2023 GAMING DIARY

Last year I didn't get much done cause I got a very steady job and all I want to do after work/during lunch is play a fighting game/roguelike which are kind of never ending endeavors and don't exactly have concrete goals. But I think one and done story oriented games are ultimately more fufilling so recharged after the holidays I think I'm ready.

I'm going to commit to completing a SaGa game cause I just never got around to it but after reading this post. I really just want to try and appreciate a Squaresoft series I never slipped into. I just gotta go into it knowing that it's supposed to be somewhat aimless and confusing. RS2 isn't fully translated and I don't feel like dropping down 30 bucks for an inferior HD port (but might cave in when there's a sale) but RS3 is fully playable on my Everdrive cartridge (and I heard it's a bit easier).

Also I would like to complete every gosh darn FF game before I die, so FF7 Remake is close to completion and a breeze to go through. I have a PS5 so not only is FF7 Remake spruce up but FF16 will likely be a game I'm playing asap.

Games I'm playing
Final Fantasy XIII-2
Code Vein

Games I haven't played in awhile but want to get back into:
Trials of Mana
Dragon Age: Origins
YS Origins
Xanadu Next
Zelda Twilight Princess
Romancing Saga 3 (SNES)
FF7 Remake (PS5)
Sakura Wars (Saturn)
Metroid Dread (Switch)

Games I haven't played at all for the diary but itching towards:
Majora's Mask
Yakuza 0
Shenmue 1+2+3
Breath of Fire Dragon Quarter

Games I might have given up on:
Diablo 1
Dusk
Breath of Fire 2 (big maybe)
Nioh 2
Psychonauts 2

Games I've Beaten
Cocoon
Final Fantasy XIII
Gotham Knights
Dishonored
Sunset Overdrive

author=Darken
Games I might have given up on:
Diablo 1
Breath of Fire 2 (big maybe)

...I don't know how this thread works. I dunno if Darken's gonna laugh at me XD. but I was just gonna say: don't give up on Diablo 1 just yet. I don't know what version your playing, probably PC. I played that, and the Mac version back in the day, (It was one of the few games Mac and PC could play together) but I was never really good at Diablo. But then years later I beat the single player mode on the PS1/PSPgo not too long ago.

If you're playing Warrior, it's kind of like a cookie clicker RPG? I know that sounds dumb because Diablo's been around way longer than that, but hear me out. What you're essentially trying to do in Diablo 1 is create the best cookie click tank, so you can just one shot everything, very very quickly. Weapons are like super important when you're playing the warrior, cause every extra stat you have is going towards that one click that will take down everything, restores a little HP, steal some mana, etc.

When you find a better weapon, you'll want to slow down, save, and experimental with the new weapon for a bit before continuing with the game. Because often the new weapon won't work out, so you'll want to find a way to quickly switch back, so you can continue the game. You're really just creating a tank that will one shot everything. It took me years to figure this out cause I was too use to final fantasy and the two games couldn't be more different.

But like, the best part of Diablo 1 is like 3/4s into the game around the caves, right before you get near the final quest where the main plot point is revealed to you - They have this really great halloween music that plays in the background, I think it was in the caves. That music is better than it has any right to be. There is no reason why it should sound this good. XD

Valkyrie Elysium

There's definitely moments I find myself unable to see what the hell is going on because of how the camera in the game, works. Which I kinda knew about from the reviews I saw. It's definitely frustrating when it happens, but, for the most part, the game provides areas where that isn't too much of an issue.

The game structure feels similar to Castlevanina Lords of Shadow and/or Mega Man X in that the game has this stage-based format, and you might not necessarily get everything in a stage on your first go. There was one collectible in the very first mission that seemed to ask for an ability I didn't have yet, but, all it required was a double-jump, and using the hook-shot in mid-air. Though, the double-jump is, technically, an ability you don't start with, but, can be acquired early enough. Though, I did find another collectible later that I actually can't get to, so, there is that.

The dip into Metroidvana territory comes in two ways. One is the aforementioned hook-shot. That's mostly used as a tool in combat for Valkyrie to close the distance between her, and the poor sods who dare to stand against her. The number of places where it's used to get from Platform A to Platform B isn't terribly numerous from what I've played so far, but, absolutely exists. The einherjar in the game also provide methods to open up otherwise unreachable locations. For example, one can remove large boulders blocking your path, while another can create ice platforms for players to, well, platform with.

One thing I find odd is how quiet the game is. Like, the in-game settings indicate that the music and voice volumes are near-max, but, outside of Valkyrie's battle cries as she attacks, I can barely make out anything. Modifying my system volume is an option, but, it just feels so awkward that my system volume is set to 16%, and I can hear things in other games just fine. Apparently not this game?

The areas are beautiful and pretty to look at, but, it also feels incredibly dead. Which, I guess, makes a certain amount of sense, since the backdrop of this game is "Ragnarok is coming!" However, having more people to interact with, or at least a way to get rid of unnecessary/unwanted consumables, feels like it should be a thing.

I don't really understand why this game takes a page from Devil May Cry, and gives players a rating on how well they performed in a stage. Maybe I'm just annoyed that the game shows a penalty for using items when your score is evaluated. I'm aware Devil May Cry does pretty much the same thing, but, it's also true that the item limit in that series is probably more than freaking 7.

Well, to be more accurate, the item limit seems to be a case-by-case basis (which is, itself, kinda odd in my opinion), but, the basic heal potion has a limit of 7, or thereabouts. I dunno. I just have to question the design decision of limiting consumables that much when it seems like the expectation that is placed on the player is to not use them. Then, follow that up with not being able to sell them off, or get rid of them in any meaningful way, and I can only shake my head.

Despite my complaints, I'm mostly having a good time here. I wouldn't call it a great game, but, it's serviceable enough in it's own right. The reviews I saw made it a point to say that this game is more a reboot, or re-imagining, of the original Valkyrie Profile than anything. I was ready to accept that, and from what I've seen of the story, it pretty much holds true.

I think I'll join in on this whole gaming diary thing this year, it always looked like a fun activity after all and it might also help me give more opinions on games and also put some more thought into what I liked and disliked about games and in turn put a greater attempt at writing down my thoughts.

I'm going to shamelessly borrow Marrend's post model

OzzyTheOne
Completed:
Valkyria Chronicales
Red Dead Redemption 2 (second playthrough)
Gothic 3
Resident Evil 4 Remake

In Progress:


Cancelled:
None yet, and I doubt there will be any, I'm very particualr about chosing what games I play.

Bucket List:

SPARK THE ELECTRIC JESTER 2

First of all, this game has a smooth turning feature which is on by default and it doesn't really make turning smoother so much as it just makes it slower, which you probably wouldn't want in a Sonic-esque game where you're going fast 80% of the time. I didn't find out you could turn it off until like 10 stages in, so that was slightly annoying (additionally it would be nice if there was an active camera option so I didn't have to multitask and could just focus on playing the game)

Also, I'm no expert on level design, but I've been finding a few stages in this a little hard to navigate, so I would often find myself just kind of fumbling through most of the game not really having any idea what I was doing or where I was going. I don't remember ever having this kind of problem with Sonic, not even the Adventure games (emerald hunt notwithstanding), so I'm not sure why I was feeling it here.

Besides that, I'm still having fun. Don't really care about the story and I mostly just tolerate the combat but overall I'm enjoying quite a bit

Side note: I'm currently addicted to PAC-MAN 256 but there's no real end goal in that game so it's not in the master post

Red Dead Redemption 2

Ok, so as stated before, this is my second playthrough of the game and I'm aiming towards getting a 100% completion rating, which wouldn't be a problem if some of the collectible side quests weren't so grating and unnecesarily filled with padding for whatever unknown reason. All the collectible strands I did until now were quite fine, strewn all about in a beautiful world that is a joy to explore, but then there's the Duchesses and other Animals collectible quest line where you have to find a bunch of orchids and birds that rarely spawn and harvest them all around the main swamp area of the map.

Now, one of the problems is that this collectible side quest is that it is divided into multiple parts, you first gotta find this many type of this orchid and this many type of this bird and then you unlock the next set of collectibles. The catch? You can't collect ahead of time. If you go out of your way of looking up a guide so you know what orchids you can already collect in order to finish each part as quickly as possible, the game literally doesn't allow you. Let's say for part 2 of the quest you need 10 Rat Tail Orchids, well, until you've unlocked part 2 of the quest, you can only find 9 and you will never find a 10th one.

What does this do? It wastes your time. It wastes your time so damn much by having you go back and forth to the quest giver and aforementioned swamp area over and over again, because you couldn't just collect everything in one go and then complete all the parts of the quest in quick succession, it's beyond mind-boggling why they thought this was a good idea, it's terrible, terrible padding, for optional side-content! Why would you pad optional side-content like that? What makes it worse, is that the fastest way to traverse the swamps is by horse, since walking in a swamp knee-deep in mud is super slow, who would've thought. Now, why is this a problem? The swamps are filled with aligators that constantly spook your horse into bucking you off and running away, which then forces you to invest precious time in getting back up, wading slowly through knee-deep mud to get to your horse, so you can continue to hunt for stupid flowers that are surrounded by gators. (To be fair though, you can just shoot all the aligators and use a horse that doesn't spook easy, but I hate killing a bunch of animals for no good reason except to not inconvenience me)

All other collectible strands of Red Dead Redemption 2 are great in my opinion, as they encourage exploration, even when you're using a guide, and they bring you to very varied climates around the game world. Hunting for orchids and rare bird spawns in a bogged down swamp filled with horse-spooking mobs and being unable to find all the flowers you want until you've unlocked the ability to do so is just frustrating and should be a lesson on how not to handle an optional collectible side-quest in any game. I'm glad I used a guide, because finding out that a 5th of the orchids aren't even in the swamp but in the mountains would've taken me forever to find out and taken even more of my precious time. Let this be a lesson for all who read this, do not structure your collectible missions like the Duchesses and other Animals quest from Red Dead Redemption 2, it's by far the only aspect of the game I've truly come to hate.

Decided to do a "23 for '23" challenge where I pick 23 unfinished games from my collection to finish this year, in the hopes of cutting down some more of my endless backlog. Tried to pick a mixture of stuff I was excited to play and stuff that has sat on my shelf gathering dust for way too long. My list is:

.hack//Mutation
Alundra 2
Ape Escape
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Beautiful Katamari
Bioshock
Code Age Commanders
Dead Space 2
Drakan: The Ancients' Gates
Eithea
El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron
Front Mission
Genma Onimusha
Legend of Heroes: White Witch
Medieval (PS4 remake)
Metal Gear Solid 4
OZ / The Sword of Etheria
Rez
Soukaigi
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Tales of Xillia
Tricolore Crise
Voodoo Vince

Finished so far this year

Batman: Arkham Asylum
First game off my 23 game list. Had heard good things about this series since they were first released but never got around to any of them until now. Blazed through this first entry in about three days, and was largely impressed by how well it held up. The combat did feel a little limited and I thought some of the bosses were a bit naff (particularly the last one and the recycled "not-Bane" fights), but loved the menacing atmosphere of the environments, thought the game had some really memorable moments (the Scarecrow sections especially!) and found the stealth gameplay and gadgets to still be a lot of fun. More than anything, though, the game really nails the whole vibe of the character and the world, and it's tons of fun just getting to be Batman and do Batman things. Not sure how much the sequels are really my thing given their more open-world trappings, but will probably try City sometime.

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West
Started this at the tail end of last year and finished a few days ago. Torn on this one. Voice acting, writing and motion capture are incredible and so far ahead of most games of the era, and the art direction is genuinely stunning at times. I also really like how it reimagines the source material. But it's riddled with technical issues, and the gameplay feels wholly unimaginative and so much less than the story deserves. Read it was pitched as a CG animated movie originally, and feel like maybe that might have been the right choice in hindsight. Still, much more good than bad, and was worth a go once as a fan of Alex Garland's work, even if I doubt I'll replay.

In progress

Front Mission
About nine missions into this. Playing on an actual SNES / SuFami on a CRT, which feels super cosy as someone who only ever played SNES through emulation, and always dreamed of owning one as a kid. I've only finished Front Mission 3 in the past, and haven't really dabbled that much in the rest of the series, so it's been fun looking back to the series's roots. Impressed by the level of customisation you have over your machines in this for an SNES game, and the pixel art in the battle cutaways is gorgeous in typical 90s Square fashion. Combat is kind of basic SRPG stuff, but it's still good fun, and little touches like being able to destroy individual parts of targets add a nice bit of flavour. Also loving the Amano character art and Yoko Shimomura tunes. Really good stuff so far.

Drakan: The Ancients' Gates
Played a little of this back in 2010 and was quite impressed, but never got around to giving it a proper look until now. Extremely ambitious for a 2002 PS2 title, feeling almost like an early Elder Scrolls game with its large world, decent amount of side quests, and relative level of freedom. Can imagine the ability to traverse the world on the back of a dragon must have been particularly impressive at the time. Combat is awfully janky and the loading times are pretty bad, but having a pretty good time so far, and it feels like a shame that this one seems to have mostly flown under the radar at the time. Might give the PC prequel a look at some point too.

I'm gonna try aiming to spread my gaming updates out to maybe once every two weeks, or so, starting around the 15th. However, here's what I got in updates since last time.

Valkyrie Elysium


Tales of Arise


Final Fantasy 7 Remake
You know you want to read it.