MY BRAIN HAD A THINK ABOUT A GAM3

So it's their word and we shouldn't use it?

Think for a Japanese game, we can use and go Japan is great from what Harada saying but for a Sea of Stars no as it's not Japanese.

Though then what you call Sea of Stars, a 16-Bit inspired RPG? Yay genre talk

Buskalilly wrote:

Balladeer wrote:

You don't have to use the term, natch.  And I'm still open to arguments/evidence about how it's a term some devs find offensive.

This was the most recent one doing the rounds.

Yeah... my issue is that it's the only one I've seen doing the rounds, pretty much. Also calling JRPGs JRPGs only if they're made in Japan somehow feels more offensive to me than calling games of a particular style JRPGs. And then what do you call something from China in a similar style? Or, as Mas says, Chained Echoes? (To use an example of a better game.)

At least we can all agree Metroidvania is fine though.

I think you mean Dizzy-alikes

I will post here as I'm a fan of all the formats (not you mobile)

Nintendo


Seems right on what I've played, was little shocked to see April as the highest month which I can only really guess is due to Xenoblade FR (14hrs) and whatever the other 11 games were that month I played.

PlayStation


I put both of these as the PlayStation Wrap up says I’ve played 66 games including things like Back 4 Blood which I loaded up for a Stars reward or something where the TT one is games I've unlocked a trophy* in, so you know actually played.

*played 50hrs of Destiny 2 and didn't unlock a trophy, so that makes 51 games at least played, along with why I got Gunslinger.

Xbox


Much like PlayStation the numbers don't quite add up with played on these two, though you can see things like FM23 my most played on both, that any game I loaded up for Quests have been counted, as I went through the games on my Xbox profile and I think I've played 41 games this year.


Think the stats are quite interesting like I've played the same amount of games on Switch and Xbox, same amount of hours on PS and Xbox, and genres like Action Adventure RPG being near the top of these (shame PS doesn't show genres properly).

I forgot to save my Nintendo review dooda, but basically "Zelda and then the old games".

I... don't think I got a PlayStation one. Booooooooooooooo

Mentioned my Nintendo recap in the Switch forum - my PlayStation recap had FFXVI topping the charts, pretty sure Street Fighter 6 was in there too. Had Death Stranding come flying in later in the year thanks to my 70+ hours I'd put into it.

Put my Switch one over in that thread but here's the PlayStation one, the first two games are admittedly skewed a little bit time wise as I'm sure as I often left them on the pause menu and fell asleep because I don't know when to go to bed like an adult. Rocket League has been a regular Friday night fixture because its incredible and TRDS was one of Lyla's favourites which helped contribute to that being high.

My ps5 wrap up.

Spoiler:

Most of my time was spent on Switch in 2023, Siege will be gone this time next year as I haven't played a single minute of that since late May/early June. Personal favourites I played this year were Remnant 2, RE4 & the Quake 2 remaster - SF6 was really fun but I drop of from fighting games usually as I tend to want to fight folk I know online rather than randoms but I probably will eventually return to it as I still want to finish of the world tour mode.

I got my PS5 in January - I don't know if I've made the most of that purchase!

This is of course Nintendo's fault, with their continuous excellent game making

Buskalilly wrote:

Genuine question in good faith: as someone on the record as not liking multiple choice storytelling in games, why do you play visual novels over using that time to A) play a gamier game or B) read a novellier novel?

Ooooooh boy.  Since I read this question yesterday I've been thinking about this too much. I will give a TL;DR version at the end, but for now: THOUGHT DUMP TIME


1. "As someone on the record as not liking multiple choice storytelling in games"

I actually stayed away from the entire genre for a long time for exactly this reason!  Ace Attorney was probably my first VN, and when I read about it in NGamer and the like I just assumed it'd be all, "pick Phoenix's path through the story".  Of course it wasn't that.  The truth is though, the problems I have in choicey games mostly don't apply to the VNs I play.  The so-called "choices" either lead quickly to dead ends, or there are multiple paths but they're substantially different and realistically you have to do them all.  The impacts don't last for long, and you certainly don't feel like you're missing out on anything as a result.  
There are exceptions.  Tsukihime has a choice you can make that gives you a bad end a long time later.  I find that both objectively clever and subjectively annoying, and used a guide to skip past that.  Many of the more spider-webby VNs, like Virtue's Last Reward, I just don't touch.  And then there's Astrologaster.  Here's what I thought of Astrologaster.
Bottom line: this doesn't actually impact me that much!


2. "Why do you play visual novels..."

How do I love thee, genre?  Let me count the ways.

They suit how and when I play - I commute into the office three times a week, and my train journey takes 20-25 minutes.  That's 2h15m time.  It's not when I do most of my gaming but it's a good chunk.  What do I need from games at that point?
- This is either early in the morning after I've (odds-on) not slept well or just after a day at work, so nothing too taxing on my reaction skills or grey matter.
- The ability to snap out of playing the game at a moment's notice when I draw into the station.
- Something that doesn't suffer too much on handheld would be nice as well.
That's VNs to a tee.  It can apply to some other genres too, of course...

I've always had a fondness for this sort of game - Narrative focus?  Relatively static (and therefore put-downable) gameplay?  Overuse of anime visuals and fan-service!?  I'm just describing turn-based JRPGs here!  I don't think the path from JRPG fan to VN fan is all that great.  Have VNs, then, replaced JRPGs in my gaming?  No.  I'll get to that later.

Game-specific reasoning - Having said the above, I don't think I'll snap up just any old visual novel.  Almost every one I play has a reason for it beyond, "I want to play a VN now."  Going back through LGYF&YT5, I've played and finished (and that bit's key) the following VNs since it began in October 2021.  Almost all of them were on sale when I bought them as well.

12-GAME LONG LIST OF VISUAL NOVELS:

That's 12 games, of which maybe 6 are "pure VNs" without any detective bits or cooking or whatever.  Which will lend itself to another point shortly, but I think all but 2 (Centennial and Anonymous) feel justifiable in retrospect beyond "I want to play a VN now".


3a. "...over using that time to A) play a gamier game..."

For all that my first point above applies here, I don't think visual novels have replaced gamier games in my line-up.  I've finished 12 over almost three years, played maybe 3-4 more than that.  Compare that to the number of JRPGs, or platformers, that I've played, and I reckon VNs wouldn't make my most-played genres podium (pushed out by point-and-clicks).  Why are you seeing more of them now, then?  (Those last five have all been in the last 6 months.)  
- It hasn't been a great year for games for me up until... maybe the start of August.  That means a lot of gaps in the schedule to be swayed by VNs, which as hinted at above often sit in my wishlist for a bit.  The first thing I do when I finish or finish with a game, if I don't have another in reserve or coming up, is browse that wishlist.
- I've been through a time of high stress recently, with family health issues and a complex project at work.  These lend themselves to playing simpler games, like VNs, in my downtime.
- I'm doing more time in the office, up one day a week.  See above point about commute on that.

But the other part of this is, even if I don't think I'm playing more VNs than I am other types of games, I think I have a higher finishing rate for VNs.  Looking at those same six months, I gave up three JRPGs in that time.  Part of this is the simpler gameplay means that even a less good VN can be button-bashed through, but part of it is that... well, I said "simpler gameplay", but honestly there's no gameplay is there?  Meaning a VN can't muck up its gameplay.  Those three JRPGs featured an overemphasis on loot and big-brain strategy (as well as the third one which was just old), which don't appeal to me.  No danger of that in a VN.


3b. "...or B) read a novellier novel?"

Here's the one I don't really have a good answer for.  Yes, you're right.  I should probably be reading books more and pressing A to advance text less.  I buy many more games than I do books, and books are cheaper and can go to charity shops after the fact.

Truth be told, I'm quite a lousy reader - or rather, a lousy book-buyer.  The choice paralysis I feel when playing a Persona game is nothing compared to the choice paralysis I feel when looking at all the books I could be buying.  As a result I don't actually own very many books.  (I'm not talking ebooks here, I stare at my 'phone enough without dedicating my commute to that as well.)  Combined with me generally being a fast reader, I usually try to save the books I do have for twenty minutes before bed - combine that with my habit of dog-earing pages and ripping off covers from books through the simple act of keeping them in my rucksack, and I tend not to bring them on the commute.  So a VN gets played instead.  (And that's before you get to books that are tougher to read - I've just given up on Littlewood's Miscellany shortly after the halfway mark.  That wasn't one for the commute.)

I have asked for a fair few books for my birthday.  Not being digital (unlike a good few VNs) they can be given as gifts, so I do tend to get more in the latter half of the year.  So maybe this will change.


TL;DR:
- Visual novels are perfectly suited to my commute and that's even truer in recent times;
- The VNs I play mostly don't suffer from an abundance of choice;
- They're easy sale buys and/or the ones I pick have decent individual rationale;
- I don't play them instead of other games, but I do have a better record of finishing them;
- I do read them over novels and should probably fix this;
- Play Paranormasight now.

That was edifying, thank you, and thanks for taking it in the intended way.

My closest dabblings with VNs have been Ace Attorney - which appeal to me less as they get more verbose, looking at you Great Ace Attorney Chronicles - and Digimon Survive, which had other aspects as well. That being said, your point about a low-engagement train game made a lot of sense to me.

I've recently found myseld with a 60-90 minute commute each way one day per week, and in that time I smashed Digimon Survive and am now playing through Cyber Sleuth, with Monster Hunter Stories and Digimon World New Order looking at me through the cellophane. While I'm not a JRPG guy, the JRPG-adjacent thing which does appeal to me is a game about raising monsters. These have, so far, been just the right level of engaging but not taxing for the state my brain is in either early in the morning or after a long day.

The book thing, though, you gotta sort out! I love reading books - and consider dog-ears and busted covers just a display of my affection - and I would kill to be able to pop into UK charity shops and used bookstores as often as you can. I understand the paralysis of choice, but just accept you'll never read all the classic literature you're suppose to and commit to your own niches.

For me, book reading is my lunch hour activity because it slows that time down in such a way that it feels like a longer break than if I, say, fucked about on my phone or played a game.

The choice thing is interesting

I do sort of get it as if you were to play Persona 5 on any given day you could hang out with Makoto and get her scenes etc and boost those stats then miss out on Ryuji content or doing a job to make money and so on. That can see the missing content argument, though you should come to the same ending, it's just how you got there.

Can see it being annoying in umm Life is Strange where you do have the two choices at the end, that give you two different endings based on what choice you made.

I recently played Banishers, which I thought only two paths, then I found out the game has like 5 endings. I just played how I did and what I thought was right or wrong with my choices.

On VN as a whole I don't mind them, and do want to play Fata Morgana, Paranormasight etc though length of some of them hmm that seems long for a VN and for me they kinda bleed into a Life is Strange where it still has little amount of gameplay.

I think you're getting the gist of it, even though I know you don't feel the same. With Persona it's not helped by having The Lady in my ear going, 'In Persona 3 I didn't think I'd like X but actually I ended up really loving their arc!' That's the thing, I could focus on my faves but I'm still missing out on a whole heap of content that I could really enjoy, unless I (a) replay a 40h+ grindy JRPG or (b) minmax things with a guide. The irony being that I then miss out on all of it. I notice Star Ocean 2 has missable companions as well, but the writing's bobbins and I prefer the combat so I care less there.

Paranormasight has a bit of gameplay for what it's worth, and asks more of the player re. participation. It's not all that long either, 15-20h maybe? Fata Morgana is very pure and very long and starts not so well and all I can say is, it was so worth it. One of few games I'd say have a story that would still be strong in another medium.

Buskalilly wrote:

That was edifying, thank you, and thanks for taking it in the intended way... That being said, your point about a low-engagement train game made a lot of sense to me...

The book thing, though, you gotta sort out! I love reading books - and consider dog-ears and busted covers just a display of my affection - and I would kill to be able to pop into UK charity shops and used bookstores as often as you can. I understand the paralysis of choice, but just accept you'll never read all the classic literature you're suppose to and commit to your own niches.

Cyber Sleuth is absolutely that sort of game, interested to read your thoughts on that when you finish it. Survive is half VN anyway isn't it? And half strategy.

I know boss, I know! Right now I'm largely reading The Lady's supply as well, which isn't helping as she doesn't feel the same about dog-ears or busted covers (and neither did my parents). I also don't just go out and buy books as much as I probably should. I'm not a big fan of going shopping but going out to more bookshops than I do and just spending some time in them, then coming home with a couple, does sound lovely. The slowing time down's an interesting point, I usually find myself eating up more time than I intend but in the evening and undersleeping!