WHAT VIDEOGAMES ARE YOU PLAYING RIGHT NOW?

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author=Tonfa
Ya I used to hate this but I've come around on it somewhat. It conveys "shit is fucked! ALARM ALARM ALARM" pretty well but that makes it a really annoying to thing to actually listen to. I feel like there has to be a better way to do that without just going into sweeping epic melodies and latin chorus territory since that just makes it "oh man this music is awesome!".

Also the HD remake models dropped some of the original facial detail which is a shame and makes some scenes look kind of weird!


It was done better in the immediately previous game though:


Challenge hits all the needed notes: It's a big boss, shit is fucked with alarms tune but it isn't a noisy cacophony like Summoned Beast. The length of the loop helps a ton to stop it from becoming repetitive too. If they had just copied and dumped it in as the aeon fight music I wouldn't complain.

(When I get around to FF10 HD I'm totally gonna do what I did last time: Expert grid and send everybody down random paths. The only thing I have to worry about is making sure I have somebody with accuracy. Last time I did it I didn't have much there and by the Calm Lands I was having serious aim issues, or maybe I just need to gitgud and use that Aim buff move!)
In Starfox Zero a minimum of 50 medals is required to unlock all the challange vehicles including the ATV. Thats good enough in terms of replay value.

Completed the Lords of Cinder for DS3 and stabbed the final boss! Just gotta wrap up NG stuff like Arch Dragon Peak and some gear sets. I got something like five Cathedral Knight helmets in the time it took to just get them to drop their pants!

The most tl;dr I can give for DS3 is, having played DeS, DS1, and DS3 is that From caught a tiger by the tail with DS1 and didn't know what the fuck to do with it. I'd love to see somebody good make something in a similar genre as Dark Souls (read: Platinum Games).

It has made me want to play DS2. I got it on sale a while back but never really got that far with it. When I feel the DS itch I'll give it a go again.


Romancing SaGa 2 finally came out in English today! I always wanted to play it but it never got an English localization before now so I totally blew
to buy it on the android store. I'm not very far in it but the maps look gorgeous, the character art sadly looks unchanged and even still only two frames of animation (but I'd take that over the FFD atrocities), and the interface is not made for a touch screen at all.

It's trying to be way too faithful to the original game and just in the first cave alone I'm already fighting it trying to find where I gotta put my finger to make my selections. I've already selected the wrong ability then confirmed it trying to go back more than once already. It does finally have a description for what each ability does which I am super thankful for. That's a genuine interface upgrade!
author=GreatRedSpirit
(When I get around to FF10 HD I'm totally gonna do what I did last time: Expert grid and send everybody down random paths. The only thing I have to worry about is making sure I have somebody with accuracy. Last time I did it I didn't have much there and by the Calm Lands I was having serious aim issues, or maybe I just need to gitgud and use that Aim buff move!)


I was also planning to RNG all path forks on Expert Grid, except with only Team Underwater allowed and no Overdrive use. What could possibly go wrong
Eh, you'll have Rikku and the Use command. It'll be an easy cruise right up to the usual suspects I'd bet (Hi Seymour Flux!)

e: Assuming you don't petrify grenade everything. A buddy of mine tried that No-Anything-But-Batting-Your-Eyelashes-At-The-Enemy challenges/guides and there was a distinct "just petrify grenade this shit" theme around Bevelle iirc.
wtf.

LEGO Star Wars 7 Force Awakens has a fucking season pass.


what have games come to?
Red_Nova
Sir Redd of Novus: He who made Prayer of the Faithless that one time, and that was pretty dang rad! :D
9192
I'm surprised that didn't happen sooner, to be honest.
Played through Uncharted 4 these days.
It's super awesome! The gameplay, the graphics, the storytelling. (It's a pretty cliche story, but greatly told :D ) Everything is very polished and feels great.
Not a game of the year. But a great experience.
Tales of Xillia, Zesteria, and Final Fantasy XIII-2
I'm playing Tales of Xillia too ^-^
and
Ara Fell
Need for Speed
Destiny
Ratty524
The 524 is for 524 Stone Crabs
12986
Picked up Paper Mario again.

I kind of agree with Pizza that this is the better game so far. The intro was better designed, even though moves locked by forced tutorials are kind of lame. By comparison, however, TTYD kind of assumes you know how to play the game before going in.

The first game has way more charm, too, though the translation is a bit sterile compared to the sequel.
iddalai
RPG Maker 2k/2k3 for life, baby!!
1194
I found TTYD boring at times, it would evoke sleep upon me.

I still believe Superstar Saga is superior in every single way, as far as Mario RPGs go (even if it's not paper, the gameplay is similar).
Mirak
Stand back. Artist at work. I paint with enthusiasm if not with talent.
9300
To be honest the thousand year door is my favorite paper mario game. It's just so beautiful and varied, it's quite a trip.

I finished dark souls 6 times now, so i guess i exhausted everything the game has to offer. I couldn't get all the achievements. I've no idea how to get all rare weapons. Screw it.

A friend managed to convince me to download skyrim again. The only time i played it was back when it was first released, so i never played it modded or anything. This time i plan to enhance the experience by downloading a bunch of mods.
Ratty524
Picked up Paper Mario again.

I kind of agree with Pizza that this is the better game so far. The intro was better designed, even though moves locked by forced tutorials are kind of lame. By comparison, however, TTYD kind of assumes you know how to play the game before going in.

The first game has way more charm, too, though the translation is a bit sterile compared to the sequel.


Honestly my biggest beef with TTYD is just that like, 50% of that fucking game is just backtracking. People call out the Doopliss chapter a lot (and that chapter is indeed awful) but it's an omnipresent thing. The pacing is just wicked bad all over, despite all the neat stuff that could otherwise make for a good trip.

That and yeah, the lack of charm in comparison is a big deal to me. A lot of the areas in TTYD feel kind of devoid of the right PM atmosphere, like the Glitz Pit or Boggly Woods.

Right now I'm slowly pacing through INFRA. It's sort of lame. It was marked as horror and has some good isolationist atmosphere, but I just hit the halfway point and basically nothing has happened as of yet. I'm hoping it picks up, and soon.
Ratty524
The 524 is for 524 Stone Crabs
12986
author=Pizza
Honestly my biggest beef with TTYD is just that like, 50% of that fucking game is just backtracking. People call out the Doopliss chapter a lot (and that chapter is indeed awful) but it's an omnipresent thing. The pacing is just wicked bad all over, despite all the neat stuff that could otherwise make for a good trip.
I couldn't agree more, though I'm surprised about the Doopliss chapter, since when I think of backtracking, I think more of Chapter 2, though it's arguably less bad.

The more I play Paper Mario, I find it has backtracking, too, but I feel like it did it MUCH better by comparison.

For instance.
author=Chapter 2 in Paper Mario 1
Parakarry: Find the Letter I lost.

(goes on adventure to find first letter)

Parakarry: Thanks! But whoops, I dropped other letters too! Find 'em!

(repeats segment + other things that actually opens up past your first letter)

Parakarry: Yay! You found all the letters on your first run! / Go find the last one!
This didn't feel as bad to me because with the way the letters were placed, it created a sense of pacing where the world opened up a bit more once you took the time to explore it. You also had control over it; you could feasibly find every letter in the fetch quest, on your first pass, if you were good. That, and the maps had stuff to DO in them other than going through a slog of enemies.

By comparison:
author=Ch 2 in Paper Mario TTYD:
Puni: Follow me to the great tree!

(Goes through 3 linear maps)

Puni: Oh no! We can't get in the great tree! Get Flurrie for help!

(Go back to same maps but take alternate path of tiny, hardly interesting maps)

Flurrie: You found me, but I'm not helping until you find my stupid necklace!

(Go ALLLL the way back through the same maps to the start)

(Miniboss fight happens, you get necklace)

(Go ALLL the way back through the same boring ass maps to Flurrie's house)

Flurrie: Yay you got my necklace back! Now I'm useful for something!

(Backtrack through the mediocre maps you've cleared at least 3 times already to the Great Tree)

(use Flurrie to open the path)

Puni: Yay we are in the great tree now! Now the actual chapter begins!
Not only did the maps you had to backtrack through had very limited interactive elements, the entire thing felt forced; this entire segment would've been cut short and made tolerable if going through the tree area (which is required before meeting Flurrie in the first place, despite having access to the path to her house) was an optional thing instead of railroading the player just to show some cutscenes.

Heck, now that you mention the Doopliss chapter, it's terrible because even if you've played the game before and loosely know what to expect, the game puts you on a crutch and forces you to strictly adhere to its plot. Read: you can't even type Doopliss' name properly because you are missing the letter "p", and saying it in all caps, despite being given the option, doesn't count?

Don't get me wrong, I still like TTYD for its core battle gameplay, but LORD did it feel like a chore to play at times. I think that's why I'm scared of restarting it after ruining my save file.
Ratty
Heck, now that you mention the Doopliss chapter, it's terrible because even if you've played the game before and loosely know what to expect, the game puts you on a crutch and forces you to strictly adhere to its plot. Read: you can't even type Doopliss' name properly because you are missing the letter "p", and saying it in all caps, despite being given the option, doesn't count?


This is really the shining example of the flaws with TTYD. It's the cherry on top of the shitty experience. Because it's like, there's no legitimate reason for that P to exist. It has no relevance in the game at all. It's just the game designer fucking you in the ass.

Here's a bright idea: If the player knows the solution to your shitty "puzzle", fucking let them solve it.

You bring up a good point though. There's backtracking in some parts of PM1, but it always leads to something new or brings interesting things to the player instead of just existing as padding. But to me the improved battle mechanics aren't really worth ever sitting through that again, at least not for quite some time. It's just fucking painful. I can crank through PM like nobody's business, but TTYD just wants to make you slow down and wade through every crappy crevice it has...

...and then make you do it 3 more times in reverse.

Actually, here's a good question: What's the worst part of the game? The P, or General White?
Ratty524
The 524 is for 524 Stone Crabs
12986
TBH I completely forgot about the General White segment. It's a tough choice between an ENTIRE chapter that is 100% backtracking and a SEGMENT of a chapter that is one giant backtrack across worlds you've already cleared.

Maybe General White only because I can't imagine anything truly new or rewarding about searching an entire landscape you've already seen just to talk to a couple of characters.
Yeah, as much as I love TTYD's improvements to the battle system and various other mechanics (+ generally better NPC dialogue), that game is backtrack city. The game's generally dingier/duller/"more realistic" aesthetic (Boggly Woods is the only real stand-out place that I can remember right now) doesn't help that, either.

I'll vote the 'P' being worse. With General White you're at least not looking at the same level aesthetic for so long. Though, tbh, I actually did get a chuckle out of both of these events while also groaning...
e: you do have to do the General White thing twice for 100% though, hmm...


I've been playing Mario 3D World lately. I'm up to Star World, but apparently there's some Crown World afterwards? I'm hoping it doesn't require some silly "101% + some other random shit" thing to unlock, but given the last few 3D Mario games, it probably does. If so, I will most likely not be bothering with it.
This is definitely the most effort I've seen Nintendo put into a game in a while, in terms of creating a lot of unique assets and general variety, and DAT SOUNDTRACK. However, I reeaaallly do NOT like what they did to the control! I never liked the P Speed mechanic in SMB3 or SMW, so the fact that your momentum is now basically that, but in two distinct stages is just... ugh... I would really rather accelerate in a linear fashion ala SMB1. It's not so much that I don't want to play the game at all, but when combining that with just the general style of how 3D Mario levels play out, I doubt I'll really come back to this one much.
Played some Medusa's Labyrinth which is actually pretty decent. It's an indie game and it does have some issues, but hell, it's free to play (if you want to support the dev team they're offering a pretty art book for about $5 as a DLC, which is actually pretty awesome) and it looks and plays well. I just... I went in not expecting horror because I got it via Keymailer and they had it tagged as Action/Adventure and so while there were some scary parts I was like "Oh, atmosphere, nice~" but didn't expect any kind of consequences so just bumbled my way around like a numpty, laughing off any scares I got like "lol, yeah, good thing this isn't a horror game! :DDD"


it was a fucking horror game guys


i was not prepared at all ;.;


Still, pretty nice game!
turkeyDawg
I've been playing Mario 3D World lately. I'm up to Star World, but apparently there's some Crown World afterwards? I'm hoping it doesn't require some silly "101% + some other random shit" thing to unlock, but given the last few 3D Mario games, it probably does. If so, I will most likely not be bothering with it.


hahahahahahahaha

I once thought as you did. To unlock World Crown you have to get every gold flag, green star and stamp in the game. This wouldn't be too bad except for one little awful thing...

There are character stamps, and the only way to get them is to beat every level in the game as that character. So yes. To get 100% and reach World Crown you have to beat the game 5 times on the same file. Good thing there's no log or indication of what levels you've beaten as what character!

Despite the insanity of the whole World Crown mistake, Mario 3D World is still my favourite 3D Mario games by far. It's really fantastically fun and creative. Super good with a friend, too, although a little hard to manage with more than one extra person.