Topic: Games you've recently beat

@Mikeg1965 Nicely done! Pretty much counting down the days for the 3rd myself. Did you play the demo?

@Metonymy I did look for the Demo for 3' but couldn't find it. Assumed maybe it was timed or something?

@Mikeg1965 Yeah, it was timed. I think they’ve got another coming out a few days before release. They’ve made some very interesting changes from II, especially with stances. It still didn’t feel fully fleshed out in the demo but I liked where it was going. Not too long now!

@sorteddan Ah, fair enough. I'd say it's definitely worth looking up the In Water ending again for when you're in the right headspace, but honestly, it probably won't hit so hard for you. I feel like the first ending you get when playing will always remain the canon one to you anyway, and while the In Water is beautifully tragic, it doesn't show anything visually interesting or offer new audio that it'd reshape your experience in any way. Be happy you got the better ending for James, even if I feel like In Water is more narratively fitting!

I hope you'll manage to pop the collectible achievement on this playthrough. Is there any way you're able to keep tracking of if you missed something or not? Sounds like it'd be terrifying to miss out at this point. Hopefully you'll be able to move onto the smaller games soon. What have you got planned?

@FuriousMachine I kinda understand that feeling. I think it's an amazing game that about 80% of the time that I want to play a game I would not be up for playing. I can recognize it's amazing, but it's also not the kind of game that easily sets its hooks into me.

I got into gaming (way back) for the kick to be honest. And that has remained important for me throughout the years. So I can replay Hades II stages a million times, I get excited about the risk of losing all my souls in Bloodborne, and I love playing a game while thinking 'there's no way I will ever make it', putting everything on the line and then maybe making it.

For that thrill seeking brain of mine, Death Stranding poses an enormous challenge. I can easily acknowledge it's a good game, but where's the excitement and fun that I long for after a long day in the office. Eventually I found ways to appreciate the game immensely. It's a slow burn, but there are risks involved if you seek them out.

Eventually I got into a groove ths summer; 4 or 5 years after I bought the game. It took over my life, and I knew I had to lose myself in this game if I wanted a chance of beating it. It was an unforgettable experience and might have even dethroned Bloodborne as my favorite PS4 game. But yea... at the same time I totally get how a game like this might not click for you, no matter how hard you try.

Don't feel bad about it, though. Enough great games to play still!

So yes, while it's totally possible to fail in the Ace Attorney series, it's not quite as elaborate as you might be imagining. Ultimately, they are linear visual novels with fixed progression. If you make a mistake, you can take "damage" on a health bar (which usually results in some optional or hidden dialogue, most of it hilarious) and if you make too many mistakes, it's game over. Outside of a few notable exceptions, however, all this does is force you to reload your most recent save and try again, now armed with the knowledge of what not to do. If you get really stuck, it just becomes trial and error. Pun not intended.

There are incredibly frustrating moments where, if you're not on the same wavelength as the writer, you'll try and make a connection which is totally valid and obvious, only to get slapped back because it's not where the game wants you to go. But that isn't a criticism! They're incredibly clever and intricate, not to mention endearing as heck. You just have to lock in to a particular mindset, if that makes sense?

If you're still tempted, best place to start would be the beginning. There's way too much continuity and too many running gags to jump in anywhere else.

To that end, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy is the release you'll wanna look for.

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@Ralizah Come to think of it, I've definitely seen a couple of those Wrightworth nuggets you mention! Of course, it doesn't help that the series prides itself on awkward exchanges and dialogue that can be easily taken out of context, but still... just shows how intentional they must be!

Oh, yay! At least you've got it ready to go, and that positive fan reception only helps. Fingers crossed you can get to it this year as planned. You might even beat me to it, then!

Hmm, that's a tough question. I genuinely do think my favourite might be the first Investigations, but since that's the one I literally just finished, I'm wary of recency bias (on top of my aforementioned bias towards Gumshoe). I do know that, as much as I enjoyed it, Apollo Justice didn't quite hit for me, so that'd probably be at the bottom of the list, at least for now. I'm really looking forward to returning to the Chronicles games, since I thought they got off to a great start, and hated having to abandon them so early on. In other words, it's all subject to change! I remember they were your favourites, or at least used to be...?

@Herculean Yeah, and I'm the kind of gamer who prefers a more laid back gaming experience over the adrenaline pumpers, so this should be in my wheelhouse.
I really don't like inventory management, though, so that may be a big part of it (as I understand it, the main thrust of the game revolves around just that). Additionally, I didn't particularly enjoy the controls, but both of those things might diminish as one gets deeper into the experience. I haven't written it off, so I will most likely give it another go at a later date. Now that I have a better indication of what I'm getting into, I may time it to better fit my gaming mood next time

@Werehog Thanks for the write-up on Ace Attorney! It sounds like it's less open than I had hoped, but I'm still hopeful I might get a kick out of it. I do enjoy legal settings very much in TV shows/film, so either way, I imagine the core loop of the narrative will intrigue me whether or not it's giving you the freedom to fail. But yeah, I totally get what you mean with how the investigations follow a clear path that you might not always be in line with. That'll always be the hard part to manage with a system like this. It's hard to account for all the variables of how people might think. I'll put it on my wishlist and see when it gets a good sale!

Just beat Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1+ after roughly 40 hours, which will be my final PS4 game for the time being.

Wow. Just wow. What an experience. Yes, the visuals aren't up to modern standards. Yes, the balancing is kind of wack. Yes, it is rather grindy. But it is just so freaking fun. The character interactions were almost always funny, and I laughed out loud quite a bit during the reading sections 🤣. Also, it not being censored and being the exact same thing as the Japanese version of the game is a plus. Since my PS4 is going to go on hiatus for a bit, I am asking for the Switch 1 version of the whole Re;Birth trilogy for my birthday present in a few months. It's already been ordered on Playasia.

But back to Re;Birth1. I'm not kidding when I say it's my new favorite video game, it's just that good. After a long reign of almost three years, Pokémon Violet has been ousted to second place. Now it's back to playing a lot more on Switch for me, until I finally get enough money saved up for a Switch 2.

Score: 10/10