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#1
avatar_EOJ
Other Games / Re: The "what NON-Cave game(s)...
Last post by EOJ - May 17, 2025, 07:19:22 PM
I had been reading a lot of glowing praise for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, some even calling it the GOTY. Out of curiosity, and my love of turn-based RPG adventures, I bought a month of Game Pass Ultimate for $20 and played through it on my Series X, which took me about 23 hours. In the end, I was quite underwhelmed. It is an OK game, but there are many flaws, such as a cumbersome and poorly designed menu system, the lack of a minimap as you explore (quite frustrating after awhile!), the lack of a quest log, and the inability to swap characters in and out of battle. The music is OK, but some of it is quite bad, especially toward the end of the game. The story is interesting at first, but soon devolves into something pretty ridiculous and trite in the end. It reminded me of Eternal Sonata's story, though not as good. Perhaps the worst problem with the game is the battle system, which I grew to loathe by the end of the game, as it relies too much on timing dodges and parries, instead of turn-based strategy. The game also becomes too easy before the last boss, due to how overpowered some Pictos make your team. The best aspect of the game is the graphics, which are well-stylized with great battle animations. Anyway, for me this game is the most overrated one I've played in awhile and I'd give it no higher than a 6/10. I enjoyed this about as much as FFXV, which is a similarly flawed game. I am glad I played it on Game Pass instead of paying $50 to buy it. I will play through that new Indiana Jones game, next, and finish it before my one-month Game Pass expires.  :righton: $10 to play through each game is a great deal.

Before this I played through Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition on the Series X. Bought it for $4 on a sale recently, and it took me about 9 hours to complete. Pretty fun game with a few frustrating parts. My rating: 7.5/10.
#2
M
CAVE Games / Re: Patching out latency in Do...
Last post by meepowl - May 14, 2025, 02:37:17 PM
Quote from: SuperPang on May 14, 2025, 07:58:10 AMI might be misremembering but does using VGA output help?

I think analogue output of any sort helps with some of the unintended slowdown but not the latency. I'll add that to my list of things to check though.
#3
avatar_SuperPang
CAVE Games / Re: Patching out latency in Do...
Last post by SuperPang - May 14, 2025, 07:58:10 AM
I might be misremembering but does using VGA output help?
#4
M
CAVE Games / Patching out latency in DoDonP...
Last post by meepowl - May 13, 2025, 06:46:42 PM
Hi,

I've seen a lot of discussion here and elsewhere about the latency in the 360 version of SDOJ and was wondering if anyone is aware of any attempts to patch some of it out? There's a really helpful post on SDOJ reverse engineering here, though it doesn't discuss latency, and I haven't seen anything to suggest such a patch exists.

Thanks.
#5
avatar_EOJ
Other Games / Re: The "what NON-Cave game(s)...
Last post by EOJ - May 04, 2025, 04:29:28 PM
I completed Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age on the Xbox Series X yesterday. Took me over a month, and around 49 hours on my in-game clock. I think this is a superb game, and one of the best Final Fantasy games ever made. I rate it 9.5/10. Loved the combat system, exploration, characters, artwork, music, etc. Story is pretty derivative (borrows a lot from Star Wars, for example), but still enjoyable. Only downside is the English translation which is often in a very unnatural sort of faux older English. The original Japanese script isn't like that so I don't know why they decided to go that route.

BTW the One X/Series X version is the best console version because it is the only one that runs at 60fps. Makes a big difference IMO.
#6
avatar_EOJ
Other Games / Re: The "what NON-Cave game(s)...
Last post by EOJ - March 27, 2025, 05:23:41 PM
As palette cleansers I played through a few shorter platform/action games I picked up earlier in the year when they were on sale for $3-4: Strider (2014) on the Xbox One, and Ducktales: Remastered on the X360 (both on my Series X - I love the BC on this system!). The first took me about 6 hours, the second around 2-3 hours. Both were fun and fairly easy, but Strider was a better game overall. I still prefer the original Ducktales on the NES, but the remastered version does have a lot of new stuff added.

After that, out of curiosity (and because it was on sale for $13.99), I played through Final Fantasy XV: Royal Edition on the Series X. It only took me 18.5 hours to beat it! What a weird game. It's an action-rpg, and the battle system isn't anything special or interesting. Wish they would go back to turn-based for FF as there are a million action-rpgs to play. The story is a mess with terrible pacing and lots of things unexplained, most characters are lame including those in your party, you just jump from one thing to another then before you know it the game is over. Chapter 13 is like a Resident Evil survival horror game, just tossed in there, because why not, right? The first several hours just have you cruising around in your car doing random stuff. The game does run really well on the Series X, at a smooth 60fps at 1080p. CGIs were beautiful too. I guess if you do a lot of side content and really get into the world building it might be better, but I don't have the time or interest to do 100 fetch quests. On the bright side the dungeons were kind of fun. Overall, for me it's a 6/10 game. Lightning Returns is similar in many ways but a FAR better game!
#7
avatar_EOJ
Other Games / Re: The "what NON-Cave game(s)...
Last post by EOJ - March 12, 2025, 03:56:01 PM
I went back and finally finished Tales of Vesperia Definitive Edition (PS4 on PS5). My save file from May of last year was at around 14 hours, so I picked up from there and cleared it in about 37 hours. I had long wanted to clear this one, so I'm glad I can check it off my list. Pretty good game with great visuals and characters (except Patty who is just annoying). Battle system is good as well, but on the downside the story is pretty subpar (with plenty of nonsense) and the pacing isn't very good. Much of the game feels drawn out for no good reason. Anyway, I'd probably give it a 7.5/10. My favorite "Tales" games are Xillia, Arise, and Rebirth, and I'd rank this one below those, but I don't regret playing through it.

I have Tales of Zesteria and Berseria in my backlog as well, but I don't think I'll play those any time soon as I get burned out on the "Tales" gameplay and need a long break in between games.
#8
avatar_EOJ
Other Games / Re: The "what NON-Cave game(s)...
Last post by EOJ - March 03, 2025, 07:14:32 PM
I played through Final Fantasy XIII on the Xbox 360 when it was first released, and I really enjoyed it. I still own a copy of the game (JP version). I later played through Final Fantasy XIII-2 when it was released (also on X360), and thought it was OK but didn't enjoy it nearly as much as the first game.

A few weeks ago, on a whim, I decided to play through Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII on the Xbox Series X, since I skipped that one on the X360. The XSX version displays the game at a native 4k and it runs at 60fps, so it looks pretty awesome. It took me about 27 hours to beat it and I enjoyed it overall, mostly due to the excellent battle system which was a lot of fun. It is quite an unusual JRPG with a timer that gives you up to 14 days to beat the game. It is a non-linear game that encourages creativity and individuality. As I played through it, I began to think: "This is the kind of JRPG that Yagawa would make!". The flow of getting EP to trigger chronostasis over and over again reminds me of the flow in a Yagawa STG of medalling for score to suicide. I finished up all the side quests I wanted to do around day 6 (about 45 regular ones and 40 of the "Canvas of Prayers" quests), and then just slept at an inn until day 14, took on the last dungeon then the final boss. But you can choose to play it differently, use chronostasis less often, etc. Some bosses become harder if you use chronostasis less often and fight them on later days (like the rank increase in a Yagawa game!). Weak point of the game is the story which was always either silly or nonsensical. The ending is decent -- if you played the first two games it will resonate more. I give this game an 8.5/10.
#9
avatar_EOJ
High Scores - Competition Style / Re: World Record Scores - Home...
Last post by EOJ - February 27, 2025, 04:13:50 PM
Pink Sweets Ver 1.00
16,749,440 - Shasta - Gray

https://x.com/rgrayGM/status/1853789542719090905
#10
avatar_EOJ
High Scores - Competition Style / Re: World Record Scores - Arca...
Last post by EOJ - February 27, 2025, 04:06:52 PM
Trying to catch up on WR scores done in the past few months:

DDP DOJ
2,209,743,650 - A-Shot - SWY
https://x.com/hty_RA/status/1878084652994572682

Dodonpachi Daioujou Black Label
3,554,437,570 - A-Laser - 師匠、ちょっと臨廻転生貸して貰えますか?
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1eZxMbrWuUaPJRN7UnoyG8hN3jWTaSvJnSsYnValpvCw/edit

Ketsui
537,027,619 - Omote 2-ALL - SPS - Type A
https://x.com/SPSPUYO/status/1894757604037198034

DDP Saidaioujou
1,254,866,194,678 - 5-Inbachi - ALC - A-Shot (Autobomb ON)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1waFrM-EQA

Dangun Feveron
13,526,735 - Type A - PEG
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icKKphhWpnQ

DDP DFK BL (XBOX 360 Port)
2,169,790,837,152 - ALL (w/ Hibachi) - B-Power - LYX
https://x.com/LYX_TEST/status/1882062219804094550
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NE8keKtxajU

Deathsmiles Mega Black Label
14,260,845,177 - Rosa - Dame K.K.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1eZxMbrWuUaPJRN7UnoyG8hN3jWTaSvJnSsYnValpvCw/edit?gid=56258626#gid=56258626

Let me know if I missed anything!