Ashtear
@Ashtear@lemm.ee
- Comment on Lemmy’s essential 25 PS1 games 5 days ago:
The only one I have that hasn’t been mentioned yet is Suikoden II. Gorgeous sprite art, and it’s also just a solid game. Ironically, it’s getting a remaster very soon which is sure to clean up its biggest weakness (the English localization), though we don’t know how the rest of it will shake out.
I consider the fifth gen to be a lost generation for sprite-based games, this is one of those on the console that make the case for an interesting “what could have been” scenario (Symphony of the Night, Final Fantasy Tactics, and Valkyrie Profile also being sprite-based standouts).
- Comment on Lemmy’s essential 25 PS1 games 5 days ago:
Definitely one of my essentials. I think the gameplay is bit meh, but it’s still the best story in the genre.
- Comment on Assassin’s Creed Shadows Story Will Continue In Multiple Future Entries, Dev Reveals 1 week ago:
Thanks. For those that don’t read Japanese (and want to drop it in their favorite MTL or what have you), here’s the relevant interview answer from creative director Jonathan Dumont:
――ネタバレは避けますが、ゲームのオープニング時の映像はちょっとびっくりするような、怪しげな感じでした。本作をクリアーするころには、その謎は解決するのか、あるいは謎に近づくことができるのでしょうか？
ジョナサン これは現代編の新しい出発点です。時間とともに発展するストーリー部分があるため、今後の複数のシリーズでも続きのストーリーが語られることでしょう。ここで目にするのは、長年のファンにとってすばらしく感じられる部分であり、新しい物語を予感できるはずです。また同時に、新しいプレイヤーにとっても非常に期待を持ってもらえるようなコンセプトになっていると思います。
- Comment on Assassin’s Creed Shadows Story Will Continue In Multiple Future Entries, Dev Reveals 1 week ago:
Can we get a link? If you mean www.gamedeveloper.com, they’ve only had one article specifically on Shadows this year and it’s about a service platform for the series, not the story.
- Comment on Assassin’s Creed Shadows Story Will Continue In Multiple Future Entries, Dev Reveals 1 week ago:
What’s the source for this?
- Comment on Just started playing Life is Strange 1 week ago:
It’s definitely one of those that can take a little while to click with the player. I had the advantage of being deeply interested in the setting. It made me miss living in Oregon so, so much. Aside from that, I really came to like the characters by the end of the original game and Before the Storm.
I’ve continued to enjoy the series–yes, even the newest one–aside from LiS 2, which felt like misery porn after a while. That said, all of the games excel at getting the quiet moments right, and it’s worth taking a moment to pause when the game offers the chance.
- Comment on Shovel Knight artist says throwback games need 'retro authenticity' but can't coast on nostalgia alone: 'Part of the appeal of the NES era of game making was that everything was a new idea' 2 weeks ago:
“The original NES hardware literally only had around 55 colors that were pre-programmed in and no other color was allowed,” Wozniak explained. “We broke this rule by adding 5 colors to help with a few things the NES palette lacked—namely, darker and desaturated colors. But we justified that decision by treating it as compensation for the fact that everyone is playing these games on much brighter, higher fidelity screens than the CRTs of the past.”
This is a great example of how some retro-style projects get it and some don’t. The successful projects are the one that have the feel of the games you used to play in the context of today’s gaming, not the ones that do a historically accurate, 1:1 conversion. There’s an art to it.
- ‘Less Star Wars – more Blade Runner’: the making of Mass Effect 2’s Bafta-nominated soundtrackwww.theguardian.com ↗Submitted 2 weeks ago to games@lemmy.world | 2 comments
- Comment on Weekly Recommendations Thread: What are you playing? 2 weeks ago:
Great to hear! I struggled a bit with the first two Sky games but the Crossbell games completely blew me away. Azure’s one of my all-time favorites.
By the way, if you haven’t seen them, there is a major scene for Randy (along with Wazy and Rixia) if you select him for the final bonding event in Azure. Easy to miss stuff, should be findable on YouTube, etc.
- Comment on Thoughts on Final Fantasy VII Remake 2 weeks ago:
If it makes any difference, I don’t have major compulsions/FOMO to do open world content. I even regret doing as much of the Enemy Skill farming as I did. So it felt well and truly optional to me. I set most of it aside.
- Comment on Weekly Recommendations Thread: What are you playing? 2 weeks ago:
Thanks for bringing this up. I drift in and out of Rimworld every now and then and I just realized I never did pick up this DLC.
- Comment on Weekly Recommendations Thread: What are you playing? 2 weeks ago:
How’d you like Crossbell?
- Comment on Thoughts on Final Fantasy VII Remake 2 weeks ago:
I had major problems with Remake myself, mostly stemming from punishing encounter design and them padding out a 6+ hour section into a full game. The catwalk lights, the lab, and other stuff obliterated the pacing, and it was painfully obvious how much better the dungeon design based on the original content was when compared to the new stuff.
The good news is, in Rebirth, that 1:1 remake feeling is front and center if you want it, instead supplemented this time by optional content. I felt like I had much more room to put together materia builds, and it has one of the best video game soundtracks I’ve ever heard. I’d be over the moon if they did a version of Final Fantasy VI that felt like most of Rebirth did.
Except for the limit breaks. Why they didn’t give those full target tracking and allowed them to whiff is an outright bizarre design decision (along with the constant splitting of the party).
- Comment on Sid Meier's Civilization VII | Review Thread 3 weeks ago:
Had the same thought. Plus, according to some of these reviews, there’s no information age units, so that gives them a possible fourth era to work with in upcoming DLC.
- Comment on Sid Meier's Civilization VII | Review Thread 3 weeks ago:
Civ7 does indeed use Denuvo. Concerning for a game like this with far more CPU usage than your typical game.
For me, Civ6 at launch felt like a couple steps forward and a couple steps back. I really appreciated the increased transparency with diplomacy, but the AI was aggressively bad in mid and late-game, something they never ended up getting right.
- Comment on Sid Meier's Civilization VII | Review Thread 3 weeks ago:
Just like they wouldn’t the last time…and the time before that…and the time before that…
It’s not a thing at outlets like these. Paid promo from influencers and independent reviews are not the same thing.
- Comment on Weekly Recommendations Thread: What are you playing? 5 weeks ago:
Still thoroughly sucked into Pathfinder: Kingmaker. At least I’ve stopped poking around in side areas now, just focusing on advancing the main story. Also doing companion quests. This might be the longest game I’ve ever played? I think I still have at least two more full chapters to go.
- Comment on Can you see yourself cutting off by a generation of gaming? 1 month ago:
Seems I’m way too picky for that. I fell down an MMORPG rabbit hole for several years a while back and have spent the last several years catching up. Already starting to feel like I’ve played most everything from older gens I’m going to really like.
One thing I’ve noticed is I’m wishlisting way more upcoming games than before. There’s the occasional exception, but if I keep a rolling release schedule, I’ll generally still be playing new stuff well after release.
- Comment on Weekly Recommendations Thread: What are you playing this week? 1 month ago:
Only ones of those I tried were Pillars and Divinity (and its sequel). I found Pillars rather obtuse early on so I didn’t stick with it very long. I liked how fresh Divinity felt, having its own ruleset that was still simple to understand. Didn’t like how super strict the level differential was and the quantity of traps in the game was beyond sadistic. In hindsight, I don’t think that one was very good overall.
On the other hand, I thought D:OS 2 was incredible. It was still way more strict on XP than I’d like, but that’s the only thing I would have changed about the game. Looks like it came out just before Kingmaker did, so I’m not surprised it got buried. Larian’s just on another level, and Baldur’s Gate 3 ended up fixing that one issue I had (while elevating almost everything else at the same time).
I still am enjoying Kingmaker so much, though. Probably would have blown my mind if I’d played it before BG3, heh. Hoping for a little bit more character writing, but in any case, I’m really enjoying the battles.
- Comment on Weekly Recommendations Thread: What are you playing this week? 1 month ago:
Firewatch is such a great, bite-sized experience. Still think about it from time to time.
- Comment on Weekly Recommendations Thread: What are you playing this week? 1 month ago:
Started Pathfinder: Kingmaker and I got sucked into it big time. Just finished the prologue last night. Reviews for this were not great, so I don’t know if the game improved dramatically after release or if there are rough spots in the campaign coming up.
I guess it’s also possible its old-school feel contributed to some of that. I really do feel like I’m playing a fresher version of Baldur’s Gate 2, complete with unfortunate quirks.
- Comment on Could you imagine a Nintendo title being advertised like this today? (Conker's Bad Fur Day, 2001) 1 month ago:
This even being on a Nintendo system–subject to Nintendo’s review–was a major change. Nintendo of America was as puritanical as it came up through the 16-bit era. Something like this releasing on a Nintendo system was unconscionable as late as 1995.
- Comment on It's 2025 now, what are the games you'll be starting the year with? 1 month ago:
Yeah, my gaming experience lately has been a bit of tension between sticking it out and learning when to drop stuff.
I didn’t like the Trails series at first but the fourth and fifth games ended up being all-time favorites. This one’s not going to get to that point, but it’s also part of a larger series that could have a lot of fun gameplay to mess around with.
- Comment on It's 2025 now, what are the games you'll be starting the year with? 1 month ago:
Just started Disgaea 1. For whatever reason I’ve bounced off this game half a dozen times since first trying it all the way back at release, but I’ve more or less settled into a groove with it now.
Having a good time with it, though I’m wondering if I should pick up a manual or something somewhere. Kind of obtuse systems and details I’d normally be able to get out of the UI, but not here.
- Comment on What's the game you play when nothing else sounds good? 2 months ago:
I want a sequel to this so bad. Loved almost everything about it.
- Comment on What games did you complete in 2024? 2 months ago:
Some heavy hitters in the genre here!
Don’t know how the narrative took hold in some spaces that it’s skippable, but I’m glad you didn’t skip Sky the 3rd. Hopefully you did most of the doors, especially Star Doors 8 and 15. You’ll likely appreciate the game more as the series goes on, and after Zero, you probably are starting to see why.
I’m excited-by-proxy for your journey through Azure. Enjoy.
- Comment on What games did you complete in 2024? 2 months ago:
72% positive on Steam. I think it’s going to end up one of those silent majority games like Inquisition did (though it doesn’t look like it’s going to sell as well as DA:I).
- Comment on Weekly Recommendations Thread: What are you playing? 2 months ago:
Just picked up Radiant Historia the other day and it’s been a surprise. The soundtrack especially has been 10/10 so far, no notes. I really should play more games Shimomura’s scored.
- Comment on What games did you complete in 2024? 2 months ago:
I made posts here on some of the games I was patient on this year, so I’ll include links to those in-line here along with the rest of my list, in chronological order:
Control - I ended up grabbing–and devouring–Alan Wake 2 very soon after finishing this, mostly because one of my favorite singers ever resurfaced on the game’s soundtrack, to my complete astonishment. The setting and a few of the dialogues remain fresh in my mind, but the rest of Control ended up buried under AW2, which is saying something considering I don’t like survival horror.
Lost Odyssey - Interesting timing, as Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was announced just a few months after I finished Lost Odyssey, a clear source of inspiration. I hear a lot from JRPG fans that wish there were more games with adult cast members and mature narratives, and LO fits the bill. “Letters from a Weakling” is still utterly devastating.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 - Torna: The Golden Country - Mostly just more Xenoblade Chronicles 2, a new main character and some light changes to the battle system keep things fresh. Come for the soundtrack, stay for the emotional scenes. Despite being forced into hours of side quests, this was worth seeing through to the end.
Atelier Meruru - My favorite of the Arland trilogy, I was engaged by the alchemy and kingdom building throughout the game. Real fun sense of progression with city, world map, and music changes. Surprisingly touching scenes with returning characters.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (plus Future Redeemed) - A solid entry in a fan-favorite series I gave my thoughts on earlier, but what stands out in hindsight is how good the side quests were. A long time weakness of JRPGs, it’d be nice if the genre was spurred to step things up. The base game and Future Redeemed were sprinkled with enough Xenogears references to get my brain churning.
Atelier Ayesha - Ayesha changed the vibe in a dramatic way that I wasn’t entirely prepared for. Enjoyed that, the new cast, the story, and the soundtrack, not so much the gameplay. I’ve been proceeding through this series slightly faster than they get released, so maybe I’ll catch up some day.
Star Wars: Jedi Survivor - Plenty of spectacle and fun with lightsabers, yet all those hours spent running around are already fading from memory. The game’s focus on family and home still resonates with me in a way it wouldn’t have ten years ago.
Citizen Sleeper - Recent events have me turning this story over in my head a few times. I thought this had a strong anti-capitalist message, but I may have even underestimated it. This one’s earned a replay, and soon.
Ys IX: Monstrum Nox - I wouldn’t have made it through this game without the Ys brand, a series I grew up with. It did get better in the back half, but probably still not worth it. The city exploration did little for me and I never want to see a raid/Nox battle again. With the recent announcement of an “enhanced” version of Ys X, it’s going to be forever before I get to it. Monstrum Nox is going to be stuck in my craw for a while.
- Comment on Patient gamer badge of honor on the Steam Replay 2024 2 months ago:
That 15% number is reassuring. Huge majority of Steam users are patient gamers!