#fragrant story and papaya's path

[veebs-hates-video-games]

Ok now that I'm not stuck on XCXDE for like a month straight anymore it's time for another catch up post for one or two things I played before that and a few things since then.

Fragrant Story and Papaya's Path: I know for a while it was generally considered a scam because it was the last or one of the last 3DS games released, and to make it in within the deadline they left out like 95% of the content, but they did eventually release the rest of the game as free DLC, and now the Switch version is actually the full thing. And it's actually pretty good? I wouldn't mind a handful of QoL features like seeing attack ranges and stuff, but aside from it being a bit dated with stuff like that it's a fairly solid SRPG. I didn't finish all the optional stuff or anything, but it was fun enough to play through and very cheap on sale.

Halls of Torment (100%): I already played through a big chunk of the game last year, but going back to it after several months to 100% it still makes it one of the best thing I've played this year too. I still really enjoy how so many of the unlocks/achievements are like little puzzles you have to figure out a solution to and fit into a functional build, which makes trying to finish them all more fun and rewarding than in most similar games.

Bioweaver: I already played Bio Prototype last year I think it was, and it had a lot of interesting ideas that I didn't feel quite reached their potential. I don't think they quite did here either, but it came closer. There are so many ridiculous options available to combine and make very silly builds, and not having to start from scratch every run is nice. Stuff feels like it fits together better than in the previous game, and while it doesn't force you to explore all the options like the other one did, it gives you plenty of opportunities to if you want to. The boss fights are generally the highlight though, while normal enemies feel even less interesting than before, unfortunately. I was surprised to see a bunch of people complaining it's worse than the first game, when if I had to recommend one of the two it would definitely be this one.

Skullgirls 2nd Encore: And this is specifically 2nd Encore. I spent most of my time with the game back when it was just Skullgirls back in 2013, and it was a lot of fun even though I'm not great at it. It's still a lot of fun now, and finishing all the story stuff I didn't do back then was a good time. And that's all I'll be doing, because checking the Steam forums to see if there were any recent news posts about development still being ongoing reminded me that the Steam forums are an absolutely miserable place for most games that more than like 12 people have ever heard of. Way too many of the posts are just incandescent Gamer Rage about censorship. Go find something better to do with your time, or if you insist on being involved with the game at least go lose to SonicFox quietly or something.

Indivisible: It took me a while to get around to this one, and I was really hopeful about it, but I think I'm probably not finishing it. The art and music and voice acting are great, the characters are mostly pretty fun so far...and the gameplay is Extremely Ok, if I'm being a little generous. The platforming is fine, like there's nothing good enough about it to play for that reason but also nothing bad enough about it to avoid playing it for that reason, but I think I'm tired of the combat already a couple hours in. I'm just not really vibing with some of the design decisions or balancing, and I'm not sure I can take 20 hours of it.

[hksddr]

Fragrant Story and Papaya's Path - Nintendo Switch release - New, 16-BIT...