Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
If you have an email ending in @hotmail.com, @live.com or @outlook.com (or any other Microsoft-related domain), please consider changing it to another email provider; Microsoft decided to instantly block the server's IP, so emails can't be sent to these addresses.
If you use an @yahoo.com email or any related Yahoo services, they have blocked us also due to "user complaints"
-UE
If you use an @yahoo.com email or any related Yahoo services, they have blocked us also due to "user complaints"
-UE
Comments
Could also go in an art/animation thread if we had any.
JRPG sale on GOG, for another two days and change.
For another 40 hours and change, Legend of Keepers: Career of a Dungeon Manager is free: https://www.gog.com/en/game/legend_of_keepers_career_of_a_dungeon_master
If you aren't familiar with DLsite, here's a quick rundown:
* Many products are in Japanese, unsurprisingly. (Some products may have Japanese and English versions sold separately, or even Mac and Windows versions sold separately.)
* From my experience, products seem to be DRM-free unless stated otherwise. You get to direct-download installers/zip files from them.
* The site is based in Japan and will charge you in yen.
* There's NSFW stuff on the site. To avoid it, make sure the URL after "dlsite.com/" says "home" or "soft", rather than "maniax" or "girls". (N.B. not all products that are listed under "maniax" or "girls" are actually NSFW.)
* You can use coupons on things that are already on sale. And they give you coupons pretty frequently.
https://www.gog.com/en/game/lost_ruins
Games I've finished this year:
* Tokyo Xanadu eX+ - a Falcom action RPG. Basically urban fantasy x Trails storytelling x Ys combat. I actually played most of this the year before, but still had the Epilogue left, which I finished early this year. This first playthrough is as complete as a first playthrough can be; I'll replay it later, with higher difficulty, more affinity shards, and probably some silly costumes.
* Just Deserts - a dating sim visual novel by Indonesian devs Vifth Floor, set in a desert with a military premise about fighting aliens. With some savescumming and guide-following, I got all the endings (except the worst). And I also read the extra chapter featuring Valerya.
* Metroid Prime - This well-known 3D Metroid adventure is something I'd started years ago, but I restarted it this time, streaming it for friends, and getting 100% of items and scans. (Funny how Metroid Dread came out this year...who knows when I'll get around to that.)
* Take a Hike! - a short visual novel by Jane Titor, a western dev. It's a nice story, and it's set in a real-life location -- check it out if you want to learn about a place to go camping in Ontario!
* Ys VI: the Ark of Napishtim - the first of the three Napishtim engine Ys games, though it came out in the west after the other two (Ys: the Oath in Felghana and Ys Origin) and I bought it last and played it last too. Falcom took charge of the worldbuilding starting with this, and it shows. The game is good, even if a little rougher than Oath or Origin.
* Makhna Gramura & Fairy Bell - a spinoff from the *fault* series, and basically an in-universe fairy tale, about an orphan, a fairy, and a magical land that they go to. Not long, but definitely well-made.
* Ys Origin - I did some UI testing for GOG Galaxy and ended up playing YsO anyway. I replayed my favorite character, Yunica, on Hard mode, then started playing (but haven't finished) Hugo on Hard as well. I'll get to the third character after Hugo.
* HoloCure - I played a bunch of this, since it's something I can finish within about 20 minutes and change. Beat most stages with most characters and cleaned out most of the shop. But this is version 0.5; a friend wants me to stream v0.6 at some point.
* Phoenotopia: Awakening - Sifting through my library for metroidvania games, I picked this up. And it turned out to be one of the most beautiful games I've ever played. The controls took some time to get used to at first, but the result was an engaging story, appropriately challenging gameplay, beautiful soundtrack, and heartwarmingly memorable moments. Probably the highlight of my year, and reminds me of how cool Timespinner is, albeit different.
* Shantae - A friend wanted me to stream the original GBC Shantae, which I had started many years ago but never finished. So I did. Enjoyed the great music and worldbuilding, and 100%'d it, despite the wonky controls. (Again, there's gonna be a new Shantae game soon...and I only just now finished the first. Taking bets on when I'll get around to the yet-to-be-released GBA game. Though I *have* played Risky's Revenge already.)
* Metal Unit - An action platformer with randomly-selected (though pregenerated) level segments and lots of crafting. (I've heard it's similar to Dead Cells, which I haven't played.) Bumbled through the start of the game (not unlike the protagonist Joanna), but eventually obtained/crafted and mastered almost all the items, except for the stuff from special challenge modes.
* Mini Ghost - A short and humorous prequel to Ghost 1.0, one of the few Galious-style metroidvanias. A sci-fi thing starring an android protag. Authentic MSX-style graphics!
* Soaring Machinariae - One of the first games I bought on DLsite, this doujin action RPG (made in RPG Maker) delivers solid gameplay, an interesting story, and a beautiful soundtrack (which can be bought separately too). I beat this game, albeit not 100%.
Other games I've played this year:
* Attacker-chan! - another DLsite purchase. Action platformer that plays out in little scenes, separated by moving around on a map with an advancing enemy force (a la FTL).
* Absented Age: Squarebound - yet another DLsite purchase. Seems to be a mix of action and turn-based RPG. I only played the beginning.
* Empire Earth (all three games) - I bought the first game years ago and then the other two games more recently. Special thanks to GOG for making these work on newer computers (albeit somewhat buggily, but better than nothing!). I was in the mood for Age of Empires, and these games were made by some devs who actually worked on AoE. Interestingly, the more simplified mechanics of EE3 were decried by some fans but I found that a Skirmish was a good way to satisfy my craving for steamrolling over the computer in an RTS match without taking up too much time (unlike AoE matches that could take over an hour).
* Xanadu Next - Every decade, Falcom releases a game with "Xanadu" in the title. Tokyo Xanadu came out in 2015; Xanadu Next (which is basically unrelated) came out in 2005. I only really opened it up to check how well it worked; never got into the actual game.
* Dragon Age: Origins - I made yet another attempt to actually get somewhere in this game, but my desire for fantasy RPG action was eventually sated by actually GMing a Pathfinder campaign.
* Tangledeep - This roguelike has been in my GOG library for a while now, but despite its nice music and pretty art, I have yet to break into it. I tried again this year but the time wasn't quite right.
* Alba: a Wildlife Adventure - Made minor progress in this wildlife observation sim.
* Tower Hunter: Erza's Trial - I think I made minor progress in this action platformer. Can't remember though. Could just be a brief startup.
* Symphonic Rain - I picked up a DRM-free copy of it on DLsite this year. I opened up this VN, with its magnificent music, just to make sure it worked, but I wasn't ready to jump in yet.
Ongoing games:
* Pokémon Perfect Crystal (2020 Update) - My progress through the game is continuing, and I've gotten farther than my earlier playthroughs of Crystal got. I now have five badges; working on the last of the Johto badges and also plot advancement. I also have more than half the pokédex entries I need for a full dex!
* Fairy Fencer F Advent Dark Force - Compile Heart's and Idea Factory's games have a reputation for being very weeb, and this is no exception, though the story was traditional-fantasy enough for me to take an interest in it. The fact that the soundtrack was written in part by Nobuo Uematsu (of Final Fantasy fame) helps. I'm not that far into it, but it's so far pretty good, with reasonably engaging storyline and a battle system that's not bad either.
* Lost Ruins - a game I started after I wrote up this big list. It's currently a freebie on GOG, but I actually bought it some months ago. Horror metroidvania with a noticeable amount of fanservice for people who like girls. I might be about halfway or more through this game at this point?
Looks like a platformer with some pretenses.
https://hempuli.itch.io/mobile-suit-baba
launch discount: free (until Wednesday)
Ever since I stopped playing video games, I pop in and out of knowledge about video games. Personally the only thing I'd go for is Fashion Dreamer, but that would require owning a Switch.
I know Fairy Fencer F has a SRPG sequel called Refrain Chord that features songs by ChouCho, the renewed StylipS (produced by R.O.N. even) and others.
I'd get a Switch but I think I need a very offline hobby so I look at less screens overall.
Looks like a sort of an adventure game on a platformer engine.
sidenote: the special edition of this game (currently on sale, but not the freebie) includes the soundtrack and also gives a portion of the proceeds to charity.
https://www.gog.com/en/game/lacuna_save_the_world_edition
Some artsy stuff.
Regardless, something is going on with my PC that CPU temperatures shoot up beyond reason while playing some games, including that one, so I shouldn't play it until I get that solved (which I won't anytime soon), so...
In other news, I have been backing up some saves and wanted to jump back into The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky.
Just putting the following here for posterity:
Meanwhile, this is a thing:
https://questhelperstudios.itch.io/joe-biden-escape-from-maga
It feels like a fanfic. A pretty good quality fanfic, but not quite the same Castlevania that I know and was expecting.
Meanwhile, the Mario movie from 1993 is also basically a fanfic. A very spec-fic fan-fic at that. I feel like part of the idea was that the stuff in the videogames is something of a simplified version of an "actual" plot/premise and the movie was trying to show that "actual" thing. To be fair, this was kinda how videogames of, well, actual actual movies and TV shows worked back then -- greatly simplify some aspect and rather significantly rework it to produce a game out of it. So the reverse isn't too much of a surprise. The 2023 movie, in contrast, probably benefits from having more graphically-complex and aesthetically comprehensive videogames existing in the franchise, as well as a generous dose of very impressive and entertaining CGI, and essentially uses the premise of the games (with much less significant modifications) as the premise for the movie.
Either way, some isekai action was had. Ain't a bad thing, y'know.
But I gotta question the decision not to include manual saving.
Also apparently I've gotten much worse at playing FPSs, my aim is awful.
In other stuff, this is the prototype of what eventually became Smash Bros.:
(Spoiler: he does many things wrong, and doesn't actually finish his backlog.)
(Content warning: about an hour and a half of videos. But they're mostly just his talking and they're even captioned, so you can get away with speeding up the videos.)
I don't agree with his tastes in games, including why he gets interested in games, but that's normal and not really important anyway.
He ends up basically coming to a conclusion that I stumbled upon via an alternative path:
Basically, make a list, and develop ways to help yourself choose what to play next, but don't force yourself to complete it. Don't hold yourself to a time limit, since that's antithetical to having fun, but do hold yourself to the intention. And it's the journey that matters, not the destination. The backlog is endless, but the goal of the backlog is not to empty it; it is to find meaningful experiences.
https://www.gog.com/en/game/driftland_the_magic_revival (-90% at $1.99)
https://www.gog.com/en/game/nomads_of_driftland (free)
It seems Nomads of Driftland: the Forgotten Passage is normally $4.99 but has been frequently discounted to $0.99 before, according to GOGDB.