#i do have the game but it's on the ps3 but the controllers have bad drift so it was hard to continue when some buttons don't work.

[l0ganberry]

I just remembered I drew this 2 years ago.......

[cinnamontoads]

got out the ps3 to get a feel for the controller (i haven’t started mgs4 yet) and after not even a minute of jiggling the analog sticks around my thumbs hurt because the sticks are SO loose and hypermobile so this playthrough is gonna SUUUUUCK

[sometipsygnostalgic]

Video game console and case design

Today's hyperfixation is on the PLAYSTATION 5. Because I want one, but I really shouldn't buy one, so I am just looking up everything to do with games consoles and burning my brain out.

I used to be a proper xbox player, until I got my PC, then I never really touched by xbox again. I got a PS4 to play Persona 5 and since then it's been a blu ray player for my Adventure Time boxset, not much else. But the current gen - PS5, Series X - is arguably more powerful than my gaming PC, and I still have a lot of friends stuck on PS5, so I am considering investing in a unit.

Anyway is it me or did they really shit the bed with design in this generation?

Look at these chunky fuckers! They do not fit smoothly under your television at all. There is no detail or decoration breaking up their unnecessarily large faces, which makes them look bland and ugly. They look like they're made of cheap plastic, with the two controllers being the highest quality thing about them. I can attest the xbox controller is unbeatable, but playstation really made their shot this generation. A shame I can never get used to the dualshock joystick positioning.

The Series S and the PS5 Slim are almost NO improvement on the base designs.

For some reason they made the Series S look like a speaker???

The new PS5 slim FINALLY has a line across that massive faceplate, but the half matte half glossed finish is not doing it any favours. I think it would've looked much better if, for example, the matte and gloss plates were different colours. Like black and white! It also has an even MORE out of place disc drive, which I think is part of Sony's agenda to go digital only, and the two tiny "feet" for its horizontal positioning are pathetic! Personally I like this more than the original but not significantly, disappointing since I was really looking forward to it.

I want you to compare these nasties to the previous generation - the PS4 and the XBOX One.

....Now, what's hilarious about this image is the consoles look ALMOST IDENTICAL from this angle. And, I guess, that would be why Sony and Microsoft decided to make such a departure with the space heater PS5 and the fridge Series X.

But they both look very premium and advanced, and they fit very nicely in your living room.

The companies tried to look a bit more distinguished in their followup versions in the previous gen too. The white PS4 Pro looks a lot closer to PS5 with its quirkiness, but without the atrocious shiny plastic. Sony tended to add or remove a layer whenever they altered the PS4, I wonder what they would look like all stacked on top of each other.

It's not just the games console designs that suffer - Look at the game cases! I know that the companies want to incentivise you to go digital, but Xbox Series X cases are just awful.

So if you're confused - You should be!!! Microsoft have two kinds of case for the Series X. One of them is the EXACT SAME CASE as Xbox One, but with Series X printed on the front. The second newer version foregoes the sexy Xbox logo entirely and just has Xbox Series X printed in some default font. Awful awful awful.

Playstation is doing better, but barely.

They are reusing PS4 cases with a different print on them. It doesn't look as horrible as Xbox's, and it at least has a different colour on the logo, but damn, the jump between PS3/360 and PS4/One was really impressive, and now they've stopped bothering because they want everyone to go digital. If your game cases look like shit, why bother with physical?

I want to contrast with physical media kings Nintendo, who did an outstanding job in 2017 with designing the case for the Nintendo Switch.

These bad boys are mine. They're super thin, easy to stack, decent quality, and F U N. The red colour pallette makes them pop out. You can see one from across the store and go, "damn, that's a Nintendo Switch game".

I just want a thousand of them.

I would say a disadvantage, especially compared to the Gamecube games next to them, and even compared to 3ds, is that you can't tell what game you're looking at without going right up to them. These cases are TOO uniform, and really tiny, so i have to triple check I am picking up Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and not Tony Hawk Pro Skater. Meanwhile you can tell exactly what Gamecube games I have by colour pallette alone. Like, you can instantly tell that's Windwaker.

The switch in general is a very fun looking games console, much nicer looking than its predecessor the Wii U, though I'm not sure how I feel about the white of the OLED. But every time I see a Switch Lite in stores, even though I know it's worse than my Switch, I want to buy one. It just looks so FUUUUUN.

And finally a special mention to the 3DS and its games case. The console itself was pretty stylish, if... rudimentary for its release period, but the games cases are high quality and almost make me want to have 3ds games just so I can have the cases.

[dragon-snoots-a-boopin]

I recently play Batman: Arkham City, a game that I first played back when it came out on the PS3, and so now I just want to talk about my recent experience with the game as it's been so long that this felt like the first time I played it.

Things I Liked:

The true feeling of being Batman

The sound effects they added when you're beating on criminals really puts weight into every single punch and kick.

The gadgets that also add to making you feel like Batman. There are so many different ways you can use them in any situation that the game throws your way.

Zipping and/or gliding around is such a fun feeling.

Really good enemy progression. You have basic melee thugs, thugs with guns that you shouldn't approach from the front, thugs wearing body armor that you have to stun first, thugs with edged weapons that require a special dodge, bigger thugs that require the ultra stun a few times, thugs with nightvision goggles that didn't really help them, thugs that place mines, bigger thugs with shields that require a different kind of stun and so on. The enemy progression is done so well.

The few boss fights were not as bad as I was expecting, with the exception of one.

The free flow combat just works so well. Having Batman just float from enemy to enemy in groups is just so nice.

The Catwoman sections were really nice as she plays so much different from Batman, it was nice having her sections breaking up the Batman sections.

Getting to play as Robin in the beginning of the Harley Quinn's Revenge DLC was very fun.

Things I Did Not Like:

The Trials Of The Demon. I absolutely hated this because of the going from doing a dive bomb to having to pull up because sometimes the controls just fought me and I died over and over in this part. Easily the worst part of the game for me.

The many times of having to be grappling or gliding around playing hot or cold with a variety of things. Whether I was tracking a signal or tracking the coldest part of Gotham to locate Mr. Freeze. It wouldn't be so annoying if it happened like twice but, it happens like four or five times and just got annoying. It honestly felt like padding the game's run time with how much they make you do this.

The final fight against Clayface was really frustrating because of the fact that in the second phase, Clayface has an attack that happens so fast after another attack that there is no possible way to be able to dodge it. I think that it's not fair that you are stuck taking this damage because it's not avoidable.

Overall, Arkham City is a classic and is a must play for anyone, especially if you're a Batman fan. Arkham City is a good an enjoyable game that is definitely worth playing.

[tidalskii]

It was announced yesterday that LittleBigPlanet 3’s game servers would be closing indefinitely, putting an end to the remaining online support the original LBP trilogy still had. I’ve managed to collect my thoughts and pay my tributes to the series before I part ways with it.

This game series means the world to me, and I am extremely proud and honored to have been apart of it’s community. I started playing the games in 2010 with the demo for LittleBigPlanet on PS3 and… I wasn’t impressed. I got stuck before I even played the game! I had a second controller turned on somewhere so 6 y/o me was presented with the “Select Profile” screen.

Having no clue why none of the buttons on my controller were working, I think I just turned it off and didn’t play it for months. Idk what got me to play it again, but I’m glad I did because I fell in LOVE with the game. Everything about how it controlled just… clicked with me. I thought it was genius, the sheer amount of expressiveness you could display; tilting the controller to move your head or your hips, using the D-Pad to change your facial expression, moving each individual arm with both sticks and the limb buttons on the back, it was all so intuitive and fun to do. Although, once me and my cousin learned how to slap each other in-game, it was over for my parents’ ears lol, we’d be screaming and yelling at each other. Sure enough that Christmas, I got the full game, specifically the special kind with some of the DLC pre-installed. That’s where the REAL fun began. Nearly every night after school I’d bring a couple of friends over and we’d try to play through as many levels as we could in one-sitting. The Metal Gear Solid DLC levels I often died immediately in and I would wait for an older kid I knew to get to a checkpoint and revive me. Regardless of how bad I was at the game, it was so much fun, especially now that we were able to experience the create mode. My mom actually started playing it, too. I don’t have any pictures of it sadly but she made a really expansive house with separate rooms and secret passages everywhere, it was really cool. I’d say I spent a good year or so playing the first game, then Christmas 2011 arrived. That’s when I got LittleBigPlanet 2.

LBP2 is my favorite video game of all time, it does what every good sequel should do: expand on what made the first game so amazing without straying too far away from its core appeal. For starters, if you already owned LBP the game will ask you right off the bat if you wish to import all of your collected items, costumes, and levels into LBP2. This absolutely BLEW MY MIND and in a weird way it kind of made playing the first game obsolete. You mean to tell me EVERYTHING I’ve ever made is already here, I can just… continue working on it?! I can still rock the same costumes I had, I can play music from the FIRST game in the SECOND game?!?! That alone made LBP2 so much of a gem in my eyes, it was LITERALLY the first game and MORE. But the fun didn’t end there! It was around this time I got a PSN account, so I was able to experience everyone else’s creations online and… wow. A whole new world just opened up, a whole community to engage and interact with. I met so many amazing people, some of whom are my closest friends to this day, over a decade later. It was through a group of some older kids that I often tagged along with that started getting into anime and comics more. 2011-2014 was a magical time to be on LBP, those years really felt like “The Golden Years” of the online community. Oh yeah and LBP Karting and the portable games existed too, I guess. I played LBPK, I thought it was fun… I still own it, but I’ve barely touched it after all these years. From what I’ve heard PSP and Vita seemed like a lot of fun, I’ve just never played them. Around early-mid 2014, it was announced that there would be a third LBP game for both the PS3 and the newly-released PS4. New characters, 16-LAYERS in create-mode (!!!), and a weird purple lightbulb as the new main-antagonist of the story mode… “Newton”. I remember being so excited for it to release. We were FINALLY getting a THIRD LittleBigPlanet, for a new console, too! We sure did, alright.

To this day, I’m still not sure how to feel about LittleBigPlanet 3, and it feels like the greater community more or less can’t ether. This game… SHOULD be better than the 2nd game, and you know what? Catch me on a good day and I might say that I prefer LBP3 to LBP2. Everything’s there, a new story, cross-compatibility with LBP and LBP2, a fleshed-out create mode, all of it’s there and what we have in the game is phenomenal, however there’s one big, glaring issue that distracts it from being superior to its predecessors… this game is BROKEN. I know people like to throw out that term a lot with somewhat buggy games but oh my god, LBP3 is DANGEROUSLY glitchy and exploitative. By this point, Media Molecule had moved on from the LBP series to continue developing new games, leaving Sumo Digital to oversee LBP3’s development. I feel so bad for Sumo Digital because it’s painfully obvious Sony rushed their time to complete the game for a holiday 2014 release date… and the quality of the final game reflects the time-crunch they must’ve gone through. Joining friends can take you up to a half-hour if you’re unlucky, it’s a gamble if the game will even function properly. Often you’ll be sent back to your pod after the game rapid-fires it’s loading screen (btw serious warning for anyone with epilepsy: DON’T play LittleBigPlanet 3, it does stuff like this all the time), but when the screen fades in, Sackboy doesn’t respawn, soft-locking the game. Fun! I’m not sure if anyone else suffered from this one specific, GAME-BREAKING bug as I’ve never seen anyone else talk about it, but around 2015 or so my game’s gravity just… freaked out, regardless if you were in hover-mode or not, Sackboy would float off to the left of the screen and phase through all of the walls. I tried restarting the game, cleaning off the physical disc the sink, but nothing would fix it, I literally had to reset my game progress. Very fun! Another weird thing I ran into is the inability to place down stickers with the PS Eye Camera Tool. It just stopped working entirely at one point, even in previous games like LBP2. No idea how THAT happened, very strange bug. Despite all this… I powered through, because truthfully I do think the content in LBP3 is superior to the previous games. The music is great, I found myself genuinely invested in the story and it’s characters, the DLC packs introduced in LBP3 were all very fun, and the create mode is a GODSEND compared to the first 2 games. Honestly, that’s one of the 2 reasons why I chose to stick around with LBP3, there is SO MUCH you can do with the tools it provides you. For those of you who don’t know, for the last couple years or so I’ve been building full working models of the Thomas the Tank Engine characters in LBP3, and that’s led to me gaining a humble but amazingly awesome following in the game. I love Thomas, I love LBP, I just wanted to put those two interests together and I’m very happy people seemed to have liked what I made, which is very wholesome and sweet.

I am devastated that the game’s online services are now gone for good, but it was kind of inevitable. LBP3’s lack of quality opened the door for a lot of nasty exploitation and modifications people made to their games. The servers were hacked in 2021, and that led to the termination of the PS3’s servers. It wasn’t hard to deduce that PS4’s servers were running on borrowed-time. Regardless of how unfortunate it’s closure was, this franchise was supported for 16 years. That’s not a bad run at all. I would say I’m surprised it wasn’t closed sooner, but then again… I’m not surprised. The LittleBigPlanet community is so amazing and passionate over these games. When the 2021 server attacks happened we all rallied together online to keep it alive, if just for a little bit longer. Even at its very end, a lot of us had so much more creativity to share with the world. To all those out there listening, I hope you’re able to channel that creativity outlet even further beyond in the future, whenever and wherever that may be. As for me, I’m going to attempt to learn “Dreams”, Media Molecule’s spiritual successor to the LBP games, released on PS4/PS5. From what I’ve seen and played of that game, it scratches that itch LBP left on me. It’s so good.

Rest easy, Sackboy. Thank you for some of the best experiences I could have asked for in a video game. Here’s hoping for a LBP4 one day, old friend. 🌎

[thedawningofthehour]

SORRY FOR THE LONG ASK but you activated my sleeper agent rottmnt brainstorming Re: The Video Game Question

Raph: would probably like low strategy single player games and lean toward arcade/motion control based experiences because they present a way around the "Hand Too Big Controller Too Small And Breakable" problem. As an Oldest Sibling (speaking from an Oldest Sibling Gamer pov) he would have been the Designated Single Player Driver (I have a vivid mental image of Raph playing old c tier single player wii games like My Sims Kingdom while Mikey, Leo, and Donnie yell instructions at him) and I think he's still gravitated towards those kinds of games. He also feels like the kind of guy who will thoroughly enjoy every video game he plays but his favorite is still inexplicably just like. Uno for the ps3

Leo: Would like competitive games. I feel like he's the kinda guy who cannot bring himself to give a shit about the story or aesthetics of a game and cannot care at all about single player video games outside of speedrunning or something. The point of games for him Is To Win. I feel like him and Donnie both played CSGO or COD at a young age with voice chat and thats why they are who they are. His favorite game is probably a competitive hero shooter or smth. He probably is playing Valorant as we speak.

Donnie: I feel like he's the only one who is a Capital "G" Gamer. Has the broadest taste but tends to like games he can "lose himself" in. (Competitive shooters, MMOs, lengthy and intricate single player games IE: Dark Souls or Elden Ring, metroidvanias, RPGs, fighting games) If the taste of Donnie Gamer Mode we get in the show is anything to go by, he seems the type to obsess over a game for like a month, beat it 120%, probably achieve some level or speedrunning or competitive infamy and then drop it completely never to be seen again.

Mikey: Would love sandbox games for Sure. Plays Minecraft but only on creative mode. Will play sims but only with cheats to make super intricate mansions or crazy houses or recreate something he saw in a movie once. He would 100% play single player games his brothers already beat so he can look around at the scenery and mess around in a character creator. Will play an open world game and never do a single main story mission and call it quits when he gets bored.

They've all 100% played a bunch of really weird and bad shovelware games or really cheap 3rd party titles because they were what Splinter could get for them. They all have 10 to 15 mobile idle games they'll rotate out bc they all need to be Stimulated at All Times. Yes they have played Mario Party and Killed Each Other over it but more importantly they have played Dokapon Kingdom and have started rivalries that have lasted several months over this game. They will hold grudges til they die over this game. They have never gotten to the end screen of this game and in all likelihood, never will.

Idk maybe my vibes are off tho lol but can you tell I've thought about this a lot to my own detriment

There's actually a point in the next book-I think it's in chapter 1 but I can't remember-where Galois mentions giving Raph one of Draxum's oversized keyboards when he has to do anything on the computer. (Draxum has large-print keyboards because he's Old) I think I've mentioned that the boys all have larger-than-normal phones because they only have the three fat fingers and that's just not gonna work with a standard iPhone. Raph I feel like is basically Strong from Fallout 4:

(bless him)

I'm reminded of when my sister would sit and watch my play Dream Life to 'learn', until I moved it into my own room. Really, their first console was probably 'whatever Splinter found in a dumpster and still worked', so unless it was something with connected controllers they were probably playing off whatever controllers he'd found as well, so it's entirely possible they legit just had the one controller for awhile. And yeah, they all crowd around to watch Raph play because that's annoying little sibling behavior.

Mikey would love games where the goal is to Make Something. He doesn't care about winning, only stepping back and looking at the finished product and going "nice." I do feel like he'd actually play the sims though-the twins use it as a building simulator, but he'd absolutely get into the lives and stories of his sims. He builds too, but he also gets into creating the sim. He plays Fallout 4 with the Sim Settlements mod and never finds Shaun because all he's doing is building shacks for farmers.

Oh, Leo is absolutely in it to win it. In any way, if it has a score he can use to compare to Donnie's he loves it. The sole exception to this is city builders, I can absolutely see him sinking days into Cities Skylines creating elaborate planned cities with complicated mass transit and beautiful walking spaces.

The other exception is if he can fuck around in a game and be chaotic. He plays Skyrim and installs the sex mods not because he's horny, but because he thinks going around in this incredibly inappropriately horny fantasy world is hysterical. He uses it more as a Medieval Life Simulator and if he completes a quest it's entirely by accident.

Donnie is absolutely the worst gamer and will learn literally everything there is about the game after playing it through once. He also probably mods his games, or even makes his own mods. Some of them to make everything look cooler or add quality of life and immersion stuff in, but he'll also do stuff like install the mod that replaces the Skyrim arrow noises with a man going "pew!"

Omg they absolutely played knock-off games as kids. They probably lied to Mikey about them being off-brand so he didn't feel bad about their situation, telling him that the title was a misprint and all the ads for the actual game were lying.

[sapphire-weapon]

just finished the rebirth demo

i don't understand why they cut it where they did. it's literally the second to last scene of the flashback. in OG it's maybe 60 seconds left worth of scene. what the fuck did they do to it that they felt the need to cut it from the demo???

this was the most loyal revisit of the nibelheim incident ever made. there's some BAD versions of this scene in the compilation. so glad they followed OG almost shot for shot (though not line for line, but that's okay)

if we're fighting the materia keeper in the flashback, does that mean we WON'T fight him when we go back to nibelheim to recruit vincent?

it's a REALLY WEIRD CHOICE to have tifa co-tell parts of this story. in OG she doesn't say a damn word because her brain is full of fuck just listening to it. but if she's going to be an active member of the conversation, why the FUCK is she just helping tell this story like it's totally normal and not jumping in like HEY CLOUD WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT EVEN

pre-madness sephiroth continues to be peak boyfriend material

NO GENESIS NO GENESIS NO GENESIS NO GENESIS NO GENESIS NO GENESIS NO GENESIS NO GENESIS

adding in more detail as to what sephiroth was reading was a really good addition, good on u nojima

mako vacuums can get fucked and i hope whoever thought of that has a really bad day today

i don't understand how this game, native to the PS5, has way, way, way, WAY shittier climbing mechanics than uncharted, native to the PS3. what the fuck are you doing, squenix

i don't feel like this version captured the same feeling of controlling sephiroth that you got from the OG. like, the point of doing it in OG was to show how insanely terrifyingly powerful sephiroth was. and in this version, yeah, sephiroth's stats were high, and his materia was maxed, but... it's not the same as opening the menu and seeing he has 9999 HP and 999 MP and then getting into a fight and he cast+all's thundaga and kills everything on the screen in one turn. i actually had to put effort into fighting the materia keeper. it shouldn't have lasted more than a minute.

the slow hobble and the slow crawl through the fire was a bad design choice, sorry. it added nothing and made the whole experience feel shittier

if they released a spinoff game of just the piano playing, i'd buy it

combat feels way better in this game than it did in remake, which is good, because i was like the only person on the planet apparently who criticized the gameplay in remake but FUCK THE GAMEPLAY IN REMAKE fuckin damage sponge ass enemies and boss phases fucking up your stagger meter and shitty party AI fuck that. rebirth is better. i enjoyed it more.

but overall idk i'm not as wowed by and enamored with the demo as some of my contemporaries who are already calling this for GOTY. it was fine, and i'm gonna take time off work to play the game when it comes out, but like

idk let's not put the cart before the horse here, people

[dr-spectre]

Sonic x Shadow Generations thoughts...

So after watching the 10 minute gameplay VGC released and seeing multiple people play the demo, i got to say... To the people who are saying "oh its exactly like Forces/Frontiers again..." Like... No? Have people forgotten just how AWFUL the level design in Forces was? Do you guys remember Lost Valley? Arsenal Pyramid? Sunset Heights? LUMINIOUS FOREST!?!? Space Colony Ark Act 1 is nowhere NEAR that quality bro.

There's multiple pathways that don't last for 3 seconds and add nothing of substantial gameplay, there's level gimmicks like the gravity walls and rockets that you can freeze with chaos control which adds new pathways, reaction based platforming with floating hoops and rails that you gotta react to fast enough in order to get on them and save time to get the S rank. It has those elements that Generations level design has but it definitely still has room for improvement of course.

Frontiers biggest issues with Cyberspace was copying and pasting level design that the controls weren't built around, and so therefore i wish i was playing Generations or Unleashed or Adventure 2 instead of some weird janky version of those levels that are covered in green hill, chemical plant, sky sanctuary and some basic ass city aesthetics i've seen over and over AND OVER AGAIN!! The original level design wasn't too bad actually and with the right control mods and tweaks, it felt REALLY good. Although still way too short for my liking.

I think that Forces really hurt a lot of fans deeply and the moment that they see any sort of hallway they freak the fuck out and get PTSD from Forces. Guess what other games in the series had long hallways in them? Adventure, Adventure 2, Heroes, Unleashed, Colors and Generations! If SA1 or SA2 got released today people would complain about linear level design, if Generations got released today and it didn't exist until 2024, people would give shit towards Green Hill Act 2 for being linear even though it's one of the best opening levels in the entire Sonic franchise in my opinion. Linearity isn't a bad thing, it's when you add 50 million dash panels and invisible scripting sequences where you can't move left or right until it's done, THEN it's an issue and bad level design like in Forces.

Now I'm not saying that you cannot criticize the level design, obviously you can duhhh, i have my own issues with the level design so far. I really do want there to be more little details and other aspects in the levels to add variety, like light speed dash trails, pits and spikes in those long hallways that you gotta quick step or move around to keep the speed up, like imagine in those tunnels you had to run up the walls to avoid a pit at the bottom that leads to a slower platforming section, that would be more engaging right? Add back tricks from base Generations and i wish there were more true 3D platforming and ramps and slopes, which the level somewhat has but i want there to be MORE of it. And the omission of the drift makes a lot of the level design seem a bit too blocky and less sloped if that makes any sense.

It's really weird that base Generations has a drift yet Shadow Generations doesn't. I just want there to be more options in the level design, those little details and extra paths do add up and make games like Unleashed and Gens so damn fun to replay.

Anyways, those were my thoughts on the level design of Shadow Generations that I've seen so far. I am looking forward to this as it seems like the team put in the work and time to make something really interesting and surprisingly polished. Like the UI actually looks fire, i want that HUD in the base game it looks so clean.

If Generations didn't get this new addition then i wouldn't give a fuck about it buying it again as i already got the game on steam and PS3 back when i was 10 years old....

....damn that feels weird to say... Generations is nearly 13 years old.... ouch...

[derekscorner]

Ghost of Sparta is Good

I recently replayed it on PS3 and it's truly a shame this game is lost to emulators or the retro console owners.

The PS3 version in particular really highlights how hard those PSPs were churning to keep up the detail. I'm not one to care about graphics myself but it's hard to not appreciate how that was pulled off.

Of course, I won't sit here and tell you the story is stellar. I do not think it's bad in the slightest but it can be silly like any GoW game.

Such as Kratos forgetting Deimos. I can buy that he assumed he had died and he even yells at his mother for her telling him so but to forget him is silly as can be once you learn that Deimos is the origin of Kratos tattoo.

That large, red, body size tattoo on his body was inspired by Deimos' birthmark. A reminder not to forget. lol

Then there is Atlantis. You learn that Kratos is the one who sunk Atlantis in the GoW universe, you're controlling him as he does it. It's one more on the list of affronts that make you question why Kratos wasn't dealt with sooner.

Which this is a problem any prequel or interquel can have. Sometimes you have no good explanation for a thing that happened in the titles proceeding them despite being made after.

And this is classic GoW, few of us are here for air-tight narrative consistency. It's just a story thing I notice each time I play it.

The only story bits these prequels do that I feel takes away impact is Ascension and Chains of Olympus since Kratos not only kills three immortals, one demi-god/fury, and the god queen Persephone, but Ares' plot to attack Olympus is leaked.

This can make the necessity of Pandora's Box in GoW 1 seem just a flat out lie and it can leave you wondering why Ares was left be for the ten years between Ascension/Chains of Olympus and GoW 1.

But, again, those are minor things. Each of these titles do something greater than their faults by showing Kratos' descent into madness in GoW 3.

Once you play Ascension to see how he escaped his oath, once you see him have to traumatize and forsake his daughter (again) in Chains of Olympus, and once you see him cause the death of his mother and brother in Ghost of Sparta it makes sense.

Kratos was never a great person but he valued family more than you'd expect given his character so when a man with that many flaws and rage loses his humanity you get what you saw in GoW 3.

He is no anti-hero in GoW 3. Kratos is a villain, you are helping him destroy the world and the consequences be damned.

Though I am aware of how some find Deimos' heel turn in the game rushed I do still think the story is decent.

I personally like it because I think it's button mapping is the best in the classic series making it more fun for me to play. And, truth be told, it's the only title where you actually play as the god of war.

It's just fun to go on an adventure as a god in the classic series....I have no clever way to end this. Bye!

[mycomicbox]

Random Thoughts on Persona 5 Royal - Part 1

[Progress: May 2nd, 1st Palace conquered]

First, I want to explain my history with Persona 5. I tried playing the vanilla version the summer of 2019 on a PS3 emulator. It was mildly enjoyable, but the emulator had issues (lag spikes, graphical glitches, etc.). I didn't even make it halfway through the first Palace. So, I shelved it... until Persona 5 Royal got ported to Nintendo Switch in 2022. I bought it as soon as possible, but I was busy with other long-form RPGs, and I kept putting it off later and later. I played through Bravely Default II, Pokémon Violet, Final Fantasy VII, Persona 3 Portable, Persona 4 Golden, and more. Now, that all changes.

I would also like to confess that I have been exposed to a few endgame spoilers in the last few years. Luckily, not too much, and I don't know jack shit about Royal's exclusive content (other than the important Confidants).

I've seen the opening to the vanilla game, but not Royal. It's pretty cool, though I do kind of miss Wake Up, Get Up, Get Out There.

EVERYTHING IS RED.

I like how the game starts off with a media literacy check. "If you don't understand that this is fictional, then you're not allowed to play."

Flash-forward sequences, huh? That's a first for the series.

It's a bit jarring to go from PS2-era models to this.

Persona 4 Golden was a bit easy for my tastes, so I'll be playing on Hard mode, at least for bosses.

I'm liking Ryuji so far. Then again, I guess that was kind of expected, since he fills a similar "best bro" role to Yosuke and Junpei.

I want Ann's hoodie. I would wear that hoodie.

As I found out, Morgana has the same English VA as Edea from Bravely Default, so I can't help but hear Edea when Morgana speaks.

I do feel a bit of kinship with the small town of Inaba from Persona 4, but I've always been a sucker for that big city aesthetic.

Speaking of aesthetic, this game has been praised up and down for it, and it's easy to see why. Is there a name for this kind of style?

I like the chatter that you hear while walking around. It helps breathe some life into the overworld.

The controller vibrating when receiving messages is a really nice touch.

I don't remember buying any DLC... but I won't say no to extra stuff.

The gameplay is so much more fun than in the last two games. Palaces are super fun to sneak around in, and combat offers some new toys to play with (guns, Baton Passes, Hold Ups, new damage types, Technicals, etc.)

GUNS REFILL AFTER EVERY BATTLE. I don't remember much from my first try with the vanilla game, but I do remember being frustrated with how quickly you run out of ammo. This is such a nice change.

I'm gonna say it: Take Over > Last Surprise. Both slap though, as does the rest of the OST (as expected from a Persona game).

The contrast between Persona 4's introduction and Persona 5's is kind of hilarious? Like, Dojima is all friendly with Yu, and the Yasogami students talk about his good looks. Sojiro threatens to toss out Ren multiple times, and the Shujin students keep talking shit.

In this series, we've had themes of death, truth, and now rebellion. This game makes me want to buy a leather jacket and shove a boot up someone's ass.

Ann was the MVP in that boss fight. I would've been in a tight spot if not for her Tarunda.

Goddamn, the ending to the first arc was SO satisfying, and even a little bit therapeutic. In grade school, I've had some bad blood with awful teachers (granted, nowhere near as awful as Kamoshida, but still awful). Little me could've only dreamed of stealing hearts.

Mementos is coming soon, right? It's basically this game's equivalent to Persona 3's Tartarus.

[noobette-little-box]

talkin about minecraft

hey hi it's me noobette hello!!

im gonna try writing something that longer than what i normally post because im kinda bored right now and kinda wanna talk alot about minecraft

so yea

minecraft!

you know it

if you don't what minecraft is somehow

what rock do you live under, and can i join you so you're not lonely

big 3d sandbox game about blocks that released in 2009, created by Notch, a guy i don't feel like talking about much.

i've never actually beat minecraft at all

i've been playing for like

6-8 years at this point

i've only ever played minecraft pocket edition and minecraft ps4 edition

it was the only game i played like a month after i got my tonsils taken out

back when i was like 5 or 6 i played ps3 edition but didnt understand the controls lol

anyways, minecraft has been in my life for over a third of it, and yet i have not beaten it

and i don't really know why

sure it could be that i prefer the calm of a creative world to the chaotic nature of survival

but if that's the case, then why would i create all these survival worlds

i don't think the issue is how i like to play the game, but how the game is played, if that makes sense.

this is more of an issue with newer versions of minecraft, which is a sentence that has been said hundreds of times, but it's true! new minecraft just removes the fun!!

back in the older days of minecraft you just needed diamonds, blaze rods, ender pearls, and about a stack of dirt, and you could go beat the ender dragon

it's mostly the same in the new version too but now everything is made more complicated

like early stages are mostly the same, punch tree, get wood, get stone, go mine, simple

but now instead of building a little mineshaft to dig down, you wanna fine a cave, and hope it goes all the way down to deepslate, if you ever want hope of finding diamonds

then if you want enchantments, you don't want to get an enchantment table, no, you want about 15 librarian villagers to get the stuff you want, which turns villagers into pretty much a necessity instead of a "ooh hehe im gonna build a little village for the little villagers teehee"

then for the nether

here, you now can get material better than diamonds! this is not a bad thing by itself, but it's so hard to get that there's no real reason to get it! you need to go collect a smithing template from one of the bastions in order to upgrade 1 piece of armor!

considering it's an achievement to upgrade a diamond hoe to netherite, and you will mostly want to upgrade the rest of your tools, thats 9 smithing templates and 9 netherite ingots!!

and to get one netherite ingot you need 4 ancient scraps!! which means you need to find 36 ancient debris blocks, which are really hard to find!!! so it's really not worth it to get netherite at all!! and with all the new biomes and structures, the fortresses are harder to find, making it harder to get the blaze rods!!

once you have the blaze rods theres 3 different ways to get ender pearls now. you can either hunt down endermen, barter with piglins, or trade with villagers!! the ones that are easiest are villagers or piglins!! this means villagers are even more of a "god i really fuckin need it" thing!

once you get the eyes of ender the end game is mostly just the same

im probably just being stupid, but i preferred it when you had to get stuff by yourself instead of just buying it from a villager

i know it's not necessary at all but if you're playing with other people they're going to be way ahead compared to you

in my opinion the most recent update that i've liked had been the aquatic update because it didn't make progression any easier or harder

all of this is probably why i've never really beaten minecraft. maybe i should go and make a world just to try playing it the way i want to and see if i can beat the game

if i do i will update you guys on this

okay yeah it was not that long but eh

[banana-milk-enthusiast]

beat Forspoken, and while I probably will write an in-depth review down the line cuz i have many thoughts, I'm just going to pointform my basic thoughts while it's still fresh.

PROS

Great designs all around, the Tantas look so breathtaking with their extravagant designs and yet it doesn't take away from their world, it fits just right in. Absolutely love it.

Good world building most questions i had were answered either through the main story or extra archive stuff. Nothing felt too weird yknow

Gameplay gameplay gameplay. The magic system is literally amazing. I dont think I've had this much fun fighting in an rpg in a long time. Theres so much fun variety so you can focus on whats comfortable for you while also looking sick as fuck. Have i mentioned how good the battle system is cuz i avoid playing mage in every game because its such a slog but here its so fast paced and hits hard. Perfect for me.

The music is soooo good, I love the main theme and find myself humming it literally all the time.

Great graphics but maybe a lil too many particle effects but otherwise really pretty.

The story is technically a pro. Like its good, not bad, not great, just good. Basically something you'd find in the YA Fantasy section, thats the kinda quality it was. Which isn't a insult I did enjoy the story and characters. It just needed polish, fix up the dialogue and trim some of the story fat and i wouldn't have any complaints tbh. Probably would do better as a book series tho ngl, not sure what game format would have saved it.

Shoutout to the accessibility options. I'm glad more games are including these. I'll never understand complaints about them though, like just dont use them if you dont want/need to thats it.

ALMOST FORGOT THE COOLEST THING. THE NAILS. I'm sorry but the idea of using nail art to inscribe magic runes to give you buffs is the coolest fucking idea ever, why has this concept not been used till now. We always see rune tatoos or written on gear and stuff im fantasy media but this is such a neat ideaaaa and im forever thankful for it. Her capes are cool too I guess, with there was more variety rather than recolors tho. Kinda wish we could also get different outfits for her tho. Those jeans probably chafe.

CONS

THE OPEN WORLD IS SO BIG FOR NO GODDAMN REASON. I honestly wish this wasn't an open world game tbh, its so unnecessary. Halfway through the game, i got so frustrated and ignored everything that wasn't story points cuz getting everywhere takes so damn long, especially early on when you dont have fancy parkour or stamina. Easily its biggest fault for me.

I understand they thought it'd do way better than what happened but planning out a story as a trilogy in the gaming industry is not a smart move. I've yet to play the dlc so idk if we get closure but the loose ends werent a great way for the game to end.

Oh, the dialogue. Its easily one of the gamest weakest points. Like the type of dialogue i was writing in my original stories when i was 13 (not that ive gotten any better tbh). Basically, it's not what you expect from such a vaunted company. Frey is great when shes excited or angry, which is most of the time, but occasionally, they'll hit me with the cheesiest line I've heard in years, and idk how to handle it. Like the stuff she says in the final chapter is honestly so robotic, there is no natural flow present. Which is a pity cuz the actress was killing it tbh, like she definitely carried the lines with her emotion. Unfortunately, it couldn't save them. Like if it was something they dropped on ps3 or wii, it honestly would have done fine. What i mean to say is the dialogue is very outdated in this age of gaming. im actually surprised how out of touch it feels. Especially since otherwise its a solid game all around. Regarding Cuff and Frey banter you do have the option to make it less frequent or just turn it off but i never really found them annoying regardless.

Maybe its just me but the control scheme feels so weird, the games makes you feel like you should be gliding most of the time but holding O while spaming all those trigger buttons feels so awkward to me. But then again I also didnt care enough to change the control scheme so.

[bearpillowmonster]

Ok, Sly Cooper.

Well, let me give you some expectations for this game and then see if they lived up.

One of the big three of the PS2 era; Sly Cooper, Ratchet & Clank and Jak & Daxter. Jak & Daxter I've obviously held the highest but as time has gone on, my opinions have changed on Ratchet and Clank but what about Sly?

Back then, I looked up what was considered best of the series, hoping that it would make the strongest impression on me. So for Easter one year, I asked for Sly 2 and played through a little bit of it. I got to Dmitri for the first time and honestly every time that I've tried to go back to it, I get lost with what I'm trying to do, like I don't remember how to play and can't be bothered to restart it, there's just too many places to go.

While Bentley gives you his visual aid, it only lasts a second and you aren't directly looking at it so it can be difficult to navigate. That mixed with my amateur stealth game knowledge, I sat it out.

I saw a YouTube video of someone explaining why Sly is so important to them and why it was still worth checking out. I lodged it in the back of my brain and thought it best to visit the first of the series, maybe I was being too rash starting with the sequel, I mean it being more linear would be a good thing for me so I put it on the backlog. Then one day, I got a real hankering for it, like down bad for it. I started making OCs, looking for it on eBay (which I logged) and really can't say that I've wanted a game that bad since my KH:BBS rom stopped working and I bought 1.5, 2.5 remix where I just wasn't satisfied playing anything else until then but that's besides the point. I eventually broke down and got it. So is it worth all that trouble?

Let's start with age. It has a remaster collection on PS3 but like the other big three of the PS2 era, they didn't port those over to PS4 or the PS store so you're kind of stuck with this one unless you buy a PS3. This is a game that was defining controls, you can tell what was a breakthrough by how they sell it in game too.

So the controls from time to time can seem a bit finnicky since it's PS2 era, but I imagine the remaster probably ironed out those issues since it runs on a different controller. Let me give you an example. Sly's tail has a blue sheen to it to indicate that he's following a track set up in game so that you can balance yourself better. You can break this track but it's easier to stay straight. It's not your masterful controlling doing this, it's the game. Press circle to latch onto stuff (small beams, ropes, etc.) The platforms can shake with momentum as you move on them, in water they start to sink but only where you're stepping. There were a lot of points where I was surprised to see the modern era take reference like Uncharted and Assassin's Creed, this game impressed me 21 years down the road.

I was thinking it was baby's first Splinter Cell but I was dead wrong, it's got variety. I like Splinter Cell, I'm not putting it down, I'm just stating the fact that some of these levels are quite different from the last, not just stealth. From environments like libraries and pirates ships to controlling a submarine to fight off crabs taking treasure chests and all that's within the first 'area'. Yeah, I said 'area'. I also said that this game was more linear. What I'm getting at is that there's a semi 'hub' or sorts where it's portals to levels inside of a level, you play those levels to grab whatever you may need to progress, it's cool and simple enough to keep track of when it's in bites but it's understandable how I could've gotten lost as a kid.

These areas are split between the five different villains or bosses of the game (which are all great btw), starting with the "missions" back at HQ, just like I remember. But if you don't finish that current mission right away and save and exit then you may need a refresher. How many levels can there be? Who's to say, I mean like I said, variety. I think there are seven levels to the first mission but that crab level was the shortest one of the bunch. What do you value in a level? Do you get everything there is to collect?

There are these bottles with little messages inside that collecting enough throughout the level will net you a code from Bentley which can be used for a vault found in that same level. You can go, get them on your first run. Or get some and come back later. It's up to you but the rewards are actually quite beneficial. You see jump is X, and latching is Circle and attack is Square but what's Triangle? Well, you want a fast attack? A roll? You want abilities? Sure, you get new abilities and none of these hidden ones are mandatory but it's a good incentive to thoroughly explore the level. You use the shoulder buttons to scroll through your favorites.

So length can be varying but let's put it this way, it's set up with lives, you run out and you have to restart the level as there are checkpoints otherwise. It's not a bad compromise though because for one, it gives you excuse to get those missed collectibles and two, it saves the collectibles you've already gotten pretty much no matter what so it's not that bad. You can even finish the level and come back and still have the same progress on collecting, I've collected them all before but had to restart because I did them out of order and I did a speedrun of the level in what? A minute? First run was maybe ten. But you really only get a one hit allowance and die if you land in water. You can also pick up level ups and horseshoes which gain you an extra hit or collect a hundred coins for a horseshoe.

So is it worth it? Let me put it this way. I mentioned how I went through a lot to get this game and when it came, it was packaged really good but it was already scratched and the case was dented before they even put it in there and during the cutscene after the first boss, it got stuck and start skipping. I wasn't positive that I could get it to work again so I asked this question. "Now that I've had a taste, (a demo if you will) would I be willing to buy it again in order to play the rest?" And the answer was yes.

It just felt so good to jump with X and press circle to step onto something. With a little elbow grease and improved controls, this game is pretty golden. 4/5.

[dany36]

sooo i finally finished sonic unleashed. the main story parts, anyway. there's still a bunch of act 2 and act 3 stages i still have to do but from what i've seen, they're way shorter than their act 1 counterparts so it's fine. some junk thoughts below about this game!

now that i finally have a ps3 i'v been catching up on a bunch of games i missed out on when i only had the wii :y when i first started playing this game i was like wow, this isn't really that bad compared to what i had been hearing online about it! sure the werehog portions were kind of tedious sometimes, and the fact that they're twice or three times as long as the daylight sections isn't great, but i mean sonic adventure 2's eggman stages sure were slower and more tedious than the sonic/shadow stages, so i was like eh sure, fine, whatever. some of the later werehog stages were a pain and fighting the same type of enemies over and over was really starting to get on my nerves, but again, is this any different than the slow stages of eggman/tails in sa2? if i was able to A-rank all of their missions, then getting through the werehog stages isn't the worst. some of the platforming sections were actually entertaining but yeah, the fighting? not so much.

the daylight stages are hella fun to play through, although i don't know if it's the ps3 version but they seemed very ummm glitchy at parts, and the frame rate would slow waaaay down in certain portions of stages too. it obviously isn't as smooth as i would have wanted, but that was kind of my experience playing through sonic generations. i'm playing with a fat ps3 so i don't know if the experience is better in the slim version lol, but yeah, i'd love to come back to it eventually and try to S rank the stages since they're so fast-paced and just a blast to do. i don't think i'll ever bother getting all of the medals and 100% completing it since this game is just PACKED with content. on top of getting the medals, S-ranking, and the sidequests you get in the hub world, apparently there's hot dog missions too?? oh and there's DLC on top of that. so yeah, i'm ok with not 100% this like i did with sa2 or colors or generations lol. teenage me would have loved to do it though.

sonic games might not be your cup of tea but the music never disappoints. i had heard the unleashed OST way before ever playing the game and man, it was so good to finally hear the music along with the game. while i was out trying to collect enough medals to unlock the stages i don't know why but hearing the apotos night theme made me get all sentimental and nostalgic lol even though i didn't even grow up with this game at all. idk i guess it's just something about sonic games and their music that always hits home.

i know in my last post i was extremely pissed off at the last stage in unleashed and i said it brought the game down to a 5/10, but maybe i was a bit harsh lol. like i still think that level is atrocious EVEN FOR a last level, which you always know it's going to be a harder-than-usual level. but seriously that level design was just ridiculously long and stupid in every shape or form--the part that pissed me off the most was when you have to walk on these pipes as a werehog and in some parts you have to jump, but when you jump sometimes the fucking camera changes directions so because you're tilting the control stick a certain way, that would cause you to fall off the pipe and die. seriously, i don't think i've ever played a last stage in a sonic game that was as bad as eggmanland, so it's always interesting to see the comments on the youtubes defending the stage and how it's actually a great level. like ok sure lol.

i still say that the game forcing you to collect a ridiculous amount of medals to unlock stages was just not necessary. i thought i was doing a pretty good job at collecting them but i still had to look up guides to unlock the stages from chuu-nan onwards. like, just let me play the stages and get through the story, maybe make the act 2 and act 3 harder to unlock that way but not the main ones!

i actually have the wii version of unleashed that i had bought waaay back when but i never bothered to finish it once i learned that the stages are like watered down versions of the ps3/xbox360 ones, so i'm glad i waited to play it how it was meant to be played. the wii one also doesn't have the hub worlds i don't think, which i mean the hub worlds are actually pretty bad and add nothing to it gameplay wise: they will never be station square or mystic ruins. the way the camera moves around them is actually pretty bad and would make me feel dizzy at times lol. but still, i'm glad they exist because otherwise, we would have never gotten the absolutely gorgeous music that the night stages have (spagonia night theme is absolutely lovely and holoska night is the perfect listen for winter time).

overall, i'm glad i finally got a chance to play unleashed and see how this was the start of the sonic team getting the 3D sonic formula right (minus that terrible drifting mechanism, sorry!). generations is still one of my ultimate faves and frontiers brought back the sonic fever in me, so i'm excited to catch up on the rest of the 3d sonic games i missed out due to me being either a poor college student or poor fresh out of college lol. i'm thinking about buying sonic boom next, it looks very platform-y from the gameplay i've seen of it, so yeah! full on sonic mode and loving it!!

[freakshowrefugee]

I be venting about B3. Again.

The camera tracking in Bayo 3 is HORRENDOUS bro. I didn't fully grasp just how bad things are until I played some Bayo 1 to remember the Good Times™️. And bear in mind that the camera on the Switch version of Bayo 1 is objectively worse than the previous versions (had it bug out on me during the first phase of the second Jeanne fight) so... yikes. Even outside of the combat the camera in 3 is... wrong. Again it feels more Astral Chain than Bayo 1 & 2, which to me is an objective downgrade because the camera in Astral Chain was bad on multiple levels (too close to the character, no stable tracking of the enemies OR the player character, general inconsistency).

Enemies can hit you DURING CUTSCENES in Bayo 3 and BEFORE YOU CAN HIT THEM. The boar enemy is a perfect example for cutscene damage and most large enemies apply for the second point while they are forming out of jelly. Like, really?

The "kaiju battle" segments play like pulling teeth. Controls are painfully sluggish and attacks are poorly designed—RNG decides how the fight goes, which is very frustrating.

While I was playing Bayo 1 I realized that 3 has by far the most inconsistencies when it comes to style. And with how important the style is to a game and character like Bayonetta, once you see it you are never able to unsee it. Visual design has always been one of Bayonetta's greatest strengths and I have no idea what possessed PG to make the design decisions they made... actually, that's a fucking lie. I think Bayonetta 3 is a Frankenstein monster of various scrapped ideas and designs (people already know the Scalebound thing, but I think PG really wanted to make Astral Chain 2 but they couldn't because Astral Chain was mid at best and its sales and staying power reflect that. Like, I had a but of fun with Astral Chain, don't get me wrong—the 3 times I played it. Does it compare to my years of playing Bayo? Fuck no. As for the Scalebound thing... feels like there's a reason why it got canned, you know?) TLDR they really built Bayo 3 from the design trash can huh?

This is just a personal theory but I feel like PG purposefully kneecapped Bayo 3 in order to kill the franchise. The amount of character assassination (literal and figurative) that happened in 3 is mind-boggling. Maybe they are just misguided, I don't know, but I just have this gut feeling that it is more than just that. 2 still held the spirit of Bayo 1 in spite of some shitty gameplay design, but 3 just feels... hollow. I think this will be obvious to anyone who's first experience with the franchise was the original, pre-Nintendo release (XBOX/PS3). I don't know why they would do it. Maybe they thought that Bayo's presence was casting a shadow on their other endeavors. Whatever it is, it feels like we're living the worst time-line.

[sir-yeehaw-paws]

Top underrated/underappreciated videogames?

This is an AWESOME ask, and even though I'm a terrible judge of what's considered underrated; let me SEE.

IN no particular order:

1. Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords for PS2.

Developer: DS3 Publisher

Release: 13th November 2007 (I was 16, fun fact!)

Wikipedia Summary:

Nate's Play:

 I played the game a lot in high school. It's far more addictive than it initially appears. While I forget who my character was, if I find the right save space and memory card, I'll take some photos and add them to the post. I remember more than one insomnia night filled with my tiny CRT tv and PS2 with the lowest volume possible while playing this for hours. Granted, I only had like, 4 games as it was, but I'm pretty sure I purchased this game at Future Shop myself. Which does not even exist anymore.

Rest in Peace, Future Shop. (1982-2015). You might've merged with Best Buy, but you were to good for them.

As a result, this game was one of those things associated with incredibly specific memories and long nights accompanying my lonely teenage self.

Life happened, and then maybe just over a decade later, I booted it back up, found my character and completed the game entirely. As if years of not playing it hadn't mattered at all.

Maybe you're not underrated, Puzzle Quest. But you're special to me.

Although it seems the UK got the cooler cover!

Version I got.

UK Version.

And look! My real copy!

I post this on 'Rate My Set Up' and get roasted into oblivion.

And look more! My characters! I have 2 more but Tumblr is being ridiculous.

Achroma here is who I beat the game with, be nice to him <3

2. Choice of Games and Hosted Games

Developer: Various Independent Developers

Platform: Mobile

Release: On-going, continual.

Nate’s Play:

Yes, I’m talking about *gasp* mobile games here. But they are I’m told also available on Steam.

These two platforms are host to text-based choose your own adventure games that I am very fond of. Some I have more fun with than others, some I was disappointed by, and some I don’t like at all. But they’re from a variety of creators, engaging and entertaining. Some also include art now.

My Library in Choice of Games

My Library in Hosted Games

If you enjoy reading, character creation and something without a lot of hassle, I highly recommend these. While most are free to play (with ads) I tend to purchase the ones I like. Not one of them has ever been pricier than 12 dollars. Well worth it, in my opinion.

3.  Yakuza: Dead Souls (Ryu ga Gotoku of the End)

Developer: RGG Studios. Sega

Platform: PS3

Release:  9th June, 2011 (Japan, 2012 in NA and EU)

Fandom Wiki Summary:

Nate’s Play

Look, it’s not underrated in the fandom, and the controls are a hot mess. But the game gives you so much GREATNESS that it’s so hard not to just have fun with.

Ryuji is back with a GATLING GUN ARM AND A TAKOYAKI STAND.

Majima reacts to the Zombie apocalypse by having the time of his life.

AKIYAMA LOOKS LIKE THIS

credit: @essence-of-armbarring

and LAUNCHES THE BAD GUY INTO THE ZOMBIE PIT FROM A HELICOPTER

Haruka is cute and sweet, the game has it’s own unique cast members never seen in the main series and is just a wild ride the whole time.

THE GAME BROUGHT HANA CHAN BACK (Links to gifset)

KIRYU GETS A GUN THAT FUCKIN LOOKS LIKE AN ANTI MATERIAL RIFLE

DAIGO at, pretty much all times let’s be honest here.

Does a zombie apocalypse in my crime game make sense? No? Do I care? Not a lick. It’s a fun, wild ride. And it brought Ryuji back, I need to do a replay.

The only Yakuza game where the characters adopt Daigo’s idea of ‘fuck it, we all get guns’ ideology (Kiryu does take an entire third of the game before deciding ‘kill the zombies’ is acceptable tho, so that’s in character) and shoot.

4. Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments

Developer: Frogwares Ireland Ltd

Platform: PS4

Release: 2014

PS Store Summary:

Nate’s Play:

I downloaded and bought this on a deep seated craving need for a mystery game (I love those so much guys pls rec mystery games). Might not be a master class in development and it did end up with the occasional glitch from time to time but I had a good time playing it.

It’s not the most perfect game, but it wasn’t taxing, the puzzles were varied and engaging and I had a good time with it.

Could’ve run a bit smoother over all, but it never ruined the games for me and I enjoyed my time playing.

5. I can’t think of anything now so I’m going to flip this and go on a random rant about Vampire the Masquerades single player games.

I am aware that the series began as a TTRPG and maybe it’s better when played that way, but I’ve played a few of the single player versions in the app I mentioned above (Choice of Games) and I purchased *but disliked* the PS4 versions. Not ‘disiked’ as in ‘the worst games ever’ but in the ‘after each one of these I am largely disappointed and Swansong was so full of glitches it became unplayable and whydidIspend70bucksonthis ANYWAY

It’s odd to me that a series so about embracing the fun of being a vampire just..does not enjoy doing that? I understand the Camarilla and how you’re meant to be discrete and the entire concept being fly under the radar, or question the corrupt overarching power house but I every one of the VtM games I’ve payed through hasn’t really made that..engaging?

You have some *limited* choices, and you feel actively punished for being a vampire even if you never choose to do anything ‘exciting’ and obey your cloaked overlords. I’ve tried versions of playing as the outcast or rogue groups, but the games never seem to allow for me getting as..idk, vampiric or brutal as I might want? I’m a creature of the night. I don’t want to attend bureaucratic nonsense I want to have fun being a morally questionable blood sucker.

ANYWHO, I thank you for this awesome ask and I am (ok not really) sorry it got so long and rambling!