The Gaming Diary: Chapter 3

[Ikariniku]

As I am finally happy with my rig, I've ordered a capture device. It's not the last step, but it is an exciting one.

[Ikariniku]

After a week of studying for work stuff, I did the thing and hooked up a VGA monitor to my upscaling rig.  This means I have RGBs, Component, VGA, and HDMI monitors all hooked up and displaying at once.  Aside from being totally rad, this had a practical element I had not considered. 

The upscaled image my setup produces has very muted colors.  I knew I would have to make adjustments, but not at what point in the processing or post-processing those adjustments needed to be made.  Maybe it was just the low quality HDTV I was using to monitor the output.  Hooking up the VGA monitor showed that it was my scan converter that was muting the color.  Now I know to start my adjustments there.  Well, once my scanline generator arrives.

[Ikariniku]

Still working on my upscaling rig.  I received one of he scanline generators I ordered and tested it out.  I was apprehensive about using it because I tend to dislike the fake scanlines on emulators, but the dithering scanlines provide is an important part of the color and look of old games.  So I wanted to at least try it out to see if I could get a satisfactory result. 

As it stands, I'm fairly happy with the result.  The scanlines shade the image an enjoyable amount, but I have to compare to a consumer TV to see if I'm getting the look I want.  Still, I'm getting very close to the look I want for authentic hardware on modern screens.

[MetalFRO]

I started playing Fate Extella: The Umbral Star a few days ago on Switch. It's my first Muso-styled game, if you can believe that. Are all these games this exposition-heavy? Holy cow, this game has a lot to say.

[Disposed Hero]

I haven't posted here in a while, but I haven't been playing a ton either.

Dark Souls - I finally bit the bullet and played through this game. I really enjoyed it for the most part, but I felt like the game was starting to wear out its welcome in the second half, particularly after finishing Anor Londo. There are a lot of flaws that drag the experience down a notch. A few bad boss fights (Bed of Chaos is one of the worst bosses I've ever had the misfortune of fighting), but I think most of them were good. They nailed the atmosphere, and I really love the openness when it comes to selecting paths and for upgrading characters. I feel like the presentation of the game's story (or lack thereof) is a mixed bag. I like that it's not overly bogged down with exposition, but a little direction would have been nice. It seems like the game is set in a fascinating universe, but it really doesn't want you to know about it. I might daresay I'm a converted fan now, but it will probably be a little while before I tackle another one of these games. I'll probably just wait until Sekiro comes out and jump into that.

Octopath Traveler - I think I'm about 25 hours in and have finished maybe half of my characters' stories up through Chapter 2. I love the battle system, the music, and the visuals of the game. I also just started finding some shrines that unlock secondary jobs, so playing around with that has been fun also. However, I do find the story elements to be severely lacking. Most of the characters' story arcs haven't been that interesting so far (although I feel like they have the potential to get interesting later on), and the main story chapters have all been extremely formulaic. It's also off-putting that any other characters just cease to exist during story scenes, especially after playing the Trails in the Sky games which handle character interaction so well. Despite that, it's still a great game and a must play for any classic JRPG fans.

I also want to add that all the review scores that have been pouring in for Yakuza Kiwami 2 are getting me hyped for the game. Some sources are saying it's the best game in the series, and its current metacritic score is higher than all the other games, although just barely. Less than a week to go!

[Disposed Hero]

Yakuza Kiwami 2 - I've put a few hours into this. Really enjoying it so far. I already think I'm going to enjoy this game more than Kiwami and 6, but the verdict's still out for 0. I really love the Sotenbori location, so that automatically gives it an edge over Kiwami and 6. They also expanded upon the side content and moveset which I felt was sorely lacking in 6.

Octopath Traveler - Still chipping away at this and approaching the 35 hour mark. I'm almost finished with everybody's Chapter 2 quests and have already done a couple of Chapter 3 quests. My thoughts are pretty much the same: I love everything about the game except the presentation of the story. I really wish they would have just followed a linear progression for the story and had included some actual character interaction.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel - I don't think I have played this game in over a month, but I really don't want to let it fall to the wayside. I'll try to make it a point to come back to it. It should be easier once I finish Octopath.

[MetalFRO]

Just beat Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star. It was fun, overall, and not too difficult, so as an intro to Muso-styled games, it was probably a good introduction. However, the technique I needed to use to beat the final boss wasn't readily apparent, and I had to look it up. Not sure if I missed something during a tutorial, or if the game doesn't explain it properly, but that was my only complaint about the gameplay, other than the occasionally goofy camera, when you get stuck in a corner. As for the story, it's pretty whacked out, and very anime-inspired, but kinda over the top. I think I'm going to toy around with Sonic Forces next, in addition to Warning Forever, which of course I'm playing for the Shmup Club.

[Disposed Hero]

Once again biting off more than I can chew:

Yakuza Kiwami 2 - Finished this about a week or two ago. I really enjoyed it and would rank it as one of the best Yakuza games, although I still say 0 is the best.

Octopath Traveler - Thoughts are still the same as last time. The story elements are really dragging the experience down for me. The game feels like it's composed of 8 glorified side quest lines with each chapter having the same exact formula. It got boring and repetitive around the 10 hour mark, and now that I'm well over 40 hours into the game, I'm more than ready to wrap it up. It's a shame because everything else about the game is excellent.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider - Although I enjoyed Rise of the Tomb Raider, I don't think I was a fan of the snowy mountain setting of that game. I was glad to see that the latest entry is in a South American jungle setting. I've just finished the first prologue section, but it's more Tomb Raider, so I knew what to expect. The story is pretty silly so far though.

Dead Cells - Just as a disclaimer, I've never been a fan of 'rogue/roguelike/roguelite' games. So when my friend got me to play Dead Cells, I was skeptical that I would enjoy it. Turns out, it's actually really fun! I still find the rogue elements to be a drag though, so I'll probably put this game down before long.

Silent Hill - Replayed this for the first time in about 10 years. I still enjoy it, but it's not as good as I remember.

Silent Hill 2 - Started this immediately after the first game, and it has also been several years since playing this one. Improves on its predecessor in every way.

Silent Hill 3 - Started this immediately after the second game, also several years since playing it. I remember not liking this one as much, but I'm about an hour into it and really enjoying it.

Dead Rising 4 - I've played the first two DR games in the past, but didn't play the third one. This game feels very different from the first two, but it's still fun. I'm always up for some zombie bashing.

Vampyr - Just installed this and looking forward to diving into it soon. This game looks very interesting.

[MetalFRO]

Working my way through Sonic Forces. I know the 3D Sonic games take a lot of heat, but I haven't had much experience with them, so aside from messing with Sonic Adventure a bit, I don't have the frame of reference. So far, I'm enjoying it in short bursts on lunch break at work, since I bring my Switch with me.

[MetalFRO]

I'm now 2/3 of the way through Sonic Forces, and still enjoying it, though I have to say that I'm glad Sega didn't charge full AAA price for it. It's fun while it lasts, but doesn't leave much of an impression. I do wish the 3D graphics in the 2D sections were a tad less busy, because sometimes, with all the speed, it's hard to see what's going on, or what's coming next. I run into enemies sometimes, without but a half-second of warning. In a traditional 2D Sonic title, even with the same type of speed and enemy proximity, sprites are more defined, and there's more visual acuity into what you're doing, so it's easier to adjust on the fly to avoid stuff.

[Disposed Hero]

Silent Hill 3 - Finished this. I definitely enjoyed it more this time than the first time I played it, but I still think SH 2 is the better game. At its best, it is easily on par or possibly even surpasses SH 2, but a couple of bad environments and some annoying enemy types drag this game down for me.

Silent Hill 4: The Room - I didn't originally intend for this Halloween season to be a Silent Hill marathon, but now that I'm knee deep I might as well go all the way. I've never played this entry before, and I'm only about 10 minutes into it so far, but according to that short play session and everything I've heard about the game previously, I don't think this is going to be one of the better games in the series, although I'm willing to give it a fair chance.

Vampyr - I feel like the general consensus on this game is that it has some extremely interesting mechanics but is held back by its lackluster combat, and after putting some hours into this game, I would be inclined to agree. The relatively low budget of the game shows and many things seem kind of janky and dated. I like the game but find myself avoiding combat whenever I can, and now it's getting to the point where I feel like I would prefer to just stop playing it. However, I just heard about a difficulty patch that is supposed to go live today that is supposed to let players use a Story Mode setting with less difficult combat, so I'll probably just switch to that so I can easily run through everything.

[MetalFRO]

I finished Sonic Forces last week, and rather enjoyed it. As I mentioned, I don't think it's AAA quality, nor do I think it should have set the world on fire for sheer quality, but it's a solid and fun game, overall. I have since started Sonic Mania, and holy cow, this game is awesome. So far, it's everything I wanted from a 2D Sonic game. It's colorful, it sounds great (which I already knew, since I bought the soundtrack before release), it plays smooth, and some of the new abilities and stuff you can do enhances the Sonic experience, rather than detracting from it. Christian Whitehead knows Sonic, and I hope Sega keeps him engaged, so he can potentially make more games like this, because I will continue to buy them, if they're this good. Oh, and of course, I'm playing 1942 for the Shmup Club

[Disposed Hero]

Silent Hill 4: The Room - Still not very far into this one, but what I've played so far is not good. However, I just watched a YouTube video about this game that has me intrigued to keep going. I'll probably stick it out until the end either way.

Vampyr - I've been steamrolling through this game and am now pretty close to the end. In my last post, I mentioned dialing the difficulty down so I could just run through everything and mostly avoid the lackluster combat. I didn't do this. After thinking about it, the whole crux of the game is the decision to feed on citizens to become more powerful or play the 'good guy' and not feed on anybody. So I decided to burn everything to the ground and feed on almost everybody. Overall, Vampyr is a flawed but enjoyable game.

Trails of Cold Steel - Between having this game on the backburner for at least two months and the recent news of these games coming to PS4, I think I'm just going to put this game down for now.

[Link41]

Yoshi (NES) - Been playing multiplayer with the kids for the past few days. It is ok, but I prefer Dr. Mario over this.

[MetalFRO]

Sonic Mania is awesome so far, but holy cow, I had trouble with the Flying Battery Zone. I kept getting tripped up in Act 2, and then the spider-bot boss took me a few tries to get the rhythm down. Thankfully, I was finally able to get past that at lunch today, so I'm on to the next area.