toxicitizen

Oh man, I remember renting this back in the day and actually beating it. Even back then I could tell this wasn't very good lol.

It's Trails Day once again. Which means I get to spend an excessive amount of money on a game I won't be playing anytime soon. One day I'll be able to play these at launch again. Just need to catch up on Yakuza first. Then I can get to work on catching up on Trails...

Yakuza 5 Remastered Finished it two weeks ago but I immediately jumped into Rebirth and that first week I couldn't be bothered writing my thoughts because that was time I could spend playing Rebirth instead. Then I kinda forgot about it. I'm not joking, either. I literally finished Yakuza 5 like 15mins before Rebirth finished downloading. Anyway, it was pretty good. It was also very long but it never overstayed its welcome. Mostly because every time you switched protagonist it was like playing a completely different game. You start out with Kiryu and he's a taxi driver now, so naturally you end up getting sucked into the street racing world with drifting and eurobeat music. Then the next character fights like 78 dudes at once while breaking out of prison only to immediately get into a high-speed snowmobile chase followed by a fist fight with a giant bear. Then you spend the next 5 hours in a little mountain village playing a survival/hunting roguelike minigame. Then it's time to play as Haruka, Kiryu's adopted daughter, and she's training to be a pop idol so now the combat has been replaced by a rhythm game. Did I mention that this game is fucking bonkers? I can easily see how someone might just bail when they get to the Haruka chapters but it just made me love the game even more. This is the most unapologetically schizophrenic game I've ever played and I loved it for it. Overall, it did the multiple protagonist thing much better than Yakuza 4 but the story ended up feeling a lot less cohesive as a whole. Yakuza 4 kept me on the edge of my seat for the most part and it was only the finale that was a bit underwhelming (I still can't get over how our heroes' big plan was "We don't understand what's going on or know what to do, so let's just put that big pile of money on top of Millenium Tower and beat up whoever comes to get it"). Yakuza 5 was kind of the opposite. The story was so meandering and full of distractions that by the time I was on the last protagonist I had basically forgotten how things had started out with Kiryu at the beginning. The finale itself was much more exciting, although it did end rather abruptly. Anyway, that's now all the PS3 games done. That took me way longer than I expected but I can finally play Yakuza 6 and then move on to the Ichiban games. I'm almost caught up!

I'm an adult and I spend my money in a responsible and mature way. I've also got a decent collection of figma figures at this point but they're all still in their boxes because I currently have no space to display them. With the ones I received yesterday, I now have the entire God Hand from Berserk!

It's basic but tbh if your game's combat is stealth-focused then all I need is a decent toolkit and a room full of enemies to pick off one by one and I'll be a happy camper.

Just 2 more months and I'll finally get to know why everyone seems to hate this game lol. I mean, I know about the spoiler but I'm assuming there's more to it than just that.

That was several purchases spread out over like 3 weeks and most of them were at "this is never going any lower" prices. But yeah, when you put them all together like this, it's a bit much lmao.

Catch up post. Ubisoft have been adding Steam achievements to a lot of their older games and they've also had several sales, so I went on a bit of a buying spree over the last few weeks. Because I don't have enough of a backlog already, I guess! Also this being the only game in the series I didn't own yet, I figured I'd grab it while it's on sale. I just finished Yakuza 5 so I'm getting there. I'll be fully caught up on this series one day...

Yeah, this is clearly Ethan's fault. You're a shit mod, Ethan!!!

I love how you posted this in the 2024 thread even though you're the one that started the 2025 thread.

Assassin's Creed Origins So, I actually beat the main game years ago but I was underleveled for the DLC (and stubbornly refused to use the level boost), so I just got frustrated with it and stopped. But now a combination of factors made me return to it. Ubisoft finally added Steam achievements support to AC Valhalla, so I finally bought it and Odyssey. Then there's AC Shadows that's looking really good and making me want to catch up with the series. And finally, that one area in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle reminded me of how much I love Egypt as a video game setting, so it made me want to fire up AC Origins again. Anyway, so I picked up right where I had left off: working on completing the base game's map until I was high level enough to tackle the DLC. I had been working on it on and off since October, and now, after having almost doubled my initial playtime, I'm finally done. Goddamn, this game is so needlessly massive. I wasn't kidding about my playtime. The main game took me about 50 hours to beat. My current playtime according to Steam is 94 hours. And over half of that extra 44 hours was spent just running around the base game's map and clearing out all those question marks. Both DLCs probably took me less than 20 hours combined. I could've probably done it a little faster because early on I was also doing all the minor side-quests on the map but at some point I found out they weren't actually required for anything, so I stopped. They were by far the most time-consuming thing and kinda sucked anyway. The DLCs were alright. The first one, The Hidden Ones, is basically more of the same. Kill some dudes to draw out your real target, etc. The second one, Curse of the Pharaohs, leaned more heavily into fantasy and was surprisingly meaty. I really enjoyed that one. By the time I reached it, I was ready for the game to be over but it never really overstayed its welcome despite the amount of content there is to get through. I still cleared all the question marks in every single area even though they weren't required for achievement purposes. So yeah, feels good to have finally completed this one. Now one of my gaming goals for 2025 is to do the same for Odyssey and Valhalla.

Honorable Mentions: Shadow of the Erdtree. I'm not skipping it because it's DLC. Like, the amount of content in it puts a lot of "full" games to shame. If it hadn't been for Elden Ring itself being absolutely huge, FROM could've released Shadow as a full price standalone game and no one would've complained lol. But it was "just" more Elden Ring. Which, don't get me wrong, it was great and I loved it. But it didn't exactly blow my mind or anything. It was just really, really good. Same goes for Metaphor: ReFantazio. I'm honestly a little surprised by all the GOTY love this one got. Not because I don't think it deserves it but rather because Atlus games typically don't seem to get any. I guess Persona 5 might have? Much like Shadow of the Erdtree, Metaphor was excellent and I thoroughly enjoyed it but at the end of the day it was "just" another ATLUS JRPG. It really didn't break the mold as much as I expected it to. Which is fine. It's just not my game of the year. Speaking of which... Game(s) of the Year 2024: That's right, I'm calling it a tie! They were definitely my two favorite games this year. Hard to say which one gets the edge, honestly. The answer could change depending on which day you asked me. Silent Hill 2 wasn't just a fantastic remake, it was possibly the best horror game I've ever played. And Indy came out of nowhere with a surprise immersive sim based on one of my favorite movie franchises. I was actually nervous about how both of these. Both games had me thinking "Please don't suck!" ahead of launch, so it was a very pleasant surprise that they both turned out so freaking good.

I stopped tracking my games on a spreadsheet a while back, so I just went back through this thread and made a list lol. Some stuff may be missing, I guess, but probably nothing major. 1. Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty 2. Horizon: Zero Dawn – Complete Edition 3. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty – Master Collection Version 4. Persona 3 Reload 5. Persona 5 Strikers 6. Kingdom Hearts Final Mix 7. Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers 8. Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree 9. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater – Master Collection Version 10. God of War: Ragnarok 11. Silent Hill 2 Remake 12. Metaphor: ReFantazio 13. Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake 14. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle 15. Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine I was gonna try and do Space Marine 1 -> Boltgun -> Space Marine 2 before the end of the year but I got distracted from Boltgun after finishing the first chapter. Everything was played on PC. Honorable mention to P5 Strikers for being so forgettable I had actually forgotten I'd played it. I'm surprised that I managed to get through two of Atlus' long JRPGs without getting burned out. In fact, I feel like in both cases I went through them much faster than usual. I wonder if that would've changed had I tried to fit SMTV Vengeance in there.

I'm not going to be able to play it anytime soon (getting closer, though! just got started on Yakuza 5 yesterday) but a friend gifted it to me as "retaliation" after I sent him a gift copy of Armored Core 6 on Christmas. This is the same friend that gifted me the previous game like 2 3 years ago that I still haven't been able to play either lol.

Already did a couple rounds of purchases in the Steam sale. Might or might not get more but going through my wishlist there's actually a fairly low amount of stuff that's tempting me. I'm probably overdue to prune it significantly. Lots of games on there that if I haven't bought them by now, I probably never will. Anyway, here's what I got so far:

Pre-ordered this today. I'm not even sure what prompted it. Total impulse purchase. I mean, I was obviously gonna play it day one. So I had to pre-order it at some point, I guess. I just couldn't tell you why today was the day.

There's a pretty decent deal on GMG. I was hoping for a shadowdrop at the Game Awards like last time but at least it's not too far off. I'm really glad they didn't make us wait stupidly long for the PC version again. They really need to get their shit together and start getting these ports out at the same time as the console versions. But at least a little under a year is a huge improvement over the two years it took for Remake to come to Steam. Hopefully part 3 will be multiplat at launch.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle So, that one kinda came out of nowhere for me. I had been following it and was hoping it wouldn't suck but that was about it. Well, turns out this might actually be my favorite game of the year. I knew I was in for something special when one of the early levels basically played like it was a new Thief game. And then I got to the first major area and suddenly it turns into even more of an immersive sim? Christmas came early this year! Seriously, if you love immersive sims and were as crushed by the closure of Arkane Austin as I was, then do yourself a favor and don't skip this game. It's not a full immersive sim in the vein of Deus Ex but there was just enough of that DNA in there that I couldn't get enough of it. I can't remember the last time I went out of my way to get all the collectibles in a game before even finishing the main campaign just because I wanted to stretch the experience as much as possible. I could tell I was getting close to the end and I wasn't ready for it to be over. And if you're a fan of Indiana Jones, then it's the best Indy story since Last Crusade and it's not even close. This feels like a true Indy adventure in a way that Crystal Skull and Dial of Destiny simply didn't. I finally got around to watching the latter last week-end and it's just not the same. It was alright for a final send-off for the character but it's pretty clear that Harrison Ford is way too old to keep making these. Most of the action is just chase scenes, I'm assuming because having a man in his 80s doing more elaborate stunts would be fucking irresponsible, and they got kinda boring after a while. My one complaint is that the game is kinda stupid with its checkpoints. It doesn't save after you pick up a collectible, so it's possible to spend like 10mins exploring and picking a bunch of stuff up only to die and lose all of it because you didn't hit a checkpoint. There were a few times when I was going back through areas to get whatever I had missed and found stuff I had already picked up hours earlier but lost because of this bullshit. So if you die, you need to remember to grab stuff again otherwise you'll need to come back for it later. I hope they'll fix this in a patch because it was kind of annoying. Especially when you missed stuff in isolated areas like tombs and caves because getting back there can be tedious. That was my only issue with the game, though. Overall, I absolutely loved it! MachineGames was not the studio I would've bet on to pick up the immersive sim mantle but this was a very pleasant surprise. I really hope they'll make a sequel to this because I'm definitely down for more.

So are my first impressions. So far it seems a bit immersive sim-ish. One of the early missions basically plays like a new Thief game. I love it! Also, I usually can't stand Troy Baker but I have to admit he's actually doing a pretty good Harrison Ford impression here. I can't recognize his voice at all.

I'm an idiot with no self-control so I didn't wait for reviews. Gonna pre-load overnight and should be able to play the early access tomorrow night. Please be as good as the original trilogy...

Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake I also finished this tonight. Dragon Quest is such a comfy series, it's always a treat to return to it. I never played the original but this felt like a perfect middle-ground between playing a retro JRPG and a modern one. Overall, I thought this one was fantastic although there were a few parts that tried my patience a little. Especially near the end when I had to grind a little bit to beat some of the bosses. Also, playing this one before Dragon Quest I & II means the impact of the big twist is significantly reduced. I knew all about it and yet when it happened I didn't immediately recognize its significance until about an hour or two later when I went "oh wait..." Apparently they're reworking I & II a bit so that there'll be a few new surprises that come from playing the games in chronological order. It was also my first HD-2D game and I realize I'm years late on this one but I'm really sold on the style. The low camera angle and the bokeh DoF end up creating a really cool visual style. And, like Cowboy said, the lighting at night is definitely a mood. I often found myself purposefully waiting until night to enter some areas just to enjoy the vibes while going through them. It's downright criminal that Dragon Quest VIII still hasn't had some kind of rerelease on modern platforms. The PS2 version stills looks fantastic when rendered at high resolution with an emulator. It would be the easiest remaster job ever. And it's also baffling that S-E never bothered to drop the mobile versions of DQ I through VI on Steam.

Even though I've been anticipating this one since it was announced, it was a bit of an impulse purchase. I've only just gotten started with Ys X but last night I said fuck it, bought this and played for a couple hours before heading to bed. Dragon Quest isn't a series that I have a ton of nostalgia for since I never played them as a kid but there's still something super comfy about the series that always makes it a treat to return to. Especially with the HD-2D visuals in this one. I'm really looking forward to putting some more time into it.

There's also this really important scene you can get if you backtrack all the way to the beginning.

Metaphor: ReFantazio I suppose there's some irony in finishing the game this week in particular. Having the selection of a leader end well is a nice escape from reality right now... Overall, this is a pretty solid offering from Atlus. While it is basically Fantasy Persona (to a shocking degree, honestly), I found that its main differences from Persona were its biggest strengths. The story doesn't quite reaches the same heights as P5R but the press-turn combat system and the Archetypes job system both felt like a huge improvement over the more repetitive and limited One More combat from Persona. Press-turn felt way more strategic to me. If you play your cards right, you can dispatch enemies without taking any damage and get a boost to your combat rewards. If you don't, an encounter that could've been trivial can end up kicking your ass. The way archetypes work together also adds another neat strategic layer. It clicked for me early on in the first real dungeon. I unlocked a new archetype and equipped it on a character immediately. Then I proceeded to get my ass kicked the very next fight. I thought about it for a bit and considered how my current archetypes could work together and came up with a strategy that carried me through the rest of the dungeon. That was way more satisfying than I ever found the combat in Persona to be. Being able to use every archetype with any character is also great. Need a second healer? Just level up the Healer tree on any character you like. Want that character to still keep its original role? No problem, switch back and use skill inheritance to re-equip the healing spells you want. It's a level of freedom and customization that just isn't present in Persona/Demon fusion. I know I always end up feeling like I have to compromise and lose useful abilities. Here, though, you can build your party members pretty much exactly how you want them. It's great! So yeah, while the game feels very similar to Persona in terms of structure, the combat is the one thing I felt was an upgrade. The story, not so much. it's fine, really, and there's a few cool twists along the way but ultimately it felt pretty basic. It's the one aspect of the game that made me feel like it could benefit from a Royal-style rerelease with added content. Oh and the game is way less strict than Persona as far as time management goes. I didn't quite manage to do everything because I'm dumb and suck at time management but the last month gives you enough free time that I still managed to complete all the requests and max out all the followers' ranks. And that's despite me wasting a bunch of days traveling to places I wasn't ready to tackle on more than one occasion... If you plan things out a little better, there's a ton of breathing room here. So yeah, overall this was pretty damn good. The fantasy setting was a nice change from the usual Atlus fare although I wouldn't necessarily say i preferred it. It was just a nice change of pace. But now that this and P3R are out of the way, I really need you to reveal Persona 6 already, Atlus! And don't you fucking dare go back to launching as a timed PlayStation exclusive, I swear to God...

Any new Falcom game is a day one purchase and man, it's about time RDR 1 was available on PC. The price is higher than I would normally like for a remaster but this is a game I don't mind paying nearly full price for.