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

[Mustang]

I hope everyone has been well during these times. I still have to work (fortunately/unfortunately?)

Anyway, Diablo 3 did its job for the most part. I've had my fill and ready to move onto something else (One Piece PW4 if things go smoothly)

[Avaitor]

I have Animal Crossing for the 3DS which came with my bundle. I might give it a shot some time, though first I'll be playing through Donkey Kong Country Returns once that comes in the mail.

That's New Leaf, right? I haven't played it, but I've heard that it's another fun one. That's also the first with Isabelle, I believe. I didn't get acquainted to her until the phone game, which is cute, but I got bored of fast. It's not nearly the same as the real deal.

So yeah, I've been playing a LOT of the new AC. Adding a rewards system is a great touch to keep me hooked, as I keep trying to wrack up Nook Miles. The island does feel smaller than the towns I'm so used to, which is a nice enough change of pace, but I also kind of hope it isn't the norm with the next one.

[Mustang]

I've been playing The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel to take my mind off things. I'm only on the 2nd chapter doing my 2nd field study, and it's been interesting. It's doing enough to tug and keep me interested in the story, but I wouldn't put it up there with Persona. I'm not sure if I really care for the game play mechanics though. It's probably because I don't quite understand Artz and Quartz. At one point I thought it was going to be like the Materia system in FF7, but I don't know yet. I've yet to see anything to let me know if I have a setup correctly or not, but again, it's still doing enough to keep me interested.

I don't have my taxes yet, and I don't get paid till next week, but with all that's going on, I'm definitely gonna have to tighten up the budget even more.

Stay safe everyone. I suppose at this point I should start playing the fighting games online again too, despite my hitbox not being available at the moment.

[Mustang]

Continuing my playthrough of Trails of Cold Steel. Now I'm thoroughly enjoying it. The problem I was having was unfair to the game itself (not to mention I was doing a lot of comparing to Persona 5). I had to keep reminding myself that this is a PSP game, and it's unfortunate because this series should've been made on the PS3 that way everything would've looked a little better by the 2nd game. Anyway, I'm not hooked by all means (not the way Persona 5 hooked me), but like Demon Slayer, there is something there that keeps pulling me in. In this case I want to say the characters keep reeling me in. Still not understanding Quartz or Artes, but I understand links and S-link.

[Nel_Annette]

Continuing my playthrough of Trails of Cold Steel. Now I'm thoroughly enjoying it. The problem I was having was unfair to the game itself (not to mention I was doing a lot of comparing to Persona 5). I had to keep reminding myself that this is a PSP game, and it's unfortunate because this series should've been made on the PS3 that way everything would've looked a little better by the 2nd game. Anyway, I'm not hooked by all means (not the way Persona 5 hooked me), but like Demon Slayer, there is something there that keeps pulling me in. In this case I want to say the characters keep reeling me in. Still not understanding Quartz or Artes, but I understand links and S-link.

If you ever get the chance, play the Trails in the Sky trilogy. It takes place two years before Cold Steel 1 and it's such an emotionally satisfying go. Second game is one of only two video games to ever make me tear up.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

You know, one of the problems with me playing long RPGs is that I'm no longer in grade school anymore, and just don't realistically have the time to devote hours to them on a daily basis like when I was a kid. At best I'll get one or two long sessions per week to play them and anything else is too short to bother. That said, I'll be damned if I'm not still loving the hell out of Nioh 2's advanced mechanics and excellent combat. I'm still only on the second region, but I'm also at the point where my skill tree options have really opened up and I can finally use magic and perform active skills that really wreck the shit out of tough enemies in fun and useful ways. I can still get enjoyment and satisfaction from this game on that level even in small bursts, despite not making much progress in the main story on any sessions less than a few hours.

I've also been on a Zelda kick lately. I beat A Link to the Past, A Link Between Worlds, and just recently Link's Awakening DX. I also have Breath of the Wild for the Switch and Twilight Princess for the Gamecube. I'm going with BotW first because I wanted to try a shakeup to the classic formula before going back into it since I've played three classic style Zelda games back-to-back. Of course, this does bring the dilemma of yet another long ARPG-type game to play at the same time as Nioh, but the benefit of the Switch is that I can play this one while lying down in bed so I don't have to be sitting up until late.

[Mustang]

If Trails in the Sky ever make its way to either the Switch or PS4 (maybe 5) I will definitely try it out because Trails of Cold Steel has definitely hooked me with its characters and the militaristic setting, almost feeling like a what Fullmetal Alchemist could've been mixed with Persona with it's classroom settings. I'm starting to understand Quartz a little bit, but I have no idea what the purpose of synthesizing would do. There's no explanation on what that does so I've ignored that completely. Other than that this game has been a blast to play and I'm only playing the 1st game in the series so far. I'm hoping 2 and 3 can live up (it's not G.O.A.T status material, but in top RPG's it definitely deserves a spot)

Dr.Ensatsu-Ken, any other time I'd agree with you, because, when I get off work I'm tired and would never dedicate any time to long running rpg's during workdays. I'd save them for the weekend, but because of this Covid19, I have all the time in the world because my job had to shutdown. I just hope it's not permanently (I swear, during this whole crisis, it definitely makes you think what you should be grateful for that's for sure, no matter how small it may seem, be thankful and grateful)

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I hear you. As a Pharmacist I work at a closed door location that primarily fills scripts by mail, thus we are deemed as an essential business and are allowed to remain open for our regular hours and since our staff is small anyways we are able to keep everyone on, though of course new procedures and precautions were implemented in the office and pharmacy areas to take extra measures to keep things sanitary and sterile.

In that regard, I'm still as busy as ever. I suppose that's a good thing since I still have a full source of income, but I wouldn't mind having at least some time to myself for a week or two.

Anyways, I finally beat God Hand, which I had been playing in weekly sessions whenever I had time to commit to playing a few hours in a row just because it was so easy to get stuck on retrying difficult fights. I think I may have broken my right thumb fighting Ongra. Holy hell was that one of the hardest final bosses I've ever had to fight. He hits like a motherfucking truck while hitting him feels like punching a literal tank for how little damage it does. I then went back and replayed the game's first level (still on Normal difficulty), which felt very cathartic after that frustratingly grueling endurance test of a final boss. I love challenge, but that was just going overboard, IMO, not unlike Sekiro's final boss, Isshin Sword Saint, which did not need to be four-phases long.

That said, my overall impressions of the game are still quite positive. It's like Shinji Mikami really loved the melee moves that Leon could perform in RE4, and wanted to make a whole game based around a massive expansion of those mechanics with that camera (in fact several animations in this game are clearly recycled from RE4), and despite being such an odd concept it strangely kind of works better than it probably should. Obviously, it has it's issues, and the game is far from perfect. I would really compare it to Ninja Gaiden 2 in that regard, since both games have excellent combat mechanics and a clear skill progression for the player to keep things interesting, but both also have rather unbalanced difficulty and aren't short on their fair share of bullshit.

I do think this is a game that's worth replaying and getting a better grasp of, and I can definitely understand it's cult classic status, but for now I'll have to take a break from it since there are way too many titles on my backlog. Still, really glad that I finally got the chance to play this one. As the final game to be released under the Clover Studios logo, this was definitely a solid title to go out on. Speaking of which, I'll definitely be playing Viewtiful Joe as well now that I have a Gamecube, but again, I have to get through a bunch of other games on my backlog before I get to that point.

[Avaitor]

I'm pretty lucky in the job department, myself. My current employment is still paying us even though we're staying at home, and even took some money out to make sure that they have us covered for at least a couple more weeks. Meanwhile, right when I picked up a second job, I lucked myself into a delivery job, which is still going strong and giving the chance to work more days to save up as much as I can.

I've also been on a Zelda kick lately. I beat A Link to the Past, A Link Between Worlds, and just recently Link's Awakening DX. I also have Breath of the Wild for the Switch and Twilight Princess for the Gamecube. I'm going with BotW first because I wanted to try a shakeup to the classic formula before going back into it since I've played three classic style Zelda games back-to-back. Of course, this does bring the dilemma of yet another long ARPG-type game to play at the same time as Nioh, but the benefit of the Switch is that I can play this one while lying down in bed so I don't have to be sitting up until late.

Twilight Princess and Breath of the Wild are both among my favorite Zelda games. I can understand how the former can frustrate some fans who don't like the wolf elements or are tired of the Zelda format, but I personally thought the wolf parts worked well and that the traditional content is among the strongest in the franchise. It was Skyward Sword where I thought the combination of new gimmicks and the traditional Zelda structure were not working. I also think that Midna was a good new character, and helps keep the experience fresh.

BOTW, meanwhile, is every bit the breath of fresh air that it gets credit for. As opened ended as it is, every single path you can take has some kind of strategy to back it up, and is endlessly fun to explore. While I haven't done A Link Between Worlds yet, from what I understand, they're good compliments to each other, with that one doubling down on classic dungeon design vs BOTW's experimentation for Zelda.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Yeah, A Link Between Worlds is very much a classic Zelda experience but in the best way possible. The formula is familiar, but it's so well refined and tightly paced that it makes a strong case for why that formula works so well to begin with. In particular, I love the dungeons in this game, which are some of my favorites in the series and this is one game where I can say there's not a bad one in the bunch.

As I alluded to earlier, though, a game like Breath of the Wild would have been perfect for me in my pre-college days. Back then I loved long, expansive quests that gave me a ton of playtime for my money, especially since I rarely got to buy games (I mostly had to stick to rentals). Playing it now I can definitely see why it's so highly regarded, and I am enjoying it to be sure, but goddamn is it massive. I mean, like....almost too massive, to the point where it feels like I'm spending more time traversing the environment than I am progressing in the actual game. Of course, that's clearly the intention, as the very title alludes to, but it does mean that I can only ever play this game on a day off when I have no other errands to run, which is only once a week.

It'll probably take me half a year at least to finish the game at this rate, lol. I've got 9 shrines down and I'm focusing on getting heart containers first until I have enough to get the Master Sword as early as possible. Then I'll focus mostly on Stamina. That said I am trying to balance that out with progressing in the main quest, but man does it feel like I'm getting lost in the world every time I try to go from one point to another. There's always something to catch my interest and divert me from the main path. Again, that's clearly the point of it's design, and it's great, but I have to admit that it makes me feel like I probably won't even reach the first dungeon for at least another 20 hours or so. This is especially the case since you have to complete shrines and side quests to level up your character enough to even stand a chance against anything other than basic enemies.

What I can say so far is that I definitely think this game was necessary to shake up the formula and keep people from feeling fatigued on the Zelda series. That said, I don't think it in anyway overwrites the more formulaic games. Sticking to a formula isn't inherently a bad thing, and I will still always feel the need to go back to classic Zelda for a big adventure but still tightly paced experience. With BotW, it's more of a case of playing it to get lost in it's world and lore, but I probably wouldn't replay it much after that, not because it isn't great, but because it's way too much of a commitment for me to ever go back beyond one playthrough.

At any rate, with the recent release of the Link's Awakening remix, while BotW2 is close on the horizon, I'll be more than happy if Nintendo manages to balance both classic and new styles like this with future releases.

[Avaitor]

I think the best thing the Zelda franchise can do is what it's kind of doing now, by still releasing some games that stick to the classic format, while also allowing for more experimental titles like BOTW and Hyrule Warriors to come out. Granted, the latter wasn't exactly a proper Zelda game (and that's part of why I struggled to gain interest in getting a Wii-U- I was already tuning out of video games, but having no proper Zelda, Mario, or Animal Crossing wasn't enticing me to get back into them), but it fits enough and any occasional change of pace is welcome.

Going through the shrines and getting hearts is a smart way to do it first. I wish I thought that through before I went to the first Divine Beast. One hit from that boss, and I was out.

There's a lot of content in BOTW, but the story isn't THAT overwhelming. If you focus on the Divine Beasts, the memories, and Ganon's castle, it's about as long as your average Zelda game. The world is massive though, and adding in the shrines and everything else you can find can take a long time. I haven't touched the game since I beat Ganon, but I do occasionally think of going back just to go through that world again, finish the rest of the shrines, maybe pick up the DLC.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

While I could just go through the game for the main story, obviously that would be missing the point and going against the intended experience. I do of course want to explore and indulge in the freedom the game has to offer, as well as take on various side quests. It's just that my current lifestyle and desire to balance other interests in with gaming makes it kind of impossible for me to truly enjoy that scope in the way that I used to. Obviously that's no fault of the game, of course. I'm just mentioning how I feel a tad daunted when really looking into the scope of all of this.

[Mustang]

I finally finished ToCS over the weekend. The way it ended, if you'd have told me there was no sequel I'd be pissed. That being said, this game is great and much like Persona 5, by the time you get towards the end the fatigue starts setting in (but for me this is typical with any jrpg), and what makes it a negative here is that you're watching most of it instead of playing. Of course I couldn't just play it once I'm playing it again with some stuff carrying over just to feel dominant in my own twisted kind of way before I move onto ToCS2.

[Avaitor]

That's fair, it is a pretty daunting experience in all. And yeah, if I was a bit younger and had less responsibilities, I would've beaten it much sooner than I did, rather than it taking me a couple of months, a few hours at a time, once a week or so.

[Avaitor]

In other news- I did it! I beat Doom 2016. It's a mighty fine game, and I'm looking forward to when the Switch version of Eternal comes out, even if I've heard mixed things.

Next, I plan to play Super Mario Odyssey, then after that either The Witcher III or the Link's Awakening remake. I do also have Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze and Sonic Mania, but for some reason, I'm not in a DK or Sonic mood rn, so I'll probably save those for after.