Eluvianii he/him Posted November 25, 2023 Report Share Posted November 25, 2023 (edited) Finished 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim. This is hands down one of the best games I've ever played, maybe even the best, I'm not entirely sure yet, and for sure one of the best stories I've had the pleasure to encounter in any piece of media. Telling a story like this and not completely screwing it up is such an achievement. If you had told me a summary of the plot before playing it, I would've played it just to witness the sheer ridiculousness of it. My first assumption would have been that no story could possibly drop that many plot twists of that big a magnitude and actually make sense. But somehow, it does. It's an incredibly ambitious story on an incredibly ambitious scale. It's pretty amazing how many seemingly incompatible tropes they managed to fit in here too. This also really goes all in with the non-linear storytelling, and it's one story where I'm pretty sure every player will get a unique order on. The particular rate you choose to alternate between battle and adventure with, how long you spend with each character, which order you choose to alternate between the 13 of them, which order you see the individual branches of each character's story in, there's a lot of variables here. Honestly, it's all so scrambled the timeline they include becomes absolutely necessary to orientate yourself at times. Which is particularly helpful after particularly impactful twists. And I can't stress this enough, there are a lot of those. The amount of times this story decides to challenge your understanding of events hard enough that it recontextualizes its very premise is, well, not advisable. At every point in the game you will think you know what it's about, and at every point you'll be wrong. The battle system is pretty interesting. It felt a bit alien to me, but with time I got used to its mechanics. But you do need to know what every character is good at, and that was a slow process with a party of 13. The characters are great, each has such a different tone to their story, if you just rotate doing a chapter from each one, the game never gets stale. And they did such a good job with their arcs too, a good third of the cast or so I wasn't very fond of at first, but now I am equally sad to see every one of them go. And sad I am. It feels so wrong knowing that there's no more to see. I want to load my game and see them carrying on with their lives, a sci-fi mystery turned slice of life, but there's nothing. sigh I can feel another story hangover creeping in. It's surprising really the game is long, somewhere around 48 hours, which is a lot when the gameplay is about 80% reading, but it still feels like it was not enough, I want more. That's not to say the story was underdeveloped, I think it's the right length and I'm extremely satisfied with the ending, seriously, it's a great ending. It's just, I want more. Don't wanna say goodbye just yet, you know. So that's my current mood I guess, I'm sad, and also tempted to start another game right away. It would be an interesting experience to see how the story feels once you know everything. Whether I go for it or not, I know this is a game that will be stuck in my head for life, and it's one I hope I can find the time to replay many times. Seriously, it's a masterpiece. Edited November 25, 2023 by Eluvianii 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aneonfoxtribute Posted November 26, 2023 Report Share Posted November 26, 2023 15 hours ago, Eluvianii said: Finished 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim. This is hands down one of the best games I've ever played, maybe even the best, I'm not entirely sure yet, and for sure one of the best stories I've had the pleasure to encounter in any piece of media. Telling a story like this and not completely screwing it up is such an achievement. If you had told me a summary of the plot before playing it, I would've played it just to witness the sheer ridiculousness of it. My first assumption would have been that no story could possibly drop that many plot twists of that big a magnitude and actually make sense. But somehow, it does. It's an incredibly ambitious story on an incredibly ambitious scale. It's pretty amazing how many seemingly incompatible tropes they managed to fit in here too. This also really goes all in with the non-linear storytelling, and it's one story where I'm pretty sure every player will get a unique order on. The particular rate you choose to alternate between battle and adventure with, how long you spend with each character, which order you choose to alternate between the 13 of them, which order you see the individual branches of each character's story in, there's a lot of variables here. Honestly, it's all so scrambled the timeline they include becomes absolutely necessary to orientate yourself at times. Which is particularly helpful after particularly impactful twists. And I can't stress this enough, there are a lot of those. The amount of times this story decides to challenge your understanding of events hard enough that it recontextualizes its very premise is, well, not advisable. At every point in the game you will think you know what it's about, and at every point you'll be wrong. The battle system is pretty interesting. It felt a bit alien to me, but with time I got used to its mechanics. But you do need to know what every character is good at, and that was a slow process with a party of 13. The characters are great, each has such a different tone to their story, if you just rotate doing a chapter from each one, the game never gets stale. And they did such a good job with their arcs too, a good third of the cast or so I wasn't very fond of at first, but now I am equally sad to see every one of them go. And sad I am. It feels so wrong knowing that there's no more to see. I want to load my game and see them carrying on with their lives, a sci-fi mystery turned slice of life, but there's nothing. sigh I can feel another story hangover creeping in. It's surprising really the game is long, somewhere around 48 hours, which is a lot when the gameplay is about 80% reading, but it still feels like it was not enough, I want more. That's not to say the story was underdeveloped, I think it's the right length and I'm extremely satisfied with the ending, seriously, it's a great ending. It's just, I want more. Don't wanna say goodbye just yet, you know. So that's my current mood I guess, I'm sad, and also tempted to start another game right away. It would be an interesting experience to see how the story feels once you know everything. Whether I go for it or not, I know this is a game that will be stuck in my head for life, and it's one I hope I can find the time to replay many times. Seriously, it's a masterpiece. Yeah 13 Sentinels is so good, it's fantastic 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Treamayne Posted November 26, 2023 Report Share Posted November 26, 2023 Into the Breach - Advanced Edition Shandalar - Mana Link update Impossible Creatures 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ΨιτιsτηεΒέsτ Male Posted November 30, 2023 Report Share Posted November 30, 2023 Unpopular Game nowadays: Rocket League. Honeslty I like how it isn’t a shooting game, but still has its own special, skill building competition. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aeoryi she/her Posted November 30, 2023 Report Share Posted November 30, 2023 Geometry dash - Incomplete Level building 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eluvianii he/him Posted December 3, 2023 Report Share Posted December 3, 2023 End of semester is an absolutely terrible time for this, but I've been having all my free time stolen by Persona 5 Royal. I remember watching the first teaser for this back in like 2015 and have been eager to play it since. My expectations aren't as stratospheric as they were back then but they're still high and honestly, it's delivering. I've heard things like how the story supposedly isn't as good as the previous games, but the gameplay and presentation are so much better that personally, any flaws in the story will probably be outweighed easily. This game is as addictive as 3 and 4, but in those much of it for me was grinding stats and social links waiting for events to eventually happen. They had an "I'll play just one more day" feeling but for me it was because most days nothing happened, and it felt like a waste to stop playing before seeing something. Here the amount of things to do and of scripted events make days feel a lot fuller, somehow. So still addictive, but having more fun with it. Having a blast so far. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Briar King Posted December 4, 2023 Report Share Posted December 4, 2023 That game was so hard for me. I couldn’t even finish the 2nd palace before I called it quits. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kasimir he/him Posted December 4, 2023 Report Share Posted December 4, 2023 Wartales, though I'm watching more than playing due to a wrist RSI injury and the need to reduce screen time. I really liked Mount & Blade but not the combat, which tended to give me headaches. Wartales feels like the best of both worlds - I get turn-based combat reminiscent of XCOM but also squad management. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Briar King Posted December 17, 2023 Report Share Posted December 17, 2023 Farting around on Gamepass I started up Halo Reach and I’m having trouble and wondering how I enjoyed this so much when new. The controls are rust. Destiny setup is superior to old Bungie. So I turned that off and started something called Senua. We ll see what happens with this one. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weaver of Lies he/him Posted December 26, 2023 Report Share Posted December 26, 2023 I got my brother Super Mario Bros Wonder, he got it Christmas Eve and now we’re done. Now playing Hogwarts Legacy. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Honorable One he/him Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 On 12/26/2023 at 2:01 AM, Lightweaver2 said: I got my brother Super Mario Bros Wonder, he got it Christmas Eve and now we’re done. Now playing Hogwarts Legacy. Hogwarts Legacy was my second favorite game of the year that I played, after The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. I've been playing Unravel Two with my sister, and it is really fun. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmilingPanda19 Hi/Ho Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 9 minutes ago, The Honorable One said: Hogwarts Legacy was my second favorite game of the year that I played, after The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. I've been playing Unravel Two with my sister, and it is really fun. I’ve been doing a lot of MC role play, but I need to get into TOTK 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wittles he/him Posted January 12 Report Share Posted January 12 I got Undertale for Christmas. So I've been playing that a lot. Very good game, highly recommend all around. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Use the Falchion Posted January 16 Report Share Posted January 16 I was playing Persona 5 Royal during the break, and the electricity cut out after I had been playing for about two and a half hours without saving, and I just...stopped playing for a week or so. I'm almost ready to get back to it though. Currently playing Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes. I beat the Azure Gleam when the game first came out, but I never had the urge to play the other stories. I finally beat Scarlet Blaze on NG+ during the break, which was nice. Now I'm back to Azure Gleam on the same profile, and the game is just too easy. I like it, but Shez can complete maps by himself and Dimitri is a BEAST. I'm never lacking for money and rarely need to buy resources. Now it's just about completing builds and getting some of the harder-to-get weapons. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aneonfoxtribute Posted January 16 Report Share Posted January 16 1 hour ago, Use the Falchion said: I was playing Persona 5 Royal during the break, and the electricity cut out after I had been playing for about two and a half hours without saving, and I just...stopped playing for a week or so. I'm almost ready to get back to it though. Currently playing Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes. I beat the Azure Gleam when the game first came out, but I never had the urge to play the other stories. I finally beat Scarlet Blaze on NG+ during the break, which was nice. Now I'm back to Azure Gleam on the same profile, and the game is just too easy. I like it, but Shez can complete maps by himself and Dimitri is a BEAST. I'm never lacking for money and rarely need to buy resources. Now it's just about completing builds and getting some of the harder-to-get weapons. To be fair, A. Warriors games are not generally known for being terribly difficult, and B. you're on a double NG+ file so basically everyone is insanely overleveled 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Use the Falchion Posted January 16 Report Share Posted January 16 10 hours ago, aneonfoxtribute said: To be fair, A. Warriors games are not generally known for being terribly difficult, and B. you're on a double NG+ file so basically everyone is insanely overleveled I wasn't expecting the hardest challenge ever, but even NG+ had some difficult moments and started off a lot harder. For Double NG++ it's not just easy, there's very little to work towards. That's the major problem. I'm having fun but I want more to do. I've tried the traditional FEW but the gameplay there isn't nearly as polished (No Combat Arts or spells, and most characters have a copy that plays similarly if not the exact same...and I can't stand Lianna's "The Enemy!" line or whatever), and I'm not a fan of Persona 5 Strikers on the Switch. (Probably my biggest game regret of 2023.) Still, these are quibbles at most and not real complaints. I'm still playing it after all, 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aneonfoxtribute Posted January 19 Report Share Posted January 19 On 1/16/2024 at 9:53 AM, Use the Falchion said: I wasn't expecting the hardest challenge ever, but even NG+ had some difficult moments and started off a lot harder. For Double NG++ it's not just easy, there's very little to work towards. That's the major problem. I'm having fun but I want more to do. I've tried the traditional FEW but the gameplay there isn't nearly as polished (No Combat Arts or spells, and most characters have a copy that plays similarly if not the exact same...and I can't stand Lianna's "The Enemy!" line or whatever), and I'm not a fan of Persona 5 Strikers on the Switch. (Probably my biggest game regret of 2023.) Still, these are quibbles at most and not real complaints. I'm still playing it after all, Yeah the original FEW is not great. They made insane improvements to 3 Hopes. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wittles he/him Posted January 19 Report Share Posted January 19 On 11/17/2023 at 8:24 PM, Silver Phantom said: I just manage to beat Batman: Arkham Asylum on hard mode Niiiiice. I beat it on normal mode fairly recently and am currently working through Arkham City Spoiler A little late lol 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver Phantom he/him Posted January 20 Report Share Posted January 20 6 hours ago, Wittles said: Niiiiice. I beat it on normal mode fairly recently and am currently working through Arkham City Reveal hidden contents A little late lol Thanks, good luck on city 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eluvianii he/him Posted January 24 Report Share Posted January 24 Finished Persona 5 Royal at 144 hours. This is such a thing to get off my backlog. A rare case of a game I was obsessively following since before it launched, yet I only had the chance to play it now. My tastes have changed a lot since then, if I had played it on release it surely would have become my favorite game. Still, it was a great experience and absolutely worth the wait. Out of the Persona games I've played it's in an awkward position. It has the most engaging story, my favorite overall cast, great social links (or confidants I guess) that tell some stories you'd never get in the previous games, and it has without a doubt the best gameplay. However, for its current formula, the central theme is probably the most important aspect of a Persona game. P3 tells an immensely powerful message about death, and P4 does the same with the theme of truth. For P5 I could only take out the theme of freedom, or free will to be more specific. But uh... Spoiler People manipulate other people's free will all throughout the story, but this is regarded as right or wrong according to what the story needs at any given time. Which usually boils down to, when the protagonists do it it's right, and when a villain does it it's wrong. Sure, you could argue that even if the method was wrong, there was no other choice, the characters saved people and that's that. But that's just end justifies the means and that's kind of a risky take. And hey, you can't blame me for wanting a story to prioritize the journey over the destination, right? A lot of side characters got character development exclusively through having a "change of heart", which, well you can imagine why I wasn't a fan. Now, the story doesn't completely ignore this. It wouldn't be a Persona game if the protagonists didn't find out right at the end that they had it all wrong all along. Well, it happens. They do find out. They discover that changing people's hearts is essentially denying them of their humanity. This lasts all of a single cutscene and has no weight whatsoever on the plot moving forward. sigh The Royal expansion did flesh this out by introducing another character who's, in essence, the same as the Phantom Thieves. A good natured person who just wants to help, but by helping people he's denying them their free will. Their humanity. However, while the story is amazing, he's the only one to be regarded as wrong. So in the end, though several angles were explored, and though that exploration makes the protagonists look like anti-heroes in the best of cases, their justice specifically is never called into question for more than a moment, and the story regards them as heroes all throughout. I absolutely adore these characters but as a group you can bet I'd be voting "No" in those surveys. Gah, that got long. If someone read this, I'm sorry for the rant, but I was extremely disappointed by that aspect of the game when literally every other aspect of it was so perfect. So yeah, I have only one issue with the game, it just happened to be the most important part of it. Still, it was good, it was fun, absolutely recommend it despite what I said and can't wait to tackle the spin-offs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Use the Falchion Posted March 3 Report Share Posted March 3 Cassette Beasts right now, waiting for Unicorn Overlord to come out on Friday! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The cheeseman Sola Scriptora Posted March 3 Report Share Posted March 3 I am playing Skyrim for the third time. My current character is an Imperial spellsword (specializing in one-handed and destruction magic) who hates both the Thalmor and the Stormcloaks. I used Alternate Start for the first time, and it put me in the wreckage of a wagon in the southern end of Eastmarch. I'm having a lot of fun 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aneonfoxtribute Posted March 3 Report Share Posted March 3 11 hours ago, Use the Falchion said: Cassette Beasts right now, waiting for Unicorn Overlord to come out on Friday! Same, Unicorn Overlord is gonna be great. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eluvianii he/him Posted March 8 Report Share Posted March 8 Was too sick and tired to do more than the prologue in Unicorn Overlord last night. Now I'm only sick so I can finally get to play the whole day. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aneonfoxtribute Posted March 8 Report Share Posted March 8 Also got Unicorn Overlord. Im focusing on Rebirth, but UO is great 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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