Topic: The Chit-Chat Thread

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@TheJGG Wonderful suggestions! While I'm tempted to shut down Nintendo's data servers, I'm fairly certain that's breaking a law or two. I like having a clean record. I've seriously considered taking the day off, but I want to reserve that time off in case scheduling for window-related pursuits doesn't pan out. I've actually used the internet blackout approach previously when it came to ill-timed Directs with some success, but those didn't fall during E3 lol. Alternatively, I've also considered just listening in and sneaking the occasional peek, but that isn't the same thing. At the very least, hopefully you don't miss the Direct...and that dose 2 of the Pfizer shot, if you experience any side effects, waits until after the hype levels die down a little to troll you.

At least the Square Enix presentation has better timing; IIRC, it's at 2:15 in the afternoon here. Needless to say they're one of my favorite RPG generators. It's probably foolish to hope for anything more on Dragon Quest XII, but I hope there's at least a rumble about that HD-2D remake for DQ III. Besides Nintendo, SE's presentation is the only one I'll bother to watch. There are other industry insiders I'd like to hear from, such as Ubisoft, but I'm happy to wait for any relevant news after the fact.

I typically wait at least several months before picking up a new console. I didn't get my Switch until late 2019 (Very good investment, especially with the stock issues that plagued 2020), bought my Wii U in the summer of 2015, picked up my original 3DS in January 2012, and grabbed my N3DS XL in late 2017. Different factors guided the purchase decisions for each. I'll likewise play the waiting game for the next Nintendo console or revision, which seems increasingly likely to show soon with all the rumors flying around. Still, I grab plenty of salt before sliding into those rumor articles and threads. XD

Monster Hunter Rise is certainly worth it, though it did take it a bit to click with me. Thankfully, the usual denizens of the respective thread here are VERY helpful. I've pretty much moved on from the game after 45 hours, though I'll likely dive back in for the occasional hub quest with some online friends. There's enough to keep someone busy for quite some time, even without the content updates. I'm also throttling game purchases for a bit; windows aside (been saving up for awhile anyway), I really don't need more of them right now. I've also pre-ordered a couple games - Ys IX: Monstrum Nox and The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles both for Switch - during Switch July. Excellent picks in regards to both Witcher 3 and Nier: Automata btw.

I think there's a light at the end of the tunnel regarding Covid, though I do agree that "normal", a word with a changing definition in any case, is still a ways off. Fingers crossed that your lockdown ends soon!

That looks like an insane, yet fun, track layout! Looks like you had a lot of fun even if some mistakes and sore arms came out of the session. Don't be too hard on yourself - we're all human, after all. Not perfectly oiled machines. I daresay you did better than I could have at any rate! Honestly, I probably would've been too nerved up to go very fast without putting in a LOT of practice beforehand lol.

I've probably mentioned it already, but I didn't have a lot of early exposure to other genres outside of platformers and a certain light gun game (Duck Hunt). Then of course there were arcade titles, but most of those were racing, light gun, or fighting games like Street Fighter and Tekken. Agreed on Twilight Princess, both on how its similarities to Ocarina of Time are strength, and that the HD version was disappointing. Truth be told, I got the Wii U release more for the Wolf Link amiibo and extra dungeon. It had been several years since I'd played the Wii version though, so it was nice to revisit that version of Hyrule again. Visually, it was less muddy, but it was a touch-up at best. I played it after Miiverse shut down though, so the stamps felt like a bit of a useless collectathon.

Pokemon is what I'd describe as a safe RPG. The gameplay mechanics, some of the music, and a few character arcs are pretty solid, but the games...haven't really changed much in some aspects. If you're in it for the plot though, tracking down one of the Gen 5 games, Black or White and their respective sequels would almost be worth it...if most DS games weren't inflated in price right now. I will say this much: some of the more recent Pokemon games (though I can't speak for Sword/Shield yet) needed to spend a little more time in development before they were released. They aren't broken messes and are perfectly playable, but many recent entries have felt soulless and barren in some aspects. Or maybe I'm just getting old, and my tastes are changing lol.

Oof. So some of the other VA work in Trials of Mana isn't much better? I've only heard some of Charlotte and Kevin's sound bits. I'm half tempted to try playing through in Japanese with English subtitles, but subs also drive me nuts...maybe I'll just mute them. XD There doesn't seem to be a lot of soul to them. According to GameFAQs thread I just found on the matter, some don't think much of the Japanese VA work either. Sub-par content like this also makes me appreciate good VA work when I hear it. Recent examples I've played I can think of are Xenoblade 1 (as well), Dragon Quest VIII, and Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia.

Maybe we should start publishing our responses in a book, for future perusal?

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Spoiler alert @Tyranexx, when I format it properly (and mind, these are only posts I wrote in the last three weeks!) it stretches to 33 A4 pages, meaning somewhere in the ballpark of sixty pages. By the end of the year we’ll have a full novel. I don’t even remember how we got to positing ten-paragraph posts in the first place, not that I’m complaining. So I’ll let you know if a five hundred page book turns up, containing hundreds of chapters of just our posts. What an idea. And the best part? It’s easy to organise, and the writing’s been done already.

Glad you like my advice. I too would want a clean criminal record, because unlike in Persona games having a criminal record isn’t cool and doesn’t make you an edgelord. I don’t know for sure but I personally struggle greatly with internet blackouts, especially with spoiler-sensitive topics like games, Nintendo Directs or movies. I don’t know why but I have this feeling that if you don’t watch an event live the dramatic and emotional weight is significantly reduced. I apply it towards live sport, shows, awards ceremonies, the whole shebang.

In 2019 I only missed one F1 Grand Prix, because of a swimming clash. I came home and watched the race but it didn’t feel the same… and since then I’ve made it my mission to watch every single race without exception. Last year I almost had another scheduling conflict but I had the perfect plan: stay at home and conduct the video calls while watching the race. Nobody suspected a thing. I’ll need to do it again this year for some races, like in Japan, which is at 8am, but we shall see…

I sure hope I don’t miss that Direct but after seeing what my father’s third shot did to him I’m more than apprehensive about my chances. I’ll let everyone know here if I suffer the indignation of missing the first E3 Direct in two years. That’s the thing about some events, if they’re smack dab in the middle of your day it kinda ruins everything. My first vaccine shot was at 10am and it’s in that awkward period of time where you can’t do your normal thing because you’re getting ready, and by the time you’re done it’s so late that there’s no point in trying to get back into it.

I share your sentiments of being only interested in Nintendo and Square Enix, although it’ll be a stretch to watch the show I'm very confident they’ll have a few surprises up their sleeves. They’ve been a class act for decades now (save that whole Final Fantasy XIV debacle). I also agree that it’s a fool’s errand expecting news on Dragon Quest XII because Yuji Horii made it clear that only the story is complete.

Honestly… that’s a little disappointing. Because this game in theory should have been in development for at least three years, give or take six months, at this point in time. I doubt it took significant effort to create new story content for DQXI S, and port it to PS4/Xbox One, so I’m interested to see where it goes. I’m prepared to wait though, as long as the finished product (and I mean FINISHED; lookin’ at you, Final Fantasy XV!) is good, it doesn’t matter. I do think we may get some more info on the Dragon Quest III remake though, it feels like a relatively small scale project a bit unlike the Link’s Awakening remake, which uses full 3D assets. But Nintendo and Square… that’s my jam.

Waiting to get consoles is an interesting strategy, especially if companies decide to phase out previous hardware immediately, which hasn’t happened for any of the above consoles. Now, or rather for the last two years, my gaming has entirely consisted of my Switch and the PS4/5. So leaping through the console generation has been quite smooth despite adopting the Switch a year into its life, the PS4 three years in, and the PS5 six weeks in. I wonder if there’ll ever be a PS5 revision, there may be more advanced cooling solutions but otherwise they’d betray the identity of the brand; sleek, sharp and beautiful. What a figure. It’s a beautiful thing when walking into the room.

Monster Hunter: Rise is already on my wish list. I’m very excited to get it, whether that happens in a month or two. I’ve done a pretty poor job of keeping to my pre-established game purchase schedule since March. At least I’ll have NieR: Automat and The Witcher 3 to console me. I think they should arrive in two weeks so I’ll have some more to say about them by the end of the month. The two games are as different as you can get, one’s basically a Western RPG with lots of branching paths and deep side quests, and another’s a JRPG with deep themes and some very conveniently placed ladders.

Apart from those two, which’ll set me back £35 including shipping (I had to weigh a PS4 game to see how much I’d have to spend, a copy of Demon’s Souls with a manual is just 82 grams. Whatever that is in Imperial units, with all due respect I hate that system), I’m done until E3’s over. I never pre-order stuff unless it’s something I’m guaranteed to enjoy (ports, step right in), and even then I leave it late. I can almost 100% guarantee that I’ll buy Skyward Sword HD on July 15th, the day before it comes out. Did it twice already and it works a charm. Near instant gratification, and the game can install overnight.

Saying I had a lot of fun going karting was an overstatement on my part, because it was bloody amazing. Just what I needed at the time. This lockdown had better end soon otherwise I’ll begin ripping out my hair! I believe even for non-racing fans it’ll awaken something in them, an instinct to drive faster. Thinking back on it I feel a bit daft for flooring the throttle immediately, because the top speed was so impressive the force pushed me back into my seat. My first few laps were ten seconds off my best time, so I was very much taking it easy! The section from the start of the lap until the acute corner is all flat, but at the start I was braking for every single one, then I began trusting the machine. Your last go was… a while ago, so maybe one day, or maybe in September, you can treat yourself, who knows? Eyes on the road though, it’s a long one till we’re out of this (heavily disputed) self-inflicted mess.

Well if your description’s anything to go by you hate the laughing dog. Out of the three amiibo I have, one of them is the Wolf Link & Midna one. I bought the Collector’s Edition with the Sound Selection CD and amiibo because of the emotional significance of the game. It was capable of running at sixty frames per second and Nintendo chose to make the choice for us. On PS4/5 there’d always be a choice, so I hope Nintendo gives us performance versus resolution. I’d choose performance every time though

Pokémon is a safe RPG, and that’s one of the reasons why I have not been interested in the series as of late. It doesn’t promote change or experimentation, so it’s basically like playing with the game, with a different world, Pokémon and music, and story. That’s the best strength of the Xenoblade, Zelda, Final Fantasy series, they always try something new. Zelda tried many graphical styles before settling on the cel-shaded graphics we have now for Breath of the Wild; Final Fantasy goes between steampunk, magitek and pure sci-fi, and Xenoblade similarly alters the balance of the two main ingredients. I think Xenoblade’s battle system (for X and 1 at least) is a real winner so they should find ways to expand on it.

It’s a shame but yeah, Trials of Mana is not too good. We can’t hewlp it that muwch, becawse that’s the way of the worwld. Uwu! No thanks, gettouddahere! It’s bad enough with UwU senpai speak but a lisp as well? Please. I didn’t even touch the Japanese dub and it’s that bad as well? Well I’ll listen to a podcast or something while playing the game should I find myself on it later.