#IT WAS MY FAVORITE MINIGAME I WAS THE BEST AT IT I HAD PLATINUM

[pretense-pence]

Remake Platinum Run: Part 3

Me when I say I’ll post more but then disappear for 10 days. Look, I’ve had a ton of homework and midterms so life has been hectic. I swear I’ll try to post more. It’s just that college is rough. 

Trophies Achieved: 

Mercenary Endeavors

Bonds of Friendship

My First Ability

Materia for Beginners

Heavenly Dart Player

Trophies That I’m Working On:

Best in the Business

Disc Jockey

Intelligence Agent

Weapons Expert

I played Remake on October 3rd for about 2ish hours, like usual, from 9:00 pm until 11:00 pm. I managed to succeed in my last goal, which was to complete all of the trophies I can in Chapter 3. I got to Chapter 4 and then stopped. None of the Odd Job sidequests had any hard battles, which was nice. Though, I did have to look up where to go for some of them because I get easily lost in the Sector 7 Slums.

This chapter was a lot different than when I first played through it. When I first played through it, I only ever did one Odd Job sidequest, which was Lost Friends. That’s the one where you find the cats. I skipped the rest. Actually playing through all of the Odd Job sidequests was a lot of fun. And I loved seeing the awkward relationship between Cloud and Tifa. I’ll admit, I’m a multishipper and one of the ships I really like is CloTi. 

Chapter 3 is a really nice chapter. It’s simple since it’s just doing Odd Job Sidequests but it has some really nice characterizations. I have a weakness for seeing Cloud awkward around Tifa. My favorite of the sidequests was probably actually the Discovery Quest Alone at Last. Once again, I have a weakness for awkward Cloud.

Mercenary Endeavors: This is the trophy you get when you complete Chapter 3. Easy trophy, as is typical of early chapters completion trophies. 

Bonds of Friendship: This is the trophy that you get when you free a bound ally. This is an easy trophy but it can be surprisingly hard. Mostly due to the fact that I kept killing things before anyone could be bound. It took until completing the Odd Job Sidequest Nuisance in the Factory. Tifa suddenly got attacked and was bound so I had Cloud swoop in and save the day.

My First Ability: This is the trophy that you get when you max out a weapon’s proficiency. Fun fact, I have no idea if the Buster Sword counts. So I decided it doesn’t and waited until I maxed out the Iron Blade. I’m going to be honest, I barely realized I did it. This trophy didn’t take much thought. I just kept using the Iron Blade’s ability and suddenly it was maxed out.

Materia for Beginners: This is the trophy that you get when you level up an orb of Materia. To be honest, I’m not much of a Materia spammer. I just don’t use Materia as much as I should. At least I use it more than I did in my playthrough of the original Final Fantasy VII. But, in the end, I locked in and spammed my Fire Materia. And somehow the first Materia to level up was the Chakra Materia Tifa had. All that effort for nothing.

Heavenly Dart Player: This is the trophy that you get when you rise to the top of the Seventh Heaven darts leaderboard. And this is the hardest trophy I’ve faced so far. Yet, somehow, the funnest. I sat there for about 45 minutes trying to get to the top of the leaderboard. At some point, anytime I didn’t get at least 2 hits to the center right away, I would just restart. But, for some reason, I had fun doing this. It’s probably my favorite minigame I’ve played in any Final Fantasy VII game. At least, for now.

Now, time to move on to the trophies I’m working on.

Best in the Business: This is the trophy you get when you complete all 26 of the Odd Job Sidequests. During this playthrough, I managed to finish Rat Problem, Nuisance in the Factory, Lost Friends, On the Prowl, Just Flew in from the Graveyard, and the Discovery Quest, which I do count, Alone at Last. Meaning, I completed all of the Odd Job Sidequests I can do in Chapter 3. They were all pretty simple and like I mentioned before, Alone at Last was my favorite.

Disc Jockey: This is the trophy that you get when you collect all of the Music Collection music discs. There was only 1 disc left to get in Chapter 3, which was Hip Hop de Chocobo. Also known as, my least favorite music in the entire game. So, fun fact, I got this disc during my first playthrough. And it was awful. I really hate this song. But I did use it in an attempt to annoy my friend while we were driving for a few hours. My friend said that the song was good. Fun fact, I hate my friend.

Intelligence Agent: This is the trophy that you get when you complete all of the Battle Intel reports. I didn’t complete a single one during this playthrough. It’s a mix of I couldn’t complete it due to what I had to achieve and I hate doing them. I’ll get them done eventually. I just am struggling with them currently.

Weapons Expert: This is the trophy that you learn all weapon abilities. So far, I have learned the weapon abilities of 2 of Cloud’s and 1 of Tifa’s. For Cloud, I learned the weapon abilities for the Buster Sword and the Iron Blade. For Tifa, I learned the weapon ability for the Leather Gloves. So far, this trophy hasn’t been too bad but I know it will get a bit more overwhelming later.

Next time, I’m hoping to complete all of the trophies that I can for Chapter 4 but there’s a chance I won't since I’m busy as hell during this weekend. But we’ll see.

[journaloftomfooleryandjapery]

All the TOP 10 OF THE DECADE posts made me want to make one of my own, so here’s my 10 fave games this decade:

Yakuza 0  Shovel Knight  Nier Automata  Metal Gear Rising  Gunvolt Chronicles Luminous Avenger IX Final Fantasy XV   Scott pilgrim vs the world the game Undertale Persona 5  Doom

Danganronpa 2, New Vegas, Touhou Luna Nights, Katana Zero and Mario Odyssey all only barely missed out, and it was a tough decision not to include them. I loved the shit out of those games but thinking it through I decided they were just slightly less loved by me than the above.

Below the cut are some extended thoughts (of varying length) on the games included:

Just CTRL F if you wanna find a specific one

Yakuza 0

Every Yakuza game is delightful and this is definitely the best one, in my opinion. The Yakuza games appeal to me for a lot of reasons: the combat, the story, the variety of activities, the look of it all and the music. I feel like its a very unique game experience with its blend of weird in-depth side activities, serious crime drama, manly man masculine combat friendship melodrama, metal gear-esque convoluted conspiracies and a surprisingly compassionate view of the world it takes place in. 

The combat is what drew me in initially because it just feels good, the feedback of stomping on a dudes face in yakuza is delivered perfectly, and the attacks are brutal, hard and flashy. Its a very solid and satisfying combat system and in 0 its the best it has ever been. The ability to switch between 3 different and equally fun fighting styles on the fly really lets you mix things up and adapt your approach, every style feels fun and useful. If i had to pick a favorite it would be slugger, but its a tough choice, and they are all very viable and FUN.

Yakuza 0 also gets big points for having the best story in the series. The protagonists feel much more interesting in this era, the fights feel more earned in this game than others, the relationships are incredibly touching (I’m almost mad majima didnt stay with makoto) and the substories (and some parts of the main story) are the funniest they’ve ever been. Stuff like the quasi-stealth mission where you have to make sure women don’t see you buying a porn magazine for a child, and the extended scene of kiryu trying to guess the right business manners for a meeting had me laughing so much i was i was almost in physical pain.

The extensive business and host club substories get you tons of extra game content and are good enough to almost be there own game. The other games in the series have extended side activites of varying quality, but i think 0 had a rare case of all of these being, basically, perfect. The team obviously agrees since host club management came back repeatedly, but never as good as it was here.

Being set in the 80s elevates almost everything in the game because of the outfits, money flying out of every enemy you attack, the classic sega games you can play at the arcade (Outrun is so much fun and I’d have never have given it a proper go otherwise) and the disco minigame everyones made a meme out of (that music is so catchy).

As a final note this game has the best boss fights and music in the series, which is a very high standard to surpass when you look at the rest of the series. The dual final boss fights, the recurring boss for kiryu and almost every majima fight are highlights of the entire series for me. 

0 is going to end up being one of the few games I’ll never sell my copy of because i want it available for me to play forever, its a complete delight.

Shovel Knight

This game has been analysed to hell and back, so i wont have much original to say i suppose. Admittedly i did enjoy the first campaign but it didnt completely win me over, plague knights campaign and beyond was what really made this an all time greats for me. It’s one of very few games that gets the NES+SNES platforming appeal 100% right and essentially surpasses most games of the day, with almost perfect pacing, challenge and level design. IT helps that the whole world and story and look is charming as all hell. It’s an easy game to love and the more you play it the more that feels justified. Being PACKED with great content is also a plus. If you liked the first campaign you can just keep going through a set of campaigns about as good that only really rehash some level assets. I would say its one of the best 2D platformers ever for me, if not quite my true number 1.

ALSO JAKE KAUFMAN KNOCKS IT OUT THE PARK WITH THIS SOUNDTRACK

Since i have little else to add to the shovel knight discussion, here’s my ranking/thoughts on each campaign

Plague of shadows. BEST storyline, great levels with a really cool gameplay gimmick, the characters are all cute and the ending really makes me feel for him. both sorry for him at first and then a very real AAAAAAAWWWWWWWWW for LOVE

King of cards. king knight is just fun as hell to play as, he doesnt have that many tools but his movement is just crazy fun and i love the flair in all his animations. also has that rad final boss. joustus is ok i guess.

Shovel of hope. uuuuuuh what can i even say about this. its good, and the melancholy dream bits add a lot to the mood of the story. we’ve already analysed this campaign within an inch of its life i dont think i can say anything new. wish we could fight the battletoads on pc.

Specter of torment. still fun and i appreciate the tone change, but i didnt care as much for the characters and the mega man-esque level select doesnt suit shovel knight imo. specter knight has a lot of fun movement options though. mainly i just love GRINDING and the diagonal slash. i dont give a fuck about reize

Nier Automata

I feel a tiny bit ashamed i have so little to say about this considering it is one of the most emotional experiences i have ever had with a story. If i lsten to the final version of weight of the world i still cry just from remembering this game and how it made me feel. i think its one of the greatest narratives of the century but i can barely get across the appeal to anyone who hasnt already played it. its a story about hope, despair and the nature of the human race that never feels like its preachy or pretensious or taking on more than it can handle. it made me feel all kinds of emotions deeply and intensely, it genuinely made me burst into tears about 10 times, maybe more. even putting aside the ggrand narrative, theres so many cool character moments and bits of world building and visual eements and tragic little side stories that you would need a whole book to talk about them all while doing any real justice to them. i loved it so much that im paying £70 to see an orchestra do the soundtrack live. I want to hug and kiss 2b and 9s better. i just love it deeply and i find it hard to explain why it makes me feel that way, but its a dark beautiful and hopeful story where every moment feels earned. the despair of the story giving way to genuine hope with the rest of the world helping you fight for it is such an intensely emotional moment that you could never replicate outside of this kind of story and medium. how the fuck do i explain that to anyone that doesnt already get it. I’m glad this game exists

Metal Gear Rising 

Well, complete tone shift here. Platinum made a lot of great action games in the last decade that all dig into that same itch for DODGE SLOW MOTION BANG BANG BANG alongside great soundtracks, visuals and awesome set piece moments. Just intense, flashy, awesome combat. Picking a favorite of the decade was the hard part, because a platinum game had to be one of my faves of the decade. The closest was transformers, but mgr has a couple of things about it that put it above the rest of the platinum catalog for me.

The story actually works very well at still being metal gear while in the platinum formula, its about the cycle of violence and FINDING YOUR OWN PURPOSE and it works weirdly well. The strangest part is that it feels like a legitimate sequel to metal gear 4 tonally while still being the crazy action game it is

Raiden is just super fun to play as, while I’ll always miss the DODGE SLOWMO in a platinum game parry and zandatsu give a great flow to fights and there’s real exhilaration to parrying a hard chain of attacks and tearing out a bunch of enemies spines at once every time

raiden is also just  a fun protag, it truly allows me to embrace that kind of stereotypical edgy cool anime swordsman he embodies

BEST PLATINUM SOUNDTRACK DO NOT @ ME

Bosses just rule

one of the best final bosses ever, in my opinion? maybe that’s controversial, but armstrong gets an insane amount of characterization and pure PRESENCE out of such a small amount of screen time and the fact he feels like such a perfect rival to raiden so quickly is kind of nuts to me. within about half an hour you are ready for the ultimate final showdown with everything at stake, and then the gameplay 100% delivers on that with a fight that is challenging as hell and just feels climatic and intimidating. its a little thing, but having this dude just smack you around with his hands and almost no fighting skill after a game filled with crazy flippy cyborg ninjas makes him feel TOUGH and the way you finish him off? it just rocks, plain and simple. I don’t think i need to justify slices a massive dudes chest open and ripping out his giant still beating robot heart as the music climaxes and our cool edgy protag literally says WE’RE DONE HERE. truly, it has to be this way.

Gunvolt Chronicles Luminous Avenger IX 

For fast twitchy 2d platformers this barely beat out Katana Zero and Touhou Luna Nights, but i think its just a little better. The skill ceiling on this game is high as hell and once you really get to grips with it, its an experience you cant find anywhere else. its just satisfying as hell to be able to get through the point where you can ZOOM  through these levels by making use of copen’s dash and lock-on and weapons well enough. once you get good enough to get through a hole level without touching the ground, you just cant go back. I liked this enough to get an S rank on almost every level. this game just rules, man.

story, art and music are all great as well. but they pale in importance next to zippy jetpack zoom zoom fun time.

also great for having a cool twist that i genuinely did not see coming at all

Final Fantasy XV   

For context, my experience of FFXV was not the base game so i cannot personally address the concerns of the version at launch, which i hear from others was a total mess! The game has been updated and changed so much that it is probably almost unrecognizable aside from the absolute base aspects of it. The version i am talking about is, as far as we know, the “final” version released right before Episode Ardyn. There was of course an update after this, but it only added DLC compatibility and a few items, so it means very little in the grand scheme. I also played all of the dlc and watched all the periphery material to get the full, messy disjointed experience. it is also worth noting that the only other FF game i have played is the classic title Mario Hoops 3 on 3 Basketball. I feel it important to tell you this before getting into things so that you can have a full idea of the perspective i come at the game from.

This was chosen over Mario Odyssey and someone will probably kill me for that. I just think its a great emotional story that does a fantastic job of making you care for all the characters, and the world feels massive and full of cool stuff to see. It’s my favorite open world game and i love The Boys.  its not the kind of thing i usually play but i think it genuinely had a great story and its a very fun game to just explore and spend time in. ffxv truly understands the emotional bond between The Lads and it is fun to kill big monsters with your party

(they kinda ruin the last cutscene in english, in japanese he says I LOVE YOU GUYS and it makes me cry but in english he goes U GUYS ARE THE BEST which just isnt the same. a small nitpick though. a lot of this game made me cry regardless, its just great at creating an emotional bond)

I admire the insane level of ambition in the visuals and scope, and i bought every dlc for it because it was just that good. the ifrit boss fight and all the giant monsters are just amazingly epic in scale. the “found a cool rock” post is what i truly admire about this game summed up. 

all the ancillary material for the game is great and worth getting into, with the exception of the Comrades multiplayer expansion. Everything else adds depth to the story and the world without being entirely necessary for you to get through the story. the anime and the dlc all really feel worth getting into without being something you have to see to get The Full Experience

the giant monsters are cool

Scott Pilgrim vs the World: The Game

Being from 2010 this game only just makes it in, but it was my favorite beat em up this decade and a source of great nostalgia for me. It had a pretty big impact on music and art tastes in regards to games, and in retrospect this games existence was very much a dream team scenario. Paul Robertson is a great sprite artist who does a lot of good work, Anamanaguchi have gone on to become one of my favorite bands (another winter is still one of their best tracks imo) and at the time this came out i was obsessed with scott pilgrim. That plus the beat em up gameplay makes this kind of a perfect blending of a lot of my specific tastes. Playing this brings me back to the time in my school life that i played it very distinctly, a more comfortable time in my life for sure, and i think the game still stands up excellently. I hope that someday it will get a rerelease so others can enjoy it. I give this another play through every year or so, but i wish id gotten the dlc while it was still available

Doom

ITS VIOLENT ITS FAST ITS FUN ITS METAL

i like this game because of the intense adrenaline rush and violent catharsis it gives me, essentially a constant dopamine rush

fun game good

Undertale

I’m glad i got to this before the massive wave of spoilers and popularity came about. It’s a great story with some fun gameplay, and i think SANS UNDERTALE was one of the best boss fights this decade. Its a shame that for so many new players this experience is going to be ruined by spoilers

Persona 5 

Danganronpa 2 and fallout new vegas were close contenders for this last spot. I actually made a post about my thoughts on this game before https://journaloftomfooleryandjapery.tumblr.com/post/184341270554/nue-is-great-love-his-goofy-design-when-life-will but essentially 

Essentially, its got a great cast of characters, a cool slick look, great monster designs, a fun gameplay loop of collecting monsters and grinding stats while waiting for the next big event, and a surprisingly good story

No idea if royal is any good, but its on a pretty small list of games that i might actually take the time to replay

[blueplayskh3]

Big update post #1

So! So far I’ve been in:

- Olympus

Excellent tutorial, I’m glad it was short and areas we haven’t explored before, it was a super good intro to the game and a gorgeous world

- Twilight Town

I’m sad it’s so small (we can’t go in the clock tower area or inside the mansion...) but god. It’s beautiful. It’s lively. The NPCs give me life. It’s the world i’ve completed the most (all treasure chests+almost all lucky emblems), probably because it’s so small.

- 100 Acres Woods

The mini games were so fun and Winnie and Sora always make me cry. 10/10.

- Toy Box

Super fun level design (I kept getting lost but that’s on me), I REALLY loved the getting inside the toys bit and the characters were so loveable.

- Kingdom of Corona

I LOVE RAPUNZEL??? SO MUCH??

Kingdom of Corona is definitely a world I have to revisit because it was so big and right now I’m so focused on the story that I rushed through it and missed a bunch of stuff. It’s so beautiful though (I keep saying that but the game is gorgeous), and I love the interactivity with the environment. Also I love Rapunzel.

- Monstropolis

So i kept getting lost because a lot of the factory looks the same, but I liked the maze aspect of it nonetheless. It felt a bit more linear than other worlds, like Kingdom of Corona (and upcoming worlds), that are so big and open.

- Arendelle

I was afraid it was gonna be cheesy and suck, but it was actually pretty well done (except the bit with Olaf but that’s on me, I have beef with him and his stupid snowman face). Same as Kingdom of Corona, I rushed through it and I have a lot of stuff to go back to. The snow landscape is so incredible and it holds a special place in my heart just for:

“The snowstorm can’t get us here

A”

- The Carribeans

My least favorite world so far, probably because of the realism aspect of it, and also because I majorly sucked at the boat minigames. I did like the underwater part of it (the moving around was well done as well as the underwater combat) and I do need to go back and especially explore 1. the docks 2. the open sea on my beautiful Leviathan boat. This world is my least complete so far, I’ve missed almost all the treasure chests and lucky emblems.

- San Fransokyo

It’s where I am right now! It’s one of my favorite worlds so far, even though I think the fluidity mechanism and the PRESS SQUARE mechanism are painful. The city is gorgeous, everything is detailed, I’m having a blast exploring it. I’m gonna have a hard time finding every lucky emblem and treasure chest in an environment that big (especially since I still don’t have a map of the city?) but I plan to stay there after I’m done with the world’s story to level up a bunch, so that will give me plenty of time to explore.

Overall so far the plot has been great, and it’s really nice and satisfying to see all the dots being connected to each other. Although so far we’ve have like 80% Disney worlds stories and 20% original KH plot story, since San Fransokyo was the last officially announced world, I imagine that once I’m gonna be done with it, things are gonna get pretty wild.

The Disney plots have been all good and well and they’re actually much more daring than in other KH games (deaths were actually shown on screen! Multiple ones!). My favorite plot was probably the Toy Story one (it’s even better knowing that it’s canon to the Toy Story timeline) and my least favorite one has been the Pirates of the Carribean one (I thought it was confusing but then again I didn’t enjoy the world very much).

The story so far has been 90% Sora, and the rest of the characters share the scraps of the remaining 10%. I’d say Riku and the Org are the lead when it comes to secondary characters so far. I wish we had more Kairi, and that we could see her training with Axel instead of having 2 minutes cutscenes of them talking about it. Also I wish we could explore more of the Realm of Darkness with Riku and Mickey. Getting to play as Riku was *so good*, but it only lasted for like five minutes. I need more. Give me playable Riku (and Kairi I beg of you).

A lot of the KH original characters have yet to have screentime but I guess we do have a pretty large cast. Though I’m 23 hours into the game and we’ve barely seen Aqua, and Terra hasn’t even appeared yet (except in flashbacks, the poor soul). So many things have been teased and I know the story is gonna get wild as hell soon but I’m getting a little bit impatient I guess? Idk. I just wanna see more of the original characters I love. Also, I wanna mention the fact that I’m 23 hours in and no Final Fantasy character has made an appearance yet. I’m sad about that.

In terms of pure gameplay, my favorite Keyblades so far have been 1. Frozen keyblade 2. Toy Story keyblade 3. Tangled keyblade. I still have not tried the Monster Inc keyblade, but in terms of Keyblade transformation, the Frozen keyblade is unbeatable. I mean... Ice skating. It’s all I’ve ever wanted. The attractions transformations are super good and make the interactivity of the game really next level.

I also wanna mention the sheer number of details and extra shit to do in that game. The interactions between the characters (when Sora, Donald and Goofy have little conversations while walking...), their idle animations, the gummiphone?!?!?!? I’ve yet to try to play the Classic Kingdom games, I’m probably gonna do that when I’ve actually beaten the main story. The gummi ship open world and missions and all the stuff to do there is just... Overwhelming. My gummi ship is a car right now and i plan on making it the best goddamn race car the world has ever seen. I’m still laughing when I think of that person who made their gummi ship a toilet sit... god I wish I was that fucking funny. Anyway, there’s a shitton of gummi missions and I need to spend more time working on my gummi ship but....

the story

it’s calling my name.

I do still want to complete this game 100% and Platinum it, so that’s probably gonna take me 150h, roughly. I took a quick look at the trophy list (and didn’t even get spoiled!) and yeah... there’s a lot to do.

But I’ll do it. For Jim🅱️o Cricket.

I’ll probably do another update when I’ve put another 20 hours in the game (maybe finished it by then, hopefully?).

May my heart be my guiding key

[mageinabarrel]

[SPOILERS] NieR: Automata Thoughts

 SPOILERS AFTER THE READ MORE LINK - YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

So, I think the best way to tackle this game is just to go by ending/route. So I’ll talk about those, in order as I experienced them.

Route A: 

Highlight: This cannot continue. I tweeted about this at the time, but wow, this moment was absolutely visceral for me when I first experienced it. I was still getting used to the game’s controls (having never owned a console in my life until now and generally only playing turn-based combat JRPGs, this game was a stretch for me, especially early on), tense because I’d already been surprised by things chasing the machine, and completely enveloped in the atmosphere of the collected android corpses, the tunnel, and everything else. Then it was an insane rush of creepy repeated words, a cascade of enemies I wasn’t sure I’d be able to defeat, and then the incredibly disturbing conclusion to it all with the birth of Adam and Eve (right, that was them right?). I was shaking by the time it was done.

Ending: Again to repeat my Twitter thoughts, I was left a slight bit unsatisfied by this ending. With the C/D reveal that 2B was an execution type all along, I like it a little better, and I think the overall idea of it (especially the strange beauty of the blinking green machine eyes as 9S revived) was neat—but I still thought it was less moving than it could of been. That being said, I guess in the end it’s possibly my favorite ending?

Other thoughts on A: I probably had the most fun exploring the world this route! Although I got frustrated with the lack of a log that showed where you could obtain crafting materials, overall it was a pleasure exploring the beautiful world Platinum Games created. 2B was my favorite character to actually play as, as well, and some retrospect invested stuff like the YoRHa Betrayers quest with extra meaning, which was cool.

Route B:

Highlight: Adam’s taunting of 9S. The accusatory tone and the use of “you” (you the player or 9S, eh?) makes it more intense. That being said, having it delivered by text is... well. Not necessarily ideal!

Ending: When you gain control over 2B in the middle of the credits rolling was possibly the most exhilarating moment of the entire game for me. I was super excited, and felt like, “Oh, shit, here we go—for real now.” It was good.

Other thoughts on B: Probably my least favorite route to play through. I didn’t care much for 9S’s mechanics (that freaking hacking minigame, although I didn’t know about the lock-on function until almost the end of my full playthrough lol) & if I’m being honest I didn’t feel like going through all the same events as the A route really added all that much in the way of new perspectives on it all. At some points I really resented it, actually. Which... is honestly probably more of a reflection of my natural dislike of the “route” system than anything else—I greatly wished that my actions in A had had a concrete impact on the way B played out, but, well, that’s not the game this was. Oh, also I think I basically know the whole plot of NieR now?

Route C: 

Highlight: Walking out the door, refusing to cut off Pascal’s memory or kill him. His final, “How could you do this to me,” coupled with the immediate fade to black and switch to controlling 9S again gave the whole moment a feeling of, “I’ve done something I cannot undo.” And I felt pretty terrible! Even though I personally didn’t want to do either option and didn’t think A2 would be up for them either. But still, actually having to walk yourself out that door and listening to Pascal’s agony behind you... much more powerful than just selecting a “Refuse to help Pascal” choice out of three options.

Ending: Maybe I missed something along the way, but ??? A2′s final words about the world being beautiful came out of nowhere?? She sacrifices herself to save 9S because?? Surely I understand not killing him, as she obvious doesn’t care to kill her fellow androids, but as far as satisfying resolutions to her purposeless wanderings on Earth go, this was far from it. I felt like she was owed more than she got.

Other thoughts on C: I felt like A2 killing 2B should have been more moving that it was, but honestly I was more upset at the game for removing the option to play as her. And, you know, I was most invested in 2B as a character, so having to readjust my levels of caring for the characters was not a super fun experience. Otherwise, as you might expect, I enjoyed C (considering the A2 bits C and the 9S bits D) more than D because I liked playing as A2 – although her material felt somewhat directionless? Like the story didn’t know exactly what it was doing with her—something I suppose is borne out in the ending.

Route D:

Highlight: Devola/Popola’s backstory. As with the 9S/Adam conversation, displaying it in text was a bit eh of a choice for me, but I liked the material quite a lot.

Ending: So the choice you make whether to go with the ark or not doesn’t matter, huh? Anyways, can’t say I’m a huge fan of ‘everyone dies’ endings! It’s good A2 gets resolution in C, cause she gets jack squat in this one! 9S falls to nihilism and insanity... well... that’s fine I guess, but I guess I feel like there needed to be more for me to really be moved by it, my basic unfondness for the ending type aside.

Other thoughts on D: What was up with the Soul Box giving all the items (plus that weapon, Faith), though? An earlier Nier reference that I didn’t get? Lots of other questions, too? Devola and Popola made the Tower? It didn’t come from 9S after all? Or it did, as implied by the C ending? Idk...

Ending E:

Well, all games have to end, I suppose, and as far as “true endings” go this was a nice one. I suppose overall a 2-minute or whatever cut scene isn’t everything I wanted, but leave life after memory restoration up to the fan fiction, I guess! Yes I’m disgruntled. I’m sorry. It’s not enough for me! Although asking me questions like “is it all meaningless” in between deaths on the credits bullet hell is definitely enough to get me to stubbornly move through. Sorry to all the people who lost their data on my behalf.

—Overall Thoughts—

Needed more 2B, and if you think about this all from certain angles you might be a bit miffed that 2B got offed to let 9S’s story continue. Being less than happy with that decision from certain personal places, I’m certainly more sympathetic to that angle that, admittedly, I might be otherwise.

The hacking minigame was more frustrating than it should have been. It almost killed my Route D run for a week (thanks Twitter for getting me through that).

On the whole I felt like the game’s story delivery pacing was... hmm... not quite right? Like if I went off and did a bunch of sidequests and then came back to the story, it seemed really odd to just have it pick up again. But by the same token, just going from story point to story point felt like rushing through. The balance there could have been better. I like it best when quests just seemed to pop up in the middle of the main story and I could go off and do them, then resume what I was doing before.

2B’s swords were basically the only weapons I used for her and A2 all game lol.

I reconfigured my buttons after about the first 5 hours at it was sooo helpful. Quick summary:

X=light attack

Square=heavy attack/hack

Triangle=jump (duhhhh)

L1=lock-on

L2=pod function

R1=dodge

R2=pod fire

I think this is a good way to do things. Good set-up for me.

Overall, I was less enamoured by the game that I expected to be. I see the seeds of why people loved it, but to me it was not all delivered as effectively as it could have been. I might even say that the fact it was a game hampered my enjoyment of the story aspects (the final save delete option aside). I would watch an anime of this game and possibly enjoy it/find it more compelling than I did of it in game form. Anime is better than video games after all. It’s by no means a bad game and overall I enjoyed it (particularly the combat, especially during the mid-portion of the game when I’d just sort of got the hang of it but wasn’t perfect), but, I mean, if you don’t stun me into silence like Shining Force: Resurrection of Dark Dragon did, what’s even the point? (that’s a joke, although that game’s big reveal really did have a huge impact on me as a kid lol)

I suppose my thoughts on the game might evolve over time and as I read people’s essays/thoughts on it. But that’s my initial impression/experience of it.

Another thought that occurs to me just now is that some of the game’s questions about meaning and existence perhaps struck me as shallow and/or juvenile because they are such fixed, obvious quantities to me. Being a religious person I specially am, I don’t much struggle with such questions on a macro level. So interrogating them in this fictional context seemed a bit silly to me perhaps? Like the game was asking the wrong questions.

[zichqecs-hoard]

Thoughts and feelings on Pokemon Moon

So, I finally finished my run, and I feel like I need to summarize how I felt about it. I dunno how many people are going to read this, as it’s probably going to be long, but it’s also here for me to look back on. Who knows, maybe a few years from now when we get generation 8, my thoughts will completely change.

My overall feelings are very negative. I did not enjoy the game except for a few select parts, and in fact it literally gave me headaches to play because I was so frustrated. I was bored, I would procrastinate and do anything else, and there are so many tiny things that made me angry with it because they got rid of good features/added useless ones I don’t like.

There’s a pros and cons list and some rambling under the cut if you want to know why I feel this way more in depth.

Pros!

-I like a few of the pokemon designs    I especially really love the Cutiefly, Rowlett, and Mudbray lines, as well as a handful of other designs that are neat.

-Festival plaza is kinda fun    Though really I just mean playing missions and connecting with people, which is nothing you couldn’t do in earlier games... though if I’m honest I got on the pokemon train too late to experience.

-Poke pelago    Best feature of the game, hands down. Does it totally break working to get berries/hatch eggs/find money items? Yes. Is it fun? Heck yes.

-Po town    It had a really awesome creepy atmosphere. Well done.

-Time offset    I usually play the game at night, so having the time offset by 12 hours means I get to play during the day, which is super nice.

-That one Machamp you can ride    ...Yeah. I still find that hilarious. Just. The way it carries you. XD

Cons

-Pokemon refresh    They ruined Pokemon Amie and I was absolutely devastated and angry. I want the minigames, I want to play making faces, it was such a good thing, give it back. I barely used Pokemon Refresh because there’s just no reason to besides status healing(which means there’s even less reason to buy status heal items now)! The rainbow beans cheat it to max out affection, you can only play for short sessions at a time, and there’s no games to play! I can play Pokemon Amie for hours, and I still do! Pokemon Refresh? Uuuugh, no. I like that the beans stack, but that’s literally it.

-Called for help!    ...Do I need to explain? I hear they’ve fixed this in Ultra Sun and Moon, but for crying out loud why can pokemon attack and call for help in the same turn, I literally got stuck in battles for several extra turns because I’d faint the help and another would immediately show up and that’s total bull.

-Story    Mmm.. I didn’t really enjoy it all that much. I did find it interesting how downright dark it got at one point, but that alone doesn’t make it a good plot.

-Pacing    This game is so s l o w. It took me 70 hours to beat, most pokemon games take me 50-60. And I was rushing to get through as much as I could.

-Difficulty spike    Anybody else notice that the difficulty suddenly spiked towards the end of the game?? I was doing fine and then suddenly I was really struggling right at the end.

-No soaring    One of my absolute favorite features of ORAS. Not included. It would have been perfect in this game. Just imagine soaring around Alola! It would have been great! And honestly, I can just soar without any particular purpose in ORAS, just listening to the music, loving the visual... it’s such a great idea, especially since it also gets rid of needing to have Fly all the time.

-No bike    I know there’s ride pokemon for that, but they’re bulky and don’t turn the best and I like the bike aesthetic.

-No credits recap    So you know that great feature in all the gen 6 games where during the credits you get to see important moments from your journey again and be reminded of your adventure? Yeah nah, they scrapped that.

-Not enough clothing    Honestly mostly a fault of the setting but for crying out loud so many people need to put on some freaking clothes. I know there’s swimmers and stuff in previous games but at least it was only the swimmers.

-Can’t sit    So you know that great feature in gen 6 where you could sit on chairs and things and it was really immersive and nice? Yeah no, that’s gone too!

-Music    Something that’s been more and more of a problem for me with each generation, and maybe it’s just me, or that I haven’t replayed them as much as I have the other games, but all the music just... kinda feels bland and blends in? I dunno, I really think this one is just me, at least for this part. Just.... I miss the generations where music was simpler and had limited channels and instruments, and things kinda stood out more. I can’t remember a single melody from Moon off the top of my head, but from, say, Hoenn? Oh you bet. Really though, since I think that’s just me, here’s another reason. The battle songs were uninspiring, especially the Kahuna/E4/Champion songs. Those are supposed to get your blood pumping and be an intense battle and they just didn’t do that for me.

-Hand holdy    This game babies you so much and it’s frustrating... cmon I didn’t memorize most of the type chart for you to just tell me when a move is super effective or not. Also I find that little pokeball graphic that covers the pokeball when you catch something really annoying. It’s dumb and unnecessary and I want to see the pokeball thank you.

I don’t know... it just didn’t feel right, to me. Something was just off the whole time. It didn’t give me the same feel as playing any other pokemon game, including X and Y, or (eugh) Diamond Pearl and Platinum. I don’t like any of those games very much, but at least they felt like a pokemon game. Something was just different about this and I didn’t like it.

Sad, really, as this was the first pokemon game I was even a tiny bit hyped for, and I made sure to avoid all the spoilers I could.

Would I ever play it again? Not likely, really. Maybe some day far in the future, but... considering how many headaches this game gave me, it’d be torture to put myself through it again.

I think that’s all I had to say... and I guess that concludes Zi’s adventures in Pokemon Moon. Thanks for putting up with it! And now back to your regularly scheduled cats~

Though I’m thinking of doing posts on my thoughts and feelings from all the pokemon generations. We’ll see.

[parvaatidynasty-blog]

Top 10 Games I played in 2017 [so far]

May was a busy month for me, and I didn’t realize until recently that I neglected this blog and forgot to write something. As a way to make up for it, I wrote 2 blog posts. Both entries this time are a list-like format, but since I’m playing Breath of the Wild right now, I’d really like to write something more detailed about open worlds for July.

The first half of the year is almost over, and boy, has it been great. There have been so many great games released during the first half of this year alone that making a Game of the Year list at the end of 2017 will be remarkably difficult, more so than most other years. At the end of the year, 2 things will be certain: 1) a fair amount of games I enjoyed will be left out of the top 10, and 2) games I played in this year that were released early than 2017 will be left out. As a result, I wanted to create a list of the top 10 games I played this year regardless of their actual release date. This year I played a fair amount of games from previous years, and some of them are so good it’d be a shame to not give them their 60 seconds of fame here. Even though the list is mostly of 2017 games anyway, the order may not necessarily be the same come December.

10. Snipperclips: Cut it out, together!

Snipperclips is one of the best games you could include in a potential “Nintendo Switch starter pack.” Although playable by a single player, the game shines in cooperative play, and through this method of play, you can experience the vision of the Switch hardware. The game is a blast regardless of whether you are playing it in TV or tabletop mode. Everything from the quick load time of the game software and OS to the snappy gameflow of Snipperclips perfectly exemplifies the mission statement of the Nintendo Switch hardware. The puzzles are well-crafted with a good amount of variety and rely on both players to work together. As you and your partner discover the solutions to the puzzles, you will undoubtedly find yourselves come across moments of laughter, which makes the game all the more memorable. The additional modes are welcomed, whether they be the competitive sports and battle mode or the 4 player puzzles. Overall, it’s a game with more content than you would expect, making it a fantastic launch game and a perfect introduction to the Switch hardware.

 9. ARMS

ARMS is a unique game, and even though the product on release is a little skimpy on the content, I’m really enjoying it. The motion controls are very intuitive, to the point where I haven’t even tried the Pro Controller. And although the mechanics appear simple on paper, there’s a lot of depth, and the skill ceiling is quite high; even the AI can be brutally difficult. I’m still barely above the skill floor, or at least the AI makes it seem that way at times, but I’m looking forward to playing more of ARMS as time goes on and seeing where my abilities peak. The great art direction, character design especially, makes the game very welcoming to all players. It’s really something to see the Mario Kart 8 team branch out of their comfort zone and create their own take on a fighting game.

8. Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia

How I perceive the Fire Emblem series has changed a lot over time. My first experience with the series was playing the Sacred Stones on the Gameboy Advance. I wasn’t particularly good at it, Advance Wars with its disposable units was more my style, but I did make it to the credits at the expense of many casualties during the endgame. I hadn’t played another game in the series since Awakening, and Awakening’s accessibility and the lack of Advance Wars games made me see the series in a new light. I’m proud to declare that I beat Fire Emblem: Fates on Hard, redeeming my poor play in the Sacred Stones, and although I haven’t beaten Echoes yet, I’m really enjoying it. The game is different in just the right amount of ways so that things feel fresh, and the writing is so well-done that I don’t feel like I’m missing the self-insert characters from the original 3DS entries. When it comes to sound, the amount of voicework in the game is nothing short of impressive and the soundtrack is as incredible as one should expect from the Fire Emblem series. Overall, Intelligent Systems did an excellent job taking an entry that not many people responded well to in the past and turning it into an excellent one.

 7. Steins;Gate

Are visual novels games? Let’s not go down that rabbit hole. For now, I just want to say that Steins;Gate is great and should be experienced by anyone who likes visual novels or science fiction. I haven’t seen the anime, so beyond the elevator pitch of “kids create a microwave that sends emails to the past,” I had no idea what to expect. But when the game was available for $2.99 on PSN during the Golden Week sale, I bit, and I’m glad I did. Although the True Ending is a little contrived, the journey there is one that shouldn’t be missed. The characters are very well-written and mechanics behind time travel are well-thought out; Naotaka Hayashi did his best to make the underlying pseudoscience as believable as possible. Anyone familiar with anonymous message boards, otaku culture, and chuuni will find the script hilarious. Also, Miyano Mamoru, my personal favorite VA ever since his great job as Takuto Tsunashi in Star Driver, does an amazing job voicing Okabe.

 6. NieR: Automata

NieR: Automata is a really unique game when it comes to aesthetic; the art direction and music are a combination that is so unique it’s worth playing for that alone. The story is really interesting as well, and it’s probably of the best game localizations of all time, with its amazing English dub. The actual game design has a more tried-and-true approach, but that’s not solely detractive. The Bayonetta-like combat is solid and responsive, and the genre shifts whether it be 9S’s hacking minigames or twinstick shooter segments are fun ways to shake up the monotony. However, the open world of the game is somewhat empty and boring, even if it is that way for narrative purposes. And although the ending of the game disappointed me (it felt like getting off a rollercoaster right when it reached the summit), it was still one of the best games released in 2017, and a PS4 classic without a doubt. I was completely engaged from beginning to end, and I would love to see Yoko Taro and Platinum Games collaborate on another project in the future.

 5. Xenoblade Chronicles X

Xenoblade Chronicles X may be the closest thing we’ll ever get to an open world Gundam game. Although the first third of the game is somewhat dull, and the amount of systems they throw at you can be overwhelming, once you stick with it and get your Skell license the game becomes magnitudes better. The Skell’s vehicle mode and flight mode offer you so much freedom in how to tackle obstacles and where to explore. Upon obtaining the Skell, I couldn’t put the game down, and was addicted to exploring every nook and cranny, ignoring most of the main storyline until I felt my collection of mecha were fully decked-out. Xenoblade Chronicles X isn’t a perfect game by any means, most of the character models are kind of ugly, the story has more low points than high points, and the battle system isn’t exactly my cup of tea, but the exploration component of the game brought me so much satisfaction I was more than willing to look over the flaws.

 4. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

This latest entry in the Legend of Zelda franchise is a large departure from the norm. Breath of the Wild is the kind of game that gives back the more you invest into it. If you just go from point A to B completing only the tasks and shrines associated with the main quest, you probably won’t enjoy the game. But if you’re the type of person who is willing to put off the main quest and head in a random direction, unlocking as many shrines and watchtowers along the way as possible, you’ll have a tremendous amount of fun. The game’s world as well as its physics and chemistry engines gives you a variety of ways to accomplish your goals, and the focus on shorter dungeons with well thought-out puzzles makes the game perfect for the Switch. The need to craft elixirs or food for adventuring in areas of extreme cold and heat are the only negatives I’ve encountered thus far. It just seems contradictory to place those kinds of limits on a player in a game about exploring. But Breath of the Wild is still one of Link’s best outings, and I can’t wait to see what the next Zelda game will look like.

3. Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King

Last year I had the chance to play Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past, and really enjoyed it. Ever since I finished VII, I was heavily anticipating VIII, eager to return to the old-school RPG worlds of Dragon Quest, and this game did not disappoint, but instead, exceeded by expectations. Similar to Final Fantasy IV, my favorite in that franchise, the game gives you party members whose roles are initially static, but the ability to denote skill points into several categories allows you to experiment with and specialize them. The story is a well-written mix of vignettes tied to an overall plotline, and the cast of the game, especially your party members, is just incredible. The battle system remains the classic turn-based system you want out of a Dragon Quest game, but benefits from the speed-up feature included in this 3DS port and the addition of the Tension system. Upon beating the final boss, the game isn’t quite over, and the segments that follow make one of the most memorable ending sequences of all time. When you play Dragon Quest VIII it doesn’t feel like just an old game, it feels like an eternal classic.

 2. Persona 5

Although Persona 3 is still my favorite game of the post-Persona 2 trilogy, I really enjoyed this entry. The new additions to the battle system work incredibly well alongside its stylish UI, which makes full use of the controller’s buttons to minimize the inputs needed for every action you may want to perform. And the addition of new elements such as Nuclear and Psychic ensure that all of your party members are viable in different areas of the game, something I felt the series struggled with in the past. The cast is appealing, revamped social link system is fantastic, and although the first third of the story is the strongest part, it remains enjoyable for the entire duration of the game. Fusing Personas remains as engaging as ever, although the filtering systems in place aren’t as robust as those in the Shin Megami Tensei 4 duology. The game has one of the strongest and most focused aesthetics I’ve ever seen. Everything from the soundtrack to the UI elements just screams “Phantom Thieves.” Upon beating it, I was already planning my second playthrough, which I’ll be sure to do before summer is over.

 1. Monster Strike

Monster Strike has no right being as good as it is. It takes the gameplay of the successful mobile game, removes the microtransactions, and turns it into a full-blown RPG with a challenging post-game, resulting in something that’s really amazing. The process of creating your team of monsters has a tremendous amount of depth. Not only do you need to consider the elemental strengths of weaknesses of your crew versus your enemies, but you need to take into account the passives of each monster, such as erasing mines or immunity to walls that inflict damage, as well the type of combo attacks they expel, such as X-shaped laser beams or explosions. Once the billiards-like battles begin, you need to carefully aim your monsters, adjusting the angle so that you can maximize damage to the enemy by bumping into them and setting off Friend Combos by bumping into your allies. The graphics are impressive for a 3DS title, and the story is predictable, but enjoyable. The end result is a game with the level of decision-making typically reserved for series like Shin Megami Tensei or Bravely Default. It’s an incredibly unique and well-made RPG, and is without a doubt one of my favorite titles on the 3DS.