WHAT PLAY YOU!? Version 3.0

[TildeGuy~!]

4 minutes ago, RedRooster said:

Hmm, I might need to try the demo before buying. I don't like DMC-style combat, so I'm worried that this game might not be for me, even though Final Fantasy as a series generally is. 

Yea, I’d suggest that, be warned it’s very cut scene heavy.

Apparently after finishing the demo a new mode unlocks which is heavily combat based though.

[RedRooster]

28 minutes ago, TildeGuy~! said:

Yea, I’d suggest that, be warned it’s very cut scene heavy.

Apparently after finishing the demo a new mode unlocks which is heavily combat based though.

I'm totally fine with cut scenes, that doesn't bother me in the slightest. The main appeal of Final Fantasy games to me is the story. If it's DMC-style combat, I hope it's possible to ramp down the difficulty to just plough through the fights, since I don't enjoy that kind of game. If everything else is excellent, I might be able to get along with it. 

[TildeGuy~!]

5 minutes ago, RedRooster said:

I'm totally fine with cut scenes, that doesn't bother me in the slightest. The main appeal of Final Fantasy games to me is the story. If it's DMC-style combat, I hope it's possible to ramp down the difficulty to just plough through the fights, since I don't enjoy that kind of game. If everything else is excellent, I might be able to get along with it. 

It currently has 2 difficulties in the demo, Story Driven and Action Driven, so you’ll be just fine.

[The King Of Swing]

Was personally hoping that Square Enix would stick with FFVIIR's combat style, going forward.

Haven't tried the demo yet and enjoy DMC style combat but that's not really what I want from Final Fantasy. 

But Square Enix gonna Square Enix, I guess. 

[TildeGuy~!]

It’s just my opinion that it feels like DMC style combat though, after you all try the demo you may think differently.

[RedRooster]

@TildeGuy~! - did you select action driven or story driven? I’ve chosen story driven and I’ve got on fairly well with it so far, but we’ll see what happens. The story seems strong, and that’s one thing that has been lacking in recent Final Fantasy games. I’m hoping that I continue to enjoy it. Visually, it’s not quite as impressive as the trailers suggested; at least not yet. It’s not bad or anything, don’t get me wrong, but I’m wondering if it’s been designed with eventual Series S compatibility in mind. 

[Weezenal]

Has anyone tried to use an emulator on Series S or X? 

[Merzbow]

5 hours ago, Weezenal said:

Has anyone tried to use an emulator on Series S or X? 

No but I've heard it's much harder to do now, you have to set up the console in developer mode and switch between to play emulators and normal games. It used to be really simple.

[Version1.0]

7 hours ago, Weezenal said:

Has anyone tried to use an emulator on Series S or X? 

Or download RetroArch though Discord from the web browser. Look it up.

[The King Of Swing]

Final Fantasy XVI Demo. 

Didn't make it past the tutorial. Just didn't feel right, to me. 

I'll probably give the full game a chance eventually but not sure I'll be in a rush. 

Edited June 15, 2023 by The King Of Swing

[RedRooster]

I completed the Final Fantasy XVI demo this evening (is that what you played, @The King Of Swing, or was it 14? I wasn’t sure if that was a typo!) and personally, I’m massively impressed. Does it feel like a Final Fantasy game? Possibly not, but every game in the series since 10 has felt drastically different from what the series traditionally was.

The combat is an enormous departure from any other Final Fantasy game, and I’d go as far as to say the Eikon (summon) battles are a bit tedious. The tone is far darker than any other game in the series, and it’ll be quite jarring when Moogles show up, as they apparently do. That game also seemed like it might end up being quite linear, but I suppose we’ll need to see how it opens up outside of the demo, if it does at all.

But with all of that said, I fucking loved it. The writing is about as strong as I’ve ever seen in a Square Enix RPG, and I’m seriously invested in what’s to come next. I feel genuinely excited about this game, release day can’t come quickly enough.

[The King Of Swing]

Yeah FF16.

Edited June 15, 2023 by The King Of Swing

[FLips]

Hit somewhat of a lull after dedicating my life to Tears of the Kingdom for weeks so have slipped back into a safe handheld gaming phase.

Started up Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga on the GBA for something with a bit of bite but not too investing. I'm about 10 hours in and it's a decent RPG. Some funny writing, the battle system is one of the better ones and there's some interesting puzzles. The exploration is weak, with areas having not much to do or see past the linear story areas though meaning I've hit that point in the RPGs where you just want to get to the end already but about 30 hours earlier than usual. One of those cases where the more you play the more tedious it gets.

Other than that it's been Marvel Snap and Animal Crossing Pocket Camp on my phone as daily dip in and quickplay games. Snap is one of the better card battling games and to their credit they're constantly patching and updating and balancing so you always feel like the game is active and changing. The monetisation isn't too bad, you can do without it but there are elements of pay to win, with newer cards having to be bought for months until they drop down into the standard decks. It doesn't hurt the game too much but it is a problem. Cosmetically none of it is worth the money they ask.

Pocket Camp is one I played to death on launch and now have went back to. A lot has improved with the social aspects, with a lot more to do now with friends in terms of interaction and helping each other. On the other hand the monetisation on this is one of the worst I've seen in a game with a lot of quality of life stuff locked behind paywalls and subscriptions. There are paywalls for everything from "battle" passes, events, having a helper do minor tasks, memberships for about 3 or 4 clubs. It's insane.
That being said the game is fine for what it is without them if you just want to pop on and have an Animal Crossing experience. Do a bit of fishing, collect some bugs, talk to your villagers; it's all there in the base game. One thing they do better than other similar games though is they do give long time players a bonus based on play time, so the more you play the less time it takes to craft items and furniture, so things that should take hours take seconds for me now.

Other than that we started The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening again for a Zelda fix. We did start the Gameboy original but the Switch version of it has you having to press Start/Select/A/B at the same time to save and even though it's a minor thing it was annoying immediately and my wife suggested we just play the remake. So I got that and Mario Kart with the £84 voucher thing they do. We did have them both on cartridge but sold them over the years.
It started off with me getting a little teary eyed seeing our old save was a month before our wedding and me remembering this was the last Zelda we played in the lead up to it. I'm an emotional sod sometimes.
It's a beautiful game and going from ToTK back to this style wasn't anywhere near as jarring as I expected. The minigames were still fun, the exploration still lovely and I'm a sucker for getting heart containers so doing that without grinding shrines is welcome.

The other game I got, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was purely to play the DLC tracks because I've played the main game to death since it launched on Wii U. Was thrilled to see some old favourites like Coconut Mall, Maple Treeway and Waluigi Pinball back. The more Mario Kart DS tracks they add, the better. I was incredibly sick when I was 19 and remember sitting in the garden with the fire on playing Mario Kart DS with my Mam so I get a nice feeling whenever I think about that. That being said, the best track they've added for me so far is the new Yoshi's Island one which, like the Animal Crossing, F-Zero, and Zelda tracks changes the whole theme and is chock-full of cameos and easter eggs. Great track.

[RedRooster]

2 hours ago, FelatioLips said:

Started up Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga on the GBA for something with a bit of bite but not too investing. I'm about 10 hours in and it's a decent RPG. Some funny writing, the battle system is one of the better ones and there's some interesting puzzles. The exploration is weak, with areas having not much to do or see past the linear story areas though meaning I've hit that point in the RPGs where you just want to get to the end already but about 30 hours earlier than usual. One of those cases where the more you play the more tedious it gets.

That’s kind of been my experience of all of the Mario & Luigi RPGs. I’ve really struggled to get into them, in spite of really enjoying Super Mario RPG and the early Paper Mario games. It’s a strange thing to say, but for me it may well be the lack of additional party members. It kind of creates a feeling that nothing much is going to change between any given point in the game and the end. 

[FLips]

11 minutes ago, RedRooster said:

That’s kind of been my experience of all of the Mario & Luigi RPGs. I’ve really struggled to get into them, in spite of really enjoying Super Mario RPG and the early Paper Mario games. It’s a strange thing to say, but for me it may well be the lack of additional party members. It kind of creates a feeling that nothing much is going to change between any given point in the game and the end. 

Yeah that’s certainly a downfall of it. I just finished a part where Peach joins the party but it’s just an escort mission and she doesn’t actually join the party in any significant way. As enjoyable as the actual battle system is, when it boils down to it you have 2 party members that both have exactly the same attacks. It would be like playing Final Fantasy VII as Cloud 1 and Cloud 2 but without any of the engrossing story or supporting characters.