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How are you even discovering all these games?

Quote (Kane @ 25th January 2025 00:40)

How are you even discovering all these games?

hahahahaha

TL;DR - 2D platformers, JRPGs, pixel art, anime art, and anything looking sufficiently colorful and/or retro catch my eye and I check them out

Pretty much just poking around for games that look interesting, over the course of years. Occasional bouts of boredom have led me to explore tags like "metroidvania", "JRPG", "anime", and so forth. Then I look at store pages and trailers and wishlist whatever seems interesting.

Then there's friend groups where people talk about similar interests. Like, hanging around in a Mega Man fan group led me to find out about games like Rosenkreuzstilette, Rokko-chan, Rockmen R, Metagal, 20XX, 30XX, Mighty No. 9, the whole Gunvolt series, etc..

And then there's just random browsing. Like, there was that time I found out I could buy a bunch of cool doujin games, including English-language versions, on DLsite (many of which are DRM-free). I started by looking for games I knew, but of course I also ran into a bunch of games I hadn't heard of before. And then there's itch.io, which I've occasionally browsed, and where I bought some of those giant bundles (which are usually for charity, though some are for promoting lesser-known devs).



Quick rundown of the games I've mentioned recently:

20XX, 30XX, Rosenkreuzstilette - like I mentioned, all of these are Mega-Man-style fangames known to longtime series fans.

Arietta of Spirits, Blossom Tales: the Sleeping King, Ocean's Heart - all games I got interested in because of they have a 2D-Zelda-like interface, based on the trailers. Found out about each from three different sources (itch, Steam, and GOG, respectively). Anodyne (which I've had for many years now) caught my eye for similar reasons and it was also reasonably well-known among indie games. Guardian of Paradise I picked up many years ago because some friends mentioned its fan-translation. Lenna's Inception is another 2D-Zelda-like; this one seems to have gotten a decent amount of chatter among friends for its fourth-wall-breaking story, but I picked it up via one of the giant itch charity bundles.

Owlboy - had heard about this on and off as a good indie game; picked it up in a GOG bundle along with Dragon Age: Origins.

Ghost 1.0 - from the same dev as Unepic, which I'd played before, and whose work I knew was part of the relatively uncommon lineage of Maze-of-Galious-inspired metroidvanias.

National Park Girls - I found this via browsing JAST USA. I'm one of those weirdos who buys SFW games on a store with mostly NSFW stuff, lol. Later I realized I had the game through one of the giant itch bundles too. Only the first episode though.

Heroines of Swords and Spells - one of the random indie JRPGs I ran into on GOG.

Wonder Boy: the Dragon's Trap - I'd known about but never played the Wonder Boy franchise for many years. The game seemed interesting, so I picked it up. I'm glad I did.

Way of the Red, Tower Hunter, Gato Roboto, Alwa's Awakening (and then Alwa's Legacy, after that) - from some random metroidvania-related searches on GOG.

Metal Unit, Runes Magica - I'm poking around GOG, visually filtering for anime art, and find that these are 2D platformers. Of course I'm going to wishlist them, pick them up on sale, and see what they're like. I mean, why the heck not.

Giral - random little Japanese RPG Maker game I found while browsing DLsite.

Aggelos - from browsing itch. And I'd seen the beta version for a while.

drowning, drowning - random RPG Maker game that I found via some other western-made RPG Maker stuff. I think the same dev made Her Tears Were My Light, which is somewhat better known.

New Super Mario Bros. - I don't think I have to explain this one lol

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3: Radical Rescue - Had heard that this Game Boy game was a metroidvania, so I wanted to check it out.

This post has been edited by Glenn Magus Harvey on 25th January 2025 21:49

--------------------

Check the "What games are you playing at the moment?" thread for updates on what I've been playing.

You can find me on the Fediverse! I use Mastodon, where I am @[email protected] ( https://sakurajima.moe/@glennmagusharvey )

I finished Alwa's Legacy a little while ago. It takes the fundamental mechanics of its predecessor, Alwa's Awakening, but expands on it with a more content.

The "cast spell" command actually gets its own dedicated button instead of using up+attack (so there's a little difference in the basic control scheme between the two games), but there's now a separate button to activate an ability. Abilities are things like temporarily allowing Zoe to walk across spikes without harm (you get that ability in the first dungeon). And of course, the special items you get are different.

The overall structure is similar to the first game -- in various parts of the large and interconnected game world, there are several dungeons, each of which has a boss, but you don't actually need to beat the boss to get the ability and get back out. However, the game features even more nonlinearity than the first game, in multiple ways:
* The dungeons don't need to be done in order. You actually get key progression outside of dungeons a few times. I think three of the dungeons can basically be done in any order (and this is just talking about getting the required pickups, not even beating the boss).
* The game does give you the same mobility-related spell upgrades as in the first game, plus a few more, but this time, they're not specific pickups -- you just need to get enough of the 99 blue orbs scattered around the whole game, and go see the wizard in the village. He lets you freely re-spec your spell abilities anytime.
* Furthermore, you can find items that let you turn almost any save point into a warp point. You can choose what save points to turn into warp points. (But it's probably useful to know that there are the same amount of save points as such items, so you don't need to be stingy. Heck, the game actually expects you to do this, as it counts toward completion rate.)

Unlike the first game, there isn't a late-game moment where you can optionally unlock shortcuts by having saved extra keys. There *is* an achievement for carrying three keys (plus some other things) at one time; this would need to be planned for if you wanna do it, (but it's arguably even less a core part of the game than the extra keys thing).

Having played the whole duology, I'm glad I did and can definitely recommend it.

After that I touched Relayer a bit, specifically Relayer Advanced. This is a strategy JRPG with a sci-fi (space and mecha) theme, made and self-published by Dragami Games (formerly known as Kadokawa Games). Despite being set in space, the game (so far) still seems to have traditional 2D battle grids. It also seems to be very resource-intensive (i.e. it makes my computer run hot), but it certainly does look quite nice. The backstory involves a disaster related to the sudden loss of gravity, and some of the main characters are "starchildren" named after the planets, who seem to have some sort of mysterious superpower or something to them; I'm not entirely too sure at this point, but I've only played through basically the end of the prologue. The game comes with English and Japanese voicework; I haven't tried the latter, but I've tried the former and it...sounds decent but too quiet and slow, for some reason.

Also I got back into Ys Origin, again making progress playing Hugo on Hard difficulty. Various observations:
* I've been screenshotting all the "Roonic" messages; this required me to say no, which got me insulted. Amusingly, after I did this, I promptly got my butt handed to me by demons in the tower.
* Beat Nygtilger on my first try. Thanks to fighting this boss many times in time attack as Yunica, I basically knew its pattern like the back of my hand, and with Hugo's range (great for cleanup) and the fact that his Trap Mine ability hits Nygtilger on the wall, I actually knocked out basically all the parts very quickly, and while I got slightly delayed by the boss doing three spins with only its head left undamaged, I finished it quickly after that.
* I was less lucky on Gelaldy. There's still one attack that perplexes me as to whether Gelaldy does it or not.
* Hugo legit has an interesting story. I was expecting that the story would only be slightly different from what I know from Yunica's playthrough, but it's actually quite different. Story beats are paced the same way, since I'm going up the same tower, but the actual story content differs quite a bit. Yunica knows she's incapable of magic but has an absolute devotion to the cause of finding the goddesses for deeply personal reasons. Hugo, on the other hand, is a loner with his own agenda lessons to learn, and all the character interactions are very different as a result. (That said, I am still loving Yunica, despite playing as Hugo. Like, every time she shows up and does stuff I love it. She is absolutely adorable, in the best way possible.)
* Yes, I got the achievement "All Fact Up". Actually that's about where I am right now. Amusingly I got pwned by the enemies right *after* this, as well.
* Hugo's abilities are pretty different from Yunica's. His basic attack is ranged, for starters, which is why he's sometimes regarded as "easy mode" for this game, though I'd say it's not necessarily the most efficient way to play. As for spells, I found myself using Yunica's wind and fire spells very often, but not the thunder spell; for Hugo its the opposite, where the Wind and Fire only seem barely useful but I'm walking everywhere with a charged lightning spell at the ready, because jumping into the fray and detonating a Trap Mine is faster than trying to dink every enemy one shot at a time. I wonder what the third character will be like...

---

Games I've finished this year so far:
Alwa's Awakening
Alwa's Legacy

Games I've played significantly this year but not finished:
Runes Magica
Ys Origin

This post has been edited by Glenn Magus Harvey on 21st February 2025 22:11

--------------------

Check the "What games are you playing at the moment?" thread for updates on what I've been playing.

You can find me on the Fediverse! I use Mastodon, where I am @[email protected] ( https://sakurajima.moe/@glennmagusharvey )

Saw the credits roll on Forspoken tonight! Still have more to do in game, but I have to say that I really enjoyed this game and am glad I picked it up months ago when it was on sale. No, it's not a perfect game. But I found Frey easy to relate to, and am glad to have experienced her journey.

Favorite part of the game: collecting the kitties! The world of Forspoken has these familiars which are pretty much magical cats, and you can befriend them and they're really cute. I did not manage to find all of them (yet!) but I did find a good portion.

Frey, to me, was really easy to relate to, though I could see how others would find her annoying. More about her under the spoiler:

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

She's quite stubborn, which is both good and bad, and she's very much a reluctant heroine for a good portion of the game. I felt a kinship with her because I'm also kind of a reluctant heroine in my own life, for reasons I don't want to get into on this forum.

As for story: no, it's not very original. But it's decent enough, and kept me interested! More under spoiler, though I'm being careful not to give anything really away:

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

I foresaw that a certain piece of lore would become important in endgame, but I did not foresee HOW it would become important. I was quite surprised by the major "twist", and I'm still processing it some.

Tonight while playing, I pondered on who scored it, and it turns out Bear McCreary was one of the composers. AH!! Yeah, I can hear his influence. I mostly know his work from Battlestar Galactica but I loved his work there enough to get the soundtracks for it. Man, I should rewatch that sometimes. Starbuck =

We have some post-story stuff to do, plus there is DLC, so won't be completely done with the game for a few more weeks yet. I intend to keep streaming single-player games on Mondays. What's up next? Well, you'll just have to wait and see.

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Watch me play games on Twitch!
Schedule:
Mondays: Kingdom Hearts
Fridays: Final Fantasy XI
Saturdays: Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail Side Quests & Shenanigans

Quote (AltheaValara @ 10th March 2025 19:44)

Favorite part of the game: collecting the kitties! The world of Forspoken has these familiars which are pretty much magical cats, and you can befriend them and they're really cute. I did not manage to find all of them (yet!) but I did find a good portion.

I'm not actually going to play Forspoken, but nothing before this (nor, I suspect, after this) will make me want to play the game more than this tidbit did.

Finished my Hugo playthrough of Ys Origin.

I'm gonna wait on doing a playthrough with the third character. Though I'm aware that he's the "true" story in the sense that that's the actual canon version of the events. (I still love Yunica though.)

Life got busy in recent days. Work is ramping up, and it's also puzzlehunt season, and I wanna go finish up some movies and anime series I've meant to watch.

Games I've finished this year so far:
Alwa's Awakening
Alwa's Legacy
Ys Origin (Hugo, Hard)

Games I've played significantly this year but not finished:
Runes Magica (almost finished, but significantly buggy)
Relayer Advanced (played the beginning)

Oh, I think I ran into an unfortunate bug in Alba: a Wildlife Adventure. Basically one of the trash pickup locations isn't registering as fully picked up for some reason. I don't think it prevents me from finishing the game, but it might affect completion. I might restart the game sometime, since I'm still relatively early in it I think.

Meanwhile...still want to actually get through a big beefy RPG sometime...

--------------------

Check the "What games are you playing at the moment?" thread for updates on what I've been playing.

You can find me on the Fediverse! I use Mastodon, where I am @[email protected] ( https://sakurajima.moe/@glennmagusharvey )

As much as I enjoyed Forspoken proper, I do not think I would recommend playing the post-game stuff, including the DLC, for two reasons: (1) a large part of post-game was redoing all the boss fights, but now with a time limit. There didn't seem to be any story reason for redoing them, so I was like, "Why am I doing this? I've already beat them!" (2) The DLC takes place in the past, and has the unfortunate side effect of making one of the characters a lot less likable. While I appreciated the extra lore we got and am pretty sure they were setting things up for another DLC if not an outright sequel to the game, I did feel the DLC was unnecessary for my enjoyment of the story.

Still glad I gave Forspoken a chance, though! It was what I needed at the time.

I went ahead and bought a cheap second monitor so I could start streaming from my Switch. We're now playing Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles on Monday evenings. We're two streams into it and I'm enjoying it! It's fun to explore and find things (this game also has KITTIES! to find! very important) but sometimes I get stuck by a puzzle. I'm glad my viewer suggested I play this one first, because the game is mostly chill and I need that right now.

I continue to stream Final Fantasy XI on Fridays. We're deep into the Rise of the Zilart expansion. I had some problems with one of the boss fights though--not leveled enough--so I did some leveling off stream this week. FFXI is celebrating their anniversary and there's all sorts of bonuses happening right now. There's a mechanism in the game where if you kill the same enemy type one after another, you get a "chain"--aka, extra EXP. Normally these chains cap out around 10-12 mobs. Yesterday I hit chain 45, and I think it would have gone on even longer if I hadn't leveled high enough to make the mobs get too weak for the bonus. FUN! Anyway, really enjoying my return to Vana'diel, it was worth it.

As for FFXIV: well, I'm pretty bored with current content. My streaming alt (Windy Storm) is trying to level WAR so she can solo the latest story, but I'm in the dread 60s of leveling which is slow and awful. I just need to get to 71, and then I can bring her into Bozja... but I am finding it tedious and unfun.

Instead, I've been playing on baby alts. I had made a bunny boy, Taylan Eyal, just so he could replay the story and see what changes they have made (they've tweaked some dungeons and fights to make them more solo-friendly) and it's been WORTH IT to replay. The new Cape Westwind fight alone is worth the hassle of leveling an alt; it's such an intense and fun fight compared to its predecessor (which was the most joked-about trial in the game). Anyway, Taylan completed the ARR patches last week. For those who haven't played, I'll just say the end of the ARR patches is one of the best story moments in the game. Really enjoyed seeing it again.

...and I would have gone on to Heavensward already except, well, I am being ridiculous, lol. See, Colin Ryan (the voice actor for Alphinaud from Heavensward onwards) has been streaming the game himself on Sundays, and I've been enamored with his streams. He's approaching HW and the community is thinking of having an in-game parade when he does, and heck, I have an alt on his data center so now I am rushing that alt through ARR patches so she can take part in the parade. Yes, I am ridiculous. But I'm having fun, and games are supposed to be fun, so it's all good.

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Watch me play games on Twitch!
Schedule:
Mondays: Kingdom Hearts
Fridays: Final Fantasy XI
Saturdays: Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail Side Quests & Shenanigans

Any time someone else comes to this thread I realize I haven't posted in it for months. Since I last posted, I went back to Jedi Survivor after parking it for over a year, halfway complete. It took me ages to get a feel for the combat again and remember what on earth I was doing with the game, but I played through and completed it with about 75% of the trophies. Like its predecessor, it was a really cool addition to Star Wars lore and a lot of fun to play, and I really hope Respawn gets the opportunity to finish the trilogy strong because it took a hard right turn towards the end (to protect canon, I think).

Since then I finally unboxed the copy of Ghost of Tsushima that I'd had for a couple years and not played. It's the PS4 version because they want way too much money to unlock the PS5 upgrade; I'm not sure if it would improve the experience that much. I'm enjoying it well enough having gotten through Act I, but playing it after games like Jedi Survivor or Forbidden West make it feel a bit repetitive and unpolished. It definitely makes me feel like the new Ghost game coming out this year will be extremely solid, though.

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"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN?

Quote

Meanwhile...still want to actually get through a big beefy RPG sometime...

I ended up getting into a big beefy RPG. But it's a TTRPG, specifically 2nd edition Pathfinder, and specifically Pathfinder Society.

I've spent *waaaaaaaay* too much time on Pathbuilder (a virtual character sheet/builder web app) trying to build like ten different character concepts, despite having only played one of them so far. Also, *waaaaaaaay* too much time x2 diving repeatedly into a million rabbit holes about choices of feats and spells and other character options and mechanical interactions and rules and more.

This post has been edited by Glenn Magus Harvey on 21st May 2025 03:58

--------------------

Check the "What games are you playing at the moment?" thread for updates on what I've been playing.

You can find me on the Fediverse! I use Mastodon, where I am @[email protected] ( https://sakurajima.moe/@glennmagusharvey )

I got dragged into a vacation. It was a very hectic one, actually, but somehow, that ironically led me to get some gaming done.

I was sick on the flight over there, particularly the grueling 13-hour transpacific flight, but on the way back I felt better and instead got some gaming done. In spite of the extremely loud environment in an airplane.

I started playing Roguelight, and then I finished it earlier today.

You drop down into a dark dungeon where you light your way with arrows. Tread carefully but quickly, and survive off what arrows, hearts, and coins you can find down there. As its name implies, it's a procedurally-generated game where the only thing that carries over between playthroughs is the upgrades you buy after each death, with the aforementioned coins.

The whole game isn't that long, but has a definitely satisfying gameplay loop and a well-designed difficulty curve -- letting you practice while giving you more upgrades to do so. I eventually bought out the shop and then beat the game after a few more tries. You can, if you want, reset your progress and try to beat the game using only the starting specs -- it's possible if you know what you're doing!

You can find the game here: https://managore.itch.io/roguelight
(If you bought the Indie Bundle for Abortion Funds, you already have it! But it's PWYW anyway.)

The other thing I played was the first of the LiEat games -- a trilogy of short RPG Maker games about a dragon who eats lies. Something like that. Unsurprisingly, they're very story-centric. The first game, The Lie-Eating Dragon and the Vermilion Vampire, is a short mystery story about vampires. And lies.

You can read more about LiEat on its fan wiki here: https://lieat.fandom.com/wiki/LiEat_Wiki



Sidenote: I also took the train (specifically Chinese high-speed rail) to places and I can say this is like traveling by plane but actually good. More legroom, less noise, more freedom to move about the cabin. I wish the U.S. had a high-speed rail network like that. It would be SO much better for gaming while traveling, for one thing, because I wouldn't need to crank up the volume to max and blast the game's music into my ears just to hear anything at all (which is what I have to do on a plane).

This post has been edited by Glenn Magus Harvey on 30th August 2025 14:50

--------------------

Check the "What games are you playing at the moment?" thread for updates on what I've been playing.

You can find me on the Fediverse! I use Mastodon, where I am @[email protected] ( https://sakurajima.moe/@glennmagusharvey )

Quote (Rangers51 @ 12th May 2025 12:36)

Any time someone else comes to this thread I realize   I haven't posted in it for months.

Up until now, I hadn't posted here since last December. You're doing better than I am, at least!

Quote (Glenn Magus Harvey)

[...]Dragon Age: Origins.

Not sure I can recommend this one, especially if you have any desire to follow the story beyond that installment. The game's fine, but with the failure of Veilguard, seems the future of the series, and maybe even BioWare, are in serious question.

Over the last several months, I've been trying to play through three games: Disgaea 1, Rance Quest: Magnum, and Baldur's Gate III. All are looking to be slow grinds. I knew that about the Disgaea series, but Rance Quest, in particular, seems really long; I have over 300 hours on my current playthrough, and I'm still not close to finishing it, I don't think. More recently have been playing BGIII. Then The Follower's Fall free DLC for Witchspring R released. Since I still had that game installed from last year, I figured I'd get that one out of the way now.

This post has been edited by Galsic on 31st August 2025 17:10

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Console RPG Cliches

I attempted a FFV Four Job Fiesta run on stream. Yeah, no--like usual, I pooped out after the Battle on the Big Bridge. I think I have just played the game too much, and even the Fiesta can't make it enjoyable past world 1. So I have shelved the game, maybe forever, but at least for a good number of years until I get a hankering to play it again.

Instead, I am streaming Kingdom Hearts on Mondays. It's fun to revisit that world! But woe, I suck at action games. My idea of "action" is "hit X to win" and well, you need to at least dodge in KH sometimes. I can do dodging, but I can't do jumping to attack, which makes Trickmaster very frustrating. It took an obscenely long time to beat him, sigh.

I've played KH a few times now, and I am familiar enough with it that I am NOT doing the standard RPG things of talking to everyone and exploring. This was a detriment in Traverse Town; I had forgotten how to progress the story at one particular point and had to look at a walkthrough, when if I had JUST TALKED TO PEOPLE I would have gotten hints, lol.

Final Fantasy XI is going well! We've completed Sandy missions through rank 5, finished Rise of the Zilart and Chains of Promathia and are now cleaning up the after-quests for those two expansions. I continue to really enjoy this game, and am having fun seeing how its story might have influenced FFXIV.

I've been playing a bit less Final Fantasy XIV these days, but I *am* still playing it. Mostly focused on doing the Vana'diel raids weekly. This is my first time doing alliance raids regularly; I still die some times but I am slowly learning the fights.

I've also been practicing bravery and have been doing the alliance roulette. That was a bit scary for me because there's some raids I've only done once or twice... but with iLevels it's really not bad. We skipped an entire mechanic on the final boss of one raid because everyone was so powerful.

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Watch me play games on Twitch!
Schedule:
Mondays: Kingdom Hearts
Fridays: Final Fantasy XI
Saturdays: Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail Side Quests & Shenanigans

Quote (Rangers51 @ 12th May 2025 12:36)

Any time someone else comes to this thread I realize I haven't posted in it for months. Since I last posted, I went back to Jedi Survivor after parking it for over a year, halfway complete. It took me ages to get a feel for the combat again and remember what on earth I was doing with the game, but I played through and completed it with about 75% of the trophies. Like its predecessor, it was a really cool addition to Star Wars lore and a lot of fun to play, and I really hope Respawn gets the opportunity to finish the trilogy strong because it took a hard right turn towards the end (to protect canon, I think).

Since then I finally unboxed the copy of Ghost of Tsushima that I'd had for a couple years and not played. It's the PS4 version because they want way too much money to unlock the PS5 upgrade; I'm not sure if it would improve the experience that much. I'm enjoying it well enough having gotten through Act I, but playing it after games like Jedi Survivor or Forbidden West make it feel a bit repetitive and unpolished. It definitely makes me feel like the new Ghost game coming out this year will be extremely solid, though.

Jedi Survivor was fantastic. It reminded me a lot of Mega Man X and Mega Man X4 but in 3D. I've never had more fun running and jumping and hacking and slashing in a game since those two games, and once you get the blaster/lightsaber combo, oh man.

I absolutely loved this game. I was in awe of the scale alone, and certain sections had me laughing with pure joy because of how fun they were.

And done it again; since my last post in May, I finished Ghost of Tsushima and found that while the gameplay might have felt a bit dated by the time I got to it, the progression of it and the plot made for a great game overall. I'm not necessarily running out to get Yōtei as yet, as it looks considerably bloodier than its predecessor and even that was right on the edge of what my kid was comfortable with, but I'll certainly pick it up at some point.

I also finished Death Stranding 2 in the interim, with a platinum. That was fantastic Kojima madness the entire way through and the new cast were all far better than I expected, as was the villain whom I won't spoil here.

At the moment, just like 80% of active CoN members here or in Discord, I'm playing through FFT. I'm about to wrap up chapter 2 on Switch and am midway through chapter 1 on my PC playthrough since I mostly play it if I'm planning to stream.

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"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN?

I mean, tell me you lot have played Clair Obscure: Expedition 33? It's one of the best things I have ever played.

Quote (Rinjin @ 14th October 2025 18:49)

I mean, tell me you lot have played Clair Obscure: Expedition 33? It's one of the best things I have ever played.

I own it, but haven't played it yet for reasons I don't quite understand. I guess it's because I've heard it's really great and I'm afraid my experience won't live up to that? Also, it's hard to find the time to play a single player game when I have work, my creative hobbies, and am playing two MMOs plus streaming three times a week. But it's definitely on my list of things to get to!

(to show how busy I've been lately: I have played a mere hour of FFT, oops. Need to make time for that so I can watch R51's stream without fear of spoilers!)

--------------------

Watch me play games on Twitch!
Schedule:
Mondays: Kingdom Hearts
Fridays: Final Fantasy XI
Saturdays: Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail Side Quests & Shenanigans

Quote (AltheaValara @ 15th October 2025 12:44)

Quote (Rinjin @ 14th October 2025 18:49)

I mean, tell me you lot have played Clair Obscure: Expedition 33? It's one of the best things I have ever played.

I own it, but haven't played it yet for reasons I don't quite understand. I guess it's because I've heard it's really great and I'm afraid my experience won't live up to that? Also, it's hard to find the time to play a single player game when I have work, my creative hobbies, and am playing two MMOs plus streaming three times a week. But it's definitely on my list of things to get to!

(to show how busy I've been lately: I have played a mere hour of FFT, oops. Need to make time for that so I can watch R51's stream without fear of spoilers!)

I've had no time either, my stream save is barely past Dorter!

E33 is extremely high on my list but from what I've heard, I may not be emotionally stable enough to play it.

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"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN?

Yeah, Clair Obscure is a heavy game, but it will exceed all expectations. The battle system alone will keep you playing, but the world, story and characters are among the best ever conceived.

It really is one of the rare instances of the hype being real.

I just finished Quartet which I highly recommend despite not enjoying the characters. It was heavy on the WWII themes and I could feel the FF6 influence. I'm currently bouncing around between Jack Move, Lost Sphear and Disco Elysium. I had been told a lot that Disco Elysium is a life changing experience and I believe that now. It's very thought provoking and stresses the struggle with addition in an interesting way. Plus the world building is INCREDIBLE.
Lost Sphear is hailed as having improvements on I am Setsuna and being better all around but I disagree. While I am having fun with Lost Sphear, I much prefer the tone and storytelling of I am Setsuna. We actualy cosplay from IaS and I couldn't possibly imagine cosplaying from LS.
Jack Move feels very Shadowrun and has a clever and enjoyable campiness to it that just makes it all the more fun. I want to stress on Shadowrun here, not Cyberpunk 2077.
I was playing Xenogears for the first time on stream but I'm stopping to keep the experience to myself. I did pick up the FFT remaster for stream and I love it.
Yes, I jump around games a lot.

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I'm your Mama Terra, come hang out with me around the internet!

Retro gaming cosplayer with a focus on Terra Branford.

Quote (St Khael @ 20th October 2025 15:33)

I just finished Quartet which I highly recommend despite not enjoying the characters. It was heavy on the WWII themes and I could feel the FF6 influence. I'm currently bouncing around between Jack Move, Lost Sphear and Disco Elysium. I had been told a lot that Disco Elysium is a life changing experience and I believe that now. It's very thought provoking and stresses the struggle with addition in an interesting way. Plus the world building is INCREDIBLE.
Lost Sphear is hailed as having improvements on I am Setsuna and being better all around but I disagree. While I am having fun with Lost Sphear, I much prefer the tone and storytelling of I am Setsuna.  We actualy cosplay from IaS and I couldn't possibly imagine cosplaying from LS.
Jack Move feels very Shadowrun and has a clever and enjoyable campiness to it that just makes it all the more fun. I want to stress on Shadowrun here, not Cyberpunk 2077.
I was playing Xenogears for the first time on stream but I'm stopping to keep the experience to myself. I did pick up the FFT remaster for stream and I love it.
Yes, I jump around games a lot.

Disco Elysium: The Final Cut is, in my opinion, the greatest work of art/literature/media ever created. I think it is an untouchable masterpiece. Everything about it - The art style, world-building, aesthetics and lore, the tone and themes... It's perfection. I have played this game so much... I have beaten it about a dozen times and had several dozen playthroughs that ended in death after just 5 minutes or extraction by the Moral Intern late in Act 2 before the Tribunal.

The humor, emotion, everything about this game consumed me for the better part of 4 years. I laughed, cried, jumped with joy... I still see new stuff each time I play the game. Be it a line of dialogue, a way to solve a puzzle, a new thought to internalize... I really think that this is one of the most special things ever created by humans.

What happened to the creators and the studio fracture is a travesty. They even had a sequel almost fully completed that starred Kim and got scrapped due to the legal issues surrounding the IP and the studio.

But I am just so happy we have Disco Elysium. It's a heavy, beautiful, complex work of art that I think everyone should experience.

Clair Obscure came close until the final act, and while I think that it is a top-5 videogame ever, probably, nothing can touch Disco Elysium for me. It is incredibly immersive.

Quote (Rinjin @ 22nd October 2025 04:04)

Quote (St Khael @ 20th October 2025 15:33)

I just finished Quartet which I highly recommend despite not enjoying the characters. It was heavy on the WWII themes and I could feel the FF6 influence. I'm currently bouncing around between Jack Move, Lost Sphear and Disco Elysium. I had been told a lot that Disco Elysium is a life changing experience and I believe that now. It's very thought provoking and stresses the struggle with addition in an interesting way. Plus the world building is INCREDIBLE.
Lost Sphear is hailed as having improvements on I am Setsuna and being better all around but I disagree. While I am having fun with Lost Sphear, I much prefer the tone and storytelling of I am Setsuna.  We actualy cosplay from IaS and I couldn't possibly imagine cosplaying from LS.
Jack Move feels very Shadowrun and has a clever and enjoyable campiness to it that just makes it all the more fun. I want to stress on Shadowrun here, not Cyberpunk 2077.
I was playing Xenogears for the first time on stream but I'm stopping to keep the experience to myself. I did pick up the FFT remaster for stream and I love it.
Yes, I jump around games a lot.

Disco Elysium: The Final Cut is, in my opinion, the greatest work of art/literature/media ever created. I think it is an untouchable masterpiece. Everything about it - The art style, world-building, aesthetics and lore, the tone and themes... It's perfection. I have played this game so much... I have beaten it about a dozen times and had several dozen playthroughs that ended in death after just 5 minutes or extraction by the Moral Intern late in Act 2 before the Tribunal.

The humor, emotion, everything about this game consumed me for the better part of 4 years. I laughed, cried, jumped with joy... I still see new stuff each time I play the game. Be it a line of dialogue, a way to solve a puzzle, a new thought to internalize... I really think that this is one of the most special things ever created by humans.

What happened to the creators and the studio fracture is a travesty. They even had a sequel almost fully completed that starred Kim and got scrapped due to the legal issues surrounding the IP and the studio.

But I am just so happy we have Disco Elysium. It's a heavy, beautiful, complex work of art that I think everyone should experience.

Clair Obscure came close until the final act, and while I think that it is a top-5 videogame ever, probably, nothing can touch Disco Elysium for me. It is incredibly immersive.

Heavily agree on Disco Elysium being a masterpiece and I'm still only in Act 1. Trying to make Harry follow the path I want to take is a struggle that I'm appreciating. It's helping me take a long and hard look at the people in my life who have struggled with addiction and making me appreciate them so much more. The music is so soul shaking to back up that mental and emotional gravitas. Those long and lonesome notes have the same effect as the scene in Star Wars A New Hope where Luke looks over the ridge after losing his family and the french horn begins as he's watching the suns set. Ugh...iconic. Disco Elysium's music hit me exactly the same way. And that LORE! I just keep devouring it.

I have extremely mixed feelings about Clair Obscure. I deeply enjoyed it but found the game unattractive and poorly designed due to their color scheme choices. I want to note here that it was visually STUNNING but the color palette killed it so hard. I know what it was trying to do and I feel like it barely missed the mark but enough to be disappointing. The story was brilliant until yes...that final act. I do want them to explore the world of Act 3 more, though because it was intriguing, the execution of the storytelling was just rough. Despite these issues, however I really did enjoy it. Do I think it's the second coming of retro games and proves that modern FF is a failure ( blah blah blah, this is an argument I hear way to often elsewhere on the internet. No, I don't think it is. But, I do want to see more games like it with that kind of combat system because it's a lovely dose of nostalgia with a modern twist that felt fresh and still newish. I want to see more games like this for sure.
Also, give Chained Echoes a shot if you haven't. I could go on and on about that game. I'm going to cosplay from it like an unhinged fan.

--------------------

I'm your Mama Terra, come hang out with me around the internet!

Retro gaming cosplayer with a focus on Terra Branford.

Quote (St Khael @ 22nd October 2025 11:18)

Quote (Rinjin @ 22nd October 2025 04:04)

Quote (St Khael @ 20th October 2025 15:33)

I just finished Quartet which I highly recommend despite not enjoying the characters. It was heavy on the WWII themes and I could feel the FF6 influence. I'm currently bouncing around between Jack Move, Lost Sphear and Disco Elysium. I had been told a lot that Disco Elysium is a life changing experience and I believe that now. It's very thought provoking and stresses the struggle with addition in an interesting way. Plus the world building is INCREDIBLE.
Lost Sphear is hailed as having improvements on I am Setsuna and being better all around but I disagree. While I am having fun with Lost Sphear, I much prefer the tone and storytelling of I am Setsuna.  We actualy cosplay from IaS and I couldn't possibly imagine cosplaying from LS.
Jack Move feels very Shadowrun and has a clever and enjoyable campiness to it that just makes it all the more fun. I want to stress on Shadowrun here, not Cyberpunk 2077.
I was playing Xenogears for the first time on stream but I'm stopping to keep the experience to myself. I did pick up the FFT remaster for stream and I love it.
Yes, I jump around games a lot.

Disco Elysium: The Final Cut is, in my opinion, the greatest work of art/literature/media ever created. I think it is an untouchable masterpiece. Everything about it - The art style, world-building, aesthetics and lore, the tone and themes... It's perfection. I have played this game so much... I have beaten it about a dozen times and had several dozen playthroughs that ended in death after just 5 minutes or extraction by the Moral Intern late in Act 2 before the Tribunal.

The humor, emotion, everything about this game consumed me for the better part of 4 years. I laughed, cried, jumped with joy... I still see new stuff each time I play the game. Be it a line of dialogue, a way to solve a puzzle, a new thought to internalize... I really think that this is one of the most special things ever created by humans.

What happened to the creators and the studio fracture is a travesty. They even had a sequel almost fully completed that starred Kim and got scrapped due to the legal issues surrounding the IP and the studio.

But I am just so happy we have Disco Elysium. It's a heavy, beautiful, complex work of art that I think everyone should experience.

Clair Obscure came close until the final act, and while I think that it is a top-5 videogame ever, probably, nothing can touch Disco Elysium for me. It is incredibly immersive.

Heavily agree on Disco Elysium being a masterpiece and I'm still only in Act 1. Trying to make Harry follow the path I want to take is a struggle that I'm appreciating. It's helping me take a long and hard look at the people in my life who have struggled with addiction and making me appreciate them so much more. The music is so soul shaking to back up that mental and emotional gravitas. Those long and lonesome notes have the same effect as the scene in Star Wars A New Hope where Luke looks over the ridge after losing his family and the french horn begins as he's watching the suns set. Ugh...iconic. Disco Elysium's music hit me exactly the same way. And that LORE! I just keep devouring it.

I have extremely mixed feelings about Clair Obscure. I deeply enjoyed it but found the game unattractive and poorly designed due to their color scheme choices. I want to note here that it was visually STUNNING but the color palette killed it so hard. I know what it was trying to do and I feel like it barely missed the mark but enough to be disappointing. The story was brilliant until yes...that final act. I do want them to explore the world of Act 3 more, though because it was intriguing, the execution of the storytelling was just rough. Despite these issues, however I really did enjoy it. Do I think it's the second coming of retro games and proves that modern FF is a failure ( blah blah blah, this is an argument I hear way to often elsewhere on the internet. No, I don't think it is. But, I do want to see more games like it with that kind of combat system because it's a lovely dose of nostalgia with a modern twist that felt fresh and still newish. I want to see more games like this for sure.
Also, give Chained Echoes a shot if you haven't. I could go on and on about that game. I'm going to cosplay from it like an unhinged fan.

Okay, I am glad I didn't say too much about Disco Elysium, given that you're only in Act I. I didn't spoil anything with what I said. The music is very haunting, but also very comforting and nostalgic.

I really mucked up my first playthrough, but I don't save-scum so I just rolled with my choices. My immediate next playthrough, I made a conscious decision to project myself onto the character, rather than role play as who I thought the character was, and I had a much better experience. I just felt like my first time playing the game, I should play it as I expected the main character to act/react to things and while still very enjoyable, I suspect I got one of the less desirable end sequences.

Clair Obscure had an amazing first act, followed by a second act that got stronger as it went on but that third act... Completely fell apart. I have my own theories on why, but I think they really rushed it and added a lot of unnecessary lore that contradicted most of what came before it.

The battle system is one of the best ever. The turn-based combat with real-time mechanics was addictive and challenging. It was like FFX mixed with a little bit of FFVII, FFVIII and FFIX elements. Obviously, the gunblade mechanic of FFVIII and the way you learned abilities in FFIX with a little bit of FFVII materia/limit break influence, too.

What I really enjoyed was the overworld map, which completely caught me off-guard. I really wasn't expecting it. Ultimately, I think E33 was what I expected from FFX-2 and while I did enjoy that game when it came out, it wasn't what I envisioned when they announced the sequel. FFX is still one of my fond memories playing a JRPG, and I loved the battle system. But the lack of an overworld really hurt the game's longevity, to me. I understand the design choice, but I don't think the game has aged well.

I managed to go into E33 completely blind and avoided all spoilers, so it was a very intense and overwhelming experience. I really think it's a top video game experience for me, but I also think the developers tried to out-smart themselves and really messed up the experience by the end. It wasn't just what they chose to do with some of the more intense moments, but like I said, they completely contradicted themselves over and over in a final act that really didn't have enough content to warrant fucking it up as much as they did, in my opinion.