Topic: What (Non-PS4) game are you playing??

I am currently giving Super Kirby Clash on Switch a try. It seems pretty good so far. I like the look of the game. I think it says something about Nintendo that all their games look visually appealing.

After just playing on PlayStation consoles for the last few years, it’s nice to play so many colourful games.

@Bentleyma- I think one of the most appealing aspects of the Switch is that you'll see so many games that you won't find elsewhere. Not only Nintendo's own exclusives but also a lot of third-party exclusives because it's a popular machine in Japan. So you'll see tons of JRPGs, visual novels and other Japanese titles on there that are different and fun. Not to mention so many great indie titles. I've said this before, but Switch is truly the "spiritual successor" of PlayStation Vita. Tons of great games that you're able to play both on the TV and on the go. It's a phenomenal system.

@Bentleyma- If you have any love for XCOM-like tactical RPGs, I HIGHLY recommend getting Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle when it goes on another digital sale (it goes for insanely low prices now; like, less than $20 for the game + Donkey Kong expansion). It's one of the best (and best-looking) games on the system.

@LtSarge Yeah, there are a few third party games that have my interest. I’ll be picking up Deadly Premonition 2 and No More Heroes 3 at some point in the near future. As for visual novels, those Famicon Detective Club games look good.

@Ralizah I’ll be getting that at some point. There are sooo many Switch exclusives I want to buy that it’s hard to decide what to get first!

@Ralizah I’ve tried to love that Mario and Rabbids game but I just can’t. It’s so slow but easy that it physically pains me to play. Probably the ADHD but it feels like my brain’s itchy whenever I go back to it. There are loads of great ideas in there so a sequel could definitely improve but yeah, I hope it doesn’t feel as stilted and limiting. Even just the act of moving the roomba around the overworld felt weird.

@nessisonett Interesting. Coming off XCOM: Enemy Unknown (haven't played the sequel yet, or the older PC games), I felt exactly the opposite: M+R takes the slow crawl of XCOM's basic tactical gameplay and livens it up immensely with really dynamic movement options that force the player to take the entire battlefield into account when planning out moves on any turn. It streamlines the numbers aspect of XCOM, but that never felt like it removed any genuine challenge from the game. I really dug how it replaced the boring base building element with fantastic overworld puzzles and exploration. And there are some truly solid post-game challenges that kept me coming back after the story itself was finished.

It's one of the few third-party games that feels like it has an almost first-party Nintendo polish to me, even putting aside the use of Mario characters.

Not entirely sold on the direction the sequel is going, given some of the changes we've seen so far, but I definitely won't judge it before we know more. I'm just glad it's getting a sequel, but as one of the best-selling third party games on the platform (I think Monster Hunter Rise robbed it of its long-standing throne in this regard), that was probably inevitable.

@RogerRoger I think if Sony ever decides to finally close down the PS3/Vita stores, this would be one series I'll absolutely need to get before it's gone. I've only played a bit of the first Syphon Filter but it's really good and I've heard great things about the sequel. The first three games are on PS3/Vita (although I do think the third one isn't on Vita for some reason) and the two PSP titles are available on Vita as well, so that's how I'll be experiencing that franchise. Are you playing the game on PS3 by any chance?

Also, I feel like this series is perfect for you considering it's kinda like Sony's own James Bond.

@Ralizah If you haven't played XCOM2 yet, you really must at some point.

It's a fantastic game and builds on the previous one so much. And if you get the War of the Chosen DLC, it's almost like another game again. The Chosen themselves are absolute hardcore enemies and use a Nemesis style system to pick up traits too (positive and negative).

I seem to remember the DLC also gave you a new room which let you unlock new abilities for your squad outside of their normal class so you can create some fantastic combos. The fatigue mechanic also meant you couldn't rely on the same soldiers for every mission either which makes things even more interesting.

Fantastic game and one I'd love to replay (again!) if there is ever another lull in new releases/the backlog for me.

@Thrillho Yeah, it's one of so many games that I've intended to play for years now.

I definitely want to make time for it someday.

Does the pacing improve at all on the original?

@Ralizah It's probably been a few years since I last played and even longer since I played the first.

The one big improvement from the first game is that you're not punished for not researching things quick enough. I remember that if you didn't get the laser and plasma weapons quick enough in the original, you may as well just give up. Also, with the first game it sometimes felt that no matter how well you did, if you didn't focus on satellites at the right time then you were never going to win.

The sequel doesn't suffer from those problems so much but you certainly do have phases where it feels like you're treading water waiting for something else to happen. The DLC means there are more things going on but it also means the game lasts even longer.

There are some slightly different mission types as well to mix things up but some of them can be pretty frustrating, although I think this works with the game as the frustration often comes with the mission being difficult!

I think the PC version has loads of mods too if that's your thing.

I set up Moonlight on my Vita which makes my laptop think it’s a Shield device. So I’ve been playing through 007 Nightfire for the Cube on my Vita! I might use this to play the rest of Ao no Kiseki as well, I just prefer the form factor of the Vita.

Started playing Ecco the Dolphin on PS3 and honestly, it's not really my cup of tea. It's basically a 2D underwater puzzle game where you have to constantly manage your air supply and health. The key mechanic is to find these crystals that you interact with, which will help you move other crystals in order to progress. And it's not really that fun. It's a very hard game as well, which I didn't know going into it. So I think I'm just going to skip it and its sequel. It's definitely a very cool concept for the time though.

@LtSarge yeah I remember it being reviewed very well back on Megadrive… but even then it didn’t appeal to me. I seem to remember it getting crazy review scores, like 96% and the like… but for whatever negative connotation it has on me, I do like some combat in my gaming, so I refrained.

Also, although there are exceptions… quite a few of those 16-bit ‘classics’ play like arse.

@LtSarge @colonelkilgore I love Ecco. Gets incredibly dark towards the end and a bit of a mindf**k but one of the more interesting Mega Drive games for sure.

@nessisonett well the fact that it gets dark interests me tbh… bit like the under appreciated Babe: Pig in the City. I didn’t watch that for years as I heard that it was ****… turns out it was just surprisingly pitch-as-black… and I loved it!

@colonelkilgore This is the final boss for reference 😂

Ni no Kuni PS3

@nessisonett oooh, nice! 😃

@colonelkilgore I mean, it is a very unique game even by 2022 standards so I'm not surprised that it got great reviews. It's hard to believe that it was a full release on the Mega Drive because the game is so experimental, I haven't played anything quite like it. I think I would've definitely enjoyed it more back when it came out.

@nessisonett Well that makes it even more interesting! Hard to believe that this kind of game came out in the early 90s.

2/3rds or so through The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap now. It's a fun game, although I'm not as impressed by it as I was by the Seasons/Ages duology on GBC. Progression gating also sometimes feels somewhat arbitrary, and I hate the way these games hide wallet upgrades behind easily missable side activities.

Still, so far, I think Capcom was better at making 2D Zelda games than Nintendo.