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

I've been playing SnowRunner for a few weeks on Xbox now and I'm loving it - Something strangely addictive about driving a huge truck down a muddy forest track while pulling a trailer full of logs. I've been playing it so much that I haven't actually touched my Switch in over a month, with only a few breaks on Xbox for some Shredder's Revenge and Rocket League in between.

I've been trying to complete all the contracts on the 4 Michigan area maps first, so haven't actually encountered any actual snow yet - just a lot of flooded roads and muddy trails so far. The tutorial did briefly send me to do a contract in the snow in Alaska, but I couldn't get my truck up a tiny hill because of the ice so headed back to do the Michigan maps first. I've got better vehicles now so Alaska should be a bit easier when I get to it - my trailer is probably still abandoned on that icy hill though!

@KilloWertz It's been a while since I've played XC, but I'm almost certain there's a toggle on the map to show the side quest routes - I think that was one of the QOL features that was added to the Definitive Edition. Can't remember how to toggle it though....

Star Wars The Skywalker Saga is really a big game. This should take at least two or three weeks to 100%. Gameplay wise it is good Lego fun as usual.

@dmcc0 Thanks. I'll look into it the next time I'm playing the game.

Finally gave up on getting every collectible in Digimon Survive after beating the final routes I missed during my initial run (only one collectible left, but it will take me hours of replay just to get it). Got bored skipping through tons of dialogue and battle scenes. As a visual novel, the skipping function is awful compared to other VNs that let you skip everything much quicker. Part of that is because of the battle scenes that interrupt the dialogue (proving further that this game's real problems is the existence of the battle scenes, not the visual novel elements), but another part is also due to how you interact with the characters. Instead of having a "one-button-skips-all" system like most VNs, you have to manually select the locations where the characters you want to speak to are in before you begin the actual skipping.

I love the story itself though and I certainly didn't regret buying the game. My only regret is that I didn't beat the other routes before I went to the "True Route," resulting in a True End that didn't feel as satisfying. They should've locked the True Route until you beat all the three routes like most visual novels. Again, Bandai has a lot to learn when it comes to creating VNs.

Sadly, this also means I won't have any reason to touch my Switch again for a long while until I finish my SMT journey on my 3DS (still waiting for my used New 3DS to arrive via eBay). Currently still trying to finish Strange Journey: Redux and I haven't touched SMT IV: Apocalypse, the two Devil Survivor games and the first Soul Hackers yet, not to mention Soul Hackers 2 on Steam which I already pre-ordered. I also want to replay the SMTs I've played too because I haven't done my NG+ run for them yet with all the extra content. Then after all of that, I might get started on the Fire Emblem franchise beginning with Three Houses and continuing with Three Hopes if I have the time... in two to three years, depending on how fast Persona 3's PC port comes out and whether if I have the mood to play Persona 5: Royal. Oh yeah, and I forgot about Chaos;Head Noah on Switch which I also pre-ordered (coming out this October), so maybe that will get me back on my Switch sooner than I expected though.

I told myself when I bought those SMT games that I have an entire library of games that will last me for years, and I guess I wasn't exaggerating. lol It's honestly surprising to be honest since I'm not that big of a gamer and usually avoid most games that everyone is excited to buy every single year, so I never really saw myself as someone who would have my time occupied by gaming, at least not in recent years. It makes me kinda wistful about those old TV shows I abandoned when I started on my SMT binge half a year ago. I hope I could get back to watching them again someday, since I stopped mid-season some of the most acclaimed TV series you would've heard of like Breaking Bad, The Wire, Mad Men, and The Sopranos. But I digress.

Let's just hope that the gaming world won't come up with anything that will satisfy my finicky taste in the next few years, because more games that I might not have the time for isn't what I really need right now. lol

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 - Over 20 hours in and buried in Chapter 3. The plot was moving along nicely before this point, and still would be if I didn't get so sidetracked with exploration and side quests. So far it's an amazing game; I'm borderline addicted lol. The only minor letdown so far is that most of the tracks don't catch my ear as much as the previous entries outside of a couple of pieces, but I still have a lot of game left.

Kirby's Return to Dream Land (Wii U via Wii Mode) - Still diving into a couple of stages every now and again when I don't have time to get sucked into the above. This is a pretty fun one overall, though I've heard the main draw of it is the multiplayer elements...which I'm not using. Classic 2.5D Kirby with a more modern lens, and the most modern title I've played to date since I discovered I like the platformers a couple of years ago. I'm about to face the boss for the 4th world.

Playing SMT: Strange Journey Redux at the moment, clearing the final portion of the Neutral Route, and I'm bored to tears. The story's fine, don't get me wrong, but the dungeon crawling, god. I hope the Persona 3 port won't bored me as much as I remember how tedious Tartarus was from when I last played.

I've finally made it to Street Fighter Alpha 2 in the SF 30th Anniversary Collection and there's a big reason why that's such a big deal; it's the introduction of the character I've wanted to play since I first got the collection: Sakura. I've always loved her personality, story arc and designs but I was terrified I wasn't going to like her playstyle (a similar thing happened with Charlie in Alpha: love the backstory and design, but I can't play charge characters to save my life. Maybe another time buddy....). However, after finally playing her, I can confidently say.....that she's my new favourite shoto. Her moves feel so good to land with (particularly her chargeable Hadoken), her air moves like Heavy Punch cross up so well, her super moves are excellent and, best of all, her animations are amazing (particularly her animation when she gets knocked down, her face is absolute gold). I can say without a shadow of a doubt that I've fallen in love with them and I can't wait to play more of her in both Alpha 2 AND 3 (and considering how most of the other characters I've liked playing as have the most white bread personalities ever made, that makes me more happy than you could ever imagine).

Also this.

This is amazing.

Everyone’s favorite IRL game — Jury Duty!

But I did bring my Switch, just haven’t started it yet. Maaaaaaybe Puyo Puyo or Super Mario Sunshine.

Took me forever to install an undub mod for Soul Hackers on my 3DS. I know a lot of people think it's weird for an English speaker to want Japanese audio if I'm just gonna read the subtitles anyway, but I'm just more comfortable with the Japanese language in a Japanese-originated game. Call it purism, call it weeabooism, I just consider it as an appreciation of the language.

I've been told vague reasons why Great Ace Attorney 2 is better than the original but so far the real reason is that the pacing is back to normal. The series was already getting worse at pacing, but the first game's ideas to "switch things up" in that regard was a bad idea that I'm glad they're not doing again. They found the formula for this series in Justice for All and stuck with it for a good reason.

@Maxenmus I really enjoyed the story of Strange Journey. And I quite like the dungeon crawling, apart from that one really tricky area with all the warping.

Not sure what you’ll think of Soul Hackers gameplay wise as it’s also a dungeon crawler and a 1990s product. But I loved it too.

Gameplay wise, Apocolypse is my favourite. It took what IV did and refined it. People didn’t like story for being more like Persona but I think it’s better than SMT V in that department.

Overclocked is also great, 70% gameplay vs 30% story so like Digimon Survive flipped around.

I hear hints (that can’t be expanded on due to the embargo) that Soul Hackers 2 will be divisive from SMT YouTubers with review codes. So I’m intrigued how it’ll pan out.

@JoeDiddley
The Redux version is significantly worse with Womb of Grief.

Soul Hackers is fine so far, but I already accidentally made the wrong choice and picked the Fire line for Hitomi and I'm forced to restart again because Megidola is the best, c'mon.

I'll probably play Apocalypse once and not bother with the NG+ if I hate it enough, just like I did with SMT V (though the latter gives me more reason not to bother with NG+ since the only different content between routes is in the last 20% of the game).

I liked Survive, but didn't really enjoy the gameplay affecting the story, so I'm not sure how I'd feel about having more gameplay... lmao

Soul Hackers 2's trailer alone is already divisive. The Steam discussion board is a mess and is full of "Stop pretending people care about this stupid game" topics.

@Maxenmus from memory I think you do a strength build for the protagonist if you’re restarting Soul Hackers.

I saw the credits on Strange Journey Redux and Apocolypse but I’m a fake fan as I avoided Womb of Grief after a couple of floors on the former and did the ending avoiding 2 extra long dungeons for the latter. Best not to get burned out.

@JoeDiddley
You can't access the full Womb of Grief till NG+ anyway, which I'm planning to skip until I finish all my other SMT games (so that I could start playing all the NG+ for all of them, except SMT V and maybe SMT IV:A).

Kirby Star Allies.

Not really enjoying the first Soul Hackers for a few reasons.

• The Magnetite system was a bit annoying at first until I figured out that you could basically farm it using Hitomi and your Zoma.
• The story's kinda... dull. I guess cyberpunk is cool and all, but it all feels so mundane compared to other SMT games with their more mystical and grandiose storylines dealing with gods and devils. Here, you deal with... mafia mobsters...
• The characters are... okay. Feels like they came out of a Persona game rather than a Demon Summoner game: teenagers with attitude sticking it to the man.
• The casino sucks so much, but only because I'm not good at Poker. I know the basics of Poker, but I couldn't get any winning hands most of the time (often only getting no higher than "one pair"). The way they designed the Poker game doesn't seem like you'll get even a flush 9 times out of 10 no matter how I tried to get my cards to match. I seriously don't know what I'm doing wrong. Also, why do I have to learn how to play Poker in a JRPG about demon summoning? What am I doing with my life?
• Dated skill-transfer system for your demons, meaning the kind of skills your demons inherit during fusion are random. I'm glad they've decided to update it as early as Nocturne (can't remember if Strange Journey had the updated system... even though I literally just finished it a few days ago lol).
• Recruiting demons is a chore, more so than other games. I kinda like that the alignment of your party has to be the same as the demons you're recruiting as that makes more logical sense... but man, it's still kinda tedious. I literally gave up on completing my compendium about an hour in.
• NO DEMON LORE. Boo. I play these games to learn about the interesting mythologies of different cultures.

All in all, definitely a very dated game. NOT recommended as your first SMT game.

Kirby ball roll eating strawberries game

Started up Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA with the Game Trial that's currently on here in Europe and made my through all of the prologue and most of Chapter 1 (right up to where you unlock Sahad at least).

As my first introduction to the real time JRPG genre (Xenoblade and the like), I must say: I'm impressed. It's got a lovely style to it, the voice acting is pretty good for the most part and hacking and slashing through enemies is great fun. I may have a few gripes with it at the moment (animations are quite janky at points, the frame rate stutters often and switching characters is a bit cumbersome at points) but I can definitely see myself coming back to this one. Whether I'll bite the bullet and get it fully once the GT period is over is still up in the air but I can definitely see why people like this one

Also, would anyone who's played it mind linking the regular boss theme (specifically the one that plays when you fight the unnamed tentacle in the tutorial and the Monster Hunter-esque dino with Sahad)? The music overall has been excellent so far (particularly the theme for exploring the Isle of Seiren) but that one specifically stuck out as an absolute bop. I don't want to look it up myself out of fears of seeing a spoiler hence why I'm asking here. Would highly recommend picking the game up if you're in Europe at the moment though, cannot stress that enough!

@BruceCM That's it! Cheers man!