Weekly Roundup

[RBjakeSpecial]

PS5 Final Fantasy XVI: Finally finished the main story of Final Fantasy 16. It took me 77 hours and I wound up turning the game to "story mode" (easy mode) about half way through due to the silly combat system. There were some things I really liked about the game, and some things I hated. Now that I'm done with it... I'd say it sits there with Final Fantasy 8 as one of the worst of the series. I personally kinda liked it and am going to go back and the DLC and mess with the NewGame+ mode, but I don't think I can really recommend this game to anyone. If someone is looking for an action/rpg kind of game, there are so many better options - and if someone is looking for a "Final Fantasy" like game - this definitely isn't it. Overall, I'm surprised about how bad this game turned out.

Has anyone else played this - and did you like it? For me it's a solid 6/10... which is a pretty bad score for a game that I spent 77 hours with on the first play through.

It definitely got me back in the mood to play more Final Fantasy.. I'm starting up 9 as it's one of the only games in the main series I haven't sunk any time into.

 

[Taiso]

Yeah, I played through Final Fantasy XVI.

Things I liked-the story, characters, graphics and OST were all pretty great. I especially liked that the ending is not the typical fare for a FF game. Good triumphs in the end but there is a cost. I though the eikon fights were pretty impressive but were far too on rails for me to really say that they succeeded as anything other than spectacle.

Things I didn't like-the combat, side quests, world navigation, material farming and main antagonist. The gameplay loop in general just gets stale very quickly and I was ultimately very underwhelmed by the experience in general.

I think a 6/10 is a fair assessment for XVI. Not the worst in the series but definitely middle of the road where it counts.

 

[kernow]

Yeah, I played through Final Fantasy XVI.

Do you play good games from time to time or just these weeb RPGs

 

[Dr. Jigglin]

PC:
Battlefield 6
Beyond all Reason

 

[Taiso]

Do you play good games from time to time or just these weeb RPGs

Why do you care what I play? It's weird.

 

[RBjakeSpecial]

Yeah, I played through Final Fantasy XVI.

Things I liked-the story, characters, graphics and OST were all pretty great.

I agree - I really like the characters, it's what's keeping me engaged through the DLC. I find myself checking on Joshua and Jill. I can also see why all the fan love for Clive as well. Hope to see Final Fantasy 17 learn from the mistakes of 13 through 16 and create something cooler.

I'll be buying Final Fantasy XVII day one... cause I always do..

I just started Final Fantasy IX last night because it's the only FF I haven't dumped a ton of time into. So far it feels like - Square doing Dragon Quest before they owned Dragon Quest. My unfounded theory is that Dragon Quest 7 came out and Square was like... we can do this better.

I'm excited to see how Final Fantasy IX continues to progress.. just two hours into it. And on the back burner there's FF7 Rebirth, FF15 (need to play through it again and finish it).

Other games I've been playing this week:
NetHack
Angband
Neon White (super love this so far, feels kind of shallow at the 5 hour point, but liking it more than I thought)
Monster Hunter Wilds

 

[Taiso]

My understanding of IX is that Sakaguchi wanted to return to the series classic fantasy roots and get away from the modern feel that typified VII and VIII. I remember reading somewhere that he also knew it was his last hurrah with Square so he wanted to do something closer to his artistic heart on his way out, but I don't know if that's true or not.

 

[fenikso]

FFIX is tits and I'm way overdue for a playthrough.

 

[snes_collector]

Finished Yars Rising on the Switch. Picked it up on a whim and had fun with it. I definitely enjoyed the throwback "hacks" as much or more than the main game. Definitely on the easier side but anyone who digs metroidvanias and Atari would probably have some fun with it. Surprised there isn't more discussion online.

 

[LoneSage]

My understanding of IX is that Sakaguchi wanted to return to the series classic fantasy roots and get away from the modern feel that typified VII and VIII. I remember reading somewhere that he also knew it was his last hurrah with Square so he wanted to do something closer to his artistic heart on his way out, but I don't know if that's true or not.

Final Fantasy IX – 2000 Developer Interviews - shmuplations.com

These Final Fantasy IX interviews were originally published in Hyper Playstation magazine, shortly before the game's release in July 2000.

shmuplations.com

Good read.

 

[MCF 76]

Playing through Lost Planet 2 again. This game is so good had it since release. Episode 3 is my favorite man I love the boss fight with Red Eye Akrid using that rail cannon so chaotic fun.

 

[fake]

Dragon Quest 1 HD Remix
19.5 hours in and I finally finished this. It's definitely for diehard DQ fans only. Even if you liked the IV-VI ones on DS, this probably won't impress you. The story is as barebones as it gets. The world is pretty small and monotonous; it's either forest or desert. Enemies aren't nearly as charming as they are in later games. In terms of gameplay, you're on your own on this one, as opposed to building a team, which kills most of the dynamic energy you get from battles in other DQ games. I'd say the biggest disappointment is that the visuals don't deliver on the promise of Octopath style graphics; they're watered down and bland.

 

[LoneSage]

Darkwing Duck - 1992 NES game by Capcom. I have no nostalgia for Disney Channel cartoons, and just wanted to waste some time on my commute. As it turns out, it's a surprisingly good game. It feels like a reskinned Mega Man game with some differences - namely, only four hit points and you're dead, which makes the game really difficult. There are some problems the game suffers from that, if tweaked, could have turned the game into a classic - you can't shoot if you're holding up on the D-pad (which does a useless Darkwing Duck pose), the controls can be iffy, and it would've been nice if you could keep weapon power ups instead of losing them. And, of course, the four hit point life meter - imagine playing Mega Man and dying in four hits, naw dawg. But anyways, it ended up being a fun platformer despite the complaints. I actually never played the other NES Capcom Disney games, like Duck Tales and Chip 'n Dale, might give them a try.

Brawl Brothers - I played this decades ago, it's the second part of the Rushing Beat trilogy that got localized to hell in America. Its most distinctive feature is one of the main characters looks like M. Bison with the red hat. Anyway I was enjoying this and was wondering why I didn't finish beating this when I was a kid...until I got to the sewer section. For whatever reason, Jaleco USA decided to turn the sewer section into a maze. Noped out of there after that. Pity because it was actually a decent beat em up until that point.

 

[andsuchisdeath]

Brawl Brothers - I played this decades ago, it's the second part of the Rushing Beat trilogy that got localized to hell in America. Its most distinctive feature is one of the main characters looks like M. Bison with the red hat. Anyway I was enjoying this and was wondering why I didn't finish beating this when I was a kid...until I got to the sewer section. For whatever reason, Jaleco USA decided to turn the sewer section into a maze. Noped out of there after that. Pity because it was actually a decent beat em up until that point.

Repeatedly press B, A, X, Y at the white screen with the Jaleco logo until it disappears. There should be a glitched screen. Then press Start, then Down three times and Start again. This code turns the game into the Japanese version. I read this off of gamefaqs, but it works and IIRC it gets rid of the maze section.

 

[LoneSage]

Cheers bud.

 

[neo_mao]

The Legendary Axe - finally beat it. I only first played it around 2010, but it still holds up. Even the goofy jumping platforming is fun. Just, fuck that last maze level. That's just lazy design.

Stage 3B

Fuck those green guys in the water.

I hope this doesn’t make you lose any respect for me.

 

[LoneSage]

Stage 3B

Fuck those green guys in the water.

I hope this doesn’t make you lose any respect for me.

No, it only proves you are human. Really great game, shame the last level feels like Slug 3's last level...goes on forever and feels as long as the rest of the game, and it's a maze on top of that.

 

[terry.330]

Finally got a chance to play Earthion. It’s pretty fucking impressive.

 

[Kid Panda]

The maze area in Makyou Densetsu is just padding to make the game longer, worst stage for sure.
The Super Shinobi's last stage is like that as well.

Both are great games though, make sure you play the rev 00 version of The Super Shinobi as it has all the stuff that eventually got cut out of the later US releases.

 

[Yoshi]

I'm playing the Dragon Quest III HD-2D remake. I had never played any other version, so it's all new to me. I just unlocked the ability to change classes. I went to look up the best weapon for a class I thought was a good choice only to discover a crazy guide on the general subject: https://game8.co/games/Dragon-Quest-3/archives/464073. Thankfully I had a save just before the class change so I could optimize:

Spoiler:

Warrior -> Merchant
Priest -> Thief

 

[Average Joe]

Steam:
Ultra Street Fighter 4

3DS:
Etrian Odyssey V

 

[fake]

PS5: Death Stranding 2
Started this over the weekend and am about 7 hours in. So far it feels like the same game as the first, but with different terrain. I'm hoping the story picks up a bit and goes beyond, "We're hooking Australia up to the chiral network." No Joe8 sightings so far.

 

[Taiso]

Keep an eye out for Jigglin's slave house. I hear it's out there somewhere.

 

[GregN]

Tetris 99 - still playing this as it’s lots of fun. My go-to after work.

Dragon Quest 2 hd 2d remake - I find this game needlessly hard. I don’t really care for it, as much as I like dragon quest.

dispatch - fun idea for a digital novel.