#ys smt

[thebladeblaster]

In case anyone ever needs information on the Demon Gene here

Warning: Spoilers for Shin Megami Tensei IV, Apocalypse, Demonic Gene, and Prayers

Things to know:

-The pandemic variant seems to be completely different than if it was triggered individually

Pandemic variant (As seen in the dlc)

-Causes a demonic transformation

-Very significant power boost

-Everyone becomes a hive mind mindlessly serving YHVH

-It’s contagious and you can catch it even if you don’t have the DG because it’s implied that Nanashi can catch it

-Their souls can’t be messed with by anyone who isn’t YHVH. Dagda tried but he couldn’t affect them with his powers.

-Someone has to agree to start it for everyone

-If the one who agreed to trigger it dies or as Hugo calls himself “the voice of God” dies everyone infected dies

-Everyone’s souls are linked together

Normal variant (As seen in IV, the Demonic Gene, and Prayers manga)

-Causes a demonic transformation

-Triggers within an individual if they feel very extreme negative emotions which is usually triggered by literature

-Very significant power boost

-Not contagious

-No forced obedience or linkage if anything it is the complete opposite wherein they become extremely rebellious and radical

-In the mangas only it seems that those with the DG become stronger from consuming/absorbing demons (This is shown in both Demonic Gene and Prayers)

Very significant power boost

For comparison a Walter (probably level 1-5) who was regularly using a demon as weak as Centaur was able to defeat Yaso Magushi effortlessly. Issachar who has never fought any demon was able to fight four prentice Samurai at once but he did ultimately lose.

Minotaur is a level 14 demon and he got oneshot. So considering how much stronger Issachar got that isn’t too ridiculous.

However Yaso Magatsuhu is level 46 and was defeated in an instant. That implies a much more significant boost similar to the one Hope and Hugo got. They got boosted from being practical fodder to being able to fight Anarchy Nanashi and at least hurt him. Hugo was implied to formerly be a Samurai so he would have some strength at least.

Not confirmed (but probably true AKA headcanon)

It seems like the power boost is either some sort of multiplier since depending on the base the person seems to become more powerful the stronger they are.

For example

Note: This is not the multiplier this is just an example to illustrate my point.

Assume Issachar is a 1, Walter is a 5, and Hope and Hugo are 10s. If the multiplier was 5 then it would be like this.

Issachar: 5

Level 1-5 Walter: 25

Hope: 50

Hugo: 50

Or it could be completely different depending on the person. Who knows.

-Likely the reason they can use magic

-Can easily learn skills from demons

-Become stronger or weaker depending on their emotional states

[chemicalbrew]

2023 game list, part 2: more like one game six+ times 🥉

I'll be honest: I separated this year's list into two parts mostly for ease of editing (the first part had ten lengthy entries I got tired of scrolling past long ago), but also... I thought it would be nice to have a clear divide between games I was not quite happy with and the few games that managed to impress me this year. If for some reason you want to see me being salty first, you can click here, but other than that... we're good to get this show on the road!

Ys IX: Monstrum Nox (PC, 2019; 2021 port) [♪ New Life]

This one will be more of a rapid-fire ramble, because, even though I enjoyed the game and am willing to defend certain aspects of it, there's little doubt that it's one of this series' weaker outings. Really, it making it onto the second half of the list is mostly due to bias and the fact that this series' core systems (most of which any Ys fan is painfully familiar with) are consistently good, mindless fun. Anyway, here's my more scattered thoughts I can't be bothered to stitch together:

The soundtrack is mostly an obvious downgrade and largely forgettable - literally the only tracks that stayed with me even a little are the one linked and, surprisingly, Marionette, Marionette, but that's to be expected of nu-Falcom :(

The amount of references to past games Monstrum Nox has shows good self-awareness and is something I was absolutely not expecting. I'm just familiar enough with Ys to pick up on most of them, so I wonder how subtle they are for those without the knowledge.

I actually loved being confined inside Balduq and forced to explore every nook and cranny of it, even more so because of how it contrasts with the openness of Ys 8. They pulled no stops when it came to committing to the aesthetic, and I was caught off guard with how much I liked it all. A highlight to me is the graffiti you can find all over the streets!

The new gift abilities greatly expand traversal options, even if implementation of them is not exactly free-form. A bold idea and one I enjoyed greatly. Otherwise, there isn't much major change in how exploration and battling works from 8, but there really doesn't need to be, I think. They fixed the fucking raid mechanic, and that's all that matters - even if the equivalent of it feels horribly tacked on.

Most people would say the Monstrum designs are over the top, but I personally don't care. They all slap, especially Doll and Adol himself, of course (I was ogling that long hair even before the game came out, hell yeah). As for their personal arcs, nothing really stands out the way Dana did in 8, despite each character getting their own time to shine, but I can forgive an Ys game for not bothering with complex characters. In particular, the development surrounding Jules and the conundrum with his disabilities, while somewhat barebones, didn't feel disrespectful at all and was a super pleasant surprise.

(screenshot that doesn't have much to do with anything, I just liked it)

The homunculus twist at the end of the game came out of nowhere and ruined my final impression of the story greatly. That's all, really.

Chained Echoes (PC, 2022) [♪ Standing Tall]

One of my clearest memories of Chained Echoes is the amount of people I'd seen among circles of RPG fans crying out last December that this is the game that was going to snatch the title of GOTY right from everyone's noses. Admittedly, this is one of those silly cases where I recall being intrigued by the name of the game alone (how often does that even happen these days?), and the rest was just a bonus - yes, even the impressive pixel art and soundtrack.

This makes me think I'd had healthier expectations of this game than most people, but even then… The truth of the matter is that Chained Echoes will never leave the shadows of the classics from the 90s it proudly claims to be inspired by. In trying to make itself stand out and match its own ambitions, it forgets itself and fails to leave a lasting impression - I can certainly say I enjoyed the time I spent, but when I remember more about fighting sentient vegetables than how the game actually ended, something is obviously wrong.

Now, I loved smacking the hell out of those vegetables - the battle system is decently refined for the most part, and values your time greatly. To me, the most notable features of the process are those shamelessly taken from Chrono Cross, and for good reason: if there's anything that game nailed, it's the on-field enemy encounters, automatic resource restoration between battles, and what's probably one of its more well-known ideas - lack of EXP in a conventional sense. Chained Echoes wholeheartedly embraces those conveniences, almost as if to ask 'Why isn't all this standard yet? It's the 2020s!', and I find myself agreeing. The unique systems this game presents on top of everything are hit or miss (particularly the mech combat, the part that remains grindy through the dumb proficiency system), and combat may not be perfectly balanced (if you weren't shredding through mobs with Sierra, what were you even doing?), but… Everything surrounding combat just felt so full of fresh potential, and took so little time besides, with the already quick animations whooshing by at the press of a button, that it was extremely easy to forgive any faults.

There are many creative changes made out of battle as well - the most interesting of them being the reward board. It's simple to explain - very early into the game, you unlock a list of objectives spanning the entire world map, laid out on a grid. The tasks themselves range from 'enter the area' and 'beat this specific monster type' to 'beat a miniboss without taking damage' and 'open every single chest you can find'. The cool part is that, while each square provides a reward on its own, there are bigger fish to fry, as there's a separate list of items you get by filling out squares adjacent to each other! It's genuinely impressive how effective this elegant system is at getting you to engage with the world you explore… at least until you realize how ridiculous the late-game tasks can get. And even here, there are misguided ideas that threaten to ruin the gameplay flow - for example, the gem system, that was likely inspired by its simple and functional counterpart in Xenoblade 1, is exceedingly convoluted and involves lots of boring fishing for item drops for somewhat negligible advantages.

It's when the game stops copying the greats that bigger cracks begin to show, though. As a whole, Echoes' writing is a weak point - both because it seems to favor shock value and piles of barely logical twists over anything coherent towards the finish line, and because this game's sole creator took great pains to write the script entirely by himself, in a language that's not his own (guy's from Germany, if I remember correctly). Being bilingual myself, I'd like to say I can imagine how much of a struggle that must have been, and you seriously have to respect the hustle, but it doesn't mean that the end result of all those efforts isn't faulty and should be safe from criticism.

This is a game that very clearly would have benefited from just one more person looking over the script and flow of the plot - if practically every main party member winds up traumadumping to keep the player's attention as tropes they'd probably seen in Chrono Trigger before play out… once again, something has gone terribly wrong, especially since most of said characters weren't too appealing in the first place. This makes Chained Echoes one of the RPGs where the G part is stronger than the RP part, for better or for worse. But it's fun while it lasts, and not the worst way to spend 40 or so hours!

Pokemon Black (DS, 2011) [♪ Relic Castle]

Everything went precisely as I predicted, with the exact problems I imagined I would have, but I finally managed to find the mystery of what makes the series tick for people, both on a general and personal level. Pokemon has spat on some of my detrimental gaming tendencies (as in, the urge to explore everywhere that exists and obtain everything that moves) and in the same breath provided an experience that, in all its flaws, either objective ones or stemming from my own misunderstandings, proved to be surprising at every turn. It's, uh, really cool.

Now here is a funny thing: I cheated. In the literal sense. And I did that a lot. Here's what I used in Black, just cause I can put it out there:

full exp share without needing to swap your whole team in (they should just make this a toggle in the settings, the fact that they never have, not even in newer entries, is baffling.)

forcing any Pokemon within the regional dex to spawn. I probably wouldn't do it ever again, cause now that I understand what Pokemon wants to be, I also see there's really no point to forcing Pokemon to appear just to box them - it's harder to get any sort of bond with your creatures going that way. In addition, a lot of the alternate Pokemon at least get shown off in mandatory fights, so there was no point fretting over not getting to see them (you have no clue how happy I was to see N with Reuniclus, it just felt so right). The series is lying to you - the real joys are NOT in catching them all.

Season switcher (since I played 90% of the game in December, and it took less than a month to beat, it kinda sucked seeing the dreary winter variants all the time. I don't really blame the feature itself, it's just that I don't like real-time-sensitive things in games - especially when they're linked to unique rewards. I loved Deerling and the concept behind it, but just because it was December, I'd have been robbed of its illegally adorable spring variant without cheats! Boo.)

Spawning phenomena and random encounters at the press of a button. Probably the key improvement to the experience! Call me spoiled by modern RPGs, but I have grown from disliking pure random encounters to disdaining them, and this allowed me to segregate area exploration (which was enjoyable in its simplicity and layering through the dowsing machine) and making sure my catching and leveling is up to par while I chill out listening to different pieces from this game on loop or catching up with a stream - two goals that, to me, kinda don't mesh that well on their own. Especially with the normally horrible phenomena appearance rate.

Suffice it to say, my experience with this game was not quite the intended one, but I am still glad for it - it allowed me to get over my preconceptions and expectations of this storied series and, at least to some extent, prepared me for whatever entry I will choose to engage with next (likely Black 2). Next time, I won't be bending the game to my whims quite as much, but I feel like my frustrations with this series heavily relying on missable content will always remain.

With this silly kind of disclaimer out of the way, let's try to talk about Pokemon Black itself. The first thing I remember is just how linear it was - you walk through route after route and claim one badge after another until you find yourself facing the champion, which is where the game finally pulls its rug from under your feet. By now, it should be obvious that I enjoy not having to fuss over what to do next, so I found this to be a boon, but I could absolutely understand longtime fans being irritated by how little choice you have in matters.

Speaking of which, Unova robs you of choices in another infamous way - for the duration of the main story, you're forced to use the new additions to the Pokedex. Once again, this is something that bothered me less than it would most people, doubly so because a lot of the seemingly commonly hated new (for their time) designs actually appealed to me a fair bit. If there's only one Trubbish and Vanilluxe fan on this earth, it's me, or however that meme went - I would give my limb and soul for object Pokemon, I think that's one of the best ideas of the series ever.

The graphics certainly aren't much to write home about and didn't truly age gracefully, but nonetheless, they likely stand the test of time better than the entries following would, and are more than serviceable. With sweeping camera angles, detailed Pokemon sprites and larger-than-life vistas greeting you as you bike from town to town, it's clear this game wanted nothing more than to impress players, and I'd argue that it succeeded, given the timeframe of release, and especially the region Unova was inspired by.

The music, however, is where the game really shines - with town themes ranging from sweet and cozy to ones that end up never quite leaving your mind (remember how Driftveil City became a huge meme? Oddly, I feel like that's enough proof of how awesome the soundtrack is), character themes that feel tailor-made and convey more about them than their own dialogue sometimes, and sufficiently catchy battle music (with the standouts, of course, being reserved for the more… legendary encounters).

When it comes to the story, I... appreciate it existing. It was what I came to this game for, but I ended up staying more so for the team that I lovingly chose for myself and that carried me from dungeon to dungeon. It's not bad by any means, and I can see why people want the series to even try something like this again, but what's bold for this series is overdone for many others.

That said, they really nailed basically everything about N, dear god. I love him so much. And while I might not be familiar with how the series usually handles rival characters, I enjoyed getting to compare and contrast between Cheren and Bianca's personal struggles. Cheren's theme is a banger, to boot.

PS. I hope whoever decided Volcarona should evolve at level 59 explodes somewhere, that was NOT worth it.

Shin Megami Tensei IV (3DS, 2013) [♪ Aboveground Urban Area C]

BEHOLD, MY DEMONS! (pictured: not demons)

Holy shit, an actually fun dungeon crawler from the company behind the ever so boring Etrian Odyssey that I decided to play only thanks to Tumblr memeing on the glorious Black Market theme? Who woulda thunk.

If you say you play this game for the plot, I will not believe you. I'm here for the character design (equal parts silly and god-tier, which, going by my opinion on Xenoblade 2, is just what the doctor ordered), the surprisingly exhilarating kill-or-be-killed battle system designed around finding and capitalizing on weaknesses, coupled with the distinct gameplay loop of fighting, coercing and fusing demons, the incredible atmosphere every grossly pixelated texture seems to ooze, and most of all, what might be one of the greatest soundtracks in all of gaming, to me.

The music is what single-handedly turns what would otherwise be a forgettable, convoluted and at times almost offensive experience into something outstanding. Combined with the broad strokes with which SMT4 sets up and gradually expands its setting, it's jaw-dropping just how big of an impression the game can leave you with while utilizing what feels like the bare minimum in terms of visuals (I mean this in the best way possible! I love when games make the most of their limited resources). It's a shame, then, that these two qualities practically carry the game on their back, riddled with flaws as it otherwise is.

Seriously though, the storylines manage to be simultaneously straightforward and messy somehow, to the point where even the self-proposed 'golden' route is easily questioned by a player who's willing to give it a minute of thought. There's enough to latch onto here for impressionable people, but the truth is, SMT4 loves to oversimplify complex matters in favor of haphazardly committing to extremes, which in turn ruins its leading characters - each in their own way, as they refuse to grow and develop most predictably, even if you go out of your way to give them a chance.

(how the fuck are you supposed to take a game that has this textbox in it seriously? This is divinity talking, you know)

The worst part about it all is that while it's you, your player character, influencing the world, you're not really given an explanation of how your actions change things until it's already too late and you're left on your own to gape at how you trying to be nice to people actually led to what's functionally an elitist genocide. That is, if you weren't like me and didn't end the game prematurely with the ending that wipes out everyone instead of most people that are baselessly declared filthy and unclean. And if you want to see a path that pretends to be more reasonable, you have to use a guide and jump through hoops and fetch quests beforehand. Yeah, sure, that's fine.

I'm sure there are many more things people more familiar with SMT could critique when it comes to this entry (especially since I mentioned nothing about the Chaos route, which I frankly don't remember), but the fact that even me, a complete newcomer to the series, ended up less than impressed with SMT4's overall message... has to say something, no?

And yet, the experience remains unique and, in the most literal sense of the word, addictive. Maybe it's just my monkey brain willing to give games a pass if their mechanics click with me hard enough, but... It's fun to explore a kingdom and city in turn, to uncover bits and bobs on your map as you hunt for relics, to overwhelm your enemy in a single Press Turn, and even to get lost in the horribly designed Domains, all the while the literal coolest music you've heard in your life keeps playing. And soon enough, you come to feel that strange familiarity and comfort as go through the motions and backtrack to Mikado for the 100th time.

I'll be honest, this shit is why I yearn for more dungeon crawlers to love (that aren't just Brandish...) all the time. Hopefully I'll eventually man up and play another entry in this series, so I can better understand what the core fanbase appreciates and wants from Shin Megami Tensei as a whole.

Octopath Traveler II (PC, 2023) [♪ Cait's Theme]

(Someone tell me who had to sell their soul to make such gorgeous boss sprites...)

I missed my chance to engage with OT1 back in the day (mostly because I was put off by middling reviews), so to see the series spring back to relevance this year was actually a lovely surprise, especially with me gaining appreciation for HD-2D after playing Live A Live. It really felt like everything had aligned for me to get the most out of Octopath 2! Even more so because this game is a shining example of how to iterate on a sequel.

Most fans say there's barely any reason to return to 1 after playing 2, and they're frankly right. It would be harder to say what 2 did not improve on than to list all the positive changes! But here I am, trying to explain just how many elements had to combine to create my actual favorite RPG of the year. Here we go!

First off, this is the prettiest HD-2D game yet, pulling all the stops when it comes to polishing the style. There are more refined details in the scenery, every sprite looks buttery smooth, and with the new day and night cycle, OT2 is extremely eager to show off just what its lighting engine is capable of. This game is simply a treat to look at no matter what you're doing, and the soundtrack matches the ambition it exhibits.

There are more voiced cutscenes than before and you can let them autoplay - a small but vital quality of life change. The main stories have a decently varied structure compared to the previous game's rigid formulas, and the sidequests generally value quality over quantity (though they're still not much to write home about, and they're a pain in the ass to actually find and keep track of - this game has the most useless journal of any RPG).

One of the core elements of the battle system - the jobs your characters can use - are rebalanced and made easier to understand, and there's more of them to discover for yourself. As a whole, the tools you get to use in battle are greatly expanded, but more on that in a bit.

Lastly, it's easier to witness the cast interact, because they fixed the travel banter system! (Can't believe they made so much of what makes these characters likeable so easy to miss before...) There's more of these interactions to see, too - Crossed Paths, quests tailored to specific character pairings, are a genius addition to the game, if somewhat underutilized. They actually bothered to try and tie the eight stories together, as well, compared to the pathetic whimper the first game ends with! Though whether the attempt was successful is debatable, what's there is not half bad.

While I do believe I would have laid my eyes on this game eventually no matter what, due to the praise it's been getting in circles of RPG fans (I wish OT was more recognized than it already is, even if it is decently popular. The potential the series has is off the charts), what really pushed me was Hikari's very existence. One look at him, and you just know he's gonna be involved in an epic struggle and have to fight for his friends - and that's exactly what he does. It's glorious, and fits the overall message\vibe of the series - that is to say, getting to go on a journey and find new friends for your cause and new experiences - exceptionally well. This is why I, and most people, would probably recommend you start with him, though of course, you're free to do what you want.

Being relatively free to explore instead of roped along to go places like a traditional RPG would is a double-edged sword, especially because Octopath locks in your first chosen character, so they usually get overleveled, but at the same time the game expects you to have a functional (evenly geared and leveled) party of eight by endgame, which you might not be aware of and only have four peeps prepared. This could be solved with a simple toggle to give benched party members the same amount of EXP, or - and they literally do this in the endgame, so why not before?! - let us freely swap any time instead of only getting to do it in towns.

On the other hand, getting to watch eight (seemingly) disjointed stories unfold makes for a refreshing experience where you never know what (or who, at first) you will find. The travelers are divided half and half between two continents, but on my run I screwed it up - I got really curious about what's up north, which led to me finding Osvald early (and his chapter 1 warning scared the crap out of me for no reason, lol), so three characters were from the west and one was from the east. It's not nearly as big of a deal as I make it sound, especially later on with more options available, but before you discover such things and adjust yourself to what the game wants from you, it can feel quite challenging.

Speaking of challenging, I loved how the battle system in this game works - even if it's your typical turn-based bells and whistles with a job system attached, at least at first glance. The jobs themselves, while probably not groundbreaking or anything, still succeed in giving the party members their own ways to shine and even diversifying their movesets, thanks to the mechanic that lets you freely mix and match jobs! You can optimize to your heart's content, or mess around and go with the prettiest outfits.

(look at them!! just look!!)

The bread and butter of this series, however, the Thing it does to distinguish itself from myriads of other turn-based games, is the Break and Boost systems.

Break is simple enough to explain - each enemy you face boasts a certain number of shields, and before you figure out their weaknesses and break through, you're unlikely to deal any significant damage. Finding weak points can be cumbersome at times, especially if you don't have a Scholar to reveal them for you (I admit to looking them up occasionally instead of wasting SP\BP with Analyze), but it still doesn't take too much time, even less if you know the one trick to it. And your reward for doing so is getting a free turn to dish out damage (or set up buff combos)!

Boosting is an entirely different matter, though. In addition to the usual health and skill points, your party members gain a boost point each turn (provided they didn't use them on the last turn). You can have up to five points in reserve, and you can use up to three in a single turn to augment your chosen move - from simple damage increases to attacking multiple times in a turn (to break shields faster) to making buffs and debuffs last longer… basically everything gets much better if you boost. There are even special moves called Divine Skills that require 3 BP to use in the first place, and funnily enough, they range from game-breaking to actually kind of pathetic.

What's more, each character has special actions in and out of battle that are mostly unique to them - for example, Castti, the apothecary, can concoct powerful brews to aid you or damage the enemy, and in towns, she can chat up NPCs to get information by day or put them to sleep with specialized herbs by night. Meanwhile Hikari, the warrior, can learn skills no one else can by fighting NPCs one-on-one, which can be extraordinarily useful or... something like this:

The NPCs themselves don't seem too impressive at first, but as you make use of your characters' Path Actions, you realize that most of them have a small story to tell almost entirely through game mechanics, reminding you how vital worldbuilding is to an open-ended game like this. Robbing children of candy with Throne or getting to uncover short, but ridiculously dark backstories with Osvald never got old.

OT2 adds a cherry on top of all these layers by giving each party member another unique move in Latent Powers, which, too, can be either ridiculously overpowered (hello, free concocting?! why yes, I want to give my entire party 2000 HP, 200 SP and 1 BP at literally zero cost!) or incredibly niche (Osvald really got the short end of the stick here - you're better off boosting his actual spells than using his latent, which at best is only useful when Mugging and feels like an afterthought.).

And before all of that even starts, you have to pay attention to how you kit out your party. It's not just about what equipment has the bigger numbers - you need to consider its secondary effects, too, but more importantly, you need to pick the right secondary jobs to have a party that's truly well-rounded. If you explore the world thoroughly enough to unlock lots of job licenses, the sky's your limit, really - but the idea is to have a healthy balance between weapon types and skills while playing into each character's natural strengths.

You'd think having to make so many choices would feel overwhelming, but there's plenty of opportunities for the player to acclimate to the system and make it work for them. And they better learn the ropes quickly, because in boss battles, Octopath expects them to use every one of the tools they have. The game doesn't really go out of its way to explain how your skills can synergize to wreak havoc upon anything that stands in your way (sometimes before the enemy even gets a chance to act!), lending a sort of simple and pure joy to the moment when it all just clicks, when you begin to try out one bonkers combination after the other (does Critical Scope work on magic spells? Just how powerful is poison in Challenge fights? If I make Osvald a thief, will he still hit the damage cap with Aeber's Reckoning?), and they all just�� work. Before that point, the game isn't afraid to kick your confused ass to the game over screen, but if you experiment, it won't be too long before you emerge victorious every time. To be rewarded like this for taking in your every option is immensely satisfying.

I also have to give a shout-out to the voice work done for all these battles specifically - every character gets a unique line for every move in every class, and they react to fellow party members breaking enemies or getting low on health. Really, the amount of detail in this one specific regard is just insane. Add to this the fact that you can fight at double speed with a press of a button (sure, this is nothing compared to how 6x turbo mode in Trails spoils you, but it's better than nothing, and for a game like this, it's enough), and battles in OT2 flow like a spring breeze, especially since, due to gear mattering more than level, you're not really encouraged to grind throughout the main story… or stories, as it were.

You'll have to forgive me for spending so long rambling about gameplay intricacies before getting to the game's actual draw - the eight different plots it offers you and the open-ended structure that comes from it. The truth is, most of these stories start out with a bang, but few of them have really enjoyable resolutions, and even less will manage to impress seasoned players.

Not to mention that, aside from the skit-like travel banter, they're completely isolated from one another, further lending to the feeling that your party members are less characters and more movesets. This is likely the most common complaint the series gets, and I have to say, it felt odd at first to me as well, but by now I'm a little tired of seeing people rag on the lack of connection between the stories. Having smaller vignette-like stories instead of an overarching plot is something you never see other RPGs do nowadays, it's one of Octopath's selling points, it's practically its beating heart, and it's something done with purpose. An artistic choice not being something you're used to is no reason to completely disregard it, even if there's room to grow and improve.

And plenty of room there is - while the stories have enough meat to them to enjoy what's happening in the moment, the boss fights in them are as cool as always, and the voice work accompanying all of the scenes is just lovely (though it can be poorly mixed on occasion - looking at you, Ori!), the core of the individual tales is usually somewhat basic and a little underdeveloped, if not downright nonsensical. Ochette's story could probably be put in a Pokemon game with very little changes, and, sorry to say, I don't mean that as a compliment. Having the plot revolve around catching legendary creatures to save the world had me mostly snoozing, controller in hand.

Or take, for example, Partitio and his charming, resourceful butt. It's hard not to love him, but if you think about what he's doing for more than a moment, it doesn't quite make sense - how do you go about squashing capitalism on the entire continent on your own, much less by ushering the world into the industrial era? Isn't that having too much faith in people?

Even Hikari, who started as my favorite and ended just the same (Howard Wang killed it as his voice actor, let's be real), doesn't have a particularly compelling plot going on. His story of having to take off to reclaim his kingdom is, I'd wager, one with more wasted potential than others, given how the whole cursed bloodline subplot just went nowhere. And don't get me started with Throne - I got spoiled on what happened at the end of her story and refused to believe it until the farce was staring me right in the face.

The exception to this would probably be Castti, whose tale of self-discovery and determination, while still playing out by the books, ended up genuinely touching all the same, with a natural escalation of the stakes in it and a wonderful conclusion that integrates gameplay mechanics particularly well, having you personally concoct the remedy to save a whole region and give them peace.

The one thing that elevates every one of these plots, every failure and success of this game, is its soundtrack. I'm not sure if I wholeheartedly prefer this OST to the first game, but they're both just outstanding. While it was easy for me to pick a single favorite to show off, it's hard to overstate just how awesome Yasunori Nishiki's work is as a whole, and we'd be here all day were I to keep pointing out the majority of the music as the masterpiece it is. The themes for various locations are lovingly crafted to suit the mood, with an awesome choice to add ethereal vocals for some of the night themes to make it more atmospheric (my favorites are Roque Island, Tropu'hopu, and, of course, the kingdom of Ku), and the character themes are particularly well thought out, expanding on their personalities in ways the text never quite could. Shout-out to both Agnea's theme and her Song of Hope, and the ways they tie her whole plotline together!

Octopath Traveler II turned out to be my sleeper hit of 2023, and has done so much more for me than I expected it to. Now there's nothing left for me but to yearn for an even more polished and expansive continuation to the series!

A Hat in Time (PC, 2017) [♪ Heating Up Mafia Town]

I feel like I owe much of my enjoyment of this game to my inexperience. 3D platforming is one of those genres that is practically integral to gaming itself (and collectathons, more specifically, are niche only in the most technical sense), yet before playing A Hat in Time I'd refused to engage with anything of the sort out of sheer principle. "What fun is there in getting perpetually lost while trying to hunt for pointless thingamajigs scattered all over?", I'd think to myself. I'd see people online wax poetic about the old classics like Banjo and Spyro and such and find it all completely incomprehensible.

In comes Hat Kid, and from the word go it's obvious that the name of her game is… silliness. After all, the question isn't 'why should you sow fear in mafia goons and crash onto filming sets', it's 'why shouldn't you do that?'. And as you get roped in by the absurdity of these subplots thrown at you, with so many NPCs having a goofy one-liner or three to say, you realize that behind these layers of charm are solidly crafted sandboxes for you to just enjoy yourself in, coupled with delightful sections that are, for all intents and purposes, obstacle courses.

I enjoyed the latter much more, as I tend to do, but they're two different sides of the same great coin, so to speak. And aside from a couple specific levels that gave me a headache (like the long-ass parade level, the infamous Alpine Skyline hub with how long traversal takes in it, and ESPECIALLY The Twilight Bell. Holy shit, that one just wasn't fun for me after a while), exploration was rewarding, and pretty smooth sailing - with good variation in level structure and near endless attention to detail (be ready to sit there like 'they made a unique animation just for that?!').

A part of what made it so easy to enjoy was how simple the movement in this game is - what you have at your disposal is, essentially, a double jump and a dive, which can be canceled out of. That makes it great for someone like me, who still fears being forced to get acquainted with a complex control scheme in a game with movement as the focus (the 'why press three buttons when one would do' approach), but at the same time… it means that there's only one optimal way to move through the world quickly, so dozens of hours in, I felt as if I could repeat the button combination endlessly in my sleep.

Sure, there's badges that can change your experience substantially - making you dash faster, or turn into an ice statue in lieu of a ground pound, or use a goddamn hookshot, or a bunch of other things, but… having only three slots for them, and knowing one of them will probably be always taken by something like the No Bonk badge (which feels like an essential quality of life feature) is severely limiting. I would love it if there were more slots to prevent constantly having to compromise and switch badges around… or a slightly expanded base moveset for Hat Kid.

On a more positive note, I loved the more tightly directed and difficult experiences that the optional Time Rifts offered. Finding them might not have been half as fun as clearing them, but the reward was more than worth it almost every time. And that's to say nothing of the game's presentation, which is sublime in how stylish it is. I could see people being set off by how the art style feels purposely crude at times, but personally, I couldn't care about that less - it only adds to the charm, in fact.

The music, meanwhile, is peppy and upbeat every step of the way, and fits the mood of the game perfectly. Even though you find yourself revisiting the same levels numerous times, there are always new versions of the tracks you've come to like, and neat twists to the traversal process - it's obvious how much A Hat in Time wants you to relax, be entertained, and enjoy the ride. That might come at the cost of it not telling a particularly gripping story, but it's hard to hold that against the game. Sometimes you just want to bonk mafia goons on the head for a while, you know?

Tower of Heaven (PC - Flash, 2009) [♪ Indignant Divinity]

There is no prize as precious as that which you have lost.

Tower of Heaven, to me, is about going back to the roots - in the literal sense, as your character gets cast down and smitten by lightning over and over, and in a sense that's more meta, as there's definitely a sort of through-line puncturing the developer's offerings; one that presents itself in subtle ways, but is plain to see regardless with every game you boot up, and every death that makes you chuckle at your own subpar execution. So, in essence, me playing this platformer (on my birthday, no less! good to know there's something you can rely on even on otherwise middling days) became this experience about paying respects to foundations laid in the past so I could better appreciate the legacy they leave in the future.

It's kind of a tall ask for a game this small and niche (and Flash having been murdered in cold blood absolutely does not help! Everyone say thanks to that one post about Flashpoint that was making rounds back in the day, it made my mission to experience this game that much easier!!!), and I do admit to over-exaggerating the feeling, but still, it's hard not to feel affected in any way, as insignificant as it may be, while playing Tower of Heaven. The presentation is subdued and few words, and hours, are spared to explain your situation. It's just you, the blocks and doors that comprise simple levels in front of you... and a godly force seeking to work you hard as you try to go ever higher.

But as you walk through the first door on your way, the soulful music kicks in and begins to swell (if I were any more nerdy, this game would have probably become my favorite example of leitmotif usage at the drop of a hat. People who complain about this soundtrack are cowards), and your journey starts to grow more complex, little by little. As the levels slowly expand, so do the rules the mysterious force encumbers you with - combining to demand you make a singular, perfect path forward for yourself. This feeling of honesty and straightforwardness between designer and player is one of the key things this developer simply never fails at, and a part of what made me fall in love with it all in the first place.

The twists along the way may be small, but none of them feel like a waste, and as the game comes to an end, a familiar theme of standing up for yourself and facing a world unknown comes to the surface, and you can't help but feel... accomplished, if only a little. It was you who started this journey and you who brought it to its inevitable end, after all! But when you see the credits, plainly stating your basic stats, you might gawk a little. Secret rooms? What secret rooms?

With that simple move, you're encouraged to spend just a little while more - looking around, polishing your movement, paying more attention. It's not like the secrets are hard to find (or are, indeed, worth anything - it's incredibly fitting that the rooms contain treasure that is of no tangible worth to the player), but it's the fact that they were there all along that elevates the experience.

Tower of Heaven might not have much to say, but it says what it has to gracefully and concisely, in ways that many other games simply do not. And even as you inevitably fall, it makes you remember - there's always somewhere to go. Always a place to make for yourself. No matter who might be saying otherwise.

Pause Ahead (PC - Flash, 2013) [♪ Hiatus]

In many ways, this game is treading familiar grounds, but it manages to expand upon them gracefully. There's a greater sense of mystery to this one, and a lovely meta-narrative that never feels overbearing - not to mention the obvious difference in presentation and the gameplay change Pause Ahead is named after.

With a light tap of the Shift button, you can ground the level to a halt... while retaining momentum yourself. Knowing when to stop and go is key to making your way forward, as you're, once again, at times belittled and at other times besought by a mysterious voice. And, of course, you're free to simply abuse and spam this feature just to see the small easter eggs and jokes it hides. As should be by now expected, the little things like this make it feel like no time or space is wasted executing a small, but powerful concept, and iterating on it over time.

As you clear a stage, you are treated to a quick playback of all attempts you've suffered through to get this far, reminding you of your persistence and the power you wield in this strange, somehow lonely world. This may be little more than an escape attempt, but it's uniquely yours, and you're free to take your time with it as you please. This, coupled with small, but consistent details like the messages in the fake pause menu I mentioned, leads to a pleasant feeling that you're getting as much out of this game as you put in, and it's relishing your time spent with it as much as you do.

Just like I said before, there's something about the tight design of these compact experiences that is hard to find elsewhere - a sort of wordless understanding that gradually forms as you experiment with the small pool of options given, and manages to stick in your memory long after you put the game down. And that's to say nothing of the tiny, yet meaningful and insanely catchy soundtrack this game boasts, and the return of secrets to haunt you, this time even more expansive.

In just about every way, Pause Ahead is a solid hidden gem that doesn't ask much of you - at least, not outright - but gives you plenty in return: a challenge to overcome, a moody setting to enjoy, a feeling you'll be seeking and failing to find elsewhere for all time. ...or maybe it's just me?

OverPowered (PC, 2014) [♪ A True Hero and More]

I honestly think you should close this page right now and go beat this thing - I left you a link right there. I promise it won't take long, and I'm sure you'll come back with a smile on your face.

Obviously, the one thing that makes OverPowered really impressive is the time constraints it was made under - without them, it's probably just a blip on most people's radar, not even worth looking over.

Fortunately or not, I'm not most people, and I simply came into this little game looking for more of what I'd come to expect from the dev - enjoyable platforming, music that sounds like a balm to my ears (I still remember when I was doing research and I audibly went 'THAT flashygoodness?'), and witty humor that aims to subvert expectations - and succeeds every time. I got all of these things and a hearty chuckle or two, so I have no complaints.

Katana ZERO {again 💿💙} (PC, 2019) [♪ Silhouette]

Killing is the only time we're able to touch that thing we were never able to have.

What can I say? Katana ZERO is significant to me on a personal level, to an extent very few games, if any, ever have been at this point. A lot of this comes from the fact that I… knew it would be so, but at the same time had no clue. It's hard to explain - call it a gut feeling, but even in 2021 I knew there was something outstanding here, something I was tapping into, and even resonating with, but not quite as deeply as I could have been. That knowledge lingered, buzzed in the back of my mind like white noise - even as my hands would begin to ache from how much I'd been playing, how hard I'd been trying to open myself up to the game, even when the memories began to fade a little.

While I was playing, however, I was constantly aware I'd been ignoring the fine details, afraid to rise to the mechanical challenges the game offered, sometimes afraid to admit to myself how much I enjoyed KZ at all - as if it'd been a crime to recognize how it left me yearning in a haze few things can hope to match. When I tried to look back at it, I almost felt desperate to find some flaw, some excuse to lie to myself and mask the passion this game had awakened in me, for a time; and even then, I could only point to how the game's plot fizzles near the end in an attempt to set things up for the future that still hasn't come yet, eager to leave you with a feeling of uncertainty that stings all the more with how pointedly efficient KZ is about nearly everything else.

(see also: images that get funnier with time)

And even now, putting it to words, I just feel silly and dramatic - probably because, despite everything, a small part of me still feels inexplicable shame, thinks I ought not to be obsessed with something like this, something small and unfinished. An experience that some people (who are very wrong) would say is trying too hard.

It's not silly, though, and I have to remind myself of this often. Every time I come back to this game (and I've come back many times over the year - so many I lost count, including the refresher run I did last week, before writing this. It's amazing how much a passing, almost laughable thought can end up haunting you, but that's neither here nor there), I remember how much there is to love about it - how hard it is not to love it, when you realize just what it is you're dealing with, when everything slots into place and the world before you whirs to life in an almost literal fashion - and live it does, no matter what.

This is a story about finding choice where there is none. It's about discovering the truth, staring it in the face just as it has been watching over you, and resolving to do something about it - with whatever little means you have. Because what matters is trying. Without that, what can you do but remain trapped, objective unfulfilled?

But here's the thing: to most people, it's probably not quite like that. It's hard to describe something that hasn't finished telling itself, after all - but these days, that bothers me far less, if at all. If nothing else, it's hard not to appreciate the irony of it - not knowing the future when once you'd thought you'd all but had it. Even if this story's ending never sees the light of day, I feel like I've come to understand it far better, in its current state.

The unquantifiable, almost mythical extent to which KZ goes to immerse you in its world (or, at the very least, in Zero's shoes), if you let it, is one of its most important qualities. Everything this game does, from the more obvious mechanics like slightly branching dialogue options (with the lovely twist of being able to interrupt people) to the subtle touches like the way KZ uses vibration (one of the very few games to do it right, and I'll die on this hill), hides its (surprisingly plentiful, given its length) secrets in almost plain sight, or takes great care in the details of its entire user interface or goddamn dialogue formatting... it's all in the service of immersion, and that goal is masterfully achieved.

Even after spending more hours than most people would with this game, I keep discovering minute dialogue changes, tiny graphical touches, or new options to try that I can't help but smile at. Yes, some of it stems from the strange sort of fear I had that just... kinda prevented me from exploring, but not all - you'd be surprised at just what you can see if you pay attention to your choices.

And that's to say nothing of how pretty KZ manages to make everything look (and sound - you know you have a problem when you get attached to sound effects), how it perfectly walks the tightrope of letting every happening on screen breathe and speak for itself while still allowing it to remain a spectacle (look, I might not be an expert, but I love how this game frames its cutscenes and uses lighting to enhance things further). It tells you that every moment is precious - simply by wasting nothing itself.

Of course, there are more obvious ways the game respects you and your time: interrupting dialogue doesn't just lead to interesting results, but can also save a bit of time; there are a few clever skips (tied to secrets, as well) built into the levels themselves, and you have an option to respawn instantly when you restart a room (or at literally any time, if you bother to assign a quick restart button). This last thing I want to bring special attention to, because I think it spoiled me beyond belief (just look at me complaining about Celeste earlier!).

On top of this, something awesome that makes a return to Katana ZERO from its predecessors is a dedicated speedrun mode, allowing you to engage with the gameplay and practice on your own terms. And like in the other games, using it is in no way a requirement - while there is an achievement tied to speedrunning the game, nothing in the interface itself urges you to push yourself if you don't want to. The ranking system is as important as you allow it to be, and for my part, I'm mostly content with the meager results I got (bet you were wondering why I put that emoji in the title... hopefully it's clear now. If I get a silver ranking one day, I'll be beyond content.). More action games should aim to be as instantaneous and responsive in all aspects as KZ is, and I'm completely serious about this.

The last (but absolutely never the least) thing I want to bring up is the soundtrack. It's the piece in this elegant puzzle that makes everything come together, it makes every moment shine on its own merits and stay in your heart. It's easy to point to the more obviously appealing tracks that accompany you as you actually play, and the way they perfect tension and release (i.e. Delusive Bunker or the ever-so-awesome Overdose), but there's something to be said about the subtler pieces too. End of the Road never fails to tug at my heartstrings. Hell, hearing Come and See at the end of every run still makes me want to explode. And beyond that, well...

Have you listened to Chemical Brew yet? - Tumblr user chemicalbrew

To conclude, Katana ZERO may lack the universal appeal that true classics have, but I believe that at some point it will have carved out enough of a niche of itself to become a cult classic. I would love nothing more than to have a reason to feature this game on my list a third time (we'll have it one day. I'll keep waiting, this much I know), that's how much my love for it has grown. And, really… I hope it never diminishes.

PS. Believe in yourself! 👹 Also, if you're one of the people who has supported me this year as KZ made me descend into insanity, if you're one of the (surprisingly many) people who I managed to convince to give it a chance with my passion, thank you ever so much. And have a nice 2024!

[6ad6ro]

top 5 games from every console -nes- -game boy- -pc engine- 1. ninja gaiden 1. castlevania ii 1. castlevania rb 2. river city ransom 2. zelda la 2. ys book 1 and 2 3. akumajou densetsu 3. wario land 3. lords of thunder 4. mario 3 4. pokemon red 4. r-type 5. zelda 2 5. kirby's dreamland 2 5. galaga '90

-genesis- -snes- -neo geo- 1. streets of rage 2 1. earthbound 1. garou mow 2. castlevania bl 2. zelda lttp 2. windjammers 3. sonic 3ak 3. chrono trigger 3. king of fighters 99 4. contra hard corps 4. super mario world 4. metal slug 5. sonic 2 5. super metroid 5. king of fighters 2001 -sega cd- -ps1- -saturn- 1. snatcher 1. final fantasy vii 1. vampire savior 2. sonic cd 2. castlevania sotn 2. street fighter alpha 3 3. final fight cd 3. resident evil 3 3. virtua fighter 2 4. lunar 4. rival schools 4. virtua cop 2 5. monkey island 5. final fantasy ix 5. castlevania sotn (really) -n64- -dreamcast- -ps2- 1. mario 64 1. jet grind radio 1. silent hill 2 2. mystical ninja 2. shenmue 2. gta vice city 3. zelda oot 3. thps 2 3. smt nocturne 4. banjo kazooie 4. crazy taxi 4. we love katamari 5. mario kart 64 5. ecoo dotf 5. dragon quest viii

-gamecube- -xbox- -gba- 1. resident evil rm 1. jet set radio future 1. castlevania aos 2. f-zero gx 2. shenmue 2 2. castlevania hod 3. zelda tp 3. morrowind 3. metroid fusion 4. killer7 4. fable 4. river city ransom ex 5. mario sunshine 5. guilty gear xx #ac 5. metroid zm -nds- -psp- -xbox 360- 1. castlevania ooe 1. castlevania dxc 1. dead rising 2. castlevania dos 2. gta vcs 2. deadly premonition 3. castlevania por 3. ffvii cc 3. half-life 2 4. tingle's balloon trip of love 4. persona 3p 4. skyrim 5. phoenix wright 5. power stone 5. gta iv -ps3- -wii- -wii u- 1. dead rising 2 1. mario galaxy 1. zelda ww hd 2. sfiii 3s oe 2. no more heroes 2. mario kart 8 3. yakuza 5 3. okami 3. tekken tag 2 4. gta v 4. wii sports 4. zelda botw 5. 3d dot game heroes 5. castlevania rb 5. nintendo land -3ds- -vita- -ps4- 1. smt iv 1. persona 4 golden 1. ff vii rm 2. zelda oot 3d 2. undertale 2. elden ring 3. zelda mm 3d 3. jet set radio hd 3. persona 5 4. star fox 64 3d 4. hotline miami 2 4. resident evil 2 rm 5. river city rs 5. spelunky 5. dragon quest xi -switch- -steam deck/pc- -virtual boy (forgot)- 1. mario odyssey 1. half-life 1. vb wario land 2. sonic mania 2. unreal tournament 2. mario's tennis 3. smash ultimate 3. dead cells castlevania 3. galactic pinball 4. metroid dread 4. lba2 twinsen's odyssey 4. teleroboxer 5. mario wonder 5. bomb rush cyberfunk 5. jack bros

[sl33py-g4m3r]

I’ll try to not post every new demon in smt iv I get my hands on or fuse, cause that’d be annoying probably.

Got to find time to actually play too… cause I’m always at my siblings place helping them with stuff and feel I don’t have time to take my 3ds and get lost in naraku.

Cause I’m still in naraku. I have yet to get a 3rd demon for the ‘recruit 3 demons’ quest at the beginning if that tells you how slowly I’m playing.

Like I wanna post stuff cause excitement but also don’t cause it’s just standard gameplay for the series and I’d be worried that I’m annoying you all.

Is zan force or wind? Or is it both?

With the stupid ‘zanma’d anxiety’ joke I’ve made I’d assumed it was wind. Blow or force it away from me, lol.

Been spinning a post I saw around in my brain and am now extremely worried I’m a casual gamer now

Sort of unrelated hence why the cut but I saw a post yesterday and didn’t reblog it that makes me sadly think I might be a casual. I hope I’m not. Got to get used to the smt bull crap, lol.

The post was about a game journalist who figured normal mode in some smt game was too ‘tedious’ and they turned easy mode on….

Got me thinking how the only rpg I’ve played is some of Ys 3, and Pokemon just cause I can read the interface. No fire emblem, no final fantasy, just Pokemon.

Hope I’m not a casual gamer~~

Get playing, suck for a while, have fun, get good. Got to find time to play…

I hoped kind of posting about my anxiety helped make it better but I genuinely don’t know if it’s doing anything or just annoying all whom follow me.

I deleted a majority of the post after the cut and now I hope I’m not being annoying.

[cerissy]

game backlog + fall tbr

videogame backlog:

like a dragon gaiden

strange horticulture

paranormasight

smt strange journey redux

ys 9

piofiore 1926

the wandering sword

papers please

hypnospace outlaw

...whatever im in the mood for

tbr:

days at the morisaki bookshop

stoner

pachinko

tokyo ueno station

bliss montage

legends & lattes

on earth we're briefly gorgeous

...whatever im in the mood for

[furryprovocateur]

i wonder if Ys fans think of Trails fans the same way SMT fans think of Persona fans

[songmingisthighs]

*ahem*

okay so WY is going to poison her with soup and then HJ is going to get upset at him for ruining his ✨evil scheme✨ and hit him with a car. And then CS gets a life insurance pay-out from WY and elopes with YS. (joking)

can't wait for the finale. i am very invested in this. my brain can't even theory correctly there is too much anticipation for me rn.

OH !?!?!?!?!?!?!?

then... the 2ho, in despair of losing (y/n) and bean, turned into outlaws and started doing illegal shit to avenge the people they lost not to mention to pursue hj san and ys ?????? Y'ALL I CONNECTED THE BOUNCY MV IRL ATEEZ AND SMT ARE LIKE SO CONNECTED I'M NOT KIDDING

ooo look at you obsessed with the shit i put out <3 is this what onlyfans creators feel ????

[hopeymchope]

I'm curious, what do you imagine a Persona style Legend of Zelda would look like?

Ooh, I love a weird geeky mental exercise like this. So here's my concept for

The Legend of Zelda: True Persona

(......see 'cause the "Shin" in "Shin Megami Tensei" is written as "真" which means "True," so like... I did a thing there.)

Maybe this is stating the obvious, but: We play as Link. Of course. The Persona default has long been to play as a male protagonist who we control dialogue choices for but rarely hear them, and that's totally in line with how Link has been portrayed recently, so there's no need to reinvent the wheel. (If we wanted to do a later "The Legend of Zelda: True Persona Golden/Royal/Whatevs, we could always introduce the wrinkle of playable Linkle.... omg, I didn't even realize what I was doing before I typed that. The WRINKLE of LINKLE. Fuck?)

Persona and SMT have always had turn-based combat, but TLoZ has always had real-time action combat. Since this is first and foremost a Zelda title, I think it's important to maintain the latter. HOWEVER... ! That doesn't mean we can't have RPG-like stats for our hero. Zelda II even gave us a precedent for that in the series. Think something like "Ys" — action role-playing where you can still get stat boosts from equippable gear/weapons + can level up through your battles. And yes, this DOES mean we won't have an RPG-style party with us.

We're going to include the emphasis on side quests and side characters that the most recent all-ne Zelda games, but now we can turn them into social links/confidants! It'll be fun to guide Link through bonding activities with various recurring Zelda characters. We're going into combat ALONE, though, so there's going to be extra emphasis on how certain Arcana will give us special powers/boosts and stat increases for our Link.

Balancing your time and schedule is a core component of modern Persona that's hard to replicate if we stick with the current Open World structure in Zelda's newest games, because Open World games typically have an always-moving clock whereas Persona is heavily dependent upon having the clock only advance when you do an activity. And being Open World also means you can inherently do TONS of activities while just wandering around, so uh... let's dial back to before the era of "BotW/TotK" a bit. MEANING: Each day will include, say, four blocks of time? You start out at Link's house, and you can use your blocks of time however you like, choosing from your available activities.

BUT WAIT! What are those aforementioned "available activities" each day?

I see options including:

Working Out to increase physical stats

Studying to increase magic stats. Yes, we're studying magic my lads, because we're bringing back magic spells from Link to the Past/Ocarina of Time and such + integrating those spells with the ability to equip a "rod"-style weapon to help us casually throw magic as in BotW/TotK. (Using the TotK system of magic being either fire, electric, ice, or water also lets us apply elemental weaknesses to our enemies, just like in Persona.)

Spending time with confidants. Just imagine: Princess Zelda as Empress, Malon as Priestess, Impa as Temperance, Tingle as Devil, Purah as Moon, Kaepora Gaebora as Hierophant, Linebeck as Sun, Mutoh as Hanged Man, I could do this all day!

Fighting through the dungeons. Of course there's going to be eight major dungeons, and these will be focused on providing some of that good ol' Zelda-style combat; the kind we used to see in OoT, Majora's Mask, Wind Waker, Twilight Princess — you get the jist. Puzzles to solve and enemies to beat on, but these dungeons will probably have to be larger than your typical Zelda dungeon because, well, we want them to be able to last multiple days. The new emphasis on RPG-type stats means that enemies will obviously scale up in stats whenever you move into a new dungeon. And completing a given dungeon will ALSO unlock the ability for you to explore new floors within.... *drumroll*

Exploring the giant multi-level "dungeon." You know the drill: Persona had Tartarus and Mementos. Zelda had stuff like The Tower of the Gods (Spirit Tracks), Temple of the Ocean King (Phantom Hourglass), and even The Depths (TotK). So it stands to reason that having a gigantic multi-level dungeon to explore would work here. I'm thinking we're leaning more towards the Temple of the Ocean King/Tower of the Gods template; a huge multi-level facility that either spirals into the sky or down into the Earth, probably going about 100 floors. At the end of it all? Our final boss showdown.

Of course we'll earn rupees + new equipment and weapons throughout our dungeon excursions. And we'll be able to visit Beedle's Shop, where we can find gear for sale that we might've missed out on in the dungeons as well as spare arrows and bombs to carry. There'll also be Rohan, the Goron blacksmith who can refine our weapons and shields, making them stronger... given we provide him with adequate money and materials.

The hardest thing for me to figure out has been how to use Personas on Link himself. I mean, sure - we can have enemies randomly drop cards for their own Personas, and each standard Zelda enemy is tied to an Arcana of course. But what then? I think you can summon one of these at a time as "familiars" in dungeons, maybe. Sorta like how Symphony of the Night or Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night use familiars, y'know - characters near you who can also deal damage but can't take damage. They exists similar to the "Vows" in Tears of the Kingdom.

Aaaaaaaaaand that's probably enough for now. I've already gone on too long, lol. I hope you enjoyed this concept, though.

[laviejaguardia]

Comic canon says 6732 ys!

And Lykon in the comics is a white Renaissance man who lives just a couple hundred if I remember correctly. Movie canon hints at a hundred smt too but I think I remember there was a movie canon promo that had more info

Okay, so, because I was curious how old Andromache could be. She’s a scythian, the kingdom/ empire existed 6-3000 BC, but the people already existed before that. 

That means, going by the kingdom, if she was born in the earliest stages of it, the oldest Andy could be is 8000 years, which is just incredible. Hell, 5000 or 4000 years is already incredible. 

Like can you imagine?! The shit she’s seen. I’d be hella depressed too. 

It also gives an interesting timeline on when they stop healing and makes me wonder how old Lykon was. 

[blazehedgehog]

If you ever feel like giving JRPGS a shot again, I'd try some of the Shining Games, The Traiks in the Sky games, Devil Summoner games, SaGa, Okage Shadow King. JRPGS to avoid would be The Bravely games, Octopath Traveler, Tales of Zestiria,

Well, on my immediate plate after finishing Mother 3 would probably be something like...

Tales of Vesperia (Switch). I got this for Christmas last year and because I've been meaning to play Mother 3 for literal years, I said that if I got the RPG itch again, I'd play that before anything else. Vesperia is a favorite among many of my friends, and I've only ever played about an hour of the fan translation of Tales of Phantasia. That's really my only context for this franchise.

Final Fantasy XI (Switch). The year before Vesperia, I got this for Christmas. Had a friend telling me I need to play it for years and years and years. Especially the remaster, which rebalances the game significantly. Again, Mother 3 was holding me back.

Chrono Cross (PS1). The last time I played this game, I really grew to hate it. But that was 15 years ago and I'm a very different person now. Would I like it more? I don't know. I'd like to find out if I could actually finish it this time. The hate isn't as fresh in my mind as FF8 is.

Final Fantasy IX (PS1?). I got to disc 3 in this game on rentals, but in between rental sessions some kid got a hold of the disc and wrecked it. I couldn't ever finish the game and never felt like replaying the 30 hours it would take to get back where I was. It has been SO LONG since then (again, about 15 years) that I remember very little about this game outside of the fact I loved it being a throwback to classic Final Fantasy in an era where Square was clearly trying to move on to more scifi-type stories.

Grandia 1 or 2. I'd love to dive deeper in to one of these games, because I have some degree of nostalgia for the 10-20 hours I put in to Grandia 2 on the Dreamcast and I'd love to see them to the end one day.

Breath of Fire 1 or 2, We'll See How It Goes. Friends tell me I shouldn't bother with early Breath of Fires, but I have memories of watching friends play them and jamming along to the Very Capcom battle themes. With people saying Breath of Fire 4 is the best one, well... we'll see how it goes.

A Lunar of Some Type. I'm determined to like one of these games after I had my hopes dashed by the Working Designs PS1 version. I think the GBA version (Lunar Legend) is probably good enough? But I know to stay away from the DS version.

Phantasy Star IV. When I reviewed the Genesis Mini, I played about four hours of this to get a sense of the game. It was the first time I'd ever really sank my teeth in to any of the classic Phantasy Star games, and I'm interested in seeing more.

I don't think I'd go for a Shin Megami Tensei game. I loved watching GiantBomb play through Persona 4, but the wider SMT franchise as a whole, the entire concept of "YOU SELL YOUR SOUL TO SATAN AND MAKE FRIENDS WITH DEMONS" concept makes me a little... uncomfortable.

I'm not saying those games shouldn't exist, I'm not saying people who like them are wrong, I'm not saying there's any other problem with them, just that I, personally, get a little too creeped out by that concept, even in jest.

A friend gave me Devil Survivor Overclocked for 3DS years and years ago and even then, I've never been able to bring myself to play it for more than an hour or two. The concept is a little too dark for what I'm cool with, is all.

Also, Devil Survivor Overclocked is a strategy game, which is a genre I can struggle with, and that's before you factor in SMT's expected level of challenge.

I've been curious about Ys a lot, and I do hear good things about Trails in the Sky. Also, it may not exactly be a JRPG, but at some point I should probably play Undertale, finally. If we're being honest, that was actually, for real at the top of my list to try the moment I'm done with Mother 3. Knowing a little about Tobyfox's connection to the Earthbound community, it kind of feels right to do one right after the other, too.

But I am going through Mother 3 extra, extra slowly, so who knows when any of this will be. It's taken me about five months to play 12 hours. If we're being honest, I dunno what to think about Mother 3 right now. I've felt kind of hot and cold on it.

[smtfaggot]

ok while theres still a shit ton of ds games i want to buy once i purchase izuna and dark spire im actually not feeling that bad about what im missing? the only ones i truly feel like im missing are fire emblem, YS, and luminous arc.. and the smt games :S

[thebladeblaster]

SMT IV/A cast Pokémon teams part 3

[chemicalbrew]

@elendsessor listen, I love your blog and the way you curate stuff!!! that comment was honestly self-defeatist on my part, and I'm sorry if it made you doubt yourself, you're one of my absolute favorite mutuals at the moment (even though we don't talk, your blog is so awesome!), and I was genuinely worried you'd not follow me back when you remade, wahhh (mostly because I barely post fandom lately, and all I do is lazily scroll my dash and scout the katana zero tag, and I am so self-conscious about how much i love kz these days... i gotta stop with that)

ANYWAY!! back to your original inquiry, at full force

9. worst part of canon

stealth levels in games that are not otherwise about stealth tend to be quite ruinous. off the top of my head, two examples I am forever a little salty about are Ghost Trick and Katana ZERO (though it's partially optional in the latter - I always opt to kill my way through the prison on replays)

For Ghost Trick, that's legitimately the only issue I have with it. For Katana ZERO, however... the ending stretch of the plot is somewhat poorly paced\unsatisfying compared to everything else + hard mode is genuinely unbalanced to the point where I actually gave up on it last month (but god, the itch to play more has not left)

SMT4: rapid-fire complaints from someone who hasn't played other SMTs yet: most of the plot after the Tokyo reveal felt weak, the game needed to be a little more obvious early on about how your choices matter, I wish Flynn had a bit more personality, just to match his companions, the Isabeau twist in particular sucks ass, Burroughs turning out to be a goddess sucks even more, App Point costs were unbalanced, they could have afforded to use multiple asset sets for Domains, I didn't like the prospect of endgame grinding.

I said Chrono Trigger is perfect, but that's only if you ignore what follows after (especially the tie-ins attempted in CTDS). I still do not have it in myself to wholeheartedly love Chrono Cross

Pyre is a wonderful game, but the second half of it was a huge drag and could stand to be less repetitive

Hades has an ending that basically ruins the rest of the plot and it's BAD. also, endgame grind is way too tedious and the progression system can break in places

Brandish 1: the remake doesn't have speed options like the original game did, Tower is a bland-looking stage with awkward music, boss music in this game is uninspired outside of HEADLESS Brandish 2: literally nothing important to the larger narrative happens in this game when you think about it, endgame is not fun and absolutely ridiculous (I get why, but this is truly old school game design at its worst), boss music still sucks (most of the OST outside of the opening hour is honestly weak), there's a different Tower and it sucks for different reasons (backtracking yay) Brandish 3: the fact that the translation isn't out yet (serious answer: this game, iirc, has more backtracking than the others. Sanctuary was a really gimmicky stage in particular) Brandish 4: for fuck's sake, who decided the Temple stage was acceptable? it's literally an assault on the senses

Trails series: awful with ships. awful. the main ship of the first arc of the series is a case of adopted incest lol there's some other really gross tropes like this all throughout and I really don't feel like reciting them right now, so... I'll list other stuff: the games weren't intended to have multiple difficulties, so playing on anything that's not Normal will suck in some way you have to be extraordinarily meticulous to 100% or use a guide as the series went on, it became easier to break the difficulty into pieces with how ridiculous skills get despite that, superbosses and scripted losses that you have to win to 100% are a tradition of the series and can be really annoying to deal with as the series went on, it also started using more modern anime tropes to appeal to more people and it UNFORTUNATELY has been working

Ys series: modern games suffer from trying to be more like Trails, which they shouldn't <3 end of story

Xenoblade 1: battle system as a whole was unrefined and unsatisfying, worst sidequests in the series, female party members are all suffering in some way (Sharla's arc was cliche and unsatisfying, she sucks to use, her design is awkward; Fiora's situation was not explored deeply enough and she got fridged; Melia suffers in the story so much it almost turns into comedy and suspends disbelief) the only antagonist that resonated with me was Zanza.

Xenoblade 2: (DLC fixes most of this) The obvious: there needed to be less titties; The obvious again: Tora's introduction sucks ass (and he doesn't get truly better ever :() AND Tiger! Tiger! can go fuck itself; The introduction in general is slow and is why I won't replay this even though it's a GOAT; I actually like the gacha being around (I got lucky and the only real trouble I had was getting KOS-MOS imo), but it should at least become infinitely more generous in NG+. AT LEAST THAT. The infamous roadblocks to 100% like Ursula's affinity chart; The UI issues that everyone harped enough on; The maps got so much worse in this game compared to 1 like? I had so much trouble navigating here compared to other XB games.

Xenoblade 3: (DLC fixes most of this) literally the worst antagonists in the series; not a great party either (RIP Sena); Noahmio was kinda boring for half the runtime; in general the messages made by the game are not interesting to me and did not resonate like 2 did; the class system ruins every good change made to battle system; chain attacks suck, and not just their music - they're worse than 1's; weakest soundtrack (same issue as Brandish 2, where it starts strong but as a whole is eh); probably the only XB game that I do not ever intend to actually finish, because it's such a slog somehow.

The only sin Kid Icarus Uprising committed was its control scheme. Might have been justified, but it sucks.

Ace Attorney has too many issues to count <3 I'll just mention that: The series as a whole sucks at guiding you when you get stuck Big Top sucks, we all know this AA6 ruined Athena and Apollo and has questionable setting\design choices AAI2's last case dragged on for too long even if it was hype

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim's battle system as a whole really sucks if we're being honest, and nowhere is this shown off better than the final battle.

VA-11 Hall-A often goes overboard with humor, but its worst offense is the optional bullet hell minigame they put in

[garmmy]

garm‘s video game wrap-up 2020

i’ve previously posted these on twitter but i realised i haven’t posted them here; anyway, i’ve completed a number of games this year, and they’re all SO GOOD i have so much trouble choosing faves!

plus i felt a little bad not being able to fanart for all these games i loved, so this is just a short post with little doodles and (spoiler-free!) thoughts on the games i’ve played this year, copied from the earlier twitter thread.

- ys ix: ys ix is SO GOOD, you'd think the city seems a bit drab at first but it's actually so fun to explore (i rarely 100% games but i had to get 100% exploration). i really love the monstrum and also the designs and their stories are 😭👌 

- pokemon shield: i had lots of fun with it!! (haven't bought the dlc though..) i appreciate that this was the most invested i've been in filling the pokedex since gen 5. still not the biggest fan of the pokemon design style this gen, but i've definitely warmed up to it a bit :> 

- atelier iris: the music is sooo good and the party characters were a tight bunch too! i'm so glad for lita;; though i only really understood how the shop upgrading thing worked later in the game so i probably missed out a good chunk of events T_T 

- atelier iris 2: MY PERSONAL GOTY, it isn't anything super epic but the characters, story, graphics, music are just so charming;; it's like reading a kid/young teen fantasy novel but in game form! it's overall such a well-rounded, sweet package imo and i love it for what it is!! 

- virtue's last reward: this was probably the most i used my brain for this year LOL, and i remember panicking thinking i somehow didn't have the last password!! (i had written it on another paper i threw somewhere.) and what can i say, i love the siggy/phido duo;; 

- ghost trick: this was long overdue and i see why everyone says PLAY IT!! sadly as a game it's quite short, but it was a perfect length for its story and it's just so..creative? brilliant? i'd love more games like this, for now i'll just echo everyone and say play ghost trick. 

- zero time dilemma: i am way biased towards D-team 😂 animation was fairly rough and there's a particular part i hated watching over again, but other than those it was still a fun ride and these puzzle rooms! always make me nostalgic for flash point-and-click games, i love them. 

- digital devil saga/dds2: the setting is just INSANE there's nothing quite like it, and the avatar designs are just AMAZING. i personally wish it was..slightly less dungeon and more story/characters, but it's actually a really nice balance between smt and persona as-is, imo. 

- tokyo xanadu ex+: music-wise this is my 2nd fave this year behind atelier iris 2, the music is just INSANELY good and makes running through dungeons 100x more fun. the XRC is also precious;; and i love the side-story format for showing character events. 

- strange journey redux: AMAZING atmosphere as is typical in smt;; also smt1 was the first smt game i completed and devil summoner is among my faves, so the whole 1st-person dungeon crawling, stupid dark rooms/pitfalls/teleport traps make me go 'yea this sure is an smt game'. 😂 

- trails of cold steel iv: there is just sooo much content, and it is honestly such a joy to see EVERYONE IS HERE. i just love new class vii so much;; if anything, trails games are such a treasure trove of character dialogue and always leave me wanting more.. 

- hajimari no kiseki: not finished yet, but this will probably be my last for the year. i personally LOVE the garden/episode setup in sky 3rd, so i'm really glad to see it again in this game. the cross-story mechanic is fun too, and there's just so much to do!!

[dumbblogfordumbpeople]

My backlog is terrible and I'm playing too many endless or loot games so I'm trying to cut it down.

Games I'm looking forward to in 2020

Digimon Survive (Switch)

Games I've beat in 2020

Dragon Quest I (GBC)

...wait we're in June and that's it? Oops.

Currently Playing

Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition

Animal Crossing New Horizons (Switch) - not really able to be "beat"

Priority games I for sure want to beat in 2020

Yakuza 0 (PS4)

Fate Stay/Night visual novel (PC)

Mario VS Rabbids (Switch)

Games I hope to beat in 2020

Dragon Quest Builders 2 (Switch)

Final Fantasy X

Final Fantasy X-2 (Switch)

Persona 5 Royal (PS4)

Trails in the Sky - First Chapter (PC)

Digimon World Cybersleuth & Hacker's Memory (Switch)

Dragon Quest series

Yakuza series

Spider-Man (PS4)

SMT Devil Survivor (3DS)

Disgaea 5 (Switch)

Fire Emblem Fates (3DS)

Games I'll try to weave in

Dragon Quest 2+

Fate series

Fire Emblem series

Ys series

Trails series

Shin Megami Tensei series

Dot Hack series

Drakengard series

Xenoblade series

Xenosaga series

Metal Gear Solid series

Chrono Trigger

Yokai Watch

Legend of Dragoon

Digimon World

Digimon World 2

Digimon World 3

Sekiro

Witcher series (after reading books)

Blazblue series

Stella Glow

Fantasy Life

Tokyo Dark

Valkyria Chronicles

Nier Automata (was trying to play Nier first but now I'm just gonna wait for the remake)

Not a complete list, under construction , will update , etc.

[azurecorsair]

Year of the JRPG: A Retrospective

Tales of Berseria Tales of Hearts R Trails in the Sky Trails in the Sky Second Chapter Final Fantasy XV Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne Final Fantasy X Ys: The Oath in Felghana The World Ends with You: Final Remix Trails in the Sky the Third Fire Emblem Echoes

That’s a lot of games!

I'm pretty happy with this list. I'm about to say some stuff that may sound like I'm dissatisfied with my progress, so I want to make it clear from the beginning that I'm not. This was a good, worthwhile effort. Now, on to the caveats. There are two.

First, I'd hoped to have around 15 entries on this list. There are two reasons why I don't: I spent a lot of time, especially in the first quarter of 2018, playing PUBG, Dissidia, and Splatoon; and I played several "palate cleanser" non-JRPGs.

I don't regret any of that -- I had fun doing it, and that's what video games are about -- but it did leave me short of that goal. It is what it is.

The second caveat is that three of those games were newly acquired. The purpose of this was to play games I already owned. But I got FFXV as a gift, and I bought TWEWY and Trails 3 myself. TWEWY aside, that wasn't supposed to happen.

Again, I don't regret these. And a more positive way of looking at it is that at least I didn't add these to my backlog -- I stayed neutral by playing them immediately. (That said, I did buy SMT4 in a sale after finishing Nocturne, which also keeps me neutral, but in a bad way.) But the fact remains that this wasn’t what I set out to do at the start of the year.

To reiterate, I’m happy with what I accomplished here. I made a sizeable dent in my backlog, more so if you add in the 8 non-JRPGs, for a total of 19 games finished. I tried two new series, SMT and Trails, that I ended up liking -- especially Trails, even if half the series is not and may never be localized -- giving me more games to look forward to in the future.

I’ve still got plenty of JRPGs left in my backlog, and I’ll be playing some new ones this year -- KH3 is out in two weeks from this post, to name one -- but for now my backlog focus will be elsewhere.

It’s been fun.