mcdreamer

I've been mostly playing Trails From Zero over the Christmas holidays, which I've now finished. I went straight into Trails To Azure, already finished the prologue. I will ramp down a bit now and play some other games to avoid burnout, though with Trails burnout is starting to feel impossible - it's that good!

As for other games, I've been playing Lies of P which I got for Christmas. I'm normally a bit sceptical about Soulslike games, as they're often pale imitations, but Lies of P totally nails it. It makes me tempted to try out Lords of the Fallen too.

Everything about this event will still be hopelessly cheesy, even without the cringe inducing "world premier" announcements. I never watch it, but even the clips I do see are a difficult watch. It's a shame as overall the idea of an award ceremony for gaming is a good one.

This is unforgivably bad. I've never touched an Assassin's Creed game, or any of these other huge franchises such as CoD, but what can't happen is for those giants to normalise this practice. We need less advertising in society, not more. Hopefully JRPGs are niche enough to be protected from this kind of thing, but I suspect that's wishful thinking.

@PSPancho Yeah, same here, but it's two says so I'd save like 8p, then seemingly need to pay full price. If I could get 25% off to go from Essential to Plus I'd probably do it, but this offer just makes no sense.

Very excited to dig into this! I really enjoyed the main game so this was a nice surprise. As the review says, I also anticipate the biggest issue being remembering how to play the game! Shouldn't take long though.

I've still got BG3 on pause. As much as I love it, 50 hours in and about half way through Act 2 I just needed a bit of a break. It may end up being a few months before I go back but I'm excited to finish it when I do.

I've played some AC6 and MK1 but most of my time has been dominated by Trails In The Sky SC on Steam Deck. Closing in on the last part of the game now. So far the Trails series has not disappointed. Even these slightly older games feel really fresh and modern. And certainly very engaging. I'm totally sucked in to the series. I've got all the other games released so far on Switch/PS5, bar Sky The 3rd, which I will pick up as soon as SC is over.

I've also been eyeing a Meta Quest 3 for a couple of weeks now (having tried one a fortnight ago). With the addition of MR I feel like this is a great point to jump into VR, even if the software side for MR is somewhat limited right now. There seem to be a few standout games, with something of a multiplayer focus, but the store seems stuffed with lots of small "tech demo" style experiences. It's right on the edge of feeling like a good value proposition for me. Does anybody have any experience with the Quest? Any thoughts on what it's like for single player gaming?

Finished off Separate Ways this week. I absolutely love all of the RE remakes. I'd like to go back and finish off 7 but I really do miss the over the shoulder perspective. I paused Shadows of Rose because I realised it would probably hit harder after finishing 7, but now I'm tempted to finish Rose's story off first. I wonder if I'll really be missing that much?

Also tried out a bit of Honkai Star Rail. Seems good but something about it being FTP makes me hesitant to really get into it. Shame it's not a full release as it seems fairly solid.

Working my way through Trails In The Sky SC as usual.

Other than that, more BG3. In Act 2 at the moment. Still absolutely loving the game. Feels like I'm a long way from the end still!

I’m still mainly on BG3 like so many, and have also dipped in to the Cyberpunk 2.0 update. BG3 is so overwhelming but in a positive way that I’ve never experienced before. Getting into the groove now having started Act 2.

Also been playing the RE4 DLC, some Nayuta and Sky SC. I love Trails!

Exciting stuff! I'm still on Sky SC having started a few months back. Hope to be at Crossbell at least by the time this releases!

I'm joking, and perhaps I'm the only one laughing, but hopefully one of the DLCs adds turn based combat

This week it’s been mostly AC6. Balteus didn’t give me too much trouble but the first boss of chapter 2 was a nightmare. Took about 20 attempts. Now I’m stuck on the final boss of chapter 2. Excellent game.

Like many others I’m also waiting for 5pm and BG3. I have it on steam deck but I’ve only really dipped my toe in there. The performance is good but I want to play it in its full glory on PS5.

Made a start on Armored Core 6 yesterday. I can tell I'm going to love this game. As everybody knows by this point, it's definitely not a Soulslike, but it's got really tight combat and a huge amount of "character" customisation. This is what From do best. I also got stuck on the first boss for about 20 minutes, which made me feel right at home.

Besides AC6 I'm continuing on with Trails in the Sky SC on Steam Deck. I'm dipping in and out of BG3 on the Deck too, but at this stage I'm just waiting for the PS5 version where I'll start a new character.

This looks really nice in terms of the raw hardware, but it still feels pointless. For only a bit more money you could get a Steam Deck, setup chiaki4deck on it and enjoy PS5 streaming along with the full handheld the Deck is.

The only thing it's got going for it is it'll be way more straight forward to setup - it ought to be plug and play really. A lot of people will pay for that and would find the Steam Deck too technical.

@Zuljaras It's great fun! I often feel making games is more fun than playing them!

I do like the fact that GML has been massively improved over the last few years. Coming from other languages like C++ it felt like a lot was missing before. Stick at the coding and I promise it will get easier in time!

I'm not much of an artist but I really try with my graphics. Sometimes I surprise myself but I have a long way to go to improve.

@Zuljaras Your game looks good! What are you using to make it? It's been ages since I've worked on any of my games. I started way back in the 90s writing Assembly code to push pixels, used XNA, wrote my own engine and these days I just use GameMaker Studio 2. GMS has its quirks but is pretty good for 2D games. Most of what you need is included in the box.

As for this weekend's gaming, I've finished my first Trails game with Sky FC! Now on to SC.

Looking at the PS Store I wasn't sure whether the standard edition grants access to the beta or whether you need to go for the deluxe edition. Reading the article it sounds like either version will do, so I must have missed something. Does anybody know for sure?

Been a bit on the fence about the game, but getting a bit more interested in it now. Though hearing it's slower than earlier games is a bit of a red flag as I already find MK in general to be quite slow.

I've been mostly on Steam Deck this week. Getting close to the end of Trails in the Sky FC. What a great game. I've play around 10 hours of SC on Vita already, so I'll need to decide whether to pick up that save or start again on the Deck (which has the advantage of higher resolution, fast forward button etc).

I've been playing a little bit of Remnant 2 on Series X. Just got to the first work. Enjoyed what I've played so far. The first boss was great and did give me some Soulslike vibes. Also downloaded an played a bit of Quake 2.

PS5 and Switch getting a bit of a rest this last week, which is quite unusual! Will get back to Diablo 4 on PS5 at some point but Armored Core 6 is probably next up on that console.

@tameshiyaku I think cross progression is possible via a Larian account. They talk about it a bit in one of their updates on steam. Over of the reasons I decided to dive in on the Deck ahead of the ps5 launch.

@ShadowofSparta I'm not sure I've seen anything about Trophy support for cross saves. Given it's going to be a game I'll likely play through multiple times for me I'll just see what I pick up along the way each time if it's not supported. I was going to wait too, especially after I refunded the final Early Access build due to poor performance. After seeing videos on YouTube of Deck gameplay looking a lot better I couldn't resist!

@deathaxe @Sequel @Khayl I'm getting a solid 30 most of the time with most things on medium settings and FSR set to Ultra Quality. I did see a dip at the end of one of the dialog scenes, but in game play it seems OK so far.

Obviously it's not going to look as good as it does on a high end PC (and hopefully the PS5 version too) but I'm surprised how good it looks to be honest. I never managed to get the Early Access builds looking anything like this. It even looks OK on the TV. Naturally the fan has a wonderful time with the game

The only thing I had to change was to set the controller layout to the official Larian one for the deck itself and change the Dual Sense layout to standard gamepad. Proton Experimental also seem to be a must and I already had the --skip-launcher launch flag set from EA.

I love the Deck, especially for older games, but all of the above is why I left a lifetime of PC gaming behind Looking forward to diving into the game again later on!

I couldn’t wait and bought this last night. Runs surprisingly well on the steam deck, certainly better than even the final early access build. The controller support is really good too. Plus, from what I understand it’ll be possible to pick up my save on PS5 visa the Larian account.

I decided to go with a largely unmodified version of the dark urge for my first play through. Still very early in the game but you can tell it’s something special.

I finished FF16 this week. In the end I quite liked it. The cast of characters is great, the story and world was very Final Fantasy. And whilst a bit of a change, the combat was fun, if not a bit less expansive that I'd have liked. A solid 7/10 game.

Now I'm spending most of my time on Trails in the Sky FC. Just started chapter 3. Also continuing Act 2 of the Diablo 4 campaign. Contemplating taking something off the backlog too. Maybe Ryza 1 or Tokyo Xanadu eX+.

FF9 is my favourite game but I probably do prefer Tidus to Zidane. Cloud was always going to win this poll, though he is probablythe most iconic. I liked Clive but he can't really compare to the more classic characters (though FF16 has a strong cast overall).

I cannot wait for this game! Only a few more weeks to go!

I'm really looking forward to this game. So much so I'm on the verge of just buying it now on Steam Deck to get a taste via Early Access before starting properly in a couple of weeks. The only thing that puts me off is whilst the game looks good on the Deck, no doubt I'll end up getting the PS5 version too for the enhanced visuals.

More than that though, the length of the game is intimidating. Hearing there are multiple endings is great (however many it might be), but realistically I will see only one in game and the rest on YouTube.

Mostly just FF16 still. About 60% through now according to the dashboard. I'm really enjoying the game and all the Final Fantasy elements it incorporates. I sense that the story is about to ramp up another level following a huge Eikon battle. Speaking of story, the "active time lore" feature is really useful. Something I'd love to see in other games with lots of world building and lore.

As for the combat, well I'm over the fact that it's not turn based now. I can't really imagine the game with anything but the combat system that it has. My only real criticism is that AP is quite slow to build up and I'd have liked to have unlocked a few more abilities by this point in the game. But overall I can't complain about it too much.

And that might be in part because I'm really going in on the Trails series now. I'm slowly grinding my way through Sky FC on Steam Deck and enjoying it. Once I finish FF16 I will be able to put a bit more time into it, and Diablo IV.

I'm considering picking up the Atelier Marie remake. Looks like a good entry point to the series (being the start and all). Especially given how short and simplistic it is. I have Ryza and Sophie 2, both of which I'd love to play but have never quite got around to. The systems on offer seem much deeper and more satisfying but if Marie hooks me in then I think that'll push me to really get going on one of them.

And on the other extreme, also thinking about picking up Baldur's Gate 3 on Steam Deck. There seem to be mixed opinions about the performance but on the whole it sounds like it's compromised but acceptable if you go in with realistic expectations. Ideally I'd wait for the PS5 release but I'd love to dive in ahead of that and see if the game is for me.

It's more FF16 for me. Coming up on 50% completion according the PS5 dashboard. Enjoying the game and really interested to see where the story goes. Ready for it to ramp up another notch now but I'm pretty sure current events are leading to that.
My copy of Reverie arrived but Sky FC is my other main game right now. Will probably have a few matches of SF6 too. Sadly Diablo 4 has taken a bit of a back seat but looking forward to returning to it post FF16. I also really want to finally play the Xenosaga trilogy following Future Redeemed. Those are ready to go on my Steam Deck.

I have a lot of thoughts about this game, even more now I’ve played a good chunk of it. I’m way more positive on the game now than I have been, but I do think 7th sounds about right out of a long list. For my personal list of FF games I’ve played it would be probably sit in 3rd behind FF9 and FFX. I think it probably does have the edge over FF7R, but only just.

I'm a few hours into FFXVI now. I think the game has quite a challenge ahead to win me over. And I have a challenge to unlearn the combat rhythm and button layout of the Souls games. It's a perfectly OK game so far but I'm not getting a sense that I'm warming to it as much as I hoped I would for reasons I can't quite put my finger on. It's definitely not the combat system. It might just be the ridiculously high expectations I've had since it was announced. More and more I think it would have been better if it had just been a new IP. The amount of baggage tied to the FF name is huge. I will continue on in the hope I get into it as I progress. I really liked the music in that first forest area so at least they've got things right in one of the important areas.

Outside of that I will probably play more Diablo 4. Now that's a game that's hooked me more than I expected. It's been a few days since I've been able to fire it up and I'm missing it! And there will be more of the excellent Street Fighter 6 too.

I too recommend ShopTo vouchers. I've loaded up my wallet but am yet to pre-order (yes, despite my numerous comments about the combat on other threads). I'm sort of waiting for the reviews, though as others have said I suspect it will get a lot of 8s and 9s. And really, I'll be getting it either way.

On the subject of the combat, and specifically Souls games, this reminds me that Stranger of Paradise exists. I know that was widely panned but perhaps I should check it out for the combat alone...

@Judal27 Yes, I hope there really are more options and there are multiple combo options as the game goes on. I still contend most people will have a favoured set they perform repeatedly, which to some will feel like engagement enough. The challenge mode looked more promising but given it started with a story spoiler I didn’t want to play too much. I’ll be interested to see how I really feel once the game is finished.

The other thing is that From are the pinnacle when it comes to action RPGs for me, so any game in the genre that doesn’t have that specific feel is going to feel disappointing to me.

@Judal27 I've been highly cynical from the start about the action combat, and my time with the demo essentially confirmed what I was expecting. It's not bad. It's not great either. Even with a few more mechanics on hand, I find you do end up stringing together the same sequence of actions over and over again. This is where the button mashing comments come from and they're not entirely wrong. The Tales series suffers from the same problem, even if the nature of its combat is slightly different.

On thing I've thought since the demo is that if the FF16 team really want you to get deep into the combo system then I hope the game has a training mode, as in any fighter or in games like Bayonetta. Hard to work out the timings otherwise. I'd be somewhat surprised if it does.

And in the end, I think this is just another example of why the combat feels out of place. It would be almost completely incongruous for a FF to have a combo training mode. People aren't coming to big RPGs like this for their flashy combo systems.

I was really hoping they were going to go with the same system as FF7R. That mixed up action and turn based combat in a really clever way. So in some respects, I'm probably just disappointed we didn't get that (or indeed a full return to a turn based system).

Regardless, I will pre-order the game, I will complete it and I will probably enjoy it. I just expect that by the time I get there, I will think of the combat as something I had to endure, much like with the (otherwise excellent) Tales of Arise.

Fear that Persona 6 might be Xbox exclusive based on rumours years back was one reason of many reasons I decided to pick up a Series X this generation in addition to PS5. Perhaps it will turn out that those rumours were really related to this game (if they were based on reality at all).

Still, I wouldn't be surprised at all if this game does end up on PS5. It's going to be where more of the market is for this kind of title.

I've pre-ordered this already as I definitely want the physical release but might not get to it for years yet. Still in the Sky trilogy at the moment (and loving it!).

@KaijuKaiser The first section was terribly wooden though I’ll concede that it did improve towards the end of the demo.

Having finished it now I think the eikon battles are the real low point. Perhaps they’ll be better later on in the game. The combat seems serviceable overall, the music is definitely good and the world seems very interesting.

A 9 remake would be incredible if we get it.

I’ve not finished it but it’s quite underwhelming so far. I’m sure there will be more to the combat later but even got bored of it during the tutorial. Terrible voice acting. Far too many sections on rails. All of that said, I’ll almost certainly still play the full game to completion.

Maybe it's just me, but I'm slightly confused by this. It obviously sits outside of the character pass DLC? Where can the music be used? Perhaps I'm just not used to stuff like this as I don't play any live service games (though I suppose I do if SF6 is now considered one).

Given up on Tears for now - all in on Diablo IV and SF6. I'm surprised how much I'm enjoying D4 and wondering why I never really got into 2 and 3 when I tried them. Really glad I took a chance on 4. Just getting to what I assume is the end of Act I now and will definitely be seeing this through to the end.

@KaijuKaiser You're not wrong - turn based battles can of course be incredibly rote as well. I almost mentioned your point in my original comment in fact.

I suppose what I really mean is that in the end a lot of turn based games do tend to require more strategy as you progress, but more than that there are different levels of complexity to action combat too.

I know we've not seen the whole game yet, but the combat here and in the boss footage from the other day looks very vanilla indeed. Perhaps I'm just comparing all action combat to Dark Souls and Elden Ring these days. I have the same problem with the combat in Tears Of The Kingdom - there's nothing to it.

Of course, I'm currently loving Diablo 4, so it's possible you might just want to ignore all of the above

Every one of these gameplay videos is doing a better job of convincing me to skip this game. The combat looks utterly tedious. I'd really been hoping for a system like FF7R which was quite clever in how it balanced action and turn based combat. I have no idea why they wanted to go all in on button mashing for a Final Fantasy game.

This and SF6 have completely displaced ToTK for me. With FF16 coming up it might be months before I get back to Zelda, if at all. Even with all the new stuff I just felt like I was playing BoTW.

On topic: I'd previously tried to get into D2 and D3 but neither held my attention that long. I'm not sure what it is, but D4 is really holding my attention. Really loving the atmosphere, character building and the music. Like others have said, I struggle a bit with the perspective, but it's not a deal breaker for me.

They should have done turn based combat 😆

But in all seriousness, this game will sell well. I’m pretty sure I’ll buy day one even with my huge misgivings.

Street Fighter 6! Loving it so far playing through arcade modes. Will lab the new characters later. Manon seems great.

Also trying not to buy Diablo 4! Even though I never really got into the previous games I’m intrigued. Any other month I’d have already jumped in but with FF16 also coming there’sa lot going on!

@Andy22385 I suppose what I'm really yearning for is the return of turn based combat Still, we have the pixel remasters. Currently playing FF6 for the first time and really enjoying it!

This looks very much as I feared - a lot of mindless button mashing. I desperately want this game to be good, but every video I see makes me more and more concerned.

Still only about a third of the way through the base game at the moment, with lots of stuff taking its place. Will definitely go back and finish it though, and this DLC!

The biggest niggle they should address before launch is replacing the action combat with turn based combat.

You can also play the Sky trilogy on Apple Silicon Macs using Crossover, though in places the performance is a bit patchy (unsurprisingly really). This will also work on Intel Macs. No need to bog things down with Windows. Playing games on a computer is a relatively miserable experience in general though.

In the UK Sky SC is available on Vita, which is how I'm playing it. Everybody says it's not the best, mostly due to the lack of a fast forward button, but that is really a total non-issue.

Of course, you can also play them all on Steam Deck if you have one of those.

Regardless of how you play, Sky does really feel like the best place to start. I played about 10 hours of ToCS, then Zero before relenting and going back to the start. It's well worth it.

I'm playing Sky SC for the first time at the moment on my Vita. Would love to see the trilogy on modern systems. Feels like one of those things which will never happen but stranger things have.

Royal is the one to play. Took me about 110 hours over a couple of months. Longest game I've ever played by a huge margin. An incredible experience from start to finish. I think what helps the Persona games manage their extreme lengths is that they're sort of comprised of two games in one. You have the dungeon crawling and combat, and you have the social sim/visual novel side. I always felt like just as I was starting to tire of one of those, the game flipped to the other style.