Topic: Playstation 4 Backloggery and most wanted!

@xeofate Tekken 8 is really good. It's a similar level to Street Figher 6 with a vast suite of great offline and online modes. No avatar fighters this time but with a significant amount of fighters with the base game, I didn't miss that feature.

One thing I will say, both are very offense heavy. And for a defensive counter fighter like myself, they both make me yearn for another soul calibur.

Welp, still haven't made progress on Rain Code. Prodeus and WarioWare are a wrap, though.

CURRENTLY PLAYING:

• Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising (via the Reboot Camp collection on Switch) //would have been done with this a week ago if the last few missions weren't so intimidatingly difficult//

ON HIATUS:

• Master Detective Archives: Rain Code //Progress on this has been weirdly slow; just can't get into it//
• Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut //Haven't really been able to get back into this since getting back from my trip//

NEXT NEW BACKLOGGED TITLE:

• Super Mario RPG //This one is apparently reasonably short, approachable, and runs beautifully on Switch, so I definitely am looking forward to playing it//

NEXT LONG-TERM UNFINISHED GAME:

• Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe //Haven't played since early last year, but I doubt getting back into it will be much of an issue//

NEXT POTENTIAL PURCHASE:

• Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance //Despite having blown a fair bit of money on the original Switch version, I'm still excited to have an improved version on more capable platforms//

@Ralizah Out of curiosity, since you said you can't get into Rain Code, do you feel that you're not as interested in visual novels as before? I feel that has happened to me now. Maybe it's because I've gotten older or that my taste has changed, but nowadays whenever I want to play a game, I don't want to just read, I want to actually do something in it. Even though I don't mind reading in a game that has a lot of text such as Persona 3 Reload, I mostly look forward to getting to the dungeon crawling part and actually doing something.

I don't think I dislike visual novels. It's just that I'm never in a mood to play them anymore, which is really unfortunate as there are still plenty of ones I want to experience, such as Rain Code.

@LtSarge Nah. It wasn't that long ago that I played the heck out of adventure games like AI: The Somnium Files and The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles. I just don't think it's done enough to hook me tbh. The Danganronpa games leaned heavily on memorable characters and an immediately engaging premise, but the only character who has lived up to that standard at all so far is the game's mascot, Shinigami.

I'm still not very far in, so hopefully it improves as it goes on.

@Ralizah Ah I see. I agree that the beginning wasn't as captivating as the Danganronpa games. It focused more on gameplay rather than story elements. Have to force myself to give it another go soon as I tend to love these games. It just needs to click for me and then I'm all good.

Whittled it down and planning to make my next few games, but not necessarily in this order, to be the following;

Rise of the Ronin Digital Deluxe Edition
Resident Evil 2 Remake
Resident Evil 4 Gold Edition
Silent Hill 2 Remake Deluxe Edition
Death Stranding Director's Cut Digital Deluxe Edition
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Deluxe Edition
Elden Ring SOTE Deluxe Edition (aim to plat)
Nioh 2 Remastered Complete Edition
Stray
Lords of the Fallen
Alan Wake 2 Deluxe Edition
Death Stranding 2 : On the Beach
Dragon's Dogma II Deluxe Edition
Black Myth: Wukong
#BLUD

@FuriousMachine I was interested in Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden myself, how does it play? I heard it share some similarities with God of War but how would you rate it? If you've played it yet.

@Black_Swordsman Haven't gotten around to it yet, but it is high on my list. I pre-ordered it mainly to support Dontnod, as I am fan of theirs and I knew it was a game I would want to play at some point anyway. I just started The Witcher 3 last night and I'm considering Crisis Core after that, but Banishers may very well take the first "post-Witcher" spot. I fully expect to be busy with the Witcher for quite some time, though, so by the time the credits roll on that one I might have changed my mind again. I had originally planned to start Cyberpunk 2077, but having just finished the Witcher books I figured it would be fun to play the game while I still remembered most of the ancillary characters I expect might pop up in the game.
Whenever I look at my library there are so many games that just cries out to be played that it's not even funny. Still, Banishers, Crisis Core and Cyberpunk are all high on the list.

Looking at my earlier post re.: next purchases and backlog, I'm pleased to see that I've held relatively true to my tentative plans.
Next purchases is unchanged as it all comes down to what's on sale or not and there aren't that many new games coming in the near future that looks like day-one purchases for me (though that may change... I was looking hard at Stellar Blade, but after playing the demo I realized it was just not my type of game... a bit too soulslike for me).

I did finish both Last of Us Part II Remastered (though no platinum due to NG+ requirement... might chase that down later) and The Sexy Brutale (a fairly short, but very enjoyable platinum), so the only change from my backlog list was that The Witcher 3 subbed in for Cyberpunk 2077

I'd say a tentative list of next three games might be something like
The Witcher 3
Crisis Core
Banishers

The order may very well change, though. I may also sneak in some shorter games in between there as well.

Welp, review time.

DONE

DONE

DONE

So yeah, I tore through all that pretty quickly. Even platted a PS4 game not on the list.

New list time! Gonna change up the format now.

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NEXT PS4 GAME:

• Sakura Wars //One of the few remaining modern Playstation exclusive games. Also a sorta reboot, as I understand it, to a long-running series of tactical rpgs, except now it's an action game. I've had this game for years, so time to rip the packaging off and see what's underneath.//

NEXT SWITCH GAME:

• Master Detective Archives: Rain Code //I actually borrowed this from a friend last year lol. Took me a weirdly long amount of time to push through the intro chapter because I just really wasn't feeling it. Time to tear through this and see if it ends up grabbing me at any point. There's definitely a considerable amount of Danganronpa's DNA in this, so I'd really love to enjoy it.//

NEXT STEAM DECK GAME:

• Yakuza Kiwami 2 //Really wanna get moving on this series again. I only have Kiwami 1 down so far (and half of Y0 seven years ago lol), but have access to 0 - 5 and Like A Dragon (still need 6, but I figure I'm a ways off from that anyhow). Anyhow, when I played Kiwami, I couldn't stop thinking about how dope it'd be to play this on a portable, but I think a Nintendo executive must've run over the lead developer's dog or something, because they refuse to play ball with the Switch. But now it doesn't matter, and it'll look and run better on Steam Deck than it ever would have on Switch!//

@FuriousMachine I'm glad to hear that you are playing The Witcher 3 I played and finished it a few years ago, really liked it. Hope you enjoy your time with the game and can update me on your adventures!

@FuriousMachine I plan to play Cyberpunk 2077 along with watching the series on Netflix. I've not played it since I completed when it first released, so will be good to experience all the changes they have made. Depending on how i get on with it, I may get the dlc also.

@Black_Swordsman Put in a few hours last night. Still early game, haven't even levelled up yet (playing on Death March difficulty where it feels like one kill = 1xp ), but starting to get the hang of the combat and really loving it! I do get my ass kicked, but with a classic save system in place there is no trepidation about wading into a battle to learn the opponents moves and tactics. Looting yields fun items and gives upgrades that feel meaningful but not overpowered. Money is scarce, but I'm earning my way as a combination of a junk dealer and flower girl picking and selling any blossom that might cross my path. This game seems to be a perfect fit for me and I'm having a better handle on the difficulty than I thought I would (at least this far)

@JohnnyShoulder I held off on playing it until I felt it was the best game it could be and with the Phantom Liberty DLC and related update + some patches (always give these games some extra patches before starting ) I felt we were there and was ready to get stuck in. However, other games kept cutting in line

@FuriousMachine The game was already pretty good even just with the upgrades and fixes the PS5 version itself offered when it finally came out. Can't fault waiting to play it until it got all of it's updates and upgrades though, especially when you always had something else to play.

I'm not a big fan of some of the endings to Phantom Liberty, but the game and the DLC are up there as one of my favorite experiences this gen. I waited and played Phantom Liberty until I was done with my second playthrough of the main game, so I can just ignore the ending and go with what I got for the main game. Not trying to discourage anything by talking about the ending, as I am highly likely in the extreme minority and it's still great regardless of what I say.

The situation in January:

So the immediate plan is —
Finish FFXVI, and
Finish A Plague Tale: Requiem…

After those, it will be all about Spider-Man 2 and/or Baldur’s Gate 3, depending on my mood at the time. I reckon I’ll do both in concert with one another since they are so different. We’ll see
As for planned purchases, my next is probably
Dragon’s Dogma 2 and either Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth or Crisis Core Reunion.

Update:

Finished FFXVI ☑️
Finished APT: Requiem ☑️

Started Spider-Man 2 and about halfway ☑️
Did not start Baldur’s Gate 3 ❌

Bought Crisis Core FF7 Reunion ☑️
Did not buy Dragon’s Dogma 2 ❌
Did not buy FF7 Rebirth ❌

So plans now are —

Finish the Marvel two-step:
Spider-Man 2
Midnight Suns

On deck:
Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin
Life is Strange: True Colors
Deliver Us the Moon

Planned Purchases:
Probably nothing in the next couple months, but if I get carried away then the games I’m keeping an eye on are —

Dragon’s Dogma 2
Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth
Stellar Blade
Dead Space Remake
God of War Ragnarok
Rise of the Ronin

Of those, probably the only one I definitely will buy is Rebirth, whilst the others are probable purchases when the mood and price are in alignment. I’ve exercised better restraint with purchases lately, but sometimes I need the dopamine hit of buying a new game. 😄

@Th3solution Haven't felt a need to buy a PS5 before now, but I will say I'm a touch envious of people being able to play Rebirth months before it hits PC.

Did you try the demo for Stellar Blade?

@Ralizah Yeah, as the weeks tick by, I really am getting more and more anxious to get to Rebirth. Partly because of FOMO, but partly because of the risk of spoilers grows higher the more time passes.

Fortunately, my commitment to play Crisis Core first is my buffer right now to keep me from just making an impulse buy of Rebirth. By the time I get to it, I reckon Rebirth will be making its appearance in the discount sales.

Stellar Blade is another thing though because yes, I did play the demo and I’m lukewarm about it right now. Which means I’m interested just enough to be swayed by hype and tempted to abandon my scheduled games and just jump into buying it at launch.

There were definitely aspects of the demo that I really enjoyed, like the Nier like setting, the great art design and animations, and the fantastic music. But I was disappointed by the combat difficulty, which revolved too much around timing based parry and dodges. I’ve never really liked parry mechanics, and I’m a fair dodger when there’s iframes involved, like the Soulsborne games, but in Stellar Blade the dodge is just a timing based escape that’s not very different from a parry. If you don’t hit the dodge button at just the right moment you’ll still get hit. At least that’s how it felt.

Anyways, it was fun but I could see myself struggling to get the timing down and so I’m just waiting on reviews and player feedback.

Edit: And as far as you’re buying a PS5, I think you’re bound to like it whenever you do get one. Besides the form factor of the weird design, it’s a really nice machine and I never turn on my PS4 anymore. Are you wanting to see if the Switch 2 is on the horizon first?

@KilloWertz Sounds good; I am really looking forward to playing it. I fired up the early PS5 version to see how it played and it looked promising. I did find it insanely disappointing that the game with the absolutely most powerful and detailed character creator I've ever seen never let's you see your character in-game (unless you count photo mode, I guess). Such an incredible waste.

@Th3solution I agree with your assessment on the Stellar Blade demo; the combat frustrated me so much that I don't see myself buying it, even though I loved the other aspects. I too prefer blocking/parrying/dodging mechanics of the Soulsborne games (though there are other mechanics in play there that frustrates me for other reasons) and I'm immensely happy that The Witcher 3 subscribes to pretty much the same model.
I would be happy just blocking and dodging for minutes, biding my time and waiting for my opening

@FuriousMachine Yeah, the exploration aspects and common enemy encounters during the Stellar Blade demo were fun and I could mostly keep up, but the bosses were less enjoyable. The boss at the end of the first area was ok and I think I bested it after 3-4 tries. But when I played the extra boss encounter that unlocks after completing the demo run, I just didn’t enjoy that. Granted when you reach that boss in the actual game you’ll have gradually leveled up and accumulated all those skills so certainly it will be more comfortable, but there was a feeling of dread after my third attempt and so I just quit there and deleted the demo. Even with all the extra skills unlocked, there was a timing based requirement to the combat that superseded any extra firepower. Still, there’s a lot to like there. Interestingly, I didn’t like the Nier Automata demo either (the game that Stellar Blade is most oft compared to), and it took some coaxing from forum members for me to play the full game and it ended up one of my very favorite games on the PS4 generation.