Topic: Your Latest PS4 Purchase

@Ralizah Honestly, I think because I've been playing a fair amount of retro games lately that SMT III is looking very appealing to me now despite it being dated in some ways. Although I am aware of how difficult it is, so if I end up not being able to progress at all then there's always that new easy difficulty setting. I do have to ask though, as a beginner to SMT, do you think I should start with the new easy difficulty or with normal?

@LtSarge The new easy difficulty ("Safety") is absurdly easy. It totally removes any need to engage with the mechanics of the game.

IMO, just play on Normal. It's not THAT hard, and the Remaster adds features like being able to select which skills you keep during fusion that makes it even easier.

@LtSarge Normal is pretty challenging in places, but certainly very doable. Just remember to buff as though your life depends on it and prioritise enhancing the Demifiend's agility. Although I would say the challenge is part of the appeal of the game, the final boss is an absolute monstrous cow. It's dated compared to SMT V, but I actually prefer the story (at least based on what I've played of V so far).

@Ralizah @mookysam I appreciate the advice guys! Normal does sound like the way to go, but I'm just afraid that I'll get to the final boss and stop playing because of how tough it is. Is it easy to grind in this game should you need to do so?

@LtSarge Grinding won't get you very far in this game unless you're under leveled. It's part of the appeal of SMT. Every boss can be properly torn apart with the right demons and skill loadout.

Besides, the final boss is only really hard on one of the routes, so you might not even run into him!

@mookysam Nocturne and V both have terrible story pacing, but I feel like Nocturne's more deliberately mysterious setup leans into the minimalistic approach to storytelling better. It's pretty much the only way in which SMT V has let me down so far.

It's weird, because SMT I, IV, and IV: Apocalypse are all pretty good in the story department.

@LtSarge Battles are random and encounters are frequent, so you should be racking up enough XP as you go without needing to purposely grind. Owing to the nature of the press-turn battle system specific teams and loadouts are more important anyway. Buffs and debuffs are great because if you can dodge an enemy attack, they will lose a turn, although the reverse is also true for the party. Selecting an appropriate Magatama (a weird parasite thing that changes the demifiend's affinities and stats), is vital too.

@Ralizah The atmosphere in Nocturne has a feeling of solitude and dread, with a mysterious story that's and drip-fed just enough to keep things moving along. Normally I would say a sparse story is detrimental in an RPG, but it worked reasonably well in Nocturne. As for V, I'm curious to see how it develops, but at the moment it's missing that certain something. And I'll get to IV and Apocalypse one day!

@Ralizah @mookysam Appreciate the useful information! It's tough to switch mindsets when playing certain JRPGs as most ones I've played can be easily blasted through as long as you grind. But then there are ones like SMT and Persona where you have to actually be quite skilled and strategic in order to be successful. Well hopefully, the several Persona games I've played have been enough to prepare me for SMT III in terms of knowledge that is.

@LtSarge If absolutely nothing else, the very open structure of Nocturne means you should almost never be stuck without recourse, because you can always duck out before a hard boss fight and capture/fuse new demons and try a different strategy.

@Ralizah Ah interesting! Didn't know it was structured like that, that's very good to know. It kinda reminds me of The Sacred Stones a bit in that you have a lot of freedom outside of battles to improve in different ways. So even if the game is difficult, as long as it offers a lot of flexibility in terms of improving then I'm perfectly comfortable playing it as I know that I can try different things should one thing not work.

I got these games yesterday.

I'm different.
I only play kids games.

Oh I had Flashback on the SNES @RogerRoger... Such a beautiful game at the time.

I never got past the... second area I think? Never got far in it's Playstation sequel Fade To Black though at all.

Hopefully the remaster is okay for you but I don't think I heard great things about it at all? Or maybe it was the remake that was naffed up?

Not just all work I'm afraid... I took a bit of an unannouced break from here @RogerRoger for a variety of reasons... But I'm okay now thank you rog!

Ahh ya know what? I think I recall why I was a bit confused now... I believe you could play the original version of Flashback within that terrible remake and I'm not entirely sure if that was safe from problems as well!

Hope it goes well!

Oh and how did Legacy Of Kain: Soul Reaver go by the way?

Just ordered Valkyria Chronicles Remastered for €23. I've been wanting to get this game for quite some time and even though it's gone on sale numerous times, I just never felt like getting it. However, now that my interest for tactical RPGs has increased, I decided to finally get it. Looking forward to experiencing this series for the first time!

@LtSarge I remember playing it and highly enjoying it on PS3. For whatever reason, I came so close to finishing it but never did. I'm guessing I got stuck on a mission late in the game and never went back to it. I use YouTube videos to help me when I'm stuck now, and obviously I wish I did back then too as I likely would have finished it.

I've been tempted to get the Remastered version since I unfortunately sold my PS3 like an idiot when I got my PS4 Pro, but obviously haven't yet. Might have to finally buy the game at some point next year.

@KilloWertz Ah, that sucks. Hopefully you can give it another crack next year and finally finish it!

Out of curiosity, are you a fan of tactical RPGs or were you simply interested in just this game?

@LtSarge I guess I'd say neither as I think that was the only one I've played, but it's not like I'd be opposed to playing others. I just haven't, but I do remember highly enjoying Valkyria Chronicles when I played it way back.

I still have the disc too. Just no PS3.

@LtSarge It’s a really good game and I think you’ll like Valkyria Chronicles. Definitely go for Valkyria Chronicles 4 as it’s equally as good.

As I said over on the Switch thread, I’m not much of one for tactical RPGs, mostly because they aren’t a genre that gets much notice on PlayStation as opposed to Nintendo, but the VK series is the one exception. Very enjoyable and a fresh change of pace.

I even played the all-but-forgotten Valkyria Chronicles 2 on PSP, which wasn’t half bad. VK3 never came to the West. And Valkyria Revolution is apparently abysmal, so avoid it like the plague. It has great cover art though.

@Th3solution I actually already have Valkyria Chronicles 4 since I got it during a Black Friday sale years ago. That was another reason why I wanted to get the first game so that I could play through these games in order. But yeah, like you said, VC3 never came to the West but at least I can get VC2 on Vita if it turns out that I really like the series.

@Th3solution @LtSarge I actually have the English patch of VC3 on my Vita ready to play. I just have so little time 😂

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. Figured I'd pick it up for PS4 on the cheap. $10 is a pretty decent deal, I think. If I ever get a PS5, I'll be able to snag 4K/60 copies of it and Uncharted 4 for $10 extra, which seems like a decent deal.