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

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I beat Spider-Man 2 and it was exactly the game I expected it to be. If you know my taste in games well enough,you can pretty much figure out my feelings on it.

On the flip side I am re-playing F.E.A.R. and this game still fucking slaps. So much so that it convinced me to finally buy Monolith's other noteworthy horror title from around the same time, Condemned: Criminal Origin, which I plan to try after beating F.E.A.R. again.

[Mustang]

Valkyrie Elysium
I just fired it up. Played about 30 minutes just to get a feel for it. I don't have enough to info to say if I'm impressed or not, but I'm definitely interested. Right now it's looking like a Ys type of game. Nothing wrong with that. I do recall seeing that reviews were on the low side calling it ok and average, and for the most part, I can see that. I have read that combat is on the fun side though, so I'm looking forward to that.

BlazBlue: Central Fiction
Back on this grind, but even more characters has been added to my ever growing list for my crisis. Jin is the main for sure, but as far as a secondary choice, yeah, that's where my crisis is kicking in. Sure I shouldn't be worried about a secondary at the moment since Jin has tools for all situations, but me being me, there are certain type of characters I just play bad against despite my character being the jack-of-all trades type.

I might jump in Breath of the Wild some time in the midst of playing Valkyrie Elysium, especially if things go south for that game. I've been kinda getting bored with games again, but that's because there are games I want now (Persona 3 Reload and GranBlue Fantasy Relink) and I've been putting off the deep-dive with Breath and Tears for so long now.

Edit:
Update on Valkyrie Elysium. No hooks yet, but the combat is weird, but it's getting me interested. In a way, I feel like Y's could've/should've went in this direction with its combat. Now the reason it feels weird to me is because Valkyrie feels floaty, especially in the air. And then on top of that I can see they're trying to do something with dash canceling. As more moves get unlocked I gotta see how it progresses. Neither for nor against it yet, but it's definitely weird and intriguing at the same time.

Deep down I was kinda hoping that I'd lose interest in Valkyrie Elysium so I can jump into BotW, but it looks like the opposite is happening so I may have to skip BotW altogether and go straight for Tears of the Kingdom. The idea was to get through as many smaller games as possible and spend this month and January on both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom because I wanted to commit as much time as I wanted doing whatever I want in both games without having to rush or feeling the need to rush, but with Granblue Fantasy Versus Rising coming next week and Relink creeping behind in January (and those are 2 of the smaller games I'm looking forward to) not to mention the heavy hitters creeping behind them, ain't no way I'm going to be able to spend time in both games. My headspace at the moment, while I'll always love Zelda, I'm actually the opposite of most Zelda fans lol. Even though I hold Zelda to such a high standard, I'd also drop it in a heartbeat for games like a Persona, Final Fantasy and Tekken (and now Granblue and Legend of Heroes series).

Anyway, got the nephew here now. He's ready to hop in Street Fighter 6. He'll probably bop me this time since I haven't been playing. Hell I haven't played since Rashid's release.

Edit2:

You'll probably see me bring up games like It Takes Two, Ratchet and Clank, Sackboy and asking for games like them. My nephew's gaming buddy (his mother's boyfriend) passed away 2 weeks ago, and he's been really down and I want to get more games to play with him just to get his mind off of it.

[Mustang]

I was finally able to pull myself away from BlazBlue and Street Fighter to boot up both Zelda and Shin Megami Tensei 5. I haven't forgotten about Valkyrie Elysium, but I think I might've played enough of it to move on. For VE, I never played the old games, but I think people are expecting too much and dismissed it too early. It's a pretty fun little game from Square. I don't know why people thought they were getting this huge game in the first place. It's not like it was a Chrono Trigger-ish type of game to begin with, hell, it's not even Xenogears. It's one of their lesser known titles, and for what it is I think it's solid.

Shin Megami Tensei 5 already got me shook lol and I'm not even 30 minutes in. I've said it once before when I played Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne, that it's not that they're horror games. They're are far from horror games. Horror games does nothing for me. My logic and mindset just won't let me enjoy that genre. Playing in the dark and all that jazz doesn't do it for me. SMT on the other hand, I'm not nearly as religious, but the paranormal and last days, I don't play around with, and SMT in general tend to skirt the lines of last days and I don't like thinking about it lol. That's the type of stuff that scares me (movies like 2012, Perfect Storm, Fallen, Left Behind... Leave me the hell alone with these movies lol). I'll probably put this on hold for a little longer just to get through both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom.

My nephew is asking for Street Fighter 6 again, and then my brother-in-law will be in town this week as well. The gauntlet's pretty much about to go down (probably next Saturday-Sunday since I work this week). I can see myself taking 3 games out of the 7 we'll be playing. BBCF I know I got in the bag along with GG. SF3 and USF4 can go back and forth. SF6 I'll likely get smoked. If we boot up DBFZ or UMvC3 I'll get smoked, but it's gonna be fun either way.

There are some games I'm looking to try out along the way as well. Olli Olli World is one. Vampire Survivor and maybe, just maybe a bit of Fortnite (the Lego portion only), but for the most part I definitely don't rock with Fortnite.

[Mustang]

Saying this now just in case I don't come through tomorrow. Merry Christmas.

Street Fighter 6
We had 2 nights of this so far. Oh yes! This game is pure fun. We (me, my brother, brother-in-law, my sister, niece and nephew) ran quite a few sets. Capcom really outdid themselves with this game from all angles. When I play, I'm only in training mode, and I haven't been to my locals for this game yet (too much noise and drama), so finally getting around to more than just the nephew and playing someone of equal skill really opened my eyes. One advantage my brother-in-law has over me is using Drive Rush in combos. Everything else, we're equaled. Everyone else was pretty much getting that eye opening experience from when we used to play back in the old days. So it just just a ball of fun.

Tomorrow is the start of the gauntlet and we'll see from there.

That being said, I might give up on fighting games other than playing with the family for a bit. Right now the FGC is just too toxic and the discourse is whatever.

On the other side of things, this will open up the opportunity of me getting back into the action games (maybe). I got Bayonetta 1-3, God of War 1 & 2, DMC5, Nioh 1-2, Nier Automata and Replicant in the backlog and then there's GranBlue Fantasy Relink, Persona 3 Reload, and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth (I still need to play Remake, but I'll probably just watch someone play that) that's coming. I'm trying to get back into that gaming funk, but I'm gonna force myself to play Zelda to stay out of it.

Again, happy holidays just in case I don't make it back through out the week.

[Mustang]

Ultra Street Fighter 4
We only played a little bit yesterday and we ended it on a draw. My Cody against my brother-in-law's Ryu was the highlight. Lot's of back and forth's.

Guilty Gear Strive
Not gonna brag on this one since this was their first time playing and I've already and plenty first to 10's in this. I don't think any of them are sold on it though. Oh well, probably try again next year.

We cut both sessions short because my nephew wanted to play Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge and so we did that both yesterday and today. 4 player coop. I know it's a throwback, but personally, I don't care for this game. If it wasn't for my nephew, I would've been got rid of it. I'm gonna try Streets of Rage 4, but this genre itself might not be fore me anymore.

Overall, the gauntlet was a blast. For people that grew up on fighting games specifically, it was a treat to see people get a renewed interest in them and then it was a treat to see the fire lit under others for that competitive drive once more. Street Fighter 6 was probably the game of the gauntlet though. If it wasn't for SF6, no one probably would've played the other games.

[Mustang]

Got a little project I'm gonna do. I posted about it a little bit in the most anticipated games thread I think.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIc-kG8sON8

If you go to the 4:28:16 mark, you'll see Kyle doing a docket for games he'll be playing/streaming throughout this year. This is my 2nd time seeing him do this, and I like this idea. Before this mark, he does a tier list for his streams of the games he played in 2023. I'm not sure if I'll do a tier list or not. Sounds neat, if I can find the right one then I'll do it.

If you're a streamer or planning to do so, I definitely think you need to be planning out a schedule. Now, while I'm not going to be streaming, I do want to use this to kind of tackle 2 or 3 birds. Before I go further, the other thing that brought this on was the Sony/Nintendo wrap up. Shows you your stats and what you accomplished throughout the year. I didn't keep up with much, but it did light a spark and so I want to play as many games as I can, but at the same time I want to open up to more games that I don't usually play as well. I still plan to play at my own pace. I'm not rushing for anything and I want to continue to enjoy my games to the fullest, and some times that'll result in me replaying a game multiple times before moving on to the next. I still don't care about that zeitgeist, which I believe is still causing people to rush through games. That 3rd bird is to clear as much of my backlog (which grew very large) while still adding to it, therefore, it'll be something that continues into the years to come (I highly doubt I'll get to every game on my list or in my catalog).

That being said, I have setup some rules for myself.

-New games that I am highly anticipating has TOP priority (GranBlue Fantasy Relink has the highest of priorities)
-Fighting games will always be played/replayed
-Completed games has a chance to be replayed (if niece or nephew wants to do a watch/playalong or if I'm in the mood)
-No Horror
-If a game don't hook me within 3 days it goes in the "Bailed" section

I have a huge list that's red which are no-no's (horror is part of it), but I won't bore anyone with it. Just know that there's still a huge list of games you'll still never see me play lol. That being said, I'm slowly opening myself up Metroidvania's, 2D-Action, Roguelikes, Mario's, Puzzle's. Just give me some time. I've been playing fighting and rpg's for so long, it's gonna take me a hot minute to really get into them. I've been hard on Indie's and Retro's, this sort of opens up that opportunity for me to get back to them.

All that out of the way;

Currently playing

Kingdom Hearts 1
Spider-Man 2018

Yep, played and beaten both of them. Replaying them because my niece wants to watch me play Kingdom Hearts 1 and then both my niece and nephew wants to do a playalong in Spider-Man 2018. I haven't played the Kingdom Hearts games since I was in my 20s so this will be an interesting experience lol.

Street Fighter 6
GranBlue Fantasy Versus Rising

There will always be some fighting game being played. Right now I'm trying to keep up with the modern crowd, but they're definitely pushing me away with all the complaining on all sides. Both games are fun as hell too, and Tekken 8 is on the horizon, but man, it's definitely getting harder to enjoy the newer games. Anyway, as I said, both games are fun as hell. I'm still settling on Ken, but I'm trying out Jamie and Chun-Li. All I can say is damn, if only I had a main.

As far as GBFVR goes, I'm bouncing between Siegfried, Soriz, Seox,and Belial as the main with Narmaya as the secondary. I'm tempted to just go with Narmaya, but I have to find who I identify with first amongst the men 1st (that sounds so sexist lol). Same story with SF6, but here I don't know who these people are so I gotta find who represents me first (again, it might be Narmaya lol)

Bayonetta
Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

I bailed on Bayonetta a long, long time ago. I don't remember why though. Character action games are kind of having a resurgence with me at the moment and I figured let's jump back in. Bayonetta could probably be what I'm looking for to get back into these. Now for Breath of the Wild, for it to be my favorite Zelda I've only played this once. Can't have that, especially when it was back in 2017 when I played it. I remember some things, but a lot escapes me. Might as well play it now before jumping into Tears of the Kingdom.

In the future, I will probably try to correlate my list into this, like color usage and whatnot.

All of this is of no importance lol. Just something I'm trying while keeping myself entertained lol.

[Mustang]

Since posting that last post, I have been going through a little bit of a funk. This funk is mostly because I'm lacking the motivation to boot up some of these games. And going back over my list, I see why. Considering my time-frame between now and next Thursday (ultimately, Feb 1) I'm trying to stall until then. The problem is, every single game I have is very time consuming, and while I have all the time in the world (or I can easily make time) they're also relatively the same. So at the moment I'm trying not to play Bayonetta and God of War/DMC5 at the same time. At the same time I'm trying not to play Breath of the Wild and some other large game together because I'll end up burning myself out and not play anything for some time and that defeats the purpose of this little thing I'm doing for myself.

So with that being said, I'm currently playing

Spider-Man 2018
This is still weekends only with my niece and nephew, and for the most part I'll handle boss fights and stealth portions and let them handle "puzzles" and everything else. This will probably carry on through Miles Morales and eventually Spider-Man 2. Depending on how I feel, this will probably have me revisiting the Batman Arkham series.

One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4
For the time being, this is being played until I get my hands on a shorter game that I'm interested in (at the moment, that might be Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart. Everything else is too long)

Yugioh: Legacy of the Duelist Link Evolution
The other time killer but this is also being played with my nephew since he challenges me all the time.

Yep, games I've already played and beaten, but as I said, Ratchet and Clank might take up a slot once I get it and I'm currently on the prowl for some shorter games to space some of these longer games out. Currently revisiting all the games that came out from 2015 to now and try to open up to them.

Off to a poor start of the year lol.

[Mustang]

God of War: 2018
After what, 6 years, I've finally got to this game now that the noise is gone, lol. Combat is taking me a little to get used to again. Square, Triangle. I gotta remember that this is my setup. Sometimes I hit circle to dodge because I'm used to dodging with circle and X being my jump button (which this game needs). I'm only at the part where you first meet Brok and upgrading gear and whatnot. So far, it's nothing to write home about, but it's not bad either. No overall grade yet. Too early for that, buuuuuuuuut the experience so far has been solid.

Ultra Street Fighter 4
Me and my nephew played a little bit yesterday. Nothing major.

No fighting game being played specifically for me at the moment. Yes there's Tekken 8 and Under Night 2, but I'll probably get those closer to Evo time. There are games with more priority coming on the 1st and 2nd for me; Granblue Fantasy Relink and Persona 3 Reload. GB is looking like the rpg I've been looking for and I've never played Persona 3 before so these are must have's and must plays for me at any and all costs. Then Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is at the end of Feb, so that's the 3rd priority with Rise of the Ronin being the 4th priority coming in March.

Still playing and using One Piece Pirate Warriors 4 as the time killer until Granblue.

[Mustang]

God of War
I'm probably 6-8 hours in now. Just been following the main quest line. Haven't been given much of a reason to deviate, but it looks like Brok's given me my first sub/side-quest. As far as story goes, it's keeping me engaged. I will say that I wanted to slap the piss out of Atreus with all the backtalk lol. Combat-wise, something is definitely off. Somewhere between locking on and the camera feels weird to the point where it feels like Kratos feels sluggish trying to move to an enemy of my choice. Then it feels like he doesn't want to back-turn. It's just a weird feeling. It might be something I have to adjust in the settings. Overall it's not bad. I can see myself replaying this when I'm having one of those bad days.

[Mustang]

God of War
I fought a big ass dragon lol. I'm still trying to get used to the combat, and at the same time it's definitely nothing special, but I don't think it's trying to be either. I think for the most part it's sticking with (or trying to anyway) the old games of having that satisfaction from the QTE's or impactful blows, and I do get that relief. This could definitely be one of those type of games that you go to just to relieve stress. Throwing the axe is something that I want across the board (been watching too much Marvel movies, but I do want to be able to throw and recall my weapon) but at the same time I don't like having to throw my axe at these symbol bell things to open chests, especially in a certain amount of time. If you gonna do that, just let me chug the damn axe and keep it pushing. Overall, I am enjoying the game. Is/Was it over-hyped? Possibly, can't say yet (I can go on a tangent about why I'd come back to this, the Spider-Man's and the Batman's, but I think I need to play the Bayonetta games before I do that)

Early impressions

Granblue Fantasy: Relink
Poor Granblue. Not only did you come out during with 3 big hitters (Like A Dragon, Tekken 8, Persona 3 Reload), but you get glossed over because of the noise surrounding Suicide Squad. Not to mention Hell Divers seems like it's this weeks darling. Anyway, I'm getting quite a bit of "Tales" vibe but with better combat and I heard the characters are all unique, so it gives me a possible reason to return to some day after beating it. 1 things for certain, I will never complete this. Mostly because I just don't do raids, and all these endgame raids and whatnot. I'm good.

Edit:
A whole lot of Tales vibe and to be honest, I'm a little disappointed. For years, you've had Platinum handling this game and all you took from them is their running animation? Seriously? Now I am jumping the gun quite a bit, but you had one of the kings of combat and in the end you still come out feeling like Tales / Y's? Hell, even Valkyrie Elysium's combat is more interesting than what I'm seeing here at the current moment. Now, as I said, I am jumping the gun and I'm sick so my emotions could be carrying me a bit and considering I'm at the beginning, yeah. BUTTTTTTTT!!!! YOU HAVE A DAY to empress me.

Tekken 8
Damn this is a good ass game so far. The little bits I've tried and watching a whole lot, yeah, potential GOTY right here. That being said, I probably won't play as Jin here. Not that I think he's bad. It's more along the lines of him being boring now. Yeah, they gave him some stuff, but for the most part he is the same as was in T7. Hwoarang is definitely the go-to for sure. Secondary character(s) I'm looking at at the moment is Lee and Steve. Training mode is gonna see me constantly, especially because I plan to utilize all 100+ moves in some form of fashion lol.

Persona 3 Reload (Starting Shin Megami Tensei 5 this weekend), Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart and Bayonetta 1 are on the docket and up next to replace each game accordingly.

[Mustang]

Shin Megami Tensei 5
Scary ass game lol. I understand why people play horror games, and more power to you. When I tell you horror does nothing for me, it does nothing. Sure, you'll get me to jump with the jump scares, but that thrill most people get from them. Nah, not me. My brain, with the way I think just won't let me enjoy that feeling everyone gets with that genre. I say all that because this shit here, paranormal, end of days, apocalypse, revelations (biblically), all this is what scares me, and then throwing in the creepy music, oh man this game. I just beat the first boss encounter, but I am taking it slow and there are some game breaking stuff in this game. Similar to Nocturne, but what's new is fusing skills and weaknesses which I'm still trying to wrap my head around. I also noticed that a lot of demons have been nerfed overall. Like, demons from Persona 5 have been nerfed to oblivion. Yoshitzune in P5 (lvl 90 I think) can be fused at lvl 45. Previously, he was immune or he reflected just about everything except for All Mighty and Darkness. This one, HOT DAMN! Null's elec and can be hit by everything else. I get it though, but damn, that was the homie. Overall, I am enjoying it though.

[Mustang]

More SMT5. Probably about 30 hours put into it now. Most of the time has been a little bit of grinding and sidequests. Story-wise, I want to say it's the same as SMT3 or any other SMT game; angels vs demons and whatnot. The only problem I have with it (along with with the Persona series but then again it's Japan dev's in general) is the usage of kids/teens. This even trickles to anime in a sense. The main premise is school. Kid's being relied on by the grown folks to do the grown folks job. It's pretty much been there, done that. Oddly enough, I caught myself questioning Maximilian Dood and MinnMax about their fascination with Final Fantasy and not trying other JRPGs, and yet, here I am understanding why now lol (Personally, I'm a sucker for JRPGs in general). Just ONE time, Japan, ONE TIME, let grown folks handle whatever the crisis is instead of kids. That being said, I would still play it regardless, lol, just a trope I'm kinda tired of though. I won't do a 2nd play through of this with the announcement of Shin Megami Tensei 5: Vengeance. I think I heard that nothing will carry over, so it's basically getting the Persona 5 treatment (Atlus being Atlus). So I'll pick Vengeance up on the PS5. Controls kinda wonky on the Switch.

Fighting games will be on the back burner for a bit. 4 Great games out right now, and the noise behind all of them is a bunch of manchildren doing more bitching. I will say that I've been playing SMT5 so much that I haven't been watching much in terms of the usual content I usually watch. I know Capcom Cup is going down (I think it's been going on the whole week), but as I said, too much noise drowning out the actual tournament for me to bother with it.

I have been getting that feeling to jump back into Nioh again. Coworker trying to talk me into Elden Ring, which I may consider. Exploration has been one key factor that's been becoming important to me lately, almost as much as gameplay. Combat still rubs me the wrong way so I keep talking myself out of it though. Good ole Nioh though, I'm kinda thirsting for. Having a little bit of an epiphany too with Nioh in comparison to other action games. Need to hop into Nioh 2 and try out the fisticuffs weapons first.

Not sure what I'll tackle after SMT5 is done. It won't be FF7 Rebirth (so I'll be trying to dodge spoilers for quite some time).

[Mustang]

Shin Megami Tensei 5
Pretty much at endgame. I'm currently going back to clear some sidequests. There was one portion that had me at rage inducing moments and it wasn't because of any fights. It was platforming BS. I don't have the patience for platforming. It's why I don't do Mario's and metroidvania's. Just let me go from A to B. I don't need nor find methodically timed edging just right to have fun in my games. To make matters worst, once I got past that section, I had already cleared that part twice but didn't even know it.    Other than that, I've been enjoying the game. Is it better than Persona? I don't even like the comparison to be honest. Persona branched off from the Shin Megami Tensei games. It's the games you go to when you want story and character driven arcs. SMT has story, but it's mostly just how much can you take and there shouldn't be anything wrong with that.

Next up, probably Bayonetta 1 or Soulstice. I did end up bailing on God of War (I'll probably end up bailing on a lot of these type of games). It's not bad by any means. I just played enough of it to know what I'll be getting out of it. And it's pretty much a 1 and done type of game for me.

[Mustang]

Shin Megami Tensei 5
Yep, got 1 last boss plus some secret bosses, but I just might end it now and do those secret bosses in the next playthrough. I did say I wasn't going to play this twice because of Vengeance, but I don't think I'll be able to hold out lol. It's not a 10, but I also think this is better than Persona 5 personally. Obviously, it's preferences but the cast in P5, 2 characters damn near ruined that game for me. Ryuji and Morgana. These have never been my kind of characters and there's this damn part of the game that could've been avoided altogether, but you're forced to do it because of these 2 characters. Don't force me, but the story for SMT5, people say is nothing special, and for the most part, it's not. Kept me engaged though. Overall. 9

God of War 2018

I bailed, but I finished (do that make sense? lol). Overall, I'd give this about an 8.5. Story is a 10. I don't play games for story, but the way the story is presented, hot damn. Gameplay / Combat is a 7. It's pretty much the same as the old games, but less in it I guess. One things for sure, I don't like the camera being behind the back the way it is. Almost like it's trying to be Gears of War / Mass Effect but with action. The equipment / loot, while I like it almost serves no purpose, but it's enough I suppose. It's a one and done for sure. Ragnarok's Valhalla DLC is roguelike (?), I basically call it Bloody Palace, but I'm not into that kind of stuff. When you lock story behind it pushes me further away from it. If you're going to be a roguelike, be one from jump. Don't add it in just because. /small rant.

Great games in general though

[Mustang]

Shin Megami Tensei 5
Yep, just finished the second playthrough. I played against the secret boss as well as the DLC secret boss. I fought both 2 times each just to get a 1st impression because I didn't think I was ready and wanted to see what they were like and just how much prep and grind did I need to go through. Needless to say, I got my ass whooped. Holy hell I was not prepared for what's coming lol. Summoning allies, cool. Summoning extra allies, healing, 1 hit kills? Not cool at all. I did beat the 1st secret boss, though. As far as the DLC secret boss. More prep gotta be done, but I might hold out on that one for Vengeance. Only because I think I built my character wrong, but I suppose it's no biggy, but I'm doing less damage than I want.

I've been trying to get more into some of these side-scrollers. I don't know. They're not hitting.

Aeternoblade 2: Infinity (no idea where or how to get the 1st one)
This ones weird. Some aspects goes side scrolling and then other aspects it goes 3-D.

Maybe I don't live in that B-tier space lol. I'm probably more A-AA. Niohs, Trails, Tales, whatever you want to label those kinda games as.

Gungrave: G.O.R.E
It's been years since I've played Overdose. I remember loving that game despite it being the way it was. That was my go to before I got into the Musou's. Here's the thing. G.O.R.E, if I can recall almost 20 years ago, plays worst than Overdose. I don't know if it's because I can't get used to the controls or if it's because of newer things being attempted, but something is definitely throwing me off. OR it can simply be another one of those "I did this already and not ready to go back to it" (combination of all 3? Who knows).

I call myself trying to get these "smaller / lesser known" games to show support and also spread in between a lot of the 60+ hour games I tend to play (so I don't burn myself out), but at the same time I know what I like as well which is why I don't really ask for recommendations unless it involves my niece and nephew. The one thing I hate doing is wasting my money (no matter how little or large, and I don't keep games I don't like), especially when I could've spent it elsewhere. [/rant]

I won't say what's next. I keep deviating from booting up Ratchet and Clank for whatever reason lol.