That's a new feature. Instead of people's work getting the credit it deserves, I added a function that just randomly redirects them to one of my reviews!
Nah. Arugula had his account nuked recently.
I'm in the process of fixing the Directory now. Barring any catastrophic life events, expect it to be back up before the end of the month. I'll make an announcement when it is.
I fixed that link now, btw.
Well seeing as I just saw your post saying you've fixed all the links now you deserve to put your feet up! I can't imagine that being anything other then an absolute nightmare. You're a star Ral! If anyone else had created this topic it'd be totally anarchy no doubt.
Seriously?! Arugula's gone?
... The impressions piece I'm working on was in part for Arugula cus he asked about it in the recommendation thread and I'd only played some of the opening whilst he was still here 😯
MonHun proper sells several millions of units over there, but MH Stories on 3DS couldn't crack 500,000 worldwide. So this sequel managed to double its lifetime sales within a week of release, lol.
Oh... Oh that's especially good then. That's still really surprising it didn't do all that well in japan. Wasn't around the same time when Yo-Kai Watch or Pokémon released was it? Only reason I can really think of myself wih their being some serious market saturation or unfortunate timing.
Hopefully, but I doubt it. Capcom is already providing a roadmap for what monsties it's adding to the game, and I didn't see my man Tetsucabra on the list.
I just don't understand why he's in the game at all if you can't hatch one. They already have the full 3D model for it.
Huh... That is rather a strange thing to do. If it was only in a cutsceme or something I'd understand why it wasn't but seeing as you can fight them already... Yeah... Odd.
Only if he constantly makes tacky dick jokes and innuendos like he did in SMT IV: Apocalypse.
Cu Chulainn and Scathach are both in. Atlus has been gradually revealing the game's roster over time. That, alongside a drip feed of trailers and news about the game keeps it in peoples' minds.
I haven't played either SMT IV so I didn't know that. Sounds about right for Mara
And ooh that's cool! Some nice trailers there. I don't think I've seen mermaid before in an SMT title.
Noticed angel got changed. Not sure how to feel about that... I'm so used to the typical BDSM looking design that the new one looks a little off. Kinda sorta reminds me of the robot angels from Tenant's run of Doctor Who with the space Titanic in
Sounds great. Looking forward to it! I'll be relying more heavily on impressions pieces myself.
I've noticed that my habits as a gamer don't properly align with my reviewing style. I tend to only discuss games after thoroughly completing them, which can mean beating them multiple times in order to see all in-game content if they're on the shorter side and completing all of the side-content in longer games. What I tend to do with longer games (which make up a huge chunk of my library given my affinity for visual novels and JRPGs), however, is play them for a period of time (anywhere between 15 - 60 hours, generally) before sitting them down and moving on to other games. It can be months or even years before I'll return to and complete a given game after doing this. So I've decided to lean more on impressions pieces for long games. If I end up returning to a game and beating it, then I'll craft a fuller, more complete review of it, but this way my feelings about games I end up not returning to for a long period of time will still be documented. They'll also give me a solid foundation on which to craft a finished piece about a game.
Well I hope it works out well for the both of us to help us review our longer winded games! 😄
I've already spent 20+ hours just getting past this first arc and with 2 DLC add-ons (One being a 50 floor roguelike dungeon crawler experience, the other a story dlc) to go through as well as god knows how many other chspters for the main gamr... I might take even longer then Divinity Original Sin II with this CRPG currently under my belt!
Previously known as Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy
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"You don't have to save the world to find meaning in life. Sometimes all you need is something simple, like someone to take care of"
I appreciate the effort you're making to read through previous reviews, but please don't bust a gut on my account, as there's never any expectation from me!
Played via the Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Trilogy collection.
Platform: PS3 (original) / PC, PS4, Switch & Xbox (remaster) Release Date: November 2008 (original) / August 2017 (remaster)
***
As the sixth console generation drew to a close, Naruto's gamer fans were divided.
On the Nintendo GameCube, and happy to continue on the Wii, publisher Takara Tomy had delivered the popular Clash of Ninja series, developed by Eighting. As a 3D arena-based brawler with punches, kicks and special moves aplenty, its gameplay was instantly familiar to the fighting genre. Meanwhile, over on Sony's PS2, another publisher had worked with another developer to create a wholly unique spin on the same source material. Bandai Namco's Ultimate Ninja games, developed by CyberConnect2, offered 2.5D one-button beat 'em up action with a spectacular, cinematic flourish. This gameplay wasn't as traditional as Clash of Ninja, but it was far more accessible.
Whilst fighting game aficionados decried the success of such simplicity, the Ultimate Ninja games went from strength to strength, boosted by the PS2's all-encompassing install base. By the time Bandai Namco started showing screenshots of what CyberConnect2 could accomplish with the PS3's powerful new hardware, Takara Tomy's fate was sealed. The last Clash of Ninja game was released in Japan on December 2, 2010 and never made it to the West. Apparently, we'd made our choice.
And that choice was a victory for style over substance. Like so many high school sitcom characters who trade on their looks, Ultimate Ninja Storm might be pretty, but it's also pretty shallow. The game may claim to cover the manga's entire "Part I" storyline, but what it really does is just string together a lot (and I mean a lot) of samey fights together with paragraphs of context on their loading screens. There are a few exceptions and surprises along the way, but not enough to quench the thirst of those looking for plot and character. As such, this is not the ideal way for newcomers to experience Naruto's tale.
Which is a shame, because it's a good one. Naruto Uzumaki is a young outcast who, despite living in a village which constantly shuns him, dreams of becoming its Hokage, its strongest and wisest protector. He enrols in its ninja training school and, through sheer bloody-minded willpower, sets about achieving his goal as all manner of socio-political shinobi machinations start to swirl around him. It's a lot to try and convey in a single paragraph, especially since it can cover so many genres all at once, but I've always felt like, at its core, it ended up being a rather sweet story about platonic and unrequited love, albeit one in which characters routinely summon skyscraper-sized frogs... y'know, as you do.
The fighting game genre fits it like a glove. Despite my previous criticism of the endless battles you'll be expected to trawl through, CyberConnect2's central system is a work of art. Now taking place in 3D arenas, it's fast, fluid and a heck of a lot of fun, easy to pick up and play but a real challenge to master at higher difficulty levels. Your only attack button is Circle, with alternate combos triggered depending on which direction you push the left analogue stick. If you can corner a drained or timid opponent, spamming Circle will devastate them and this can feel as cheap as it sounds, but it's a rare occurrence. L2 and R2 are your guard buttons; hold them down to continually withstand an onslaught for a limited time, or attack from a standing guard to grab and throw. If you block an incoming attack at precisely the right moment, you might even manage a Substitution Jutsu, cheekily replacing your character with a log as you teleport right behind the enemy.
This is where CyberConnect2 really respect and reflect the rules of the Naruto universe when implementing the combat's flashier aspects. Triangle loads your character's Chakra. Tap it once and then attack, and you'll initiate an offensive Jutsu move. Quickly tap it twice, and you'll have a chance at landing your Ultimate Jutsu. These marketing money shots pause the battle to play out your chosen character's most gigantic and earth-shattering signature attack, although it'll only complete if you win a fastest-finger-first QTE tug o' war with your opponent. Should you lose this QTE, not only will you fail to do any damage, you'll have drained almost all of your Chakra in making the attempt.
But that isn't Chakra's only role, as it's also expended by the aforementioned Substitution Jutsu and, if you load some before jumping or dashing with the Cross button, you can move blindingly fast, either towards an enemy to catch them off-balance or away from them to create breathing room. Put simply, a successful fight depends on successful Chakra management... because this might go without saying, but it's a limited resource. If you take a major hit, small chunks of it can fall out of you, scattering for anybody to grab. It can be recharged by holding down Triangle, but doing so leaves you vulnerable.
Which is where you'll come to rely on your back-up because, in the majority of fights, a pair of allies are assigned to the L1 and R1 buttons. Call for one and they'll quickly jump in, perform their Jutsu, and then jump away to recharge, which makes for the perfect distraction whilst you're busy recharging your Chakra. They can also be used to lend a final flourish to certain combos and, if you find yourself knocked back by a powerful attack, you can call one to catch you in mid-air (the prompt for which is the game at its most breakneck, blink-and-you'll-miss-it speed). In addition to being a useful tool in battle, it's a lovely touch given that one of the source material's major themes is the comradeship between ninja.
Oh, and there are also items that you carry into battle, used with Square. These can be any number of useful things, from throwable weapons like shuriken and kunai knives (which can also be overcharged with Chakra) to consumables that temporarily boost your stats. I found that I relied on them far less than the other features of my arsenal, but they're welcome all the same, and can lend a crucial crutch as the difficulty ramps up towards the story's end. If you're still doing particularly badly, you can also "Awaken" your character by overcharging their Chakra, going into a sort of overdrive with a new appearance and faster, more powerful abilities.. and yeah, I think that covers just about everything. For such a supposedly simple game, there's actually a heck of a lot to keep track of when you start listing it all.
And yet, throughout Ultimate Ninja Storm, the feeling that you're playing a glorified proof-of-concept tech demo never really goes away and, I hate to say it, it's because you are. In their transition to the seventh console generation, CyberConnect2 got the basics of their new engine working brilliantly, but then just phoned in the rest. Nowhere is this more evident than in the story's hub world, a representation of Naruto's village which feels much larger than it is, yet also way more empty than it should. Between each story-progressing fight, you roam around it and "chat" (a.k.a. read un-voiced text boxes) to its residents, who'll give you side missions. These are mostly of the fetch variety, although you'll also have to play hide-and-seek with some kids, trade scrolls for special moves, chase a couple of lost dogs and run up some large trees.
I say "have to" because after a while, unlocking the story fights become dependent on the completion of a certain number of villager requests. The thresholds are low enough so that players can be selective about what type of chores to tick off the list; if you loathe the tree-climbing minigame, then you can (mostly) get around it but, whatever you pick, it tanks the pace. Not only that, but quite a few requests end up with you in battle anyway, which robs the story fights of their identity. It all starts to blend together after a while. At least getting around the village itself can be fun in brief bursts, as Naruto can use Chakra to sprint, run up certain walls and even launch himself over buildings.
We'll just gloss over how the targeting arc for said launching is unfortunately positioned to make it look as though Naruto is doing a big wee-wee.
No matter what you complete, be it story content or side, first time or replay, scrolls will litter the streets upon your return to the village, and you'll feel compelled to hoover them all up (whether you actually need them or not). The problem is, they always seem to appear in the same handful of places and, with well over a hundred individual excursions for Naruto to go on, you'll end up dreading each homecoming as a repetitive pattern of map-mopping takes hold. For me, this epitomises all of the village busywork, as CyberConnect2 throw mundane missions at you to justify the asking price of their fancy new fighting engine. It can be oddly relaxing stuff for a rainy Sunday, but it isn't why I'm here.
But then, at key points in the story, you gain an insight into the developer's obvious ambitions as you arrive at one of the game's four giant boss battles. Not only are these bookended by fully animated, proper cutscenes, but they're also where CyberConnect2 demonstrate their flair for the dramatic in gameplay terms, as Naruto (and others) go toe-to-toe with enormous, horizon-blocking monsters. Each of the four fights has its own criteria for success, and figuring out how to start chipping away at a beast's health bar is half the battle, literally, but you'll always end up winning with a flurry of forgiving QTEs.
To have so few of these to play is a shame, but knowing that one might be waiting to reward your patience becomes effective motivation to keep plugging away at the village's various checklists. They are exactly where the lines between manga, anime and gaming started to blur and, back in 2008, provided a glimmer of hope for the future of the Ultimate Ninja series. Playing them nowadays is slightly less impressive, especially when armed with knowledge of the game's five sequels (which, as you'd expect, only got better at providing these kinds of set pieces, increasing their scale and frequency to the delight of spectacle-hungry fans) but they're still one heck of a rush.
And, by sticking them alongside a couple of Ultimate Jutsu in some jaw-dropping trailers, CyberConnect2 managed to generate a lot of hype for Ultimate Ninja Storm, which guaranteed strong sales even after early adopters had found the majority of its runtime to be disappointingly basic. Its sumptuous, eye-catching beauty still turned heads regardless, and blinded some professional critics to the point where they incredibly (as in, defying credibility) started to praise the village activities. Not even the lack of online multiplayer ruffled many feathers; everybody seemed to understand that Bandai Namco and CyberConnect2 were merely laying a foundation for things to come. Naruto and his friends had already undergone their Shippuden transformations, even in some of the older PS2 games, so yet another take on "Part I" didn't have to light the world on fire.
What it had to do was work and, gripes about the non-combat content aside, it did, and still does. Is it better than the gameplay advocated by the Clash of Ninja series? Well, I reckon that's up to personal preference, and perhaps whether you're a broader fan of fighting games or not. All I know is that, even after years away from it, I can pick up Ultimate Ninja Storm and within minutes, be watching in triumph as my implausibly-haired champion screams the convoluted name of their Ultimate Jutsu and wins a small brawl by flattening the entire stadium.
And hey, what could be more Naruto than that?
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@RogerRoger Great review, you’ve summed up my thoughts exactly! A decent foundation for things to come, but with one of the most boring hub worlds ever. Yet, I find myself missing the fully explorable village while playing the second one! The platinum is at least achievable, and also gives you incentive to interact with basically everything it has to offer. Without that platinum then I probably would have played it a whole lot less.
@nessisonett Thank you! Glad you liked it, and also glad to see we agree!
You're right, as barren as the hub was, it was real fun to chuck yourself around it and that's a freedom I also find lacking in the sequels (as gorgeous as they are). I'm just so grateful the platinum only requires you to complete around 50% of all the hub stuff, otherwise it might've been too big an ask, even as an incentive. The PS3 original didn't have trophies, so I was kinda nervous to see the remaster's list (especially after UNS 2 and its title-collecting nonsense) but they turned out really well.
Sounds like you've got the trilogy, but do you also have UNS 4: Road to Boruto perchance? Are you planning on playing through the whole Storm series?
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
Good review there on Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm 1.
If I recall correctly my daughter had Ultimate Ninja 3 on PS2 and Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 on PS3.
Enjoyed them enough myself, the combat definitely being easy to learn and enjoyable enough in bursts, but once the manga went past the save Sasuke arc and turned into Naruto Shippuden it sorta lost some of the magic it had for me in those early chapters (which unfortunately meant I didn't have as much interest in the games going forward) so it's a bit of a shame that ultimate ninja 1 is a bit phoned in.
Still some great screenshots there Rog. It cleans up rather nicely upscaled and whatever in the PS4 re-release!
Gimme 30 seconds -EDIT- (Or 20 mins as I proof read it for the billionth time) and maybe you'll find something from me too!
Pathfinder Kingmaker: Definitive Edition - First Impressions
Everyone knows D&D right?
Even if you haven't played it, seen the 80's cartoon (Which, for a kids cartoon, is actually pretty good.) or the watched the many D&D streams that have cropped up in recent years like Critical Role.... You've at least heard of it and have a general idea of what it's about.
Over the years they've revised the rulesets, changed how certain things work and added new features & mechanics... So you may be surprised to know that Pathfinder is also a table top rpg, made in response to the drastic changes that occured with D&D's 4th edition and used a modified version of D&D's previous 3.5 edition ruleset.
In fact until D&D's 5th edition came out to much acclaim in 2014, Pathfinder was the best selling table top rpg for a number of years, temporarily taking the crown that D&D had pretty much held from 1974 til 2010!
Why I am talking about table top RPG's so much when I'm supposed to be talking about video games?
Well... Pathfinder: Kingmaker (Which I'll simply call Kingmaker going forward) is based off an adventure module/line of the same name that's been altered and expanded upon, made in the Unity engine and now ready to play as a good ol' CRPG styled video game instead.
And it IS basically just a game of Pathfinder/D&D in video game form.
Creating your character involves selecting your character's race (Each with different bonuses, skills and traits), Choosing 1 of 16 different character classes (with each class having 4 variations/archtypes with different abilities and the likes), assigning your stats & ability scores, picking feats, choosing your allignment...
You really are just filling out a character sheet here like you would in the actual table top pen & paper rpg (Though there are a few pre-made characters for you to choose from too) minus the background/backstory you'd have to make but with the addition of a character model and a voice you get to apply that's only possible with a video game.
So... Meet Hallow, a Chaotic Neutral Elven "Eldtrich Scoundrel" (A magic oriented Rogue).
I love the artwork used in the game. Though for character portraits it, at times, doesn't quite fully represent the character you might make. Especially with there being an abundance of human portraits but only one or two of the other races
Kingmaker starts off with your created character (along with many other mercenaries) being summoned by Lady Jamandi, an Aldori swordlord.
You're there to take back a region known as The Stolen Lands from a bandit king, The Stag Lord, with a rather enticing reward of a Barony that'll be gifted to one of the mercs and assistance in creating their own kingdom upon completion of said task.
Unfortunately things don't quite go as planned and before you even have time to ponder why Lady Jamandi is so eager to gift such a prize, assassins strike during the middle of night, slaying most of the inhabitants with you having band up with some of your fellow mercs to stop the threat and save your new potential benefactor.
And there's quite a colourful cast too including;
▪ Linzi, a halfling Bard from the rowdy thieves den of Pitax, whom writes all the entries in your journal and narrates (on occasion) the game.
▪ Amiri, a Human Barbarian, with a love of slaying monsters and combat.
▪ Jaethal, an Undead Elf Inquistor, with a sharp tongue and an even sharper scythe.
▪ Harrim, a nihilistic Dwarven Cleric, whom follows the god of end times Groetus.
▪ Tartuccio, A Gnome sorcerer, with an ego ten times as tall as he is.
▪ Valerie, A Human Fighter (I never got to see much of her though.)
▪ and Kaessi (Kai-e-si) A Tiefling (A demon like race for the unaware) Kineticist with a flirtacious streak (whom I also didn't see much of.)
I like the cards used for both the party and the menu navigation for your journal, equipment, making camp and the likes.
Before going into the combat I'd like to take a brief moment to talk about the voice acting.
It mostly hits in my opinion despite the no name cast.
Amiri and Jaethal's voice actors are ok. Probably the iffiest of the lot so far.
Amiri's is EXACTLY what you might expect from someone being told to play a bit of a brutish barbarian character and hamming it up a bit.
Jaethal's actor similarly plays it straight in what you might expect from a snide elven character (Though I happen to enjoy her more of the two).
Linzi's pretty good for the most part (Though has some truly terrible random dialogue with one line in particular being "I'm by your side" that can rear it's head at the stupidest moments).
Harrim's a real treat though with his introduction of thinking he's dying from a mere scratch and finally off to meet his god (when he's completely and utterly fine (and a bit disappointed))
Tartuccio... He's the star of the cast so far for me however. Perfectly encapsulating his character and then some. Utterly delightful in that love to hate sort've way and getting to have some fun with the role.
But even then most the cast is pretty decent... Just Jaethal and Amiri stand out out at the moment as a bit more rigid.
Unfortunately not everything is voiced though which is a bit of a bummer as there is a LOT of text to go through at times (especially if you start asking about character's backstroies and the likes) and like I said the voicework, for the most part, is pretty solid so it's a shame you don't get to hear more.
Annnnyway~ back to the game.
Kingmaker is an isometric RPG... and unique to most as it features two modes of play that you can toggle at any point in time with a simple push of the R3 button.
▪ Real-Time With Pause (RTWP from here) like the original 2 Baldur's Gate games.
▪ Or Turn based similar to Divinity Original Sin (It's the only other CRPG I've played so far so it's the only thing I can compare it with!)
... Frankly I haven't touched RTWP in the slightest as I'm not really a fan of automated systems. I, being the madwoman that I am, played through the original PS2 version FF XII not using the gambit system in the slightest and set every single move myself
It follows Pathfinder's (& therefore D&D's) rules pretty closely and to keep it simple (as there's some intricate systema that can come into play) each character can take a move action (Which depends on your character's race (shorter races like gnomes and dwarves move less then a human or elf) & potentially your class can alter it too) and an attack action per turn.
That sounds a bit confusing I know but the UI is really rather good at showing you what you'll do what in the given turn for your characters.
Beware the nice ones! Tristian may be a cleric and holy man... But Boneshaker sounds like one hell of a nasty spell to be on the recieving end of! Also it's my clumsy attempt to show some of the battle UI and descriptions of the spells/actions!
But it IS a bit more complicated then Divinity which simply gave you 4-6 ability points a turn and your actions (including movement) used up so many of those depending on what action or skill you were trying to do.
The game does a decent enough job explaining things and has detailed explanations of what each spell, ability and the likes does or how long it might take to cast but it DOES take some getting used to as well...Which is best learnt by simply playing with the mechanics and experimenting a little.
It's deep and rather intricate but there is however a slew of difficulty options & toggles to shape and customise the experience as you see fit.
Preventing your characters from dying outright, lowering or nullfying enemies critical hits, making it so your kingdom can't be destroyed etc... You can really tailor it to as you see fit and whilst I'd never touch RTWP myself it's no doubt great for someone whom perhaps just wants to experience the story and finds the turn based option a bit too slow/complicated and let the AI go to town.
Told ya it was pretty customisable!
Like the tabletop RPG dice rolls are used for everything too.
Attack rolls, Damage rolls, perception checks... Whilst it's a bit annoying to keep it up all the time (for me at least) there is a handy log you can use that details every single... Well detail with all the information you could need about why your attack might've missed or by how much you successfully picked that lock on a chest!
The game does handily point out which skills are best for you to get, what stats are the most important for your class... So you should be getting along just fine with each character specialising in certain areas.
With the ability to change it's size and pin or unpin it it's a rather handy tool even if it can take up too much screenspace for my liking to keep up permanently!
And your choices and skills do matter.
Poor Hallow isn't exactly brimming with charisma or persuasion and at the end of the opening she had rather a hard time to convince Lady Jomandi about certain matters... And my starting party was greatly affected by my actions leading up to there as well.
It's the reason why I know next to nothing about Valerie's character... Saying that I was helping her save the guards to get more bodies to assist in the battle against the assassin leader (And failing the check) did no favours in drawing the more virtuous swordswoman to my side... But my more villainous compatriots were eager to lend me a hand! 😄
You can, eventually, get everyone whom was in the opening to join you however (Or not.) And there's plenty more characters too, as I found an 3 extra party members through the first chapter!
Kaessi however is part of the PC's DLC that was then added into the PS4's and Xbox's Definitive Edition release. Honestly I didn't even know she wasn't a part of that til writing this so she didn't feel awkwardly shoehorned into the base game (Though her complete absence through the first chapter makes a LOT more sense too).
What else can I say about Kingmaker so far?
It doesn't look too bad?
The character models aren't great but for a studio's first game and a limited budget (It had a kickstarter to help out that raised a million dollars) it's good enough and with the isometric angle you're really only going to see the character models up close in the equipment menu anyway.
The environments are pretty good though and the first time I saw a thunderstorm randomly kick in (that does affect combat quite significantly) it really set the mood!
I love the world map as well with it's hand drawn look and the clouds that slowly disperse and detail get filled in as you progress through it
As for the music? It's actually quite good. But whilst I was going through the game it it didn't immeadiately jump out at me and slap me across the face like Divinity's. It took listening to it outside of the game for this impressions piece to let the music sink in fully.
The Main/Title theme is rather niceThe boss music that played through my confrontation with The Stag Lord was pretty sweet.And Nyrissa's theme is a wonderfully haunting and melancholic track.
The writing's pretty good so far too.
I have no idea where the story is going to go but now that Hallow has her barony the political intrigue is starting to build up and the world building is cranking up a notch too and I'm really quite excited to find out what's going to happen next.
Plus important terms in the text are highlighted green and at any point you can bring up a glossary to find out more information/lore about this god, where that country is or when this event took place. It's REALLY useful and rather interesting too.
I guess the only thing I have left to talk about for now is the game's performance and bugs.
For performance? Haven't noticed anything so far to be honest. My PS4 slim seems to handle it just fine with no dropped frames or issues as far as I can tell.
Load times aren't too bad either. It depends on the area. Some loads are about 10-15 seconds. Others can be a bit longer but I can't say they were so long I was getting impatient.
What is unfortunate though is the bugs.
Now Owlcat games is a relatively new studio... And a CRPG is a pretty bloody complex first game to make and porting it to consoles I'm sure is no easy task either.
It was buggy in it's original PC release but has since been smoothed out rather well from what I hear.
The PS4 release though? If it was just character's T posing in the equipmemt menu for but a splitsecond before correcting themselves I wouldn't have much to say at all about the game here.
... But the game's physical edition shipped with a disc read error.
It was supposed to be fixed with one of the patches.
The physical copy I'd purchased (Not know such an error even existed before well after) had problems booting up but would eventually do so after clicking on the game icon a second time.
When I updated it to include the latest patch though that supposedly fixed it? I was met with this...
No fault of the PS4 and the disc was spotless. This was all on the game.
... So I had to get the digital version instead (Thankfully I managed to get a refund for the physical copy I bought.)
All I've been met with since switching copies is the T-posing visual hiccup (Though curiously the main theme has now disappeared from the main menu).
Nothing major for now... But yeah. The physical edition having such a game breaking bug is really not a good look in the slightest.
A new studio, new people working together, their first game being such a complex genre of a CRPG, deadlines to be met... I can empathise, especially with the current climate, that it no doubt wasn't easy in regards to development to make such a title... but it doesn't entirely excuse the problems either. Especially for console players.
Thankfully (fingers crossed) that was the worst to happen and I'll be able to not add anything to this in the upcoming impression pieces I'll write as I'm REALLY enjoying the game.
I may've been sick to my backteeth with the problems I had with Cyberjunk 2077... But at least that disc loaded up without any problems 😅
... Purchase Kingmaker on PC if you can. Digitally only if you HAVE to get it on PS4.
Now if you'll excuse me, Me and newly appointed Baroness Hallow have a kingdom to run and potential allies to gain!
@RogerRoger I've always wondered about this. So Ultimate Ninja Storm on PS3 was like a remake of PS2's Ultimate Ninja on a dramatically more powerful console?
Also, I assume each of these Ultimate Ninja Storm games covers a separate chunk of the manga/anime storyline?
It's disappointing to hear about how basic the storytelling is. Naruto is one of those series that would benefit from a more cohesive, connected campaign that makes you feel like you're actually playing through the series, given how elaborate its story and mythology can be.
With that said, the presentation certainly does look clean enough, which I could definitely see impressing people early into the PS3's life. Anime-based games can look phenomenal with the right presentation, and I'm guessing this is one of the first notable ones where the in-game graphics looked really close to the look of the anime itself.
Style over substance indeed, although, if the gameplay is solid, that can be alright. It sounds like the game is one that has a massive pick-up-and-play quality for you. There are a lot of games I thought were amazing, but which I know I'll probably never replay. And then sometimes you have these obviously flawed games that still manage to make themselves supremely accessible. I think that's its own sort of triumph, like a movie that will never be in any "best of" lists that, nevertheless, you find yourself rewatching over and over as the years pass on.
And yes, the positioning of that arrow in your fifth screenshot is supremely suspicious, I agree.
Good review. It's obvious when you harbor a fondness for the source material.
And impressively fast turnaround from your aborted Call of Duty piece.
@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy You really seem to be getting your feet wet with the CRPGs now (I recall you really enjoying Divinity when you posted about it). Pathfinder is a game I've been aware of for years, because for a long time it was the one tabletop RPG we sold to customers, but, being almost allergic to tabletop stuff, I've never actually tried playing it or D&D. I didn't even know this game had been kickstarted!
Sounds like it (mostly) turned out well, though, sans the physical PS4 version being basically unplayable. The art reminds me of the numerous fantasy novel covers I've seen over the years (seems appropriate). It's cool to see how customizable the experience can be.
My only experience with CRPGs (barring Diablo/Diablo II years and years ago, and the classification of those games tends to be controversial anyway) is Dragon Age: Origins, which, as I recall, featured a real time with pause system that also allowed you to program ally AI (at least in the PC version), although it never worked as smoothly for me as the gambit system in FFXII (that must have been a MASSIVE pain in the butt having to select every option in every encounter, I must say My favorite thing about it is how, late game, you have access to so many gambits that, customized right, you can run through entire dungeons without having to pause the action once).
The music seems pretty decent for that style of composition. Of the selections you posted, Nyrissa's Theme was definitely my favorite.
All-in-all, it sounds like a solid game, especially for the first attempt by a fresh-faced developer without a large budget to work with.
I keep feeling like, for the sake of diversifying my gaming experience, I should at least check out a few of the classics in this genre. But then I always end up diving headfirst into some 100 hour JRPG instead! Maybe some day.
Good work on your impressions piece! Hopefully you continue to enjoy the game. I'd love to hear your finished thoughts if and when you get around to completing the campaign.
Pathfinder is a game I've been aware of for years, because for a long time it was the one tabletop RPG we sold to customers, but, being almost allergic to tabletop stuff, I've never actually tried playing it or D&D. I didn't even know this game had been kickstarted!
Oh yeah your family owns a store doesn't it @Ralizah? If I recall correctly Pathfinder: Kingmaker wasn't finaced fully through kickstarter... It was additional funding to add more bits and bobs.
Then you certainly aren't aware that it's had a sequel partially funded through kickstarter too called Pathfinder: Wrath Of The Righteous (Again based on a previously existing adventure line/module) that releases sometime this year for PC and who knows when for consoles.
It's cool to see how customizable the experience can be.
Yeah from what I recall of Divinity it didn't have much in the way of options & toggles? There was a slew of difficulty options including a story mode option but I think that was it? It's been well over a year since I played.
I don't think (Don't quote me on that) there's any difficulty related trophies too unlike Divinity: OS 2 either which is nice.
My only experience with CRPGs (barring Diablo/Diablo II years and years ago, and the classification of those games tends to be controversial anyway) is Dragon Age: Origins, which, as I recall, featured a real time with pause system that also allowed you to program ally AI (at least in the PC version), although it never worked as smoothly for me as the gambit system in FFXII (that must have been a MASSIVE pain in the butt having to select every option in every encounter, I must say My favorite thing about it is how, late game, you have access to so many gambits that, customized right, you can run through entire dungeons without having to pause the action once).
When I was playing Divinity I was actually greatly reminded of Dragon Age Origins (Though Divinity is miles better. I loathe DA:O ). I played that choosing every action as well (I think the PS3 had the real time pause as well?)
It wasn't that bad choosing every action from what I remember... Though when I get around to starting The Zodiac Age with it's speed-up options I'm gonna have to dabble in the gambit system proper.
I keep feeling like, for the sake of diversifying my gaming experience, I should at least check out a few of the classics in this genre. But then I always end up diving headfirst into some 100 hour JRPG instead! Maybe some day.
I'm not sure how good the switch port is but If I recall correctly I heard something about Divinity Original Sin II has save sharing with PC for that version? Though the small text is probably a nightmare on a handheld Switch/Switch lite.
Good work on your impressions piece! Hopefully you continue to enjoy the game. I'd love to hear your finished thoughts if and when you get around to completing the campaign.
Thanks! I appreciate the praise (Especially after that TWEWY impressions piece from me which was rather ho-hum ) last thing I properly wrote was that DMC review so I was feeling rather rusty
There'll be at least 2 more impressions pieces I think to chronicle my thoughts about how it progresses. I'll no doubt be talking about the kingdom management aspect that I get to dabble in extensively in the next piece! 😁
Then you certainly aren't aware that it's had a sequel partially funded through kickstarter too called Pathfinder: Wrath Of The Righteous (Again based on a previously existing adventure line/module) that releases sometime this year for PC and who knows when for consoles.
I wasn't aware of that, no. I'm glad the developers have seen some level of success with the first release. CRPG fans are eating very well these days.
When I was playing Divinity I was actually greatly reminded of Dragon Age Origins (Though Divinity is miles better. I loathe DA:O ). I played that choosing every action as well (I think the PS3 had the real time pause as well?)
It wasn't that bad choosing every action from what I remember... Though when I get around to starting The Zodiac Age with it's speed-up options I'm gonna have to dabble in the gambit system proper.
I recall hearing that DA:O was a much better experience on PC than it apparently was on consoles. I mostly enjoyed my time with it, aside from not really liking the battle system that much.
And YES, the increased speed in TZA is an amazing QOL feature. I could never go back to playing FFXII on the PS2, frankly. The gambit system is pretty limited at first, but you unlock more commands over time, and eventually can program your allies to do whatever you want them to. Kinda wish that option was available in Persona 3 FES and Monster Hunter Stories.
I'm not sure how good the switch port is but If I recall correctly I heard something about Divinity Original Sin II has save sharing with PC for that version? Though the small text is probably a nightmare on a handheld Switch/Switch lite.
I hear that a lot, but I'm actually severely near-sighted, so, even with corrective lenses, trying to read stuff on a TV a few feet away is actually far worse for me.
Although I'd probably never play a CRPG on a console anyway. Certain types of games are just vastly more enjoyable on PCs.
And yeah, I believe Divinity was one of the few games that featured cross-save between PC and Switch versions. The Witcher 3 was another. It's cool in theory, but I never actually ended up using it much, since I don't like bouncing back and forth between 30 and 60fps. I can adjust pretty happily to the former, but only when it's the sole way I'm experiencing the game.
There'll be at least 2 more impressions pieces I think to chronicle my thoughts about how it progresses. I'll no doubt be talking about the kingdom management aspect that I get to dabble in extensively in the next piece! 😁
Great. Nobody else really covers these sorts of games in this thread, so it'll add some much needed diversity to the topic.
@nessisonett Awesome! Looking forward to reading your thoughts on each of 'em.
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@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Aww, thanks! And thanks for reading my Naruto piece! Your daughter had two of the series' best games, in my opinion.
I don't blame anybody for falling off the Naruto wagon, as the storyline does become incredibly convoluted, especially in the second half of the Shippuden era. I think that's why the storytelling in subsequent Storm games is improved dramatically, because CyberConnect2 realised that it'd be new narrative to a lot of players. Even I haven't finished either the manga or anime, but I know how it all ends thanks to the games. Feels like a bit of a cheat but hey, it works for me.
Honestly, the PS3 original didn't need a lot of work done for its PS4 port. It was always a looker, and was one of the most fluid, technically stable games in my collection. When you then play through all it has to offer and realise how basic it is, it kinda makes sense, but it's still impressive!
Just like your piece on Pathfinder: Kingmaker up there!
Although I'm gonna be one of those annoying people who turns around and says "Well, I know ofD&D, but I have no clue what it's about or how to play it." Aside from a brief minigame in Life is Strange: Before the Storm (which just asked me to pick dialogue about orcs or something, so I walked away) and watching Stranger Things, I've never engaged with it, and therefore couldn't tell you a thing about it. Don't worry, this is why I found your piece interesting, because it taught me things! And after our previous discussion about the channel, you've really made me wanna watch more of Critical Role, too!
It's always good when a no-name voice cast manages to pleasantly surprise; when your worst complaint is that some characters are only "okay" then I'd call that a victory, especially considering how bad voice acting can get sometimes. The game itself sounds insanely deep, which is to be expected of the genre, I suppose, but it's such a shame to hear about its technical woes. I'm glad you got a refund on that physical copy. Did your save work with the digital game okay, or did you have to start over?
I'm real glad you're enjoying it thusfar, but I hope it continues to hold your attention and maintain your excitement as you progress. Looking forward to reading more!
So yeah, that billionth proof-read really paid off, I'd say! Thanks for sharing!
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@Ralizah Thanks for reading, as always! And to answer your first question, kinda yes and kinda no. I mean, the fighting controls for the Ultimate Ninja Storm games are practically identical to their previous PS2 counterparts, but the translation from "2D gameplay with 3D graphics" to "just full 3D everything" is a bit of a game-changer. It's odd because, at times, it'll feel insanely familiar if you've played any of the Ultimate Ninja games on PS2 (particularly Ultimate Ninja 3, which had a similar hub world and structure) but I'd still hesitate to call it a remake. It's more like an evolution, if that makes sense?
But yes, each of the Ultimate Ninja Storm games cover separate story ground. There's no overlap, not unless you count some bonus, non-essential unlockable flashbacks or anything.
The storytelling is hugely improved going forward, and countless other games had adapted the "Part I" storyline by the time Ultimate Ninja Storm came around, so I can at least understand why it wasn't a priority for CyberConnect2, but it's still a shame, yes. I think you're right, I think this was one of the first games to nail anime visuals, and so I guess they deemed that a more important goal.
Most of my Naruto game collection is exactly that; it consists almost entirely of those supremely-average-but-get-rolled-out-every-year-anyway experiences, especially the fighting ones (there is variety elsewhere, as I have an RPG and a 2D platformer on Nintendo DS, as well as a couple of the RPGs made for PS2 and PSP, and I've just purchased an online live-service game in the PSN Summer Sale... perhaps stupidly but hey, it was six quid, so it won't prove a costly mistake). As soon as I was able to free up space on my PS4's hard drive, I re-installed all of the Storm games, so that they could be easily accessible, as I do end up missing them when they're mothballed. As such you're right, they get a lot more gameplay time than perhaps they should, and so I'd definitely call that a triumph, for sure.
Thank you! If I'm honest, this was absolutely one of those "if you don't get back on the horse straight away, you'll never ride again" moments, so I'm glad it ended up a worthwhile endeavour.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
I wasn't aware of that, no. I'm glad the developers have seen some level of success with the first release. CRPG fans are eating very well these days.
Ha neither was I til I looked up about it. Earnt double the funding compared to Kingmaker too with $2million raised. With that and & Baldur's Gate 3 by Larian Studios (The Divinity guys) on the horizon... Yeah there is a lot of CRPGs for fans to, hopefully, love! (And hopefully the console port of the second kingmaker is a tad more polished!)
Good to hear. Difficulty-related trophies suck so much. I usually just ignore the trophy list completely when a game has those.
Whoops. Spoke too soon. Had a look last night and there's two difficulty related trophies. One that isn't too difficult to accomplish and rather early in (beat one mini boss on hard difficulty at lvl 2) ... But then there's one to beat the game on the hardest difficulty. Looks like I'll be skipping it too 😅
I recall hearing that DA:O was a much better experience on PC than it apparently was on consoles. I mostly enjoyed my time with it, aside from not really liking the battle system that much.
The deeproads and the mages tower were such a slog to get through it really soured my judgement and I wasn't a fan of the combat myself or the story either.
Personally never got the praise for it. I enjoyed Dragon Age Inquisition a lot more myself
And YES, the increased speed in TZA is an amazing QOL feature. I could never go back to playing FFXII on the PS2, frankly. The gambit system is pretty limited at first, but you unlock more commands over time, and eventually can program your allies to do whatever you want them to. Kinda wish that option was available in Persona 3 FES and Monster Hunter Stories.
Yeah I did briefly use the gambit system both in the PS2 original and when I played some of The Zodiac Age (I got to Raithwall's tomb beforr getting distracted by other things (It was before they finally updated the ps4 version so you can change jobs)). It's pretty neat but... I'm just a bit of a control freak it seems. Looking forward to replaying it properly at some point though 😄
I hear that a lot, but I'm actually severely near-sighted, so, even with corrective lenses, trying to read stuff on a TV a few feet away is actually far worse for me.
Ah I'm near sighted as well (not as bad as yourself though it seems) so I can understand your plight!
Although I'd probably never play a CRPG on a console anyway. Certain types of games are just vastly more enjoyable on PCs.
And yeah, I believe Divinity was one of the few games that featured cross-save between PC and Switch versions. The Witcher 3 was another. It's cool in theory, but I never actually ended up using it much, since I don't like bouncing back and forth between 30 and 60fps. I can adjust pretty happily to the former, but only when it's the sole way I'm experiencing the game.
Lol fair enough! Whenever you get round to one in your busy gaming schedule I hope you enjoy it!
Aww, thanks! And thanks for reading my Naruto piece! Your daughter had two of the series' best games, in my opinion.
I don't blame anybody for falling off the Naruto wagon, as the storyline does become incredibly convoluted, especially in the second half of the Shippuden era.
Convoluted to hell and back and the whole everyone evil suddenly has a whole tragic backstory and is just misunderstood and giving them redemption arcs malarky got on my pip personally. I haven't bothered at all with Baruto or whatever the sequel about the kid is called
I think that's why the storytelling in subsequent Storm games is improved dramatically, because CyberConnect2 realised that it'd be new narrative to a lot of players. Even I haven't finished either the manga or anime, but I know how it all ends thanks to the games. Feels like a bit of a cheat but hey, it works for me.
Oh really? Might have to look into those. I did enjoy the games myself so who knows. It's been a while since I experienced Naruto.
I read the manga myself (Never actually watched the anime so the games were the first time I'd heard the english dub)
Personally I was always more of a Bleach fan at the time when Bleach, Naruto and One Piece were the biggest names in anime
Just like your piece on Pathfinder: Kingmaker up there!
Although I'm gonna be one of those annoying people who turns around and says "Well, I know ofD&D, but I have no clue what it's about or how to play it." Aside from a brief minigame in Life is Strange: Before the Storm (which just asked me to pick dialogue about orcs or something, so I walked away) and watching Stranger Things, I've never engaged with it, and therefore couldn't tell you a thing about it. Don't worry, this is why I found your piece interesting, because it taught me things! And after our previous discussion about the channel, you've really made me wanna watch more of Critical Role, too!
That's more then most people so i'll take it!
Not long after we last spoke in regards to CR the second campaign came to an end funnily enough! There's now a new mini campign/show being done with 3 of the regular cast, 3 new guest members and a guest DM too. I haven't looked at it yet myself but there's only 5/6 episodes of it so far (and only 8 total apparently) so that might be worth giving a look if you're a littkenintimdated by the 100+ episodes of the second campaign? 😁
It's always good when a no-name voice cast manages to pleasantly surprise; when your worst complaint is that some characters are only "okay" then I'd call that a victory, especially considering how bad voice acting can get sometimes.
Yeah honestly the worst voices in the game I've heard is the ones you can assign to your character. The male ones especially all sounded rather hokey to me. But you can make them mute and turn off the party random dialogue/chatter too if need be! 😄
The game itself sounds insanely deep, which is to be expected of the genre, I suppose, but it's such a shame to hear about its technical woes. I'm glad you got a refund on that physical copy. Did your save work with the digital game okay, or did you have to start over?
Yeah... Bit of a stark contrast from the anime arena fighter genre that's for sure! Deep and quite intricate.
I'd only made my character and progressed through a bit of the opening before those woes so it wasn't that much a bother thankfully in restarting from scratch.
I'm real glad you're enjoying it thusfar, but I hope it continues to hold your attention and maintain your excitement as you progress. Looking forward to reading more!
So yeah, that billionth proof-read really paid off, I'd say! Thanks for sharing!
And thank you for reading! It very much is keeping my attention so far... The hard part'll be getting through it before I'm back at work! 😝
@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Ah yes, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations. I've encountered him via DLC for the last Ultimate Ninja Storm game, which tells his introductory tale, and he'll obviously be a part of Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker which I snagged in the sale last week, but I'm far less familiar with his storyline (to the point of not being able to name any of the new characters, beyond Boruto himself).
Yeah, I had friends who liked Bleach and One Piece as well but, from what I saw of them myself, I wasn't grabbed in the same way I was with Naruto. Maybe I'm doing them a disservice, though, because I only ever gave them passing glances.
Thanks for the heads-up about Critical Role's new, smaller campaign! It's all slowly working its way up my watchlist, but it's good to know I'll have scalable options. By the way, two of the folks from Critical Role (Liam O'Brien and Sam Riegel) are currently voicing two characters in the supporting cast of Star Wars: The Bad Batch, the animated Disney+ show on every Friday. I obviously didn't recognise this for myself, but saw it mentioned in an article and thought it was a pretty cool piece of trivia.
Brave of an RPG like this to give a voice to your protagonist anyway, isn't it? Aside from BioWare (who even went for the mute option themselves in Dragon Age Origins) I thought it was pretty standard to keep a custom character quiet, to allow players to project?
Glad you didn't lose much progress before that glitch and yeah, best of luck getting it done before September rolls around again! Hopefully you won't find yourself rushing it. Enjoy!
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
Ah yes, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations. I've encountered him via DLC for the last Ultimate Ninja Storm game, which tells his introductory tale, and he'll obviously be a part of Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker which I snagged in the sale last week, but I'm far less familiar with his storyline (to the point of not being able to name any of the new characters, beyond Boruto himself)
Isn't Shinobi Strikers some kind of open world game with an online element or something? I don't recall it reviewing very well at the very least?
Hopefully you end up enjoying it RogerRoger whatever it ends out like... I'm sure the eventual review'll be an interesting one!
Yeah, I had friends who liked Bleach and One Piece as well but, from what I saw of them myself, I wasn't grabbed in the same way I was with Naruto. Maybe I'm doing them a disservice, though, because I only ever gave them passing glances.
Never liked One Piece myself. Art style put me off. So did Fairy Tail that has a similarish looking art style.
It's a shame Bleach was frantically rushed to a finale (That didn't make a whole lotta sense from what I recall) but Kubo Tite's health was much more important.
... I think I'm gonna have to re-read these manga now as you've put me in the mood to revist them!
Thanks for the heads-up about Critical Role's new, smaller campaign! It's all slowly working its way up my watchlist, but it's good to know I'll have scalable options. By the way, two of the folks from Critical Role (Liam O'Brien and Sam Riegel) are currently voicing two characters in the supporting cast of Star Wars: The Bad Batch, the animated Disney+ show on every Friday. I obviously didn't recognise this for myself, but saw it mentioned in an article and thought it was a pretty cool piece of trivia.
Oh... I didn't realise in the slightest that The Bad Batch was an animated show... I thought it was live action
Brave of an RPG like this to give a voice to your protagonist anyway, isn't it? Aside from BioWare (who even went for the mute option themselves in Dragon Age Origins) I thought it was pretty standard to keep a custom character quiet, to allow players to project?
Oh apologies for the confusion. The main character voices are only for random chatter as you walk around a map or whatever, not full dialogue (Thank goodness).
Glad you didn't lose much progress before that glitch and yeah, best of luck getting it done before September rolls around again! Hopefully you won't find yourself rushing it. Enjoy!
I'll be sure too thanks! I hope you enjoy the rest of the Naruto games you'll be playing soon!
Previously known as Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy
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"You don't have to save the world to find meaning in life. Sometimes all you need is something simple, like someone to take care of"
@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy That's the one, yes. It got average-to-good reviews but, for me personally, it was the perfect timing of my current mood and it being £6 in the PSN Summer Sale. Even if it's a terrible waste of time, I won't have lost much money on it. I was about to say "once I've finished Mafia: Definitive Edition for this month's Game Club, I'll boot it up and take a look" but given that I've just finished Mafia: Definitive Edition for this month's Game Club, er... guess I'll be starting it tomorrow!
Funnily enough, that was my problem with One Piece as well. I'm sure it's a fantastic story packed with memorable characters, but it just looked visually unappealing.
Oh, no worries on the voice thing! That actually makes a lot more sense (the kinda brief "Hey!" and "Huh?" and "Have at you!" stuff you get whenever triggering a textbox, yeah?) to just lend a general flavour and tone to your character. I think I'd prefer that to being totally mute, especially if there are other voiced characters and NPCs in said game. Otherwise it just feels odd.
Cheers; I hope so, too! Whether you're reading manga or playing Pathfinder, have fun!
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
I played Doki Doki Literature Club last week and it was the first time I played it and I went in almost entirely blind - I knew it had surprises but had no idea what they were. I think it was one of the best visual novel games I've ever played. It was just the right length, frequently inventive and original, and it kept me engaged from start to finish.
My only minor irritation with it was how desperately it seemed the devs were determined to spoil the game for me. It has numerous warnings when the game starts that something is amiss, asks if you want to know what kind of things you're going to be seeing, and even offers to explicitly tell you what's going on before it happens. I had no idea what the "twist" was, but due to a content warning at the beginning of the game I knew what kind of thing would be happening, and that did actually spoil things for me a tiny bit.
It's weird because I get that some people perhaps don't want to have shocking or more disturbing content sprung on them when they think they're just starting up a silly dating sim, but at the same time the game would have been a lot cooler if they did surprise us.
@johncalmc I think the whole "warn people of a surprise" thing is a fine line to tread, and one that's perhaps unique to this game (although I'm no expert, so there may be other examples out there). It'd be one thing if you booted up a first-person shooter and, halfway through, found yourself playing a driving game, but for a genre so innocuous to suddenly become a genre so triggering... I dunno, I reckon I'd have been quite offended if it was a total, out-of-nowhere reversal. But then that's just me, and I get that people love to be caught off-guard by their games, movies and television shows.
Bravo for being able to pick it up and play it without foreknowledge of its content, though. I don't play visual novels, dating sims or horror games and yet even I know what Doki Doki Literature Club is all about, and the direction it takes. Glad you enjoyed it so much!
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@RogerRoger I'm pretty good at avoiding spoilers generally because I'm not a massively online person or anything. I generally media blackout on games I'm interested in, and so the only thing I knew about Doki Doki was that it wasn't what it appeared to be and that people were shocked. I actually had no idea at all what direction it would go in, but then the game basically told me - not in great detail or anything but just having a trigger warning that specifically mentions certain acts means you're waiting for them.
I had one recently that I was reviewing, I Saw Black Clouds, I think it was called. And the game has a SUICIDE trigger warning and then literally less than a minute later someone commits suicide. I find the whole trigger warning thing so artless and irritating because I'm the sort of person that doesn't even watch most trailers because I just want to go in fresh, so the whole SUICIDE WARNING thing is a bit urgh.
I'm also fine with trigger warnings existing though because I recognise that there's some people who want to avoid certain subjects in an entertainment medium that is supposed to be fun. I just think there's a better way to do this. I wonder if when you first boot a game up and you're doing thing adjust the brightness thing and centre the screen and all that tackle, they could just ask the question - do you require any warnings for sensitive subject matter?
If you do then the game could warn you up front so you're not caught off guard and it's distressing for you. If not then you retain the element of surprise and get to experience the art in its purest form. They could even, really, build these things into the console on a system level like accessibility settings etc.
Doki Doki, I suppose, is a bit different to most games in that it actively appears to be one thing and then pivots into something more. If you're buying Resident Evil then you're expecting zombies, but if you pick up Uncharted and it suddenly turns into The Last of Us then you might be unpleasantly surprised.
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