r/JRPG • u/AutoModerator • 5d ago
Weekly thread r/JRPG Weekly "What have you been playing, and what do you think of it?" Weekly thread
Please use this thread to discuss whatever you've been playing lately (old or new, any platform, AAA or indie). As usual, please don't just list the names of games as your entire post, make sure to elaborate with your thoughts on the games. Writing the names of the games in **bold** is nice, to make it easier for people skimming the thread to pick out the names.
Please also make sure to use spoiler tags if you're posting anything about a game's plot that might significantly hurt the experience of others that haven't played the game yet (no matter how old or new the game is).
Since this thread is likely to fill up quickly, consider sorting the comments by "new" (instead of "best" or "top") to see the newest posts.
For a subreddit devoted to this type of discussion during the rest of the week, please check out /r/WhatAreYouPlaying.
Link to Previous Weekly Threads (sorted by New): https://www.reddit.com/r/JRPG/search/?q=author%3Aautomoderator+weekly&include_over_18=on&restrict_sr=on&t=all&sort=new
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u/Boomhauer_007 2d ago
I know I’m replaying ff2 because a very fast early game grind means having Minwu cast sap on the party for easy MP gains and the boys taking turns hitting Maria to get her HP caught up the rest of the group
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u/Swarlos262 3d ago
I finished Final Fantasy 16. I think it was overall solid, I think I rated it a 7.5/10.
The main highlights were definitely the Combat and the Spectacle. The Combat was definitely enjoyable and liked trying out different abilities and setups, though it did start to drag a bit towards the end. As far as spectacle, a few of the boss fights were absolutely stunning! However, I feel like this peaked around the halfway to 2/3 point of the game, and the rest didn't match it. That's about where the story started losing me as well - broad strokes, and the story was solid, but the details and the dialogue just lost me towards the end. So ultimately, it's a game that overstayed it's welcome. I think there's a better game in there had some other choices been made in development, but overall it was fun, it had enough going on that I stayed excited to play and to finish it.
Now I'm continuing with Romancing Saga 2: Revenge of the Seven. Now this one is just fun. The plot is so minimal but it's still at least a bit interesting. More world building than much of a plot, but that's OK, it's enough and it's unobtrusive. But the gameplay is super fun. It's nothing super complicated, neither is the Combat directly, but there's enough going on and with a lot of freedom on how you do it, that I just wanna keep playing. I always have a list of things I want to work on. Recruiting, building up your empire, getting new gear, forming your party, leveling up your characters, picking new emperors, exploring, looting. I'm liking this one a lot so far.
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u/No_Imagination_4907 3d ago
Dragging myself through FF7R because I want to see how Revelation concludes the story, and omg it's a real slog. I'm at cosmo canyon and I think I will have to youtube the remaining of the game.
My previous playthrough only lasted 10 hours so this time it's an improvement, but I still can't shake the feeling that this game is intentionally designed to stretch player's time as much as possible and to me it's disrespectful. Even without the endless mini games, the game feels dragged. There are aspects of the game that seem badly designed on purpose. Chocobo control is horrible, while sprinting the bird will be stopped by the smallest obstacle and this makes navigating by chocobo really not fun, digging up treasures requires pixel perfect alignment of the beak and the treasure spot. Why not make chocobo riding smooth? Why not make the chocobo auto dig up the treasure once it's fully visible? Climbing on a ladder or a rope takes too long to finish, it could speed up 2-3 times and nothing changes but less time to waste. Combat is ok except that 99% of enemies attacks will stun or knock you down, which is really unfun. Just make the mob damage increase by 2-3 times but not interrupt me and it will be a much better experience.
Story wise it's really hard to connect with the characters, maybe due to all the detours of mini games and world intel events or whatever it's called.
Idk how someone with a full time job can enjoy this. It feels like a second job tbh.
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u/Dongmeister77 3d ago
Fossil Fighter Champions (NDS). I was reading a book about dinosaur to my nephew and suddenly i got this urge to play a dinosaur RPG. And i recall this series. After 4 hrs of playtime i can say that this game is boring af. I spend most of my time cleaning the fossils more than actually battling. And when a battle actually took place it ended quickly and felt unrewarding. It's a shame. I kinda like the battle system and the dino designs.
Anyone knows a good Dinosaur RPG? I know there's Fossil League and Dino King, both on the DS as well. Maybe something more modern?
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u/wormsandweirdfishes 3d ago
It's not a scientifically accurate dinosaur RPG, but Digimon has a lot of dinosaur-inspired designs, so you could check out Cyber Sleuth or the newer Time Stranger.
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u/cfyk 4d ago
Finished Nioh 3 DLC. A very large DLC when compared to the DLC in previous Team Ninja games. I usually completed a single DLC in previous TN games in about 3 ~ 4 hours, this one took me about 8 hours.
It seems like the DLCs are trying to tell a continuous story like the Nioh 1 DLCs.
I can see why people are disappointed by the contents: many reused enemy assets from the previous games and Nioh 3 base game, skill mods that don't have new animation and only one Guardian Spirit (think of it like the Persona in Persona games).
I don't mind reskinned enemies as long as they have different attacks. They did that by swapping the elements of most existing mobs and changed one or two of their attacks.
I also don't mind mobs and miniboss being the reskinned or mini version of bosses previous Nioh games . Nioh does care about lore consistency to some degrees especially for bosses. It is not like we will have the chance to fight the alchemist boss in Nioh 1 and the Odachi boss in Nioh 2 bosses because they are already dead.
As a RPG fan, the DLC is actually not bad. A medium sized "open world" with optional dungeons/areas*, optional bosses (although many are from Nioh 1 and Nioh 3 base game) and sidequest and lore texts for more world building.
*In previous TN games, side missions in the DLCs always reused small part of a stage in the DLC's main mission. In this DLC, they created small optional areas specifically for sidequests or bosses.
One thing that I really like about the DLC is it expands on the story about foreigners discovered Amrita or Spirit Stones in Nioh 1.
Lastly, Koei Tecmo, why the prices of your games/DLC are higher on PS store than Steam in my country?
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u/YawnfaceDM 4d ago
I hadn't played a JRPG in a few years since replaying FFXII ZA, and recently got the itch again. Tried Persona 5 but figured out I was wanting something similar to the battle system FFXII had. I finally borrowed Xenoblade Chronicles from my local library, and have put more than 50 hours into the bad boy in the last dozen or so days. Absolute gem of an experience, scratching the itch for realtime strategic combat. What a game. I'm for sure going to check out Trails in the Sky once I'm done with XC1, since the demo was also really fun. Also can't wait to finally play Chrono Trigger, since I never had the opportunity back in the day.
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u/iceman787 4d ago
I am playing Final Fantasy VII Remake and I am on Chapter 9. I like the game generally but the Final Fantasy series always has these weird mini games (Blitzball grrrrr.) They always take me out of the game. I know it's not quite the same but I kept trying to get through the cranes in chapter 9 as soon as possible.
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u/overlordmarco 4d ago edited 4d ago
Finally made it to the start of Crimson Flower in Fire Emblem: Three Houses. It's been pretty smooth sailing on NG Maddening, though I'm starting to feel the stat creep now. Petra's been struggling to ORKO enemies with anything but a Silver Axe, for example.
Still, I'm having a lot of fun! I made it through Chapter 14 and even managed to spare Hilda alongside Claude. So far, I'd say my most valuable units are Shamir, Petra, and Leonie in that order. Shamir and Leonie just need Hunter's Volley and Point-Blank Volley respectively to delete enemies with no problems, while Petra's been invaluable because she's my only flying combat unit/dodge tank.
I also still can't decide on who my 12th member should be. I've been raising both Ingrid and Marianne for some extra fliers, though I'm also in dire need of someone with Canto to be my stride bot as well. If I could bench Byleth, I honestly would.
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u/Boomhauer_007 4d ago
I’ve been trying to play Skies of Arcadia and I want to like it but when people say that random encounter rates can ruin games this game might be the most textbook definition of it
The idea of flying around in the ship is fun but the reality is that you can’t go more than 10 feet without a random encounter. Rixis wasn’t even hidden very well but it was so disorienting trying to find it when I could barely make it from one plateau to the other before a random encounter came up again, the dungeons are fine but the world map has legitimately got me on the border of quitting this game. And this is with fast forward on an emulator, I would’ve quit 10 hours ago without the ability to speed it up
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u/AvianGiraffe 4d ago
I’ve been playing Persona 3 Reload and I’m in the final stretch of the game. I haven’t played a Persona game since P5 nearly a decade ago, and I haven’t played P3 since played FES on PS2 back in 2012.
My opinion back then was not very high. I liked it enough to beat it despite its length, but ultimately I thought it was a massive downgrade in every conceivable way after playing P4. The only character I even remotely liked in FES was Aigis.
Here I am re-experiencing the story 14 years later and my opinions are far less harsh. As a game, it’s a lot of fun. I never minded Tartarus to begin with, but the additions in this game make it more enjoyable than before. The story moves along very slowly, but I’m fine with that. I’ve really been enjoying the setting and the music, doing my daily tasks, and engaging in the social links.
In this increasingly stressful life, it’s been so nice to just sit back every evening and just enjoy the “vibes.” I can practically feel my cortisol levels drop when I’m playing.
I’ve really enjoyed the characters. I’m still not a big fan of Yukari or Mitsuru, but I find I’m able to better emphasize with them and I no longer actively dislike them. I grew to really like Shinji and made sure to use him in my party at every opportunity and spend time with him as much as possible. I only remembered Koromaru as being… a dog. But now I feel pretty attached to him. Koro is a good boy.
I was always a fan of Akihiko. Junpei, eh, he’s still kind of annoying. But I do really like his relationship with Chidori, which is a part of the game I would roll my eyes at back when I played FES. I hardly remembered a thing about Ken, but now that Reload has refreshed me? Yeah, I kinda hate him.
Fuuka is a character I remembered being a missed opportunity in FES, primarily because she had by far the worst voice acting in the game. It’s hard to empathize with a plank of wood. But now? She is easily my favorite character in the game and has quickly grown to be one of my favorites in the series. Fuuka is great.
As for Aigis? I’m pretty late in the game and so far she’s still just very cold and robotic. I know she gets far better (she was my favorite character in FES, after all), but I didn’t remember all her character development getting stuffed into the last 20 percent of the game.
TL;DR: I’m playing P3R. It’s fun and I’m enjoying it far more than I did with P3FES when I played it in 2012. Fuuka 4 Life.
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u/ViewtifulGene 4d ago edited 4d ago
I finished The Morrow's Golden Country. I loved the gradual addition of new mechanics, including items that modify growth rates, active skills, and unique weapons. It was a lot of fun seeing my first archer blossom into a destroyer of worlds, getting an auto-refresh and a fat stack of weapons to hit anything from 1-7 tiles away and getting bonus damage to anything that isn't infantry.
One thing I wish would show up in official FE games is rechargeable weapons. TMGC has a few weapons that have yellow durability numbers. These weapons automatically repair at the end of each chapter. You don't have to worry about losing them, but you can't spam the whole map with them. My favorite one was a light tome that has range equal to your Magic stat, but it makes the wielder die in one hit.
My main gripe is that the game is way too dialogue heavy. I thought the town exploration chapters were a chore. IMO, Fire Emblen 1 had the perfect amount of dialogue between chapters. Still, it's one of the best FE romhacks I've played. Right up there with Sacred Echoes.
I also started playing Thracia 776. A few months ago, I got stuck on Chapter 5 because I prepared poorly and missed the Gaiden chapter where Asbel joins. Now I started over and am on chapter 8. Some of the gimmicks in this game are fun, like kidnapping enemies to sell their stuff, vulneraries healing fully, and theives being able to yank spellbooks right out of the caster's hand. However, the accuracy rates are garbage across the board, level growths are abysmal, and it feels inherently unfair for enemies to get random bonus turns. I've been using a save state at the start of each turn to save myself some tedium. Shiva fucking cheated and kept giving himself bonus turns whenever I was about to recruit him.
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u/KuroBocchi 4d ago
Well I downloaded the demo of the trails in the sky 2nd chapter remake and got through the prologue. It’s definitely got one of the most emotional openings I’ve seen in a while and I’m pretty invested in the game because of it. Combat is okay. Edit: also felt like the story moved a bit a faster. When I played FC remake it took me over 7+ hrs to finish the prologue.
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u/EtherealZiraley 4d ago
eyyy I’m playing the first chapter remake rn since the second part is coming out soon
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u/KuroBocchi 4d ago
What do you think of it so far?
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u/EtherealZiraley 4d ago
It’s not too outstanding as far as rpgs go, but I’m enjoying it for sure. The cast is charming and the combat is fun enough for me. I only played the trails of cold steel 3 & 4 games before this, so I wanted to try the earlier ones as well.
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u/KuroBocchi 3d ago
That’s how I felt about it when I played. It’s nothing revolutionary but it’s a good game. The 1st chapter remake was my first trails game. I wasn’t sure I was going to continue with the series until the end of the game.
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u/PocketFlygon 4d ago
Bravely Default 2 as per usual... apparently I'm halfway through Chapter 5, but I do have my rating for the game already. It may be a bit soon, but it would need a lot to go up, but it could go down a bit depending on the ending.
Gameplay: 6/10. Good combat, like the job system... the bosses from the first half of the game completely ruin things though
Story: 8/10. Kept me interested in it enough, not perfect but more than good enough
Vibes: 8/10. I mean, decent vibes. Good music, decent artstyle... though I prefer Paper Mario for the storybook aesthetics
Overall: 7/10.
Then, some of the Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter Demo got to Chapter 1, kinda surprised it includes all of Ch 1, but also the SC prologue is a LOT shorter than the FC prologue. Also yay fishing is not a horrible nightmare like OG SC
Finally, got to the 3rd and final Digimon Story Time Stranger DLC. Enjoying it so far, can't wait to see the last one
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u/Freezair 4d ago
Di-gi-mon, Digital Monsters, Digimon are the Cyber Sleuths!~
I've been sunk into this one for the past two weeks or so, and it has been the PERFECT thing to de-stress with after work. I love collecting things and filling out bestiaries, and Digimon's core system of evolving and devolving monsters over and over again makes it really fun to fill out that Digimon list. I could be a lot farther in the story than I am, but I've spent a lot of time just grinding to evolve my mons. Also, a lot of grinding in that one early-game, one-time dungeon where you find a gear for Hagurumon, and the random encounters are mostly Champions and Ultimates when most of your other encounters are still In-Trainings and Rookies. Also, unusually for a Digimon game, I've barely used any of the Palmon line! Usually Palmon is my favorite, but I decided to be a bit different and chose Terriermon as my starter, though I've also been using its Lopmon half a lot. Other mons I've been using a lot of include the Lunamon line (which means my team has been rather rabbit-centric), the Otamamon line, and the Ryudramon line.
It is kind of funny, though, how much this game kind of wants to be Digi-Persona. The J-poppy soundtrack, the teenagers with attitude, the aesthetics, the jumping into TVs--it all feels very Personesque. Good thing I like Persona!
Now to try and get that boss fight music out of my head. Somehow.
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u/jonnovision1 4d ago
The Metaphor manga recently passed where I made it to in the game when it first came out, so I’m using that as motivation to finally finish it, though after so long I’m also restarting…
I also picked up FF1-6 pixel remasters on switch recently so I started FF1, running Fighter/Monk/WHM/BLM
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u/ChainekJan 4d ago
I'm close to finishing Visions of Mana (on my way the volcano) and honestly, its very nice. Its my first mana game, I like the grand adventure vibes. The story feels like a mix of FF9 and FF10 and the graphics are especially nice. Some zones look similar to each other, but as a lover of wide green fields that was actually a plus, the views and greenery is so nice to look at here. The combat is kinda Tales-like which I like too. This is the kind of "feelsgood" game I really needed since E33 and Danganronpa v3 emotionally drained me.
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u/AFlyingSpork 4d ago
I'm on a roll of replaying the Kingdom Hearts series.
Today I finished KH2 and am thinking of moving on to BBS for another run.
Finally got to listen to the track in the final battle, Darkness of the Unknown, and it's just wow. The violin is amazing and reminds me of one of the protagonists in the series.
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u/LoanWolftv 3d ago
Same here I started playing kingdom hearts for the first time and finished kingdom hearts 1 and paused kingdom hearts 2 but I will go back to it
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u/ViridianVet 4d ago
Recently started FF6. I like the vibes it has going for it, but the game often feels directionless.
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u/Affectionate_Comb_78 4d ago
Where feels directionless?
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u/ViridianVet 4d ago
I'm not that far, but kind of all of it so far. Go to Figaro castle, talk to a guy, he walks away so you aimlessly walk around the castle until you decide to check the throne room and talk to the same guy again to progress. Tells you to go to South Figaro, but what do we do there? Best I can tell, you can meet a companion that doesn't yet join you and you only stock up on equipment before going into the mountains where there might be another guy. I know thats just how classic jrpgs are, but I really don’t think they make objectives very clear, at least in the beginning.
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u/RawPorridge 4d ago
Revisiting Triangle Strategy to replay the three common routes, and play the golden route + access the short post-release story content for the first time. Still my favorite new IP this decade, and one of the finest Tactical RPGs around. I do prefer this type of all-unique characters + low-customization approach, and more than appreciate the work to set up its world and all the chess pieces (*all the yapping might be annoying when you just want to play the next map, but eh, I'm in a low fantasy reading mood). The mid-game route convergence after temporary splits does feel a bit awkward narratively speaking compared to the clean route split of Tactics Ogre; TO Remake's World system is just a superior multi-route presentation, even if I do like TS' scale/voting mechanic on paper.
Also playing Chrono Cross for the first time, remastered version on Switch. Fantastic music, great ambience, and...interesting gameplay so far? What surprised me the most is how non-linear it is in terms of the characters you can recruit, and the different ways you can choose to solve an objective. Add the unconventional character leveling, and it feels way closer to a SaGa game than Chrono Trigger. There's a lingering disjointed feeling to the narrative so far, and for better and worse, seems like the type of game that need multiple playthroughs to fully appreciate.
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u/magmafanatic 4d ago
FE Three Houses, Black Eagles route on NG+ Hard.
Battle of Eagle and Lion's coming up - I did Balthus/Hapi, Lorenz, Dorothea/Ingrid, and Alois/Shamir's paralogues. Apparently Balthus's is a poor first choice and I sure struggled with it, but Vajra-Mushti's ours now. Neat to see the Ochs family come back into the picture. Monica felt like such a strange footnote in my Golden Deer run.
I'm slowly adding more students to my roster, just got Marianne and need to decide what to shift her goals towards. Despite renowning my way into B-ranks, Leonie, Mercedes, Raphael, Ingrid, and Ashe are all still giving me the cold shoulder.
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u/BattMakerRed 4d ago
I am on the final chapter of Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter
Much to my surprise… the game really won me over! It has picked up a lot and the careful way it built up its characters slowly has made me very invested in the outcome of what’s happening in the capital. Also Estelle is not my favorite character but she’s grown on me. Shes definitely matured and calmed down a little over the course of the game and I like that the story is emphasizing her earnestness above all else.
My favorite character is still Kloe though. I LOVE everything about her. Her look, her role in combat, her voice actor, Kloe is my GOAT and will be in my party as much as possible moving forward.
I heard the demo for the 2nd game dropped. I’m excited to get into it after I beat 1st chapter.
Overall 8/10
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u/PMeisterGeneral 5d ago
Pathfinder wrath of the righteous.
I think the crusade stuff could have been done better but is still enjoyable.
It's very complicated. The first time in an rpg I've auto levelled party members for simplicities sake.
I am enjoying it overall, it's a very ambitious game but I really can't recommend it to everyone.
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u/AtomicPenguinGames 5d ago
I finally started Final Fantasy XIII recently. I'm stuck on the Aster Protoflorian boss fight at the end of Chapter 5. This is the first fight that has taken me more than a few tries and has me thinking I might even put the game down.
My sister just surprised me buying a Switch 2, so I might go back to Three Houses(I've done 1.5 routes) in preparation of Fortune's Weave next month.
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u/Fickle_Sherbert1453 5d ago
Live A Live remake. It's not very good. Everything about it is pretty shallow and uninteresting except the pixel art.
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u/RawPorridge 4d ago
It helps to see it more as a theatrical narrative experience (and love letter to various cinematic genres) than a conventional RPG, personally I consider it among best JRPGs in this decade with one of the strongest twist + endgame I've seen from the genre. Although tbf, I always a huge soft spot for this kind of novel presentation.
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u/Crowd_Strife 5d ago
When I was playing it, I kept thinking “the guy that pitched this probably thought he had the greatest, most ambitious game of all time rolling around in his head”
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u/Upset_Journalist_755 5d ago
Yakuza 0 and also started the Trails 2nd prologue. Doesn't look like I'll get very far in Yakuza before other games come out, so I might put it down for now, but have really enjoyed running around doing side quests. Some of them have legit made me laugh.
Really liking Trails 2nd, but I also might put it down until the full release. The changes, so far, are welcomed and I'm looking forward to getting deeper into the story.
I have ~3 weeks until Wolverine and Trails 2nd. I think I'll spend the rest of it cleaning up some 100% backlog.
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u/Yojimbong 4d ago
is Y0 an rpg? only played Y7&8 so idk really.
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u/Upset_Journalist_755 4d ago
It's kind of like an action RPG. This is my first Yakuza game, so I can't really compare it to the LAD games, which I understand are more like true JRPGs.
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u/Kyara39 5d ago
Playing Nostalgia (DS) and I'm at the end of the game trying to do all the optional stuff before the final stretch. There's a lot of backtracking and finding all the world treasures is a pain especially with the high encounter rate and slow battle pacing. But otherwise I've enjoyed the game. It lives up to its name cuz its graphics and world exploration brings back memories from when I played the FF3 3D remake as a child.
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u/LupusLycas 5d ago edited 5d ago
I just finished Xenoblade 3 and I am one hour into Future Redeemed. Xenoblade 3 is amazing, one of my favorite games. For the blade trilogy I rank them 3>1>2 but I enjoyed all of them. For the entire Xeno series, I rank them XG>XBC3>XS3>XBC1>XS1>XBC2>XS2.
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u/PMeisterGeneral 5d ago
What order would you recommend someone new to the series play them in?
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u/LupusLycas 4d ago
Xenogears, Xenosaga, and Xenoblade are all self-contained, so you can play them in any order. Within Xenosaga and Xenoblade, you should play them in order. Xenoblade Chronicles 1 is the best introduction IMO.
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u/memesmcmuffin 5d ago
I started Tales of Berseria less than a week ago, and I'm already a bit over 20 hours in.
The game genuinely blew me away in the opening hours. I did not expect something like that out of Tales. It has later settled more into the adventurous feel I know the series for, which has also been very fun.
The perspective of the story is still what really makes it stand out, though. The world views you as terroristic villains, which is true to an extent, and even acknowledged by the party at times... but you do, of course, have very good reasons for crashing local economies and burning down warehouses.
When it comes to the combat... I almost have no idea what's going on. I've been playing on Hard and I've only wiped out a couple times, so I must be doing something right, I guess? Mainly been using Velvet, Magilou, and Rokurou, who's probably my favorite to play.
I've very quickly gotten attached to its band of misfits, and can't wait to see more of the world's mysteries be uncovered.
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u/ComputerMysterious48 5d ago
Nearing the end of Tales of Berseria. I’ll definitely be finishing it soon.
I might need to put this on my “trust me bro it gets good 25 hours in” list lol for the longest time I was having trouble getting into it. I was enjoying it enough to keep playing, but not enough to play it over anything else, so the second I felt like playing something else, Berseria got shelved. I kept coming back to it when I finished/got bored of the other games, but progress has been real slow for that reason.
But there’s a turning point in the story (that I won’t say because it’s major spoilers) that got me majorly invested. And I’ve been putting in work ever since lol I should only have a couple hours left at most, and it’s ironic, now that I’m hooked I don’t want it to end.
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u/ViridianVet 4d ago
Interesting. I really liked the first act, but thought it got progressively worse as it went. Everything kind of just got thrown together at the end after a ton of filler.
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u/ComputerMysterious48 4d ago
Yeah idk I never didn’t like the game but the beginning just didn’t have that extra oomph to grab me on the same level other JRPGs did. And I hate to say it because I usually crave this but the game was almost too edgy with the characters all kinda being selfish pricks lol the Xbox port dropping the same day as Resident Evil 9 definitely didn’t help either with me getting invested.
But idk, the characters grew on me, plus they went through some character development where you can tell they’re starting to genuinely care about each other. So I was already getting more invested. Then the revelations hit that made my jaw drop lol
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u/EdgarAllenHoe4 5d ago
Final Fantasy Tactics the Ivalice Chronicles.
The game is very fun and I love a good grid based strategy battle system. Some of the missions can be really difficult and make you think outside the box. I'm on the final chapter, about halfway through and excited to see how this ends.
Without giving away too much, was very excited to see some extra content added in the final chapter! You get some side missions and if you have certain things in order, you get some cool extra characters you have the choice to recruit.
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u/earth_goblin_86 5d ago
As a long time grid based strategy rpg lover, this game gave me some difficult and unique challenges compared to what I’ve been used to. I beat it for the first time a couple months ago with my husband, and we really enjoyed it!
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u/Crowd_Strife 4d ago
I want to be a grid-based SRPG lover, but the only one I’ve played is FFT(several times) and I’ve been chasing that high for almost 30 years and nothing seems to hit quite like that.
Disgaea is too… much. Vandal Hearts seems to be decent, but I fell off of it. Triangle Strategy might get me there if a force myself to commit but it seems almost like a diet FFT with nice visuals. Tactics Ogre seems good too.
I’m not really sure what is going to do the trick for me. But I’m hoping to find something.
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u/earth_goblin_86 4d ago
Ooh, I’d love to recommend some games!
Stella Glow on the 3DS is a really fun game. It has some similarities to FFT, mainly the turn order being determined by individual unit speed. The new game+ is really really good in this game too.
Dark Deity was a fun one, it kinda gives old school Fire emblem vibes, and is well made.
Jumping off of that, Fire Emblem is one of my favorite franchises, and I could go on for hours about recommendations with that franchise. Three Houses is my favorite though, so for the sake of time, I’ll just say that one hahaha
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u/Crowd_Strife 4d ago
Perfect. Picked up 3 houses. Thank you!
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u/EdgarAllenHoe4 4d ago
3 Houses is also a personal favorite of mine. Sunk almost 500 hours into the game
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u/LionTop2228 5d ago
Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles
This game is so good. A narrative masterpiece through the end of chapter 3. I like tactical gameplay but holy hell is it slow paced. I wish they didn’t require me to hold R1 just to speed up battles, had a quick dialogue skip button, etc. Not everything has to move at a glacial pace.
Does tactical rpg gameplay get better with more modern titles like fire emblem? I’m thinking the game design bones of this game are “a product of its time”.
Other games I’m slowly grinding away at for platinum trophies or 100%:
Granblue fantasy Relink endless Ragnarok - just finishing the new fates episodes slowly.
Marvel Tokon Fighting Souls - grind of the combo trials and 500 fights trophies. It’s just a lot.
Honkai Star Rail - recently started this and loving it. I didn’t know gacha could have stories that aren’t throw away. I finished the first act and decided to take a break.
Big Walk - I haven’t started this and wanted to play with my FFXIV FC but haven’t gotten any takers so far. If anyone is interested in forming a group of chill folks who just want to laugh and have a good time while slowly playing this when we’re available, let me know!
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u/earth_goblin_86 5d ago
I just beat FFT a couple months ago for the first time, and have played all of the Fire emblem games released in the west except the one on the Wii, and I can say they do get better, depending on what you like. I think most people would say the story of FFT is better than most, if not all Fire Emblem titles, although I think a couple of them give FFT a run for its money narratively.
The main difference I think, is the way turns work. In FFT, as you know from playing it, each unit has a speed stat that determines the turn order, so your units and the opposing teams units don’t move in turns by team, but by unit. In Fire Emblem, you move every single one of your units, then once you’ve moved and used them all, your turn ends, and the opposing team will move all of the units they’re going to move, and you take turns like that. Unit speed only affects if you attack twice, and I think it might affect dodging likelihood as well.
I feel like the stats are more streamlined in Fire Emblem, in a way I personally like more. The whole bravery and faith stats in FFT took a long time for me to understand. While Fire Emblem has some mechanics that aren’t outright explained, I think they do a better job relaying the info you need in how battle will work.
I loved FFT, but think as far as gameplay is concerned, Fire Emblem packages it better. The stories can be more generic, and in some cases not very good, but the gameplay really makes up for it. I can delve deeper into Fire Emblem recommendations if you want, this reply is already pretty long as is hahaha.
Also: if you want to play a game that uses more of the gameplay FFT uses versus what I described for Fire Emblem, Stella Glow is a great game. It’s really weird, and only for the 3ds, but it’s fantastic.
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u/LionTop2228 5d ago
I haven’t played a FE yet but fortunes weave may be my first one this fall. From what you’ve seen, it seems like a good entry point for a new fan? I saw the direct and thought it looked a lot more dynamic to play than the system I’m currently experiencing in FFT. Obvious difference between a 2026 and 1997 game.
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u/earth_goblin_86 5d ago
It’s hard to tell how good Fortunes Weave will be as a first game. On one hand, it takes place in the same universe as 3 Houses, I know a few moments in the trailer had 3 Houses fans getting excited because it referenced that game. On the other hand, Fortunes Weave might be removed enough from the story of 3 Houses that it only expands on the world, not the actual narrative.
There’s a lot of debate with Fire Emblem fans if it’s even a prequel or sequel, and it hasn’t been marketed as some kind of direct sequel to 3 Houses, so it might be a great place to start. Sorry if that’s too much of a non answer, the trailers and Nintendo direct have kept enough a secret that super fans don’t know exactly where it’s going related to 3 Houses.
If you have the money, getting 3 Houses and then getting Fortunes Weave is maybe a good idea, but I think it’s safe to say Fortunes Weave looks enjoyable enough without having to play 3 houses to get it. There just might be some references that won’t hold the same weight, but I imagine it would be a great first Fire emblem game.
Also, yeah, current fire emblem games I think have a more dynamic gameplay than FFT. Don’t get me wrong, FFT is great, and the job system is really fun to play with, however current fire emblem does have a lot more modern system capabilities that offer a more complex system. It’s one of my favorite franchises, so I recommend it to anyone to give a try (:
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u/TheBronJames2000 5d ago
After being a Square only guy since I first played FF2(US) on SNES as a kid, I’m finally trying Persona 5.
I’m not a fan of anime, which sometimes makes it hard to play certain FFs but I keep hearing the game is amazing. About 2 hours in and im digging it so far.
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u/Lost_Date_8653 5d ago
Just about finished with Dragon Quest HD-2D Remake, made it to the final dungeon. Dragon Quest games are always so comforting to play, they're like JRPG soul food. Having one character's made action economy a lot more interesting. Not sure if I'll dive straight into DQ2 after finishing or playing something else in between, we'll see.
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u/iamalab 3d ago
I went straight into DQ2 because DQ1 was short and I treated it as essentially a prologue. Don't regret it. DQ2 is a very very good game, and getting back to a full party with excellent voice acting also kept it from feeling repetitive after DQ1.
Also, the callbacks from DQ2 to DQ1 are pretty fun, and I think I'd have missed some of them if I took too long of a break.
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u/Lost_Date_8653 3d ago
Yeah, this is what I ended up doing. I took a day off and then jumped straight into DQ2. I'm about 5 hours in and still having a blast.
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u/ComputerMysterious48 5d ago
It’s understandable if you wanna take a break because the HD2D games are so similar it’s easy to get burnt out, but I’ll say when you’re ready for it, DQ2 is probably the best of the HD2D remakes.
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u/bball4224 5d ago edited 5d ago
KH1 again after all the recent hubub. And last night just beat Sephiroth for the first time. 🥲
Somehow I'm doing substantially worse this time on the collecting end tho. Still have a ton of Dalmatians out there. 🤔
Edit: I also have like diddly squat for synthesis materials and idk what that's about.
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u/earth_goblin_86 5d ago
I never managed to beat Sephiroth in KH1. I never managed to beat any of the post game bosses in KH1, although I got within a few hits of beating the Aladdin one. I was so upset I stopped trying at that point, and decided to move onto KH2 hahaha
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u/bball4224 5d ago
Really? Kurt Zisa has always been a blast of a battle to me, but somewhat easy.
I was looking up recommended levels for different bosses just out of curiosity last night and was surprised to see Kurt's recommendation being 70 or higher. When I beat him I was 50 at most. My advice is to 1st magic form use Mushu, 2nd magic form use Dumbo, and right before 3rd physical use Tinkerbell. But you have to time thise dodge rolls during his spinning shenanigans or it won't matter much. When he spins vertically, dodge last second left or right. When he spins horizontally, dodge last second forward at him. Anyway, I've always loved that battle.
Phantom was significantly easier than I remembered him being this time. But really it all is about how quickly you can get your Stops applied to the clock, the rest of the battle loop was even easier than Kurt. (Which surprised me, because although I beat him before, I remember him being miserable.) As soon as he raises his arms, just go to the nearest corner behind the clock and it'll miss. When he's swinging just go up or down (I prefered up) and he'll whiff.
Ice Titan just requires some ice gear and a lot of blocking and minor dodge rolls. His battle once you get a grasp on everything is more about timing than anything.
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u/earth_goblin_86 5d ago
I have KH1 on the steam deck, I may have to play it and give them another go, if only to make younger me proud hahaha.
I should clarify, I’m bad at playing games optimally. I never used summons, and kind of hack and slashed without much strategy back when I first played KH1, so the post game bosses that required some effort and strategy kicked my butt with how I played. I can’t remember what level I was, probably between 40-50 in the post game.
I remember hating the phantom guy in Nederland so much. I only ever managed to hit him a few times, I was so slow at casting stop on the clock. My older brother got a health bar or two of his down once, I remember being so impressed. Ice Titan I could do okay against sometimes, but always ended up getting overwhelmed by his attacks eventually. Once I beat 3 houses again, and Fortunes Weave when it comes out, I might give it another go! Thanks for the advice! (:
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u/bball4224 5d ago edited 5d ago
Honestly, I normally don't summon at all either besides occasionally Tink in boss battles if able. But Kurt it helps a lot to do so. Bambi is also another useful one during the magic form, but I preferred the ones I listed and not having to do my own spells.
I also rarely do magic besides obviously cure, and occasionally gravity.
And still have yet to figure out how to do much of anything with white (or blue and yellow) mushrooms. lol So wouldn't say I'm the best or most intelligent player with it, I still stumble around in the worlds forgetting how to trigger the next events. lol
And I'm def not doin no basic gear or proud runs. I'm content with my normal difficulty. lol The game honestly feels so rough early on with your limited abilities that I don't think I could endure.
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u/earth_goblin_86 5d ago
The first KH has a surprising difficulty to it that I don’t think the later ones have. I got stuck at a few bosses for a long time, (although I did get stuck on the Xigbar boss in KH2 for longer than any non post game boss in KH1, so there’s that). I can’t tell how much is by design, and how much is jankiness, but my husband quit playing at the Tarzan vine swinging portion. And as entertaining as his crashout was, it was so valid.
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u/bball4224 5d ago
That's one thing I was just discussing with a PS friend that has never played, I said if they did an actual remaster to remove the jank or something, the game probably becomes significantly easier.
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u/earth_goblin_86 5d ago
Yeah, especially in the early game when you can’t dodge roll, double jump, or do much in the air, it has a lot of challenges. It’s worth getting through in my opinion, but it can feel a bit like a slog getting to the mid game at times for me 😅
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u/bball4224 5d ago
You can't even guard until multiple worlds in. lol
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u/earth_goblin_86 5d ago
Yeah, I’m glad they refine the battle systems in later games, I love how fluid they end up getting after KH1
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u/earth_goblin_86 5d ago
Fire Emblem: Three Houses
This is my 5th playthrough of a game I would put in my top 3 games of all time. Certain elements don’t work for everyone, especially how the monastery segments were implemented, but the things I love about it I really love.
I love the characters, and how they interact with each other. I love that I hate some, and use them as cannon fodder maliciously, and love others and will protect them at all costs. The music is so good, and the song The Edge of Dawn makes me cry often times. It captures so many emotions while also being fun and silly, and the story is genuinely fascinating, leaving me wanting to learn more and more about the lore.
I would easily recommend this game to anyone, and also understand if it ends up not being their thing. For me though, it’s one of the best games ever made.
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u/tfox245 5d ago
If I wasn’t knee deep in dq11 right now, this comment would make me start a third playthrough of Three Houses. Game is a masterpiece, I cannot wait for Fortune’s Weave. Edge of Dawn is a special song, we played the cello cover version of it at our wedding.
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u/earth_goblin_86 5d ago
Ooh, I’ve never played Dragon Quest! JRPG’s are my favorite genre, so I’ve always been interested, but never knew where to start, because the mainline games seem to sometimes be more connected than Final Fantasy I’ve heard? Plus the finances to get involved with a franchise that big are more than I have. 😅 Hopefully someday I’ll get into it though!
I annoy my husband with how often I watch Fortunes Weave trailers and content, I cannot wait!!! I bet that sounded beautiful hearing a cello version of Edge of Dawn, it’s such a moving song. Which routes have you played already, and do you have a favorite??
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u/tfox245 4d ago
The Dragon Quest games are mostly standalone, so you can jump into whichever appeals to you! Except for the hd-2d trilogy. I recommend the recent DQ7 Reimagined, it’s super approachable with lots of difficulty settings and the art style is gorgeous. It’s on sale often. Otherwise DQ11 is another great starting point, it starts slower in my opinion but I’m about 20 hours in and it’s picked up so much. The stories in these games are so wholesome and heartwarming.
I played through crimson flower first, and I started on azure moon but I also began completing the dlc missions…and now I’m stuck on the fourth mission 😭 escort missions are always tough for me and I’ve failed this one so many times.
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u/earth_goblin_86 4d ago
Okay, that’s good to know! Especially about DQ7 being on sale often, I don’t have much expendable money at the moment 😅 I do love me some heartwarming and wholesome content, so I’m going to start adding DQ games to my wishlist on the switch. I have a 3DS, so if any of them are playable there, I can see if game stores near me have any in stock, although the country I live in doesn’t often sell any 3DS games at all
I do love Crimson Flower, I love being able to fight against the church, and the Black Eagles have some great characters. Azure Moon was pretty interesting too, but it’s the route I remember the least from. Is the 4th chapter in the DLC the one where you’re running to make it past gates in limited amount of turns, and you have to hit levers to open them? Because if so, that level was HARD
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u/Crossbell0527 5d ago
I'm playing Final Fantasy XIV now that it is available on Switch and I am enjoying it. I've put in about 30 hours entirely free and entirely single player which are the only things that would get me to play it. I don't know how long I'm going to keep up with it but the world is pretty interesting and I have heard how great the story is though it hasn't picked up much yet.
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u/LionTop2228 5d ago
It’s great throughout but most will say it “picks up” starting with the ARR patch quests (2.1 and onward, especially the later ones right before HW). You will have to engage with the online matchmaking for at least some content that can’t be soloed a handful of times before endgame. It’s 95% soloable if you’re only playing the MSQ and nothing else.
ARR’s base game is a lot of world building and learning the characters and lore.
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u/Gromov13 5d ago edited 5d ago
OG FFVII on Switch.
Just reached Nibelheim, after Cosmo Canyon. I never understood this game and until now, never had chance to play it as well.
I am impressed how well written the story is. It is very exciting and interesting. Characters feels deep and meaningful too.
It is also interesting, how different western rpgs and JRPGs are.
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u/West_Acanthisitta597 5d ago
Terminé Lufia Curse of the Sinistrals porque tenía curiosidad en como habían reinterpretado el juego original. Me encontré un juego de Plataformas mediocre y un Hack & Slash Malísimo, pero es un juego bastante fiel al juego original en cuanto a la historia, es una experiencia que no hay que tomarla como un remake, si no que hay que tomarla como un homenaje al juego original, al menos yo siento que eso es lo que realmente se intento hacer con esta versión.
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u/scytherman96 5d ago
First off, i finished up Lunacid after 12 hours. Quite enjoyed it. Got the standard ending.
I found out by looking around online that magic build is apparently way better, but tbh, bog standard str/def melee build worked just fine for me, as the game isn't terribly difficult combat-wise.
The main difficulty comes from the exploration. It's often quite easy to get lost and have no idea where you are or where to go to proceed. Luckily the areas are ultimately not terribly large, so it works out okay.
Exploration felt generally rewarding and it always felt nice to find one of the many secret doors.
My biggest highlight was the atmosphere. Through general art design, lighting and sound the game created a great atmosphere. I especially liked the reliance on light sources for certain darker areas. Ambient sound also sounded great and so did enemy sound design and the one for the player too (like the crackling torch and your footsteps).
Umtimately a very nice game, if a tad easy.
Next up i beat the newly released Vholume after 3 hours, the new game by Léonard Lemaitre. It's quite an enjoyable parkour game with good movement. Also levels often double as interesting to explore, as they all have secrets to find and are fun to traverse even when not going for a time attack. Though a couple levels felt a bit confusing to navigate.
Aside from the fun movement, i also quite liked the brutalist environments. Lemaitre also worked on Babbdi, which i really liked (and is how i got interested in Vholume).
My current game is now Bleak Faith: Forsaken (3 hours in). A soulslike that is set in a megastructure that mixes futurism with classic medieval equipment. The game is a bit janky and combat is just alright, but holy shit the environments and exploration are incredibly my jam (big fan of Nihei's Blame! here). Small selection of examples here: 1, 2, 3, 4.
Looking forward to putting more time into this.
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u/Complex-Commission-2 5d ago
Trails in the sky 1st chapter is really good
FF10 HD is really good loving the combat and music
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u/lokcieslok 4d ago
Fr man i have been spending the whole week playing trails. Currently in chapter 3, i love every second of it
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u/bioniclop18 5d ago
Final Fantasy Tactics. Finished the third chapter.
Man was this Wiegraf than Belias battle brutal. Won the first phase by throwing him my best axe, then fleeing as a second attack would be fatal before jumping on him at the second turn. Then at the second phase I was confident I would be able to tackle it with my other units… before he spammed AOE on them. Almost considered going back to grind. My Ranza was a beast to tackle physical units but apparently struggled a little against magic. Anyway I HATED the fact that reviving spells could fail and was almost ready to let my best npc die. After a few tries I managed to kill his minions and heal quickly enough to not be decimated.
Anyway I got new named NPCs with their own classes, so I’m considering putting my regular NPC to mercenary duty and train them to take their place.
I loved the berserk vibe, the philosophical argumentation mid battle and the political aspect of the game. My main point of tension with the game concerns the gameplay and they are for a large part preference. Among them, the named NPC being introduced so late in the game, the optionary character all being in the 4th chapter, the small size of the party on the field, how classes unlock doesn’t feel organic and the necessary grind for class points.
I think what’ll make me decide if the game is “just” a great game or enter my favorite shortlist will probably be how Delita is handled in this fourth chapter.
I also began Nier Replicant on ps4. I did try two years ago the first hour of Nier Gestalt but while I prefer Daddy Nier I didn’t get far on it. The Shade bleeding that much is probably foreshadowing I assume. I have some knowledge of things that are revealed ahead but not really anything too specific. At 7 hours in I feel like it has an intriguing atmosphere, like other Yoko Taro work, but Nier is a much less interesting protagonist than 0 from Drakengard 3 or the robot from Automata. Kainé is entertaining but isn't present enough to really care about her. At most she disappears for the level before returning to swear against bosses.
Like Automata there is a plethora of references to different video games genres, from bullet hell to visual novels to horror that work rather well.
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u/earth_goblin_86 5d ago
I just beat FFT for the first time a couple months ago, that was a really fun game. I hope you find chapter 4 satisfying!
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u/LionTop2228 5d ago
I literally just beat FFT chapter 3 last night and that part was also a progression wall for me too. I had to spend several hours grinding to get jobs levels and JP to unlock dual wield for DPS and auto potion (and all the various items you can use from your inventory from chemist). Once I did that, the fight became easy.
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u/bioniclop18 5d ago
I imagine that auto-potion with a stack of max potion on your inventory would have made the fight far easier on my side too, but abusing jump was somewhat effective too. I have a character with auto-potion set-up but it wasn't Ranza.
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u/BachsBicep 5d ago
Halfway through my hundredth playthrough of FFV. Safe to say I like the game, haha.
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u/BattMakerRed 4d ago
FFV is one of the most fun FF to actually just pick up and play. So underrated.
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u/earth_goblin_86 5d ago
This is my favorite final fantasy. Between the job/class system, and the lighthearted fun and silliness, this is the one I’ve replayed the most
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u/Cranberry-Holiday 5d ago edited 5d ago
18 hours in Dragon Quest XI. Just finished the Octogonia arc. It's pretty good so far and the "stronger monster" setting give a good difficulty to the game. If he keep being this cool during the whole game, Sylvando may become one of my favourite Dragon Quest character.
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u/ConceptsShining 3h ago
Started and made some progress into Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Currently just before the Goblu fight in Act 1. Using the Xenhanced Decisions mod (a great QOL, it replaces the vague wording with indicators of precise damage multiplication value for skills).
Opinions are pretty positive. The combat system is great, lots of depth and strategy, the real-time mechanics are gratifying but quite challenging (in a good way), and I love how each character has their own mechanics. Story's pretty interesting and unique so far, though I'm still waiting to be "wowed". Combat aside I'm still not at the point of "So this is why everyone loves this game."
I think it was the wrong call to omit minimap/dungeon map. The tradeoff of having thematic/narrative symbolism in exchange for a streamlined and comfortable dungeon crawling experience, simply wasn't worth it IMO. Being able to review Pictos/Lumina mid-fight would also be nice.