What Are you Playing 7: Deadly Sims

[MCerberus]

If I'm converting the tiers right, that's the tier with the Kamakazi right? thing's a nightmare.

[warty goblin]

If I'm converting the tiers right, that's the tier with the Kamakazi right? thing's a nightmare.

Yep, there are a lot of Kamikazis. It is indeed a nightmare, and why I pretty quickly switched from battleships to destroyers. At least in Ohkotnik or something French or the psycho knife fighting Italian DD I have a chance.

[Zevox]

Oh for some reason my brain completely erased my relation to time and memory when it comes to persona games some time when I was playing p4r. Something about the cousin. I sure am glad nothing stunningly awful happens in that game.

Ah, but without something stunningly awful happening, would it even be a Persona game?

Which reminds me: if you haven't played Royal before, make sure you make a point of maxing out the two new Confidants (Faith and Councilor), plus Justice (which is no longer automatic). That's how you unlock the "third semester," the extra story at the end.

[factotum]

Which reminds me: if you haven't played Royal before, make sure you make a point of maxing out the two new Confidants (Faith and Councilor), plus Justice (which is no longer automatic). That's how you unlock the "third semester," the extra story at the end.

You only need Councilor to unlock the third semester. The other two are "nice to haves" that give you some extra content once you reach the third semester, but are not necessary to actually get there.

[GloatingSwine]

I've got all this backlog I need to work th-

Oh look a 40 hour jrpg I've beaten twice has the bonus edition on game pass.
Haha persona time
edit - and to answer the follow-up question, Makoto, the objectively correct answer

Put a 2 in front of that 40....

Long Persona is Long.

Royal makes it much easier to max everything out because Bedtime Cat is not as strict and you can do things in Leblanc some nights where you couldn't in vanilla to boost your social stats. By the end of the game I was just sending Joker to the gym to get swole.

[Cygnia]

Starting Final Fantasy 9. I still don't feel inspired to get back and finish up FF8 though.

[Wookieetank]

Starting Final Fantasy 9. I still don't feel inspired to get back and finish up FF8 though.

FF8 is a much better game when you go into it not thinking of it as a Final Fantasy game. I was able to enjoy it when playing it as just a random JRPG. When it first came out and I was playing it fresh off of FF7, so much hatred for it though. And the dark grey menus/chat boxes are just awful. /rant

[Cygnia]

I just wanna punt Squall for being so insufferable. Should have had Quistis be the main protagonist.

Oh well. Dug out my little plush Vivi from back in the day to watch me play (and he's cuddling with my Eevee). Steam has some stuff I have on my wishlist for sale, but I need to go through my backlog before I buy any more (unless there's a REALLY good deal -- and nothing yet has dropped that much for me to pull the trigger).

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Starting Final Fantasy 9. I still don't feel inspired to get back and finish up FF8 though.

I wasn't a big fan of 7, and 8 really turned me off on the series. But I did quite enjoy 9, if for no other reason than all the liberally applied nostalgia bait, even if it took me years after the fact to play it. I found 10 to be mechanically sound but the storyline was lacking. X-2 is... something I prefer to avoid thinking about in general.

Honestly, I haven't really found a final fantasy game that I've felt good about since X (other than ARR I suppose, I have a problem with MMO's in general but it's the best offering I've found in that genre). I suppose the franchise went one direction, and I went another.

As a fan of the classics, I thought that FF 9 was a great game. It had good mechanics, it had a good plot and storyline, the individual characters all were developed from flawed beginnings and experienced character growth as the game unfolded.

Lately, I've been playing the Pixel Remaster version of my old favorites. In particular FF 3 (the one with the Onion Knights, not the one with the half-esper) got a significant overhaul and has become a much more enjoyable game with the Pixel Remaster. The FF1 PR was also good, incorporating a lot of improvements from the GBA re-release which fixed many of the bugs but not including the postgame content that later editions featured. I'm trying to block out some time to play IV and VI because I know I'm gonna need it when I get started on those, which I consider the pinnacle of the franchise.

[Zevox]

FF8 is a much better game when you go into it not thinking of it as a Final Fantasy game. I was able to enjoy it when playing it as just a random JRPG. When it first came out and I was playing it fresh off of FF7, so much hatred for it though. And the dark grey menus/chat boxes are just awful. /rant

Eh, speaking as someone who went into it as only his third or fourth game in the franchise, and not being a big fan of the ones he had tried along the way, no, I don't think it does. That game's problems are with poor writing and mechanics (the whole magic drawing system and how tedious it is made me hate it pretty fast), not with the fact that it's Final Fantasy.

[Anonymouswizard]

I'm honestly not a massive fan of any Final Fantasy game. Never played them as a kid, and while what I've played of the early ones is enjoyable there's generally a point where I just get bored. Then FFIV went and made the battles significantly more boring.

Yeah, I'll stick to MegaTen for my JRPGs (although I can't afford P5 Royal until it goes on sale).

I am, however, vaguely interest if FFIII kept the more defined characters of the DS version.

[MCerberus]

There is only one revenge against bedtime cat

Spoiler

Show

[Spore]

I'm honestly not a massive fan of any Final Fantasy game. Never played them as a kid, and while what I've played of the early ones is enjoyable there's generally a point where I just get bored. Then FFIV went and made the battles significantly more boring.

Yeah, I'll stick to MegaTen for my JRPGs (although I can't afford P5 Royal until it goes on sale).

I am sorry, but are you just comparing 30 year old games with modern RPGs?

That feels like comparing comparing Doom (the original) with the most recent Doom. Sure it is the same genre and scratches a similar itch, but 30 years worth of genre evolution changed even more than on my haphazard shooter comparison. You could summarize early Final Fantasy stories on a napkin if you really wanted. But even that feels reductionist (aside from Final Fantasy 1, which is basically just "four people save the world, the game").

[Anonymouswizard]

I am sorry, but are you just comparing 30 year old games with modern RPGs?

Yeah, and in terms of the Final Fantasy series those 30 year old ones seem to be better. I through VI are the ones I actually enjoyed, although X had a good battle system.

I mean, I suspect I'll enjoy Dragon Quest XI when I get round to it, so maybe it's just Final Fantasy and not JRPGs in general.

That feels like comparing comparing Doom (the original) with the most recent Doom. Sure it is the same genre and scratches a similar itch, but 30 years worth of genre evolution changed even more than on my haphazard shooter comparison. You could summarize early Final Fantasy stories on a napkin if you really wanted. But even that feels reductionist (aside from Final Fantasy 1, which is basically just "four people save the world, the game").

Honestly Ultimate Doom and Doom 2 still hold up. They're definitely not games that everybody needs to play, but they're still incredibly enjoyable. Part of that has to do with the noughties taking shooters in a completely different direction, but they're still fun. A pain to get rumming without a source mod, but fun*. I should probably get Ion Fury.

There's a lot to say for simplicity. I've played most of FFXIII, and all I can remember is that Vanille has a nude scene and that I didn't do enough grinding on Gran Pulse. On the other hand I can remember IV's story much more clearly, even if I don't like the gameplay.

I should probably get back to Bravely Default. I liked that one, felt like old-school Final Fantasy.

* No, I don't use Brutal Doom or anything.

[GloatingSwine]

I mean, I suspect I'll enjoy Dragon Quest XI when I get round to it, so maybe it's just Final Fantasy and not JRPGs in general.

Yeah, it pretty much is Final Fantasy. It doesn't help that I think the last one that wasn't an absolute development cluster**** was 12 and that sounds recent given that 15 is the most recent but it was 16 years ago now. The series developed a pretty severe lack of focus after Sakaguchi left Square, and if I was going to reccommend a JRPG to someone any given Final Fantasy would at this point be pretty low down the list.

If you want to kill god with the power of friendship these days Persona, Xenoblade, Octopath, Trails, and so on all scratch various bits of the JRPG itch way better.

[factotum]

A pain to get rumming without a source mod, but fun*.

Not really? Just use DosBOX or DosBOX-X, either will run Doom just fine--you just need to fiddle a bit with config files and the DOS command line, but anyone who was gaming at the actual time Doom was originally released already knows all about that sort of thing.

[Anonymouswizard]

Not really? Just use DosBOX or DosBOX-X, either will run Doom just fine--you just need to fiddle a bit with config files and the DOS command line, but anyone who was gaming at the actual time Doom was originally released already knows all about that sort of thing.

If I'm going to mess around with DOS I'll do it on an actual vintage PC!

Which considering I know own a ZX Spectrum isn't that unlikely.

[Cespenar]

Talking about old games, I just gave Monkey Island 1 a try since I had only played a tiny bit of it before. The talkie version, of course, with voice acting and such.

Gotta say, the game holds up pretty okay -- the puzzles are way more intuitive than I expected them to be... I'd say even more than the average modern retro adventure title. Only had to open up a walkthrough twice in the end, on the final (Monkey) island. Humor is better than the newest Monkey Island too, with just a couple of eyeroll-y sequences overall.

Color me surprised and not surprised at the same time. I guess there was a reason it got famous in the first place.

[tonberrian]

Victoria 3 came out and it's devoured my free time. I'm no good at it yet, but it is a difficult learning curve.

[Spore]

There's a lot to say for simplicity. I've played most of FFXIII, and all I can remember is that Vanille has a nude scene and that I didn't do enough grinding on Gran Pulse. On the other hand I can remember IV's story much more clearly, even if I don't like the gameplay.

A huge problem imho is that Final Fantasy feels it needs to cater fan service to its core fanbase. If there are no references to another FF, all-but spelled out rule 34 calls and neither of the following words*, their fanbase seems to have a meltdown even if they don't really.

*Ultima, Meteor, Holy, Cure, Dragoon

[AlanBruce]

Was playing the just released Shadows of Rose DLC, an expansion to Resident Evil Village.

This one focuses on the titular character, Rose, in what may best be described as a surreal trip. Beautiful visuals, an interesting new mechanic and being in 3rd person made the experience enjoyable for me. I couldn’t really become invested in the main character since it’s a relatively short game (my first playthrough took 3 hours). However as a story, it wraps up that chapter in the franchise nicely.

[LibraryOgre]

Been putting of the rest of Wrath of the Righteous. Most recent distraction has been getting back into LOTRO, which I have apparently been playing, off and on, for 11 years.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Yeah, and in terms of the Final Fantasy series those 30 year old ones seem to be better. I through VI are the ones I actually enjoyed, although X had a good battle system.

I mean, I suspect I'll enjoy Dragon Quest XI when I get round to it, so maybe it's just Final Fantasy and not JRPGs in general.



Honestly Ultimate Doom and Doom 2 still hold up. They're definitely not games that everybody needs to play, but they're still incredibly enjoyable. Part of that has to do with the noughties taking shooters in a completely different direction, but they're still fun. A pain to get rumming without a source mod, but fun*. I should probably get Ion Fury.

There's a lot to say for simplicity. I've played most of FFXIII, and all I can remember is that Vanille has a nude scene and that I didn't do enough grinding on Gran Pulse. On the other hand I can remember IV's story much more clearly, even if I don't like the gameplay.

I should probably get back to Bravely Default. I liked that one, felt like old-school Final Fantasy.

* No, I don't use Brutal Doom or anything.

The Dragon Quest games are pretty decent, I think you'd like them if you enjoyed early Final Fantasy. They at least retained their focus. DQ 11 has been a favorite of mine for a lot of reasons. Most specifically, my favorite feature is the ability to go 2D. Gives more of a retro-modern feel to it.

I would suggest the remakes of the older titles, though. Especially 2, the original NES version's boss had a spell called 'HealAll', which was a really rude thing to do. The first one was just 'Grind, the game' since the current RNG manip speedrun that doesn't grind ends in under a half hour. But 2 and 3 were really good for their own reasons. Number 2 was the first iteration of a party in the DQ series, and while the second character became nigh useless, it was at least an attempt. The third one allowed you to form your own party, and the remake includes functions from future games such as whip class weapons hitting enemy groups and boomerang class weapons hitting all enemies plus the token hunt for more prizes.

It's generally organized into trilogies. 1-3 were a trilogy with 2 being a sequel to 1 set several generations forward, and 3 was a prequel setting up the events for 1. 4-6 was the next trilogy of games and focused more on individual characters and developing backstories of your support cast. 7-9 was yet another trilogy of games that were connected to each other. 10 was an MMO that never made it to the US. 11 is theoretically the start of a new trilogy, and has callbacks to all of the previous games without limiting itself to the mechanics of the predecessors. It's certainly worth playing, IMO.

[Zevox]

The Dragon Quest games are pretty decent, I think you'd like them if you enjoyed early Final Fantasy. They at least retained their focus. DQ 11 has been a favorite of mine for a lot of reasons. Most specifically, my favorite feature is the ability to go 2D. Gives more of a retro-modern feel to it.

I would suggest the remakes of the older titles, though. Especially 2, the original NES version's boss had a spell called 'HealAll', which was a really rude thing to do. The first one was just 'Grind, the game' since the current RNG manip speedrun that doesn't grind ends in under a half hour. But 2 and 3 were really good for their own reasons. Number 2 was the first iteration of a party in the DQ series, and while the second character became nigh useless, it was at least an attempt. The third one allowed you to form your own party, and the remake includes functions from future games such as whip class weapons hitting enemy groups and boomerang class weapons hitting all enemies plus the token hunt for more prizes.

It's generally organized into trilogies. 1-3 were a trilogy with 2 being a sequel to 1 set several generations forward, and 3 was a prequel setting up the events for 1. 4-6 was the next trilogy of games and focused more on individual characters and developing backstories of your support cast. 7-9 was yet another trilogy of games that were connected to each other. 10 was an MMO that never made it to the US. 11 is theoretically the start of a new trilogy, and has callbacks to all of the previous games without limiting itself to the mechanics of the predecessors. It's certainly worth playing, IMO.

Agreed, if you like old JRPGs, Dragon Quest is the series for you. Highest recommendations go to 11 and 8, personally. The only one (aside from the MMO) that I've never gotten through is 7. I've a tried a couple of times, but for some reason, that one really didn't hold my interest.

(Although I don't see how any of the games after the first three are connected? 2 and 3 reference the first one directly, but I don't recall any of the others doing so.)

[Razade]

I'll echo that Dragon Quest 11 is really really solid, and long. Lots of content. The game has some weird difficulty spikes throughout, but overall it's well worth the money just from investment to dollar ratio. I've heard 8 is also really good as well but never got around to it.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Agreed, if you like old JRPGs, Dragon Quest is the series for you. Highest recommendations go to 11 and 8, personally. The only one (aside from the MMO) that I've never gotten through is 7. I've a tried a couple of times, but for some reason, that one really didn't hold my interest.

(Although I don't see how any of the games after the first three are connected? 2 and 3 reference the first one directly, but I don't recall any of the others doing so.)

The second trilogy of Dragon Quest games (4-6) deal primarily with Zenethia as a main recurring plot device, with the main protagonist generally being unknowingly related to the royal family of that realm until the plot reveal at the end of the game, and a source of their power.

In addition to 8, I'd also strongly suggest 6 because of its novel class-based system that reminds me strongly of FF 3/5/Tactics Job based systems. You can build just about any character any way you'd like. And theoretically, any character can eventually unlock the Hero class, although for anyone other than the actual protagonist, it requires an excessive amount of grinding (and this from someone who routinely gets involved in the classic Dragon Warrior Randomizer community!) to attain.

[tyckspoon]

(Although I don't see how any of the games after the first three are connected? 2 and 3 reference the first one directly, but I don't recall any of the others doing so.)

4-5-6 are pretty loose - it's really more story structure and mirrored plot beats than direct setting or reused character elements. Each one revolves around collecting a set of relic equipment from an Ancient Precursor People that gives the hero the power necessary to fight the Big Evil of that game. Like how 1-3 are Erdrick (sp) and his descendants, 4-6 are people taking up the mantle of the Sky Guardian People. And honestly they probably wouldn't be perceived as connected except the Ancient Guardian People society has the same name and are depicted in basically the same way in each game, so there's a connecting through line on that (kinda like if Final Fantasy's Cids were identifiably the same individual in multiple games and not just a reused name/stock character type.)

[Anonymouswizard]

For the record I've beaten DQ IX, got halfway through DQ VII, and played at least a little bit of each of IV through VI. Most of the reason I've not beaten the earlier ones is no longer having access to a PS2 or the remake cartridges. Compared to Final Fantasy the common elements are also much more obvious, plus it actually uses turn based combat.

Yeah, both DQ XI and P5R are on my Steam wishlist. Although I'm still waiting for P3P to drop on there.

[LibraryOgre]

Still not able to devote myself to finishing Wrath of the Righteous, I've taken a break for Banished, a medieval city-building game. Two big obstacles for me to overcome

1) You build your housing, then your population will expand, not vice versa. If you don't have enough housing, couples don't make babies, as their houses are too crowded.
2) The default is to not tell you when people die of old age. They just... disappear. Which is confusing as heck.

I'm getting better hang of it, but it can be really hard to build up a surplus of anything... I need a way to expand my population enough to get more miners so my blacksmith has enough to make tools, but I haven't figured out the ratio of farmers:workers yet.

[Wookieetank]

Still not able to devote myself to finishing Wrath of the Righteous, I've taken a break for Banished, a medieval city-building game. Two big obstacles for me to overcome

1) You build your housing, then your population will expand, not vice versa. If you don't have enough housing, couples don't make babies, as their houses are too crowded.
2) The default is to not tell you when people die of old age. They just... disappear. Which is confusing as heck.

I'm getting better hang of it, but it can be really hard to build up a surplus of anything... I need a way to expand my population enough to get more miners so my blacksmith has enough to make tools, but I haven't figured out the ratio of farmers:workers yet.

There's a notification box you can toggle that'll tell you when someone dies and who, if anyone takes their job when they die.

Depending on how much you want to spoil yourself, there's some good youtube guides for early game I found hugely helpful. Went from dying out within the first 2-3 years, to not knowing how long my game has been going and having a surplus of 39k food.

Still working out juggling jobs properly though, trying to figure out what tasks to short change workers from so you have enough builders to keep houses going up for population growth is quite the trick. I could probably pull back on my farming/orchard worker pools, but they look so pretty when fully worked.