Topic: Games you've recently beat

@Th3solution No, 112 hours was for a basic, get-to-the-ending-credits initial playthrough. I still have at least one or two more playthroughs before I platinum it. It's possible to platinum the game in around 150 hours or so if you play optimally, but it'll probably take me a lot longer. Not that I'm going to attempt that right now.

Second playthrough will probably be next year. I'll listen to the Japanese voice track and focus on completing my social links and completely filling out my Persona compendium.

@Ralizah That brings up a question — how is the English voice acting? I noticed the Japanese language track was available for download and so I was deliberating whether to try it when I play P5. I usually prefer English if the actors and translation is good. Obviously sometimes the full meaning (especially humor) doesn't always come across into English, but I thought P4's English voice track was fantastic.

@Th3solution It has some of the best english voice acting I've ever heard in an Atlus game. Also, they did a good job translating the script, so I doubt any of the humor was lost in translation.

Definitely play it with the english vocals the first time through unless you're a purist (which it doesn't sound like you are).

@Ralizah Sounds good. But ... Persona 5 or Danganronpa 2. How do I choose where to spend my weekend?

@Th3solution That's... a pickle. They're both great games. I guess I'd recommend playing Danganronpa 2 first if only because it's less of a time commitment. P5 is a gargantuan game that with ruthlessly consume your free time for months.

@Ralizah Well actually, I hope to be able to report on this thread in the next few days that I will have finished Lost Legacy and Virtue's Last Reward. I'm on the home stretch on both games and so need to get those wrapped up first. I have one more escape room and like 2 or 3 endings pending on VLR and in LL I think I have 2 more chapters. More detailed impressions to follow.

@Th3solution Have you been getting all of the gold files in VLR? If you 100% the game, you get a secret ending.

Another amazing game. Probably my favorite this generation.

@Ralizah Yes! I have all the gold files so far with one more to go. I'm pretty excited about the story coming together. Each ending is now having a new reveal about the plot and characters and so it's really getting juicy. I'm withholding final judgment on the game for now, but it has been a positive experience so far. I expect to have the platinum since I have been getting all the gold files and should have all the endings.

I just finished Uncharted Lost Legacy. I wrote a more detailed impression to share here, but it got a little wordy so I figured I better post it on the actual Lost Legacy thread, so check there if you'd like to read the longer version. But suffice it to say I really really liked the game. Definitely one of my favorites of the year.

Kirby: Planet Robobot (3DS)

It actually ended up being a pretty awesome game. The core gameplay was as solid as ever, and the Robobot was a fun addition. It's actually a very nice looking game, and thanks to the mechanized theme, even the standard grass & desert areas feel fresh. The bosses were the real highlight though, with the final boss in particular being epic in scale, and delightfully bizarre in it's final stage (the obvious Gurren Lagaan influence didn't go unnoticed either).

@Xaritah @Ralizah
I have finally finished The Nonary Games on the Vita, a compilation of two games originally on the 3DS — 999 and Virtue's Last Reward, packaged together for PlayStation.
I platinum'ed the game (just one platinum exists for both entries) which was an easy plat, although quite time consuming (about 20 hr for 999 and 40 hr for VLR = about 60 hr)
The games are Visual Novels and I must say that they are quite good. I found the story I interesting, although immensely complex. These are definitely not games for those who don't want to stretch their minds. Not only does the over-arching story tax your brain cells to try to understand what's going on, the puzzles in the escape rooms can be very difficult. Some of them are just downright maddening without a guide or some hints.
Some spoilery (is that even a word?) impressions follow:
The whole time travel / transfer of consciousness and the quantum physics explanations are a little hard to swallow. Fortunately I am not obsessive about plausibility in my fiction, so I can tolerate the suspension of disbelief. Even though the final explanation of things seemed to have more logic holes than a pound of Swiss cheese, it was actually rather clever the way it comes together, even if I can't quite follow the logic of how Sigma and Phi jump back and forth into different bodies and alternate time lines. It does, however make the game mechanic of having multiple endings and playthroughs make sense in the setting of the video game itself, as you gather more and more info to add together to solve puzzles inching toward the growing reveals that culminate in the true ending
The story definitely kept my attention as I was curious about why the characters were in this place being forced to play in the Nonary Games. My biggest complaint with the gameplay was the pacing. I got real sick of watching doors slide open and closed and watching the dot flow through the map when you go from one room to another part. It was kind of maddening to have to watch these recurring mundane animations.
But ultimately, the plot twists and characters make the game worthwhile, which is what this genre is all about. I'm not a VN expert, but I favor Danganronpa, although I will definitely be playing the third and final of the series, Zero Time Dilemma, after I finish a few other games.

@Th3solution Good to hear your thoughts. VLR is definitely a very padded game (lots of repetitive transition animations, as you said), but I felt like this kind of fit the slower pace of the game in comparison to the zippier horror of 999 and ZTD. I liked how you literally tracked your character across the base.

VLR also had FANTASTIC puzzles. They were so challenging and engrossing.

I have to admit, I do kind of hate the Nonary Games Collection if only because the 999 remaster is held hostage behind it. I own VLR on 3DS AND Vita, so I'm not eager to repurchase it a third time. Especially if I have to replay it again to platinum 999.

RE: Zero Time DIlemma... just keep your expectations in check. It's easily the worst game in the series, but considering Uchikoshi struggled to get it greenlit at all (apparently VLR didn't well very well in Japan), I'm just glad it exists. For a good long time, people like me who have followed the series since 999 on the Nintendo DS were convinced we'd never get the third and final story in the trilogy.

Are you looking forward to Danganronpa V3?

@Ralizah Yeah, I can see your point about the pacing. There is a certain anticipation that they are purposefully creating, with the time limits on things and then having to wait through transition animations just makes to build more anxiety as you anticipate what you're going to find, discover, or choose. At my first AB game as the voice slowly counted down from 10, I keep frantically hitting the button to let me choose but of course I couldn't fast forward the count down, so as soon as she says 3, 2, 1 ... I rushed to press the button to make my selection immediately, thinking the game would penalize me since time was up. Only later did I realize on subsequent AB games that you can take your time pondering your choice 😅

Although I wouldn't put VLR in my Top 10 of all time, I can certainly appreciate its greatness. It's definitely one of the Vita's best, though, and a very unique game. Although I would be hard-pressed to recommend it universally to anyone. Unlike Uncharted, Gravity Rush, or Tearaway, VLR and 999 wouldn't quite have the mass appeal but if you like story driven games and mind bending puzzles, it's definitely a grade A recommendation.

I had recently platinum'ed Danganronpa right before this, so I took a break from the series to do The Nonary Games, and so now I have started Danganronpa 2. I'm only at the prologue still; Still trying to plan out my strategy for my playthrough. But I am very much excited about D v3. I very much liked the first Danganronpa and so far my expectation is D2 will be as good or better. I'm planning to go and put down a preorder on D v3 today.

@Th3solution I did the same thing! I thought the game was timing my button presses at first. There's a wonderful build up to that climactic moment when you choose to either ally with or betray someone. Anyway, you're right that it doesn't have the mass market appeal of something like Uncharted, but it also has a unique charm to it that can't be replicated by any other game. I do think the marketing was a bit off, though: I wonder how many people started playing VLR expecting anime Saw or something? If anything, we got something akin to a much more openly thoughtful version of Vincenzo Natali's Cube. Definitely a top 10 game for me, though!

You're in for a treat: DR2 is a WONDERFUL game. Quite superior to the first game. I actually wasn't a huge fan of the series until the second game, to be honest.

I also like how the DR creator is friends with Kotaru Uchikoshi and actually openly references Zero Escape during a part of DR2.

@Ralizah That's funny that the creators of these two games are friends.
There are a lot of similarities between the two franchises (although I haven't completed D2, I can only assume) - both have death and murder, despair, a scenario of being trapped, and then also a lot of humor, one-liners, a touch of romance, and a certain amount of "goofiness" (although Danganronpa has probably more of this). Also plots with mysterious unknown villains and twists you don't expect. Can't wait to see what kind of plot twists Danganronpa 2 and 3 are going to have!

Edit: As far as marketing, I actually never saw any marketing for the Nonary Games. I think I came across it on this website,
on one of the forums actually. That piqued my interest and I tracked it down and bought it.

Finished Lost Legacy two nights ago. I'd love to see another Chloe and Nadine adventure in the future. It felt like it went by quick so I started going back and picking up treasures and trophies I missed.

Beat Escape Plan on vita.
A neat little game. The levels are short and can be beat in 5-90sec, which makes this game a perfect take-to-work companion.
Not really a fan of puzzle platformers, but this one struck a nice balance- never had to look anything up. Some levels really are clever. Could've done without the backpad touch reliance, but as a vita launch title they were probably forced into using all the features.

Ok, finally finished Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice. Really torn on how I felt about the game. I love the story, aesthetic, technology and ambition of the game. As an experience, it was pretty out there and challenging and I liked that unique indie sensibilities were presented in the wrappings of a AAA game.

That said, I found some of the gameplay frustrating - I really couldn't stand the combat. It felt clunky and I actually got frustrated on a couple of bits. It may be that I have recently come off Bloodborne. I also missed out on the platinum by not finding everything even though I searched for it.

Overall, I'd recommend it as an experience and I am glad it is doing well sales wise. It is very innovative in places. Part of me wants to go through it again to try and get some of the nuances of the story and worry less about gameplay etc.

Just finished The Last of Us.

At the risk of getting staked by anyone, my impression doesn't match it's reception. The story and acting is amazing, and is something that still isn't common these days. It's very emotional, and the atmosphere is very tense, and very uncomfortable. It perfectly matches the world that it takes place in.

The gameplay though, ugh. It starts of very well, I love the idea. But after a while it started to irritate me. Right around when you meet Henry and his brother was when it fell apart for me. The sewer section during their chapter (specifically the part where Henry's brother is your companion) was painful. I couldn't stealth that part at all, I just ran to the exit after my 24th attempt. After that, it was plenty of times where my grabs and stealth kills didn't register and plenty of deaths where I got spotted after a staged firefight where my ammo was drained.

The Last of Us is worth playing for the story, but the gameplay almost made it hard for me to say that. It was great when it didn't make me pull my hair out. Sorry guys, please don't kill me.

@DerMeister I didn't even care that much for the story, which is pretty standard post-apocalyptic fare. The one thing I'll give it credit for is the creative twist on the zombie concept.