What are you currently playing?

[BitsAndGlory | 15]

Yup, all the 8-bit versions. I bought CIB reproduction copies from Flashback Games for II & III. I do own some of the remakes but I wanted to play through the originals.

To be honest... I think I is my favorite. I'm about maybe 1/4 through III, and I'm enjoying it a lot more than II. II simply put is a bit tedious & overly ambitious for the times. Didn't work out too well, but it's worthy of at least one playthrough. III is a lot of fun but something feels too stream-liney for my liking. That being said, big step up from II. Not sure if it's the general simplicity of the first, but I think that'll end up being my favorite still when all is said and done. I just really enjoy picking the starting classes and going on that adventure against the elemental fiends and time loop!

Edited August 27, 2021 by BitsAndGlory

[Pendragonx | 117]

On 8/25/2021 at 11:18 AM, WhyNotZoidberg said:

Was playing Radiant Historia and I liked it a lot, but I needed a break from RPGs so I started Ion Fury and it's hella good but how does one find all them secrets holy balls. 

ah man.. Radiant Historia was sooooooo good.. I played the re-release on 3DS and loved the hell out of it

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

On 8/19/2021 at 12:16 PM, Pendragonx said:

Been playing some more uncharted ...  yet another series I missed out on when it was originally released .. Good stuff sofar

I had an absolute blast with the first Uncharted as well as Uncharted 4. The original felt like a whole new type of cinematic adventure and the fourth one perfected the formula. 2 and 3 felt a bit like rehashes to me, although I think the second game is most people's favorite. Enjoy!

On 8/21/2021 at 1:31 PM, Sumer said:

Just started playing through the revamped Wolfenstein series on XBox Gamepass (awesome service, by the way).  I just finished The Old Blood and I am now playing The New Order.  Liking them thus far.  I am looking forward to playing Young Blood, as it is a 2-player COOP campaign, and I already informed my wife I need her help destroying more Nazi scum!

As Reed mentioned, Youngblood is a different beast than the others and, I think, a pretty significant step down in quality. The opening 5-10 hours are a slow burn and it only starts getting fun when you really fill out the upgrade tree. I also felt The Old Blood was on the weaker side, but the two mainline games are incredible.

On 8/25/2021 at 9:16 PM, RegularGuyGamer said:

I picked up Captain Toad and have been playing before bed the past couple nights. So far I like it. It's relaxing and a nice twist on a puzzle game. 

I finished this up earlier in the year and thought it was decent. I didn't feel the need to go back for all of the challenges, although I did grab all the collectible stars. I liked that it was more of a chill experience and a far cry from Doom Eternal and some of the other crazy, fast paced games I've played recently.

[Estil | 1,265]

Lunar Eternal Blue...and once I can figure out how to get the Disc 2 iso of Lunar Silver Star working (it just shows a blank black screen anytime I try to start it).  I'm really digging these JRPGs on the PS1 because like the ones on SNES they too are from the Golden Age of RPGs and I like how on PS1 they can be even more colorful and more detailed and have the room on the disc (or discs!) to be "talkies" (have actual voice acting as well as anime cutscenes).  You know, just like how movies long ago transitioned from silents to talkies?  Well the PS1 started the transition from (mostly) "silent" (text only dialog) to making "talkies" realistically possible thanks to the extra room CD-ROMs have.

I'm especially interested in the JRPGs that are multi-disc because you have to figure those REALLY give you your money's worth, do they not?  Any others I should know about that have cute chicks in your party?  

[Estil | 1,265]

On 8/26/2021 at 8:45 AM, BitsAndGlory said:

Been ripping through the NES/Famicom Final Fantasy's for the last two months. Final Fantasy & Final Fantasy II are down, currently going through Final Fantasy III. Been enjoying it a lot so far! A bit streamlined (at least up until the point I'm at), but fun.

I couldn't get into Final Fantasy 2...the way the characters level up is confusing and the rather limited inventory space really bit me last time when I got "stuck" in a dungeon where I had exactly the WRONG equipment and I couldn't get back out to get better equipment.   That was the PS1 version (which gives you 2x the space the NES version)...does the GBA version give you near unlimited inventory space like FF4-FF6 does?

Oh and I never did do FF3...it is okay to do the NES version first or should I REALLY do the DS version first?

[Gloves | 11,790]

7 minutes ago, Estil said:

I couldn't get into Final Fantasy 2...the way the characters level up is confusing and the rather limited inventory space really bit me last time when I got "stuck" in a dungeon where I had exactly the WRONG equipment and I couldn't get back out to get better equipment.   That was the PS1 version (which gives you 2x the space the NES version)...does the GBA version give you near unlimited inventory space like FF4-FF6 does?

Oh and I never did do FF3...it is okay to do the NES version first or should I REALLY do the DS version first?

I played the GBA version of FF2 and while I don't recall the exact mechanics, I also don't recall having any issues with regard to inventory management. And I actually really like FF2, so maybe I lucked out on the version I played!

[Estil | 1,265]

I'm sure many of you are by now wondering, "Estil, what is it with you and cute chicks in JRPGs?"  To which I paraphrase Kevin from Home Alone 2, "How can you have a JRPG and no cute chicks in your party?"   It'd be like Kentucky Fried Chicken without the secret blend of eleven herbs and spices!

[Sumez | 2,964]

4 hours ago, Estil said:

Lunar Eternal Blue...and once I can figure out how to get the Disc 2 iso of Lunar Silver Star working (it just shows a blank black screen anytime I try to start it). 

Wait, you're playing Eternal Blue before having finished Silver Star? That sounds like a really bad idea in terms of story, plot twists and spoilers.

[BitsAndGlory | 15]

13 hours ago, Estil said:

I couldn't get into Final Fantasy 2...the way the characters level up is confusing and the rather limited inventory space really bit me last time when I got "stuck" in a dungeon where I had exactly the WRONG equipment and I couldn't get back out to get better equipment.   That was the PS1 version (which gives you 2x the space the NES version)...does the GBA version give you near unlimited inventory space like FF4-FF6 does?

Oh and I never did do FF3...it is okay to do the NES version first or should I REALLY do the DS version first?

FF2's inventory management stinks. It's extremely limited on Famicom/NES, but I can't comment on the remakes. Towards the end of the game I basically had no consumables. Potions were almost never carried. Just kept important things to cure petrification and such since FF2 LOOOOOVES just demolishing your party with bad status afflictions.

I haven't played the DS version much, but I am enjoying the Famicom/NES version of FF3. It's much better than FF2.

[Sumez | 2,964]

FF2 is the only Final Fantasy game I never played far in, but as I understand it, it's almost more of a proto-SaGa game than real FF sequel, and the stories I head about how it plays seems to confirm that.
Though of course the SaGa series started as a FF spinoff on Game Boy, so I guess they just didn't really know where to go with the FF series at the time.

Edited August 28, 2021 by Sumez

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

Verbal "footsie" with the wife in the Hertiage thread, lol.

[BitsAndGlory | 15]

1 hour ago, Sumez said:

FF2 is the only Final Fantasy game I never played far in, but as I understand it, it's almost more of a proto-SaGa game than real FF sequel, and the stories I head about how it plays seems to confirm that.
Though of course the SaGa series started as a FF spinoff on Game Boy, so I guess they just didn't really know where to go with the FF series at the time.

I think the best way to sum up FF2 is that it was overly ambitious. Tons of decent ideas, but not much was implemented particularly well. Thank goodness they returned to form starting on FFIII and onward (Well, that's open for debate I guess, but I enjoy the series up until FFX haha).

[peg | 372]

Contra legacy of war. Why do I do this to myself?

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

Still chugging along on Nier Replicant (XSX). I finished up Ending A and am now working through Ending B with no intention to go after C-E(that's what YouTube is for).

Also still working on It Takes Two (XSX). I think it's a great game, but it's starting to overstay it's welcome. My buddy and I just finished the ice world and it was the weakest level of the game, by far. Hopefully I'll wrap that one up soon.

I started The Ascent (XSX) shortly after launch, but haven't had much luck getting the crew together for gaming sessions since then. It seems really cool though and I'll definitely finish it.

For my next game, I'm looking at Horizon Zero Dawn (PS5) since a 60fps patch just dropped or maybe Psychonauts 2 (XSX). I feel like a kid in a candy store with two amazing options like that.

Edited August 29, 2021 by DoctorEncore

[Sumez | 2,964]

The Gradius 2 contest on this forum got me all hyped up for my old shmup love, Gradius.

The only games in the series I own on arcade are Parodius Da! and Gokujou Parodius, and the latter is notorious for its difficulty, so I'm trying to beat the former one now. The longest I've made it on one credit is the penultimate stage, but damn does this thing punish players for surviving.

[Estil | 1,265]

15 hours ago, DoctorEncore said:

Also still working on It Takes Two (XSX). I think it's a great game, but it's starting to overstay it's welcome. My buddy and I just finished the ice world and it was the weakest level of the game, by far. Hopefully I'll wrap that one up soon.

Oh is that one of those Olsen Twins games?

 

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

16 hours ago, Estil said:

Oh is that one of those Olsen Twins games?

 

The game is just random FMV clips from this movie.

[WhyNotZoidberg | 585]

Legend of Mana remake on Switch and lovin' it.

[John198X | 55]

Three first-time completions for me over the weekend. After multiple abortive attempts over the decades, I finally forced my way through to the end of Yoshi's Island. I think it's well made, with a lot of creative and interesting ideas and mechanics... that add up to a game that I don't find particularly fun to play. There are lots of what would be considered B-tier SNES games that I get a lot more enjoyment out of. Then there was Mega Man X3, which is fine. There's nothing else interesting to say about it because it is lacking in interesting things. Finally, Star Wars: Rebel Assault. I had rented the Sega CD version of this when it was new, but I was playing the 3DO port here. I mean, I wouldn't recommend it to anybody, and a couple of the levels are bullshit, but I often find early 'multimedia experience' games very charming.

That's right. I had more fun with Star Wars: Rebel Assault than Yoshi's Island, and there's nothing anybody can do about it.

[DefaultGen | 5,410]

Ultima Exodus is ridiculous between grinding, semi-permadeath, requiring exploration but also not being able to run from hopeless random encounters that will wipe your party, being able to step on tiles that wipe your party, effing… FOOD. I can’t believe TWO of you masochists already beat this for the NES thread this year so this playthrough won’t even bring any good to the world.

It’s the only RPG I’ve played where resetting the console to my last save and losing an hour of progress was a preferable option to playing out an encounter and dying. 

Edited September 9, 2021 by DefaultGen

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

I started up Psychonauts 2 and the opening hours are fantastic. It takes everything good about the original and improves upon it in interesting ways. The voice acting, dialog, and sound design are great. I adore the art style and the execution is really impressive. Even better, I'm playing on Series X so I'm getting the nice and crisp 4k version.

I think it's worth it to play the first game, but if you want to jump right into the sequel, there is a fun little recap of the original and VR-only Rhombus of Ruin. Highly recommended!

[Nintegageo | 582]

On 8/19/2021 at 12:59 PM, Gloves said:

Aidyn Chronicles. I am actually enjoying it a lot now that I understand how it works.

No sarcasm? I pondering playing this title so am curious haha

[Gloves | 11,790]

2 hours ago, Nintegageo said:

No sarcasm? I pondering playing this title so am curious haha

I ended up actually liking it a lot. It's definitely not very polished, there's a lot that you could say about it that's negative. But given the time it came out, I actually think it's pretty good. 

[LifeGame | 760]

Elliot quest on Switch, having a blast !

[a3quit4s | 4,102]

Was just playing Street Fighter Alpha 2 on SNES, beat it on the first go with Akuma!