What are you playing?

I've now completed Trails of Mana for the PS4.
Here is my ´Mini-Review´:

+ "Outdated" the right way. This is how you remake a classic game. Almost exactly like the original 16-bit game but in 3D and with voiced dialouge for the main characters. Very True to its original.
+ Colorful, simple graphics / enivonments with lots of variation. Nice to look at and sometimes very beautiful.
+ Music is nice to listen to.
+ Characters looks good. Monsters are so cute you feel bad for fighting them.
+ Class system is fun. Each character have the choice of 6 classes to upgrade to, but you need to fight monsters/open chests to get items, special seeds, that you plant in pots located inside the inns to grow class-items. New class; New Costume.
+ The Action-JRPG battles are really fast and nothing like the old-school slower turn-based combat systems.
This game has quicker battles than the original game.
+ Fleeing enemies is easy. And gets easier later in the game if you collect enough of a certain item.
+ More stuff to do when finished the game. You get slightly different perspectives when playing with other characters.
Your team consists of 3 characters. You chose from 6 different characters. Each has its story. Some replay value there.
+ Perfect game if you're sick and tired of violent videogames and want to enjoy something lighter and more positive.
+ You can choose to play with either the remade music or the original 16-bit music for the game.
+ Game length is just enough. I really took my time but finished at around 30 h. Could be done in maybe 20 h.

-/+ The story is Ok but nothing new. The same old story and dialouge. However the story is easy to take in. The characters are cute and there is some funny moments in the game. A little too childish at times but you take it for what it is.
you can skip things with a button. You're not missing that much of the story anyway.
-/+ Too easy on Normal. Some people may dislike this. But I enjoyed it anyway. Playing on harder difficulty than normal is recommended. My team didn't die even once throughout the whole game.

- No multiplayer function like the original due to implementation difficulties in this new 3D format.
- Maybe a bit pricey for this type of game? Maybe not? Wait for a lower price unless you're a fan of the original verison.

The battles, the joyful colors, the catchy music, and the variation in environments is why I played this game.
Not a AAA-game but still an enjoyable little ´gem´.
For the fans of the game that really loved the original I would say it's an 7.6 ~ 8.1 score
For other players I think its 6.1 ~ 7.0 at the most, compared to modern standards. Not fantastic but worth playing.

My Overall Score: 7.2

(Current Metascore for Switch: 74)
(Current Metascore for PS4: 76)
 
Truck_1_0_1_ said:
When I got my DC in 2006, I wanted THPS but didn't have the cash for it really.

Until I bought Calibur 2 months after (and then 'mue 1 month after that), easily the most-played game that I had of the 10 or so games, was the THPS demo in Warehouse lol.

Couldn't put it down.
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It’s really strange to think that I have the same feelings now about the remake demo that you and others had when playing the original! :LOL: I’m so addicted, it’s basically all I‘m playing at the moment. I’m actually thinking of possibly tracking down a copy of the og for the Dreamcast, I think it would be interesting to compare the two...
 
blixt said:
That was a very honest review! You gave it a go and you took your time. It's interesting to see how different peoples opinions are.
I actually liked the combat, a lot. But sometimes it was a complete mess when I had to fight too many robots at the same time. To me, Aloy felt too masculine and she aslo lacked personality. She also acted way older than she was. But still she was interesting and well designed. I think they will give her more of a personality in the sequel.
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Her assertive and aggressive personality didn't really bother me given her warrior type spirit, but unfortunately her personality did lack the "it" factor I was hoping it had. If you compare it to Lara in the most recent Tomb Raider games it shows just how flat the character felt in comparison, though Aloy is still way beyond the pre-2013 Lara. I actually liked that she acted older than 19. Thats often the case with characters in journeys where they're way ahead of their time or out of the box thinkers, much like real life.
 
Truck_1_0_1_ said:
When I got my DC in 2006, I wanted THPS but didn't have the cash for it really.

Until I bought Calibur 2 months after (and then 'mue 1 month after that), easily the most-played game that I had of the 10 or so games, was the THPS demo in Warehouse lol.

Couldn't put it down.
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The Dreamcast version of THPS1 was easily the best version with the amazing graphics compared to PS1 at the time. And the N64 had better graphics than PS1 but bad controls for a game like Tony Hawk and also the lack of music options due to the cartridges being inferior to discs.
 
Excited to be playing Fallout: New Vegas again, especially for pretty cheap and without having to dig out my 360. Thankfully it seems to run fine on my potato laptop. Outer Worlds was a fine game but it just made me hungry for the real deal here. Maybe this time around I’ll try some of the dlc.

Perhaps next I’ll see if I can get gta4 working, though I also want to get the new Samurai Jack game, probably on PS4 cuz I know my computer won’t run that well.
 
otbr87 said:
The Dreamcast version of THPS1 was easily the best version with the amazing graphics compared to PS1 at the time. And the N64 had better graphics than PS1 but bad controls for a game like Tony Hawk and also the lack of music options due to the cartridges being inferior to discs.
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I actually never really played that much of THPS. But THPS2 on the Dreamcast spent WEEKS/HOURS/DAYS in my Dreamcast. I loved that fucking game. THPS2 was my introduction to Tony Hawk and it spent many hours being played on the Dreamcast. Dreamcast version was awesome. Actually that is the one really nice thing about the Dreamcast (of many), it's home to a LOT of good PlayStation ports and it is one of the best places to play those games in this day and age.
 
danielmann861 said:
I actually never really played that much of THPS. But THPS2 on the Dreamcast spent WEEKS/HOURS/DAYS in my Dreamcast. I loved that fucking game. THPS2 was my introduction to Tony Hawk and it spent many hours being played on the Dreamcast. Dreamcast version was awesome. Actually that is the one really nice thing about the Dreamcast (of many), it's home to a LOT of good PlayStation ports and it is one of the best places to play those games in this day and age.
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Yeah! The only skateboarding game better than THPS was THPS 2. I spent countless hours playing it back when it came out as well. Unfortunately, Santa Claus got me the PS1 version, but I wasn't complaining. Mortal Kombat Gold was another one of those Dreamcast games that outdid the PS1 and N64 counterparts. Back then, I'd typically pick DC over PS1 on almost anything that came out for both, and while N64 had better graphics and overall a better game library than PS1, anything done on both was typically better on PS1 due to limitations of the carts. Kind've like when original Xbox came out and every single Original XB version was better than on the PS2(GTA, Tony Hawk, Splinter Cell, etc).
 
Decided to finally give Broken Sword 5 a go, but having never actually completed BS3 (I got distracted half way through) or BS4, opted for a full 1-5 playthrough. I’m currently nearing the end of the second game, with both 1 and 2 going incredibly quickly owing to me having beaten them so many times.
 
HZD, I'm in Meridian and the game it's getting kinda better. The fact that the crashes are not THAT usual (they're still there tho) its helping a bit. If yesterday the game was an 8/10 for me, now its getting close to a 9. I thought the hunters stuff it would gonna be some side quest to only make me kill beasts but it's quiet interesting so far, I like my hawk.
 
Guess I’ll write this now since I’ve got work all day tomorrow. Would have liked to spend more time with these before giving my thoughts but I’ll probably just do a meatier post next week.

First, Samurai Jack has been pretty fun and a nice nostalgia trip. Granted, it was not a cartoon I kept up with as much as others such as Powerpuff Girls or Dexter’s Lab or my all time favorite, Ed Edd n Eddy. Even so, stylistically it was probably the coolest and kind of original when the others really mostly focused on gags. I didn’t watch it when it returned on Adult Swim but I learned enough about it to not have this game spoil anything for me.

Have heard reviewers saying stuff about how it feels like a PS2 game, and well, I’m not certain, or even if it is, that’s not necessarily bad. I think keeping it simple is really a strength for it, and if you want to you can do other stuff if you want. In that way, and how fluid the combat is and some of the mechanics, it almost feels like a budget Nier Automata. I especially appreciate being able to go unnarmed. The level design is ok, some parts are kinda neat, but you can tell a lot of effort was put into making areas look great and not copy pasted like a lot of licensed games.

Second is Maneater, probably what I’ve played the most of so far. It’s really hard to critique or figure how I really feel about it. On one hand I can kinda see what some have said about it getting a bit repetitive or even clunky, but on the other there’s just something really cathartic and addicting about eating and tearing everything apart. That and just getting bigger and more dangerous all the time. I guess whereas a game like Subnautica might make me shit my pants for fear of deep water and giant sea creatures, this game is the reverse and is thus a lot more fun for me.

Unfortunately, the pc port of GTAIV has not gone well despite being pretty sure my laptop is well above required specs to run it. Apparently it is an issue for many, and so far as I understand, at least part of it has to do with the game for some reason only being able to use 2GB of ram. There’s some workaround to get it to 4GB but even with that, as well as running on the lowest possible settings, the game still is not smooth. I don’t care about 60fps, I just don’t like the hiccups or spikes or whatever is going on. Thing is even that’s inconsistent because running it on high, it has been smooth in random momentary spots, only to go back to a slideshow for minutes on end.

I booted up Saints Row 2 again just to be sure, on pretty high settings, and it runs just fine. I’d already been playing Fallout: New Vegas on what seems to be at least identical to its console counterpart and it has had no major problems either. Stuff like this is why I’m weary of getting too invested in this idea now where people bullshit me about pc gaming generally being cheaper than console...should my relatively recent $500 laptop really struggle with a game from 2008?

Perhaps in a rash decision to cheer myself up I decided to take the plunge on Kandagawa Jet Girls. Would much rather have a new Senran Kagura that’s not a spin-off, but at least it seems there’s enough here to make an interesting boat racing game. Cel shading and UI is very much improved, a lot more sleek and poppy and vibrant, not so stiff, very shiny. First level was easy but the tutorial showed there may be potential. Hoping a lot of customization options are opened up in the shop.
 
Moving through main story of Horizon Zero Dawn, getting more and more interesting so far. It's a solid 9 now. I like a bit more Aloy as a character.
 
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I beat Shining Force 1 and 2 recently. Both are great, and I can see why Shining Force 2 is highly regarded. There are some things I actually do prefer in SF1. Maybe I'm getting less patient over time, but in a strategy RPG I'm ok without having some of the traditional RPG pillars, like an open world, large towns, lots of story, etc.

With that said, I think I actually preferred the linearity of SF1 and seeing how crazy the level up system can work sometimes, such as getting a stat to randomly increase from 1-6 instead of 1-3 like in SF2. However, it seems that there are more viable ways to build your party in SF2 because in 1, it felt like all the specialized and hybrid units were the best. The AI is definitely better in 2 as well and it felt a little more difficult. I'll probably play at a higher difficulty next time, too.
 
Just finished persona 5 royale after 135 hours, I almost forgot how long this game was even without the extra month. The new boss backstory and motivations were great but I have a doubt
how Maruki has a Persona and a Palace? I thought it was established that you could not have a Palace if you had a persona

Still playing ghost of Tsushima, almost at the end of the second part and I had to increase the difficulty to lethal otherwise it was being excessively easy.

I was planning to start Persona 4 Golden pc edition but since I need a break of them (135hours are quite a few) I will go with Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark since I love SRPGs and I heard a lot of good things about this one.
 
THPS 1+2 has preloaded on my PS4 drive! Now the waiting game begins until September 4th. Its the one game I’ll be playing the hell out of this coming month when it drops.

other than that, I went back to Yakuza 4 recently. Just started Saejima’s chapter.
 
I've been slowly playing through the first Evolution on the Dreamcast. My progress started to slow down a lot once I hit, probably, the point where I stopped playing it back in 2000: About halfway through the third dungeon. I'm now maybe more than halfway through the fourth dungeon, and hoping it's going to end soon. I like some things about the game, in theory, but it's kind of a chore to play. Battles are kind of slow, and really easy since you can manipulate turn orders--RPGs should really never show the turn order to the player, if asynchronis; it makes it too easy to hack. Kind of unfortunate, since I really like Dark Cloud 1/2, and absolutely love Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (my favorite out of the whole of FF), which seem sort of like natural progressions from Evolution's style. Maybe the sequel is a little better. I remember there being more of a story focus in that one, which could help with the sort of stagnant gameplay of the first Evolution.


I've also been playing a bit of DoDonPachi: SaiDaiOuJou again. It's not my favorite DDP (that would be DaiOuJou), but it is still quite good, despite all the moe trash poured over top of it. For the past few years, I really haven't been playing shooters nearly as much as I used to, but part of that is because I've never been especially good at them. Usually I'm about good enough to get to the middle stages on one credit, but hit the major walls, and don't really push past them. I have a habit of picking up on scoring before really getting the hang of surviving, and sort of end up focusing on scoring well in the first couple stages than just playing it safe to reach the end. Still a lot of fun, though, even if I'm just repeatedly playing the same few stages.
 
HZD goy better after the last patch a few days ago. I think it's finally fixed and wont crash anymore
 
Well, a week later and I got my 12th platinum with Maneater. Apparently took around almost 18 hours, which I guess it’s a bit short to 100% a game, especially an RPG. But with this I kind of like that the devs seem to know when they’ve done everything they possibly could with an idea and not let it drag on forever.

Admittedly at first I thought the combat was kind of button mashy, and there are still some problems with it, but I eventually learned you have to be far more deliberate and precise as well as practical. There’s a lot in this game that at first seems odd with it being a shark you’re controlling but a lot of it seems natural. For many hours it seemed repetitive and that there was little variety, but as the waters got deeper and the other predators more dangerous, it opened up quite a bit.

For example, the gators in the first area, pretty intimidating but it’s not long before you can go back and deal with them. But then far later you go out to the gulf and you’re minding your own business when a huge sperm whale comes out of nowhere and starts chomping down on you. That or you’re busy chowing down on hunters on the surface and one comes up to ruin the party, creating a scene reminiscent of Moby Dick(which, of all the modern horror I’ve seen in films, has surpassed many in frightening me). Having to take down the apex version was my biggest hurdle in trying to complete everything in the game.

There’s not much to the story, and I feel like less is more here. Compared to something like mgsv that is blatantly just taking names and being super obvious about its “inspiration”, it being so bloated with nonsense, I think Maneater did the whole revenge theme way better, and without wasting so much of my time.

Overall I’d say I very much enjoyed it despite some small issues, and framerate problems that seemed directly tied to how big you got rather than the areas. Maybe one of my top games this year? Reminded me a bit of what I liked about Sunset Overdrive and Saints Row 2 so that’s not bad at all. Just hoping for more if talks of DLC have spawned anything.

Thought I’d get back to either Samurai Jack or Kandagawa Jet Girls, but I decided to buy Disaster Report 4 on a whim. Had seen playthroughs of the first two games and thought they were both hilarious and not very polished, so I wanted to try one for myself. Sadly it does not seem quite as action based, nor are there as much of a focus on survival, but so far at least every npc I meet is as ridiculous as a Yakuza character and all the costumes you can find are neat. I feel like character creation is a natural step forward and all the dialogue choices have been good with me trying to be an eccentric asshole. Maybe it will be good to go through again with different choices?
 
Rydeen said:
I've been slowly playing through the first Evolution on the Dreamcast. My progress started to slow down a lot once I hit, probably, the point where I stopped playing it back in 2000: About halfway through the third dungeon. I'm now maybe more than halfway through the fourth dungeon, and hoping it's going to end soon. I like some things about the game, in theory, but it's kind of a chore to play. Battles are kind of slow, and really easy since you can manipulate turn orders--RPGs should really never show the turn order to the player, if asynchronis; it makes it too easy to hack. Kind of unfortunate, since I really like Dark Cloud 1/2, and absolutely love Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (my favorite out of the whole of FF), which seem sort of like natural progressions from Evolution's style. Maybe the sequel is a little better. I remember there being more of a story focus in that one, which could help with the sort of stagnant gameplay of the first Evolution.
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Evolution 2 is more of the same battle-wise, but better story, soundtrack and a slight graphical upgrade.

The Tower provides a nice diversion Dungeon-wise, that the first game doesn't have.
 
Finished Shakedown: Hawaii. Decent game, but pretty repetitive and extremely easy. It has an awesome soundtrack.

Moved on to Monster Boy. I can't wait to get more time with it.

Not sure if I'm returning to Ghost of Tsushima. I really burned out on it and haven't felt the desire to start it again. I think I'm better off avoiding open world games for the time being. I miss fun level design.
 
Truck_1_0_1_ said:
Evolution 2 is more of the same battle-wise, but better story, soundtrack and a slight graphical upgrade.

The Tower provides a nice diversion Dungeon-wise, that the first game doesn't have.
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I actually like a lot of the music for the dungeons quite a bit. It's something that's really helped with the Heaven Tower, so far. If Evolution 2 has even better music, then that's great.
I don't necessarily dislike the combat, but it's a pretty repetitive, particularly where the dungeons get longer, and they seem to conspire to drag everything out. The bosses aren't really challenging, either, so it feels like a bit of a needless drag. I was hoping that the sequel rebalances some things to make the positioning and techniques a little more important for regular battles, at least. It does seem like the sequel will be an improvement, regardless.
 
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