The Backlog Check-in Vol. 235: 7/2/22: Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series Edition

[Phaseknox]

Played: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, .hack//G.U. Last Recode

Finished: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: A Fated Encounter

Playing: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla

Added: ANNO: Mutationem

I finished the Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: A Fated Encounter DLC which was a short but sweet quest with Kassandra from Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, and I started playing the Siege of Paris DLC which seems good so far but I’m not sure if I’m going to stick with it since I’m kind of burned out on Assassin’s Creed Valhalla at this point.

I stopped playing .hack//G.U. Rebirth after 10 hours because it’s one of the most repetitive games that I’ve ever played before, and despite somewhat liking its anime story and characters I couldn’t deal with its bland, flat, maze-like corridor/room randomly generated dungeons anymore. The game basically consists of one small hub area, an arena battle stadium and randomly generated dungeons with only a few different looks to them that are repeated over and over again just with slightly different layouts. They start out kind of short which makes them tolerable for a while, but then they become really long and drag on. And the combat is basically just button mashing, so it doesn’t help make the boring dungeon crawling any more enjoyable. I like the concept, story and characters of the game, but it’s a shame that they’re all wasted on an extremely repetitive and unfun gameplay loop.

Games releasing this week
Apico
Arcadegeddon
Cursed Island
Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series
Let’s Play! Oink Games
Madison
Matchpoint: Tennis Championships
Overrogue
RuinsMagus
Rush Rally Origins
Witch Strandings
Yurukill: The Calumniation Games

[isthatallyougot]

I think I might start up The Good Life on Game Pass next. I'm in the mood for something off-beat, and SWERY knows how to do that. It's got mixed reviews, of course, but that's what you'd expect from the developer. (And not that I care about reviews anyway.)

[jfissel]

Finished: Nothing

Now Playing: Final Fantasy VII Remake

Added to Backlog: Nothing

Current Backlog: 39 games

Currently in chapter 9 in FF 7, it's still pretty good but mostly linear levels besides towns and some outdoor areas.

[Phaseknox]

I started playing ANNO: Mutationem, and I’m digging it. I was expecting it to primarily be a side scrolling action platformer, but it’s also a story driven adventure game with NPC interaction and slight exploration. The graphics are an appealing mix of 2D pixel art characters, and 3D polygon environments. The music and voice acting are really good, too. The story and characters are interesting, the graphics have a colorful anime style cyberpunk aesthetic and the hack ‘n slash/shooting combat is fun.

[isthatallyougot]

I started up The Good Life last night, and it's hitting me just right early on. It's got a fun and different presentation and narrative, and seems to have a pretty big and interesting world to explore with lots of strange characters to meet and things to do. It's too early to say if the first impression will last, but it has certainly got my attention.

[argyle]

Games added: Nothing

Last week (through today ): Finished R&C: A Rift Apart (plat'd) and FantaVision. Played some more of that puzzle game on the Xbox.

This week: Haven't 100% decided yet - might try out F.I.S.T.

Happy FantaVision Day!

fantavision.gif (2.23 MiB) Viewed 22434 times

[canedaddy]

So glad to see argyle's annual Fantavision reference



Played recently: Elden Ring

Finished: nothing

Added to backlog: nothing

Current backlog: 23 (22 PS4, 1 Vita)


My Elden Ring cycle continues.

1. Find myself with only one or two paths, all blocked by bosses I can't beat.
2. Look around (exploring and/or checking guides) to see if there's an area I missed.
3. There is! Go there and take care of business, leveling up and getting new items and equipment.
4. Find myself strong enough to beat those bosses and move to the next area.

I don't blame anybody for skipping Elden Ring. However, I'm a relatively unskilled old person with very little Souls experience, and I have made my way very deep into the game, and have enjoyed it very much. It's possible I won't finish it, but that won't tarnish the 100+ hours of fun I've had. Well, not too much anyway.

[isthatallyougot]

I don't blame anybody for skipping Elden Ring. However, I will not I'm a relatively unskilled old person with very little Souls experience, and I have made my way very deep into the game, and have enjoyed it very much. It's possible I won't finish it, but that won't tarnish the 100+ hours of fun I've had. Well, not too much anyway.

Souls difficulty has always been exaggerated to the point of becoming a meme. I'm not suggesting they're "easy" games necessarily, but they've always been more about patience, observation, persistence and learning systems and enemies over requiring you to be some kind of mechanical savant. I think the reputation stems from the average gamer being acclimated to different experiences found in the bulk of gaming that don't require such a methodical and consistent push against challenges. (Press X to win ) But, for me, the challenge is nicely balanced and it asks you to put in the work and meet opposition with some spirit, and it makes the rewards for pressing on feel really good. And of course when you layer on FROM's one-of-a-kind art and atmosphere, the whole experience is elevated to (for me) the top of gaming.

[argyle]

I don't blame anybody for skipping Elden Ring. However, I'm a relatively unskilled old person with very little Souls experience, and I have made my way very deep into the game, and have enjoyed it very much. It's possible I won't finish it, but that won't tarnish the 100+ hours of fun I've had. Well, not too much anyway.

You can do it! BTW, where are you in the game (you can be vague so no spoilerzzz ).

And I was telling Tam last night, why is it they can re-re-re-master TLoU but I can't get one lousy FantaVision remaster?

[canedaddy]

You can do it! BTW, where are you in the game (you can be vague so no spoilerzzz ).

I reached the mountaintops of the you-know-whos, but I was getting crushed so I went to the area with roots everywhere. That eventually led me to a fight with a fat fellow on a bridge.

And I was telling Tam last night, why is it they can re-re-re-master TLoU but I can't get one lousy FantaVision remaster?

For real!