toxicitizen

Dragon Quest XI post-game done! Whew, that was a long one. And yeah, the post-game is pretty much mandatory. If the main game feels like it includes its own sequel, then the post-game feels like the end of the "trilogy" if that makes any sense. It actually expands on stuff only vaguely hinted at in the main game and wraps everything up in a neat little bow. It kinda sucks that the big post-game dungeon consists mostly of re-used maps but the quality of the story more than makes up for it. I really need to play the rest of the series at some point. DQVIII and now XI are both among the best JRPGs I've ever played and although I kinda lost interest in DQVII after 40 hours or so I'm still really curious about 1 through 6. Let's hope they get ported to PC sooner rather than later.

OH SHIT! Talk about out of nowhere. I fucking loved Va-11 Hall-A, so I'm definitely on board for more.

Well, that was a quick confirmation. Coming October 17. And still no sign that SEGA are behind it, I'm assuming they just gave Tri-Ace permission to do it. If only all publishers were this lenient with their IPs...

Yakuza 0 I guess I forgot to post about it after finishing the story a couple weeks ago. My only experience with the series was playing the original on PS2 over a decade ago but I had been hearing so many great things about the series in recent years that I was pretty excited to get back to it. My expectations were probably unreasonably high and uh... yeah, the game completely destroyed them. This is a solid GOTY candidate for me. It's packed with content almost to a fault. I spent easily half my playtime just fucking around with mini-games and progressing through each character's management mode. To the point where it was actually distracting me from the main story and I had to force myself to get back to it and finish the game. And the crazy thing is that the main story is easily the best part of the game! Considering the more comedic tone of stuff I had seen posted online, I'm not sure what I expected to be honest. The vast majority of side-quests are played for laughs but the main story is played completely straight and is actually a really solid crime thriller full of twists and turns. The cutscene direction is also phenomenal and easily rivals something Kojima would do. It also really benefits from being used as an entry point into the series because then you don't know who's coming back in "future" games, so when people start dying left and right you have no idea who has time paradox invincibility. So yeah, I'm really glad they finally got around to porting this one and I really hope they keep them coming. I know it's supposed to be a step down from 0 due to being heavily based on the PS2 original, but I can't wait for Kiwami because I want more! The rumor is they're porting 6 next year but I hope we'll also get Kiwami 2 ASAP because I'm hearing really good things about it. And now the real reason I came here: Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age I wrapped up the main story last night. It took me around 75 hours (doing every side-quest and messing around with the forge and casino a lot) but I still have the post-game to do and apparently it's not optional like in the others. Not sure what that means just yet. This is a pretty damn good JRPG, all things considered. The fact that I'm actually eager to jump into the post-game and keep playing is probably the highest compliment I can give it. I'm honestly kind of amazed that a JRPG this freaking long without the name Trails attached to it has managed to keep me engaged all the way through. The story is fairly generic but it has its moments. The second half of the game isn't as good as the first one because you're mostly revisiting places you've already been and I thought the ending was a little underwhelming, but those are ultimately very minor nitpicks. This is very much a game about the journey and that part of it was thoroughly entertaining. I'm kind of excited to see what the post-game is about now, and since I'm already most of the way there I think I'll go for all the achievements. I have another week or so to kill until Valkyria Chronicles 4, anyway.

This is one of the titles that people had been asking SEGA to port since the very start along with VC, Bayo and Vanquish, so it's about time. What's interesting is that the listing only mentions Tri-Ace as publisher. These ports are usually a SEGA EU thing, so it makes me wonder if this one is different.

Dragon Quest XI. It is so freaking good, you guys! Last night I got to what felt like the halfway point of the story and I can't wait to jump back in today and see where things go next. I don't know if this is typical of the series because I haven't played too many of them but it went in a direction I honestly didn't expect. There's an obvious comparison to make (i.e. "It went full _____") but that would be pretty spoilerific, so I won't. I can't believe I almost didn't get this, though! That was easily the worst decision I made this year and I'm so glad I caved at the last second.

New IP from the Yakuza team. Basically Ace Attorney x Yakuza (with a little bit of Hitman) and this is now the thing I need the most in my life. Please get a PC release...

Apparently they've already confirmed it'll be the PS4 one, which is kind of a bummer since that means the 3DS version will probably remain exclusive to Japan. But hey, you'll get to enjoy your console experience on the go!* *At some abysmal resolution and framerate. Perfect for Switch!

Shit mods unite! Yeah, that seems like the most reasonable option. If only there was some other system made specifically to be convenient to take with you. Like some kind of gaming system but more... portable. Something you can just hold in your hands. Something you could just pull out of your bag and switch on...

Once again, I demonstrate my complete and utter lack of self-control. I came to the realization that if I just stopped wasting all my goddamn playtime on the real estate and cabaret club mini-games, I could probably get Yakuza 0 wrapped up this week-end. I figured if I could manage at least that much then I could justify buying Dragon Quest XI. Then I went ahead and bought Dragon Quest XI right away. Because again, I have no self-control.

I'm almost certain I never said that. Maybe I said it was the best stealth series? Or maybe you're just making shit up like you always do!!!

SHENZHEN I/O Holy fucking shit, I did it! This was much harder than EXAPUNKS. No wonder I got stuck and stopped the first time around. I was stuck on some puzzles for freaking days! In EXAPUNKS, I could mostly just write my code normally without having to worry about limitations too much. Here, I'd constantly run out of space, both on the chips and in the microcontrollers. So many times I had an almost working solution but needed to find a way to squeeze in another instruction or two. So frustrating! But that just makes it all the more satisfying when you finally figure it out. There was one particular puzzle near the end that seemed impossible at first glance. So I got a pen and paper and started trying to find a pattern of some kind that I could exploit. It felt pretty great when my first idea worked flawlessly and I ended up solving the puzzle in like half an hour. Especially after being stuck on the previous one for like two days. I still have the bonus campaign to do but that can wait. It's made up of user-submitted puzzles, so it kinda feels optional. Now I'm really tempted to go back to TIS-100 and try to finish that one too, though.

Any first-person cyberpunk game is inevitably going to give me Deus Ex vibes because Deus Ex is my favorite game series. That doesn't mean their similarities aren't superficial. Deus Ex isn't open-world and is nowhere near as ambitious. If Cyberpunk lives up to its promise, it might actually make me forget that Deus Ex is dead. And even if they were identical, I don't see how that would make either of them generic considering there aren't anywhere near enough games like them that exist! Also, this is generic but Witcher 3 isn't? Wut? There's some folklore elements in there that might seem fresh to us but it's otherwise a fairly typical fantasy setting. Your criteria for what qualifies as generic is pretty inconsistent there, buddy!!! And I brought up Uncharted 3 because 1) it amuses me to mock your obsession with that mediocre game and 2) Uncharted is literally the most generic thing ever, so it was funny to see you going there. Speaking of which, is anything you say not a blatant lie?!?

Do you mean the visuals or the gameplay? The visuals I can kinda get? I mean, I don't necessarily agree (like my artist friend said, the art direction is basically visual porn) but they're still admittedly adhering very closely to a setting that was created in the 80s. They're not exactly reinventing the visual aesthetics of a cyberpunk world. Although the heavy use of daytime certainly helps make it stand apart from other cyberpunk settings. But calling this a "generic first person shooter" is just batshit insane to me. Imo, there's nowhere near enough games that play like what we see in the demo. You have to be looking at it with the most reductive eye imaginable to see nothing but a "generic first person shooter" there.

It's hilarious that you would call this generic after all the Uncharted 3 stuff. I think your brain might have a few wires firing the wrong way, might wanna have someone take a look at that. The other stuff is... yeah. I'm willing to chalk it up to stupidity/ignorance until they give me a good reason to assume malice.

Finally!! Welp, that looked fucking sick. Can't remember the last time I've seen such a long gameplay demo for an upcoming game, let alone managed to sit through the entire thing without skipping ahead even once. Gives pretty strong Deus Ex vibes, which I'm always happy to see.

EXAPUNKS Yeah, this is definitely my favorite Zachtronics game so far. I've always preferred their actual programming games over the abstracted ones but this one has the others beat in basically every single way. More interesting story, better soundtrack, cooler setting (gotta love those 90s hacker aesthetics!) and even production values! It still looks like a Zachtronics game but there's actually voice acting this time as well as some very basic "cutscenes" for some story moments. My only complaint would be the lack of a gif maker like in Opus Magnum but it really wouldn't make sense in a game like this. I think this might also be the fastest I ever beat one of these (less than a week, I think?). Most of them remain unfinished (planning to rectify that very soon, starting with Shenzhen I/O) but I basically powered through more than half the game in just a couple days. I only had the final puzzle left to do today. I think it's probably easier than the others because I didn't get stuck very often. The final level was big spike in complexity but other than that there were only two others that I got really stuck on. And both times I solved my problem by going through the zines and realizing that I was missing something obvious. Speaking of, I'm realizing now that having a physical version of the manual is definitely the optimal way to play these games. It's not just that it's more immersive, there's also something kinda tedious about alt-tabbing out of the game to read a pdf and I think I found myself not doing it as often as I should have in previous games because of it. Being able to pick them up and start leafing through them without ever having to leave the game meant I did it way more often in EXAPUNKS. Now I'm really glad I ordered that Shenzhen I/O binder and assembled it for my replay/attempt to finally beat it!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Coming March 8!

It's a weird thing to complain about but I have too many great games to play right now! I put like 60h in Yakuza 0 last week but I screwed around with optional stuff so much that I'm only about 2/3 of the way through the story. Then Monster Hunter World came out and that also turned out to be excellent. I got so into it that I've barely touched Yakuza this past week. I just wrapped up the story quests and started getting into the High Rank stuff, so I'm nowhere near done with it. And today my EXAPUNKS Limited Edition arrived, so I finally tried it. It's still way too early to say for sure but I think it might be my favorite Zachtronics game yet. It definitely made a very good first impression. So yeah, right now I'm like a kid in a candy store because I want to play everything and I don't know what to prioritize.

I obviously bought the new Zachtronics game the instant it came out last week. Haven't touched it yet, though, because I saw they were still selling Limited Edition upgrades on their website so I caved and ordered one. Waiting for it before I dig in. Also, when I ordered it, I figured what the hell and emailed Zach to see if he still had a Shenzhen I/O Limited Edition left that I could buy. He said he still had binders and most of the extras that came with it, so I got one. Once I get some separators and print out the manual, the only thing I'll be missing will be the mystery envelope. Anyway, it came in today and turns out he also stuffed the box with a bunch of cool shit! (edit: don't know why the pic doesn't display, it might be too big? It's clickable, though...) I don't know what I'll do with a physical copy of SpaceChem but I'm kinda glad to have one! Now if only my EXAPUNKS LE would get here already, I wanna play damnit.

Not gonna give you shit about your weapon choice. I switched to dual blades, which is apparently the most noob friendly, and I have no regrets. As for armor spheres, yeah you should probably use them. Especially if monsters start one shotting you. From what I've read, you can get by early on simply by upgrading whichever armor you have. I did a bit of grinding to complete the Pukei set yesterday and I'm just upgrading that for now because everything else looks kind of ugly lol. Seems to give a decent defense boost, at the very least. Barroth is the first one that truly gave me hell. I failed my first attempt and that is what made me change weapon and go back to get the Pukei set. It felt so good to not just beat him but also do an investigation today and actually capture the fucker alive.

Alright, so I put about a dozen hours into it. After the first few hours on the first day, I really wasn't sure if it would be for me. My first proper hunt was equal parts confusing and frustrating. "Wait, where's his health bar??" "Will you quit running away you piece of shit!" "Oh my God, is this asshole going to die before the heat death of the universe?" Then last night I said fuck it, bought some beer and figured I'd give it a proper shot to find out for sure. Before I knew it, 3 hours had passed. Once I switched to a more beginner-friendly weapon, got into the proper mindset and learned to appreciate the flow and pacing of a hunt, everything fell into place and I started having a ton of fun. Taking down one of these huge bastards after tracking it and chasing it for 30mins is some of the most satisfying shit ever! The last one I did was Anjarath and finally taking down that T-Rex motherfucker after him constantly being a threat during previous hunts felt so freaking good! I rewatched ProJared's review last night and some of the stuff he said made me really glad I waited this long to get into the series, though. There is an insane amount of QOL improvements here that seem like basic common sense things to have in such a game. Makes me really not want to bother ever trying to go back to previous games. Especially since even with all those improvements the game still manages to feel a bit like an impenetrable clusterfuck of menus and data overload.

Other than one part near the end where you're temporarily locked in a particular area for story reasons, you're mostly able to backtrack to your heart's content. I don't remember an explicit point of no return but it'll be obvious when things are getting close to the end. And the part in your spoiler tag is super early on, so I wouldn't worry about it for now.

Did you post this in the wrong thread or do you count getting the DS4 to work as "beating" the game? And yeah, I was a little surprised to find out the series still hasn't actually become an open-world game. I have no idea if it'll get bigger or unlock new areas but the initial Kamurocho map is actually pretty small. Little more than a dozen city blocks or so, and really compact ones at that. And I think it's perfect like that. I've seen people asking for a proper open-world with driving and I think those fuckers are out of their goddamned minds. It wouldn't be the same game at all. The current JRPG/brawler formula is too unique and fun to ruin it with tired open-world design.