What are you playing this weekend/these days?


I like RPGs but I also feel like they usually don't respect your time. Which I didn't mind when I had time to spend, but I also have to spend time on other stuff these days.
When I've vacation I pick-up games that take more time, but usually still no 200h RPG. But that doesn't mean I dislike them.
The FF series can sometimes really feel like a grind.
 
The main thing is RPGs have to be challenging enough so you have to be strategic and pay attention in battles. Otherwise yeh, grindy. I prefer FF2 over FF3 because it's a bit shorter. Actually I recommend FFV because it's the most challenging and has the cool job system. Originally Japan only because they think (know) we suck..
 
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I'll show this again. Just got it in Japan for £12.
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I like RPGs but I also feel like they usually don't respect your time. Which I didn't mind when I had time to spend, but I also have to spend time on other stuff these days.
When I've vacation I pick-up games that take more time, but usually still no 200h RPG. But that doesn't mean I dislike them.
The FF series can sometimes really feel like a grind.
Yeah, the first one was taking all the fun away.

You are absolutely right about the grind, and I’m not bitching about the normal grind to level up. Everything seemed like little thought was put into how it would play. Great improvements in pretty much all aspects of playability were made by the second one.

Fast Forward on emulation is the damn way to go with FF combat sessions :cool:
I have also been using it with some of the other games I’m playing, just to speed it up a little. With LA, for example, I complete one task or dungeon every time I pick it up. I used to warp around to speed up navigating, and now I don’t need to. It makes it feel like the game is there for me, not like I have to waste my time/life just to complete a section of it.
 
I played Phantasy Star Online (1 and 2) a lot. The idea was that you play with others but I usually played solo. So, initially you invest a lot into upgrading so you can actually play. But after that it was good.
 
Thinking about it, I got into Final Fantasy because no one else liked it and consequently I could get my hands on them. My first was Final Fantasy Legend on GB which was the only game available at the shop. I might not have persevered but my only other entertainment was listening to records and skateboard mags and videos. Final Fantasy NES was given to me by someone who didn't like it. With FF2 & 3 the series hit it's stride, they are killer. I remember enjoying Mystic Quest and of course the spin off Chrono Trigger is a gift from the heavens.
 
I played Phantasy Star Online (1 and 2) a lot. The idea was that you play with others but I usually played solo. So, initially you invest a lot into upgrading so you can actually play. But after that it was good.
Can you beat PSO1's final boss? I played it a lot back in the Dreamcast days, but could never beat that thing. Always got carried through that fight by co-op players. Stopped playing when a hacker caused me to lose all of my level progress and items. My "Shinji" had a nice katana and an Opa-Opa as companion. I'm still miffed about that.
 
Can you beat PSO1's final boss? I played it a lot back in the Dreamcast days, but could never beat that thing. Always got carried through that fight by co-op players. Stopped playing when a hacker caused me to lose all of my level progress and items. My "Shinji" had a nice katana and an Opa-Opa as companion. I'm still miffed about that.
No, I actually switched to PSO2 (also Dreamcast) before reaching the end. And after that to Universe on the Xbox 360. Had the Playstation Portable version and Japanese PS Vita version to. I also have the PSO bundle on the original Xbox but played Universe more on 360.
Losing all in-game progress sucks, it takes a lot of time to progress and losing it would indeed make me think of giving up. But I hope you still like PSO, only the music already puts me in a good mood.
 
Guess I'll give part 2 a try sometime.
I think PSO2 is my favorite, but I guess you haven't played that one yet. It might be different for you in that case.
Not many new PSO games are introduced afterwards, so still worth a shot.
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Just finished Halo 2. A much better game. The soundtrack rocks. Only had to deal with the buggy once in the beginning. After that it was fun vehicles only. Liked most of the new weapons. Dual wielding is fun, too. The flood is much easier to fight with the sword. Without it I was annoyed because of the aim assist making it extra difficult to shoot off their arms. But I guess you can deactivate that with one of the skulls options. The final boss was weird. I only shot him a few times, then jumped around the arena for a while and then suddenly the cut scene triggered. I guess he must have fallen off the platform. Medium difficulty feels easier than 1's medium. The missing subtitles for all the ingame dialogue is disappointing. I maybe understood 5 % of what was said, what a shame. Oh well. Reach is next.
 
MVG and I were separated at birth.



* hdmi out
* can play ps1/2/3
* golden age of adventure games
* game files not idiotically big
* gfx are excellent imo
* it's the console i'm most drawn to
 
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Just finished Halo Reach. Finally you get team members that stick to you for most of the game. I loathed losing the nameless soldiers at my side in 1 and 2 so quickly. The levels are more open and make good use of vehicles, of which there are some new ones to pilot. You even get a space battle! The new weapons are cool, same as the armor-skills. There are now subtitles for ingame dialogue, as there should be. I changed game language to English and the voice acting is much, much better than in German. They even gave it some radio static when your buddies are further away. Nice touch! The game felt shorter than 1 and 2, but that might be due to me having fun all the way through. Also: no Flood to fight :) Onwards to 3!

EDIT: Just finished 3. Better than 2, but not as good as Reach. Next is Halo 3 ODST.
 
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Halo 3 ODST is still an FPS but the experience is much different in my opinion. Still enjoyed it though. And it features a virtual Nathan Fillion, in case there are Firefly fans here (yes, he did much other stuff to :)).
 
Blood Storm (Arcade 1994)

I played a lot of arcade fighting games 1 VS 1, like Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, The King of Fighters, etc... , and except for some particular franchise, like Dragonball, them are almost all the same.

Lately I found out about Blood Storm, and damn, it's genuinely full of cool ideas that I never seen before in games of the same type !!
Seems like it's the last game made by the software house "Incredible Technologies", they tried with this game to beat the Mortal Kombat domain, but they failed and closed down ... it's a pity ...

Some of the cool stuff this game offers:
  • Arms and body parts can be cut off during combat, this not only makes impossible to do the combat moves related to those parts, but if you still try to use the "missing" parts them will spit blood and you will lose health in the process !!
  • With the right moves it is possible to finish off almost instantly an adversary, like severing the head or cut in half the whole body ... it's not just a "Fatality" because this happens during the combat session.
  • Every character has many particular super moves and skills ... and that's the norm ... BUT when you win you will COLLECT the main skill of the character you have beaten !!! The more encounters you win, the more skills you can use !!
  • The arenas are very different between each other !! There's one with a pit, if someone falls down it's instant death, another one is really small, so it's impossible to take distance... also the walls will close even more as time passes, etc ...
It is visibly inspired by Mortal Kombat, even the 5 buttons required are similar, but the difference here is that instead of "High-Punch" / "Low-Punch", you have "Left-Arm" / "Right-Arm", and the same for the kicks, so you need to use the right part of the body for the move you want to obtain.
Even the humor is very similar, and there is also a "not so secret" character called "Shadow" that appears in particular conditions, it's invisible except for its shadow.

Every time I play it I find out some new cool stuff, and every time is fun !
 
Blood Storm (Arcade 1994)

I played a lot of arcade fighting games 1 VS 1, like Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, The King of Fighters, etc... , and except for some particular franchise, like Dragonball, them are almost all the same.

Lately I found out about Blood Storm, and damn, it's genuinely full of cool ideas that I never seen before in games of the same type !!
Seems like it's the last game made by the software house "Incredible Technologies", they tried with this game to beat the Mortal Kombat domain, but they failed and closed down ... it's a pity ...

Some of the cool stuff this game offers:
  • Arms and body parts can be cut off during combat, this not only makes impossible to do the combat moves related to those parts, but if you still try to use the "missing" parts them will spit blood and you will lose health in the process !!
  • With the right moves it is possible to finish off almost instantly an adversary, like severing the head or cut in half the whole body ... it's not just a "Fatality" because this happens during the combat session.
  • Every character has many particular super moves and skills ... and that's the norm ... BUT when you win you will COLLECT the main skill of the character you have beaten !!! The more encounters you win, the more skills you can use !!
  • The arenas are very different between each other !! There's one with a pit, if someone falls down it's instant death, another one is really small, so it's impossible to take distance... also the walls will close even more as time passes, etc ...
It is visibly inspired by Mortal Kombat, even the 5 buttons required are similar, but the difference here is that instead of "High-Punch" / "Low-Punch", you have "Left-Arm" / "Right-Arm", and the same for the kicks, so you need to use the right part of the body for the move you want to obtain.
Even the humor is very similar, and there is also a "not so secret" character called "Shadow" that appears in particular conditions, it's invisible except for its shadow.

Every time I play it I find out some new cool stuff, and every time is fun !
Did you play Time Killers? Blood Storm was a big upgrade but it still contains things from Time Killers.

 
I found it after Blood Storm, but still didn't play it.

I'll try it after I'm done with Blood Storm ... damn, constantly I find out new secret things ... once I was falling in the pit thinking that I have lost, and suddenly "You have found the secret lair !!" WTF !!! :confused:
Another time during a combat a portal opened and I was transported in a duel with another enemy !!
 
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