The "what NON-Cave game(s) are you playing right now?" thread

[EOJ]

I bought Tales of Arise (PS4) today and couldn't stop playing for about 3 hours. Just really awesome, all around.

[EOJ]

I finally finished Tales of Arise. Took me 36 hours. Great JRPG! Even better than those Xenoblade games.

[EOJ]

After Arise I played through Secret of Mana on the PS4. Just cleared it today, total play time was around 12 hours. I've cleared every version of the game now (even the iOS version on my ipad, which isn't bad actually!). I really liked this 3D remake, even more than the Trials of Mana remake. The best thing about this SoM remake is all the voice acting and new story scenes at the Inn with the three characters. Overall the game felt (and looked) like some long lost PS1/Saturn remake, which was pretty cool. With that said, I still prefer the original SNES game.

[EOJ]

Since my last post I've been going through some other JRPGs. I played Shin Megami Tensei V for 10 hours, but then dropped it and sold the game. I generally don't like Pokemon-style monster collection games, and this one wasn't great. I quickly tired of the whole "collect demons > fuse demons to make new demons", rinse and repeat over and over. Story was pretty blah too.

Next I tried Caligula Effect Overdose. Big mistake. I played this for about 10 hours too, determined to find some redeeming qualities. I liked Kotono, but that's about it. Another game dumped for good!

Ah, and then I began Trails of Cold Steel III on the Switch. Here we go! Finally a great game. I'm 45 hours in, up to Chapter 4. Hoping to finish it before the year's end.

I also bought Bravely Default II, so that's up next.

[EOJ]

I just finished up Shining Force, played on the Nintendo Switch Online Genesis service. It's a game I had been meaning to play through for years (I think I rented it back in 93 or 94, but I definitely didn't finish it back then). I found it to be an excellent game, a true classic of the SRPG genre, somewhat similar to Street Fighter II in its accessibility, innovation and lasting impact. It has also aged very well, outside of the clunky shop and item management system. I see they have just added Shining Force II to the service, which I am eager to play through in the near future.

In the mid-90s I played through Shining the Holy Ark on the Saturn, which was an amazing game at the time. I'm hopeful they'll add its predecessor Shining in the Darkness to the NSO service soon, as I've never tried that one.

[Yūrei]

Pocky & Rocky Reshrined ! Absolutely amazing and gorgeous in term of graphics, really fun and with some major new gameplay features and new characters.

[EOJ]

I'm currently playing through the new Live A Live remake for the Switch. Pretty great game! This is one I didn't play back in the day. I love the "HD-2D" visual style in the game, it really reminds me of Sega Saturn games with how some of those looked (2D sprites, 3D backgrounds). I know Octopath Traveler had it too, but it looks a lot better here IMO.

This week I also bought Triangle Strategy and Xenoblade Chronicles 3. I will play through TS in Japanese (text & voice), but will probably choose English for Xenoblade 3.

I also preordered the new Mega Drive Mini 2 (JP version), but it's a long wait until October 27. I owned a Sega CD back in the early-mid '90s, and I'm looking forward to replaying favorites like the Lunar games, Silpheed, Final Fight CD and others. I hope the US version includes Snatcher (if so, I might buy one of those too)!

[EOJ]

I finished Live A Live, which took me about 20 hours. Good game, but I wasn't super impressed with it overall. Some of the chapters were rather drab and/or a drag. Some parts of the game were really great, though.

Trying to decide between Triangle Strategy and Xenoblade 3 for my next Switch JRPG. In the meantime I've started Actraiser Renaissance on my PS4, which I'm enjoying so far!

[EOJ]

I decided to go with Xenoblade 3. I played it for about an hour last night and it's good stuff so far!

Before that I went back to Trails of Cold Steel III (Switch), which I dropped early in the year at around 54 hours, because it was getting a bit boring. Well, I pushed through to finish the game (at 66 hours) this week, but I have to say that whole last chunk of 12-15 hours was so drawn out and boring I just didn't care anymore at the end. This is a great example of a game being too long and bloated for its own good, to the point that it ruins the overall experience. I already bought part IV digitally when it was on sale, but if it's more of the same I doubt I'll ever bother.

I'm really enjoying Actraiser Renaissance on my PS4, though. About 4 hours into that. Only problem is the frame stuttering in the action parts, which is pretty annoying, but the rest of the game is ace.

[EOJ]

I finished Actraiser Renaissance (took me 13 hours). Fun game!

I played a bit more of Xeno 3 and decided to shelve it. Just not really in the mood for it right now, and I see online it takes 50+ hours to beat it just by rushing through, and I'm pretty burned out on long games after Trails III. So I moved on to Triangle Strategy, which is great so far, and it looks like it only takes about 25 hours to beat.

[EOJ]

Still playing through Triangle Strategy, but in the meantime I've started Ys IX (Switch) and am about 8 hours in to that, plus Dragon Quest X Offline (Switch), which I've played for about two hours. Not hard to juggle these three since they're so different, so I just pick up whichever one I feel like on a particular day. Hope to have them all finished by the end of the year!

DQX Offline is really good, by the way. Nice old school DQ gameplay. 

[EOJ]

I bought a PS5 mainly to play the new Star Ocean: The Divine Force. But I also picked up a couple other games, including Yakuza Like A Dragon. The Star Ocean game is really awesome! I'm going to focus on finishing that before I move on to the others.

I also tried Deathsmiles on the PS5 and it feels even more responsive than on the PS4 (though maybe that's just my imagination and the input lag is the same?). I hope the other PS4 STGs are like this on the PS5.

[EOJ]

I finished Star Ocean The Divine Force at about 29 hours. Best JRPG I've played in a long time. I've since moved on to Horizon Zero Dawn, and I'm nearing the end of that one. I didn't get far into it on the PS4, but the super smooth 60fps is a game changer. I'm loving the PS5!

[EOJ]

I've finished Horizon Zero Dawn and Yakuza Like a Dragon on PS5. I enjoyed both games quite a lot. I'm currently playing through Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade. About 7 hours in and this is probably the best game I've played on the PS5 yet!

The PS5 is easily the best home console I've owned since the X360. 60fps on most games + state-of-the-art graphics + very quick or nonexistent loading times reminds me of the golden years of cartridge games in the early '90s. After buying my PS5 I've sold my PS4, PS3, and PSP, though I've kept my two PS Vitas (one for my USA account, one for my JP account). 

I also installed a 1TB M.2 SSD in my PS5 to hold my PS4 games and extra PS5 games. 

I haven't touched my Switch since I bought my PS5, but I'll save that to play during my next overseas trip.

[EOJ]

I finished Cosmic Fantasy 1 yesterday, played in the Cosmic Fantasy Collection for the Nintendo Switch. Took me around 10 hours. Quite an enjoyable early JRPG. One thing that surprised me is how similar the basic story is to the Star Ocean games. It is pretty clear the Star Ocean creators sorta "borrowed" the game's premise from Cosmic Fantasy. Anyway, I'm looking forward to playing the second game which is also included in the Switch Collection! However, that will have to wait as I'm moving on to play Snatcher (Sega CD). I rented it once in 1994, but I didn't finish it then.

BTW I used an excellent walkthrough/guide (in Japanese) for CF1, which really helped keep me on track. Here it is, if anyone is interested:

https://rko.jp/cosmic_fantasy-bouken_shounen_yuu/index.html

I also plan to finish up FFVII Remake on the PS5 this week. I'm currently in the middle of Chapter 17, so nearing the end.

[EOJ]

I finished FFVII Remake, and then also went on and played through the Intergrade DLC. I really enjoyed both. Took me about 29 hours to do FFVII, then a bit over 4 hours for the DLC. Looking forward to FFVII Remake Part 2!

[EOJ]

I've been playing several games over the past month:

-Knack 2 (PS4 on PS5). Finished this, it took about 12 hours. Really fun game with some amazing graphics, and even some STG stages (Star Fox/Goemon style)! Highly recommended.
-Bravely Default 2 (Switch). I've played about 29 hours and am up to the end of Chapter 4, but I don't have much motivation to continue on. The story and characters are boring and uninspired, the world feels bland and small, the side quests are a waste of time, and the battle system is not very fun or well-balanced. Either too hard, or too easy, depending on how you set up your jobs. I still love the first BD, but the second 3DS game was mediocre at best and BD2 is not much better.
-Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope HD (PS4 on PS5). Played for about an hour then dropped it. Annoying (and weird-looking) characters and gameplay seems bland. Also you can't pause during the long cutscences, which is bizarre. I gave this a try because I loved the recent Star Ocean Divine Force. Oh well.
-Breath of Fire (SNES, on Switch's NSO). I rented this back in the mid-90s but didn't finish it. I'm about 6 hours in and I'm really enjoying it. A real breath of fresh air after BD2 and Star Ocean 4. Definitely going to finish this one!

[EOJ]

I played through Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Rise of the Tomb Raider recently, both on my PS5. I really enjoyed both games, though I think Rise was better overall (Shadow has better graphics, though).

This month I bought a Switch OLED and Zelda: TOTK, so I've been playing that the past few days. So far, so good. I thought BOTW was a good game, but I prefer the more traditional Zelda games. I don't like playing games like this on my Switch Lite, and I gave my OG Switch to my son, so I had to spring for an OLED so I could mainly play on my monitor.

[EOJ]

I finished TOTK. Took me a bit over 60 hours***. I did 76 shrines, got two extra Stamina wheels and 18 hearts. Great game worth a play-through, but not really better than BOTW, imo. Both games are 8/10 for me. Just way too bloated (especially TOTK), and I still don't like the breakable weapons/shields. I hated the Depths too, just drab and dark (and endlessly huge) with that annoying gloom everywhere -- not very enjoyable. Dungeons were pretty good overall, but I didn't like the last one at all, and the lead-up to the final boss was more annoying than fun. No real challenge in the game once you upgrade your armor and cook a bunch of stuff. I did like the shrines in this game, though.

I still strongly prefer the classic Zelda games: Zelda II, A Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, Link's Awakening, and Wind Waker. All of those are 9/10 or 10/10 in my book.



***In contrast, BOTW took me about 45 hours.

[EOJ]

For a change of pace I played through Famicom Detective Club: Ushiro ni Tatsu Shōjo (The Girl Who Stands Behind) on the Switch. I played through the first game (Missing Heir) two years ago when it came out, but put off playing the second one until now. I really enjoyed both games. This one only took me about 5-6 hours to beat, but it was great. I hope they make another one of these in the future. I played both in Japanese, as I have that limited edition boxed set. Pretty easy games to play in Japanese even if your knowledge of the language isn't at a high level, because there is full voice, furigana, and the vocabulary isn't too advanced.

[EOJ]

In the mood for some platformers or Metroidvania games, I recently played through Kirby's Return To Dreamland Deluxe and Monster Boy in the Cursed Kingdom on my Switch. Got 100% in both. Kirby was a breeze, but still fun, and the bonus Magolor Epilogue game was really cool. Monster Boy was generally very good, but some of the sections were frustrating due to inconsistent controls, and the solutions to a few puzzles were quite obscure and I had to look them up. Took me a little under 21 hours to clear Monster Boy, here is my end game screen:

[EOJ]

I beat Metroid Fusion today, played on the NSO GBA service. Pretty fun little game, my clear time was 5:06. I think that's enough Metroidvania games for now, so I'm going to move on to a different genre.

[EOJ]

After finishing Sea of Stars I moved on to Trinity Trigger (PS5), which I bought on sale recently for $30. I finished it today at about 17 hours, and it was a decent, low-budget Secret of Mana-ish action RPG.

Now I'm playing Mortal Kombat 1 (PS5), focusing on the Story Mode, which is quite enjoyable thus far.

[EOJ]

I'm still playing through Ys X: Nordics on the PS5, but I took a break recently to complete Super Mario Wonder. I got 100% in the game except for the "final-final" level. I've played that many times but keep dying on the invisibility part at the end, which is just not any fun, so I think I'll give up and move on. The game is pretty great outside of that, though it only took me 8-10 hours to do everything, so I feel it is a bit light on content. After that I did a 100% clear of Super Mario 3D World on the Switch (except for finishing each stage with all 5 characters, because that would take me dozens of hours and be quite boring), which was fun.

[EOJ]

After finishing Ys X: Nordics (which was great), I went back and played through Ys IX (PS5). I had played the Switch version for about 9 hours, but the framerate and graphics were so bad I dropped the game about a year ago and didn't feel like returning until I cleared Ys X. I decided to try the PS5 version of Ys IX, and this time I really enjoyed playing it. Took me about 30 hours to clear it with 100%. Really good Ys game, but I felt the extensive story scenes and large number of characters in the city made it feel like a Trails/Kiseki game at times, which I'd rather not have in my Ys games. Ys X was better in this regard. However, I preferred the gameplay of Ys IX.

Next up on my playlist are Soul Hackers 2 (PS5) and Super Mario RPG (Switch), when it releases later in the week. I've played the first hour of Soul Hackers 2, and so far it's great.

[EOJ]

I finished Super Mario RPG (Switch) recently. It only took me 10 hours, but it was fun. Currently working through Soul Hackers 2 (PS5), which should take me a week or two to finish.