Topic: Recent Retro/Misc Gaming Purchases? (Not PS4/PS5)

@RogerRoger I might just join you there with Hitman (albeit on Steam) as I’ve been curious about Contracts for a while now and that’s me all done with uni for this year!

@Ralizah World End Syndrome wasn't one I'd heard of before, but from looking at a quick trailer and overview, it seems like just my sort of thing.

I should totally find the time to play more visual novels. There's quite a few that appeal to me, but I keep sticking them on my wishlist and forgetting about them.

@crimsontadpoles It was lower priority for me than Raging Loop, but I already bought that, so this was next on the list. It seems like it leans into the daily life/social sim element a little more than I'd like, but it still sounds like an interesting experience. I like the Higurashi-esque premise, at least.

I'm a sucker for visual novels with horror/thriller elements, and the last few years have been pretty good on that front.

Although, yeah, I have a ton of these to 'play' as well. With the Great Ace Attorney games coming out soon, though, my visual novel/adventure game plate will be filled for quite a while.

Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology on the 3DS. The physical prices of the game are exploding, like they are with most of Atlus' 3DS line-up, and I don't know if Atlus will bother doing another sale on the platform again, so I decided to pick it up. Wasn't a big fan of the original game on the NDS, but maybe this version will be better.

@RogerRoger I wouldn't feel guilty over what you are playing, we all have different tastes and different moods to play certain stuff. As long as you are happy doing it and not making someone else unhappy at the same time (which is a very un-Rog thing to do), keep on doing it!

@RogerRoger Now you mention getting those games, I really should get back to Naruto. I watched from the start of Part 1 to the very end of Pain’s arc in a couple of months and so burnt out! I’ll probably binge classic Who until I burn out and then go back to Naruto 😂

@RogerRoger I'll give it to the next page and if that darn Naruto is still being mentioned, I think my finger will me hovering over the 'Ignore' button... joking of course!

@colonelkilgore Since you mentioned it yesterday and I realised the game is only on sale for a few more days, I decided to purchase Salt & Sanctuary. Will be playing it on the Vita though since it feels perfect for that system. I played it for 5 minutes just to see how the gameplay is like and it's pretty much a 2D version of Dark Souls. And it's really good! I'm glad that I decided to buy it since it honestly feels like a hidden gem.

I also bought PixelJunk Shooter Ultimate for €3 since I love twin-stick shooters and this is another game that looks perfect for handheld play so I'll be playing it on the Vita. I feel like the amount of games I have on my Vita is dwindling so it's nice to have a few more titles to play on it now.

@LtSarge yeah, I’ve always thought 2D games were perfect for handhelds. Sounds like it’s won you over pretty quick too as I know you sounded a bit on the fence about it yesterday. I’m a huge souls fan so I’ll be really interested to see how it pans out in two dimensions.

Also, I love twin-stick bullet-hells myself… never thought that I would but the sections in Nier: Automata converted me. I’ve got a few in my backlog but I’m keeping a close eye on Dead Nation and Alienation… the moment they get a price drop I’m gonna pick them up. 🤞it’ll be tomorrow.

@colonelkilgore I actually have a pretty mixed history with Souls games. On one hand I absolutely love the formula, but on the other I've played through both Dark Souls and Bloodborne by grinding so much that everything became too easy after a while. So I honestly can't say that I'm good at these games (yet) and I've still yet to play any other Souls game since those two. I really want to give another Souls game a go without grinding too much. Maybe I'll start up Dark Souls 2 one of these days and see how I fare at that game.

@LtSarge Dark Souls 2 is a weird one... not bad... but a real outlier. It feels quite different to the others in atmosphere but also in how the game feels to control. It introduced a stat that until it was levelled up, made dodge-rolling feel... 'off'. Think it was the Agility stat. Think you need to get it up to around 25 to make it feel more like a Dark Souls game.

I still loved it... and was shocked the other day to find out that out of all the From Soft and non-From Souls-likes I had put more time into it than any other. I wouldn't propose it as the one to win you over though. If I were you, I'd go Dark Souls 3 or Demons Souls Remake... or even try the Nioh games (they're awesome too).

@LtSarge Try Sekiro. You are unable to make your character OP in that. You can grind to a sorts, but only to obtain new skills and stuff. Which takes skill from yourself to use.

@colonelkilgore Ah, okay. That would explain why most people don't talk about the second Dark Souls game. I personally prefer to play games in order, but maybe that doesn't matter in the case of Dark Souls? Perhaps it's better to leave it for later just so that I can find my bearings with these games first.

@JohnnyShoulder Didn't know that, that's good to know! I actually have pretty much all the major Souls games, including Sekiro, Nioh and Dark Souls 3. Might have to give one of those a go soon. I feel like once the need to grind in these games stops and I play them as they're meant to be played, it will eventually click for me.

@LtSarge yeah it's kinda the forgotten step-child of the series... the only one not directed by Miyazaki too (he was making Bloodborne).

And yeah, even though I personally played them in order... each narrative is so intentionally vague and each game so independent from the others that chronological order isn't as important as with other series. If anything Dark Souls 3 feels much more of a direct sequel to Dark Souls than Dark Souls 2.

Also, Sekiro is fantastic... and has that 'feel' that only a From Soft game has... but for me is an entirely different subgenre to the Souls games.

Well after having recently finished Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles and started up Red Steel 2 on Wii, I've started to like gaming on the system once again so I just ordered another two Wii games to play: Epic Mickey and Battalion Wars 2. Both of these have been on my wishlist since I was a kid but because of PlayStation and Xbox, I haven't cared about playing on the system until now that is.

In all honesty, I feel like games on PlayStation and Xbox are becoming a bit too samey for me considering I've played so many games in my lifetime. So now I want to go back and have new and refreshing experiences, which there are plenty of on the Wii. Epic Mickey seems like a fun game and I've always wanted to try out the Battalion Wars series. On top of these and Red Steel 2, I've also got two Trauma Center titles, Resident Evil The Darkside Chronicles, Zak and Wiki, Wario Land: The Shake Dimension, Rayman Raving Rabbids, Madworld, Pikmin 2, No More Heroes, Little King's Story, NiGHTS: Journey Into Dreams and many more Wii games from my backlog to play. Heck, I might as well even play Resident Evil 4 on Wii if I keep this up. I've wanted to play the PS4 version due to the better graphics, but the Wii version has better controls. So my regained interest in the Wii might help push me over the edge to give the Wii title a go instead.

@LtSarge I actually love Epic Mickey. It’s flawed for sure but it’s absolutely stayed with me all these years. It’s very dark for a Disney game but highly creative with loads to do and even a morality system.

@nessisonett Yeah I've heard the gameplay isn't the most in-depth but at least the story is very good. I actually like the dark premise, it makes it more interesting for a Disney title. Really looking forward to playing it!

Out of curiosity, have you played the sequel as well and if so, would you recommend it?

@LtSarge I never did get round to the sequel actually!

@nessisonett Ah, okay. Well I'll just have to play the first game and see if I'm interested in playing more of this series.

I don't really know whether these should be classified as retro, but I just picked up a Vita and a New 3DS XL. I had a PSTV before but was keen to get the Vita whilst they're still out there and at a relatively sensible price. Still got Persona 1 and 2 to play on there after having finished P3P and P4G on my PSTV. Not really sure what other games I might get at this point. Maybe Tales of Hearts R, Muramasa and Trails In The Sky SC. Such a shame that FC and Xenogears aren't available over here.