How's your backlog?

All other video games not related to the main farming series - Pokemon, Stardew Valley, My Time at Portia, and other indie-developed games.
User avatar
RopeMaidenKirie
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
Posts: 4533
Joined: Oct 09, 2011 1:09 pm

Post  Posted:

@Kikki - Yeah, I completely understand. I'm not huge on Hakuouki and very much disliked Sweet Fuse, so it's very much an (expensive) gamble depending on personal tastes. I used to import and support so many of them, but honestly it's hard to justify day one purchases for me anymore. I love otoges don't get me wrong, but I actually think I prefer games that include romance as a decent sized side plotline (Bokumono, Bioware games, Persona, etc) than actively be totally focused on it, I think. I feel like I get a lot more for my money at least that way lol. But like you, I'd like to support XSEED with English Detective Mysteria and trying out a new genre, so that's probably one of the only ones I'll shell out the money for day one.

I hope you end up enjoying the ones that are coming out though! Honestly surprised Aksys is releasing them all in such a short timeframe. I feel like they've been rapid fire this year.

@Ronin - Oooh I never watched any of Suvi's romance content; what's cringey about it? And yeah I totally agree on Andromeda, some of those planets are such a slog, and not even the decent combat and good characters (imo) can save it. I still like the game, and when I first played it I considered it pretty high in my rankings, but having cooled on it and trying to replay it yet not being able to, it's definitely last place for me.
User avatar
Kikki
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
Posts: 4252
Joined: Apr 14, 2015 6:01 am

Post  Posted:

Me too! I'm especially dubious about Mysteria, but I can't pass up Xseed's first otome. Hopefully it has a strong story rather than being as fluffy and frilly as it looks. I like the ones that have such a heavily present (and usually complicated) plot that you tend to forget it's a romance for what feels like chapters at a time. So that'll be on my backlog some time this year...at least, I THINK they're planning to bring it out this year. That's what their twitter banner is saying, anyway.

I had no prior knowledge of the Psychedelica games or 7'scarlet...just my research when I found out Aksys was localizing them. So I'm going to have to keep my fingers crossed as I'm kind of 50/50 with how many of the otoges I try, I actually end up enjoying. Not the best record. I'm not at all happy that the only otome game on the Switch is that awful Yoshiwara from Dogenzaka Labs...to me it feels like that's just going to be a bad first introduction to the genre for a lot of people.

But one thing that is both bad and good about otoges is that you can finish them quite quickly, so at least they're not likely to pile up on the backlog. Not so sure I'll be able to say that about other 4-6 games I'll most likely be getting this summer. I'm both hoping E3 won't double that number, and hoping that it will, lol.

They really are churning them out fast. I never guessed we'd get one per month for three months in a row.
User avatar
Blue Rose
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
Posts: 4311
Joined: Oct 30, 2008 1:52 pm

Post  Posted:

Ronin19 wrote:I have I Am Setsuna waiting for me to finish it on my PS4. I've started it over once already and I'm going to have to do it again. The boss fights and the grinding kind of turn me away from it, but I did buy it and want to give it a fair chance.

Luckily, there is a demo for Lost Sphear if you are ever curious about it, but, from what I remember about it, it plays like I Am Setsuna. The difference is they get mech armor for battle and other things. My boyfriend likes it and I Am Setsuna; I told him about it and he tried it. It's kind of what happens when either of us gets a new game and we tell the other about it; the initial one kind of never touches the game again while the one who was introduced to it by the initial loves it. This happens to me more than him though, lol.

And I'm slowly remembering why I found Andromeda boring: the middle. While I still say it's a good/okay game, not great or bad, the middle is just so boring, particularly Havarl and Voeld. Kadara and Elladan are just so much fun, but it feels like a grind to get to them. The beginning and the end are the best parts. Suvi's romance so far is...cringy.
Voelds one of my favorites, tbh. Havarl gives me serious gas, though. Can't staaaand that place. Especially trying to get to its vault. Bluck.
User avatar
Ronin19
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
Posts: 5746
Joined: Feb 14, 2007 6:49 pm

Post  Posted:

RopeMaidenKirie wrote:]@Ronin - Oooh I never watched any of Suvi's romance content; what's cringey about it? And yeah I totally agree on Andromeda, some of those planets are such a slog, and not even the decent combat and good characters (imo) can save it. I still like the game, and when I first played it I considered it pretty high in my rankings, but having cooled on it and trying to replay it yet not being able to, it's definitely last place for me.
Spoiler:
Pretty much the first instant you can tell her you like her. Ryder then goes on and on about how cute Suvi is and that the accent is just so amazing. She then says she should stop talking. And, of course, Kallo is just sitting there and says, "Kill me now." Suvi says the feeling is mutual, and then Ryder says, "Yes!" before making an excuse to go to the piloting thing.
Video of what I described. It starts right where I started.

Andromeda is last for me as well among their games. My main gripe with the game is that it breaks immersion with its main character, Ryder. I can understand coding is limited and the dialogue has to be the same to make things easier, but twins are not this in sync with what they say to other people! Maybe it would have been better not knowing the sibling Ryder in the present like they asked to stay behind and not be involved with Andromeda.

I'm going to try and go through the rest of the romances, but, I'll admit it, it's not as exciting as going through Dragon Age Inquisition's or the original Mass Effect Trilogy's.

@Brose: Voeld is just too damn big for me. I like the environments and the quests, but it's too big. I feel like it's the biggest area there is. Eos is considered my least favorite.
User avatar
Bluie
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
Posts: 3262
Joined: Jun 29, 2005 11:02 am

Post  Posted:

Pssst. Jaal is best boi. ;3
User avatar
Ronin19
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
Posts: 5746
Joined: Feb 14, 2007 6:49 pm

Post  Posted:

Bluie wrote:Pssst. Jaal is best boi. ;3
I have heard that. I haven't gone through any romances with the guys yet; I've only romanced Peebee, Keri, Vetra, Avela, Cora and am going through Suvi right now. The way I have things planned, Jaal is going to be last to go through. It'll go Reyes, Liam, Gil and then Jaal. Currently, Vetra is my favorite, but I suspect Gil and Jaal are going to be the only ones who can beat her.

Side note, this is probably the first time I want my Bioware character to be a guy; I like the voice acting more for Scott than Sara.
User avatar
Bluie
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
Posts: 3262
Joined: Jun 29, 2005 11:02 am

Post  Posted:

Well, I got to a certain point in Neo Atlas where i'm gonna take a break. Back to Nights of Azure 2, which i'm still enjoying. The fanservice is so blatant it's almost funny. It's not Senran Kagura level, but it's very intentional. Not overly distracting though, so i'll forgive it.

Still waiting on my copy of Pripara. If it doesn't come tomorrow (it's been over a month since it shipped), I'm going to contact PlayAsia. I've ordered from them plenty in the past and have never had an issue. Either it's still at customs or somebody made off with it. Regardless, might ask for a refund + probably won't order from them again. A little birdie told me it's much better to order from Amazon Japan so i'll most likely just do my imports from them from now on.
User avatar
Kikki
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
Posts: 4252
Joined: Apr 14, 2015 6:01 am

Post  Posted:

Started Toren since it's supposed to be short and I've had it for about a year without even opening it. I do not like it one bit, honestly, but if I'd realized how much it would remind me of Myst (except with things that can attack and kill me) I'd never have gotten it, even though it was on a major sale and had loads of great reviews. I find games like Myst very tedious and hard to slog through. But it's supposed to be a really short game, only about two hours, I think. Not a fun two hours for me but I'll get through it. I'm still mad (at myself and at the game) that I couldn't get myself to complete the last part of Setsuna. I think I might even be halfway through Toren already.

Well, forcing myself to play through games I really don't enjoy does make me all the more cautious about buying any more stinkers, lol. (Not that most people would consider Toren a stinker, as far as I can tell.) For me, the gameplay is tiresome, the art is ugly, the story is not to my interest, and there is no sense of the game having any actual characters in it at all. I feel more like I'm playing an abstract concept than a game, and that's not fun for me.

Also, the game makes me dizzy with the twisting viewpoint. I'm glad it's short or I'd be walking around with crossed eyes for a week.

EDIT: Just the very last part to do...it'll be done tomorrow for sure.

NEXT DAY EDIT: Just got Psychedelica of the Black Butterfly and the art is uglier than I thought, at least to my taste. Their eyeballs appear to be 2/3 of the way down their heads with this huge almost whipped-cream like mound of hair rising over top, and they all have chins that come to pin-point angles. The art I saw before now must have all been CG images that get better treatment than the regular in-game character art. It's not hideous but I think it looks weird, so that's a disappointment. The story is fine so far, could go any direction.
User avatar
Ronin19
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
Posts: 5746
Joined: Feb 14, 2007 6:49 pm

Post  Posted:

Progress on Andromeda File 4 - Good Lord I am not playing this again until I'm ready for my canon file. I'm trying to do all of the choices available, and I'm almost done, but this very long middle of the game is just too much. I don't think I can go through four more files of this just for the romances. I was able to do so with Dragon Age: Inquisition, but that might be due to the fact I just love DAI so much that it was bearable. Hell, DAI's middle was at least well paced with areas that were condensed. I'm at Hunting the Archon in terms of story, but opening up so many sidequests to finish and three worlds on top of it are just too much.

It could also be that the whole thing feels pointless since the series has been shelved and everything I do won't be resolved any time soon.

On the bright side, I reached level 132 and my experience is actually in the negatives. I'm assuming this is because I've maxed out all skills and have no need for skill points anymore.

Edit: Reached Elaadan after doing every other side quest, finally. I may have exaggerated when I said I'm not playing this again. I think it'll be one of those games where I'll come back to it when I've had a nice long break. It took me 6 months to get to my second file, 3 months after for third and another three months for my fourth. Maybe this is better done every three months.

Edit 2: I forgot to mention that I got more games today. Stupid sales. I picked up A Hat in Time, DLC for Nier Automata, and the Capcom x Sega PS4 Humble Bundle. This adds like 6 games to my backlog. Go me, lol.
User avatar
Bluie
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
Posts: 3262
Joined: Jun 29, 2005 11:02 am

Post  Posted:

Giving up on Nights of Azure 2. Can't seem to find the motivation to play it. Oh well, I got to try it so i'm not too upset about it. Back to Neo Atlas.

Splatoon 2 is having a tournament Splatfest involving the TMNT. Gotta get some Seasnails but I also just want some money so I can buy the new gear. Might do some Salmon Run after work today.

I'm a little salty that May has nothing for me until the 29th. It's not going to take me a month to finish Neo Atlas, and Pripara still isn't here yet :/ (I realized they have 4 more business days next week before I can complain, so, yeah).

I should probably use this 'free time' (I still have to work lol) to work on other stuff, but I feel like being a salty sandra about having no new games instead. :shifty:
User avatar
Kikki
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
Posts: 4252
Joined: Apr 14, 2015 6:01 am

Post  Posted:

You'll be inundated by new games in about a month though, right?

As for me, I have...finished Black Butterfly. SORT OF. Because I appear to have some kind of error. I have gotten every single ending possible except for two. I know which two I am missing as they are clearly shown as options that have not been explored on the 'flowchart'. However, the point at which it diverges into those endings, as no options whatsoever...it leads directly to the 'best ending' without giving any options to veer off toward the last two that I have not unlocked.

I'm going to try one last time to go from the start, making all the right choices in one play, and see if I can get them to unlock at the branch at 'Epilogue 1', but I've tried many times already and there simply IS no branch...no choice at all. And I've consulted multiple walkthroughs and they all say the same thing for what steps to take to get to it, and I've taken them, but it still won't unlock that branch off Epilogue 1. So I'm nearly at 100%, but either something is missing or the game has an error. Guess I'll find out eventually.

I still think the way they've drawn faces is bad, with the super tiny pointy chin and the hair that rises up more than the height of the entire face...Kagiha in particular looks like a Mont Blanc...but the story is really interesting and surprisingly to me it makes sense. Well, in a fantasy sort of way. I will still get Ashen Hawk after all, even if I wish they'd draw better faces. :)
User avatar
RopeMaidenKirie
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
Posts: 4533
Joined: Oct 09, 2011 1:09 pm

Post  Posted:

Ronin19 wrote: Edit 2: I forgot to mention that I got more games today. Stupid sales. I picked up A Hat in Time, DLC for Nier Automata, and the Capcom x Sega PS4 Humble Bundle. This adds like 6 games to my backlog. Go me, lol.
Lemme know how you like A Hat in Time! I've been interested in it for awhile but never took the plunge myself.

That bundle tempted one of my friends too and she was so close to finishing her backlog lol. It was an insanely good deal so she felt like she couldn't pass it up :p I've been really tempted to buy Frostpunk but figured I really shouldn't with PoE2 right around the corner.

@Bluie - Anything in particular burn you out on the game?

I'm glad Psychedelica's story was good at least! I was rather worried about that since people have been hyping that up in particular. How long did it take you to finish (well, almost finish) the game?
User avatar
Ronin19
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
Posts: 5746
Joined: Feb 14, 2007 6:49 pm

Post  Posted:

RopeMaidenKirie wrote:
Ronin19 wrote: Edit 2: I forgot to mention that I got more games today. Stupid sales. I picked up A Hat in Time, DLC for Nier Automata, and the Capcom x Sega PS4 Humble Bundle. This adds like 6 games to my backlog. Go me, lol.
Lemme know how you like A Hat in Time! I've been interested in it for awhile but never took the plunge myself.

That bundle tempted one of my friends too and she was so close to finishing her backlog lol. It was an insanely good deal so she felt like she couldn't pass it up :p I've been really tempted to buy Frostpunk but figured I really shouldn't with PoE2 right around the corner.
I played enough of Hat in Time to know that it's a platformer, but seemingly easier to pick up than Yooka-Laylee. It seems smaller in scale too. It's pretty good, but I've only played maybe 30 minutes of it. I only got it now because it's on sale on the PSN and the company said they're not bringing it to the Switch, so PS4 it is.

That bundle was a good deal. Too bad I won't play maybe 5 of the games I got for it. I mainly got it for Valkyria Chronicles; it's the cheapest way to get the remaster currently. The graphics looked interesting as did the gameplay. I got through the prologue and it may be my next game to play after Andromeda. If I like it well enough, I'm preordering Valkyria Chronicles 4 for Switch.
User avatar
Kikki
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
Posts: 4252
Joined: Apr 14, 2015 6:01 am

Post  Posted:

RopeMaidenKirie wrote:I'm glad Psychedelica's story was good at least! I was rather worried about that since people have been hyping that up in particular. How long did it take you to finish (well, almost finish) the game?
Well, if you had a full day off and nothing else to take care of, and are good at the shooting mini game, you could do the entire game 100% in a day, though it'd be a long day with only short food and potty breaks and possibly less than 8 hours of sleep :) Unless you did everything perfectly from the first try and never got stuck or had to backtrack.

Further blabber, cut for length:
Spoiler:
Two of the endings don't work the same as the others...you can't just jump to the right part in the flowchart and go from there, because the divergent point actually has no choices...so you have to start quite far back in order to trigger the right divergence in the epilogue to get to those two endings (which also require you to have completed most of the other endings first, to boot.)

So figuring that out wasted two or three hours, lol. And I don't know if I'll actually get this 100% as to do that you'll have to achieve an S rank in the shooting mini game, and I get into the high 'A' rank...my score is over 33,000 and you get A rank at somewhere around 25,000...but I can't quite break into S rank. I really don't see how anyone can...but it must be possible lol. But to me it's a stupid requirement for 100% completion, since it has nothing to do with the story at all and is an arcade skill. I really hate having arcade components thrown into my otomes or any VNs...I'm playing them because they're NOT arcade games. :p Oh well.

I was suprised by how much sense the story made to me once I realized where they were and what was happening. Often otomes suffer from an overabundance of nonsense and fantastica that just doesn't add up, but to me everything adds up, at least everything I can easily recall.

The art style is weird but at least you get used to it and then some of the weirdness tones down, or did in my case. Hikage and Kagiha (Kagiha especially) have insanely high mountains of hair that just look really really silly to me, but...meh. Overall the characters could have been deeper than they were, but the story was the best part, I think. Good enough that I definitely want Ashen Hawk after all, even though upon first booting the game up I thought I might not bother due to the hair mountains, lol. Also Ashen Hawk has some more-mature looking characters (yay) and a fewer tragic elements, or so it seems, so it sounds like I might like it even more. So yep, will stick with my purchase on that, too :)
EDIT: Got S rank, ugh. I think it requires over 35,000 points but I'm not sure of the exact number as I got it with 39,000 points. So much tapping! But that means this game is 100% complete, so yay. Wow, 7'scarlet in only 3 weeks...
User avatar
Ronin19
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
Posts: 5746
Joined: Feb 14, 2007 6:49 pm

Post  Posted:

I've finished the bulk of Andromeda. Hunting the Archon mission is done and Sara Ryder kissed Suvi, so romance is locked in as well. So far, she's worse than Vetra, Peebee, and Cora, but better than Keri and Avela imo. I'm hoping to finish this today or tomorrow. I think I can do it. I'm liking the game again; I really do have a problem with how the pacing is handled between A Trail of Hope and Hunting the Archon. Most of the side quests just hit you right there and then there are some to almost no side quests after Hunting the Archon.

I've also reached almost -150K EXP at level 132. Negative experience is funny.
Locked