Content from Last 48hrs

I just realized I forgot to post this. Got it day one, naturally. It's the reason why I still haven't finished MGS3 or even started Kirby and the Forgotten Lands. 20 hours in and I'm just about at the end of Act 1. It's really good but goddamn, this game can be a motherfucker at times. I considered dropping it a few times already but so far I've been able to push through each time. It helps that bosses rarely bottleneck you, there's usually something else you can go explore instead of banging your head against the wall. Usually. I think I've done just about everything I can at this point, so tonight that fucking boss is basically my only option. At least it's a "fair" boss. The only thing I've encountered so far that I feel is truly bullshit are bosses that can summon regular enemies. As far as I can tell, the actual summons are random so it can really fuck up an attempt that was otherwise going well. Made it to phase 2? Sucks to be you, asshole. This boss just summoned a couple of flying enemies. So now you have that extra bullshit to deal with! I stopped counting how many times I died solely because of the fucking chaos that ensued when a boss summoned a couple enemies that started going apeshit. Only to succeed on the very next attempt because he somehow didn't summon anything (or summoned something more manageable). It adds an element of randomness that really fucking sucks when you're trying to learn a boss' pattern. That's my only real complaint so far. The game is really good once you get used to its difficulty.

Got two RPGs under my belt recently! Metaphor: ReFantazio This one is like a combination of Persona and SMT with difficulty somewhere in between the two in my opinion. Like Persona, I cared about the characters and the story and got really invested in this fantasy world, though it takes some crazy turns near the climax. Like SMT it uses the press turn system rather than Persona's One More system, emphasizing the importance of not only exploiting weaknesses but manipulating agility since missing attacks takes away two turns and having attacks blocked or reflected takes away all of them. It sounds bad, but this works for both you and your enemies so you can exploit it if you know what you're doing. There's also a job system which I really like, though the requirements for some of the advanced jobs are pretty difficult to meet and require grinding. Really solid game overall, though there is a massive difficulty spike right near the end and the final boss is FOUR phases that take a VERY long time to get through. If they ever re-release this one like they do with the Persona games I imagine some of these issues are likely to be addressed. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 I have mixed albeit mostly positive feelings about this game. I like the combat system and the characters and world, though at the same time it feels like there are some really obvious QoL features missing here that would have made it much better. There's no restart battle option so if you screw up really bad at the beginning of a fight then too bad, you just have to limp along until the enemy finishes you off before you can start over. You also can't swap out party members in battle so if you happen to have the wrong element in your lineup for a particular enemy then too bad, you can't fix it. You also have to memorize enemy weaknesses and I've been spoiled by Persona (and Metaphor right before this game) keeping track of that for you once you discover them once. There's a lot of trial and error with battles too. Enemies hit so hard that you're likely to just eat shit on every first time enemy and boss encounter while you learn how their attacks work so you can parry them. I guessed about 2/3 of the plot before it was fully revealed but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Just means they foreshadowed it properly. Still, that did also mean that the revelation didn't blow my mind like it probably did for most people. Oh well. Still a pretty solid story. There's more wheeee than whooooo in here. Real ones know what I mean.

Just ordered the second lego set I've ever paid for with my own money... (the first was the Tallneck)