Board 8 > transience's video game topic 56: lift your skinny fists like ports to the sky.

(+) Yeah! (+)

Those comparisons don't make any sense.

like, FromSoft have three models for world traversal: labyrinthine interconnected world with shortcuts, like Dark Souls 1; spoked spiraling out of a central hub, like Dark Souls 2; more linear navigation with touches of the other two, like Demon's Souls, Bloodborne, or Dark Souls 3.
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Finally decided to figure out how to play the second Miles Edgeworth game. Probably going to start it later tonight.
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Dark Souls 3 definitely feels like 'linear navigation with touches of the other two' at this point. Even if it's a psychological thing, I don't feel like I can go off the beaten path as much as I can in most of the other games.

TVontheRadio posted...

wasn't a fan of the undead settlement aka bloodborne village?

This place was pretty good! Next area was too, although I liked it a little less. The swamp area after that is a pretty big notch down. I'm judging the game kind of harshly considering I'm not very far in, and I'm also probably suffering from franchise fatigue, but out of five games in the series three of them in the series made me feel a sense of wonder (Demon Souls, Dark Souls, Bloodborne) so it's not like the magic is impossible to recapture. I'll just have to keep playing and see if it picks up for me.

Also, best area in the series will always belong to World 3 of Demon Souls. Absolutely stellar level design and atmosphere.
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I don't think the act of exploration in Dark Souls 3 suffers, but I do think what you find rarely rewards your inquisitiveness. Dark Souls 3 is unfortunately closer to the Souls-likes than the Soulsborne set of games.

I missed TV's post because it was so close to mine, whoops! I want to play Observer. Man. That game looks cool.
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I finished the SotC remake over the weekend. It was great! I fell in love with the game all over again.



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http://store.jp.square-enix.com/item/SQEX_10653.html

The Nier: Automata Piano Collection will be out on April 25th, but with the time difference between here and Japan it'll actually come out on my birthday here. Cool!
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Chrono Trigger is on Steam.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/613830/CHRONO_TRIGGER/

Looks like it's the DS version, so it's got the bonus dungeons and stuff.
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sure am glad I'm not launching a game on Steam today
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Looks like it's actually the phone port
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iiicon posted...

sure am glad I'm not launching a game on Steam today

*sure am glad I'm not launching a mobile port of a beloved SNES game today
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iiicon posted...

http://store.jp.square-enix.com/item/SQEX_10653.html

The Nier: Automata Piano Collection will be out on April 25th, but with the time difference between here and Japan it'll actually come out on my birthday here. Cool!

How was the soundtrack in Auotomata? Does it live up the high bar in the original Nier?

I'd take the original Nier soundtrack over Automata by just a little bit, but it's right up there.
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heroicmario posted...

How was the soundtrack in Auotomata? Does it live up the high bar in the original Nier?

the three best video game soundtracks ever are nier, nier: automata, and the rearranged soundtrack for nier: automata
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Haha. Sounds like Automata delivers the goods.

At some point, Ill have to play it. I loved the original Nier for how absurd and unique it was, and while I dont expect the same out of Automata, the combat and controls seem dramatically improved thanks to Platinum.

Im guessing everyone here would give it a glowing recommendation?

Nier: Automata lives up to every expectation you have for it, and surpasses the original in many ways.
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2017's game of the year and it's not even really that close
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TT is full of Nier advocates! I guess to be fair Nier was on th shortlist for GOTY for almost everyone who played it.

What was your, say, top 5 last year? I saw icons, and that surprise Prey #2 (or maybe I just didnt pay attention, haha).

heroicmario posted...

(or maybe I just didnt pay attention, haha).

hello i like system shock and thief and dishonored and deus ex
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1. Nier
2. Zelda
3. Persona
4. Mario
5. Berseria

not exactly shocking choices or anything, but nier is pretty far ahead of zelda, and zelda is pretty far ahead of the other 3.
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1. Nier
2. Mario
3. Persona
4. Berseria
5. Xenoblade

I'm definitely forgetting something...
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1. Nioh
2. Night in the Woods
3. NieR: Automata
4. Pyre
5. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
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1. Nier
2. Tales of Berseria
3. Bleed 2
4. Pyre
5. Persona 5
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Every list was the same, haha! I like the Night in the Woods mention. The more I hear, the more I feel like I need to buy it. Bleed 2 will be on Switch in March, and I am obligated to play that thanks to transience.

I never put one together, but my own list would probably be a little off the typical list. Maybe only because I didnt play most games last year.

Was Persona considered better or worse than 4?

Public opinion on Persona 5 seems to be gradually decreasing over time as the initial release hype wears off. When it came out it was dominating 3 and 4 in polls. Now it's a lot more even, although I think it's probably still a little above 4.
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heroicmario posted...

Was Persona considered better or worse than 4?

I liked it more than 4, but not as much as 3.
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4>3>5
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4 > 5 > 3
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I think 4 is probably the consensus if only because it was formative. 5 is probably a lot of people's second favourite.
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I don't think that's true just because more people played Persona 5 and 5 is more visible than any other game in the franchise.
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5 > 4 > 3

But 4 has much better characters than 5, so I can definitely see this flipping depending on your preferences. 5 IMO has the best S Links and is by far the best about working them in to gameplay. I'd go as far as to say social links in 4 and 3 feel almost pointless by comparison, despite their actual importance.
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5 did everything better imo
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For me, I had no real love for P3 the atmosphere, the characters, the gameplay. None of it clicked with me as strongly as Persona 4. Not sure which one P5 compares more favorably with, but building on P4 would be my best scenario. I had heard P5 was a bit divisive, though. Not as much as, say, XB2, but yeah, I was curious.

Of course, SMT is the real deal, haha. icon, I want to you say you feel strongly about Strange Journey? I saw Atlus say something about it on Twitter, I think I need to invest in that remake on th 3DS.

I don't think it's divisive. There's criticism about very specific things, but that's seperate entirely.

Strange Journey is my favourite SMT game, followed closely by Soul Hackers.
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non-persona smt games belong in the trash
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What's the criticism centered around, specifically? The narrative/characters, or does it do a poor job with its mechanics?

Persona 5 has some big writing/pacing issues. The gameplay and graphical style are easily the best it's been, though.
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The translation is stiff in parts, especially in the beginning, and Atlus' treatment of LGBTQ+ characters
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the pacing isnt great near the end either.

no complaints gameplay-wise
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I don't put much stock into pacing criticisms. It's a Persona game. You know you're in for a 100 hour experience and all that entails.
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I think you'd really like 5.
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Nier Automobile also made my top 5.
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iiicon posted...

I don't put much stock into pacing criticisms. It's a Persona game. You know you're in for a 100 hour experience and all that entails.

I don't think this is true. Every Persona game pads but there's different degrees of padding. Something like the various hangout sessions that the Persona 4 crew go on feel like actual character interactions, while the Hawaii trip followed by Morgana's hissy fit are a complete waste of time and easily my least favorite parts of any Persona game. Persona 5 also has a habit of repeating the same sentences in different ways over and over again. Persona 4 did this as well but it's much worse here, partially because of the text messages you get every day which could have been neat but all end up being the same. And while the dungeon design has improved, some of them definitely feel too long, especially the one near the end that basically everyone complains about.

But really, what it all comes down to is that I've played Persona 4 twice, each playthrough years apart, and I didn't get tired of it either time. By the end of Persona 5 I had been ready for the game to end for 20 hours. I can't blame me getting older either, because I've played several RPGs recently that I played for as long as Persona 5 and I didn't get that same feeling of fatigue.

It doesn't help that Last Surprise starts to get really annoying when you start being able to beat enemies quickly enough that you don't get to hear the part where the song kicks in.
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last surprise never gets old

but Im weird because make history is actually my favorite normal battle music
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Persona 5 is the Persona game I MOST want to replay. It was just an incredible experience.
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I'm not saying Persona 5 doesn't have pacing issues. I am saying that it's almost impossible to design a 100 hour RPG where the player is engaged at every moment. Persona 5 is not unique in pacing issues. There's like an entire month in Persona 3 where nothing happens. It's just something you sign up for.

And I wanted to replay Persona 5 the moment I finished it. So, you know.
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More like Boresona 5, am I right?
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no more like persona 5: the animation when
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The Mana Sword posted...

last surprise never gets old

but Im weird because make history is actually my favorite normal battle music

Last Surprise is one of those rare, once-in-a-millenium RPG battle themes that never gets old even after hearing it for the ten thousandth time.
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Mass Destruction will always be the GOAT to me.
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So uh apparently sega put up Yakuza 6 as a demo in the US and people can play the full game. It's down now though, I missed it
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