toxicitizen

Well, you guys made me want to do the same so I fired up Dark Souls this afternoon. Guess I wasn't under-leveled after all since I managed to make it through the first chunk of Sen's Fortress, up to a bonfire and boss. My damage on it seemed decent so I expect I'll be able to defeat it tonight, when I get back from class. Just pick a place that seems intriguing and go there. If it's too dangerous, go somewhere else. No need for a guide for that, really. The game is pretty good at subtly guiding you like that. If enemies one-shot you, that's a pretty good indicator you probably shouldn't be there. The only times I feel a guide is called for is for certain really useful items that you might otherwise miss.

Muramasa Rebirth. Finished the second campaign last night and man, I love this game. Some of its elements are kinda weak but the overall result is very much greater than the sum. The metroidvania aspect is really lacking. It's only there in the sense of the map structure. There's little actual exploration involved and you never get new abilities, just swords that allow you to break a different color of barriers. Backtracking gets a little annoying after a while and you only unlock warping for a character after beating the final boss the first time. The story is good but nothing particularly mind-blowing. It's cool that each character has a different story and starts on a different side of the map but when I finished the second one I was surprised by how there was ultimately very little that linked the two. At least, not in the first endings. When you get Kisuke's alternate ending, then there's a direct connection that's established. That one's my favorite ending by far. I still have the final (true?) endings to get but I still have a bunch more swords to forge before I can get those. The best parts were the setting, visuals, soundtrack and, to a lesser extent, the combat. The combat is very easy to learn but on Chaos difficulty there's definitely some skill that's required. It made for some very fun combat and in my 20 hours with the game I was never annoyed by the random encounters. Also, forging new blades is way more satisfying than you'd expect. Other than that, the game looks gorgeous and the soundtrack is a perfect match for the visuals. I love classical Japanese settings and this one was done so well that I'm kinda sad that it's over. I'll definitely be sticking with it a bit longer for the last endings, trophies and such. Then there's Fury mode, which brings back the autoblocking from Legend difficulty (Chaos doesn't have it so I'm not sure how useful it actually is) but only gives you 1HP. The masochist in me is very tempted to give it a shot. Then I'll have to get Dragon's Crown.

Well, I guess I was also in that early exploration phase but it really felt like I was under-leveled. Also, you mentioned the last couple bosses. Is Sen's Fortress really close to the end or something? If so, that'd be kind of a big motivator to make myself get back into it.

Yeah, I started it over last fall thinking I'd play it on and off and finish it before Dark Souls II came out. But DSII is right around the corner and I'm starting to realize that it's kind of a daunting game to just jump right back into. Especially since I had just reached Sen's Fortress and my last memories are of getting my ass absolutely kicked.

Muramasa Rebirth. I expected I'd be making this post in the games you beat thread since I finished Kisuke's campaign earlier tonight. But it turns out Momohime's has a completely different story and she starts on the opposite side of the map. Think she has different bosses, too. So I guess I'm only halfway through. That's pretty damn cool because I am loving the hell out of this game. If Vanillaware's games are all this good, I think they just became one of my favorite studios. I'll definitely be grabbing Dragon's Crown once I'm done with this one.

Grabbed the current Indie Gala. Most of it isn't really interesting but they just added if you beat the average. I paid 6 bucks. That didn't take long, kinda glad I didn't get it when it came out on Steam.

Yeah, when I first started looking into the series I didn't know which game went where. It gets confusing when they start remaking them and dropping the numerals. Also, it seems Falcom have been considering doing either Ys 8 or a remake of Ys V as their next project. http://www.siliconera.com/2012/09/18/next-ys-game-could-be-ys-eight-or-an-ys-v-remake/ I kinda hope it's the latter, personally. Now that Celceta is out, Ys V is the only one that was never localized, I think.

Hahaha, man you're missing out. Oath in Felghana is a remake of Ys III. It's on Steam if you're curious. They're up to Ys Seven now, which was a PSP exclusive in most regions. The most recent release (a couple months ago) was a remake of Ys IV for the Vita.

Yeah, the only way I could see any kind of similarities would be if you were to add the attack button to Ys I & II, what with the top-down view and sprite graphics. That might feel a bit like Link to the Past. But beyond that, I don't really see it. The Zelda series never really registered as RPGs for me. More like action adventure with puzzles, I guess?

How do you mean? Old Zelda? I haven't played anything past Wind Waker so I can't comment on recent games. But the overall game structure of Ys is different and the gameplay doesn't feel all that similar either to me. More of a traditional RPG with brawler-like combat.

For Vita but they're cross-buy anyway. Also because I hate having money, apparently. Oh and a couple days ago I remembered that this is a thing and that I still needed to play it There's other discounted PSP games outside the main sale. I was kinda tempted by a couple of niche Japanese SRPGs but I figured I already have enough as it is.

Pretty good sale starts tomorrow on PSN and lasts for a week. http://blog.us.playstation.com/2014/01/13/14-for-14-sale-starts-tomorrow-huge-discounts-on-ps3-vita-games/ Applies to select PS3 and Vita titles only but the selection is pretty good and the deals are great if you're a PS+ subscriber. I've been wanting to get Stealth Inc. and Lone Survivor on Vita and I was holding off in hope of just this kind of deals. Never expected to get them both at once, though. Also kinda tempted to get Peace Walker just for the hell of it. I couldn't get into the HD version for some reason.

How's the performance on the PS3 version? I wanted to get it when it came out but I heard it had some issues. It's like 20 bucks now, though, so if it's not too bad I just might still bite. On topic, I started playing Dissidia Final Fantasy today. It's one of those games I bought digitally when I still owned a PSP but never got around to actually playing. Figured I might as well start knocking those off the backlog before the same thing happens again. After a few hours, I'm not sure how much I like it. The story is nonsensical garbage, even by FF standards. And this is coming from someone who still liked FFVIII despite the utterly moronic plot twist. It's still entertaining enough, I guess. I mean, it's not like I had high expectations to begin with. Then there's the gameplay. It's definitely fun but fights randomly seem to go from over in 10 seconds to "WHAT THE FUCK HOW DID HE EVEN DO THAT WHY AM I NOT DEALING DAMAGE?!?". I'm talking wanting to hurl my Vita at the wall levels of infuriating. A big part of it I think is because the combat system is so convoluted that you don't really understand what the hell you're even doing wrong or why things aren't doing what you expect them to. It's simple enough to get a good grasp on the basic core mechanics but every now and then a fight will feel so unfair and broken that it feels like either the game is cheating or there's something fundamental you're not getting. There's definitely potential for me to love the game but at this point it's still uncertain whether or not I will.

Ys: The Oath in Felghana. As expected, it pretty much blows the first two out of the water. The addition of an attack button makes the combat much more satisfying but everything else is essentially the same. The improved presentation and story were quite welcome. One thing I wasn't a fan of was the addition of jumping. Slashing at flying enemies is always annoying and the platforming was terrible most of the time. So, the Vita one is next, Memories of Celceta. Looking forward to that one but I'm not gonna get it right away. Think I'll take a bit of a break from the series and play something else for now. Playing two of them in a row made it feel a bit repetitive near the end of OiF.

I don't know, the Vita is pretty flat and has its own buttons and sticks. Carrying an actual extra controller around for a touch device isn't something I'd personally be inclined to do. Shit, I don't even carry a wireless mouse for my laptop. I wouldn't expect new releases like that, tbh. At least not as part of a streaming subscription. It wouldn't make financial sense. Why pay 60$ when you can just sub for a month and play the entire thing? The only way this would work would be individual purchases like Onlive did. And we all know how well that went for them.

Yeah, I heard the leap is pretty big. That's why I made it a point to play I and II first, even though I keep hearing the order you play them in doesn't really matter.

Ys II. Well, I guess technically now that I've done the second one that means I beat Ys I & II Chronicles. But Ys I got its own entry so whatever. Anyway, it's essentially the same game as Ys I, just a few hours longer. It looks the same, plays the same and picks up right where the first one left off. Only notable difference is it does away with all the cryptic bullshit the first game suffered from! Also it has a more reasonable level cap (50). As a result, it's a massively more enjoyable experience. These games are kinda weird. They're very much greater than the sum of their parts. By all accounts, they shouldn't be as much fun as they are. The combat is about as basic as it could possibly be, you just run into the enemies. That's it. Running into them at a slight angle to avoid damage is the extent of your strategy. Ys II introduces a few basic spells but I only ever used them in boss fights when I was forced to and even then it was really only the fireball one. The story is almost nonexistent and what's there isn't particularly good. The only standout element is the soundtrack. It's pretty damn great. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTgvJW7-ZMA So, yeah, really glad I picked them up. I'll probably be playing The Oath in Felghana in the near future. Being short and sweet really works in this series' favor. I've basically been marathoning it yet I usually tend to lose interest halfway through RPGs when they're too long.

Is the first one the nVidia Shield? And the second one looks like a phone peripheral kinda thing? Those would work but they look like they'd be a pain to constantly carry around with you. The Vita would be a much better platform for that, I think. Anyway, like I initially said, I don't honestly believe they would go down that road. I was just trying to say that it wouldn't necessarily be a terrible approach for them to use the service as a selling point for their hardware. I fully expect them to monetize it for all its worth.

True but, honestly, I wouldn't want to play this thing on a phone. These will be console games meant to be played with a controller. And I could be mistaken but I think it'll only be on Bravia TVs, which is a Sony brand. So it sounds to me like you need some form of Sony hardware to get the most out of this. Maybe system seller was the wrong way to put it. I meant more like a strong incentive to choose Sony over the competition. edit: and now that I think of it, Sony's in the phone market as well, no? Have they said whether it'll be available on any kind of phone or specific brands? If they haven't, then I wouldn't be surprised if again it was only on Sony phones.

You took my comment and replied separately to parts that were intended to be together... The "not believing this is their plan" part was specifically about running the service at a loss. Of course this is a big deal for them regardless. What I was saying is running it at a loss would turn it into so much more than that. At a very low price point, it's more than just consumer good will, it's one hell of a killer app/system seller. Hell, it doesn't even have to be at a loss necessarily. They could price it just so they break even.

Gahahahaha, GameStop's stock tanked after the PlayStation Now announcement. http://www.forbes.com/sites/briansolomon/2014/01/07/gamestop-plunges-after-sony-unveils-playstation-now-streaming-service/

Yeah, I expect it to be quite a bit more expensive than most people seem to realize. The games library is gonna make or break this thing and, if they want a decent one, Sony will have to cut a ton of deals with third-parties. Think the kind of licensing deals Netflix has to deal with but probably way more expensive. That shit's gonna cost them a ton, there's no way you'll have access to this thing for less than 10 bucks a month, and even that low of a price would surprise the hell out of me. Then again, running this thing at a loss would gain them a metric fuckton of good will from consumers. Suddenly they would have one hell of an exclusive over Microsoft. It could be the key for them to completely dominate this gen. I don't seriously believe this is their plan with this but man, just imagine...

Symphony of the Night left me wanting more and, no longer owning a DS, this was pretty much my only option. If I've done my research right, this is a remake of Rondo of Blood, which SotN was a sequel to. I think it's more linear and not metroidvania but I don't really mind, as long as it's good. Also, it seems it includes Symphony of the Night as an unlockable. Pretty damn cool but I kinda wish I'd known about it before playing the PSOne version. At least now buying the PSOne Classics version won't have been a complete waste of money, I guess. Unlike Final Fantasy Tactics... edit: one more Found a new copy on ebay for cheaper than pretty much everywhere else I looked. I've wanted to try a Vanillaware game for a while now. I've actually wanted to grab this one since before the holidays but was hesitant because of impending school expenses. Well, semester started today and it looks like none of my classes require me to buy any books. So that means I'm left with a stupid amount of money and nothing important to spend it on. Hurray! edit 2: Ugh... one day there will be a rerelease of these games and I won't buy it. That day is not today. I've been shopping around for it ever since buying my Vita but I figured it had gone out of print or something because it only seemed to be available on ebay and through the amazon marketplace and was kind of overpriced (50$ and up) all over the place. I was starting to think I might be forced to buy digital. Then today I see a new copy for 35$ on amazon, I didn't even think, I just clicked. I really need to stop buying things now. edit 3: okay, last one I swear! It was three bucks, it barely even counts...

You know, I was kind of hoping they'd write Clara off. Cute but such a boring character.