What video games are you currently playing?

[sleepy coffee 1476]

Bloodstained and league of legends (for the 4th time Reinstalled)

[ghost 2687]

13 hours ago, chipathy said:

Bloodstained and league of legends (for the 4th time Reinstalled)

How are you enjoying Bloodstained? I'm playing it on switch and, despite all the problems, I'm loving it so far.

[sleepy coffee 1476]

4 hours ago, ghost said:

How are you enjoying Bloodstained? I'm playing it on switch and, despite all the problems, I'm loving it so far.

Havent played much butit's great, but I'm in PC so I dont have any issues with the game so far 

[gret 90]

Been playing a minimalist city builder called Islanders. Quite a nice relaxing game, but people who like city builder probably don't like it for its shallowness. Would be great as a phone game imo

[nullmoon 784]

Just finished DMC5 and I dunno...I feel kinda underwhelmed? I enjoyed the story and the combat was fun but I just kinda shrugged and moved on after the credits. I found 4 much more engaging, even with the repetitive locales. 

[chocobuzz 752]

I've been devoting all my time and energy for Dragon's Dogma lately. My daily routine has basically been wake up, eat, play Dragon's Dogma for 10-12 hours, eat, go sleep, repeat. All I can think about is Dragon's Dogma, the soundtracks are constantly stuck in my head, even my dreams have mostly been somehow related to the game. I've been quite disconnected from the real world and I had no idea what day today even was until I checked the calendar... So yeah, taking a little break from the game today to catch up on everything I've missed for the past week or so. I get addicted to games pretty rarely, but when I do, I get addicted hard. Haha.

 

It's really a great game. But it still does have some flaws, for example the storytelling. I think the story itself is actually really good, or at least has the potential to be really good, but the game doesn't always do a very good job in telling it. It's a bit similar to how I feel about Final Fantasy XV, it could've been amazing but it was left a bit.... skeleton-ish. Some of the flesh is just missing.

 

Flaws aside, there's just something about the atmosphere and the setting and other stuff that I find really good, that just really clicks with me and makes me want to explore every inch of the map, find everything, experience everything and do everything. Also, the combat is fantastic. It's definitely the game's strongest point, it feels fluid and smooth and just right, regardless of the vocation. Also, the soundtrack is absolutely beautiful. And for me the soundtrack is always a very very important part of the game.

[violetchain 912]

The last part of the main story of Fallout 3 felt way too easy. I finished it yesterday and I was like "Oh, that's it?" Most of the side quests I did felt way more challenging. Although maybe it's because I used Fawkes as my companion and he basically just killed everything on his own.

[saishuu 3220]

I'm continuing my quest of playing every Zelda game I can and I'm now going through A Link Between Worlds and I love it so far! It's cheeky, relatively easy and overall super fun to play. Definitely a nice change of pace from Ocarina of Time. lol

[spockitty 643]

I'm usually rotating between 4-5 games, depends on what I'm in the mood for.

Atm:

Divinity: Original Sin 2 (I'm stuck on that fcking final fight jfc), Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire (when I'm in the mood for reading), Borderlands (when I want to mindlessly shoot at shit, also trying to finish them all before the 3rd one comes out XD), a random otome of the day (tho after Hakuoki all of them seem cheap and boring) and Hexcells Plus (a numbers puzzle game, when my brain needs a tickle).

 

I'm also trying really really hard not to fall into an MMO hell again, because I finally kinda have a life now and mmos are NOT conductive to maintaining a life outside of them... 

[secret_no_03 959]

3 minutes ago, spockitty said:

mmos are NOT conductive to maintaining a life outside of them... 

Akio from Dad of Light would disagree with you since he works a full time job when not playing.

[YuyoDrift 1540]

Man, a lot of you played Spyro lol. I got the bundle going on sale this weekend that includes both the Spyro and Crash Bandicoot trilogies.

I forgot how easy and fun Spyro was to play, that even my gf wants to try it (she didn't grow up on the PlayStation).

 

I'm also playing Bloodstained. @ghost@chipathy , do you guys understand the customizing/dismantleting of items well? I had to skip the tutorial and am completely lost lol. I'll try and just stock up on items and then take time to try it out. Overall for me the game is good, the voice volume on some characters is off, but bearable. Definitely more forgiving than the Castlevania series, in terms of gameplay.

[spockitty 643]

34 minutes ago, secret_no_03 said:

Akio from Dad of Light would disagree with you since he works a full time job when not playing.

I also happen to maintain a full time job outside of playing, I didn't really count "job" as "life" XD

 

also, LOL

[secret_no_03 959]

4 minutes ago, spockitty said:

I also happen to maintain a full time job outside of playing, I didn't really count "job" as "life" XD

 

also, LOL

You could look at that the other way since his father literally has nothing to do since retiring so he just plays it non-stop, so you could look at it both ways. It's such a good series, but I'm hesitant about the new movie as Ren Osugi died last year and they have a new cast which looks like it will be even more shilling than the light hearted Netflix show.

[spockitty 643]

12 minutes ago, secret_no_03 said:

You could look at that the other way since his father literally has nothing to do since retiring so he just plays it non-stop, so you could look at it both ways. It's such a good series, but I'm hesitant about the new movie as Ren Osugi died last year and they have a new cast which looks like it will be even more shilling than the light hearted Netflix show.

Ok, now I'm confused, I thought it was a game advertisement? It's a show on Netflix???? 

 

[secret_no_03 959]

1 minute ago, spockitty said:

Ok, now I'm confused, I thought it was a game advertisement? It's a show on Netflix???? 

 

It's a show on Netflix which is about a how a father and son rekindle their relationship through Final Fantasy XIV.

Edited July 16, 2019 by secret_no_03

[spockitty 643]

1 minute ago, secret_no_03 said:

It's a show on Netflix which is about a how a father and son rekindle their relationship through Final Fantasy XIV.

Hmmmm, interesting. Is it worth watching, do you know, or was it just created for the sake of an FF add? 

[secret_no_03 959]

Just now, spockitty said:

Hmmmm, interesting. Is it worth watching, do you know, or was it just created for the sake of an FF add? 

It is one giant ad, but it is a heart-warming story about a father and son coming together for the first time since the son was little with I believe final fantasy II. It's definitely worth a watch, as it's only like 8 episodes. 

[spockitty 643]

Not sure if I can relate to reconnecting with parents over anything but hey, 8 episodes is like one Saturday evening, might give it a try~! thanks ^^

hopefully I won't come out of it with a burning need to play FFXIV, and if so, I'm totally blaming you for it~!

[monkeybanana4 1732]

2 hours ago, spockitty said:

I'm usually rotating between 4-5 games, depends on what I'm in the mood for.

Atm:

Divinity: Original Sin 2 (I'm stuck on that fcking final fight jfc), Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire (when I'm in the mood for reading), Borderlands (when I want to mindlessly shoot at shit, also trying to finish them all before the 3rd one comes out XD), a random otome of the day (tho after Hakuoki all of them seem cheap and boring) and Hexcells Plus (a numbers puzzle game, when my brain needs a tickle).

 

I'm also trying really really hard not to fall into an MMO hell again, because I finally kinda have a life now and mmos are NOT conductive to maintaining a life outside of them... 

Otome games are always nice to play when I simply want to stare at some bishounen characters and read some text  Have you played the re-release/remake for Hakuouki? (I think it's the one on Steam right now.)

[spockitty 643]

31 minutes ago, monkeybanana4 said:

Otome games are always nice to play when I simply want to stare at some bishounen characters and read some text  Have you played the re-release/remake for Hakuouki? (I think it's the one on Steam right now.)

I only play on PC (fortunately/unfortunately?), so I only played Hakuoki on Steam in two parts that they have. From what I gather, there are some new routes on Steam, comparing to the previous releases? Maaaan, the Kazama route. I was like, are you crazy, game? this dude? and then it turned out to be my fav route ^^;;;  (the same seiyuu's on Nightshade otome as Hanzo, just sayin'). 

 

Discovering the genre came like a revelation to me really (I'm a long time RPG/manga fan and it pretty much combines both), I even briefly considered acquiring a PS Vita even though It's pretty much a relic at this point. Fun fact, otome's what brought be back to vk after that 10-year hiatus.

 

How did you play Hakuoki??? Also, do you have any recs, pretty please?? I have dozens of questions really. There's not that big of a selection on Steam for otome games and I'm afraid that I've experienced the peak with Hakuoki and it's only downhill from there 😭

Edited July 16, 2019 by spockitty

[monkeybanana4 1732]

1 minute ago, spockitty said:

I only play on PC (fortunately/unfortunately?), so I only played Hakuoki on Steam in two parts that they have. From what I gather, there are some new routes on Steam, comparing to the previous releases? Maaaan, the Kazama route. I was like, are you crazy, game? this dude? and then it turned out to be my fav route ^^;;;  (the same seiyuu's on Nightshade otome as Hanzo, just sayin'). 

 

Discovering the genre came like a revelation to me really (I'm a long time RPG/manga fan and it pretty much combines both), I even briefly considered acquiring a PS Vita even though It's pretty much a relic at this point. Fun fact, otome's what brought be back to vk after that 10-year hiatus.

 

How did you play it Hakuoki??? Also, do you have any recs, pretty please?? I have dozens of questions really. There's not that big of a selection on Steam for otome games and I'm afraid that I've experienced the peak with Hakuoki and it's only downhill from there 😭a

Ah, okay~ Haha, yes, you're lucky! It originally started out on the PSP and has been remade like a bajillion times before the Steam/PC version XD Yes! I felt the same way about the Kazama route. At first, I remember thinking, hell no. And, in the end, his route became one of my favorites >,>; Honestly, I have replayed his route more than once and I never get bored of it. I need a life ^^;) I played it on the original PSP as well as most of the remakes/re-releases including the PS3 and 3DS. (Yes, I'm a bit gluttonous for the series. Can't help it when the character designs are so darn good ) Although, I actually still haven't played the Steam/PC version X'D (Oh, I had no idea. I know Kazama's voice actor stars in a lot of otome games, but I haven't played Nightshade yet. That voice though ^_~)

 

Funny, I originally bought the PS Vita for Persona 4 Golden (and some other games), but now my poor PS Vita pretty much only gets used for otome games, lol. (Ooh, how did otome bring you back into VK?  Just curious~)

 

Oh, no, that sucks to hear~ Sure, I don't mind answering any questions  Although, I'm not familiar with what's on Steam/PC as far as otome games go (so I'm not sure what games you've finished or not ^^;) I've mainly played on the PS Vita since most otome games get released on there as well. I had no idea otome games were coming out for the Switch, though. (I need to get one soon now... )   

[spockitty 643]

8 hours ago, monkeybanana4 said:

Ah, okay~ Haha, yes, you're lucky! It originally started out on the PSP and has been remade like a bajillion times before the Steam/PC version XD Yes! I felt the same way about the Kazama route. At first, I remember thinking, hell no. And, in the end, his route became one of my favorites >,>; Honestly, I have replayed his route more than once and I never get bored of it. I need a life ^^;) I played it on the original PSP as well as most of the remakes/re-releases including the PS3 and 3DS. (Yes, I'm a bit gluttonous for the series. Can't help it when the character designs are so darn good ) Although, I actually still haven't played the Steam/PC version X'D (Oh, I had no idea. I know Kazama's voice actor stars in a lot of otome games, but I haven't played Nightshade yet. That voice though ^_~)

 

Funny, I originally bought the PS Vita for Persona 4 Golden (and some other games), but now my poor PS Vita pretty much only gets used for otome games, lol. (Ooh, how did otome bring you back into VK?  Just curious~)

 

Oh, no, that sucks to hear~ Sure, I don't mind answering any questions  Although, I'm not familiar with what's on Steam/PC as far as otome games go (so I'm not sure what games you've finished or not ^^;) I've mainly played on the PS Vita since most otome games get released on there as well. I had no idea otome games were coming out for the Switch, though. (I need to get one soon now... )   

Dude I was so drunk writing this, I barely remember even doing it. Sorry in advance for...everything I guess ^^;;; 

 

From what you're saying, it's kind of amazing how Hakuoki is holding up through the years with the art and quality of the story. Taking aside the encyclopedic content of feudal japanese history, it's a pretty compelling story that I've yet to see surpassed by another otome (translated into english). 

 

So, Hakuoki-veteran-san, seems like you've been trough hell and back with this game, I wonder how do the previous releases compare to the Steam thing. Is Iba, Souma and Sakamoto's route a thing in the previous versions? I've seen some reviews criticising the art for these routes, because they were drawn by a different artist than the whole original content. And while Souma may just quietly die in a corner, Iba and Sakamoto? YES PLEASE.

 

Also, let's go back to Kazama's voice actor, could you point me to any other otome/project he stars in? Because YES, that VOICE.

 

 

Otome bringing me back to VK is pretty simple if you consider I used to major in Japanese language/culture in college, AND what brought me to that major is VK ^^; It just reminded me that I used to love all things Japanese. If you want to be precise, the first otome ( that's not really an original otome) I've stumbled upon was Sounds of Verity, which is a Russian anime visual novel that I bought for like 1$ on sale and once I realized it's a whole genre, the rest is history. 

 

So is PS Vita still a thing? Do you think it'd be worth acquiring at this point, solely for the purpose of playing otome games not available for the western market? 

 

As for Steam otome releases, it's a slowly growing genre but it's pretty hit and miss depending largely on the amount of funding? Like the Dogenzaka Lab's releases, they are B rate otome at best, but the translations drag them even lower geez........... I feel my brain melting reading those stories T-T 

 

Switch??????

How do you play otome on switch? does not compute~

 

 

Edited July 17, 2019 by spockitty

[The Moon 989]

Too many at the moment.

 

I'm currently playing:
 

1. Tales of Narikiri Dungeon X for the PSP - it's fun, but the storyline is nothing impressive (so far?) and the combat system feels too "floaty" for me in comparison with other games in the series. I love all the different jobs you can be, though.

 

2. Hatsukare☆Ren’ai Debut Sengen! - an otome game. It's stupid and campy, and the brother is a creep, but I'm enjoying it anyways. Going after the bad-boy, because I like boys that are bad for me.

 

3. Romancing SaGa for the Super Famicon - super, super hard. Within the first 10 minutes of the game, I got sold into slavery, lost all my money, and died in the sewers. Looking forward to playing more, but the spot I'm in ATM is super-grindy. My chosen MC is so WEAK.

 

4. Dragon Quest 3 - SF version. Classic Dragon Quest I started up as a distraction from the raging dumpster fire that is my life. 

[ghost 2687]

8 hours ago, YuyoDrift said:

Man, a lot of you played Spyro lol. I got the bundle going on sale this weekend that includes both the Spyro and Crash Bandicoot trilogies.

I forgot how easy and fun Spyro was to play, that even my gf wants to try it (she didn't grow up on the PlayStation).

 

I'm also playing Bloodstained. @ghost@chipathy , do you guys understand the customizing/dismantleting of items well? I had to skip the tutorial and am completely lost lol. I'll try and just stock up on items and then take time to try it out. Overall for me the game is good, the voice volume on some characters is off, but bearable. Definitely more forgiving than the Castlevania series, in terms of gameplay.

I think I've got a pretty good handle on it. You can combine materials to create new items (e.g. melting bone + small webbing potion). And, with an item called alkahest, you are able to break down items into materials (potion breaks down into melting bone & small webbing).

 

When it comes to shards, having multiple copies of the same shard will increase its grade which is linked to increasing the strength of the shard. You can also upgrade the rank of shards which will enhance the shard like adding more items for summoning shards or increasing range for projectile shards. 

 

I found the English voices to be grating and have been using the Japanese voice. Much better I think (relatively anyways). I don't know if it's just because I haven't played them in a while, but I've actually found it to be a bit more of a challenge than the Castlevania titles. Especially the boss fights. I wouldn't say they're difficult, but some of them have required some attentive focus.

[monkeybanana4 1732]

11 hours ago, spockitty said:

Dude I was so drunk writing this, I barely remember even doing it. Sorry in advance for...everything I guess ^^;;; 

 

From what you're saying, it's kind of amazing how Hakuoki is holding up through the years with the art and quality of the story. Taking aside the encyclopedic content of feudal japanese history, it's a pretty compelling story that I've yet to see surpassed by another otome (translated into english). 

 

So, Hakuoki-veteran-san, seems like you've been trough hell and back with this game, I wonder how do the previous releases compare to the Steam thing. Is Iba, Souma and Sakamoto's route a thing in the previous versions? I've seen some reviews criticising the art for these routes, because they were drawn by a different artist than the whole original content. And while Souma may just quietly die in a corner, Iba and Sakamoto? YES PLEASE.

 

Also, let's go back to Kazama's voice actor, could you point me to any other otome/project he stars in? Because YES, that VOICE.

 

 

Otome bringing me back to VK is pretty simple if you consider I used to major in Japanese language/culture in college, AND what brought me to that major is VK ^^; It just reminded me that I used to love all things Japanese. If you want to be precise, the first otome ( that's not really an original otome) I've stumbled upon was Sounds of Verity, which is a Russian anime visual novel that I bought for like 1$ on sale and once I realized it's a whole genre, the rest is history. 

 

So is PS Vita still a thing? Do you think it'd be worth acquiring at this point, solely for the purpose of playing otome games not available for the western market? 

 

As for Steam otome releases, it's a slowly growing genre but it's pretty hit and miss depending largely on the amount of funding? Like the Dogenzaka Lab's releases, they are B rate otome at best, but the translations drag them even lower geez........... I feel my brain melting reading those stories T-T 

 

Switch??????

How do you play otome on switch? does not compute~

 

 

No worries~ I was half-tired/sleepy writing my own post, so I apologize since I made some mistakes in my own explanations/sentences (as you will see later ><;)

 

I think, from all the different otome games I've played (which compared to some hardcore fans is barely much, lol), Hakuouki stands out as being one of the better series for the artwork and the quality put into the writing (for the most part), although characterization of the main character is a bit lacking. I guess that's why even though it has been created so long ago, Hakuouki still remains popular. Aside from the plain main character and the typical 'blood'/'vampire'/'demon' element/trope, I think the characterization of the guys were great and seeing how the game isn't afraid to deal with the complicated history of that time (with some liberties taken, obviously) fascinates me.  A part of me wishes, though, that they'd stop milking the series at this point ^^; I love the series, but I'd love it even more if Ideal Factory/Otomate could create another series with just as much quality and thought. I think they've put out some decent ones afterward, but somehow, I don't really see anything beating Hakuouki in terms of popularity. 

 

Haha, not sure if I'm not a veteran, I just love the series a little too much, lol. (I even own a wall scroll of Saito and Hijikata standing together ^^;) Ah, no. Souma, Iba, and Sakamoto were not a thing until the Steam/PC version. They were specifically added for this latest release. (In Japan, I think this version of the game was released on the PS Vita.) Originally, it was just the original Shinsengumi men and Kazama. Also, Kazama's route was lacking quite a bit in the original versions if I remember correctly. Yeah, the original artist, Kazuki Yone, got laid off or left the company. I'm not exactly sure what happened, although, it seems her and the company are on bad terms. I remember she had once made a finished sketch of Harada and showed it off on her social media, but she had to take it down due to Otomate/Ideal Factory getting on her butt about it. So yeah, there's some definite bad blood, but as to the exact reason why; I'm not sure ^^; (Fun fact: The company likes to hide the fact that she's not really drawing the series anymore even though it's not really a secret at this point.) So they had to get a replacement artist to replicate Yone's artwork for the later releases. (I've read that the artist's name is called Ikemeda Go or something along those lines on some random otome blog years ago, so I'm not sure if it's correct or not). I always thought it looked fine, but as you've seen, many people were unhappy with it. If you're curious, I think the replacement artist draws other Otomate/Ideal Factory games. (I'll have to get back to you on the name of those games because right now it's escaping my mind. Many apologies~ ^^;) Also, as a random note, there's lots of anime series/spin-offs for Hakuouki. But I wouldn't recommend watching it since the quality is not on par with the games. Well, unless you like to see your beautiful 2D characters move and talk in 'real time', lol.

 

Yes, I thought his voice actor, Tsuda, starred in many other otome games aside from Nightshade. (I was wrong. Blame my dysfunctional brain for trying to work during the wee hours of the night 8']) Other than Nightshade and Hakuouki, I don't think he's played as the main character in other otome games. He has been a side character for some, I think. Not sure about the mobile games he's taken part in, though. However, he has been in other videogames like Tales of Berseria and the recent game, Sekiro: Shadow Die Twice. He has also voiced a lot of characters in various anime shows. Here's a more thorough list of his career than I could ever provide, lol: https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=39751. But yes~ I love his voice in the game ❤️ It's a part of what made me warm up to Kazama.

 

Ah, that's cool to have majored Japanese language/culture in college! I feel once you get into your first otome game, there's no going back ever x) Once you're in, you're in for life  

 

Hmm, I guess it depends how much you're (general usage of the term here) willing to spend on the games (in terms of time and money)? Cause, as you've mentioned, most are not released and/or translated in the West. And, as far as I know, most otome games in Japan still get released through the PS Vita or mobile/phone. If I'm not mistaken, some ports/versions of Uta no Prince-sama (and other lesser known otome games) are still stuck on the PSP, lol. Also, not all games are on the same level of quality like Hakuouki. Some otome games can be quite... um, the slough, to play through (depending on your tastes/opinion, though). So, I guess if you want to spend many hours on end playing imported otome games, then yes, I'd say it's worth getting a PS Vita. (Although, I think they've translated a few otome game for the PS Vita in the West.) If you want to casually play a few, then I think it might not be worth it since the PS Vita seems to be a dying handheld system. But that's just my humble opinion ^^; 

 

Ahem, yeah, I've seen the English translations for the otome games. Phew whee. It's, uh... something else very special, lol. It's one reason I try to avoid playing otome games in English, but it's a lot cheaper to buy the games once they're in the West @_@

 

Apparently, otome games on the Switch only exist in Japan, I think. (Oh, what was my brain thinking?? Maybe the beautiful pictures killed my brain cells ^^;) I agree. My brain. Can't comprehend this. (Here's the article talking about the picture hidden by the spoiler: Nightshade on the Switch in Japan)

 

Spoiler

 

Also, sorry for the insanely long post. I have no life when it comes to otome games ^^;

Edited July 17, 2019 by monkeybanana4