Help me, shmup gurus! I'm on the fence about new shooters, torn between buying Raiden IV: Mikado, the new R-TYPE, and ESP Ra.De.Psi.
ESPRDP is a legend, I've been wanting it for a while amd the price just keeps going up, and will probably not be possible to buy physical at a "decent" price very soon.
On the other hand, this game looks tough as nails and designed for elite shmup players, and $80-85 is not what I would call a good price for a single game. I love shmups but TBH I'm not terribly good at them, especially bullet hells. It's quite possible I'll enjoy it but never get very far in it.
Raiden IV and the new R-TYPE are both said to be brilliant, I could buy both of them for about the same price as ESP, and I am already a huge R-TYPE fan (but I already own R-TYPE Dimensions on the Switch amd have other games in the series on older platforms).
Anybody who has played any of these care to weigh in? I know Raiden and R-TYPE are the more sensible choices, but is ESP Ra.De.Psi so good I should consider it a must-have and get it while I still can -even though I am not an Olympic-level shmup gamer?
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I have a couple of questions about some of the Square RPGs. I'm interested in the SaGa series, I think it looks good and I've never played any of them. Is there any order I should play them in due to story or anything else? I usually like to play series in order, and I think that means starting with the Game Boy collection, but I just thought I'd check to see if anyone thought another one would be better. Then I am also interested in FF VII, Star Ocean, and The Last Remnant. Between the four (including whichever SaGa game I would start with), any recommendations on which one I should play first? Thanks.
@ophone River City Girls is probably the 2nd best on Switch after Streets of Rage 4.
@Xyphon22 I've not played the saga series. However I've played FFVII and The Last Remnant, I'd recommend VII over the last remnant. Have you played Ys VIII, that's definitely a RPG to look into.
@Wargoose I haven't played that one yet, either, but I definitely want to. There are just way too many good RPGs on the Switch, and I'm actually trying to get through more of my backlog before I buy anything new. Fortunately Square does these sales like 3-4 times a year and Ys VIII seems to be on sale a lot more often now, too, so I'm not in a big hurry to buy any of them this minute. I just wish I could find Ys physically for cheaper than like $80, but that doesn't seem too likely at this point.
ESP Ra.De. is fantastic, although it's all in Japanese. Because of that it's a tough recommendation. R-Type is the gold standard for horizontal shmups in my eyes. Although it's old school in its design, the Dimensions version is quite good. Between those two, I'd recommend R-Type.
But are you only set on those two? There are plenty of other options in the genre. Danmaku Unlimited 3 (for vertical) and Steredenn (for horizontal) are excellent as well.
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Well, it really wouldn't matter much which of those 4 you played 1st, @Xyphon22 .... Star Ocean 1st Departure R is probably the shortest, if that's a factor? Dunno much about the older Saga games but if they keep remastering them, I'll play those!
@BruceCM That actually is a good factor! As is FF VII being the cheapest. I'll still probably wait till SE's next round of sales and see how much of my backlog I've gotten through by then. Just finished Owlboy like an hour ago, so I'm getting there!
@Xyphon22 Hows Owlboy? It's been sitting on my wishlist for over year now and I need to hear something to motivate me to actually get around to buying it.
Oh, don't they have the Golden Week sales on Switch over there yet, @Xyphon22 ....? As it's running on Steam, PSN & the European eshop now, I thought it would be I assume you haven't played any Star Ocean before, though? So, be sure to let me know if you do play that!
Here's it's thread: https://www.nintendolife.com/forums/nintendo-switch/star_ocea...
@BruceCM Yeah, they are all on sale right now which is what reminded me about them and led me to ask the question, but I just don't feel the need to buy them this time as I have too much else in my backlog and I know they will be on sale again in a couple of months anyways. And no, I've never played a Star Ocean game, so I'm looking forward to trying it one day. It's barely over $10 on sale, so I'm sure I'll pick it up eventually, but I just won't play it yet if I get it now, so I can wait and maybe it will be even cheaper next time!
@jump When I looked up the ending to see if I'd missed anything or if there are alternate endings, I saw a lot of mixed reaction to Owlboy. For me, though, it was one of my favorite Metroidvanias ever. The story is probably the biggest part of it, and there is less exploration and upgrading and stuff like that, so you might not even want to call it a Metroidvania. But I loved the story and characters, and there are enough times when the gameplay mixes it up so it stays fresh. The early boss battles tend too often to just be progressively bigger swarms of common enemies, but the later battles are better and can become sort of puzzle-like switching your partners on the fly for whoever's best in that situation. I heartily recommend it, but I guess some people find it boring and lacking in exploration and combat.
Oh, yeah, they all go on regular sales, @Xyphon22.... I can't wait for them to do Second Evolution R, though So, which did you already have that you want to play soon?
@BruceCM As far as RPGs go, I'm currently playing through Legrand Legacy and also dipping in and out of Skyrim (that's such a big game that I would never play anything else for like a year if I stuck to it). I also recently picked up Battlechasers: Nightwar cheap, I have Lost Sphear (which means I will also want Oninaki once I beat that). I also have the Genesis Collection that I would really like to play some of the oldies but goodies like the Shining and Phantasy Star games. But then I also have Astral Chain, the second two Bioshocks (already played the first), the entire Spyro trilogy, the second Ori (also already played the first), and a number of eShop games. All while writing my doctoral dissertation, so gaming takes a back seat which is why my backlog is so big. One day I'll get to all of these...maybe.
I got a bit fed up with Legrand Legacy, @Xyphon22.... But let us know how you get on with it I disliked Oninaki & it's nothing to do with the previous games from the same devs, both of which I liked a lot
@jump Honestly, I would consider it a must play I enjoyed it that much, but it seems a lot of people don't. I personally enjoyed it a lot more than Hollow Knight (I don't suffer from depression, but that game almost gave it to me), although it really is a completely different kind of game. The only thing to collect is coins which you then use to buy a few different upgrades (and there are some hidden coins, but I only found one of them I don't think they do anything but give you more of the story). It is also fairly linear and a lot easier and shorter than HK, for example.
@BruceCM I'm not too far into Legrand Legacy yet (just beat a giant sea monster and now have to compete in a gladiator tournament to escape a city), but I think it's pretty good. It's different because unless I'm doing something wrong, you don't really get any money from battles or anything. So you have to decide what items and crafting materials you are willing to sell to earn money to get better equipment, which is a kind of fun and unique risk-reward system. Not the greatest, but definitely worth the $1.99 I paid, so I'll stick it out. And I heard the the dialogue and character interactions and things get a lot better later on, so that's good.
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