La5t Game You Fini5hed And Your Thought5

The 3D was enough for me to enjoy FL a lot, but I'm on the same page with Kirby. It's all cute and wonderful, but there's no bite to playing.

I think I'm generally kinder to straight sequels than many, as I might have mentioned before.  Specifically I'm kind to the 'bigger better more' approach.  Games like TTYD, Twilight Princess, and Mario Galaxy 2 are all games I love and rank higher than their illustrious originals, despite effectively being 'bigger better more' and not innovating a whole lot.  But I do still like the originals, and those originals did the innovating so their sequels wouldn't have to.  So we get to Octopath 2, where I slapped the purposefully old-school Octopath 1 with a 6/10, and Octopath 2 is 'bigger better more' in every way... by a bit.

It's 'bigger better more' in its conflict, by a bit.  We still have a pure turn-based battling system, still based on breaking the opponent by guessing its weaknesses at random.  It's an intentional callback to a less interesting era, but that era is less interesting and so's it's combat.  The 'bigger/more' bit is the latent power gauge, a functional rather than spectacular addition to battle.  The excellent boss sprite art is more animated this time, which is the series playing to its strengths at least - but it would be better off fixing a weakness and getting rid of random battles.  No game with random battles in (and no way of turning them off) should exist in this day and age, no matter how much of a callback it is.

It's 'bigger better more' outside battles too, by a bit.  The class system is still okay, and still not as good or customisable as the Bravely Default games, say.  Dungeons stand out from each other a bit more, which is nice.  The canoe addition to navigation only serves to make routes more confusing.  The big change is the day/night system, and this plays to the series' strengths again: double the atmospheric landscapes, and double the lovely tunes.  But it means you have to comb each town for people and interactions twice, so actually this is 'bigger worse more', by a bit.

And it's 'bigger better more' in its writing, by a bit.  We still have eight characters, all decent or good bar one; and their stories are still largely separate (I talk more about them here), and that's still bobbins.  You have eight people going around, and for the most part the game holds its nose to considering more than one at once - and when it doesn't, for there is slightly more crossover than in 1, they're all best of friends.  It's the conflict that makes characters interesting!  It makes no sense that pacifist Hikari approves blindly of Throné's path of corpses, or that quiet man of science Osvald is never irritated by the loud animal child!  The separate strands are as bad an idea as they were in 1.  2's big improvement over the original is that it brings them together, for a suitably epic climax; but the villain's a bit of a non-entity, a standard cackling evil that allows for a cracking boss fight and not much more than that.

It's 90h long too, and here again Octopath 2 is bigger and better and more than Octopath 1 by a bit - but that bit isn't even as large as a tenth of my scoring scale.  Octopath 1 had its good points, and that's shown by the way I whiled away 90h of my life on its sequel happily enough, but it's a series that needed revolution and got... not even evolution.  Tinkering maybe.  Sad to say that after finishing both games, the best Octopath game on Switch is Bravely Default 2.  By a bit.

Wasn't quite a sale I got Octopath II in (Was a bit cheaper than launch and used money from Kirby & co), as I didn't play much of Octopath I to me I'm going in after Live A Live which was a 6/10 and Triangle Strategy which was fantastic (yes I know genre is slightly different) that I am looking forward to playing Octopath II.

If you enjoyed Octopath 1 more than I did and don't demand innovation, you will enjoy Octopath 2 more than I did.

masofdas wrote:

From the Yesterday I Bought thread

The Cappuccino Kid wrote:

I'd be keen to hear your thoughts on Bayonetta Origins whenever you get round to it. I finished Bayonetta 3 a few weeks ago and it sapped a lot of my energy for the whole series - I absolutely cannot take playing another story-focused Bayonetta right now.

I started BayOrigins tonight, and I'm partially through Chapter 3 with my save saying 19% complete. At the moment, it feels a mix of Child of Light, Okami (or Zelda, though Okami is more apt) and Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons than a Bayonetta game.

This means it has had a lot of cutscenes told via a story book
Puzzles where you have to use Cereza to do X which allows Cheshire to do Y and something happens that let you move on
You get dungeons kinda at the end of the chapters, however you can find some smaller ones in the world as well that give you a petal to gain more health or open a path to some collectable
Lovely art and music

I'm enjoying it, only thing is in combat I forget I move Cheshire with the right stick and I move the left stick instead & end up putting Cereza in a bit of danger.

I could see it being the Bayonetta game you don't like Cappa as not sure on your thoughts of the games, I feel is a mix off
Yet a Bayonetta someone like Balla might enjoy, as I think he likes the games I mention.

Not a lot has changed since I said this in what you have been playing thread. I like the puzzles, art-style, how the story is told over its 14 chapters which according to my Switch is over 15hrs played as well.

It does go more Bayonetta come the last few chapters, that might put a Balla off, though still not as action packed as a core game. I did also think last night that even though I'm playing with the Pro Controller the left-hand side you move Cereza and right side Cheshire that maybe Buska can do Nurse mode with one person having the left joy-con and the other right joy-con, is some parts where you do only control one character but still think it could be a laugh.


My annual weird PC game which is a tad like Milk Inside A Bag Of Milk Inside A Bag Of Milk, why I saw it to be honest. I only did the one ending and took like 20mins to do so, still an enjoyable weird game.

In the end I wishlisted Bayorigins, precisely because it does tick so many Ballaboxes. I just worry that the game will turn out to be a little all style no substance. Also: it's £49.99! Which is the same as Bayo 3! That's a bit much! I can't honestly see myself getting it unless it gets a 50% sale or more.

Looking Up I See Only A Ceiling is the sort of thing I want to try more of, but (trails off into the same old stuff)

I've seen the price of BayOrigins brought up elsewhere, which I don't really get as its long as Bayo 3, Nintendo published and fantastic story in Bayo series.

Is it because it's a spin-off? So should next Nintendo Warriors game shouldn't be £50? Feels a lot like when Dread shouldn't been £50 because 2D.

masofdas wrote:

My annual weird PC game which is a tad like Milk Inside A Bag Of Milk Inside A Bag Of Milk, why I saw it to be honest. I only did the one ending and took like 20mins to do so, still an enjoyable weird game.

(is curious) this is the kind of crazy predictive-text-autocomplete-title shit I can get behind!

(or give birth too - sorry y'all, I have 3 different projects to follow up crappy door locking game, but am having to do programming in my actual real-life job so am too tired)

Boo to having to slave away for capitalism rather than programme for fun!




It's been a bloody age since I've played a shmup, because I can't aim and I'm not very good at avoiding projectiles either - but I've still got a fondness for the genre.  I think it probably stems from those rubbish 50-in-1 things you'd see in shops when we were young, and a bunch of the 50 were usually shmups.  (Usually variants on the same shmup in fact.)  Anyway, on Matt Castle's recommendation I thought I'd pick up Drainus and I'm glad I did.

The reason I picked it up is because it's got that press-a-button-to-shield-and-also-absorb-energy feature which Ikaruga, among others, is known for - and also because it's much MUCH easier than Ikaruga.  I figured that shield ability would make up for some of my rubbishness, and it did.  So too did the many permanent upgrades you can grab for your ships, to the point where the difficulty curve became rather disjointed.  That didn't matter: like Castlevania HoD, an easy game in a hard genre was very welcome.  The moment-to-moment gunplay was pretty fun, especially when I built up my ship.  There is a snowballing mechanic, whereby you drop weapons as you get hit making you more likely to get hit again, and I didn't care for that (get stuffed Cave Story); but ripping through levels with a full arsenal was pretty darn fun.

Also some plot is there.

Drainus' flaws besides the snowballing include the second six levels being remixes of the first six levels, and the game not quite having the invention in its enemy designs and level concepts of say an R-Type or what have you.  Still, it was a solid fun time and I can recommend it to shmup fans, and even more to those who dabble in shmups occasionally. Beautifully smooth on Switch too.  A high 7/10.




I also played Meg's Monster, which sells itself as an RPG but is more a VN with some RPG elements.  You play a sulky monster in charge of returning Meg the child to her world before she cries and destroys everything, in what feels a lot like Monsters Inc. by way of Undertale.  Meg's Monster is dubiously paced, with barely any of the RPG stuff in the first half, followed by a story bait-and-switch that's never fully explained and then a whole bunch of RPG stuff backloaded.  Up until that bait-and-switch the story is a bit mediocre, with twee fwiendship stuff that can't make the jump to being truly emotional and an awful cackling nonsense of a villain; but in the second half it hits its stride more and reaches the true emotion the first half aspires to.

It's tough to recommend Meg's Monster, since the game is a slow-paced VN rather than the RPG it advertises itself as and it only really comes alive in its latter stages.  By the time I'd reached the end I was fond of the cast (awful cackling nonsense aside) and a little moist around the eyes, but really there are lots of games that do similar things better and you should probably try those first.  5/10

Balladeer wrote:

Drainus, a high 7/10.

I really liked the sound of that from what you'd typed, and I've looked into it a bit more. I think I'll get this - cheers for the recommendation, I'd have completely missed it otherwise

If you like Balla's review, wait till you hear mine.

Drainus sounds like Anus. Teehee 10/10.

Life is Strange: True Colours

It was alright. Great game for those who like games where you walk around rooms picking up objects while the main character says some fluff about them.

The story was decent and I liked making choices and the sort of investigative bits where you diagnose someone's emotion and find the way to deal with it.

It's on gamepass and is leaving soon so figured this was worth a punt - I enjoyed it enough and at least know now I probably won't bother with the other Life is Strange games because they're not *quite* for me. In fact, going by what a friend was saying watching me play this one, the older one he played wasn't as good.

There are also other sort of similar games I preferred - Lake (good) and Firewatch (pretty good).

The Cappuccino Kid wrote:

Balladeer wrote:

Drainus, a high 7/10.

I really liked the sound of that from what you'd typed, and I've looked into it a bit more. I think I'll get this - cheers for the recommendation, I'd have completely missed it otherwise

Ah excellent, hope you like it sir!  Comes in at under 5h (and I replayed a couple of stages to get all the recordings), so it should be perfect for somebody avoiding longer games prior to TotK.

Kriken wrote:

Life is Strange: True Colours

It was alright. Great game for those who like games where you walk around rooms picking up objects while the main character says some fluff about them.

So what Naughty Dog aspire to then.




Normally Storyteller would be straight into one of my 'BONUS' review spoilers, but coming from Annapurna there's a chance that some of you (Mas) will pick it up at full price.  Don't.  Storyteller is a lovely lil puzzler while it lasts, with you given the story's title and in charge of arranging the characters and scenes so that the title plays out - but 'while it lasts' is doing a lot of heavy lifting here.  It was no longer than two hours, probably closer to one, and at £12.49 I think you're asking for a serious price drop before it's value for money.  The ending, which seems ambiguous as to whether there's more material (there isn't), doesn't help.  There's a good game in Storyteller, but it's a good £3 game at most.  5/10

I've also just finished

Whilst watching KF PlayStation podcast which is like 1hr 20 mins long, so you can get a gist of the length from what Balla & Me are saying. I agree with pretty much all Balla says, as it is a fun little game but £12.49 is a lot, not sure if I paid that or used some gold or got a deal on a voucher whilst getting FEngage expansion. Still, I would wait to sub £5.

Another game I've played portable on Switch is

I talked about this one elsewhere a lot like the 3DS ones, just looks better as now on the Switch and that OLED along with more songs. The "story" or how I can come here and say finished as I rolled credits along with getting the in game feat of finishing the game, is by doing 8 Final Fantasy games tracks.

When you start, you're given one of three FF games to pick (it might be random, I don't know) and I went FFII which whilst doing that game's tracks unlocked a key & light up the crystal at the end. With my key I unlocked FFI tracks and repeated till I got to FFVII, which then meant I had enough lit crystals to unlock Theatrhythm which you defeat chaos & roll credits.

Meaning does make the "story" short, yet I can kinda get it as I don't know many FFXIV tracks and being forced in to do all 29 games might be a lot for some. Personally, I will at least clear all the games at some point.


Now time for some DLC or as Nintendo like to call it Expansion Pass which I finished the first of many this year (Xeno 3 is part last and this year). In this you have wave 1-3 which are paralogues which can get Tiki for instance as an emblem. Did all seven (?) of those which are a bit extra battles for me, as I already finished the main game I wasn't suddenly going to use bond lvl 1 Tiki when got Marth at lvl 20, also not a lot to use them on.

The main part is Wave 4 Fell Xenologue which takes part in another world which have emblems from wave 1-3 part of the story, and everything is opposite this person loved animals in your world but hates them in this one that sort of thing. It's more FE story content, took me like a day to finish, is harder than I thought as it sets the level & stuff of your units for the missions. Though did mean I used units I wouldn't normally due to what levels & classes they had.

I had fun and feel it was about the £20 I paid (I think) for it, and I'm positive for the rest of the expansions coming from Nintendo also I feel FEnage may get more content.


Sticking with expansions as FH5 got its second in Rally Adventure which meant my Xbox got switched on for what might be the best piece of new content I've played this year in terms of the quality, length, price etc  

Forza Horizon continues to be the crown jewel for Xbox.

Edit

Played and finished the prequel to Road 96, Road 96: Mile 0 yesterday which focuses on Zoe from the first game and Kaito from Lost in Harmony which would be a prequel in itself to Mile 0. As Mile 0 is sandwiched between the two games, it does blend them both together, meaning you have the First Person walk around pick up objects, talk to people stuff of the adventure game road 96. Yet at then end of each bit you have a rhythm part which plays from what I can see like Lost in Harmony. It works well enough in this 3 or 4hr experience.

I played on Switch as I own the first on Switch that I bought in a eShop sale, I got a discount on Mile 0, if I hadn't had that discount I may have played elsewhere as it does run like on the Switch. It may also run bad elsewhere, I've only ever played on Switch.

Edit

MoStH was an April fool gift from SEGA which the Sonic gang take part in a murder mystery on Amy's birthday which plays out I like Layton game (I guess), where you find clues, interrogate people etc to solve who murdered Sonic. It's well written, music good and very enjoyable, the only issue I have is it has some Sonic parts that might be based on bonus stages from the GBA games, is that you have to use WASD to move on the keyboard, and it's just not for me. Otherwise, great game that's also free.

Ah, too late. I tried to save him, I did. But too late.

I bought ST at launch, I'm a sucker for Annapurna

Mas finally admits that the worst thing about Sonic is playing it.

No PC Gaming is

Wreckfest didn’t meet my expectations in a sense, but it surpassed others at the same time. I’d bought it thinking that I was getting a strictly-for-laughs Destruction Derby-like experience, something where daftness, carnage and total destruction would be the order of the day. I was very surprised to experience a game that I’d argue underemphasises this and instead goes for realism. Wreckfest’s handling, suspension and brake balancing and racing mechanics made it feel more like a racing simulation, especially on tracks that felt like they were lifted straight out of Forza Motorsport. Wreckfest was absolutely at it’s best when you’re cutting about in a banger of a motor and deliberately trying to obliterate other racers on short and tight courses that are designed for mayhem, and disappointingly I didn’t think there was just enough of this in it’s meaty single player career mode. It’s very dissimilar to anything else I’d played on Switch though, and to me it felt authentically next-gen (especially with it’s amazing damage physics and consistently smooth performance). Wreckfest wasn’t exactly what I was after yet it was probably a deeper and more rewarding game because of it. 7/10.



Kao The Kangaroo's 2022 reboot is a fun, carefree and uncomplicated little 3D platformer that I think would settle in nicely into anybody’s gaming schedule. Right enough it’s a glitchfest at times, where I had to be quite forgiving of the times where end-of-world bosses had no hit detection, the audio effects would play out of sync, essential items wouldn’t respawn after losing a life and so on. I understand that it’s been patched a handful of times since it’s original release last year, but it’s still quite sloppy in many ways. It’s got a totally anonymous soundtrack too, there’s nothing remarkable about it (and in a 3D platformer that’s borderline offensive). Nevertheless it’s structurally sound in it’s collect-a-thon nature, effortless with its controls, varied in its levels and scenery and svelte at just five/six hours long. If you ever see it cheap I recommend it well enough, it’s an overall good example of the genre. 7/10.



LEGO Brawls was on my to-buy list for many months, but on the condition that I could get it for around a tenner. That condition was met last week, and I think it’s just as well that I waited for that hefty price-drop. Don’t be mistaken, LEGO Brawls is a genuinely entertaining Smash Bros-alike…until you realise that you’ve experienced all it has to offer in just a handful of online fights. LEGO Brawls makes the customisation of your LEGO figurines the centre of attention, and not the depth of it’s combat or the diversity of its modes. There’s startlingly few modes selectable here, just a small choice of variations between two basic free-for-all and castle defence modes. Combat too is unexpectedly simplistic – it’s a proper button-masher where your best chance of success is to run at your opponents and hammer to A button quicker than them. At least there’s loads of characters, weapons and attacks to unlock, yet that’s achieved exclusively through grinding. Basically, LEGO Brawls gets very old too quickly. If it’s on Game Pass or if it ever becomes a Nintendo Switch Online Game Trial or if it’s ever a monthly PS Plus update then sure, give it a go for a couple of hours, experience all it has to offer and be done with it. 5/10.

Is KAO the platformer that comeback to get or is something like Klonoa a better buy?

LEGO Brawls was a Apple Arcade game and sounds kinda mobile game.

masofdas wrote:

Is KAO the platformer that comeback to get or is something like Klonoa a better buy?

Besides Super Mario Odyssey, Super Mario 3D All Stars, Sonic Mania and maybe Celeste I think the Klonoa compilation is the best platformer you can buy this gen. There’s a gulf between those five and Kao The Kangaroo that I’d say is filled by more than a dozen Switch platformers though.

If it’s a useful point of reference, I’d say Kao The Kangaroo is just about on par with New Super Lucky’s Tale and maybe a little better than the first Yooka-Laylee.

Really odd, I just popped in to edit my review of A Space for the Unbound as just finished the "game" A Raven Monologue from the same dev & publisher as not a game worth writing a whole review for.

Yet I wrote a decent sized one for ASftU and brought up points etc from Balla but noticed the review has gone, maybe I didn't click send. Well I tell ya I liked the game a lot and is currently sat at Number 4 of the 2023 games for me.

Edit

I did originally reply to you Cappa, I will bear that in mind but I may pick up SM3DW as in work be £30ish next week due to double discount, as I want to play Bowser's Fury.

That's reminded me - I'm talking pish, Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury is right up there with the best platformers, I just forgot about it! Yeah, get that bought pronto.

I'm glad you liked ASftU Mas, and that I can still somewhat tell what you're going to enjoy!  Currently at number 4 for the year seems about right for somebody who plays loads of games like yourself: it's currently at number 1 for myself, but it's a low 8 and only that high because nothing else has been all that this year for me (apart from a remaster).

Speaking of which, I've just finished the worst game of 2023 I've played so far (out of 8 ).  It's not something anybody else here will play, so it doesn't get a warning review until I'm done with another game and have a post of some substance.  But it just cements the first third of this year as being full of a lot of games I haven't liked much.

My Top 5 is at the moment:

Bayonetta Origins which I think you'll like as it's more Okami X Child of Light

Fire Emblem Engage where I'd say play Three Houses if are to give FE a bash but know EofGiz playing Engage and at the moment prefers over Three Houses because it lacks social elements

Murder of Sonic another I think if you can play on the ladies PC, be worth doing

A Space for the Unbound as we know about

Theatrhythm Final Bar Line bringing up the rear really be default as most of near games I've finished thus year been old like The Last of Us Part I, Metroid Fusion and Prime.

Wait to hear about the worst game more, is it that Melon game?