It’s that time of the year where I dig deep into a Picross. This time on my DSi XL with Picross DS. The pixels on this thing are so large it’s almost uncomfortable but I’m slowly getting used to it. This Picross seems decent too.
I finished Detroit: Become Human on PS4 recently. It was a lot better than Beyond: Two Souls as the choices and QTE consequences actually mattered.
Blazing Chrome is an awesome spiritual successor to Contra: Hard Corps, much moreso than Hard Corps: Uprising.
I have also been on an “immersive sim” kick, having recently replayed Dishonored 2 and Deus Ex: Invisible War. I’m currently replaying the original Deus Ex (my 7th playthrough, I think) and it’s always addictive.
I’ve been back into Apex Legends a little bit since they started season 2 and added the ranked mode. I’ve taken about a week off from Samurai Shodown but will be back to that soon enough. Retro time was with Elemental Master but I’ve got a bunch of new stuff to play now so I’ll pull out something new soon.
Been playing more Order of Ecclesia. I’m on the final stretch (well technically half) of the game now - the craftsmanship here is unparalleled for an Igavania. Much like Portrait of Ruin it’s appreciably different to the games which came before it, so it’s not directly comparable.
But while I got the impression they had to develop PoR in a tight schedule it’s clear from the presentation and even greater variety of locales (level design isn’t as varied though!) that the team had more time to focus on little details.
The boss fights are expertly telegraphed so far, a lot of aspects of the game’s design encourage you to experiment as much as you can with Glyph weapons too which I’m really liking.
The original Saturn version of Baroque definitely has a stronger atmosphere than the PS2/Wii remake. The textures in particular are well designed, and the low draw distance has been used to great effect here, with the designers hiding distant details away in darkness.
The rather boring texturework in the remake made many of the Neuro tower’s floors feel repetitive to discover, but here they all so far have looked strikingly different.
I played the remake in its optional first person mode so nothing different there - I’m surprised by how faithful a remake it was from a gameplay perspective. No save scumming on Saturn though - quick saves are deleted on load…
Striking visuals. Shame that or the PS1 didn’t get an English release.
Would have been great to see Sting revive it on DS, 3DS or PSP. Always loved the Saturn port of Soul Hackers on 3DS and Baroque could have worked really well.
They appear to be almost entirely work-for-hire these days due to waning publisher interest but they did recently port Yggdra Union to iOS and Android so maybe the original Baroque will come to something one day.
Just a few things this weekend:
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Nintendo Switch Online. They added VICE: Project Doom which I’ve never played before and had forgotten existed until now (I seem to remember it only for the parallax in stage 2-1 before). It’s pretty good! Not original by any means but just a well made action game. Only problem is how Select is on the Minus button, which makes switching weapons a pain since you have to stop moving to do it. I end up clawing the left joy-con…
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Golden Sun: The Lost Age. Thought I’d play a bit of this, battled Briggs at the port. Still as wonderfully fleshed out as it always was. They even did character portraits for the shopkeepers! Camelot at their best.
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PANG Magical Michael. Replayability is once again king - I’m still playing this one on and off eight years after I picked it up.
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Fire Emblem: Blazing Blade. Started a new quest with Hector, having only done Eliwood’s story in the second half before. The game really does ooze craftmanship.
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Turok: Still rubbish at this one - maybe I shouldn’t have gone to area 3 after clearing the first zone… But my mind is still being retrospectively blown by how ambitious this game must have been in early 1997. The level design, atmosphere, open locations and high quality animation still impress today.
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CLANNAD: A slow burn. On Kotomi’s route. I’m probably only halfway to unlocking After Story. The characters really make this shine though, even minor characters like fallen-musician-turned-electrician Yusuke Yoshino have their importance depending on who they are interacting with.
I played a ton of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Alpha. Gunfight is a really fun 2v2 mode. The most memorable game I had was this one though…
Playing through gears 3s campaign. I never finished it or gears 4 so I want to finish it before 5 comes. I might give transistor a go after 4 because I bought that on sale recently
Not much at the moment.
A recent small bit of gaming on Apple TV:
- PAKO Forever
- Rush Rally 3
I’m at the last boss (for the full ending) in Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night for PS4. Great game, although not SotN level as far as Castlevania games go. Visually it’s a mixed bag. The characters don’t look as nice as 2d handdrawn stuff but the shiny polygons suit backgrounds like the ice cave well.
Thanks for the impressions. I’m happy it’s great, though I haven’t picked it up yet because I’m not sure whether it’s as inventive as the last two Castlevania games on the DS?
Does it play with your expectations like those two games did, even if they both had minor flaws? I hear it borrows from Order of Ecclesia’s Glyph system? But does it bring anything new to the table like Portrait of Ruin did (partner system, painting worlds) and OoE did (Glyph system, classic/modern mix for level design)?
I haven’t gone back to most of the DS or GBA games recently to compare that well. It’s not as difficult or grindy as Ecclesia, and it’s not divided into separate levels like that one.
There’s a neat mechanic where you can flip the entire area upside down to reach new spots but for the most part it follows the expected patterns for these type of games. I don’t recall if any of the previous games had meal crafting but there’s a lot of optional recipe stuff in this one.
I hear the Switch version has major frame rate issues so I would wait for a patch if you want that version.
A friend had the Switch version and got through it, but he said it had bugs galore, crashes and such.
I liked it overall but it definitely has issues. I finished the game on PS4 and Switch. The Switch version is so slow.
I finished Bloodlines on PS4 and Switch. I liked the game but it has performance issues on switch and the narrative overall needs to be streamlined. If you can find under 30 maybe even 20 its worth it. These types of games are all about discovery and exploration but parts of the castle feel tacked on and not worth it. Its worth playing but not as good as it should be.
I finished New Blood on PS4. Its short and fun for a couple hours. Plays like a first person shooter mixed with a Mmorpg. If you’re looking for a Wolfenstein experience play wolf 2 but if you’re looking for some dumb fun for the weekend and can find it for 15 or less enjoy!
Yakuza Judgement. At first I didn’t like this game at all but its growing on me. Having the main character be a detective with a past gives the game a film noir style that sets it apart from the previous games. The combat is similar enough to the previous games to be fun but only has two styles. This stifles experimentation and leads to using the same style of moves over and over again. Tailing suspects is and lock picking are good mechanics but become stale after you’ve done them more than a handful of times. If you’re looking to get in to the yakuza series start with 0 as this game is more of a side story or gaiden.
I just picked up Control and ill update once ive played it.
I’m playing Dark Rose Valkyrie on steam. Haven’t touched any retro games in awhile though.
Turns out one of my colleagues is a huge fan of Seiken Densetsu 3 having emulated back in the day and played co-op online via zsnes. So when I told him I picked up a physical copy of Collection of Mana we started playing Trials of Mana together.
Of course there was no co-op to be played yet - I’m currently making my way through the game until I get a second party member.
So far it’s been what I’d call comfort food RPG gaming. Certainly an ambitious title for the Super Famicom with its luscious visuals and day and night system, but it hasn’t been taxing at all on the brain so far so it’s a great game to pick up after a long day…
Starting playing Dragon Slayer Legend of Heroes II on pc engine CD-Rom a few days ago and I must say the exp grind is real old skool as in takes about an hour to gain a level. The mana point regen and gold rewards per battle is also very stingy but somehow I feel compelled to keep on at it.
My characters are now around lvl 11+ and I’ve decided to leave it on auto battle for a few hours just to gain like 2 levels for all my characters…
