Now Playing (Video Games)

I have made a fallout New Vegas character with a scuffed SPECIAL stat disruption (based of therussainbadgers build). I am maxing sneak first for those juicy VATS crits.
Strength 7
Perception 6
Endurance 4
Charisma 1
Intelligence 2
Agility 10
Luck 10

You'll have a lot of dumb luck! (Badam tish!)
 
No idea how I found out, but 5 of the 6 original Final Fantasy rereleases are on Game Pass. Thanks to Octopath Traveler, Sea of Stars and other RPGs I've played lately I've gained a new appreciation for them. I have the FF collection on my wish list, but This is a good way to give them a shot and see if they're worth the purchase. Started playing FF1 Yesterday and I'm hooked! Definitely doesn't hold your hand, you have to talk to EVERYONE and take notes lol. You have to remember all the little clues they give you, no quest log in this one. I also like that you can turn random encounters on and off. I was stuck in a cave and had my entire party die twice. I turned off encounters to make it back to town, rest up and buy supplies. I think I'll grind a bit before going back down. I'm pretty excited about making my way through these.
 
Ok, I am officially all in on Final Fantasy LOL. I do occasionally turn off random encounters just to be able to walk more than 3 steps at a time, but aside from that I'm digging it. A LOT. Already placed the Earth Stone. Hell, I beat the Vampire in one round before he could get a hit in. I think I'll grind a tad to afford the Knight Armor and spells from level 1 through 5. Haven't found level 6 or 7 spells yet.
I wasn't too happy having to name every single member of the party, but quickly went with Trevor, Simon, Sypha and Alucard lol.
 
So far I've completed 1-10, 12, 15, 16, Tactics (including sequels like X-2, Revenant Wings or The After Years), the entire Compilation of FFVII, VII Remake, Rebirth and of course FFXIV. I own the XIII trilogy, but I'm honestly not in any rush to try them out. I don't even mind the setting, their linearity or the gameplay. I'm just not a fan of Hamauzu as a composer and a game's musical identity is pretty important to me. I'll probably start XI within the next couple of months. Wanna be finished with the main stories before Evercold launches.

As far as non-FF games are concerned: I recently played Okami for the first time and absolutely hated it. The music might be the only redeeming feature. What a waste of time. Started Twilight Princess HD last week and I'm having a blast. It's my favorite game of all time, but I wasn't sure if it would still hold up. It absolutely does. Funnily enough, a few days after I started Dusk, the decompiled PC version, launched. That will probably be the next version of the game that I'll play when I decide to revisit it.

In other news: The remake for Star Fox 64 got revealed and it looks phenomenal. Really looking forward to it. If rumours are to be believed Ocarina Of Time is going to be remade and release this year. If Star Fox is anything to go by, this will be absolutely brilliant.
 
In other news: The remake for Star Fox 64 got revealed and it looks phenomenal. Really looking forward to it. If rumours are to be believed Ocarina Of Time is going to be remade and release this year. If Star Fox is anything to go by, this will be absolutely brilliant.
The Star Fox 64 remake looks incredible. I loved that game as a kid! I even remember making Fox’s vehicles out of Legos (I was particularly proud of the submarine). Looks like I’ll have to splurge for a Switch 2 since I opted for the Switch 1 version of Metroid Prime 4. Glad I did, though, since I thought it was easily the weakest of the Primes.

Regarding the rumored Ocarina of Time remake, I never got into it much when I was younger but I’m still very much looking forward to it. I love Link to the Past and have been craving a Zelda game that isn’t a massive time sink like the last few have been. But it’ll be about time I play it since my VGM band has been playing Song of Storms for over a decade now lol.
 
Ok, so just bumped into both what I like and hat e about JRPGS. I turned off encounters to make navigation bearable knowing full well I wasn't going to level up as much or gain as much money (gil). I was ok with that, because there were unavoidable encounters such as monsters blocking doors or hiding in chests. Not to mention the chests can contain a great amount of money. Also, the boss battles were fairly straight forward and simple.... until Tiamet.
My party is sporting pretty neat gear, diamond armor and weaponry, the dragon lord unlocked our full potential, I'm like level 27 (should be higher if I had been doing random encounters), and so far I've been walking through any fight. This MOFO absolutely wiped the floor with me the first two rounds. It throws everything and the kitchen sink at me, thunder, ice, fire, poison, etc. I had an oh shit moment realizing I was very likely under powered and might have soft locked myself. I decided to go down one floor, turn on encounters and grind until leveling up. I level up aaaand.... it was sad. my life only went up 5 more points, my strength 1 point, and so on. And now I was low on mana and health and would have to use ether and potions and might not have enough for the battle.
I reboot my save, suck it up face it one last time. I look at my team, look at the spells available and tweak my strategy every so slightly. I had to revive my Ninja and Black Mage once using Phoenix and then healed everyone with Healara. I sped up the Knight's and Ninja's attacks and would use heal spells on the whole party whether needed or not. And with that I defeated it.
It's this scenario that made me fall in love with RPGs. Outmaneuvering your opponent. I am missing a few chests in the sunken temple, the dragon caves and the air temple. I will use this opportunity to turn on encounters and level up, because I have a feeling the worst is yet to come.

I also Like that I recognize musical themes and levels that games like Sea of Stars and Octopath Traveler pay homage to. It's weird to feel nostalgia while playing the source material lol.
 
Back
Top