You lying liar. With Berseria getting a remaster soon, I waited and have been playing Tales of Grace F, which already had a remaster and was originally Japanese only…and actually on the Wii.
Do you like the Tales series? I do. I’ve played Tales of: Abyss, Symphonia, Phatasia, Vesperia, and Arise. I like all of them, though I did think Vesperia was closest to boring of the bunch. Just me, though.
This one is cute, not the best, not the worst. I’m probably 50%(maybe more) through. It has good characters, but the fighting system in this one is an anomaly for the series and, well, I don’t think much of it. Functional, though.
Something I like about Dragon Quest and the Tales of games is that they have kept their gameplay and style through various generations. Unlike Final Fantasy, which has been abandoned at this point and no longer is anything like the series it was.
I think it has to be a dual sense controller to reflect the right buttons on a PC, which the PS4 controller is not. But the PS5 controller should work, and I bought one of those, so we’ll see how it goes.
I have $40 in Steam cash as a Winter Holiday goodie, and I’m considering Clair Obscura (Winter Holiday sale on Steam has it at 39.99). From everything said in this and the dedicated thread, I’ll love the story and the setting, and get frustrated with combat. So still on the fence. Not to mention my Unplayed Steam Que already has Baldur’s Gate 3, Starfield (waiting for some next gen patches though), No Man’s Sky, Shadow Of Mordor and the Battlenet Purchases of Outer Worlds 2 (getting played next week after installing my newer video card) and Avowed.
Not that I have time to play as much, though thankfully I’ve largely paused WoW.
It’s on Gamepass, for what it’s worth. I don’t regularly subscribe to it, but for $10 (or $1 if you’re new), it’s a good way to try out a whole bunch of games at once and then decide which you want to buy for good (on Steam). Don’t get too far, though, because your saves won’t transfer over. When I want to try a new batch of releases, I sign up and then immediately cancel… you can still play until the end of your month, but it just won’t auto-renew.
Alternatively, you can watch “______ gameplay walkthrough no commentary” videos on YouTube to see how it actually works. That’s how I personally decided to try the game. I heard about it a few times here on the Dope, but it was watching the first 20-30 minutes of gameplay that really drew me in.
The narrative is really fucking phenomenal and I think the writing is much stronger than Baldur’s Gate 3 (or at least less juvenile — BG3 often reads like young adult fiction, whereas Clair Obscur has a much more mature tone right from the beginning).
I do hate the combat though. It’s really frustrating, even on easy. I’m going to try again someday with an auto-parry trainer, but for now, too many other games to try first…
I’m not familiar with the Tales of series, but I enjoy Dragon Quest a ton! I have been slowly collecting each NA release of the entire franchise. It isn’t easy as some of them get pricey CIB. I cut some corners and just play the JP versions but my (dragon?) quest continues to collect each NA copy! My favorite is XI, it truly is a magnum opus of traditional JRPGs
I recently acquired Hyrule Warriors and Fire Emblem Warriors as those seem like fun adaptations of the Musou formula. I’ve played Samurai Warriors 1/2 but other than that I’m excited to see what this longstanding game type has to offer in flavors I enjoy. The next ones I want to try, if I have a need for more, would be the Dragon Quest Heroes games. (Those are Musou style right?)
Additionally I want to pose the question if anyone else like Musou games, if so which ones are your favorite? Also if you could have a Musou game of a franchise that didn’t get the treatment yet, what franchise would it be?
I think a lego one would be just silly and fun.
I played a bootleg translation of it with ZSNES way back in the day. Before I was old enough to understand that the translators put their spin on some of the dialogue and games in Japan aren’t really like that (at least, not the ones with the Nintendo seal.)
Excellent game. Easily the best JRPG of 1995. (It’s actually second to Lufia 2, but that’s only because of the ancient cave bonus mode. Hard to believe a JRPG is an esport 30 years later.)
I finally picked up Ghost of Tsushima on sale, and I can’t put it down. It is so, so impressive, and I was having so much fun with the samurai combat and gawking at the gorgeous scenery I didn’t even realize it had become 4am. Couldn’t stop thinking about it the next day. Can’t remember the last time a game hooked me this much.
It’s everything I hoped Assassin’s Creed Shadows would be, but this game feels so much more authentically Japanese (though it is not historic). Everything from the swordplay to the architecture to the folklore to the hot springs to the sound effects are quite immersive. It’s some of the best art and sound design I’ve ever seen in a game. It feels like you’re in an old Kurosawa movie, clearing out a village in one scene and then composing a haiku in the next while gazing out at an ocean sunset. There’s even a Kurosawa mode that makes the game black and white and tweaks sounds to be more old timey.
The combat is great fun, and much better than in Assassin’s Creed. The focus is on sword combat with different stances and combos and parries and ripostes. The way it flows from one attack to the next, then between enemies, is incredibly satisfying.
There’s also a basic stealth system if you prefer that route, but it’s simplistic and narratively discouraged, though not strictly forbidden.
My one complaint is that I think the game would’ve been better, narratively, if it were a linear title like Onimusha rather than an open world. Clearing forts and chasing foxes makes sense in an AC or Far Cry game, but it feels out of place in a game that wants to be taken for cinema. The open world just interrupts the pacing and breaks immersion unnecessarily. At least the world is stunning, with the grass and the lighting and the weather all coming together to make some of the most beautiful vistas in any game. It’s quite screen saver worthy.
I know there are better games in the same space, there are even better AC games, but I’m a fan of the series so I bought it.
Only other thing I picked up was The Captain, a point-and-click adventure game that’s somewhat reminiscent of the old Space Quest games but with less overt humor and an actual branching storyline so choices matter, it’s not just “find the one correct path.” From the same publisher as World of Goo.
Immortals: Fenyx Rising on PlayStation 5. Free with a PlayStation Plus Premium subscription. Strongly recommended.
It reminds me very much of Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Lots of climbing, gliding, fighting, and puzzle-solving. It involves Greek mythology. You can customize your character’s appearance and sex. I’m invested!
