up), most of the game is really fair. Likewise, the actual level segments are fairly short so you really aren't punished too much for dying. Usually you aren't sent back more than 5-minutes of gameplay, maybe more for longer stages, and replaying a stage goes by quick once you know what you're doing. Likewise, the game has tons of items and environmental props littered about that you can use to help you ranging from healing fruits to power-ups to things you can attack enemies with for major damage. So even if you aren't super adept at the combat system (and after only one playthrough I'm definitely far from good at it), the game still gives weaker players other alternatives to make it through tough situations. I feel like the people saying that the game is impossible are the types of players who don't ever try to use any of the things that the game gives them and just try to mash out powerful moves.

There's a lot of BS design in Suda's games, but at least in the ones he directed himself I would say there's a reason for it to be there and often it just adds to the charm for me. Grasshopper games would never win awards for their mechanical depth or level design but I've loved just about every one of them. Something about their style is incredibly appealing to me.

So, honestly I think the "tedious" stuff in NMH, at least so far, actually works in the game's favor. Here's the thing: in most games this would simply be shameless padding. In this game....it is shameless padding, but it's also part of the game's thesis (at least in my interpretation so far). This is very much a commentary on the medium of video games itself and gamer culture and maybe nerd culture in general, from Travis's Otaku-style apartment to his Star Wars-esque beam katana to the obvious retro-game homages in many of the game's aesthetics. And of course you already mentioned the GTA knock-off open world design and various other things that were popular in games at the time. But I also feel that it sort of works as a commentary on some of the very gamers who play the game and are huge fans of gaming themselves. The Ranking Battles represent the actual core or meat of the game and are the parts you want to get to since they are the fun bits, but you need to put up with the everyday rigors of real-life to get the the stuff that you want to do, which in this game is represented by menial tasks such as gathering fruits or mowing lawns, among other things. I think what hit me about that is it immediately made me think of my life right now, which may just be me reading too much into it, but the comparison still works for me. I work a daily job that can be very tedious and sometimes highly stressful and emotionally draining on tougher days, and getting to play these games and watch movies or doing other nerdy stuff that I love is my form of escape from that and what I look forward to. Keep in mind that I'm also living by myself right now as most of my family lives in New Jersey (which I'm trying to find a job in so I can move back there but COVID-19 makes that way harder than it already is).

Playing this game immediately reminded me of my own everyday life, which may not have been Suda's exact intention for all I know as it wouldn't apply to everyone playing the game, but it does still apply to me at this moment all the same. All of that is to say that, those more traditional "video game" segments of NMH serve as a way to examine the psychological implications of those indulgent fantasies that we love escaping into so much. The first mission starts out about as fun and over-the-top as you would expect, with the first boss being mostly what you would typically expect from an action game. The second boss, however, introduces a trace of subtlety to his motives when you piece together that he became an assassin for money for the benefit of his family but that only served to estrange him from his daughter. You still kill him off all the same but the idea that you can kill someone who is not 100% evil is introduced in there. The third fight with Shinobu (which is where I've gotten up to this point) isn't played for any sort of laughs and the scene where Travis cuts her arm off is clearly intended to be excruciatingly painful and not a moment of triumph in the slightest. Her begging him to end her life and him opting to spare her is a great way of introducing an element of conflict into what you have been doing up to now. As a gamer you are escaping from the tedium of the menial chores of life by jumping into a highly fictionalized world in which you indulge in the punishment of others by exacting violence on them. However, in the world of NMH, this is all Travis's reality, and therefore the player's reslity, and it really makes you think of the fucked-up nature of it in this context.

What's great, though, is that it's clear that Suda is still an avid fan of games and is celebrating games as much as he is critiquing them. With NMH in particular, it feels much to video games what a Grant Morrison run is to comic books (particularly something like Animal Man). It brings up a very interesting meta-textual idea about the medium itself but isn't outright condemning that medium either. I don't think it's Suda's intention to say: "don't enjoy this game." Rather, I think the idea is to use the context of NMH to examine the thing that we love and maybe learn a little about ourselves in the process. Perhaps try to find the enjoyment in some of the more menial day-to-day stuff in conjunction with the thing you view as the fun bits.

Again, I'm probably off-base with this based on my lack of experience with Suda, and how I've not made all that much progress in the game, but it's impressive the little that I've played of it managed to inspire this much thought in me, so it definitely gets major props from me for that.

Also, as for the criticism that the game is padded with unfun side-jobs that you have to do in-between missions, I actually find that it helps keep the game from feeling monotonous. Let's be honest, the combat is fun and the boss fights are actually interestingly designed so far and easily the highlight of the game's mechanics; though, Shinobu having a move with an indefinite range that can clip through geometry and almost always insta-kill you towards the end of the fight is kind of BS, IMO. That said, it lacks the depth of a Devil May Cry or Bayonetta, and would easily feel monotonous if you just played through the Ranking Battles back-to-back. The side jobs help pace out the game, are usually pretty short and easy to do (at least so far), and up to this point the game hasn't every really made me grind for the money to enter the next Ranking Battle. Ususally two jobs with a gold-medal rank will get you what you need, and even if you have to do more than that it's still maybe thirty-minutes of gameplay tops. I don't really have an issue with it, though I could maybe imagine that changing somewhat if it does become too grindy for some of the later missions, though it would undoubtedly work with the general themes of the game, I suppose.

[Foggle]

My opinion on NMH differs slightly but I still think you're dead on with a lot of what you wrote, and of course it can have different meanings to different people too. It's not subtle but it is nuanced and is much more effective than most games that are "trying to make a point" because it doesn't scorn the player (just trolls them a bit). It's a very dense game with a lot to dissect but succeeds because the surface level is also good and appealing, which is rare for artsy games, as most forego fun gameplay altogether. I'm glad you're having a good time with it!

Side note: I think Shinobu is probably one of the harder bosses in all honesty, mostly because she forces you to learn how to successfully counterattack. I think it's a well-designed fight for the most part but one-hit moves like that are always a pain.

And I totally agree about the bosses in God Hand. Maybe I'd just improved a lot but I was shocked by how easy some of those demon forms were!

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I forgot to mention this, but I beat Twilight Princess a while ago. This is definitely Ocarina of Time 2.0, which means different things depending on who you are, but for me that's certainly not a bad thing. As for my overall thoughts on the game, though, I really enjoyed it but it is admittedly very derivative of what came before it. On the one hand that gave the developers the chance to fine-tune what they already knew how to do well from past experiences, which they mostly succeed at, but that also comes with the caveat of having no real surprises in store for seasoned Zelda players. Still, while people are always gushing about how Breath of the Wild brought Zelda back to it's roots (which is an accolade that I agree with, mind you), people tend to overlook that other games in the franchise weren't bad simply because they weren't open world. For how linear some of these games were, they still boasted creative dungeons and a great system of progression throughout their worlds that made them such big hits in the first place.

Breath of the Wild did a great job of bringing back elements of Zelda that had been ignored for far too long and modernized them for a current generation of gamers. However, in doing so it also lost some of what other Zelda games had excelled at in place of having more freedom for exploration, and thus doesn't make any past entries obsolete by any means, and Twilight Princess is proof of that (at least for me). Of course I'm still appreciative of Breath of the Wild and look forward to whatever Nintendo does next with the series. Hopefully they find a way to integrate some of the better design elements of older 3D Zelda games into the mix without significantly compromising Breath of the Wild's sense of freedom.

[Mustang]

Trails of Cold Steel 4

I've been neglecting everything (game-wise and forums) due to this series. I guess you can say I'm bordering addiction, but for a different reason. While the story is still good, it's the customization that got me. It feels like I'm near the end of the game, with the events that I went through only to find out that I'm only on Act 2. The problem I'm seeing here is that it's getting to overwhelming levels of customizing. There's being so much thrown at me and I'm beginning to have a hard time on what I want to tackle first. Do I go for unlocking slots first for everyone (the largest cast of characters I've ever seen in a RPG) or do I go for trying to get quartz level 3's? Both points to ridiculous amounts of grinding. This would be an easier decision if the game didn't throw you into combat with characters you'd rather not use.

I've got a lot to catch up on when it comes to fighting games. There was an UMvC3 tournament ran by Maximilian Dood this past Monday and while I haven't watched all of it yet, it did motivate me to get back into it.

[Mustang]

Trails of Cold Steel 4
Almost a month later and I'm near the end. Literally, the date in the game says "finale" but there's a lot of touch up stuff that I've been doing (cooking, side missions, etc), but like other JRPG's I am hitting that fatigue factor. I probably could've had the game beat yesterday, but I started experiencing the fatigue then. I do love the series though, and this probably would've hit me more had I started with the very 1st Trails game. I do plan to play it eventually, but as of right now there's a lot of things I have to do in order to make that possible (in terms of setting up my room and whatnot). Whatever on that though. I still enjoyed my time with this series specifically.

Again, I personally think this series can be in contention with the upper echelon of RPG's in terms of "best or top rpg series". I'd probably put it right behind Final Fantasy and Persona (I think I also prefer ToCS over Dragon Quest at this moment as well)

With all the characters in the game I do like that they let you play whoever you want in your party despite at some points in the game there are character locks and the bulk of guest characters you can't customize which is a downer. There were a couple of guest characters I wanted to try Gungnir + Minotaurus on but they had other Master Quartz locked in place.

Like all my games I usually play through a 2nd or 3rd time and this one is no different, but I probably won't do a 2nd play through immediately after beating it.

Anyway, Christmas break is coming (last day of work is this Wednesday and I don't go back till the 4th) and I plan to have this game beat before this weekend. As for what's next. I've had the urge to go back to playing Ghosts of Tsushima (might be my game of the year), and I saw some hand or claw combat in Nioh 2 making me want to start that game up as well. I'm also a masochist and I like torturing myself with Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 (OH GOD, I'm already remembering why I stopped playing). Poor Final Fantasy 7 Remake. It's gonna be a while before I get to it, although I'd rather play it in its completion.