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

@Fizza Hmm, Herlock Sholmes, Sholmes Herlock, HA! Inspector Clouseau

@Fizza You have now received my attention

HOLY MOTHER OF MIA WHAT IS HAPPENING ANYMORE!?

I had like a big theory about this case and everything that has just gone straight out the window. This game is bonkers.

@Ralizah, @BruceCM I currently use a mid-end 64-bit Dell Inspiron 5567 with an Intel i7 chip and 8 GB RAM. I bought it in late 2017. My main concern would be if it could handle the graphics since it isn't a dedicated gaming rig. I haven't really had issues with older games, but I'm careful with anything I deem too graphically intense or modern. The Steam specs and Can You RUN It both seem to suggest I'll have issues.

@Ralizah Glad to learn that The Oath In Felghana is a fun time! I've heard the games that use the Napishtim engine are a lot like top down Zelda games, which are my forte. I've heard the games didn't become longer in length until Ys VII and up. No idea as to why the series chronology is that way, other than I think it has to do with in-game references including Adol's age.

Well, it isn't the i7 that's the problem, @Tyranexx .... Dells are generally pretty good but presumably, not being a 'gaming' machine, it's the graphics card? Should have guessed you'd looked into it well already, lol

Dance Dance Revolution MAX 2 Arcade right now.

You know, the more I play through The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles, the more similarities I start to notice between these two characters.

@Tyranexx So, it's difficult to pinpoint the exact model you bought without a serial number, but it seems like it probably shipped with an AMD Radeon R7 M445 GPU.

I compared it against the recommended GPU for the game and...

https://hitesti.com/compare/gpu/amd-radeon-r7-250-vs-amd-rade...

...I don't see why you'd have an issue. Findings seem to indicate your GPU is roughly on par with what you'd need to run the game smoothly (and far above minimum requirements). Also, your CPU is pretty good.

IMO, there's no reason you'd need a stronger laptop to play Memories of Celceta. You don't need gaming PCs to play upressed PS Vita games.

Of course, the good thing about Steam is that if you buy a game and it doesn't work for whatever reason, you can refund it if you played for less than two hours and initiate the refund within 14 days of purchasing it.

I did start Ys II yesterday. I gotta say, I LOVE the intro sequences Falcom creates for each game in the series. It turns out Ys DOES exist in the present day; I originally assumed Adol was spirited away to the past. Adol shows up to the floating land of Ys...unconscious. This seems to be a recurring thing in the series. XD He's found by a girl named Lilia and taken to her and her mother Banoa's home to recover. I explored Lance Village, learned that I can make residents happy by giving them gifts (not sure I'm going to take advantage of this other than if there's a reward, IE I found some money in a duckling's mouth), and then went to the local medical clinic to deliver Banoa's Letter; apparently, Lilia is terminally ill. Turns out the resident doctor was caught in a cave-in within the local mine. Adol is given some spending money to help kit up.

@BruceCM Nope, I'm not concerned about the i7, RAM, or even the SSD. It's mainly the on-board graphics I'm concerned about. I mostly bought the laptop for usual web/email use, some recreational programming, and running older/less intense games. Though until a few months ago, I hadn't really used it for gaming other than some oldie but goodie flash games (Before Adobe killed it) and the occasional MS-DOS run on Internet Archive's website emulators. XD I did learn that I could install and run my original Roller Coaster Tycoon disk though!

@Ralizah I apologize for not digging more yesterday; I was in a hurry and only snapped a photo of some of the basic specs so that I could transcribe that post later (Posted on my phone while out and about; didn't get home until very late). Device Manager shows that I have an Intel HD Graphics 620 GPU....Nothing great, but it functions and can run some oldie but goodies. I mostly came to my conclusion by my general mistrust of Intel-only graphics (my previous laptop was built for some gaming and used an AMD GPU) and via a couple of sites that seemed to suggest I'd have issues. I thank you for the link to Hitesti; I'm unfamiliar with that site and have bookmarked it for further benchmarks. Running my own comparisons, I might be okay if I take it easy with the graphics settings. I'll likely pick up Memories of Celceta in the next sale. Thanks for investigating!

I should mention that I've been meaning to build a desktop PC in the somewhat near future. Not only for gaming, but also for a bit of Unity and 3D modeling experimentation. My laptop is getting on in age but doesn't show any signs of replacement yet...other then it could use a new battery.

@Tyranexx lol no need to apologize on account of my nosiness.

OK, yeah, the GPU you have is a lot weaker than what was shipping in other similar laptops, then. Seems like your GPU is around minimum specs, in that case, but it may or may not be an issue. Some games are super well-optimized and can run well even when the GPU is below the minimum listed specs.

Fun fact about Ys II: Your Name director Makoto Shinkai actually designed the game's animated opening sequence, since he worked at Falcom for a period of time.

Although, personally, my favorite will always be the opening to the localized TurboGrafx collection

@Ralizah Well, at any rate, I could experiment a little with a beginning Celceta playthrough and then either refund the game or shelve it for a later machine. One of the sites I found was running some common games on a similar machine (though with an i5), and the FPS for games like Skyrim and WoW were within an acceptable range...though I admit I'm not picky when it comes to frames lol.

Interesting tidbit about Makoto Shinkai; I didn't know they used to work at Falcom! Your Name is definitely on my "Must Watch" list. I find the premise intriguing.

As for the TurboGrafx opening, I've found that in my wanderings, but I don't mind watching it again. It's so wonderfully done. Intros like that definitely had a lot of care put into them even back then.

Yeah & you know what happens to ships Adol goes on, @Tyranexx ... I'll leave Ralizah to talk details about laptops, since I don't know much about all that stuff! Glad Ys II is going well, anyway

@Royalblues I've actually never seen the intro to Shining Force CD. Good post.

Not sure about the storytelling claim, but it's true that a lot of Japanese games on older systems from the late 80s / early 90s possess a certain alluring aesthetic that has pretty much entirely disappeared from the industry at this point. Especially the PC/CD-ROM based ones.

I actually feel like the 32-bit era was ideal for realizing the full potential of traditional 2D gaming, since you could mix in 3D elements, create much more complex cinematics, and expand the scale at which games were built in general, which is why I feel like the libraries of the Saturn and PS1 often hold up better than that of the N64, which jumped headfirst into the polygonal future of 3D gaming.

Both have their own charm, though.

Like, compare the cinematic openings of Lunar 2 on Sega CD vs Sega Saturn/PS1:

It's a crapshoot as to what games will become rare over time, although physical copies of games from niche companies like NIS often shoot up in value months after release. Although I do think multiplatform game development and the prevalence of digital distribution will keep most modern systems from attaining that sort of dedicated collector's market.

I fully expect the 3DS and Vita libraries to become very rare as time goes on, though. Which has happened with older cartridge-based handhelds as well.

@BruceCM Thanks! I take it that Adol is an old hand with shipwrecks....Which means both Ys I and Lacrimosa of Dana weren't just flukes lol.

Started playing Jumping Flash. One of those games I very briefly played as a kid, and am only playing again now. It's alright.

Yeah, although you don't usually control Adol for them like in Ys VIII, @Tyranexx .... Did you miss the bit when it said about it in that game?

@BruceCM Believe me, I do recall Dogi's comment about breaking Adol out of prison (or walls; don't recall exactly how that went) and surviving multiple shipwrecks. XD

Yeah, Adol can't go anywhere without either some sort of accident or trouble, @Tyranexx ....

HOLY **** I LOVE ACE ATTORNEY SO MUCH.

Just finished the final investigation phase of Chapter 4 and oh my GOD what a twist. You're telling me goddamn MIKOTOBA was Sholmes' partner all along and that Susato and Iris might be RELATED?! This is too much to handle. But: all good things must come to an end I suppose and this final chapter will test my resolve to the limit. And I'm ready for whatever they're about to throw at me.

Just got Persona 5 Strikers. This game is a good game, very digestible.
Is anybody participating in this one https://www.square-enix-games.com/en_EU/news/what-does-final-... ?
I´m hasetand only play Nintendo so besides Advent Child I have not experienced FF VII until recently. Pre-ordered Crisis Core Reunion after playing VII. I might submit a video.