Topic: What (Non-PS4) game are you playing??

@LtSarge always great to hear about Cyberpunk 2077 fulfilling some of, if not all of its initial potential. Personally, I was never quite as psyched as the rest of the general gaming frat in the build up to its release… but I’ll certainly play it one day. So I’m glad it’s in a good state.

@colonelkilgore Yeah I didn't really care about the game up to its release either because I had plenty of other games to play. But I'm glad that I didn't care because I get to experience it how it was meant to be experienced.

I personally think that getting a Series X/PS5 is worth it if you also want to play Cyberpunk 2077. The game feels great and looks lovely, even on my 1080p TV. The game was definitely meant to be played on a current-gen system and not on Xbox One/PS4. So I'm glad that I got a Series X so that I could finally play this game. I hope you'll enjoy it as well whenever you get around to it.

@LtSarge cheers bud, yeah I have the game and the current gen system ready to go... just need to be in the mood for this kinda game now (which I'm guessing is a open-world rpg-immersive sim hybrid).

@LtSarge Glad to see that you are loving it, and it actually turned things around for you with the Series X.

I played it 2 or 3 months ago on my PS5 and loved it as well. I bought it when it came out in 2020, but kept it sealed all this time until the PS5 version came out. I was really happy that it ended up being worth the wait, and the new gen version was the way the game was meant to be. In any other year (2020 having Final Fantasy 7 Remake and 2022 having Horizon Forbidden West), it would have probably been my Game of the Year.

Gonna try to play at least one new game every week, instead of focusing on a couple of games for weeks or months at a time.

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Criminal Girls: Invite Only (PS Vita)

I've actually played this one for a bit before, but my 20+ hour playthrough this week, which got me though more than 2/3rds of the game, was definitely more illuminating. It's a bit hard to discuss this game in polite company on account of certain gameplay elements, but I'll do my best.

One of a spate of several fanservice-heavy games that released exclusively on the PS Vita in the mid 2010's, Criminal Girls sees you playing as an unnamed main character who is tasked with rehabilitating a group of young female delinquents by leading them through a series of Trials across Hell. Overcoming these Trials will apparently make them spiritually fit to be reborn on Earth.

Functionally, the game is a dungeon-crawler, and the "Trials" are set across four themed, multi-level dungeons. CG does a pretty good job of integrating narrative elements and gimmicks in the dungeons, however, making each one feel distinct from the other. A particular highlight was a winter-themed dungeon where illusion magic is used to isolate and spread distrust among your party.

The battle system is simplistic, but also possessed of a certain tactical aspect because of this. Whenever a battle starts, your party of four girls (at one time, although once you gain your full party of seven girls, you'll be able to freely swap them out with the three that remain in reserve) will suggest attacks and skills to use in battle against the enemy, although you'll only be able to use one skill or attack at a time. So, in any given turn, you'll have to weigh the pros and cons of attacking versus using healing abilities or using support skills that strengthen your party or weaken the enemy. While it can be tempting to go for a powerful attack or offensive skill any time one becomes available, your party will quickly start dying if you don't read the patterns of your enemies and protect yourself when they're gearing up for powerful attacks, or don't keep their HP topped up.

The pool of skills they have available to them at the start of the game is miniscule, but you'll unlock new skills, attacks, and whatnot via the "Motivation" mini-game, which is pretty much the sole reason this game is controversial to begin with. I referred to this as a "fanservice game," but the fanservice/sexualization element is actually almost non-existent outside of this minigame. Unfortunately, engagement with the minigame is pretty much required to complete the game proper, so you can't really ignore it, either. In these "Motivation" mini-games (these were actually called "Punishments" in the Japanese version, but the localizers apparently decided this borderline creepy euphemism was the way to go), your character will engage the girls in sadomasochistic rituals that involve whips, hot wax, electricity, etc. That's the theming, anyway. In reality, you'll be tasked with tapping weird little symbols on the screen (and, frustratingly, the back touchpad) while the camera pans over increasingly suggestive Live2D art of the girls in various stages of disrobement. Although even this art is difficult to appreciate, as the localized release apparently required a thick pink fog to cover the background art as you completed these minigames. It's definitely suggestive, but, at least in terms of the games lewd appeal, you have to wonder at what point the censorship becomes too much. Would a pornographic film still be exciting if the action was almost entirely covered up by a thick fog?

It is worth mentioning that if you've hacked your Vita, it's fairly easy to apply a patch that removes the censorship from the localized release.

Even with the heavy censorship, though, the game's insinuation of sexualized punishments being inflicted on very young looking girls will still scare a lot of people off. It's actually a little annoying, since, once you learn more about the personalities and histories of the girls, you'll see that at least a couple of them are struggling to deal with the emotional fallout of objectification and sexual abuse when they were still alive. And this is in a game where you're whipping them in order to teach them new skills. It'd be like making a game where you kick dogs, but then the game tries to make you care about a dog's history of abuse by previous owners. Pick a lane, seriously! While the mechanic is well-integrated into the game itself, it feels very out of place with the larger thrust of the narrative.

All that aside, it manages to be a surprisingly addictive little dungeon crawler, and despite the super low-budget it was clearly working with, the game's vibrant color palette and sharp character portraits manage to make it look quite fetching on the Vita's stunning OLED screen.

It's the sort of game only profound weirdos would be able to straight-facedly recommend to others, but, at the same time, I can't ignore its aesthetic and gameplay merits. The difficulty curve is smooth. Despite the heavy emphasis on back-tracking through previous dungeons for side-quests, the process is actually a breeze thanks to a variety of QoL considerations. The simplistic combat manages to maintain a certain level of balanced tactical depth to it that makes boss fights engaging. And the characters aren't terribly shallow.

@Ralizah What a double edged sword of a game! I have actually heard good things about its gameplay elements but I’m not sure I could get over that rather bizarre decision to have the player erotically torture victims of abuse. It makes you wonder if the game would have been a genuinely decent dungeon crawler if it dialled back the fanservice so that it was more Hyperdimension Neptunia and less Boob Mahjong.

@nessisonett Yeah, it's unfortunate, since that minigame dramatically lessens its ability to be enjoyed by more people. It's like they took a decent ordinary dungeon crawler and tacked on a single mechanic designed to cater to pervs. And, look, I'm all for perv games flying their freak flag, but usually that sort of thing is integrated into the entire game, even down to enemy designs and whatnot. There is literally almost nothing in that vein in the game outside of the Punishment/Motivation minigames, though. Remove that one mechanic, and you'd have a game you'd never even guess was meant to appeal to the fanservice crowd. It's so bizarre.

@Ralizah It does happen sometimes, where fanservice games are much better than they seemingly aspire to be. Senran Kagura Burst is a much better beat em up than you’d think at first glance, and Conception 2 was a creepy as hell game but had some really intriguing mechanics. Some games definitely need the fan service to sell more than 5 copies but others feel a bit like they’re cheapening themselves.

@nessisonett Oh, I'm a big advocate of the idea that fanservice games are frequently much better than people give them credit for (not the Boob Mahjong/Hentai Puzzle types, obviously). But those games you mentioned have layers of sexualization spread through the entire experience. You couldn't remove any one element from Senran Kagura and have a non-fanservice game, for example.

SK legitimately was pretty good in those first few games. Especially SK2, which actually ran well on 3DS and was a technical showcase that featured some of the best 3D modeling I've seen on the system to date. Burst was fun, but the fact that it frequently felt like it was running at 10fps hampered the experience for me.

Even Shinovi Versus was pretty good and had some surprisingly serious storytelling to it. But by the time Estival Versus rolled around, the developers stopped pretending to care about anything other than pushing the envelope in terms of what they could get away with.

I've come to the realisation that the hardest game to choose a version to play is definitely Persona 3. I've gone back and forth since last night trying to decide whether to start FES or Portable and it's been an absolute nightmare to choose.

I played Portable a bit yesterday because I desperately need something immersive to play. The Persona games are pretty much the purest form of escapism for me. I still remember playing Persona 4 Golden during uni and it helped me forget about my troubles so much. It's just such a cozy series, it never fails to bring a smile to my face. So naturally, playing Persona 3 now would help me out a lot.

I just feel so split between choosing one of the two versions. Portable has so many QoL improvements and obviously the portability aspect. On the other hand, FES has 3D environments, cut-scenes and more impact in terms of the story because you can actually see the characters and what's happening on the screen as opposed to the visual novel style that Portable is going for. So I decided to play FES for a bit too and while it feels nice to actually move around in the overworld, it's just too unappealing playing the game on a PS3.

So I think I'll be playing Persona 3 Portable. Not to mention that Atlus has already announced a remaster of Portable, so I won't be missing out on anything by playing Portable now on Vita.

Also, it's crazy how much P3 is reminding me of P4. Hopefully I'll like it more than P5.

Been playing Persona 3 Portable for several hours now and I'm enjoying the game a lot. The dungeon crawling is a lot better than I thought, besides the repetitive level design. It's nice that they give you checkpoints right before boss battles and that you can heal your party's HP and SP at the start of the dungeon by paying a certain sum. I don't think there's a way to heal your party's SP like that in P4 or P5, so that makes things a lot simpler in this game. I can actually progress as much as I can without having to worry about running out of SP.

I haven't really experienced much of the story yet so I'm excited to see more of it now that I'm done with the dungeon crawling part for now. Moreover, it's really nice how quick it is to navigate the overworld now that you do that with a cursor instead of having to move around.

Got GTA Definitive Edition in the mail today and I've been playing a bit of Vice City. The game is so much better than the original Xbox version, which shouldn't come as a surprise but it's still nice to have this confirmed by myself. There are so many advantages to playing this version that I'm absolutely going to restart my playthrough of Vice City and play through it again on Series X. Checkpoints, quick resume, modern weapon aiming, weapon/radio wheels, being able to control the camera, it's just amazing. This is the best way to experience these games for sure, even if there are some bugs here and there.

In persona four you need to befriend the mysterious fox . I don’t know if there is a method in persona five but I haven’t fully maxed out all the social links.

Xenoblade Chronices: Definitive Edition

Got a Switch last Friday and kicked it off with Xenoblade Chronicles. This was one of the biggest reasons why I got a Switch. While there was a bit of an adjustment period, along with adjusting my expectations given the fact that they were maybe a bit too high given that the game was a big reason why I finally caved and bought a Switch, I am enjoying it. I expect my enjoyment to increase once I get even farther into the story (I'm about 12 or 13 hours into the game now).

@KilloWertz That’s one of the games that makes me want a Switch too. I was terribly close to pulling the trigger but the 4 PlayStation gaming systems I own already have me busy enough. Did you go for the classic Switch with the dock or for the lite?

@Th3solution Already having plenty to play with the PS5 along with the fact that I haven't owned a Nintendo system since the NES made it a pretty daunting thought to buy a Switch. Having 5 years worth of games plus experiencing some of the back catalog from the SNES for the first time if I subscribe to Nintendo Online can be overwhelming depending on how you look at it. Between wanting to spice up gaming for myself, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 turning out to be a great game judging by reviews and word of mouth, and the massive disappointment of The Last of Us Part 1, I finally said screw it and took the plunge obviously.

I got the Switch OLED. I only plan to ever use it docked because I much prefer playing on a TV, but I figured I still might as well get the newest one since it has more memory and it's only $50 more.

@JohnnyShoulder Noticed that Wreckfest was on Game Pass so I decided to give it a try. It's kinda fun, but it's a bit too mindless for my taste that it stops being fun after a while. I think it'd be more fun to play it as a party game rather than by yourself. So sadly I'll have to give it a pass.

@LtSarge Interesting. Thanks for the tag and your thoughts on the game. I know some people have said it is really good online, but that is not really my wheelhouse.

My exploration of racing games continues and I remembered yesterday that I had bought Gran Turismo for PSP on the Vita store years ago but I never played it. So I decided to play it a bit yesterday and well, it's awesome. It's basically portable Gran Turismo, which is really nice. However, the downside is that the game doesn't have a career mode. You just do one race at a time in order to earn credits and then buy new cars. So sadly, while the prospect of playing Gran Turismo on a handheld sounded great to me, the fact that there's no career mode means that I won't be playing it, which is too bad.

It still amazes me though just how many awesome games the PSP had compared to the Vita.

Resumed playing Pillars of Eternity on Steam after starting it 6 years ago and sinking 108 hours into it. Really great game, beautiful slow-paced and well realised world. I think I just got overwhelmed by the DLC which takes places before the end of the main story.