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

@Arugula A happy 10th birthday for the game yesterday as well!

@nessisonett Yeah that game seriously freaked me out when I played it when it came out, more so than any other game up until then. Pyramid Head is such an iconic enemy in video gaming for me.

@nessisonett Yep, one of my all-time faves. Such great memories of that one

@KratosMD Mercenary Kings sucks royally, get Huntdown instead!

@KratosMD I got it on PS4. It’s basically 4 locations with something like 6 stages per location, it’s a relatively short game but it does get pretty challenging at points, though I haven’t been overwhelmed. I say this going into the final location

It’s a very polished experience, though.

I’ve been playing GTA III, I’ve only ever played San Andreas and V and I’m really enjoying it. I’m doing a good job in lockdown of playing games I should have played a long time ago. Both this and Limbo are games I’m glad I’ve got round to in the last few days.

@RogerRoger Strange, I had the exact opposite reaction!

Demon Gaze was OK for a DRPG on the Vita. Better than Dungeon Travelers 2, anyway, which had insane levels of fanservice and some terribly bland characters who keep talking to you. I liked it enough to finish it.

In a sad twist of fate, though, the cute elf guy from the original kinda... lets himself go in the sequel.

Then again, Etrian Odyssey perma-ruined me on other dungeon crawlers. Nothing in the genre even begins to compare to that series.

On topic: I'm playing something on my Switch called Runner3, and it's an auto-runner indistinguishable from something I'd play on a mobile device. I think the gameplay is supposed to be in time with the music or something, but the audio is seriously nothing to write home about. That's a problem I notice with a lot of indie rhythm-type games (such as the bland Crypt of the NecroDancer).

Also, the bonus "impossible levels" have really wack difficulty balancing.

I figure I'll play a level a day and eventually be done with it.

@Ralizah The fat elf was hilarious in the sequel. I really enjoy Demon Gaze 2 but it wasn’t really worth going back to play the first game.

@Ralizah Oh man, looks like a certain somebody from Danganronpa 😂😂

@nessisonett He really does. Honestly, all he's missing is the gopher face and a fixation on anime porn.

@Ryall I stopped one or two post-game bosses short of obtaining the platinum in the original, but I mostly enjoyed my time with it. I like how vocaloid-heavy the music is in both.

@Ralizah Oh no I was more referring to a certain returning character in the 2nd game that had a similar transformation! Still one of the strangest moments in gaming for me, seeing his... new look for the first time.

@nessisonett Ah, you mean fat Byakuya. Yeah, the transformation is reminiscent of that, for sure. The body reminds me a lot more of Hifumi, though: especially with those stubby little legs.

@KratosMD Fantasy Life is great, it’s anything but simple. Loads of depth, loads of grinding (which I love) and loads of content.

Fantasy Life is one of the best games on the 3DS. Really tragic that the series went down the mobile rabbit hole and never reappeared. Yet another amazing Level-5 property that'll become irrelevant.

@KratosMD Oh, yeah, it's a story-driven JRPG that takes tens of hours to "beat" (i.e. reach the credits). If you want to master all of the various "lives," though, you'll be playing long after the credits finish. Especially if you spring for the DLC, which adds a difficult post-game area to explore, and adds another final level onto the 'life' mastery system.

I'm not sure I'd say the game even has "grinding" to it, unless you mean level grinding to better survive in some of the game's more dangerous areas (which I found to be pretty necessary in the DLC areas, and sometimes before tackling a difficult enemy). Each life, or job, requires you to complete a series of increasingly difficult tasks to go up in rank. For the woodcutter, this means cutting down trees from increasingly more dangerous areas. The warrior, if I remember correctly, has to fight increasingly difficult creatures (there are a number of special boss monsters you can find wandering around various areas in the game that you'll want to fight as well, sort of like Monster Hunter). The cook had to create increasingly more elaborate dishes. etc. Because all of the crafting jobs require the acquisition of resources, all of the lives feed into one-another and cumulatively help you grow stronger. Like, Woodcutting and Carpentry go hand-in-hand, as do Mining and Blacksmithing. You'll probably find yourself frequently switching between lives (which is easy-ish to do; you just go to a desk and request a Life change, which changes you active job) because of this, and most of them feel like they contribute to bettering your character in some way (if I recall correctly, all the Carpenter life does is task you with building furniture, which is mainly good for selling and for decorating the houses you can buy, if you're into that sort of thing; almost everything else is very useful to the JRPG side of the equation).

If you have any 3DS playing friends, the game is a lot of fun in local co-op multiplayer, btw. Still great even if you play it purely single-player, though.

Fantasy Life has a lot of charm to it. I did really enjoy my time with it, but at the same time I didn't think it was particularly amazing or anything.

@KratosMD If you’re liking the grinding and sheer difficulty of The Denpa Men, SMT IV and it’s expansion are on 3DS and fit both of those categories. There’s also the Etrian Odyssey games. Honestly, the 3DS has the best library of any console I’ve played, I’m still discovering gems on it.

@nessisonett The 3DS is my all-time favorite handheld. Its library isn't as diverse as the original DS', but I feel like the average level of quality of its titles is a lot higher. Also, the majority of its games are still in print and easy to obtain, and it hasn't received any of these irritating limited run releases, making it an easy system to collect for.

@KratosMD Good plan. The content in this game is fairly well-segmented, so I never found it too intimidating, and it's easy enough to sit down and pick back up again later on. The story and music aren't great, but the gameplay loop is extremely addicting.

Legacy Of Kain: Soul Reaver. That's right, the first one after Blood Omen, thoroughly enjoying it so far.