Topic: User Impressions/Reviews Thread

@ralphdibny Yeah, I've gotten lost down many a YouTube rabbit-hole, watching footage of old GBA and DS versions I never even knew accompanied some of my favourite games at launch. It's rare, but sometimes they've motivated me to seek out a copy for myself. Little and often, it's do-able.

@RogerRoger 3DS isn't a "you had to be there" console, considering how many fantastic exclusives it has (and will likely forever have, because a lot of those games can't be easily ported to non-dual screen hardware), but it's also not something I'd recommend to a person like yourself who only cares about a handful of games that are also available in some form on other platforms.

I wasn't aware W10 had a baked in screenshotting tool. I know Steam does if Steam overlay is working, but I want something convenient for emulators and non-Steam releases in general. I'll have to look into that.

Ni no Kuni is going to take awhile to beat, I think. It's... a title I'm very conflicted about: incredibly charming, but some of the game design choices are annoying the hell out of me.

I'm actually not sure what I'll be discussing next. Probably either DOOM 2016 or Catherine: Full Body, if I had to guess.

I remember playing a demo for Ni No Kuni on PS3 aaaaaaaages ago @Ralizah and I really didn't get along with the battle system in the slightest

It's a bit late but that a real nice review of Sonic Generations there @RogerRoger! Sounds like a perfect little celebration of all things relating to the blue blur.

I'm surprised they haven't done another sonic collection and ported some of the PS3 era games over to the PS4 to be honest... I'd have probably given Sonic Generations a look then! Hell I'd even give the fabled Sonic '06 a go

That's a neat little easter egg too that you and a bunch of other sonic fans are in the game at the end Rog!

@Ralizah My print screen button wasn’t working for a bit but W10 has Snipping Tool pre-installed which can cut out a portion of your screen and save it.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy They REALLY should have opted for either a traditional turn-based experience that gives player control over the entire party or an action system. The current combat system combines the worst aspects of traditional JRPG combat (digging through menus, long battle transitions/victory animations, etc.) with the worst aspect of action rpg combat (lack of full control over party).

The only game I've ever seen make such a hybrid system work well was FFVII Remake, which threaded the needle properly and created probably the best RPG combat system I've ever seen.

The game also has an absurdly zoomed out viewpoint on the world map, really barren world map design in general, forgettable monster designs, and the frequency with which this game springs tough encounters on the player without warning is getting old. I had to restart and lose $1000 recently because I opened a cauldron and some savage genie boss happened to pop out and attack me.

It's a BEAUTIFUL game, though. The presentation saves it in general. I'm also invested enough in Oliver's quest to resurrect his mother that I'll probably see it through to the end.

Probably.

@nessisonett I installed a third-party program that does that, but I just want a screenshot tool for non-Steam games that captures shots instantaneously when a single key is pressed, like on Steam. I'm sure it's out there.

@Ralizah Print Screen on my keyboard usually does that perfectly well to be honest.

@nessisonett It doesn't auto-save the screen capture, though. If you press print screen again before pasting it somewhere, it gets replaced. Or am I misunderstanding something?

@Ralizah In Morrowind at least, it saved screenshots into the folder. I think most older games do but then that’s phased out in favour of Steam’s built in and extremely buggy in-built tool.

I am misremebering or was there a version of the first Ni No Kuni on DS @Ralizah?

If there was it seems like the "Unique" combat system would probably be a bit easier to use on that if it was.

Your thoughts so far... Don't instill a lot of confidence about it unfortunately 😅 Which is a shame as like yourself it always did seem like a charming little title.

Maybe the sequel will be better on that front with the combat and hopefully just as charming too?

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy I believe the PS3 version is a port/remake of the DS version which was Japan only. I could be completely wrong though but that's what I thought I read about it...

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy @ralphdibny Indeed, there is a Jp-exclusive DS version of the game. Although with some basic google skills, you can find translation patches online, I believe. Not sure why anyone would want to play it now that the full fat PS3 version is on Switch and looks gorgeous, though.

But yeah, it's a tad rough. It was mostly notable for the involvement of Studio Ghibli and releasing at a time when home console JRPGs were all but dead.

I wish there was a way to merge the difficulty, story focus, and presentation of Ni no Kuni with the creature designs and combat of Pokemon.

Seems like It'd be better to play Jade Coocon instead then @Ralizah! The monster catching, merging, batling and rasing gameplay with the Studio Ghibli like visuals... It's just not that cute and a bit rough graphically with it being a PS1 game lol

I probably would've wrote up my thoughts on Nexomon: Extinction by now but I heard talk of a Hardcore mode (Which from the Nexomon twitter account seems to be some sort of randomiser?) and a new game plus coming soon so I thought I'd wait til those are implimented and check them out before writing anything.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Yeah, I've been holding off on a few of my reviews until I replay the games to experience them more fully. Writing for this thread has been turning me into something of a completionist... within reason (I'm going to replay Catherine: Full Body, for example, since it's a game built around replayability and I feel like I need to do that to fully appreciate its design, but the game has 13 endings, and I'm certainly not going for all of those ).

The problem with most of these monster collecting games is almost always the designs. I don't remember how good Jade Cocoon was in that regard (I really should revisit it), but too many feel like the designs were just spat out by some random Pokemon generator. The only non-Pokemon series I've seen fully buck that trend thus far are Shin Megami Tensei (using mythology as a basis for collectible monsters was inspired) and Monster Rancher. The former is alive and kicking, but the latter has been dead for almost two decades now.

I'm curious to see how you feel about Nexomon, although the footage I've seen kind hasn't been super promising. There's such a space in the market for a multiplat monster collecting game that emphasizes adventure and exploration, but nobody aside from budget-pinched indie devs seems to be interested in filling it.

The Pokemon element doesn't even fit that well with NnK, IMO. The game was better in the first few hours when it felt more Dragon Quest-y.

@mookysam Oh yeah, there was a cosplay competition, too. Some were really spectacular! It was all well-meaning fun, and you could tell the participants loved it, so it was kinda sweet to watch.

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@Ralizah Absolutely yes, I meant that the 3DS was a "you had to be there" console for me personally, in the context of the kinda games I play (and the discussion I was having with Ralph). Apologies for the lack of clarity. I have huge respect for the 3DS and its exclusives, having dabbled with a couple of friends' consoles over the years, and was really grateful for your passionate insight when I was thinking of tracking one down earlier this year. I just can't justify spending more on a legacy console than I would be on a new PS5, particularly because I'd be doing so in order to play a small handful of supremely average, available elsewhere games. I like my retro stuff, but not for £700.

Looking at my PC's settings, the built-in screencap shortcut is part of the Xbox Game Bar (which is invisible 98% of the time, but is ever-present during any PC game I play, whether it's via Steam, GOG or spinning a CD-ROM). Some of your custom software might've superseded its functionality, or you might've had to disable the Game Bar at some point, but it's on by default and doesn't require an Xbox Live account to use, as far as I'm aware. It saves full-res captures to my PC's Video folder by time and date, with a neat little pop-up confirming each successful capture (which is a transparent overlay and doesn't obscure any of the captures, unlike the PS4's notification) but spamming it can sometimes overload the feature and it'll fail to save subsequent attempts until you restart the game.

I've heard similar about Ni no Kuni, even from hardcore Studio Ghibli fans; that it drew them in with its visuals and style, but then disappointed them in the gameplay department. Sorry to see you're experiencing similar, although at least you're invested in the story. Ish.

Looking forward to the next in your ongoing DOOM series, by the way!

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@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Thanks! Yeah, you're not alone in wondering where all the Sonic remasters have been this past generation. Only three new games made it to the PS4, two of which were novelty spin-offs, so some kind of collection would've hit the spot.

There are rumours that the Adventure games are getting remade for the 30th Anniversary next year, but I'd prefer a "Hedgehog Engine" trilogy of Unleashed, Colours and Generations.

Something tells me I'm gonna wind up being disappointed but hey, a boy can dream!

Wait a minute @RogerRoger... Are you telling me the ONLY Sonic games on PS4 are Sonic Mania, Sonic Forces and Team Sonic Racing?!

I thought there was way more then that!

I do hear Adventure (and Adventure 2 in particular) being talked about VERY highly so if they end up getting remade (Not just an upres port) I could see how that'd work out rather nicely for the fanbase.

I know exactly what you mean @Ralizah as I've been thinking of "remaster-ing" a couple of older reviews of mine (One that's part of this thread, one that was before it) to experience them more fully (and to touch them up a little to get them more in line with my current style.)

Long as you still enjoy writing the reviews is the most important! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on Catherine!

Jade Cocoon's designs are ok enough I suppose? Weakest aspect of the first game probably in my eyes. Seeing as they don't evolve it's always just the one design for the base beast til your merge them into shambling monstrocities.

That's one area the sequel probably does a little better with the family trees and four stages of evolution (Though at the cost of no merging and combining the beasts to have a face only a mother would love )

If you want a brief peek at my Nexomon thoughts... it's hovering the line of a really high six/low seven. A flawed experience in a number of ways and maybe I just played it at the right time but I found it rather enjoyable myself despitw the flaws (Some could be considered pretty big) and honestly had a great time with it. At the very least the story is pretty unpredictable beat for beat (Though the overall story wouln't be too out of place in a pokémon game) and it can get pretty tough with the fights at times)

I'm also just as surprised as you to be honest that no one's tried to make a multi plat monster catching game... The market IS there I'm sure... Just the afformentioned cash strapped indie devs can't advertise unlike the juggernaut that is Pokémon 😅

Looking forward to reading the eventual thoughts on Ni-No-Kuni too!

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Yep, that's your lot. Some older games are available via PlayStation Now, so you can technically play them on a PS4, but it's not the same.

When you consider that the PS3 had three main games, two major digital releases, three crossover spin-off titles and seven remasters and re-releases made available on it, it's pretty embarrassing. Things definitely slowed down for a while back there, which is understandable at times, but we're long from the days of getting two or three new Sonic games per year.

Yeah, a full remake of Sonic Adventure would interest me. Another port of it? Not so much.

Just to let everyone know I'm still around and read a review or two from time to time.

I want to give a shout out to the continued Sonic reviews from @RogerRoger (I totally had no idea they made a second episode of Sonic 4, so I learned something there. I knew they had planned on it being episodic but thought it was abandoned after the first one. Great piece on Generations as well) & the Super Mario Sunshine review from @Ralizah (sounds like your experience was much like my own, though I didn't 100% it).

@RR529 lol It's been slow-going for all of us as of late. No surprise, given it's closing in on the end of the year.

And yeah, I think our opinions on 3D Mario games have broadly aligned so far. Really excited to get to Super Mario Galaxy soon.

@Ralizah, yeah, it's probably going to be awhile before I contribute anything else. I'm working on XCDE on Switch, which I think I'm maybe halfway through at this point (and this isn't even counting Future Connected, which I keep forgetting about), and I may finish up DOA5: Last Round before the month is out, but it depends on how much PS4 time I get.

Hope you have fun with Galaxy when you get to it! I know you already hold it in high regard.

@RR529 I'll be posting my DOOM 2016 review sometime this week (it's practically done; but, being another chonky review, I'm trying to find ways to trim it). Catherine: Full Body should follow in the next week or two, hopefully.

Yeah, I loved Galaxy to death on the Wii. Really excited to play it with a real controller this time, even if I thought the game made great use of the Wiimote + Nunchuk.