Backlog 2020

Kikki · Post Posted: Nov 02, 2020 12:42 pm

Only been playing a few minutes and I already had to zip my hoodie all the way up to my chin cuz I keep getting goosebumps. Man, I am scared for everybody, and the drama is going to be wild, I just know it, because this is Trails.

I'm going to go find thicker socks and another hoodie...

Simply Unknown · Post Posted: Nov 02, 2020 3:04 pm

Update on Changeling: Got two routes done and now all that's left is the one I originally got first, but was told was usually the best to save for last. Which...says a lot about me, honestly. First try with the wizard ended in friendship, which I kinda expected because his route was weird. And considering some of the other stuff that happens in this game, that says a lot.

Cute Esper boy, however, was romance first try which is great because he is adorable and touch starved and oh my « Harvest Goddess » someone needs to sit down with this boy and just give him hugs and compliments for at least a week. MC actually acted a lot sweeter in his route than any other, which I think is pretty neat.

Now, just my Faerie to go and I think I'll enjoy this one a lot.

Bluie · Post Posted: Nov 03, 2020 5:09 am

Kikki wrote:Only been playing a few minutes and I already had to zip my hoodie all the way up to my chin cuz I keep getting goosebumps. Man, I am scared for everybody, and the drama is going to be wild, I just know it, because this is Trails.

I'm going to go find thicker socks and another hoodie...

Someone already has all the cutscenes up on youtube, so I'm gonna be right there with you in a few!

EDIT: turns out that was a Japanese playthrough. There is someone who is currently uploading the game, sooo, i'll be there with you soonish lol

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So, my husband really ended up enjoying Oxenfree with me. It's funny, he took the exact same route and choices as I did when I played up until the very end. Therefore our endings were different, BUT, it was just too funny seeing how in sync we can be unintentionally. Anyways, now he wants to play Night in the Woods together. I had jokingly said we should play it next year as a repeat Halloween date, but he's raring to go and wants to play asap! Well then, perhaps we should make this a reoccurring thing! I have a plethora of indie games I KNOW he'd enjoy, but rather play with me involved, so methinks I'll try to schedule these dates more often!

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Basically only playing Hades with a side of Yokai Watch 4 atm. I fully expect Age of Calamity to take over my gaming time when it releases, but for now, these are keeping me occupied when need be. I will be surprised if Yokai Watch 4 ever actually manages to get localized any more, so I'm gonna do my best to beat my import version. Hades I can pick up and play anytime + I'm enjoying it, so I don't see myself dropping it. I'm debating picking up Cafe Enchante, but I might sit on it for awhile. I DO plan on replaying Breath of the Wild after finishing Age of Calamity, but who knows how long that'll take!

Kikki · Post Posted: Nov 03, 2020 5:52 am

The tension would be super high, but again...this is Trails. A massive, twisty tale filled with awesome characters you really want to get back to is also filled with looooooong stretches of monster-and-treasure-filled roads to walk along, bit by bit, until you arrive at the next plot-laden location.

Tension can't remain super high for a long time at once. I did have to pile blankets on me, though, to try to tone down the goosebumps. So many beloved (or hated!) characters are beyond my view right now and I don't like it, lol. Though I know we're getting there.

Got my flu shot today, and will be taking the opportunity to place an order for sushi just before that, to pick up just after it, on the way home. Other than that, today will be all about pill-poppin' and Trails of Cold Steel IV and trying to get back in touch with the characters I care about most.

I'll definitely be getting Cafe Enchante, Bluie, so I'll let you know any general impressions. I'm not that crazy about the art...I think all the love interests are drawn rather unattractively...but it looks cute/funny, which I'm looking forward to.

Now that I have this long, long game on my hands, and two more coming up before the month is over, it looks like November is filled to the max. Plus I can just about guarantee that I'll need to replay BoTW after completing Age of Calamity. Unless they do something stupid with time travel and what they suggested is a canon look at the War of Calamity is really just some alternate reality version. Then I'll be annoyed and maybe not care about replaying. I have no idea what they'll actually do with the story when it comes to connect it to BotW...the demo doesn't cover very much, imo...I just know that Eggy can time-travel.

EDIT: Oh man, Weenie Supremie just made his grand entrance...

I do enjoy the way Trails can make even a non-combatant like me want to get the talking over with ASAP because you just want to beat your opponent up so badly.

Harvest Moon kawaii · Post Posted: Nov 03, 2020 7:17 am

Spoiler:

So, I returned back from a trip to my brother's and his family for Halloween a few days ago. I've been itching to announce that I finally beat Piczle Lines DX's story mode (100 puzzles) after 1-2 years.

I still have to do most of the Puzzle Mode, but that's all extra stuff. I'm really impressed and relieved because, since it was originally a mobile game (I think) very little in the way of walkthroughs exist for it online. So, I almost beat it all by myself. Some puzzles were so hard I had to set them aside for months at a time.

I'm counting the game beaten, since Story Mode alone was so hard to beat.

So excited for Cafe Enchante (November 5th) and Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin (November 10th). There was a review of Cafe Enchante on Siliconera, which I'll link to below. It got me even more excited for the game.

https://www.siliconera.com/review-cafe- ... nchanting/

I'm really glad Pikmin 3 Deluxe on the Switch released. I really enjoyed the demo, and found it easier than the Wii IU version, but I'll wait until Christmas to get it, since I have other games to focus on and stuff.

Upcoming backlog/games I plan to play next after the Crown Tundra DLC for Pokemon Shield is beaten:

Sci;Adv series (Steins;Gate Elite, etc.. [7 games total]) (Switch/PC[Steam])
Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town (switch)
Rune Factory 4 Special (Switch)
Doraemon Story of Seasons (Switch)
Cafe Enchante (Switch) (November 5, 2020)
Sakuna: of Rice and Ruin (Switch) (November 10, 2020)
Pikmin 3 Deluxe (Switch) (hopefully getting it for Christmas)

Total upcoming backlog: 13 games

Total games beaten this year: 9

Bluie · Post Posted: Nov 03, 2020 7:37 am

Kikki wrote: I'll definitely be getting Cafe Enchante, Bluie, so I'll let you know any general impressions. I'm not that crazy about the art...I think all the love interests are drawn rather unattractively...but it looks cute/funny, which I'm looking forward to.

*thumbs up* It might be more of a sale title for me, but i'm intrigued and i'm looking forward to your thoughts!

Kikki wrote:EDIT: Oh man, Weenie Supremie just made his grand entrance...

*WHEEZE* WHO?!

Kikki · Post Posted: Nov 03, 2020 8:12 am

Bluie wrote:
Kikki wrote:EDIT: Oh man, Weenie Supremie just made his grand entrance...
*WHEEZE* WHO?!

Spoiler:

Bluie · Post Posted: Nov 04, 2020 1:10 am

That character is the epitome of "WHY are you STILL HERE?!". Of all the characters returning and debuting in CSIV, I'm pretty sure nobody is super excited to see *that* character back lol.

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I spent the better part of yesterday playing Yokai Watch 4 and searching for a Noko to add to my team. The slippery little snake is so freaking rare in this title AND encountering one doesn't guarantee capture! How it works in YW4 is you have to defeat them in battle, then there's a CHANCE they'll stick around, then you have to extract essence orbs from them, and then you can use those orbs to summon them into your party. Most yokai need several different color essence orbs to be summoned which you'll most likely get just battling them over and over. Noko needs 1 gold orb (the rarest one) and 1 snake skin (rare drop) to be summoned. I encountered a total of 5 Nokos in 10 hours of playtime yesterday, the first one dropped the snake skin and that's where my luck ran out. The next 3 stuck around but only gave me red orbs and the last one didn't stick around. SIIIIIIGH.

I really miss the simplicity of YW1 where I just shoved burgers in the fat lil snek's face until he loved me. Looking for help on Noko locations and strategies is pretty impossible considering the game is either stuck in localization hell or just stuck in Japan forever. AbdullahSmash's videos on the game are too congested and a last resort, and the handful of GameFaqs and Reddit threads really don't have solid info. APARENTLY there is a quest later on that has an encounter of 3 Noko and it can be grinded, but WHERE??? I also heard that the expansion (which I have) adds a way to pay in-game money to summon certain yokai encounters, BUT I DON'T WANNA WAIT ANYMORE, I WANT MY FAVOURITE YOKAI NOOOOOOOOWWWW! *Tantrums*

Well, anyways, at least I finally recruited Fumi/Katie as a playable character. She's my favorite protagonist in the series and I'm glad she's here after being excluded in YW3 for Inaho/Hailey *retch*. Having one of my favorites takes the a little of the sting away from still being Noko-less. I suppose I'll just have to soldier on without one FOR NOW.

Kikki · Post Posted: Nov 04, 2020 3:34 am

Can't say I'm excited to see him back, but...I don't hate that he is. He's comic relief when things get really serious, and I really love to beat him up. I really enjoy it! I do wonder how anyone like him could exist and never evolve or learn their lesson, but because he doesn't, I get to laugh at him and repeatedly kick his deluded butt.

I don't know how far in I am compared to how far I have to go. I could potentially be as far as about a third of the way in, or maybe as little as a fifth. I think I am about to begin the very last day of Act I.

Spoiler:

I do keep feeling burnt-out on playing it, though. I'm not sure how they could arrange it otherwise, but it has such huge sections of traveling roads and paths and killing all the monsters on them to get from point A to point B. And when you finally do get to a new place, it's very heavily loaded with plot, such that sometimes you can't even take a potty break for half an hour because the cutscenes link up and keep going for that long. The 'school' portions of previous games may have helped break the looping stretches of samey gameplay up a bit more.

I need to fight more. (-___-) Gotta level up! Once I catalogue every enemy in the area, I tend to run past any enemies still remaining cuz I don't want to keep doing the fight/heal/regenerate CP thing over and over. One really only wants to murder so many Juicy Organs, y'know? I'll be very happy to use shining Pom droplets later on, and then I run past enemies I've already registered without worry, but I should hit about level 110 before I start using them. My party is only about level 80.

EDIT: Got 'im back, got 'im back, got 'im back! (*sniffle*) NOW battle is fun. I can't really have fun until I've got Rean's back in front of me...nobody else will do. Took a while, though! My party is all level 96-99, now (this game manages varying character levels pretty well).

I guess I just can't live without the very sappiest of friendship speeches popping up every half hour or so

EDIT 2: Did some 'special' bonding events and began to believe that one of the steps in any eligible lady getting together with Rean is that she must beat the hell out of him at least once, first...because that's what happened in the first two I did! But the third didn't have that. Though there's still time...each eligible person has two special events associated with them. Maybe the one who did not beat him up this time will beat him up next time. (What kind of game is this I'm playing, again?)

Simply Unknown · Post Posted: Nov 05, 2020 6:11 pm

Finally got married to Doug in RF4S, so technically I'm done until I go back to marry everyone else to satisfy my completionism. But that was my canon file so that's all set.

Now I'm working on the Crown Tundra DLC for Pokemon on my main file, and I think I'm doing pretty well. Finished up two of the three quests we're given at the start and I'm a quarter of the way done with the third, which I think is great for one day's playtime. Catching all the Legendaries is going to be a bit of a pain though; I can already tell.

Shan O 123 · Post Posted: Nov 05, 2020 6:24 pm

Simply Unknown wrote:Finally got married to Doug in RF4S, so technically I'm done until I go back to marry everyone else to satisfy my completionism. But that was my canon file so that's all set.

Yayyyy! Congratulations! Now it’s my turn to marry him... you know once I finish the second storyline. Lol

Simply Unknown · Post Posted: Nov 05, 2020 7:29 pm

Shan O 123 wrote:
Simply Unknown wrote:Finally got married to Doug in RF4S, so technically I'm done until I go back to marry everyone else to satisfy my completionism. But that was my canon file so that's all set.
Yayyyy! Congratulations! Now it’s my turn to marry him... you know once I finish the second storyline. Lol

Thanks. I married him first in the original RF4 too, and he's still my favorite marriage candidate. I only wish his 'Doug's Secret' event stopped happening before a festival involving a date. Does he just not want me to go on a date with him!?

Shan O 123 · Post Posted: Nov 05, 2020 7:36 pm

Lol I guess not.

Bluie · Post Posted: Nov 06, 2020 4:33 am

I have a day off and I'm literally just gonna play FFXIV or Hades all day once it's a respectable hour. I'll muss and fuss with Yokai Watch 4 another day. I'm slightly frustrated with FFXIV, not the game itself, but just that my schedule isn't ideal for it any more. I have to go to bed early to get up early for work, and almost everyone in my FC are nightowls, so I miss out on almost every event they plan. A lot of the stuff they do is things I already have or cleared, but still, I'd like to participate once and awhile. I've taken to just messing around on alts rather than playing my main, because outside of FC stuff, I have nothing to do in the game until the next update (which is early December iirc). I am enjoying my replay regardless, but another part of me is nagging to at me to play the other titles I haven't beat instead. Soooo, most likely Hades today unless it gets frustrating. I'm mostly in it for the story, so eh?

Anyways, I preordered NieR Replicant the other day. I didn't even realize is was up yet until I was browsing the PSN and it popped up. That's most likely going to be my only PS4 purchase for some time. I've decided that Atelier Ryza 2 will be my first PS5 game, and I don't anticipate actually getting that system until sometime next year (I predict summer OR if there's a game Hubbo can't ignore). Everything else next year is Switch exclusive or coming to Switch, so I'm willing to wait for the sweet portability. In terms of what the PS4 still has to offer me, i've just about exhausted everything I cared about.

THAT BEING SAID, out of literally nowhere I suddenly want to play the Yazuka series. All 7 mainline games + the new spinoff. IDK if it's the memes of just wanting a change of pace, but I WANT TO PLAY THEM. I'm thinking of seeing how much the entire series drops in price around Black Friday and just snatching them all up. I may just buy Yazuka 0 before then though because it's surprisingly cheap compared to later titles (smaller print maybe???). I think maaaybe what the big draw for me is the mood whiplash, where it's a serious drama one second and then it's absolute hilarity the next. The anime Golden Kamuy does this fantastically and I would love for my hunch on the Yazkua series having similar concepts to be correct.

I REALLY hope SEGA localizes the Samurai spinoff in the series too. They've been waffling on it forever, and i'd play it regardless, because samurai. They're apparently 'afraid of oversaturating the market', which is stupid because they wouldn't have localized 'Like a Dragon' if that was the case *eyeroll*. Stop being cowards and give me the samurai game! >:0

Kikki · Post Posted: Nov 06, 2020 5:16 am

Cold Steel IV is so good. Once I got Rean back, everything just fell into place! The gameplay loop became a little more varied, and interactions with the characters I like best became more plentiful. And this game handles inactive party member levelling really well...no need to take different groups of characters out to grind them all up to an appropriate level...everyone's level is tied together and when your active party levels up, so do the inactive members back at home base.

I think I am nearly 2/3rds done. Hard to be sure, but around there, anyway...I am at the very end of Act II. (There are three, afaik, and a prologue.) I think I will get all my battle trophies out of the way with this first play (all the bursts, assists, advantage encounters, etc) as well as every chest found, and probably every book, too. Which means that in my NEXT play, I can essentially ignore battle entirely, and most of the shopping, and just charge straight through from plot point to plot point without needing to explore every nook and cranny to find every chest, or to stop and fight all the monsters along the paths.

Things are getting tied up, and the plot has been boiled down to something that I find almost disappointingly simple, and yet horribly realistic. In a way I both love and hate, lol. I wonder just what loose ends they'll be tying up with Hajimari. Can't believe it's going to have an even BIGGER cast than IV, though...that's nuts. This is already nuts.

Rean did not continue to get physically beaten up by ALL of his love interests. However, one of them does slam him to the wall of a secluded cave in a very aggressive, kabe-don style of move. Ha ha. Poor Rean? I love him, but if you know everything behind it, he kinda deserves it. The boy needs to wake up, once and for all. Why is it so hard for him to realize that the pain he feels when one of his loved ones is hurt/killed/endangered/etc is the exact same pain THEY feel when HE is? We've had three million speeches about it already, and he says he's sorry and seems to understand for all of 1.4 seconds, but minutes later it ends up being shown that he still does not really comprehend just how precious he is to nearly every freakin' person he knows.

The inability to really get through to you, Mr. Martyr/Messiah Complex, is driving these women to take rather drastic action. You're just gonna have to get roughed up a bit, it seems. It's with great affection, okay?

I guess it's because the whole of Rean's concept when Falcom cooked him up was simply 'hero'. That is Rean's defining characteristic. He's the hero, more than any of the many other heroes in Zemuria. He's practically nothing BUT a hero. And heroes get all of the responsibility and very little of the fun, and they don't get to think of themselves very often. They go where they must, leave when they have to, and eventually die while keeping others alive. I don't think Rean understands anything else. He was born thinking he was a monster and is willing to die, thinking he's a sacrifice...as long as only he dies and he can save all his friends thereby, that seems like a perfect ending, to Rean.

But he's not gonna die. Cuz his very persistent friends keep trying to beat some of the 'Hero' out of him so that the 'Rean' they love has a little room to breathe. Right, Falcom? *purposeful glare*