Ys: Memories of Celceta (Steam) - A pretty fun Ys title all told, especially when it comes to gameplay. It refines the play system first used in Ys Seven that allows for easy party member switching and fun, fast-paced combat. The plot was fine albeit somewhat predictable, though I feel Adol's amnesia angle was played pretty well. We also get some glimpses at Adol's earlier life through memories. Like previous Ys titles I've played, the character/scene art is beautiful. Falcom's music department as usual does pretty well here too, though the OST didn't grab me as much as Ys Origin or VIII/Lacrimosa of Dana. Graphically, it looks somewhat decent for a game that started life on the PS Vita, but the visuals definitely aren't modernized.
My one major complaint is how the ending just...ends. On one hand, I can appreciate the "This is all Adol wrote in this journal" explanation as that does technically happen IRL. But it seems like a lazy cop-out. What happened to Adol's Celcetan companions? What was the fallout related to Celceta/Romn after Gruda's meddling? What happened to Eldeel post game? (I presume he went to "sleep" like Feena and Rhea from Ys I & II, but....
All in all, a decent ARPG, though there are stronger Ys games IMO. Granted, this is the canon/true version of Ys IV after it borrows material from the earlier two versions of the game.
@Fizza Glad you enjoyed the original Paper Mario! I've not played the original yet - I have it backlogged on Wii U - but your post is encouraging. I've played all other Paper Mario titles to date minus TTYD (I'm beyond thrilled this is coming to Switch) and some fabled 3DS title that may or may not exist. All have ranged from flawed yet decent (Color Splash), to pretty fun with one major flaw (Origami King; really enjoyed it, but the combat killed it for me a bit) to amazing (Super Paper Mario). It's a fun series, and I'm not against Nintendo getting experimental. Just...maybe keep battles somewhat traditional with a twist like with the M&L titles for example.
Starting off the month of spooks, I just started and beat Limbo for the first time.
Certainly a strange little experience. It's very much a game of halves: half of it has some of the most refined puzzle design I've seen in a platformer, making full use of the game's limited moveset to create some extremely creative situations/solutions that make you feel like a mastermind for figuring them out (the latter half especially has some utterly brilliant ones)....and then the other half has more trial-and-error than troubleshooting a PC, driving you to the brink of insanity with the mental gymnastics it asks you to perform.
That being said though? I still very much enjoyed my time with Limbo. Yeah the repetition is really damn annoying and rears it's ugly head more times than I would like, but man: if this isn't one of the most fascinating little adventures I've gone on. The atmosphere/style is unnerving and breathtaking in equal measure, the music (the little of it that there is anyway) is intense yet hopeful and, like I mentioned earlier, the good puzzles are REALLY DAMN GOOD.
Overall, while I don't think I'd go as far as calling it one of the best games ever made (like the majority of people who have played it seem to do), Limbo is one hell of an experience that, despite my gripes, I would wholeheartedly recommend anyone who is a fan of puzzle-platformers to try at least once in their lifetime. 8/10 and I plan on tackling Inside in the very near future as well!
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@Fizza If you haven't bought it yet, Inside seems to be 90% off right now at least on the US eShop. I just snagged it with points. I quite enjoyed Limbo (I think I would agree on the 8/10).
I just completely finished Sea of Stars. It was a fun game. Quite possibly the easiest RPG I've ever played, but then I'm not even sure you should completely call it an RPG. It's just about as much a puzzle-platformer as it is an RPG because just as much of the game is solving puzzles to figure out how to move around the world. That doesn't make it bad, just different than I was expecting from all the Chrono Trigger comparisons. It doesn't compare to that game (but nothing does!), but I definitely enjoyed it, and the cameo at the end if you 100% it is fun. Garl might have been a little too annoyingly perfect, but the characters and the story were good, although I thought the ending left a little to be desired. 9/10 for me because despite the niggles I may have, it was just a pure fun game to play.
Thought I'd bust out a classic or two to try out the Analogue Pocket (although you can't really 'beat' Tetris!) and forgot how easy SML was! Beat it first time with a couple of dozen lives left even though I haven't played it in years. Played it again a couple of days later and beat it with 30+ lives left. Still loads of fun though and looks great on the Pocket without the blurry screen from the original GB.
I just completely finished Sea of Stars. It was a fun game. Quite possibly the easiest RPG I've ever played, but then I'm not even sure you should completely call it an RPG. It's just about as much a puzzle-platformer as it is an RPG because just as much of the game is solving puzzles to figure out how to move around the world. That doesn't make it bad, just different than I was expecting from all the Chrono Trigger comparisons. It doesn't compare to that game (but nothing does!), but I definitely enjoyed it, and the cameo at the end if you 100% it is fun. Garl might have been a little too annoyingly perfect, but the characters and the story were good, although I thought the ending left a little to be desired. 9/10 for me because despite the niggles I may have, it was just a pure fun game to play.
I've heard comparisons to Golden Sun - which I can totally see from my first few hours with it (they're both big on overworld puzzles).
Me And The Professor On Summer Vacation. What a lovely game. Gave me warm feelings, from start to finish. A game that made me feel, like visiting loved ones.
River City Girls. Fun time - great art style and music, and I love the general concept of classic beat-em-up gameplay on a semi-open map. Only criticism is that the gameplay got a bit repetitive after a while.
Hi-Fi Rush. Had a lot of fun with this one, despite some minor gameplay gripes like the platforming, the lack of a lock-on feature (that motorcycle shield enemy is the bane of my existence because of this), and the "use Peppermint/Macaron to break defenses" enemy types when they start mix and matching different types in one fight.
Also finally getting around to FE Engage. Gameplay is pretty fun and the visuals are pretty nice, though I'm still not sold on some character designs.
After chipping away at it for the past 2-3 weeks, I finally did my first ever complete run of Slay the Spire!
What started as a pretty innocuous run that I started pretty much as a way of unwinding after a long day of work very quickly spiralled into one of the most chaotic, nerve-wracking and adrenaline-pumping gaming experiences of my entire life and good lord: did I enjoy every single second of it.
The character I ended up going all the way with, ironically, happened to be the one I underestimated the most: the Defect. Whereas I had had some very enjoyable (if ultimately failed) runs with both the Ironcald and the Silent, I could never quite get to grips with the Defect's Orb-based gameplay, resulting in me picking them for this run moreso out of not having played them for a while rather than genuinely thinking they could go all the way.
yeah I was dead f***ing wrong, holy hell this character is INSANE
I'm not sure whether it was just the run I was on (I did manage to get a bunch of really good/cool events) but dude: building a ludicrous collection of Frost/Lightning orbs (getting buffed to an almost comical degree at the end of each turn), launching some of the most busted Power cards I've ever seen (one of them literally upgrades every single card in your deck for the rest of combat I'm sorry W H A T) and slowly building my way towards an absolute onslaught in the later turns was some of the most fun I've had in a LONG while. What can I say: the little bot that could has really wormed their way into my heart 💖
Overall, I finished my winning run with a time of 1h 14m (and about 7h 26m of total playtime so far) and am already itching to get back to it whenever I can (especially with the new character I unlocked from beating it for the first time). Not much else to say other than PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD PLAY SLAY THE SPIRE YOU WON'T REGRET IT I SWEAR
@Fizza Defect is the epitome of a wildcard character. Either your run doesn’t get off the ground early on and you fail miserably, or you’re steamrolling on a deck that essentially plays itself. I’ve used him as a good pallet cleanser for whenever I get bored with the other characters.
@Kirbo100 well, I hate to say it, but you missed out on alot this year 🤣. 2023 had a ton of bangers. But I'm glad you enjoyed the game. I hope it gets some praise at the game awards, not that it matters all that much. But still.
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