Can we retitle this thread "A catalog of people systematically shitting on everything that EvilRedEye loves" as I think it would be more honest tbh

mistercrayon wrote:

I don’t really get “RPGs” at all. They seem to contain so many contradictions as games that I can’t really fathom the appeal. If people are into story why have patience for something that gatekeeps the story behind a lot of work. (I imagine it’s like reading a book but having to do ten dumbbell curls between pages). If people are into clever battles the. Why as a percentage are the battles mundane compared to the number that stumbles you. It’s as a whole really weird.

With you on this.. especially JRPGs.. Played Persona 4 and there's virtually no actual game.

The biggest problem I found, back when I used to play them*, was all the battles where you wouldn't have to think or anything; every input you made was the only one you could in the situation and you'd repeat it over and over. It was like working in a data entry position, basically.


* FF6-8 and Chrono Trigger, basically.

So a standard JRPG then?

I really like Octopath Traveler, so much so that I'm annoyed I didn't get to review it and instead had to put up with the terribly written Shining Resonance Refrain.
On the plus side SRR looks nice, and the action is pretty good.

I played Undertale recently, which I hated.  When I was done with FFVII I thought it was the definitive GOAT genre but I lost interest.  Not finishing Skies of Arcadia is my only regret, I was enjoying that before my Dreamcast cruelly plunged from the top of a chest of drawers when I was 24hrs in. I gave it another go after the repair it but it wasn't happening for some reason, and I could never go back to something with that many random battles.  Even when I was enjoying it I often ended up full of dread and reluctant to move the character after hearing the dreaded disc drive whirr that meant your next step triggered a battle sequence.

Grid tactics rarely fail to sustain my interest.  I love Fire Emblem to bits, but I do skip the text because imho it's all bollocks.  Lovely anime sequences though.

I always enjoyed what used to be referred to as 'action RPGs' - Zelda games, Soleil, Landstalker, Story of Thor, Dark Savior etc.

Edit: The fact that I played (and loved) Sword of Vermillion and Shining the Holy Ark suggests I liked maze RPGs back then too, but the thought of playing something set out like that now is horrendous.

Slime-San sneaks into the offer section at 50% off (£5), got that on my list so yes please.  Dead Cells is showing at a healthy 20% for a pre-order (although this only brings it down to £17.99).

Edit: August 7th release btw.

AJ wrote:

Is there a reason for the Japanese influenced name, or are the developers just dicks that think it's cute?

He, er... *Shuffles papers, finds press release" he um "looks kawaii"?

I imagine Slime-san was partially influenced by copyright as well. There was a game called Mr. Slime on the Nintendo DS, Square-Enix have their slime characters in Dragon Quest, etc. etc.

People who aren't into JRPGs not liking Undertale is hardly a shocker.

AJ wrote:

The biggest problem I found, back when I used to play them*, was all the battles where you wouldn't have to think or anything; every input you made was the only one you could in the situation and you'd repeat it over and over. It was like working in a data entry position, basically. * FF6-8 and Chrono Trigger, basically.

And this is a weird comment. One of the reasons FF7 in particular is so well regarded (including by me) is the flexibility of the combat. There are a ton of things you can choose to do and some clever strategies required to beat the tougher enemies.

It is often like that at the beginning of a JRPG, because they tend to introduce the different systems gradually, but most of the good ones will be pretty complex after a while.

Replaying FF7 at the minute and it's still my absolute favourite.

Octopath I like a lot, and will pick up at the end of the month as it'll be good for holiday. I'm not a big fan of the made up 'olde English' used by some of the characters, it makes reading the text annoying in places. Overall I like the combat, and I suspect a lot more depth to come in the main game.

ShabbyMcCrabby wrote:

I feel like I've never gotten JRPG combat stuff. It tends to feel fairly rote but then again I tend to not experiment much while playing games so it's probably on me.

This is the reason I don't get the most out of most games (not that I don't enjoy doing it my way).  I tend to stick to my thing, regardless of alternatives.  Not always, obviously, but Horizon might be a good example.  I hardly experimented with the combat options because I latched onto my thing early on - sniper arrows and up close spamming.  I also blunderbussed through TLoU because I haven't got the patience for stealth in 3D.  God of War too, I was paying to unlock loads of extra moves and finding extra charms etc but not learning or using them.

regmcfly wrote:

I found the Brave / Default mechanic in their past two games to be one of the most tactical I've come across, to the extent that for a single move I'd spend minutes working through what I could or should do, and for certain enemies and bosses, writing down what their attack values were so I can figure out how long I could default. When you get to some of the later bosses, particularly in the first game, that was invaluable. I have hopes that Octopath has a similar depth, not unfounded as they've got it right the last two times. Plus, my idiot picture book edition dispatched this morning so I'm fucked either way.

I cancelled my big book edition, which I already regret but I had a preorder for half the price and couldn't justify it to myself. Let me know how cool it is!

Completely agree about brave/default system, it allows you to spam kill weaker enemies, and later on figure out the best way to build an advantage against almost impossible bosses (4th run chapter 5 grrrr).

Oh also how was Cyrus in Octo? I've just got to Atlasdam.

cosmicjellybean wrote:

regmcfly wrote:

I found the Brave / Default mechanic in their past two games to be one of the most tactical I've come across, to the extent that for a single move I'd spend minutes working through what I could or should do, and for certain enemies and bosses, writing down what their attack values were so I can figure out how long I could default. When you get to some of the later bosses, particularly in the first game, that was invaluable. I have hopes that Octopath has a similar depth, not unfounded as they've got it right the last two times. Plus, my idiot picture book edition dispatched this morning so I'm fucked either way.

I cancelled my big book edition, which I already regret but I had a preorder for half the price and couldn't justify it to myself. Let me know how cool it is!

Completely agree about brave/default system, it allows you to spam kill weaker enemies, and later on figure out the best way to build an advantage against almost impossible bosses (4th run chapter 5 grrrr).

Oh also how was Cyrus in Octo? I've just got to Atlasdam.

Won't be back in UK till 18th so you shall have to wait until then. Also, I believe you mean "mrrrgrrrrrgrrr" above, right? I like Cyrus because he's a very smooth customer but also