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Marrend
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CloseI only played Valkyria Chronicles games on console and handheld, and find your note about the keyboard controls kinda interesting? Maybe not. Like, it's been a while, but, I can definitely recall movement being possible with the left analog, possibly the D-pad as well, and the right analog was for camera movement. Moving the camera this way did not move the tank, by itself, but, certainly could indicate a direction for the tank to move in, or turn toward.
I think the gripe might be more about how tanks use AP/move points as they turn, while standard troops (likely) don't do that. Which might be a fair thing to gripe about, but, I'm wondering if that isn't some kind of weird balancing act? Though, it's also technically true that tanks don't necessarily need to physically turn themselves in order to fire, unlike standard units.
I think the gripe might be more about how tanks use AP/move points as they turn, while standard troops (likely) don't do that. Which might be a fair thing to gripe about, but, I'm wondering if that isn't some kind of weird balancing act? Though, it's also technically true that tanks don't necessarily need to physically turn themselves in order to fire, unlike standard units.
author=Marrend
I only played Valkyria Chronicles games on console and handheld, and find your note about the keyboard controls kinda interesting? Maybe not. Like, it's been a while, but, I can definitely recall movement being possible with the left analog, possibly the D-pad as well, and the right analog was for camera movement. Moving the camera this way did not move the tank, by itself, but, certainly could indicate a direction for the tank to move in, or turn toward.
I think the gripe might be more about how tanks use AP/move points as they turn, while standard troops (likely) don't do that. Which might be a fair thing to gripe about, but, I'm wondering if that isn't some kind of weird balancing act? Though, it's also technically true that tanks don't necessarily need to physically turn themselves in order to fire, unlike standard units.
No, no, on PC, when you move the mouse to look around it turns the tank as well, wasting precious AP points, whereas if you use the keyboard to look around, it doesn't turn the tank, no idea why they made it like that. I do however find it fair that turning the tank costs AP points, since the backside of tanks has a huge weak spot that can result in insta-kills if you hit it.
That's true. A backstab is absolutely one-shot kills from other tanks, from Lancer fire, and grenades (not 100% sure about this one). I don't think it's a one-hit kill for Scouts and Engineers, as they fire 5 bullets in one "round" of attacks, and I'm pretty sure Shocktroopers fire off 20 in a "round", but, a backstab from those units are deadly all the same.
LordBlueRouge
2143
I don't normally post here, but I thought I'd share my thoughts. The 3DS and Wii U stores are closing so I'm grabbing what I can before the stores close on March 27. I'm currently playing through Wario Land, on the 3DS. I never really noticed it before, but I really like the pickup-and-play feature Nintendo added to the virtual console releases? So you can pick up exactly where you left off, without having to power off the system - turn the system back on, load your save file and pick up where you left off; it's kind of changed the way I look at, and play these games now.
Like, I own some of these games already in some form, NES, GameBoy, Super Nintendo, etc but, what's neat about having them all on the 3DS's virtual console is that you can quickly jump back and forth from playing something like Super Mario Bros. to Mario 3, to Mario Land, to Mario World, to Super Mario Land 2, to Wario Land, to Wario Land 3 -- and by doing this, you start noticing the wild creative directions and decisions they started taking, when making each entry?
Like, my favorite part about Super Mario World, was always using the keys to unlock alternative paths or hidden worlds to get to the end of the game - I wish they had made a proper sequel to that, where they took that concept and turned that into it's own game. 2 years later, they release Mario Land 2, which is sort of a combination of the powerups in Mario 3, but also the frantic bonus stages and money/1up collecting of Mario Land 1 -- but then 2 years after that, they release Wario Land, which ultimately feels like a evolution to the key level stuff found in Mario World and a sequel to the money and powerup stuff explored in Mario Land 2.
Like, in Wario Land, you have the same powerups from Mario Land 2, but they've been slightly altered so you can move around horizontally instead of vertically? and instead of just getting to the end of the level, there's this much larger leisure focus on exploration and money and treasure gathering -- I never really noticed this as a kid, cause I never had an opportunity to play theses games all at once, back to back, like this. It's just a really neat feature and I kind of wonder what other games would benefit from this pickup and play savestate stuff.
Just to clarify, this is not the same as savestates. Savestates have been around since the 2000s, they're nothing really new. But what's more interesting is this quicksave/continue feature. They've explored this, in JRPGs through quicksave/continue features in the late 90s but also in games like Silent Hill where, as soon as you turned the system on, the game would bypass everything and load your save for you, so you can immediately pick up where you left off - no company logos, no titlescreens, no intro FMVs, just the game, immediately where you left off.
I wish more games had this, but I also wish it was more like what they had on the Wii U/3DS? Nowadays, there is this ritual to just turning the game on and having to wait for everything load which is what turned me off to the PS3 and great games like LittleBigPlanet, because you're spending a lot of time just waiting for everything to load.
I dunno, there's just something really interesting about being able to play a game exactly where you left off, then stop, and immediately continue an entirely different game, get a bit further, stop, and then go back to the one you were originally playing - It's a really cool feature that I wish was explored more and I think it's what I'm going to miss the most about the 3DS's virtual console.
Like, I own some of these games already in some form, NES, GameBoy, Super Nintendo, etc but, what's neat about having them all on the 3DS's virtual console is that you can quickly jump back and forth from playing something like Super Mario Bros. to Mario 3, to Mario Land, to Mario World, to Super Mario Land 2, to Wario Land, to Wario Land 3 -- and by doing this, you start noticing the wild creative directions and decisions they started taking, when making each entry?
Like, my favorite part about Super Mario World, was always using the keys to unlock alternative paths or hidden worlds to get to the end of the game - I wish they had made a proper sequel to that, where they took that concept and turned that into it's own game. 2 years later, they release Mario Land 2, which is sort of a combination of the powerups in Mario 3, but also the frantic bonus stages and money/1up collecting of Mario Land 1 -- but then 2 years after that, they release Wario Land, which ultimately feels like a evolution to the key level stuff found in Mario World and a sequel to the money and powerup stuff explored in Mario Land 2.
Like, in Wario Land, you have the same powerups from Mario Land 2, but they've been slightly altered so you can move around horizontally instead of vertically? and instead of just getting to the end of the level, there's this much larger leisure focus on exploration and money and treasure gathering -- I never really noticed this as a kid, cause I never had an opportunity to play theses games all at once, back to back, like this. It's just a really neat feature and I kind of wonder what other games would benefit from this pickup and play savestate stuff.
Just to clarify, this is not the same as savestates. Savestates have been around since the 2000s, they're nothing really new. But what's more interesting is this quicksave/continue feature. They've explored this, in JRPGs through quicksave/continue features in the late 90s but also in games like Silent Hill where, as soon as you turned the system on, the game would bypass everything and load your save for you, so you can immediately pick up where you left off - no company logos, no titlescreens, no intro FMVs, just the game, immediately where you left off.
I wish more games had this, but I also wish it was more like what they had on the Wii U/3DS? Nowadays, there is this ritual to just turning the game on and having to wait for everything load which is what turned me off to the PS3 and great games like LittleBigPlanet, because you're spending a lot of time just waiting for everything to load.
I dunno, there's just something really interesting about being able to play a game exactly where you left off, then stop, and immediately continue an entirely different game, get a bit further, stop, and then go back to the one you were originally playing - It's a really cool feature that I wish was explored more and I think it's what I'm going to miss the most about the 3DS's virtual console.
LordBlueRouge
2143
...Outside a handful of remote mine multiplayer matches, I never really got a chance play GoldenEye growing up? cause I was too busy playing all those formative jrpgs that were coming for the Playstation. So, back in October I grabbed an N64 and an Everdrive flash cart to play the handful of games I couldn't get running on PC emulators (Goemon 2, Evangelion, Shiren the Wandrer etc), and I tried to play GoldenEye and stream it for a bit.
Not only was there lag from the controls from streaming to a HDMI out box, but despite the widescreen 16:9 support, found in an old game from 1997, playing Golden Eye, on an N64, through an HD TV, didn't feel right? So I dropped it for awhile. About one month later they announced that Golden Eye 64 was coming to switch online? So I waited for a bit to pick that up.
It's definitely a worthy remaster and definitely worth the price of the switch online expansion pack. Not only does it look great on the Nintendo Switch, but it feels and plays great as well; the one issue with the controls can easily be fixed by going into settings and remapping the L and R sticks and ZL and ZR, on the joycons so they're reversed -- and saving/reloading those settings to the switch. That small issue aside, I had a blast playing through this. I didn't think I'd enjoy it that much.
I don't think GoldenEye is a ground breaking game, but it definitely did contribute to the cinematic and mission-objective-based-nature that First Person Shooters were heading in at the time;before that, all we played was Wolfenstein 3D and Doom. While playing through GoldenEye, I could definitely see bits of Half Life in it and I could definitely see parts of Medal of Honor in it, which would come out a couple of years later. I just think it's interesting how a game based on a movie license, would sort of sculpt the medium a bit.
But I think the big thing, people forget, when talking about GoldenEye is how much easier it was, to host a 4 player deathmatch on an N64 -- for peeps who didn't own a decent computer; and a lot of peeps didn't really own a decent computer in the 90s -- it took something really expensive and something not a lot of people could afford at the time and simplified it into something that was cheaper and intuitive, but also a great use of a movie license - no one is going to buy 4 computers and connect them up, just to play one game together in the late 90s, it was just too expensive; but they could on the N64.
But yeah, it feels good to finally getting around to playing it and appreciating it for what it was. like
"Wow, so this is what people were talking about, this was really cool!"
...Also special Thanks to uh, Delsin, Orochii, Vaccaria, JustaShyDog and Corf for watching the stream last night. This was fun♥ 
Thanks guys♥
Not only was there lag from the controls from streaming to a HDMI out box, but despite the widescreen 16:9 support, found in an old game from 1997, playing Golden Eye, on an N64, through an HD TV, didn't feel right? So I dropped it for awhile. About one month later they announced that Golden Eye 64 was coming to switch online? So I waited for a bit to pick that up.
It's definitely a worthy remaster and definitely worth the price of the switch online expansion pack. Not only does it look great on the Nintendo Switch, but it feels and plays great as well; the one issue with the controls can easily be fixed by going into settings and remapping the L and R sticks and ZL and ZR, on the joycons so they're reversed -- and saving/reloading those settings to the switch. That small issue aside, I had a blast playing through this. I didn't think I'd enjoy it that much.
I don't think GoldenEye is a ground breaking game, but it definitely did contribute to the cinematic and mission-objective-based-nature that First Person Shooters were heading in at the time;
But I think the big thing, people forget, when talking about GoldenEye is how much easier it was, to host a 4 player deathmatch on an N64 -- for peeps who didn't own a decent computer; and a lot of peeps didn't really own a decent computer in the 90s -- it took something really expensive and something not a lot of people could afford at the time and simplified it into something that was cheaper and intuitive, but also a great use of a movie license - no one is going to buy 4 computers and connect them up, just to play one game together in the late 90s, it was just too expensive; but they could on the N64.
But yeah, it feels good to finally getting around to playing it and appreciating it for what it was. like
"Wow, so this is what people were talking about, this was really cool!"
I really like the look of Golden Eye. I don't know why but that generation or two of games is my favourite in terms of look and often simple gameplay.
Octopath Traveler
This was arguably the best Final Fantasy game to come out in years despite not being a Final Fantasy game. The developers say they got inspiration from Final Fantasy VI, and I can see that with the multiple characters and party swapping, but gameplay-wise it feels more like Final Fantasy V with the multiple-job system. That being said, the game starts off tough, but if you happen to kill a Carbuncle or whatever they are calling the weird cat-creatures this time around, you jump several levels and steamroll the next few character chapters.
I unintentionally started with Tressa, a mixed-attacker with multiple weapon types, magic, and multiple abilities to grind gold faster and buy items from NPCs; she also happens to be the easiest way to obtain the speed-run and solo-run achievements, and can do it simultaneously. Combined with above-mentioned high-exp random cat creature encounter, I was around level 21 before I even met a second character. I was able to obtain all 8 characters fairly quickly and completely steamroll the first boss of each first chapter. The game didn't get tough again until the third chapter for each character, and that difficulty only lasted until I finished a few of them and could again brute force the remaining ones. Rinse and repeat for the fourth and final chapters of each character; the first one or two are tough, then you're cruising through the rest or taking advantage of Reflect + Boost from one or two clerics to block every magic-based final boss.
There is a true final boss if certain conditions are met following the completion of all 8 character stories. However, outside of the two challenge achievements, the game doesn't really warrant a second play-through. There are no alternate endings to the character stories, every boss has a best way to defeat them, and you get all characters no matter who you start with.
I unintentionally started with Tressa, a mixed-attacker with multiple weapon types, magic, and multiple abilities to grind gold faster and buy items from NPCs; she also happens to be the easiest way to obtain the speed-run and solo-run achievements, and can do it simultaneously. Combined with above-mentioned high-exp random cat creature encounter, I was around level 21 before I even met a second character. I was able to obtain all 8 characters fairly quickly and completely steamroll the first boss of each first chapter. The game didn't get tough again until the third chapter for each character, and that difficulty only lasted until I finished a few of them and could again brute force the remaining ones. Rinse and repeat for the fourth and final chapters of each character; the first one or two are tough, then you're cruising through the rest or taking advantage of Reflect + Boost from one or two clerics to block every magic-based final boss.
There is a true final boss if certain conditions are met following the completion of all 8 character stories. However, outside of the two challenge achievements, the game doesn't really warrant a second play-through. There are no alternate endings to the character stories, every boss has a best way to defeat them, and you get all characters no matter who you start with.
Tales of Arise
For the longest time, the question of why Shionne wanted to take down all the Renan lords has been unanswered. It now has. So, Shionne has been... enchanted? Enchanced? Not sure what the appropriate term is in this case, because I'm not sure how it got there to begin with. Either way, to summarize, anybody who dares to touch her is electrocuted. She seems to be of the believe that aquiring the master core that's the pirze object of the Renan Crown Contest might actually rid her of this property.
Master cores so far have been divided into elements. While it might be notible that there's six elements in the game, and six master cores, the grandmaster core (it has it's own name, I've already forgotten it) probably can manipulate/control them all. Probably to a degree that largely outmatches the regular master cores. Which is pretty damn scary, because I think the game is largely suggesting that the Dehan landscape has been altered in the last 300 years excactly for the Crown Contest. Which is to say that each of the regular master cores have, over the course of the 300 year reign of the Renans, and the Crown Contest, the landscape and peoples of Dehan have been altered so that whatever element is relevant to those cores can be extracted, and imbued as energy into the cores with greater efficency.
To wit, the first area had a lord with the fire core, and it's biome was and arid desert. The second area was a frigid tundra, and it's lord had a light core. The third area was full of open plains, and it's lord had an earth core. This area I'm in now has a place called the Valley of the Four winds, and I feel it's highly likely that this area's lord has the wind core.
In other news, yeah, I dropped Fate/Extella Link, Saiyuki - Journey West and Atelier Iris - Eternal Mana from my bucket-list for this year. I just have zero interest picking them up again. I'm also floundering pretty hard on what thing(s) I could pick up next, too. Like, I gave Breath of Fire Dragon Quarter a quick think, but, nothing more than that.
For the longest time, the question of why Shionne wanted to take down all the Renan lords has been unanswered. It now has. So, Shionne has been... enchanted? Enchanced? Not sure what the appropriate term is in this case, because I'm not sure how it got there to begin with. Either way, to summarize, anybody who dares to touch her is electrocuted. She seems to be of the believe that aquiring the master core that's the pirze object of the Renan Crown Contest might actually rid her of this property.
Master cores so far have been divided into elements. While it might be notible that there's six elements in the game, and six master cores, the grandmaster core (it has it's own name, I've already forgotten it) probably can manipulate/control them all. Probably to a degree that largely outmatches the regular master cores. Which is pretty damn scary, because I think the game is largely suggesting that the Dehan landscape has been altered in the last 300 years excactly for the Crown Contest. Which is to say that each of the regular master cores have, over the course of the 300 year reign of the Renans, and the Crown Contest, the landscape and peoples of Dehan have been altered so that whatever element is relevant to those cores can be extracted, and imbued as energy into the cores with greater efficency.
To wit, the first area had a lord with the fire core, and it's biome was and arid desert. The second area was a frigid tundra, and it's lord had a light core. The third area was full of open plains, and it's lord had an earth core. This area I'm in now has a place called the Valley of the Four winds, and I feel it's highly likely that this area's lord has the wind core.
In other news, yeah, I dropped Fate/Extella Link, Saiyuki - Journey West and Atelier Iris - Eternal Mana from my bucket-list for this year. I just have zero interest picking them up again. I'm also floundering pretty hard on what thing(s) I could pick up next, too. Like, I gave Breath of Fire Dragon Quarter a quick think, but, nothing more than that.
I started playing Stardew Valley again after watching some "did you know" YT videos about it, so now that's consuming all my gaming time along with Bloons TD6 and the other infrequent always-plays.
Seems like this year I've been focusing more on reading a lot of manga I missed/needed to catch up on and still have a desire to get back to reading novels and such. Haven't had a big drive to start brand new games as much as I did last year.
Seems like this year I've been focusing more on reading a lot of manga I missed/needed to catch up on and still have a desire to get back to reading novels and such. Haven't had a big drive to start brand new games as much as I did last year.
jake-d
75
PIZZA TOWER
This is something that I'd been hearing about since 2018, but it never seriously peaked my interest until after it came out. I saw a few streamers I frequently watch playing it, then one thing lead to another and now I'm going for every P rank and every achievement in the game, so I think it's not too early to say definitively that I'm hooked on this stuff.
I don't even know where to start with actually talking about the game in-depth because I just love too much about it - the huge Wario Land-esque moveset, the emphasis on speed, the Noise, the deranged cartoonish animation, the industrial-level banger factory that is the soundtrack, the Noise, the fact that just about everything in a given stage is themed around pizza in ways I could never have come up with myself, etc - all of it (plus some things I probably forgot to mention) collectively culminates in a package that almost feels tailored towards me specifically,a heartwarming success story that empathetically portrays the anxious Italian-American struggle, and I dare say one of my favourite goddamn 2D platformers ever made.
TOMB RAIDER ANNIVERSARY
I recall playing this when I was younger, but I retained almost no memory of it beyond "you can climb and theres dinosaurs" so I picked it up for really cheap on Steam so I could play it again
So far, I've explored a big cave in the arctic or whatever, found The Cog, and made it to some ancient place where a live dino got stuck in a wall and I had to very slowly chip away at its health with the standard twin-pistols until it died so I could carry on playing. It's 10:35pm and I don't really have a conclusion prepared for this segment, so, um, oh my gosh it's Laura Cloft, wow!
also we beat it takes two i guess it was kinda fun
This is something that I'd been hearing about since 2018, but it never seriously peaked my interest until after it came out. I saw a few streamers I frequently watch playing it, then one thing lead to another and now I'm going for every P rank and every achievement in the game, so I think it's not too early to say definitively that I'm hooked on this stuff.
I don't even know where to start with actually talking about the game in-depth because I just love too much about it - the huge Wario Land-esque moveset, the emphasis on speed, the Noise, the deranged cartoonish animation, the industrial-level banger factory that is the soundtrack, the Noise, the fact that just about everything in a given stage is themed around pizza in ways I could never have come up with myself, etc - all of it (plus some things I probably forgot to mention) collectively culminates in a package that almost feels tailored towards me specifically,
TOMB RAIDER ANNIVERSARY
I recall playing this when I was younger, but I retained almost no memory of it beyond "you can climb and theres dinosaurs" so I picked it up for really cheap on Steam so I could play it again
So far, I've explored a big cave in the arctic or whatever, found The Cog, and made it to some ancient place where a live dino got stuck in a wall and I had to very slowly chip away at its health with the standard twin-pistols until it died so I could carry on playing. It's 10:35pm and I don't really have a conclusion prepared for this segment, so, um, oh my gosh it's Laura Cloft, wow!
also we beat it takes two i guess it was kinda fun
Darken
3952
Dragon Age: Origins
So I've been game hopping super hard lately but for some reason settled on Dragon Age. I could never figure out why I bounced off of it as it strikes a neat balance between modern Bioware and classic CRPGs though really I have no idea wtf Bioware has been up to since uhh Anthem? Like ME3 feels like the last solid game from them in a weird way.
Anyway I went with an elf rogue dual dagger build, he's a crit monster when the threats from alistair are applied correctly though with coup de grace I didn't even need to back stab anymore. I took morrigan along of course but I forgot how much she disapproves just any sidequest you go on if it's the least bit out of charity. She's by far the most interesting character but with the most problematic and imo inconsistent philosphy. I feel like she should have been pissed at mages and the chantry and thats it, but I think a character that makes fun of you for doing every little sidequest is pretty funny.
I went and did the mage quest which is one of the 3-4 pillars of the main questline. I got through the fade and remembered now why I bounced off of this game actually. The game ignores the central mechanics and just becomes a really bad metroidvania but I get what they were going for. After completing the mage tower I then found out I missed out on Leilenna and Sten like forever because apparently the first town gets ransacked by the blight. I didn't spend too much time in the first town because it didn't really seem that interesting? But it seems like a massive oversight to miss out on crucial party members for the rest of the game. I got so mad I just modded the game to teleport to the town and pick them up and it makes me just want to look up a guide whenever I go anywhere just in case there's some bullshit softlocked content. Idk man WRPGs sure like to boast about choices but being open also leads to some serious design flaws. Like it'd be interesting if missing Leilenna actually led to something but no there's zero upside to letting her get killed in the town unless the thought of deleting a party member spurs your imagination of CHOICES!
Oh yeah and when I was picking up party members the game just decided to not autosave even when warping or triggering crucial plot points so I had to do it all over again. Normally I'd quit at the whole locked out of important PCs thing but then I think my ADHD flairs up when it comes to figuring out how to cheat my way through the bullshit. This kind of happened with System Shock 2 where I wasn't cheating but rather exploiting and abusing my way throug the end because I was so sick of it. Idk maybe it's reverse psychology, where a frictionless game just doesn't inspire any kind of tenacity, thus not worth my attention. Or like how I probably had more fun getting the busted Sega Saturn to work than playing its games.
So I've been game hopping super hard lately but for some reason settled on Dragon Age. I could never figure out why I bounced off of it as it strikes a neat balance between modern Bioware and classic CRPGs though really I have no idea wtf Bioware has been up to since uhh Anthem? Like ME3 feels like the last solid game from them in a weird way.
Anyway I went with an elf rogue dual dagger build, he's a crit monster when the threats from alistair are applied correctly though with coup de grace I didn't even need to back stab anymore. I took morrigan along of course but I forgot how much she disapproves just any sidequest you go on if it's the least bit out of charity. She's by far the most interesting character but with the most problematic and imo inconsistent philosphy. I feel like she should have been pissed at mages and the chantry and thats it, but I think a character that makes fun of you for doing every little sidequest is pretty funny.
I went and did the mage quest which is one of the 3-4 pillars of the main questline. I got through the fade and remembered now why I bounced off of this game actually. The game ignores the central mechanics and just becomes a really bad metroidvania but I get what they were going for. After completing the mage tower I then found out I missed out on Leilenna and Sten like forever because apparently the first town gets ransacked by the blight. I didn't spend too much time in the first town because it didn't really seem that interesting? But it seems like a massive oversight to miss out on crucial party members for the rest of the game. I got so mad I just modded the game to teleport to the town and pick them up and it makes me just want to look up a guide whenever I go anywhere just in case there's some bullshit softlocked content. Idk man WRPGs sure like to boast about choices but being open also leads to some serious design flaws. Like it'd be interesting if missing Leilenna actually led to something but no there's zero upside to letting her get killed in the town unless the thought of deleting a party member spurs your imagination of CHOICES!
Oh yeah and when I was picking up party members the game just decided to not autosave even when warping or triggering crucial plot points so I had to do it all over again. Normally I'd quit at the whole locked out of important PCs thing but then I think my ADHD flairs up when it comes to figuring out how to cheat my way through the bullshit. This kind of happened with System Shock 2 where I wasn't cheating but rather exploiting and abusing my way throug the end because I was so sick of it. Idk maybe it's reverse psychology, where a frictionless game just doesn't inspire any kind of tenacity, thus not worth my attention. Or like how I probably had more fun getting the busted Sega Saturn to work than playing its games.
Started playing Metroid Prime after getting wasted on St. Patrick's day and finished it off 100% today. Will probably play Echoes as well since I'm in a Gamecube mood.
Started Pillars of Eternity again as well. No idea if I'm planning to finish, just giving it another shot since I'm still not used to single player CRPGs. Decided to skip Ultima 2 and 3 after slogging through 1 and re-watching Spoony's retrospective. 4 is where the Avatar stuff starts anyways and 4 and 5 are supposedly the best of the bunch, so I figure I'll check those out.
Other than that, started Pokemon: Fool's Gold after my BF messaged me about it.
Started Pillars of Eternity again as well. No idea if I'm planning to finish, just giving it another shot since I'm still not used to single player CRPGs. Decided to skip Ultima 2 and 3 after slogging through 1 and re-watching Spoony's retrospective. 4 is where the Avatar stuff starts anyways and 4 and 5 are supposedly the best of the bunch, so I figure I'll check those out.
Other than that, started Pokemon: Fool's Gold after my BF messaged me about it.
Double dagger stabby elf time was my first (and so far only) game of Dragon Age. Good times. I might return to that game, when I'm old (I unfortunately sold off my Bioware collection few years ago when moving).
I also played more games on Board Game Arena and I might end up making a list about my favourites on my blog. Splendor is among them.
I also played more games on Board Game Arena and I might end up making a list about my favourites on my blog. Splendor is among them.
A whole mess of notes this update. Let's get to it, then!
Tales of Arise
The fourth lord is down for the count, and the game has introduced the fifth. However, said fifth lord managed to kidnap Shionne, while the other party members got split up due to a craptasrophe at the sea that he caused.
Alphen awakened to more memories, but, there's still a lot of questions as to his origins. Like, it makes a certain amount of sense that he's some kind of test subject for the Renans, and has something to do with the title of Sovereign. Which is the title given to the Renan lord that wins the Crown Contest, by the way.
Though, I will note that Alphen definitely produced a crest of magic around him, and in his pupil, during the cut-scene with the fifth lord. However, as far as I can actually tell, he didn't cast any magic, or gain a special ability, or what-not. If anything, he lost his inability to feel pain, which was part of why Shionne was captured. I'll also note that his mask has fallen off completely now, which is likely significant in it's own right.
Part of the flashback sequence that I saw involved a woman who looked a lot like Shionne. He called her Naori, so, it could be some kind of relation to Shionne. Though, what kind of relation is in question in itself. Perhaps I'm reading too much into what the game is, or is not, telling me, but, I get the distinct impression that whatever happened to Alphen before donning his mask happened a long, long, time ago. Maybe even as long as the Crown Contest has been going on (ie: 300 years).
As it turns out, I was absolutely right. He's probably older than that by a smidgen, but, when one is already over 300 years old, what's another decade or two? Which means Naori is likely a very very distant relation to Shionne in some way, shape, or form, but, I don't care to delve into how, exactly, they are related, and I doubt the game would as well.
Devil May Cry 3 - Dante's Awakening
Started a run of Vergil on Easy. I have entirely forgotten how evasion works in this game. Also, I dunno if it's some kind of sensitivity issue with the emulator and how it interacts with this controller, but, it detects me hitting R2/L2, which switches weapons, when I don't necessarily intend for it.
I also managed to beat the game in the space of the two weeks between last post and this one, so, there is that. While I partially expected that, I'm not sure if I'll ever play as Vergil again. I suppose starting out with all the equipment that is available to him has it's advantages, but, if the trade-off is no access to double-jump and no cutscenes during his story, I just don't know if that gets my interest.
Resident Evil 2
I had a number of memory card issues here. So, typically, when I'm done playing a PS1 game, I transfer the save file to a virtual PS2 card with PCSX2. That feature seems to work fine. However, trying to transfer from a PS2 card to a PS1 card with my current version of PCSX2 kept returning an error message.
I was like, fine, I'll just do a fresh run with Claire instead of doing Leon's A-route again. Except I forgot I renamed directories in the process of trying to fix things, and I basically had to restart twice or thrice before I figured out what was going on on that front.
When I looked this error up, I found that a typical answer was to use a previous version of PSCX2 to transfer data from PS2 to PS1. Of course, this was after bouts of frustration, which ended up deleting the backup save that I had on the PS2 card. The more you know, I guess, but, it's still annoying as heck.
As for progress in the game, proper, I've unlocked all the doors with the various precinct keys. There's a bunch of key items in my item box that I don't recall where all they are used. Though, there is at least one key item I still need to complete a puzzle, and maybe one of the other key items (or a combination thereof) would lead to that item. What that puzzle unlocks is another matter entirely, but, maybe that'll be for the next update.
The Gauntlet
Comments on the gamepage here and here.
Mystic Vale
Purchased on Steam during the Spring Sale. I have a physical copy of this game, and there's a few mods for Tabletop Simulator that emulate this game. Still, I figure I could crank out a few games of this every so often, and would be work the $10 that I spend on the base game, plus DLC.
The Steam version is pretty streamlined in what it automates. Such as filling up the commons, filling up player-fields, and counting up symbols and what-not. Some expansions can act as replacements to the base game material, but, they didn't include any such expansion in any of the DLC that I saw. There's also no single-player mode, outside of playing against AI opponents.
The TTS mod I favored includes the Nemesis expansion, which includes solo play rules and components for such play. To be perfectly blunt, I used TTS to try out Nemesis because I was on the fence about some of the other mechanics it introduced. I can't say how many times I've actually played against a Nemesis in TTS, but, I've not been able to beat even the simplest of scenarios under the solo play rules. In a way, maybe I should've expected that, but, like, there was never any time I was even close.
Saying that, I will probably still play the physical version, every so often. I've been trying to incorporate my own custom solo mode, with varying degrees of success. Like, I think the concept Nemesis has of there being a virtual player that takes advancements and/or vales, and thus denying the player access to them, is correct. I just question the precise timing of when the virtual player "levels up". Like, under the Nemesis rules, it just feels too soon.
Persona 5 Strikers
Purchased on Steam during the Spring Sale. I think I heard/knew this game was some kind of weird mix of Persona 5 and Dynasty Warriors. Still, I felt strangely at home when I booted up the game, and engaged in the first encounter.
Though, while Dynasty Warriors are certainly more about larger scale battles where the KO count can easily be in the hundreds, this game feels like it's more smaller scale where the KO count might max at 100. Like I said before, it's a weird mix of games.
While I've certainly played Persona 5 on PS4, I don't think I've noticed anything that could have been a reference to the Royal version as of yet? At the very least, I'm pretty sure the party member that they included for the Royal version isn't in this game.
Tales of Arise
The fourth lord is down for the count, and the game has introduced the fifth. However, said fifth lord managed to kidnap Shionne, while the other party members got split up due to a craptasrophe at the sea that he caused.
Alphen awakened to more memories, but, there's still a lot of questions as to his origins. Like, it makes a certain amount of sense that he's some kind of test subject for the Renans, and has something to do with the title of Sovereign. Which is the title given to the Renan lord that wins the Crown Contest, by the way.
Though, I will note that Alphen definitely produced a crest of magic around him, and in his pupil, during the cut-scene with the fifth lord. However, as far as I can actually tell, he didn't cast any magic, or gain a special ability, or what-not. If anything, he lost his inability to feel pain, which was part of why Shionne was captured. I'll also note that his mask has fallen off completely now, which is likely significant in it's own right.
Part of the flashback sequence that I saw involved a woman who looked a lot like Shionne. He called her Naori, so, it could be some kind of relation to Shionne. Though, what kind of relation is in question in itself. Perhaps I'm reading too much into what the game is, or is not, telling me, but, I get the distinct impression that whatever happened to Alphen before donning his mask happened a long, long, time ago. Maybe even as long as the Crown Contest has been going on (ie: 300 years).
As it turns out, I was absolutely right. He's probably older than that by a smidgen, but, when one is already over 300 years old, what's another decade or two? Which means Naori is likely a very very distant relation to Shionne in some way, shape, or form, but, I don't care to delve into how, exactly, they are related, and I doubt the game would as well.
Devil May Cry 3 - Dante's Awakening
Started a run of Vergil on Easy. I have entirely forgotten how evasion works in this game. Also, I dunno if it's some kind of sensitivity issue with the emulator and how it interacts with this controller, but, it detects me hitting R2/L2, which switches weapons, when I don't necessarily intend for it.
I also managed to beat the game in the space of the two weeks between last post and this one, so, there is that. While I partially expected that, I'm not sure if I'll ever play as Vergil again. I suppose starting out with all the equipment that is available to him has it's advantages, but, if the trade-off is no access to double-jump and no cutscenes during his story, I just don't know if that gets my interest.
Resident Evil 2
I had a number of memory card issues here. So, typically, when I'm done playing a PS1 game, I transfer the save file to a virtual PS2 card with PCSX2. That feature seems to work fine. However, trying to transfer from a PS2 card to a PS1 card with my current version of PCSX2 kept returning an error message.
I was like, fine, I'll just do a fresh run with Claire instead of doing Leon's A-route again. Except I forgot I renamed directories in the process of trying to fix things, and I basically had to restart twice or thrice before I figured out what was going on on that front.
When I looked this error up, I found that a typical answer was to use a previous version of PSCX2 to transfer data from PS2 to PS1. Of course, this was after bouts of frustration, which ended up deleting the backup save that I had on the PS2 card. The more you know, I guess, but, it's still annoying as heck.
As for progress in the game, proper, I've unlocked all the doors with the various precinct keys. There's a bunch of key items in my item box that I don't recall where all they are used. Though, there is at least one key item I still need to complete a puzzle, and maybe one of the other key items (or a combination thereof) would lead to that item. What that puzzle unlocks is another matter entirely, but, maybe that'll be for the next update.
The Gauntlet
Comments on the gamepage here and here.
Mystic Vale
Purchased on Steam during the Spring Sale. I have a physical copy of this game, and there's a few mods for Tabletop Simulator that emulate this game. Still, I figure I could crank out a few games of this every so often, and would be work the $10 that I spend on the base game, plus DLC.
The Steam version is pretty streamlined in what it automates. Such as filling up the commons, filling up player-fields, and counting up symbols and what-not. Some expansions can act as replacements to the base game material, but, they didn't include any such expansion in any of the DLC that I saw. There's also no single-player mode, outside of playing against AI opponents.
The TTS mod I favored includes the Nemesis expansion, which includes solo play rules and components for such play. To be perfectly blunt, I used TTS to try out Nemesis because I was on the fence about some of the other mechanics it introduced. I can't say how many times I've actually played against a Nemesis in TTS, but, I've not been able to beat even the simplest of scenarios under the solo play rules. In a way, maybe I should've expected that, but, like, there was never any time I was even close.
Saying that, I will probably still play the physical version, every so often. I've been trying to incorporate my own custom solo mode, with varying degrees of success. Like, I think the concept Nemesis has of there being a virtual player that takes advancements and/or vales, and thus denying the player access to them, is correct. I just question the precise timing of when the virtual player "levels up". Like, under the Nemesis rules, it just feels too soon.
Persona 5 Strikers
Purchased on Steam during the Spring Sale. I think I heard/knew this game was some kind of weird mix of Persona 5 and Dynasty Warriors. Still, I felt strangely at home when I booted up the game, and engaged in the first encounter.
Though, while Dynasty Warriors are certainly more about larger scale battles where the KO count can easily be in the hundreds, this game feels like it's more smaller scale where the KO count might max at 100. Like I said before, it's a weird mix of games.
While I've certainly played Persona 5 on PS4, I don't think I've noticed anything that could have been a reference to the Royal version as of yet? At the very least, I'm pretty sure the party member that they included for the Royal version isn't in this game.
Darken
3952
Final Fantasy XIII
Dragon Age made me think about the ps3/360 era a lot and now I'm realizing I have 20 hours dumped into FF13 and might as well finish it. I can see why I bounced off of it, I'm in the fifth ark and even though it's mostly a linear hallway I'm checking the map once in while to make sure I didn't 180 after a cutscene because everything is rubber stamped into oblivion. Still though the game manages to not look like a janky nightmare that is bioware circa 2009
The combat still has its flair especially when relearning everything but I feel like no matter how good the combat is you really need exploration to balance out the monotony. I will say the small diference in enemy formations can be felt and the paradigm shifting is finally opening up. I just got every class unlock but I feel there's little point unless there's some cheap stat min maxing early on in the crystarium tree. I've yet do any weapon upgrading but I remember reading somewhere there's no point until you have the weapon you want and a ton of money from a certain sidequest later on. It feels like Kawazu designed it because every other customization system in this game is relatively straight forward. The nice thing about this game that dying doesn't matter much and you really have nothing to do except either blast through or experiment to progress.
The story is probably the worst reason why coming back to this game may be daunting because the synopsis and even the ocassional flashback summary in the Raines confrontation scene just makes no sense. I get that the theming of this heavy on the fatalism side but there's no notion of a clear goal or agency of the characters. You are subjected to the endless hallways never to stray from the linear line that the developers have set out for you. Maybe you can get a premptive strike or that one item in that dead end corridor but your fate is ultimately sealed. But hey 10 hours later I should get to the part where people say it "gets good" right?
Dragon Age made me think about the ps3/360 era a lot and now I'm realizing I have 20 hours dumped into FF13 and might as well finish it. I can see why I bounced off of it, I'm in the fifth ark and even though it's mostly a linear hallway I'm checking the map once in while to make sure I didn't 180 after a cutscene because everything is rubber stamped into oblivion. Still though the game manages to not look like a janky nightmare that is bioware circa 2009
The combat still has its flair especially when relearning everything but I feel like no matter how good the combat is you really need exploration to balance out the monotony. I will say the small diference in enemy formations can be felt and the paradigm shifting is finally opening up. I just got every class unlock but I feel there's little point unless there's some cheap stat min maxing early on in the crystarium tree. I've yet do any weapon upgrading but I remember reading somewhere there's no point until you have the weapon you want and a ton of money from a certain sidequest later on. It feels like Kawazu designed it because every other customization system in this game is relatively straight forward. The nice thing about this game that dying doesn't matter much and you really have nothing to do except either blast through or experiment to progress.
The story is probably the worst reason why coming back to this game may be daunting because the synopsis and even the ocassional flashback summary in the Raines confrontation scene just makes no sense. I get that the theming of this heavy on the fatalism side but there's no notion of a clear goal or agency of the characters. You are subjected to the endless hallways never to stray from the linear line that the developers have set out for you. Maybe you can get a premptive strike or that one item in that dead end corridor but your fate is ultimately sealed. But hey 10 hours later I should get to the part where people say it "gets good" right?
Started and finished Garden Story over the weekend. Really fun little game, maybe wish there was a bit more to it but maybe that'd end up feeling like clutter. 100%'d it anyways. Probably one of the best looking indie games I've played in a long time, pixel art wise.
Finished Pokemon: Fool's Gold a while ago but never made a post for it. It was a very fun and creative romhack, really loved a lot of the new designs for the re-typed mons. Pretty good at keeping you on your feet with the changes. Also really appreciated the detail that went into it, how the team changed all the map sprites and dialogue references to pokemon to reflect the re-typed designs and typing. Helped it feel a lot more cohesive than most hacks.
Finished Pokemon: Fool's Gold a while ago but never made a post for it. It was a very fun and creative romhack, really loved a lot of the new designs for the re-typed mons. Pretty good at keeping you on your feet with the changes. Also really appreciated the detail that went into it, how the team changed all the map sprites and dialogue references to pokemon to reflect the re-typed designs and typing. Helped it feel a lot more cohesive than most hacks.
Update time!
Tales of Arise
I kinda had doubts that even if the party managed to defeat the fifth lord, that would be the end of the game. Though, getting Shionne back was certainly a heartfelt moment. Still, the fight ahead isn't going to be easy. Not that the previous lord fights have been easy, but, the game is certainly putting the pressure on!
Persona 5 Strikers
Not too much actual progress here. I haven't even cleared the first dungeon yet, and if this is even half as involved as Persona 5, there's maybe four more dungeons after this one.
Resident Evil 2
I relied more and more on a walkthrough, because there were still situations I found myself in where I need a thing, and had no clue where/how I could get it. Either way, I managed to beat the game, though, I don't specifically recall what the recorded play-time was.
Legend of Legaia
I half-considered doing an LP of this game, but, I also kinda feel that doing so would put undo stress on this game. Not that this game is particularly stress-inducing, but, it might also be a bit too soon for another LP anyway.
Game-wise, I just had met Songi in East Voz Forest, with Gala obtain his Ra-Seru, with Songi officially introducing himself as an antagonist. Cool stuffs.
Breath of Fire - Dragon Quarter
Started a New Game+ of this, with a D-Ratio of 1/128. Which basically means I can see all the cutscenes, and go behind any D-Ratio door in the game. I'm up to MidSector as of this writing, and while I don't have a specific count of doors that I've actually opened, it's a good number.
I've never poked my head into Korkon Horay, and, after reading a walkthrough, I understand why. 50 levels in one sitting? Well, I suppose quicksaving or using save-states are feature that could be used to break things up, but, I don't like relying on them.
Tales of Arise
I kinda had doubts that even if the party managed to defeat the fifth lord, that would be the end of the game. Though, getting Shionne back was certainly a heartfelt moment. Still, the fight ahead isn't going to be easy. Not that the previous lord fights have been easy, but, the game is certainly putting the pressure on!
Persona 5 Strikers
Not too much actual progress here. I haven't even cleared the first dungeon yet, and if this is even half as involved as Persona 5, there's maybe four more dungeons after this one.
Resident Evil 2
I relied more and more on a walkthrough, because there were still situations I found myself in where I need a thing, and had no clue where/how I could get it. Either way, I managed to beat the game, though, I don't specifically recall what the recorded play-time was.
Legend of Legaia
I half-considered doing an LP of this game, but, I also kinda feel that doing so would put undo stress on this game. Not that this game is particularly stress-inducing, but, it might also be a bit too soon for another LP anyway.
Game-wise, I just had met Songi in East Voz Forest, with Gala obtain his Ra-Seru, with Songi officially introducing himself as an antagonist. Cool stuffs.
Breath of Fire - Dragon Quarter
Started a New Game+ of this, with a D-Ratio of 1/128. Which basically means I can see all the cutscenes, and go behind any D-Ratio door in the game. I'm up to MidSector as of this writing, and while I don't have a specific count of doors that I've actually opened, it's a good number.
I've never poked my head into Korkon Horay, and, after reading a walkthrough, I understand why. 50 levels in one sitting? Well, I suppose quicksaving or using save-states are feature that could be used to break things up, but, I don't like relying on them.
Sigh
1000
I was replaying Final Fantasy XIII as well! Arghh I want to explain so much of every aspect of it, it's so pure alien-tier and advanced, It really really the major revelation for me, the story, layers, pacing, gameplay, AI, world design, music, technique/efficiency/application is WAY far ahead, it put me in my place, I would always ask for better games and whatnot but never actually prepare myself for what the even MEANS. Now I NEVER trust my own opinions, and have realized that there's incredible things being made! just not the in way I'm expecting them.
It'll be 169 years before I figure everything out about FFXIII, I really want to explain all the techniques I learned from it, but I feel my fandork ramble bone acting up, maybe I'll put it somewhere else?
PS: Did Mwynn make a robot?
It'll be 169 years before I figure everything out about FFXIII, I really want to explain all the techniques I learned from it, but I feel my fandork ramble bone acting up, maybe I'll put it somewhere else?
PS: Did Mwynn make a robot?
Darken
3952
Final Fantasy XIII
I get to Gran Pulse and this is where it's supposed to "open up" but it just gives you a string of sidequests you can do that leads you just into a hallway that goes on for way too long to make me wonder if I should keep doing the main story. Gran Pulse as a level design structure is pretty bad? It just goes against every principle to what makes open ended areas good. You have to go to a quest marker, accept the quest then go wherever it tells you to, you can only do one at a time, and it can be sometimes annoying to track the markers if you're not in the same map or elevation. They're all the same, kill the specified monster in this spot, repeat.
I decided to just press on the main story because I just wasn't enjoying the sidequests. The battles tend to difficulty spike wildy in places, sometimes I just decimate certain groups, and others I find myself slowly chipping away whenever staggering isn't really an option. It can be frustrating to die if you mess up and make the battle go way too long, despite how convenient retries can be. I'm at this tower where SURPRISE you do mandatory sidequests which isn't much different from fighting a bunch of enemies in a row and just redundant.
I'm really just pushing through this game at this point. I wouldn't say I'm enjoying myself entirely but I'm 33ish hours in and I'm feeling to motivation to put another FF game to bed. Honestly I'm looking forward to FF13-2? Just to see what they do with what sounds like a polar opposite structure. At the same time I wonder about booting up FF12 and seeing how it contrasts with FF13. Since apparently 12 was made by a separate team that did vagrant story / FF9 and FF13 is more the Kingdom Hearts / FF10 team.
I get to Gran Pulse and this is where it's supposed to "open up" but it just gives you a string of sidequests you can do that leads you just into a hallway that goes on for way too long to make me wonder if I should keep doing the main story. Gran Pulse as a level design structure is pretty bad? It just goes against every principle to what makes open ended areas good. You have to go to a quest marker, accept the quest then go wherever it tells you to, you can only do one at a time, and it can be sometimes annoying to track the markers if you're not in the same map or elevation. They're all the same, kill the specified monster in this spot, repeat.
I decided to just press on the main story because I just wasn't enjoying the sidequests. The battles tend to difficulty spike wildy in places, sometimes I just decimate certain groups, and others I find myself slowly chipping away whenever staggering isn't really an option. It can be frustrating to die if you mess up and make the battle go way too long, despite how convenient retries can be. I'm at this tower where SURPRISE you do mandatory sidequests which isn't much different from fighting a bunch of enemies in a row and just redundant.
I'm really just pushing through this game at this point. I wouldn't say I'm enjoying myself entirely but I'm 33ish hours in and I'm feeling to motivation to put another FF game to bed. Honestly I'm looking forward to FF13-2? Just to see what they do with what sounds like a polar opposite structure. At the same time I wonder about booting up FF12 and seeing how it contrasts with FF13. Since apparently 12 was made by a separate team that did vagrant story / FF9 and FF13 is more the Kingdom Hearts / FF10 team.
LordBlueRouge
2143
author=Darken
I'm really just pushing through this game at this point. I wouldn't say I'm enjoying myself entirely but I'm 33ish hours in and I'm feeling to motivation to put another FF game to bed. Honestly I'm looking forward to FF13-2? Just to see what they do with what sounds like a polar opposite structure. At the same time I wonder about booting up FF12 and seeing how it contrasts with FF13. Since apparently 12 was made by a separate team that did vagrant story / FF9 and FF13 is more the Kingdom Hearts / FF10 team.
I wanted to ask. How did you beat 13? I got around to the same part you're at and just sort of gave up at the next dungeon, so I was wondering how you were able to beat it so quickly. Maybe FF13 is worth another look.
I don't know how many peeps played FF11 back in the day. I think only Corf and few peeps on RMN did. The reason why I'm mentioning this is because FF12 feels a lot like a better version of what FF11 was?
FF11 is a bit like Everquest but with Final Fantasy stuff in it? But the reality is that, it's more like a regular Final Fantasy game, but made much longer and more difficult cause it forced you to rely on other online players to advance through the game, to take on the more difficult missions/quests, that you'd normally be able to do by yourself, in a regular FF game.
I didn't have a lot of free time back then to play it, so for me, back in the day, What FFXI boiled down to was, asking level 75s for help in difficult areas or "friends" coercing you to rush through the game, so you could catch up to where they're at - I'm sure others had a very different experience, but the online social element was kind of toxic and not very enjoyable for me.
But over the years, once online traffic dwindled and squareenix started adding story relevant co-op NPC players you could acquire to accommodate these changes, I could start to see why FF11 was so enjoyable:
FF11 is like other Final Fantasy games, but there's no overworld. So it takes a really long time to complete quests/missions, because your literally walking through these very scenic and breath taking destinations. The levels in FF11 are so large, that just traveling through sections of these areas, feels like real life orienteering, except you have to take into account, enemy placements, where and when to rest and when to strike so you're not suddenly overwhelmed by crowds of monsters or overpowering enemies - it feels exhilarating just figuring out how to get from point A to B, with a group of 6, while at the same time, remembering you can only take down 1 or 2 monsters.
Certain situations like, how do I clear this area of 5 monsters so I can get into the hidden door behind them, without overwhelming the party, becomes immediately apparently and incredibly challenging and makes you look at the Final Fantasy series in a new and unique way - When you didn't have to deal with the problems that come with online players, this was Final Fantasy 11's greatest strength.
Back when the PS2 servers were shutting down, I remember spending like 3 hours, journeying through a maze like cave and getting lost, just trying to complete one mission. I eventually reached my destination; it was this statue where you get one of your crystals for Rise of Zilart, but it was on a sandy beach, overlooking the ocean and it suddenly started to rain and the sun was shining at the same time - It was just a really cool experience, after having gone through such a difficult section - and even if you're following a written walkthrough, you're still going to get lost, but that real world, open world element to it, is kind of want made FF11 so enjoyable.
From what I understand, they decommissioned the PS2 servers in 2016 because, the PS2 SDK they were creating FF11 content on, couldn't keep up, it was literally breaking down. So in order to circumvent this; squareenix made FF11 free for PC players; but you still need a $11.00 subscription to play online. At that point however, a lot of the old content like some great cutscenes and spell effects became unplayable on PS2 so whenever it crashed on the PS2 version, I'd switch it the PC and play pass that part and switch back to the PS2 in order to continue playing.
I haven't gotten that far in it yet, but FF12 takes away the online dependent stuff, but it feels like a more fleshed out offline experience, that feels lived in. Until someone, somehow, brings back the FF11 servers for PS2, I think FF12 is a great way to experience something somewhat similar.
