@RogerRoger I knew the twist to The Sixth Sense before seeing it in the cinema. It's still a really good watch, and stands him to multiple viewings. You just see it from a different point of view from someone that has no idea what happens.
Life is more fun when you help people succeed, instead of wishing them to fail.
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.
@Th3solution@JohnnyShoulder Okay, fair enough; that's two solid recommendations, which is more than enough for me to be curious! I'll keep an eye out for it on streaming.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
As I said yesterday @Ralizah over on ninty life my answer has predictably been stupidly long... Good thing I said I'd put it here instead! 😂
Honestly I prefer the original for the most part over the second Ralizah, even if the second has notable improvements in a bunch of areas.
Dark Cloud
Has the better story I feel, by being more minimal for the most part.
Dark Chronicle's story is far more cliche overall and it always feels a bit contrived.
For most of the story in DChr it revolves around you travelling by train to different areas and you'll always be stopped by something blocking the tracks or something.
But it's ok because you NEEDED to be there anyway conveniently.
At least so the game says...
Only the fifth chapter feels kinda important and even then it's only because it leads into chapter six directly (but that feels like padding)...
Plus the bad guys They're never TRULY bad and it's not their fault they turned evil honest! plus the final boss is completely pulled out the games butt .
DC has a bit of it as the whole area of "queens" should've really been resolved in about two seconds but there's just something about DC's more minimal approach that I like... Plus the final dungeon in DC is great and really sets the mood for the ensewing epic finale.
The translation is a bad though in DC. DCh has that beat easy!
The weapon upgrading
I like the wider array of options in Dark Cloud regarding this,
Dark Chr's is much more streamlined with what you can upgrade (You can't even choose what you'd prefer to use either regarding elements so the elemental weaknesses never seem to come into play like they can in DC).
Plus starting round the 3rd chapter in DChr you find out that you can't evolve weapons up too high as they're locked off til you beat certain monsters and it can feel a bit stingey about that.
Though Monica and Max have quite large weapon pools with the evolution mechanics (Even if Monica mainly just has all Toan's swords and Ruby's bracelets from DC and Max has a bunch of Goro's hammers)
DC meanwhile let's you upgrade to your heart's content. Plus the synthesis points system in DChr is just as easy to exploit like the simple 2-4 attachment slots in DC.
Back Floors
They're great. Ok you can't get the item for the back floor in the final story dungeon in DC due to a bug/glitch/oversight... But they're nice little challenges and great for farming ABS/exp for your weapons.
Dark Chronicle doing away with them is disappointing.
Dark Chronicle on the other hand
Has voice acting
And it's quite good for the most part.
Main character Max sounds fine (a bit like he's from the 1930's though with that accent), Monica's voicework is solid as Max's counterpart, Max's boss Cedric is Col Campbell from Metal Gear Solid, Cam Clarke (Liquid Snake) is thrown in the mix and Mark Hamil does his thing and does it well.
Kath Soucie (Phil and Lil from Rugrats and using that very voice in fact) feels rather out of place though.
Overall the voice talent is good though.
The Postgame
Both games have an extra challenge
Dark Cloud has a hundred floor dungeon (that isn't part of the original japan release I believe) whilst Dark Chronicle has only 30 floors or so.
Dark Chronicle's feels part of the story though.
It's pretty threadbare admittedly but it's not quite completely tacked on and out of place like Dark Cloud's. It's quite a challenge too in fact.
Though the bonus boss is VERY out of place... Just like the final boss in fact.
Dark Cloud's meanwhile rewards you with a sword once you've bested the dungeon that's completely pointless other then bragging rights in that you've done it.
The sword isn't even that good either!
The Minigames
Fishing is DRASTICALLY improved in DCh. Sooooo much more fun and actually involving then DC's.
Spheda (The golf minigame) is pretty good too (Though it can get pretty annoying)
There's also the Finny Frenzy (fish racing) or the Fishing competition...
Plus the medal system (that allows you to buy clothing items for the characters with them) revolves around playing spheda and fishing alongside doing certain requirements like only using Max's gun or Monica's sword for each floor of a dungeon... They can add a bunch more hours to the game if you get sucked in.
Max & Monica and improved combat
Most of the cast feels a bit redundant in DC and honestly there's one or two too many (Looking at you Ungaga & Goro)
DChr having just Max and Monica ( Well there's Max's special ability of the Ridepod mech (That's pretty good) and Monica having monster transformation (That's terrible) ) means it's much more manageable.
Plus with them having both a ranged weapon AND Melee weapon it means there's still variety (Monica's magic feels a bit... dinky and underpowered at times though, especially when you first get her).
Monica's swords even have varying hit combo's depending on what sword she has.
Game doesn't tell you that though mind...
Dark Chronicle is probably better overall... but Dark Cloud is quite nostalgic though to me. I played the demo of it that came on the demo disc with my first PS2 a whole bunch of times
They're both regularly on sale on the PS4 too.
Got both Dark Cloud and Dark Chronicle for £3.50 each. Bargain! (I also have them phyiscally and they cost £20 each so... I don't feel bad getting them dirt cheap digitally)
Though if Dark Cloud never really clicked with you I fail to see how Dark Chronicle/Cloud 2 would as it's a refined and honed type of sequel.
Nothing is drastically different in it... it just polished it up for the most part.
Just don't play Rogue Galaxy also by Level-5. That game is awful
The weapon upgrading is pathetic and even more streamlined.
Gameplay, while fast, is an utter slog, terribly button mashy combat and you're CONSTANTLY ambushed (it's random battles weirdly unlike DC & DCh) and you're running down seemingly neverending hallways.
(I know you basically do the same in Dark Cloud/Chronicle but the combat feels more methodical and deliberate in those and it just... works)
The story is unbearable with the worst star wars like space opera and anime clichés rolled up into one unholy alliance.
Plus the seven main characters are terribly bland and like dark cloud there's waaaaay too many.
I REALLY wanted to like Rogue Galaxy as it looked like it'd be a space Dark Cloud...
Uggghhhh. I've never loathed a game so much in my life
Nice. Thanks for the breakdown! I actually still have Dark Cloud on my PS2, so I'll probably boot that up sometime and see if my feelings have changed (I was a young teenager the last time I played it, so my feelings could easily have changed).
Rogue Galaxy is a game I've heard a lot of people mention (usually positively), but I didn't know it was another Level-5 developed game, to be honest.
I have too many games in general to catch up on @Ralizah 😂
If you wanna break the difficulty in Dark Cloud ( Or just pump up a weapon for the hell of it) there's a glitch you can take advantage of that produces an attachment that looks like a broken dagger (The Broken Dagger glitch) that when attached to a weapon will boost the stats considerably
Rogue Galaxy is a game I've heard a lot of people mention (usually positively), but I didn't know it was another Level-5 developed game, to be honest.
It came out at the very end of the PS2's lifecycle and I don't think it sold well at all so I'm not surprised. I didn't actually know about Dark Chronicle til 2008 as it wasn't marketed as well over here but I did happen to know about Rogue Galaxy... I just never found it in the local stores so I never got to play it til 2 years ago on the PS4 as a PS2 classic.
Rogue Galaxy looks rather pretty still being cell shaded... only thing I feel the game has going for it.
Like a lot of the criticisms for FFXIII, RG has you running down corridor after corridor that are far too long winded and the battle gameplay being fairly mindless.
Cloud and Chronicle have the more methodical, slightly clunky, slower combat that adds to the experience with tense encounters and with them being Dungeon Crawlers with that lite, dare I say, roguelike quality of you being bumped back to the start with a loss of money it makes it all the more worthwhile.
Plus in Chronicle there's the Spheda (golf) you can do on every dungeon floor once you unlock it and Fishing on most that allows you to change up the gameplay.
RG has a bug battling minigame... but it's terribly slow and the factory building one is way too complicated and again extremely slow.
The Georama building however is fairly simple in both Dark Cloud/Chronicle and not terribly complex, but a nice little distraction allowing you to build the villages as you like (Preferably once you've got the rewards for the areas)
Plus I forgot to mention Chronicle also has a crafting mechanic tied in with phatography via Max's camera... Allowing him to combine three ideas together to form various items (He's an inventor)
It can be rather obtuse at times though and terribly picky on what'll make certain items. Still neat though!
@kiki3400 Fist bump returned, friend. I'm still holding out hope for a Suikoden VI, going back to its 2D roots. It seems unlikely at this point, but you never know.
Good job, Parappa. You can go on to the next stage now.
@KratosMD Whilst I haven't played either game, my best friend played Battlefield 1 purely for its campaign quite a while back, when it certainly cost her more than a tenner, and she said it was enjoyable enough. Apparently the narrative structure is handled in short, individual chunks, so it feels more like a walk through a museum reading the small background plaques beside each display, rather than a beginning-middle-end story set during the Great War.
If these are genuinely the last two games you haven't purchased recently (!!) then they can't be a bad call at such a low price point. You know they're gonna be good-looking, well-produced affairs at the very least but, if you're still unsure, why not watch their first missions on YouTube before buying?
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@Kidfried The game can be played on your own, but it is best played with others. I enjoyed it for about 15-20 hours but then I became dead bored of the gameplay loop. Plus I didn't like that you couldn't pause the game whilst on a hunt, with the majority of them being on a timer if real life got in the way you were f'd.
Life is more fun when you help people succeed, instead of wishing them to fail.
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.
@Kidfried While I did enjoy it for awhile the gameplay can get quite repetitive even to the point of hunting the same monster over and over trying to get that one piece needed to craft something.
As for soloplay I found that the only time I really enjoyed the game was when I was playing with friends but that was cause as I said the repetitive nature of the game. My friends stopped playing the game for various reasons I after awhile I just ended up selling the game as I just got bored of it since there really isn't much of a story to it.
RetiredPush Square Moderator and all around retro gamer.
It is very Japanese so stay away if you're not a JRPG fan.
A lot of the game's systems are rather opaque so it does help to read some "top tips" etc articles.
If you're a newbie like me, you'll also spend a lot of time faffing around with different combat styles to find the one you like. This isn't necessarily a negative but it can take a while to find one you like.
The game is centred around repetitive gameplay and the constant loop of hunting the same monsters to get better kit but each battle is a bit like a Dark Souls boss.
I played the game mostly solo. I did do some missions with online strangers which was fun at times but I often found it easier solo. Enemies scale up with more of you so battles are harder. Plus, there's normally one bozo who gets killed easily and repeatedly (you online have a limited number of team lives).
I also found playing solo easier as you knew you had to keep an eye on the monsters yourself. Playing with others, I found it easy to assume other people were dealing with a monster which could then come for you. Playing solo you also get your palico (the little cat dudes) to fight alongside you which help distract the monsters. Later in the game you also unlock other buddies to help you out.
I really enjoyed my time with the game though! Like I say, each battle is like a Dark Souls boss fight which I thought was ace.
@Arugula It's criminal how cheap games become, when you consider we fork over thrice that to be able to play at launch. That being said, I'm in total agreement with your recommendation. Even at full price, Hitman 2 is worth every single penny / cent / peso / sen / lira / satang / groat / quatloo / Republic credit.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
But I haven't played them all. You're right, though; the first LEGO Marvel Super Heroes is a really cracking game. I haven't touched its two sequels, but spent quite a bit of time with the original's PS3 version whilst visiting a friend and had a blast, despite not being a major Marvel fan.
For your criteria and value for money, however, I'd recommend adding the extra fiver and getting LEGO DC Super Villains. The story is goofy fun, the voice cast is phenomenal (seriously, I'd argue it's the greatest ever assembled for a game) and it has a beautiful hub world. There's truckloads to do and, okay, it might not evolve the gameplay in any meaningful way, but it does put forward some cool ideas, like creating your own unique protagonist. It's simply the best LEGO game currently available, although I played the PS4 version so I can't say how its performance on Switch will hold up, particularly since its massive hub is quite ambitious.
LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham is perfectly fine, but it lacks a spark to make it truly special. It does feature some loving nods to Batman '66 and Adam West, which drew me in, but otherwise it's a tad lacklustre. There's no single open world, rather a bunch of little worlds which are confusing to navigate, and its story is over before you know it. Worth a tenner, if that.
LEGO Jurassic World is one of the intermediary LEGO releases. There's nothing wrong with it per se, but it cuts corners, like having dialogue clips lifted directly from the films. It's a straightforward LEGO adaptation of four movies; some traditionalists appreciated this, but it'll only really last you as long as your love of plastic dinosaurs holds out. I usually platinum all my LEGO games, since they're so enjoyable and simple, but I stopped playing LEGO Jurassic World at around 60% trophies and have yet to return. Doubt I ever will.
I have not played LEGO City Undercover, but I've heard good things. Also haven't played the games for The LEGO Movie and its sequel, at least not on home console (I have the first one on PS Vita, but it's a lesser handheld version, totally different).
So yeah, I wholeheartedly endorse LEGO DC Super Villains and probably LEGO Marvel Super Heroes but, since you've played the latter before, I'd try something new.
Hope this helps!
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@KratosMD I was about to say, don't get both at once because yeah, they're very similar. Also keep in mind that, if you play LEGO DC Super Villains first, then LEGO Marvel Super Heroes might seem like a small backwards step when you eventually get around to it. Still wonderfully playable and accessible and delightful, but it won't have some of the smaller tweaks and bonus features you'll have come to expect.
Otherwise yeah, particularly if you're a fan of the DC television shows and wider DC universe, you'll find a lot to love in LEGO DC Super Villains. You'll probably get more of the jokes and references than I did!
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@LaJettatura I can't answer all of your questions, but I can confirm that you don't need any kind of EA account to play Mirror's Edge Catalyst or Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, at least not on PS4. You just start 'em up and play. Mirror's Edge might have a prompt, but you can skip it. Star Wars doesn't even ask, anywhere, at any point.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@LaJettatura I can agree with @KALofKRYPTON, just get it! Have you played Ico or The Last Guardian? You do not need to play those games but if you like them you are more likely to enjoy Shadow of the Colossus.
I've only played some of the first Knack. It was ok but I have no intention of going back to it. You are probably better off with one of the many Lego games available.
Life is more fun when you help people succeed, instead of wishing them to fail.
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.
@LaJettatura Hope you like Mirror's Edge Catalyst. I was a bit cool towards it, but think I just played it whilst in the wrong mood. Let us know what you think of it, please!
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
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