The Gaming Diary: Chapter 3

[bombatomba]

Oops.  Messed up the post somehow.  Maybe this is Crab's doing, trying to tell me to get back on the RFGen Challenge.  Maybe I should. lol

[Crabmaster2000]

Oops.  Messed up the post somehow.  Maybe this is Crab's doing, trying to tell me to get back on the RFGen Challenge.  Maybe I should. lol

Why aren't you playing NES games!!?!? Traitor!

If you're going to take a break I'd love to hear your thoughts on Octopath Traveler. It's one of my favorite games of this gen. It's really fantastic in every way.

[shaggy]

Beat the Millionaire's Conspiracy.

[Link41]

Pokémon Yellow Version (GB) - Just starting out in Pallet Town.

[Mr_Stubbes]

Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc Just finished this game and I pretty pleased with how it ended. The ending left me very excited for the 2nd game which I’m starting today. Can’t wait to see what Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair has in store.

[bombatomba]

Finally finished Mendel Palace for the RFGen NES Challenge, then started (and finished in short order) Conquest of the Crystal Palace.  I've played this one before, but man it is a fun game.  It is a little weird (you appear to be descending into Buddhism hell) and a little unbalanced at times, but often in difficult moments there is more than one strategy available, which is uncommon in NES games of the era.  Plus the main character does a goofy dance after each boss battle (may be my new profile pic).  I am now on Elevator Action on the NES.

I don't think I've mentioned it, but I am also playing a tiny bit of Warhammer 40k: Space Marine on the Xbox 360 (like an hour a week).  Not a great game, but fine.  I guess.  But the Dolby Digital sound in nice (which is why I am playing it on my Xbox vs my PC).

Well, I started Octopath Traveler and almost immediately put it down, lol.  No idea why, I just needed something else, but I am not giving up on it yet.  My fault for starting it immediately after Phantasy Star on Switch.  I still feel the need for a JRPG though (a transition piece between now and the release of Dragon Quest XI S at the end of September), so I started Suikoden II.  This falls well within my comfort zone for graphics and sound for a JRPG, but it seems like the translation is really sloppy, almost enough to take me out of the story (which is a huge no-no for an RPG).  We'll see where this goes.

[Sirgin]

Finished Life Is Strange: Before the Storm. Also great, perhaps not as novel a story as the original Life is Strange.

[Link41]

Pokémon Yellow Version (GB) - Just arrived in Pewter City. I'm not looking forward to challenging Brock with a Pikachu

[Disposed Hero]

Judgment - Finished this last night. I really enjoyed the story and the characters. While most of the core Yakuza gameplay mechanics are still intact, the added investigation mechanics felt lacking, and tailing missions are one of the worst things that have ever been incorporated into these games. It's a good game overall, but it doesn't quite measure up to the mainline Yakuza titles in my opinion.

Metro: Exodus - Now that I've finished Judgment, I'm hoping to get back to this and hopefully finish it soon. I may just ignore most of the extra open-world content and make a beeline for the end. I really enjoy the mechanics and feel of these games, but I'm not really digging the open-world direction of this latest installment.

Metroid: Fusion - Slowly but surely chipping away at it. I think I'm going to make a big push to finish it soon.

I've got a few games I've been juggling for a while now, so with the fall season upon us I'm hoping to finish pretty much all of it soon. As usual, I plan on going into full survival horror mode during September and October.

[Link41]

Pokémon Yellow Version (GB) - After numerous attempts I finally beat Brock for the Boulder badge, now I'm making my way to Mt. Moon.

[bombatomba]

Well, I fizzled on both Octopath Traveler and Suikoden II.  In the former case I just don't feel like I can invest any significant time in it (being a borrow from the library) and in the latter I think I'm just bored of the Suikoden mechanic.  Oh well.  I will pick of the former again, but not the latter I think.

I am playing AD&D - Dragonstrike for the NES Challenge and so far it is pretty fun.  Simple and fun.  

I also picked up (and finished) Wonder Boy - The Dragon's Trap on the Switch for $10.  This is another amazing port/remake (for the SMS version) and man am I in love with this game!  There is just so much going on here, so that anachronisms such as myself (who enjoy the old and new amalgamated) just can't seem to have enough fun.  Play with new graphics and PSG (or FM) sound from the original?  Play original graphics and sound effects but new music?  So much fun.

In contrast is Sega Genesis Classics on Switch.  Nothing wrong here, but after the amazing presentation of Dragon's Trap it just feels bog standard.  Won't stop me from playing Phantasy Star, Shining Force, and others.  Speaking of which, I wonder which game I should start with on Classics?

Oh yeah, I kind of go hyped for Metroid Fusion again and I will giving it another go in the near future I think.  Watched this video and it kind of make me want to play it again:

[Disposed Hero]

Metro Exodus - Finished this over the weekend. I eventually got really into it again and had a hard time putting it down. I'm still kind of conflicted on the open-world elements, which sometimes make the game feel more like Fallout than Metro, but I still had a good time with it overall.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses - So now that I've finished both Judgment and Metro, I'm finally able to really dive into the new Fire Emblem. While I initially balked at all of the added social elements, it didn't take long for me to get really into it. I'm still fairly early on, but I'm really enjoying the game so far.

Chrono Trigger - I knew I wanted to replay CT with the Cartridge Club this month, but I deliberated quite a bit on which version I wanted to play. I eventually decided to load up my old SNES save file and do a New Game+ so I can finally see all of the extra endings I never got before. It occurred to me right after starting the game that I'm playing along with the Cartridge Club with the save file from my RFG Playcast playthrough some 5 years ago, and if felt cool to bring it full circle like that. It's my favorite game of all time, so of course I'm enjoying it, but I feel like it does lose something when doing a NG+. Any sense of strategy is gone since I can literally one-shot everything so far, even bosses. That being said, this may be the one and only time I do a NG+.

Jeanne d'Arc - Also still chipping away at this a bit here and there. I haven't felt the need to grind anymore yet, and there also haven't been anymore lame battle requirements like not having a single unit fall in battle. I'm not really that invested in the story or anything, but I really like the battle mechanics. There are some quality of life features that I wish more games in this genre had, namely all units gaining experience after a battle, even those not participating in the battle. Really helps keep lesser-used units from falling too far behind.

[Link41]

Mario Kart 64 (N64) - Been working on the 50CC cups with the kids.

[Seno]

Saints Row 3 (PC) - random acts of violence and explosions appeal right now

[GrayGhost81]

Saints Row 3 (PC) - random acts of violence and explosions appeal right now

Dude, hop on our playthrough thread and say hi!

http://www.rfgeneration.c...m/index.php?topic=19161.0