What are you playing?

[PartridgeSenpai]

About to finish Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise's main story, it would seem. The final chapter really snuck up on me, tbh. Like, if I hadn't been muckin' around hunting for side-stuff to do SO much, I probably could've gotten through the main story in less than 10 hours. Some chapters are literally just one boss fight. This has been a very odd Yakuza spin-off, but not really an all bad one. It does seem like there have been sacrifices narratively for the sake of incorporating FotNS's universe as a compelling story surrounding one city location, but the combat is freaking AWESOME, so the game is certainly mechanically compelling where it counts. I haven't even found HALF the side missions yet though, so I gotta imagine there's a fair amount of content post chapter 10.

As awesome as Lost Paradise looks (and I'm a fan of the original anime), I might have to hold off on this one for awhile. After playing through four Yakuza games in the span of just this year and last... I need a serious break from these games.

I mean I was very much in the "Yakuza'd out" camp for the past like year and a half since I beat Yakuza 1 and 2 back to back, so I know what you mean . I finished the game yesterday and there isn't really an extensive post-game story that I can find anywhere, so those extra sidequests must just be wrapped up in the side-activities I largely ignored like bar-tending and the host club. The story is pretty bad for a Yakuza game, but perhaps it's more par for the course for a FotNS story. I definitely put more blame on the source material's thematic restrictions rather than the Yakuza team's writing as far as the awkardly paced plot is concerned (one chapter's sole story fight is fighting Raoh, for example, and this is a game with 11 chapters). With 4 other Yakuza games on PS4, most of them much below $60 at this point, I'd have a pretty hard time recommending to all but the most astute Yakuza fans or really big FotNS fans. For what it's worth, however, the combat is freaking awesome. The way they mix-up the heat-action system by making those kinds of QTE's contextual based on an enemy's stunned position so you can do tons of FotNS special techniques on them is freaking awesome.

[Xeogred]

From what I've heard, it unfortunately doesn't follow the story of the manga/anime much at all, which I was really hoping for. The characters are what really make it, no denying the anime is way too long with filler and all... I'd love a more condensed take on the story. But yeah...

The combat and violence definitely looks fun though. I'm sure I'll get around to it someday.

[Nintendork666]

About four hours into Grandia 2 now.I'm playing the HD re-release on Steam.



I never got around to this game when it was originally on Dreamcast. While some of the anime art, and voice acting can be less than to my tastes, I must say that something about the characters and the way they interact with one another has really resonated with me. I didn't expect to get into the story of this game on an emotional level. I'm just a big softie overall, I guess.

Also the combat is top-tier and very fun. Maybe I've been grinding a bit much but overall the game has been very easy so far. I'm hoping for a bump in challenge as I progress further into the campaign.

[PartridgeSenpai]

From what I've heard, it unfortunately doesn't follow the story of the manga/anime much at all, which I was really hoping for. The characters are what really make it, no denying the anime is way too long with filler and all... I'd love a more condensed take on the story. But yeah...

The combat and violence definitely looks fun though. I'm sure I'll get around to it someday.

I mean there are a TON of characters from the original anime (Bat, Rei, Jagi, Raoh, to name a few), and if anything I'd argue TOO many because it means this alt-universe story really can't come into its own because it's such a slave to the bounds of the original content it's tied itself to. If the original series characters are what you're after, they're most certainly there.

[noiseredux]

About four hours into Grandia 2 now.I'm playing the HD re-release on Steam.



I never got around to this game when it was originally on Dreamcast. While some of the anime art, and voice acting can be less than to my tastes, I must say that something about the characters and the way they interact with one another has really resonated with me. I didn't expect to get into the story of this game on an emotional level. I'm just a big softie overall, I guess.

Also the combat is top-tier and very fun. Maybe I've been grinding a bit much but overall the game has been very easy so far. I'm hoping for a bump in challenge as I progress further into the campaign.

I love Grandia II. Seriously one of my favorite RPG's of that generation. I'm looking forward to the upcoming Switch port.

[marurun]

I think Grandia and Grandia 2 have the best possible RPG combat system. I love the ability to move around the battlefield, even if only to preset locations, and use your placement and enemy placement to see what attacks and spells will affect who, or whether you have to waste your turn running to an enemy because they are too far away to get to and attack in the same turn. The ability to see everyone on the initiative bar and use attacks to slow or stall initiative progress was also very cool.

[Nintendork666]

Doesn't Wild Arms have a very similar battle style? I cant remember, I only played 3 when I was younger and didn't get too far

[Markies]

Doesn't Wild Arms have a very similar battle style? I cant remember, I only played 3 when I was younger and didn't get too far

Not really.

Wild Arms is much more of the traditional turn based battle system. Wild Arms 3 looks like it is similar to Grandia, but that is just window dressing. They are running around on the battlefield for no reason at all.

Grandia actually uses distance and timing into battle. Your attack will go off quicker if you are closer to the enemy. Also, if you attack when they are about to attack, you will cancel their attack.

But, Grandia II is an amazing game. I played through the PS2 and DreamCast versions. The DC is better, but the PS2 is acceptable in a pinch.

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I started Destroy All Humans! on the Microsoft XBOX this evening!

I love the 1950's, so to finally play a game in that decade is just fantastic. The aesthetic is beautiful and I love all the different characters running around. I also very much like the mission style format of Grand Theft Auto and this very similar to it. I really liked the writing of the game as it had some genuinely funny moments from the beginning.

I wish the stealth was a bit better as he is no Solid Snake. Also, there are a ton of different moves and it was getting a bit confusing after a while. I enjoyed it much more when it was just blowing buildings up with my UFO and shooting people with my ray gun.

[TheSSNintendo]

Spider-Man (PS4). I've done more side work - back packs, landmarks, etc. - than I have with the main mission.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Right now, I’m playing Monster World IV (Genesis) and Detective Pikachu (3DS). I’m not writing about them much, however, because they are both just OK. Monster World IV (Genesis) looks fantastic, but the gameplay and level design is pretty ho hum. Detective Pikachu is a bizarre premise - which I enjoy - but the gameplay is just walking around and talking to people. While it’s a lot better than To the Moon, I haven’t been that impressed with it yet.