 | The end of my mid career retirement |
I'll probably never have another month of gaming like this. I'm starting a new job in early October, and lockdown is hopefully ending here not long after. So this month, I really went for it. Once I'm back at work, I hope to have far fewer games in progress at one time, since that approach led to me barely completing anything until early 2020 when unemployment stuck and I went on this wonderful journey (or Trails) of games. I knocked out so many RPGs, with a few other genres getting represented.
FINISHED
Fire Emblem: Three Houses (Switch)
This is my third time finishing Fire Emblem: Three Houses. This time I completed the Blue Lions path, which is Dimitri. In hindsight, I should've played this one first. I think Dimitri was supposed to be the intended hero, then Edelgard was to play the other side, with Claude as a more neutral option. This took me a hell of a long time to finish, mostly due to grinding - not levels so much as support points between party members. I managed to achieve them all with this combination of characters. If I play again, probably another Red Lions run, but siding with Rhea at the midpoint, I'll only need to recruit a couple of characters to finish it off. If I do go for a fourth play, it won't be for a long time, though. The way I was playing this kinda burnt me out. I'd been chipping away at it slowly for most of the year.
Ys: Memories of Celceta (Vita)
Knocked out another Ys game, this time the modern remake of Ys IV. I bought it on Vita way back in the day when it was the only version, and probably got about 10 hours into it back then. This time I finished it, at a little over 30 hours. Really good game, but kinda wish I'd got it on PS4 or Steam, just for the ease of control. This made me remember why I don't typically go for action games on handheld. I loved the sense of exploration in this one, where you set out into a great uncharted forest - and chart it - discovering all sorts of things along the way. The story takes a little while to get going - everything is shrouded in mystery (and an amnesia plotline) to begin with, but as Adol explores the forest and rediscovers his memories, he uncovers an evil plan that needs stopping. Greatly enjoyed this. I'll be moving onto Ys: The Oath in Felghana next month (the modern remake of Ys III). This one comes earlier in the chronology, taking place between Ys II and III. I'm on the story path now!
Mass Effect 2 (PS4)
I took my time exploring the galaxy, picking up every little side mission that I could, before I went for the final few missions. Man, the writing in this game is amazing, particularly with the loyalty missions. They really get into these characters. I did find the action set pieces a little repetitive, though. Usually fairly narrow, linear paths where you approach some room with lots of cover points and you know you're in for a firefight. The Arrival DLC was something interesting. I can't remember if I had/played this on 360 back in the day, because I had no memory of it. It does make the opening of Mass Effect 3 make more sense, though. Which I'll start next month.
Muv-Luv Extra (Vita)
I took a break on this while playing Ys, but once that was done, I went in and got the other endings for the first visual novel. The story is kinda whacky, but it continued to have some moments that had something important to say about love. The problem with visual novels is that they can just take bloody forever to get there, though. There was one ending which kinda stood alone, about the archer girl. Then two endings that followed a similar path but with different perspectives, for two of the other girls who are always at odds with each other. Then a couple of "bad endings" for making the wrong choices. All in all, I'm ready to move onto Muv-Luv Unlimited, which I am sure will take the story forward.
Dragon Quest XI S (Switch)
Finished! 73 hours of JRPG. Some moments tested my patience, but on the whole I did enjoy this experience. The game isn't over, though. After the credits, you can load back in and then follow some post-game celebrations, then the story takes a turn I did not expect. I'm gonna continue and see where this goes before I start up another big JRPG, but I've marked this one as complete because final dungeon + final boss + end credits = complete. Now we're just in overtime!
IN PROGRESS
Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Switch)
Doing my daily login, but not much else. The recent Nintendo Direct announced an Animal Crossing direct, with the return of Brewster. I really hope it's more than that, but if we're getting a whole direct, I'm sure the upcoming update is substantial and might keep me going longer.
Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception (PS4)
These games were cheap on PSN a while back, and I hear good things about them. I'm only about an hour in - played one battle against some wolves. I think this is the second game, even though Prelude to the Fallen (remaster?) was released later and is more expensive (which I only just bought the other day). I might put this one on hold and start the first one, but we'll see. I only put this on about 4 weeks ago because I was in pain after my Pfizer shot, and a console visual novel that I could just sit back and read seemed like a good thing to play.
Star Wars Racer (Switch)
Now this is pod racing! Controls better than it did on the N64. Still a very fast game. Been making my way through tournament mode while upgrading my pod when I have the money (not republic credits). Bit of light fun.
Danganronpa 1-2 Reloaded (PS4)
Only picked this up again in the last couple of days since I had this rare moment of finishing pretty much everything I'd had in progress. I'm making my way through 'School Mode' in Danganronpa 1, which has some interesting crafting mini game, while I also spend time with my classmates to finish filling out their bio's and working towards their endings. Much more relaxing compared to the main game. Dunno why I put it off this long.
NEGLECTED
We'll meet again
Don't know where
Don't know when
Ni No Kuni
Bug Fables
Uncharted
Fire Emblem: Fates
Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD
Xenogears
Pic-a-Pix Pieces (Vita)
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honestgamer - October 01, 2021 (08:09 AM) I wish I had bought the two main Utawarerumono whenever they were on that sale you caught. I own them physically, but a few months back I went through my physical PS4 collection and sold everything I could buy digitally. Unfortunately, the two main Utawarerumono are no longer offered digitally, no doubt due to a license expiring without Atlus (the publisher at least here in North America) making any announcement that I saw. So I had to hold onto my physical copies of those two games. |
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jerec - October 01, 2021 (01:57 PM) Wow, you're right. Just checked the Australian PSN store and they aren't there either. $13.99 for a bundle of the two games was just too good to pass up. |
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Genj - October 03, 2021 (03:32 AM) I played Memories of Celceta on PS4 and I couldn't imagine playing a game like that on a handheld. My hands start to ache like 30 minutes into using a 3DS mainly because my hands are much larger than the handheld. Switch is a little better and more comfortable, but I still prefer the Pro Controller for longer sessions. I really liked Dangonronpa but found the sequel's story uninteresting enough that I dropped it completely. |
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jerec - October 03, 2021 (04:07 AM) Yeah, I'm not so good with portables. Visual novels, turn based RPG/strategy, awesome. With the Switch, I play docked 99% of the time with a pro controller. Danganronpa was a struggle. It took me ages to get through it earlier this year, where I was maybe knocking out a chapter per month, usually in 2-3 fairly long sessions that I had to psyche myself up for (the trials were especially tiring). I'm not sure when I'll move onto the second one. |
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honestgamer - October 04, 2021 (10:42 AM) I'm not big on portable gaming, either. I do have a lot of portable games I still plan to get around to on 3DS and Vita too, but if there are (for example) a PS4 and a Vita version of a particular game, I'm getting the PS4 version. And when it comes to Switch, I play in handheld mode almost exclusively with the very comfortable Pro Controller. I have fairly small hands, but the Joycon is too small even for me to play comfortably. |
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honestgamer - October 29, 2021 (01:25 PM) D'oh! Of course I meant to say I play almost exclusively in DOCKED mode. Unless a game demands that I play in handheld mode, about the only time I've played without my system being docked is when I was first testing out that functionality at launch, or when my wife wants to use the TV and I'm doing an Animal Crossing check-in. But as I've finally stopped playing that last game after adding the final expansion to my house... I haven't played in handheld mode in quite some time. |
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