Board 8 > transience's video game topic 55: it's '18 and Final Fantasy XV still isn't done

(+) Yeah! (+)

it's the holidays and my kids are off until the 3rd. If you guys are too lazy to make a topic, all you deserve to know is that The Secret of Mana is coming out soon. I think February. Who knows!
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hey it's not '18 this topic title is lying to me
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are you committing to posting 500 times in the next week to make me a liar
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is that a challenge

you know prime dante is capable, all i have to do is bring it back
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Finished Before the Storm Episode 1 yesterday. That turned around a lot from that first scene and I thought it ended well.
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I tried the Steam Link. For me the latency is unplayable. It's really bad
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Got a Switch with Odyssey. Wrapped the empty box and hid the joycons for the kids to find. Was a good gift reveal.

Havent decided what the next game we get for it will be, but I should be able to have a nice long think about it tomorrow since my dads taking the kids for the day.
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Decided to pick up Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and a Switch copy of Zelda with a gift card I got for Christmas.

I know have as many games for my Switch in three months of ownership as I did during the entire lifetime of the Wii U.
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I ended up getting Puyo Puyo Tetris and Snipperclips Plus with some GameStop cards, plus downloading SteamWorld Dig 2, VS Super Mario Bros, and Picross S to add to our Switch games.
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my nephew is really loving Steamworld Dig 2. he played a bit of 1 but he's devouring 2 over Christmas break.

actually, I just asked the kids what their favourite games this year were. two top fives you can believe in!

nephew:
1. Zelda
2. Mario
3. Splatoon 2
4. Monument Valley 2
5. Steamworld Dig 2

niece:
1. Hidden My Game By Mom 2
2. Hidden My Game By Mom
3. Arms
4. Mario
5. Zelda
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Finally took out and held my switch pro controller this morning. That thing is pretty nice, it has a lot more heft to it than I thought, given how flimsy the wiiu one felt.
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two divine beasts in to zelda

the more i get into combat scenarios, the more i start to hate fighting, and the more i start to miss horizon's excellent combat and wonderful bows.

i just really don't like using a bow here in zelda. aiming with one just sucks. it doesn't even feel great. not the sound, not the feedback. horizon's bow feels fantastic in every way, from the tension in knocking an arrow to smoothly placing the crosshairs to the release to the force feedback of hitting a target.

i did that sneaking mission in the yiga clan hideout. i hated it. i hated getting locked into a room when i got spotted with zero recourse and getting one-shotted by the big dudes with the swords. their walking animation when they see mighty bananas on the floor is amazing, i guess.

seal surfing was tolerable until i had to do it to get to that divine beast. i didn't actually die, but man i really didn't like having to stay within that gerudo lady's force field with her stop-start movement.

i need to recalibrate the way i'm playing zelda now before it starts to completely lose me. i feel like it's a game that i just need to let sit. i can't just be doing the main missions. i have to just do something else.

but i also don't find any of the shrines to be all that exciting too. i immediately get what i need to do. i'm not feeling any sense of discovery or wonder in solving them. i really don't like manipulating objects with this relatively "realistic" physics system. getting things to be where i want them to be and getting them to stay there can be incredibly frustrating. it just all feels very tedious when it's not simple and forgettable.

being able to climb everything is still great. the sightlines in that game are master class. the quietness of it all does feel refreshing. i still don't care for what's happening. the dialogue from some of the npcs around the world can be very funny. i will play more of it. i will finish it. i think i like mario way more.
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I got tired of the combat in Horizon but I can double that thing about the bows feeling superb. Love 'em.
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Got a Switch with BotW and Odyssey for Christmas

TV, Im playing BotW totally differently from you. Roughly 8 hours a day since Sunday night and I still havent even approached any Divine Beast quests

I just mainlined the plot until the Camera/Compendium were unlocked and since then Ive just been exploring, looking for Shrines and filling out the Compendium.

Im at 37 Shrines, 93 Koroks, 6 memories found, and I havent even been ANYWHERE to the west of Hyrule Field/Great Plateau

Finally took a break to try out Odyssey last night. Very charming game. Playing it with detached Joy-Cons as recommended and holy shit, the HD Rumble is incredible
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I want to get BotW Switch but its hard to justify with the number of other Switch games I want and the fact that I have it on U already.
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Also with BotW I think bows are a lot better with motion controls on. Right stick the aim to the general area you want to shoot, then motion the controller for precision
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As for the combat, most of it is too easy to care about, except I love flurry rushing Lynels and perfect guarding Guardians to death
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Jakyl25 posted...

Also with BotW I think bows are a lot better with motion controls on. Right stick the aim to the general area you want to shoot, then motion the controller for precision

i really wasn't a fan of the motion controls when i tried it! never been a fan of the concept in any game really.

and i've played 95% of this game handheld. don't see that changing anytime soon!
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Oh my god this Mario Odyssey soundtrack

Just got to Wooded Kingdom and the song kicked in at a certain point and I was just blown away that this awesome surf guitar song was in the same game as the Cascade Kingdom orchestral theme
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Also its kinda weird how catch this fast rabbit has become a 3D Mario staple
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TVontheRadio posted...

Jakyl25 posted...

Also with BotW I think bows are a lot better with motion controls on. Right stick the aim to the general area you want to shoot, then motion the controller for precision

i really wasn't a fan of the motion controls when i tried it! never been a fan of the concept in any game really.

and i've played 95% of this game handheld. don't see that changing anytime soon!

Switch motion control aiming works really well imo. You don't have to deal with that bulky Wii U controller, or moving the screen around like the 3DS. It's much better than just stick aiming.
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Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle is on sale on the eShop right now for $40.

Since when do Nintendo games go on sale within the year of release? Or is that just the Ubisoft DNA slipping through.
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Mario and Rabbids has seen a bunch of physical sales over the past few months.

Probably because its Ubisoft published.
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Yeah, it counts as an Ubisoft game for pretty much all purposes.
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best new character: zeke
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that seems questionable
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i will also accept turters as a surrogate
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Turters is the only acceptable answer.
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I don't think you can have one without the other. Zeke is all brash childlike enthusiasm, while Turters is the calm, steady hand. They're better, stronger together.
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You could just replace all the characters with Turters and it'd work just fine.
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the game would certainly be better if that was the case
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meh

mehmehmeh
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THINK YOU CAN TAKE ME?!?

DON'T FORGET ME!

*repeated forever*
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I think Im ready to tap out on Xenoblade. What a disappointment.
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it's shaping up to be my favourite Xeno game.
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I'm not giving up yet but I could write an essay on my negative feelings right now
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As someone who put 50+ hours into it, I doubt most of your concerns get any better.
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transcience posted...

I'm not giving up yet but I could write an essay on my negative feelings right now

This is sad to read. :(
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XB2 clearly could've used some more time in development to tighten up its shortcomings. There's about a dozen QoL changes, minor criticisms, or performance issues that could be addressed if this game came out in Spring 2018 rather than December 2017. But I think if I took this game and compared it point-by-point to the first Xenoblade, XB2 would come ahead in every single major category except story which I can't fully compare as I'm only in chapter 5. It's a big step up.

That said, I think the gacha elements hold back this game's biggest strengths: its adaptive combat, and significantly improved quest design. Having three unique combat sets for every character is such a change of pace from past Xeno games, and it makes the combat as exciting, rewarding to explore as its world. quests in this game chain together nicely, dovetailing with character development and worldbuilding. gating this content behind luck does a disservice. If I'm not pulling rare blades with improved affinity charts, greater growth potential, and the promise of quests, I feel like I'm missing out on a huge part of the game. it's a bummer.
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I'm one of them crazy people who liked X the best.
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I find everything about the game incredibly tedious. A lot of that falls into the WoL stuff you mentioned. The map is awful, especially when it comes to height differences in the terrain, making exploration frustrating. I dont find the exploration particularly interesting, both because the entire map is already revealed once you enter the area, and due to the fact that half the time what you find is a field skill point that you probably dont have the right blades for. Even if you do have the right blades, youre still forced to sift through the menus and equip them, just to be rewarded with a handful of gold and maybe a core crystal you can open for another garbage blade that just takes up space in your inventory.

Aux cores and accessories feel mostly useless as they only provide minor effects, and yet the game throws hundreds of each at you and doesnt offer enough robust sorting features to dig through your mess of an inventory to find what you want.

I still think the combat lasts far too long for its own good and actively dissuades me from engaging in it. Im tired of aggroing a bunch of monsters when Im just trying to get from one place to another and forced into minute long fights that I dont find particularly engaging because each encounter just ends up being the same rotation of skills and abilities as the last.

I think the characters are serviceable at best, but dont have much investment in any of them. The story is the one thing I am enjoying to an extent, buts its gotten to the point where Im not really willing to put up with the ganes other nonsense to see it through.
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also the music is good
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The Mana Sword posted...

also the music is good

But you're not stuck on a whole different planet.
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Looks like my instincts (by which I mean feedback from various sources) to skip Xenoblade seem to be on the mark. I'm not at the point in my life where I have the time to play games I'm unsure of, even games that are sequels to my literal favorite game of all time. It's a shame but honestly there's a lot of stuff to play so I'm not too bummed. 2017 is bloated with amazing software.

Xenoblade X's town music was a decently-sized contributor to me dropping the game partway through.
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You, a simpleton: XCX's music is not good

Me, an intellectual:

Hello? Is this thing on? Am I all alone?
Is anyone there?
I need a bigger gun
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The wind blows hard in December...
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X is a good game. I never questioned that one. its exploration is leaps and bounds better than this one so far, but I hear that gets better once you get off this first main continent. the map stuff is the worst. it may as well not exist.

I haven't come to a solid conclusion yet because I'm only 10 hours in, but I also haven't questioned a Xeno game in 20 years, so
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that's the spirit tran

mystic powers, threaten the gods damned puritans
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but I hear that gets better once you get off this first main continent

you heard wrong
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just in terms of heights and areas being blocked off and such

but if it's not, I won't be surprised
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