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

I'm trying to get back into Xenoblade Chronicles X. It's hard since it's been so long since I've played it, but I'm way too far into it to start over. I think I need to just wander around a bit getting used to battling again and leveling up so I can actually beat the battle that forced me to quit in the first place.

Right now I'm in between Forza Horizon 5 and Ori and the Will of Wisps. I just got Xbox Gamepass for PC so I have a ton of games to access now.

Forza Horizon 5

Can believe girl avatars still use the guys motion capture movements. They emote & move like dudes. Looks so dumb ridiculous, uncanny.

The Sims Bustin' Out PS2

Have moved in at Tinsel Bluffs mansion.

I played a handful of hours of Romancing Saga 3 and I just couldn't get into it. I think it's because of the non-linearity of its design is what's putting me off? I'm used to my jrpgs being fairly linear. Establish characters, establish the world, gear up, go to the next town, grind levels, gear up, go to the next town, grind levels, repeat. Romancing Saga's moto seems to be "go wherever, do whatever". Talking to people, uncovering side quests, getting invested in the world itself somehow seems more important than the main quest of defeating the sinstrals.

Right now I'm sucked fully into Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and absolutely loving it so far. I've been able to use Pokemon I've wanted to use for ages like Torterra, Honchkrow and Lickilicky and it's actually been really bloody difficult as well, I've blacked out at least 4 times before the 3rd gym where I am right now. Before that however, I was massively into Paper Mario when that dropped on NSO. Great writing, character design and especially music and battle mechanics. I've already put 12 hours in and am on the chapter with all of the Shy Guys, planning to come back after beating BDSP.

Metroid Prime Hunters - I'm about to reach 2,000 hunters/Guardians defeated on a 100% file I intend to reach 10,000 with. The goal should let me know two things about a single file's ending screen. Is it going to roll over to 10,000 hunters/Guardians defeated? Will a single file record beyond a playtime of 99h 59m? I think the counter will roll over to 10,000, but I have doubts about the playtime. I know for Federation Force it stopped at 99h 59m as I worked towards 100% and all MODS. I would be somewhat shocked and very impressed if Hunters' ending screen goes into the hundreds of hours.

Metroid: Other M - Began my first run in over six years this last week, and stopped in the Biosphere area where the Groganch species is first seen. The gameplay is pretty much what I have been excited to get back to recently, and I really do love the fact that Samus can make contact with certain enemies and not bounce around taking damage (contact damage bothers me in both Returns and Dread when the Melee Counter exists). Other M gets the close range interactions right. Story-wise, I've skipped every cutscene since first beating Other M back in 2010 if I'm playing through the game, so I've found it a challenge to sit through any cutscene so far. Visually, it's great, but it may be hard for me to listen to any cutscene fully.

The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes - I received both Tri Force Heroes and Age of Calamity for Christmas, so I should be in for some interesting Zelda experiences leading into Breath of the Wild's sequel. It's not as rewarding as Federation Force as a single player experience and I do think Tri Force Heroes would be at its best as a multiplayer experience, but I'm enjoying what I've played so far of the game. I'm currently working through the Volcano area with the Hinox Mine beaten last night. The Hinox Brothers did give me some trouble and is the first time that I felt that the balance of the game may have been off. After a few tries and adjusting my strategy, I got them defeated comfortably with a single Link equipped with the boomerang. Favorite stage so far would be Abyss of Agony. Those levels offer what I love most about Zelda's gameplay in a great, compact package.

I've been playing Forza Horizon 5 for a few weeks now and I've really been enjoying it. I liked Horizon 4 but never ended up buying it since I knew that 5 was on the way. I'm not much of a car person, and I know next to nothing about them, but you don't really need to know much of anything about cars to enjoy this game, which is nice.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity Expansion Pass. Didn't know what to expect with this one but I'm very happy already, with loads of new story missions, quests, challenges and new music. The second pack, Guardian of Remembrance, seems more meaty than the first pack, Pulse of the Ancients, but they mesh well together, so I'm excited to see how it goes.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Fighter's Pass Vol. 2. Held off on this for a while but I've played a few of the fighters and on some of the stages and I'm astounded with how much detail and care was put into realising some of these frankly outrageous fighter ideas. Pyra & Mythra is my favourite due to the flexibility and balance between agility and raw power, even though Pyra is already really agile to begin with. Sephiroth is understandably slow but very powerful with a long reach, but it doesn't quite suit me...

Final Fantasy VII. Doesn't age well understandably but held up much better than I imagined. The game's still a joy to play even though it's over two decades old, and this is my first time playing it at all. The QoL features like speed boost and instant Limit Gauge filling makes grinding more tolerable and allows me to effectively skip (read: mow down) bosses. I still can't believe the 2020 Remake started out like this, it's unbelievable. The love and care Square put into both games is praiseworthy.

Dance Dance Revolution SUPERNOVA PS2 USA

Shin Megami Tensei V - Getting so close to the end now. Arrived at the Empyrean, made my alignment choice, and finally obtained the ability to fuse demons at a higher level than my own.

Hopefully I'll be able to finish it up by next weekend. It's a really good game, but after over a month of only playing it I'm ready to move on.

Paper Mario - the first one. Just felt like playing it - I finished chapter 1.

@MarioLover92 I've literally been playing it as well since it came out on NSO. I'm currently on the chapter with all of those Shy Guys (I believe it's Chapter 5?) and it is fantastic. The only reason I haven't been playing more of it is because of my crippling BDSP addiction but I've started it back up again while I wait for someone to trade me an Eevee.

I may as well ask this whilst a lot of people are talking about it: would it be a good idea to get Skyward Sword HD? I didn't find OoT on NSO to be all too engaging (lost interest after Dodongo's Cavern) but I've heard the Switch version of SS is fantastic.

@Fizza Yeah I'm loving my revisit of it, though I'm playing on the Wii VC. That Shy Guy chapter is actually chapter 4.

@korosanbo Good to know, that's what I had trouble with when I played Skyward Sword. I'll probably pick it up once I catch that on sale.

Lately, been playing the games I got for Christmas, Shin Megami Tensei V, Sonic Colors, and Cruis'n Blast on Switch. On the PC, been enjoying S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky and Wing Commander Academy.

Also, playing Asphalt 9 and World of Tanks Blitz, enjoying their holiday events.

I’m playing 2064 Read Only Memories. It’s quite fun, great story and characters.

Dance Dance Revolution EXTREME 2 PS2

I have to start from beginning again after my latest save data got corrupted from my corrupted PS2 memory card. 😑
Fortunately i bought two memory cards as replacement and i started to copy my save data from slot 1 to slot 2 after i played PS2 USA games.

SLY Cooper collection on PSNOW
Octopath Traveler and Game Pass
Astral Chain on Switch

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 - Currently in the middle of Chapter 5 and just made it to Fonsett Village; I'm currently using Rext/Morag/Nia for my main team. I'm still enjoying my time with this one and am now more invested in the plot. That said, I don't think I'm QUITE as fond of it as previous series entries, but time will tell.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Switch) - Just booted this one up yesterday evening. It's as visually stunning as the first game with a great soundtrack and some fun platforming to boot. I'm only a couple hours in but am already enjoying many of the QoL improvements. Ori's sword was long overdue. XD