Topic: Games you've recently beat

@LtSarge For me, it depends on the kind of game. If it has a solid story and not completely atrocious acting, I wouldn't mind playing a FMV game or other games some consider walking sims (Life is Strange, Detroit: Become Human, etc.) It's actually sometimes refreshing to play a game with simple gameplay.

I can still enjoy a "normal" game if it has a great story and just decent gameplay, and even vice versa since even some of the best playing games can have a thin story. It's obviously the ones that have both legitimately bad gameplay and story that are doomed from the start.

I prefer voiced dialogue over having to read it, but I will also make an exception if the game is good enough. I'm about to finish Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana, which has a mixture of voiced dialogue and text. Not my preferred way of course, but it has become one of my favorite JRPGs because it is the complete package otherwise. It is games that replace voiced dialogue with them making noises or saying random words that don't even make sense with the dialogue while the text goes across the screen that annoys me.

It's fine to go on a tangent. It wasn't like I was reading a whole novel there.

@KilloWertz The most enjoyable games for me right now are ones with a good mix of story and gameplay. Good thing I got a PS5 so I can enjoy tons of games like those from Sony!

Glad to hear that you've been enjoying Ys VIII! I played through the game a few years ago on Switch and it was so much fun. Easily the best Ys game I've played. Speaking of which, is this your first Ys game?

@crimsontadpoles That's cool, I get that. Was just nice to see you post again; even though I had no comment about the Wii games you'd played, I enjoyed reading about them!

@LtSarge Yes, it is. I plan on playing Ys Origin and Ys IX someday as well, but I will be going into both of them knowing that neither will be able to reach the heights of Ys VIII. Maybe the upcoming Ys X will be localized by then.

I beat it today and got the true ending. It only took roughly 105 hours.

Cold Steel 1 is done. Decent enough for the most part but even more structured than Zero and Sky FC with the way it railroads you, literally. Definitely glad I waited for it too, the lack of context with regards to Crossbell is crazy considering how much it impacts the geopolitical situation for most of the game. The final chapter was quite a bit more interesting than most of the game but there are still issues with the overall pace and the way 90% of the party members are completely sidelined. The rampant homophobia and sexual harassment seems to have been ramped up in these games too, or perhaps it’s just ickier in the 3D engine. From the little bit I’ve played of Cold Steel 2 though, it does seem to be addressing some of the issues I had with the first one, with the slightly less dumbed down orbment and battle systems and being able to actually walk 5 feet outside cities without being hit by an invisible wall and a telling off for wandering.

Sounds like literally every scene featuring Olivier in the Sky games.

@Ralizah He’s actually toned down in these ones funnily enough. But I’d still say that he at least had a character outside of the nonsense while also having the excuse of it being 2004. I’ve noticed that the number of characters in the series that are incredibly predatory lesbians is increasing at a rapid pace in each game though, I’m gonna assume that the lead writer has some kind of fetish or, more likely, has never met a lesbian in their life. It’s sad considering that Zero/Azure has Wazy, who’s pretty openly bi while also being androgynous and the jokes are never at their expense as they behave like an actual person instead of a caricature. It honestly feels like the series has gone backwards since the older ones in that respect. Actually, I’ll just blame the lead writer after all, they have a whole incest subplot for like the millionth time in Cold Steel that’s encouraged by other characters and literally nobody raises the slightest objection to it.

@nessisonett The predatory lesbian concept is unfortunately pretty common in Japanese media (something Kunihiko Ikukara attempted and failed to properly satirize in his anime Lesbian Bear Storm).

None of what you're saying surprises me in the least bit, considering how embarrassingly tropey even the supposedly better written Sky games are. Also, the character designs in ToCS are awful and look like they were ripped from a late 00s harem anime.

So exactly like the Sky games, then. Is this entire series stuffed with incest baiting? I can't with this, man.

@Ralizah The Sky incest was dodgy enough and they adopted Joshua when the two of them were like 10 and therefore aware that they weren’t related. In this one, the main character’s sister has lived with him since she was 3 years old and yet crushes on him AND OTHER CHARACTERS REPRIMAND YOU FOR NOT RECIPROCATING! It’s such a frustrating series at times, the overarching story and political machinations are really great but a lot of the character stuff is real tropey and like I alluded to, this one feels like they’ve solely created the female characters to fill specific fetishy roles to encourage the harem crap that’s forced into the series. You know it’s bad when I’d rather the dodgy incesty stuff from Sky because at least that was set in stone rather than having a pick-your-porn-genre approach to romance mechanics.

@nessisonett Oh wow, do the characters in ToCS not realize they're not blood related?

I actually would mind a full-on incest plotline far less. That sort of thing happens. Just, y'know, acknowledge what it is, and then if you want to keep going and say that the relationship is fine regardless for reasons, I'm cool with that. I mean, it's still creepy, but it's fine.

I'd even be fine with the "incest-but-not-really-cuz-genetics" thing if it was approached with a modicum of respect, and if the characters picked a lane.

Maybe I should bail out of the series where I am.

This is why the Ys series is superior, man. There's very little of this. I think Ys VIII had one eye-rolling scene where Adol stumbles on a character bathing and gets slapped, but otherwise the writing is pretty respectful of the characters, and the other games I've played haven't even gone that far. It's just Adol and his bro Dogi going on adventures and defeating evil.

The music in Ys is way better, too.

@Ralizah They’re aware that they’re not related but at the same time, she’s grown up with him since she was 3 years old and so would have spent quite a few years before having it explained to her about them not being blood related. That’s wayyyy worse than Sky because the flashbacks in Sky SC show them both as being fully aware of their circumstances. It’s that whole thing of it being weird once but even weirder more than once. Like come on guys. On the topic of Ys, Cold Steel had a scene with a girl appreciating a phone strap of Dogi while the MC insinuates that men like Dogi appeal more to the gay audience. I’d love to think that some dudes in the 80s designing the first Ys were really into bara hentai lol.

@nessisonett At the end of the day, no matter what flimsy romantic subplots the developers attempt to erect, it always goes back to Adol and Dogi setting off together.

Sort of like with Edgeworth and Phoenix, courtship takes many different forms.

s'all I'm sayin'

@Ralizah Having just played and finished Ys VIII for the first time, I can say that scene you mention actually makes sense given the way the female character acts early on. At least in my opinion it's perfectly fine, especially given the character arc Laxia goes through.

@KilloWertz She's a tsundere, so you'd expect her to act that way.

Ys VIII was fantastic overall, though. Did you play the PS5 version? I can't imagine what they could have added to justify that port.

Agreed on the final chapter definitely being the most interesting part. I wonder if I enjoyed the game overall more because of the lack of Context I have with Trails in the Sky & the Crossbell titles.

... Heh I wonder what you'll make of Steel 2 by the time you're done. I can finally ramble about my grievences soon enough with you ness!!

Lol poor Gaius (Or whatever his name was) who has like 0 bearing on anything. I didn't mind the railroading surprisingly (though the pace is a bit more questionable).

Nice worldbuilding but yeah I certainly didn't the feeling of "amazing writing" the series is supposed to have. Though I did find most characters having a charm to them.

I know EXACTLY which character you're on about for Steel and I'll leave it at that 😓

I didn't mention that whenever I talked about it because... Yeah I didn't want to acknowledge it.

I think it's even WORSE in Steel 2 from what I remember 🙄

@Ralizah True, but even if that wasn't a Japanese thing, I'd still be ok with how the scene when her and Adol first meet to be just fine.

Yes, I played the PS5 version. It is true that it isn't that much of an upgrade. Obviously the graphics look a bit better, and obviously it's clearly than the Switch version (minimal "noise" on the ground and such while moving like a lot of Switch games have). I believe the frame rate is a rock solid 60 FPS rather than occasional dips on the PS4 version. Minimal overall, but it was reasonably priced and obviously my first time with the game, so it made perfect sense.

I actually ended up selling my Switch copy after finishing it. For whatever reason, the framerate sinks into the single digits during certain late-game optional dungeon sequences that were added when the game went to PS4.

I'll probably repurchase on PC eventually.

Nooooooooooooo~

Congrats @Killowertz on finally beating Ys VIII! I take it Ys only got more enjoyable for you in the final few hours?

... I said I think @Ralizah!

It might've been that it just ended up bothering me more in the second title.

It's just been like 2 years and I tried to scrub that part of the game out my brain!

@HallowMoonshadow Gaius and Machias are literally pointless in every aspect and I’ve already dropped them from my party in 2 😂

So far, the cringe seems to be dialed down with a more serious plot but I guess I better be on red alert!

@KilloWertz Congrats for beating Ys VIII! Yeah it's definitely going to be hard going back to the older titles after having played the greatness that is VIII.

My first Ys game was Origin and it was great. I have such fond memories of that game. Then I played Ys 1 and 2 on Vita, which were terrible. Ys 3 was decent. Ys 4 (which is also on PS4) is fantastic. Haven't played 5 and 6. Ys 7 on Vita was great as well. I have Ys 9 but I haven't played it yet.