WHAT PLAY YOU!? Version 3.0

[Sphinx]

I'm somewhere towards the end of Super Mario RPG at the moment but am struggling to find the enthusiasm to finish it. The story is fun enough but I find the battles are too easy, unsatisfying, and the enemies lack variety so it becomes a slog to go through them. The main difference between enemies is at what point you press a button to block their attack. Choosing what to level up doesn't feel like it makes much difference to the battles.

I had my eye on Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door, which I've never played, before getting Super Mario RPG. I know the whole feel is different and it's not Square, not sure whether I'll feel similarly with the battles on that. Will probably check out some videos.

 

Edited December 7, 2024 by Sphinx

[RedTwoster]

@Sphinx - if you’re looking for a JRPG with harder battles, thought not Mario, I’d suggest any of the following: 

* Lost Odyssey (available on Xbox consoles) - very strategic battles in which it’s very easy to get your ass kicked if you don’t deploy the right strategy.

* Fantasian - as above, and also by Mistwalker (who made Lost Odyssey) - some battles are so tough that you will lose if you make even one wrong step. The second half of that game is particularly challenging - about as brutal as JRPG as I’ve played.

* Octopath Traveller or Octopath Traveller 2 - I found the boss battles a bit too long in these games for my tastes, but they’re certainly challenging and it feels more strategic than most JRPGs.

To be honest, I prefer easier battles in the main story as I like to breeze through the plot and tackle the more challenging bosses when I’m in the mood. Not really a choice in most of the above!

[Abe_Knuckleball_Schwartz]

Spider-Man on PS5, played it on the PS4 when it more or less first came out, never completed it so decided to go back to it, honestly forgot what an amazing (pardon the pun) game it is. So much so, I have just brought the second one, which I have never played so I am looking forward to playing that after completing this.

[Devon Malcolm]

I did give up on Rayman Legends. Infiltration Station Invaded is so unnecessarily difficult that it just makes me wish nothing but bad things on the programmers. And I hate leaving games less than 100% completed. The Amazing Maze Invaded can fuck off as well.

Having a proper go on Turok at last and enjoying it a lot. As a big Doom fan I've slotted into how things work pretty easily, it's a good solid game although the levels are much bigger than I expected.

[Merzbow]

The Thing has been remastered by Nightdive, I haven't picked it up yet as it's a little pricey for an old game I already own but it looks like they've done a good job without messing with the original art style and is more of a preservation effort.

It's a very underappreciated survival horror today, sold well and reviewed decently but became forgotten as there was so much else great in 2002.

[RedTwoster]

1 hour ago, Merzbow said:

The Thing has been remastered by Nightdive, I haven't picked it up yet as it's a little pricey for an old game I already own but it looks like they've done a good job without messing with the original art style and is more of a preservation effort.

It's a very underappreciated survival horror today, sold well and reviewed decently but became forgotten as there was so much else great in 2002.

I’d love to see more of the stronger licensed games get a fresh lease of life like this one has - The Warriors was great, King Kong was a lot of fun and I also remember there being an unexpectedly strong Buffy game on PS2. It seems a shame that so many of these titles will be locked to the system, with no legal way to play them.

[Sphinx]

9 hours ago, RedTwoster said:

@Sphinx - if you’re looking for a JRPG with harder battles, thought not Mario, I’d suggest any of the following: 

* Lost Odyssey (available on Xbox consoles) - very strategic battles in which it’s very easy to get your ass kicked if you don’t deploy the right strategy.

* Fantasian - as above, and also by Mistwalker (who made Lost Odyssey) - some battles are so tough that you will lose if you make even one wrong step. The second half of that game is particularly challenging - about as brutal as JRPG as I’ve played.

* Octopath Traveller or Octopath Traveller 2 - I found the boss battles a bit too long in these games for my tastes, but they’re certainly challenging and it feels more strategic than most JRPGs.

To be honest, I prefer easier battles in the main story as I like to breeze through the plot and tackle the more challenging bosses when I’m in the mood. Not really a choice in most of the above!

Cheers for the recommendations, I've seen Octopath Traveller advertised recently, will look up the other two too.

I'd say I'm story-first too. One of the things that drew me to Mario RPG was that I'm not sure how much I can invest in a massive RPG (also, that I like Mario and Square) and this is a shorter one. It just feels like I've no reason to vary my attack for the most part and I don't feel in any real danger. I can also buy all the equipment and items I could need with ease.

FFVII was my first RPG and, for the main story parts, the battles were maybe on the easier side too but there was enough variety and enough times you had to do a battle over and figure out a better way of approaching it. I know it's Mario in this format so I wasn't expecting it to be too tough and it's 30 years old, but I was hoping for more creativity from the battles if not difficulty.

[RedTwoster]

4 hours ago, Sphinx said:

FFVII was my first RPG and, for the main story parts, the battles were maybe on the easier side too but there was enough variety and enough times you had to do a battle over and figure out a better way of approaching it.

Mine too, and it’s still probably my all-time favourite game. If story is your thing in these games, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Omori. It’s deceivingly dark, given the cutesy style and at times quite distressing, but it’s one of the best games I’ve ever played - I still think about the final hour of that game now and again, years after playing it. It’s pretty affecting, and the last boss battle is unlike anything I’ve experienced in any other game.

Edited December 8, 2024 by RedTwoster

[Sphinx]

21 hours ago, RedTwoster said:

Mine too, and it’s still probably my all-time favourite game. If story is your thing in these games, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Omori. It’s deceivingly dark, given the cutesy style and at times quite distressing, but it’s one of the best games I’ve ever played - I still think about the final hour of that game now and again, years after playing it. It’s pretty affecting, and the last boss battle is unlike anything I’ve experienced in any other game.

Nice, looks intriguing - a departure from what I'm used to which is welcome, especially as I've not played many indie games. I've added to my wishlist.

[BomberPat]

Speaking of FFVII, I'm almost finished with Crisis Core, and still largely annoyed by all the prequel issues I mentioned in an earlier post.

I am finding it hilarious how easy it is to spam Missions to just become insanely overpowered for the main story, though. Even by the standards of grinding in JRPGs, it's very silly. I got to the big dramatic boss fight in Nibelheim Mako Reactor against Sephiroth, which really is the crux of the whole story (because I don't give a single shit about Genesis). I took zero damage, walked up to Sephiroth and punched him in the head, and it killed him in one move. Have it.

[Jazzy G]

On 12/3/2024 at 1:48 PM, Merzbow said:

The games consoles in nightclubs era, for many years after The Colly in Cov still had them set up in one of the rooms. I think it should be mandatory that every club has a playable copy of Wipeout 2097 for eternity.

 

Tuesday nights back in the 90s we'd have a night like that in a place called the Cellar Bar. I used to mess about DJing with indie records while most of the other people played Tekken 2 on a projector. 

I also remember the one night out I had in Sheffield being at Corporation in 2001 and playing Destruction Derby and that Pacman adventure game quite a lot. Happy days. 

[Dr. Alan Grant]

Playstation Wrap Up stats for the year.

40 games played. 308 trophies. 1301 hours played. Top 5 most played were Call Of Duty, Elden Ring, FF7 Rebirth, Fallout 4 and Batman: Arkham Knight. Poor Astro Bot just missed out.

[RedTwoster]

Some exciting announcements at The Game Awards last night - here’s Eurogamer’s round-up with trailers etc - but there’s a co-op Elden Ring spin-off on the horizon which has me buzzing. Then you have Witcher 4, Outer Worlds 2, Naughty Dog’s next game and even an Okami sequel - loads to look forward to.

Edited December 13, 2024 by RedTwoster

[Dr. Alan Grant]

The return of Onimusha at last. As soon as I saw that it was coming back, I got the urge to play them. Onimusha Warlords is on PS Plus, but not the sequels. Lesson learnt. Never sell old games or consoles.

[LaGoosh]

I'll always be excited for a Naughty Dog game but that was very underwhelming. Looks like the most generic edge lord sci fi button basher I could imagine. The absolutely shameless product placement and ridiculous title certainly didn't help.

I'm sure it'll end up being good though.

Edited December 13, 2024 by LaGoosh