Topic: What Game(s) are You Currently Playing?

I highly recommend any SteamWorld game with either "Dig" or "Heist" somewhere in the name as of this writing. SteamWorld Dig 2 is my favorite, but SteamWorld Heist is a close second.

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr's Journey - Played this for a good while yesterday and finally located the first star cure. I also FINALLY nabbed the Drill Bros. power-up, so my next session will likely be a kind of bean hunt. I think I'm a little over halfway through the main game now? I expected to like this one as much as Superstar Saga, but so far I think the first is the stronger game. Even if more Fawful is a huge plus. ("I have chortles!")

The Bowser Jr's Journey side mode is an improvement over Bowser's Minions in the SS 3DS remake. Some of the mechanics were cleaned up, so it's a less grindy side mode. It's a nice distraction from the main game even if it doesn't quite scratch my strategy game itch. The best part about it is the plot; while it isn't anything too stellar, it's neat to see the dynamics between Junior, the Koopalings, and some of the minions. Junior starts out as a spoiled brat (if that wasn't already obvious from the games he's appeared in) but experiences some decent character development. I think I'm likewise a little over halfway done with this side mode too, even if it's harder to find decent guides to use as a benchmark.

Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana (Switch) - Not my first time playing this, so I'm playing through New Game+ for slightly faster sailing. This is the game that made me fall in love with the Ys series and become way more curious about Falcom's other franchises. I'm early in Chapter 2 (which is a long 'un), up to where Adol, Sahad, and Laxia are tasked to explore more of the Isle of Seiren. The plot takes a nosedive for a bit in lieu of exploring and rounding up more castaways, but there's the occasional dream about this mysterious "Dana" that only Adol seems to experience....

This is part of my gradual Ys story path playthrough, which is outlined over on the excellent Digital Emelas. I've read Ys VIII is mostly self-contained compared to the rest of the series, but I now know there are a couple subtle nods to other games. I'll get to Ark of Napishtim on PC not long after finishing this one.

I've beaten both FF VI and Halo CE evolved this week. So I started up a small little indie game that was only $2 on a launch sale, Crypt Stalkers. It's basically an nes castlevania game and its great.

Thankfully, it has difficulty settings for at least the first game. They also included a 6 stage sequel which is much harder than the first game. The first only took about 30-40 minutes to beat. Then the second was well over an hour due to difficulty. But I did put it on infinite lives and while that helps, but no means does it make the game easier. You're still getting the floor wiped with you. The good news is that when you die it starts you at the latest screen which is a great feature. Because you'll be dying alot.

Since I've beaten both of the 2 main campaigns, I started the handheld game which is basically a demake of the 1st game in GB aesthetic. Love that pea green look. Only on the 2nd stage for this.

Other than that, I'm jumping back into color splash after taking a 1 week hiatus. Last i played, I got the 1st big paint star, now onto the 2nd section.

playing grinding Towers of Time in Mortal Kombat 11 for my Playstation 4 til tomorrow to get some classic outfits for Mileena. They're like the solid unitard MK2 or MK3 outfits for Mileena

Playing Dark Souls but sadly not enjoying. My main complaint is that the game is being too vague on where to go next. Doesn't help how the secrets in here encourage using a guide which I do not enjoy.

I'm playing the original Final Fantasy 7. Mainly so I have a reference point when I start Rebirth.

Played a little bit of Xenoblade Chronicles 3 again and had fun. If I end up liking or even loving the game after all, that would be awesome.

Today, started playing Splatoon, the original Wii U one. Might as well get in a few last turf wars before the servers go offline for good Monday. Also, Splatoon had an update... it was weird downloading a Wii U game update in 2024.

Some GBA gaming tonight with Jimmy Neutron: Jet Fusion. Fun Metroidvania game based off the Nickelodeon show.

I'm continuing my slow burn of Triangle Strategy (currently on Chapter XIII) and what a game it is. I haven't been that invested in a story since Xenoblade Chronicles DE and my choices feel like they matter so much that I want to replay the game and see the other paths (which I never do). It's almost a pity to break up the exploration/VN with the combat (it's excellent but I'm dying to see the story!). My only gripe with the game is that I sometimes don't feel like grinding and now my party is around lv19 against lv21-23 enemies. It means that if you want to vary your party you have to grind for XP so that most of your members are up for the challenge. I feel like the main difficulty is balanced around you sticking to the same few units (Serenoa and his closest retainers). I'll try to meet the game halfway: instead of levelling up everyone, I'll check the battles in advance and decide on a specific party, then I'll grind to get only those specific units up to speed.

I'm also playing a bit of FC24 against Legendary AI but I'm getting consistently smoked because I can't defend 1v1s. It's hard!

I started playing Radiant Silvergun. I kinda bought it on a whim at PAX but its a Treasure classic of sorts so I think that's worthwhile. It is a very good shmup, though definitely more complex with its attack variety than what I would associate with the genre, barring obviously the ones where you get items to automatically change your weapon (I dunno how much of that is because of me just not being knowledgeable about the genre or not). Speaking of which, Treasure really like the auto lock-on weapons huh?

It is also a game that even on Normal difficulty I've yet to beat the first set of levels. Maybe for the best since I assume you can just beat the game in an hour or less if you're good.

Still playing Diablo IV and Banjo on Xbox.

I've been having some zelda withdrawals and I couldn't decide between ALBW, SS,
or OoA. Ultimately, I wanted to play something smaller since I might be buying tales of kenzera zau soon, so I went with Cadence of Hyrule since I've been able to beat that in 3 hrs before. I'll probably take a little more time with this playthrough and do just about everything I can to milk it.

Playing mostly World of Warcraft Retail when I have the time. Right now I am trying to unlock the races I never got around to unlocking and trying to get my Frost mage to level 70.

I am also finishing up GM mode on WWE 2k23 with my son which we are on the last season of it. I am enjoying it for the most part some things kinda bug me like the fact that you can only build rivalries up with tag teams with matches only. Also trying to figure out why a rivalry starts or doesn't increase is annoying but other then that I am enjoying it.

I am trying to get back to Yakuza Like a Dragon but just don't have the time and when I do, I usually end up playing something else. Hopefully I can get back to it soon.

I can't stop coming back to Splatoon 3! Played some Turf War matches and a few Rainmaker matches, and had another attempt in Side Order. Also played a lot of the original Splatoon before the Wii U's online shut down. I should really take a break from Splatoon... I wanna play more of Princess Peach: Showtime.

@Sunsy That last update for Splatoon 1 was a security update. If I recall correctly, hackers were taking remote control of others' Wii Us in that game and Mario Kart 8, so security updates were rolled out for both games on August 2nd in last year. That was before Nintendo announced that the 3DS and Wii U's online would be closed... I wonder that's why it got discontinued?

Picked up Persona 5 Royal (3rd playthrough, 1st on the Switch) after a year or so away from it (including a full playthrough of Persona 3 Reload).

I know I love this game, but even then I think I forget how truly amazing it is. Just everything about it - the gameplay, the characters, the setting, the music, the art style - all resonates with me. I never thought I'd find my new favourite game of all time after 25 years of gaming but...yep, this is definitely my favourite game of all time at this point. Absolute masterpiece.

I'm ~40 hours in so far. Looking forward to spending another 70 with it...

Finishing Unicorn Overlord, almost time for the last mission. I think the last 5 or so hours were rather stale, especially liberation missions feeling like the same one after the other. Really my only major complaint about the game - a lot of battles emulate one another in context and approach, so can get a bit boring. That said, still loving the game. Battles when finished do give a strong sense of accomplishment (even if they were as I said a bit samey), character formations are great to play with, I love exploring the world and digging in nooks for treasures, soundtrack is beautiful… overall gets my highest recommendation, just don’t expect too much variety in the battle setups.

Oh, and it did something great I wasn’t expecting, and that was scratching my itch for a chocobo hot n cold minigame. The mining activity is a total blast, and searching with the treasure maps is a rewarding experience I can’t gush about enough.

Play it!

I think what’s next for me is finishing Rebirth and then finally giving Majora’s Mask on 3DS a shot.

@MarioVillager92 Oh ok, so looks like I'm going to expect an update for Mario Kart 8 if I ever play it again. Felt so strange getting an update in 2024, especially on a system that's no longer supported.

On topic, loving Princess Peach Showtime, currently playing it.

Playing the new NSO snes games. The Wrecking Crew puzzle game kind of confuses me; I wish they could give it English subtitles 😝 R-type is good. I just beat Amazing Hebereke story mode in... a few minutes... because the AIs suck so you can beat everyone up instantly level after level. But it was very cute and enjoyable while it lasted!

Began Atelier Ryza 3 today. Found a levitating cat.

@Sunsy Yeah. You can still update games even after the online ended, so that's good at least.

Mario Strikers Battle League Football (Switch)
It is more challenging, than I thought it would be. Won the first Cup today, on my second try. The game feels alright to good.

Cultures 2 Gates Of Asgard (PC)
Finished the third campain mission today. I like this game. Nice music and atmosphere.

Just played through that Herbereke Popoon Snes game on NSO. Only meant to give a quick go but played the whole thing and beat it (30 mins). It kind of reminded me of Smash Bros in a way. It is a lot of fun.
Worth a go!