The Backlog Check-in Vol. 246: 9/17/22: The DioField Chronicle/Return to Monkey Island Edition

[canedaddy]

The one thing that I can’t agree with you about is the combat, because I think that it’s great. It’s easily the best thing about the game IMO. I don’t know if you completed the demo, but before it’s over you can unlock some cool attack moves in the skill tree. I personally think that it’s a really fun third person action game, but I’m disappointed that it doesn’t really seem to incorporate any adventure or RPG elements which I was hoping for.

Maybe it's because I just finished Tails of Iron not long after Elden Ring, but to me the combat felt old-school clunky in a way I found off-putting. I didn't finish it... I wasn't finding any aspect of it appealing.

You’ve been a grumpy old man lately. I have no concerns with Grand Theft Auto VI, I really have no doubt that it’s going to be a great game. I even expect to like it more than GTAV because I expect to like the main characters and setting more. It’s my most anticipated game right now, and I hope that Rockstar releases an announcement trailer for it soon.

I am grumpy when it comes to Rockstar. I got very excited about the idea of getting a chance to play the old games with updated controls, but they just shat them out via a garbage studio using AI. Three of the greatest games of all time. That isn't a good sign about current R* leadership. The censorship of those games is also a bad sign.

[jfissel]

Also, question for the Yakuza people (crim and j)... How Long to Beat says Yakuza 6 is half as long as 5. Literally... 18.5 vs. 37. Is that right? If so, maybe I'll fire up that bad boy tonight.

Pretty sure that's accurate (for the story only) as 5 is incredibly long and, some might say, bloated. Go for it!

[crimson_tide]

Also, question for the Yakuza people (crim and j)... How Long to Beat says Yakuza 6 is half as long as 5. Literally... 18.5 vs. 37. Is that right? If so, maybe I'll fire up that bad boy tonight.

First, YES old man, fire up Yakuza 6 for ****'s sake, it's baller !

Second, Yakuza 6 goes back to being a Kazuma only affair. Makes sense they would say it's half as long as 5, it's got a tighter focus.

Third, j...5 is probably my de facto favorite. They let me finally fight a bear. And it has dance battles. And you can manage a baseball team and I don't even like baseball.

Fourth, and I can't stress this enough: HLTB is the worst source for RGG games. The only one that's remotely accurate is The Kaito Files and that's only because there is zero side content, it's straight story. They low ball and do strictly main story path. Nobody plays RGG games on the critical path. The entire point is to not do that . I think Yakuza 6 took me about 60 hours over the course of a literal year.

I also find it hilarious that Kazuma finished the fight before Kingdom Hearts even though Sora had a four year head start.

Oh and j, play the Kaito Files. It's everything I wanted Lost Judgment to be. You know...good .

[Phaseknox]

After playing so many indie and AA games lately I was starting to forget how good PS4 games can look, and then I started playing Shadow of the Tomb Raider today and thought that I was playing a PS5. The resolution, texture detail, lighting, character models and environments are all topnotch looking. I knew that the PS4 still had good graphics, and this game is poof of that.

Why the PS4 versions of Star Ocean: The Divine Force and Valkyrie Elysium look like PS3/Xbox 360 games I do not know, but there’s no excuse for it. I like both games based on their demos, but their graphics are somewhat blurry and washed out looking. Valkyrie Elysium still looks good enough to get it for PS4 when it’s cheap, but not Star Ocean: The Devine Force. It’s extremely low res, blurry and washed out looking and I don’t know why. It’s not a graphical powerhouse by any means, so I don’t get it. And speaking of not getting it, I won’t be getting it until I get a PS5 because the PS4 version looks like what I would expect the Switch version to look like. I expect better from Square Enix.

[canedaddy]

I fired up Yakuza 6 last night. Thanks for the nudge, j and crim. It's been two years since I finished Yakuza 0, and as it turns out I was really ready to roll out with Kazuma one last time. Stayed up much later than I should have playing the game and was rocked by a Haruka double whammy. Can't wait to get back to it tonight.

[crimson_tide]

Awesome old man, it's one of my favorite Yakuza...which doesn't really mean anything because I love them all so much . But there's some GREAT moments in that one! Plus, for once, the villains pose an actual threat to Kazuma because...well, you're going to see. They aren't quite the Reapers from The World Ends With You (my high water mark for gaming villainy) but they aren't to be trifled with and at bare minimum they know why they are there. Unlike 5's final boss who straight up says they have no idea why they are the final boss ...I ******* love Yakuza.

But I came here because I have a confession: in the vein of my utter disdain for Sonic Mania, why the hell was everyone on about Ghosts of Tsushima? It's pretty. That's it. It's pretty. Lots of games are pretty. The whole time I am playing it, I just want to go play Assassin's Creed Valhalla. It's just not that interesting of a game beyond being pretty. I played about 4 hours and it just keeps falling flat for me. Thoughts? I am completely willing to accept I am crazy but I just can't get into it.

Oh and bummer news: Valkyrie Profile Lenneth got pushed back to December 22! I was really looking forward to that for next week but it's not a huge delay and I can play it over Xmas break at least . Weird a simple port is delayed at all though...

I am about to get all up and through the end of the Kaito Files. That's some good stuff right there !

[Phaseknox]

why the hell was everyone on about Ghosts of Tsushima? It's pretty. That's it. It's pretty. Lots of games are pretty. The whole time I am playing it, I just want to go play Assassin's Creed Valhalla. It's just not that interesting of a game beyond being pretty. I played about 4 hours and it just keeps falling flat for me. Thoughts? I am completely willing to accept I am crazy but I just can't get into it.

You’re crazy. But in all seriousness, I don’t know why you’re not digging it unless you’re just not into ancient Japanese samurai and ninja stuff because I would think that anyone who is such as myself would really dig it which I did. It has a great story and cast of characters, a big beautiful open world and awesome gameplay/combat where you can be aggressive or stealthy depending on the situation. It’s one of my favorite third person open world action adventure games, and I don’t know why it’s not appealing to you.

[canedaddy]

why the hell was everyone on about Ghosts of Tsushima? It's pretty. That's it. It's pretty. Lots of games are pretty. The whole time I am playing it, I just want to go play Assassin's Creed Valhalla. It's just not that interesting of a game beyond being pretty. I played about 4 hours and it just keeps falling flat for me. Thoughts? I am completely willing to accept I am crazy but I just can't get into it.

Huh. Maybe it's mood/timing... or maybe you just have pockets of bad taste. I loved everything about that game... world, characters, story, gameplay, music, the whole deal. My No. 2 of the PS4 generation behind RDR2. Just thinking of those straw hat fights gets me tingly.

[Phaseknox]

I loved everything about that game... world, characters, story, gameplay, music, the whole deal. My No. 2 of the PS4 generation behind RDR2.

Yeah, I don’t think that there’s anything that I dislike about the game. It’s my second favorite last gen game as well behind Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. Crim is definitely the odd man out here when it comes to this game just like argyle is with Uncharted: The Lost Legacy.

[jfissel]

Third, j...5 is probably my de facto favorite. They let me finally fight a bear. And it has dance battles. And you can manage a baseball team and I don't even like baseball.

Oh and j, play the Kaito Files. It's everything I wanted Lost Judgment to be. You know...good .

If the DLC goes on sale, I may grab it. And yes, 5 had some cool new stuff for sure.

I also enjoyed Ghost of Tsushima immensely. Cmon, sequel.