Topic: User Impressions/Reviews Thread

@crimsontadpoles A lot of the boss battle themes (particular III's) sound like someone tried to use the Genesis sound chip to create thrash metal. They're awesome. I also happen to think Koshiro did an amazing job transitioning from synthesized music to what sounds like a full orchestra without altering the spirit of the series' musical style.

Just gorgeous.

I maintain that Gurumin isn't very good, but after just completing a particularly tough boss battle, I do want to say that, more than ever, the 3DS (and, by extension, PSP) hardware feels inappropriate for this game. They should have remastered this for Switch or something. This NEEDS full dual analog. I think it'd be a still mediocre but slightly more enjoyable experience on PC, so should you ever decide to play it, I'd probably recommend that version.

@Ralizah A lot of the ordinary exploration tracks are excellent as well. I've always been very fond of the small labyrinth track at the beginning of Etrian Odyssey IV. This one feels very alive. Some of the instrument noises sound like birds chirping, animal screeches, and a woodpecker effect at one point. It makes it feel like you've entered a forest that's full of life.

Another good one is the boss of Gladsheim in Etrian Osyssey 1 Untold. Like all other songs in that game, the player can toggle between the modern 3DS orchestral version, or the original DS chip tune version. However, this area wasn't in the original game, so the song is brand new. Despite that, both the modern version and the (newly created) "old" version fits perfectly with the rest of the soundtrack.

@crimsontadpoles That dungeon music from EO IV is my favourite in the series. Like you said, with the added ambience it feel so alive. Right up there with Chrono Trigger and Donkey Kong Country’s forest themes.

@crimsontadpoles Etrian Odyssey V also had an entire alternative "synth" OST that was extremely decent.

I think my favorite dungeon exploration track was the Misty Ravine in EOIV.

The beautiful, emotional track really mixes well with the lonely, atmospheric dungeon, whose corridors are choked with thick fog.

While I wouldn't call it catchy, this kind of terrifying theme for EOV's final labyrinth was pretty memorable, and I like how complex it is, even in synth form

@Ralizah That’s another great track from IV, ie the only game in the series I’ve played. Really should just plough through them, they’re pretty much all on 3DS after all.

@nessisonett Everything except Etrian Odyssey III. And even that is playable via BC, although good luck finding a copy for a decent price. Atlus DS/3DS games are just going up and up in value these days.

I'd highly recommend Etrian Odyssey V as your next game. The class system is... different for the series, and I really liked its adventure log mechanic, which gave it a sort of tabletop RPG feel. It also has a pretty wild final dungeon.

@Ralizah I was tossing up whether to go for V or Untold first so thanks for the recommendation. Really enjoy the gameplay loop so worth a go if I end up burned out by Zero no Kiseki/Ao’s patch needs a bit more work.

@Th3solution Sorry for late response - I really did like it and I think i would give it a solid 8 if I believed in review numbers. I am bringing my own bias to it and I do think that going for the plat made that bias worse as it was there that the open world collectathon really comes to the fore.

@RogerRoger Thanks and I would recommend the game. Just possibly be aware of the open world style thing and possibly play for a bit before deciding on going for the plat. Also loved the Tomb Raider reviews. I actually replayed Tomb Raider Anniversary as I don't think I completed it on PS2. I loved Legend as Angel of Darkness wasn't that great but liked Underworld slightly less. I even played the DS version of Legend and it was quite a solid little portable game!

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy There are some good characters in Ghost of Tsushima though I'd say sometimes decisions serve the story and theme. Jin as a protagonist is fairly good - he does have a character arc tied to the rigidity of the Samurai code and doing what is needed to beat an enemy and there are some touching side quests with the lady that helped raise him. Of the side characters, Lady Masako is the most original, presenting an older female clan leader who has been betrayed. Also I quite liked Yuna, another side character. Apart from that, I thought some of the other characters were slightly more predictable and less nuanced but at least most side characters do have a story arc. The villain, while obviously a typical bad guy, does have their own philosophy. Interesting you mention Day's Gone - I have that in the backlog but after Ghost, can't bring myself to start it due to the open world. Thanks for the review and questions!

@Rudy_Manchego I’m into Act 2 finally. I’ve thoroughly explored the first island. So far, so good for me still. At the end of Act 1 there was some great story and gameplay content to keep things fresh. I’ll post more specifics on the dedicated thread, but suffice it to say I’m still high on the game, but I can see the monotony on the horizon depending how long things go in this second island. I do appreciate the varied landscape I’m seeing so far.

@RogerRoger Way ahead of you there - I have them in PS Vita! Also nearly bought them all on a pc sale as they were going for a few quid each!

@RogerRoger I can confirm you can play GoT after the credits roll. Even after you have finished all the side content, you will still get Mongols to fight.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy

Thanks!

RE: Paper Mario - I do imagine that it would come off as more than a bit underwhelming if approached from an RPG perspective, although I sort of feel the same way about TTYD as well. I think older fans of the series dramatically overrate the RPG depth of its older entries (on a mechanical level, at least). TTYD was very rudimentary on a mechanical level.

I'll admit: I wouldn't mind seeing a full JRPG Paper Mario again, but with the larger, more interactive environments and superior music of this latest entry. I'm satisfied with it as an adventure game, though.

RE: Trails FC - While this is apparently a very unpopular opinion in JRPG circles (as a professional contrarian, I'm used to it ), I thought the plot was profoundly poorly paced. It feels like the game spends its entire length just spinning its wheels narratively until the final chapter or so. I felt like the grid-based battle system was kind of clunky, slow, and lacking in complexity, and its orbment/quartz system felt like it was ripped straight from Square's far older Final Fantasy VII. There's a central romantic plotline that indulges in a trope I absolutely despise, and the characters weren't particularly original or memorable, IMO.

RE: real life - I can imagine everyone in the education system has their hands full right now. Hopefully y'all are taking the proper precautions to stay safe!

@Ralizah Sky SC is a better game on every level but I loved the two games as an overall duology. The impact of SC would be dampened without doing the legwork in FC so I couldn’t judge it by itself.

@RogerRoger Oof, now that joke was unbearable.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Does Cold Steel 1 run on a calendar system? At least in Fire Emblem: Three Houses and Persona 4/5, I found the structure made even short gameplay segments feel satisfying, which made up for their own sometimes slow pacing.

Anyway, if anything of consequence happens before hour 50, then it's automatically better than Trails in the Sky FC.

Also, great Danganronpa review! Glad you took to it! Unless you're going for the platinum trophy in Danganronpa V3, I don't know that I'd call any of the games difficult, but what I can say is that the sometimes predictable trial writing in the first game improves dramatically in DR2 and especially V3, leading to more satisfying mysteries. But, yeah, they're all pretty mild as far as the difficulty goes. Which doesn't particularly bother me: while I like a challenge in a lot of my games, hard adventure games usually end up being pretty aggravating. Especially the older ones with really inscrutable environmental puzzles.

The games definitely aren't technical powerhouses, but I really took the visual style of them. As with Persona 5, Okami, The Wind Waker, and so on, I've found the games that stand out to me as being most memorable are ones that embrace a unique visual identity.

I will say, though: between Teddie in Persona 4, Monokuma in the Danganronpa series, and Zero Jr. in Virtue's Last Reward, I'm kind of over animal characters making animal puns constantly.

On the "sensitive material" front, I really, really disliked everything about how Chihiro's real sex was revealed and discussed within the game. With that said, a lot of Japanese media is bad about stuff like that, so it's hardly the end of the world, but it does also add to my dislike of the original game relative to its (imo) superior sequels.

@RogerRoger These games have the most intense discussions you'll ever see in a video game, since you're always pretty much one logical slip-up away from certain death in a class trial and people are often panicked and talking over one-another. That might help to contextualize why discussions are set to pounding electronic music.

Not a fan of Troy Baker, I take it?

@nessisonett I hope it's a Steins;Gate situation with Sky SC. The first half of that show was slow as sin, but once it got going halfway through, it never really slowed down until the end. If FC's development informs a thrilling second game, I'll probably feel a little kinder toward it.

@Ralizah I loved how Steins;Gate totally pulled the rug in its second half. It played up on your preconceptions about these sorts of shows and whacked you over the head with them. I wouldn’t say Trails in the Sky SC is a literary masterpiece but I really enjoyed how it had a totally different structure for the first game and built on relationships from the first game. It’s very Japanese and of course quite tropey so I’ll never quite understand Kratos’ overwhelming love compared to some more forward-thinking and innovative games but it’s one of the best games I played on Vita.

@nessisonett Oh really? I thought Kratos had only played the Cold Steel games.

How are you finding Zero no Kiseki, btw? Any more unfortunate mishaps?

@Ralizah Yeah Kratos loves Cold Steel but I’ve seen enough of those games as well to know that in objective terms of plot and tropiness, it’s pretty similar to Sky and Zero. Zero’s been alright, I miss the turbo button so much and the quartz system feels like a step back but I quite like the setting and it’s a good translation all things considered. I found out what was going on though, if I put the Vita into sleep mode for more than roughly 10 seconds then the light flickers which is an indicator that it’s going into deep sleep. Deep sleep is what is causing my saves to vanish/not let me save until I reset the game. Just one of those things I guess!

@nessisonett I think what puts me off Cold Steel is the character designs. The designs in Sky are nice (maybe aside from Joshua and his emo scarf), but the people in the Cold Steel games look like the most generic anime people ever.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Hahaha I’m playing Cuphead too so I think I’ll play Danganronpa 2 when you start it too for bonus points 😂