What video games are you currently playing?

[Tokage 5930]

I also started playing Maximo 1 for the PS2. It's sort of a modern homage to the Ghosts 'n' Goblins series by Capcom and it's about as difficult as those games at times. Pretty great.

[Original Saku 1593]

Yo Atlus just released Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne (aka SMT:III) as a PS2 classic on PS3 today!! God I'm so hyped right now, thank you Atlus for finally giving us SMT fans what we truly wanted Everyone should go buy this amazing game since it's only 9.99 and is in my opinion the best SMT and one of the best RPGs from the PS2 era!  

[Bear 1817]

I've started playing Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch. I'm only a few hours in, but I'm way disappointed by now. It looks beautiful, the atmosphere is good and the soundtrack is amazing, but it feels as if I am playing a kids game. Hopefully it gets a bit harder, and funnier as well. The battle's all the same. You go out, push X and you win. Always the same. Been way too many cutscenes so far too. Jesus, does no one manage to make a game and tell a fantastic story without an overload of cutscenes these days? It's so damn annoying. But, it's a well-made game for sure.

[Original Saku 1593]

^ In my experience with that game, it does get better but only so much... there will still be tons of cut scenes but that's sorta the norm. Fights do get harder and a little bit more complex, but not a ton. Really the best thing to do is just try to enjoy the beautiful art style and really good story. I still think Ni no Kuni is a very underrated game from last year... many people downplay it's existence due to the childish exterior and the fact that it's Japanese

[Bear 1817]

Underrated? It's more or less considered a modern classic. Got 9/10 and 10/10 by "everyone" when it came.

 

However, I can rarely enjoy a game based on it's story, style and/or atmosphere. I play games to play, and games need good gameplays. If I want to enjoy great stories, style and atmosphere I'll put on a film. This is one of the big problem with todays games IMO. It's all story and style over gamelay.

[Original Saku 1593]

Yes underrated. Although it got rather well received reviews across the board at release, review sites do not account for everybody else, in the end it's just one person saying they liked the game. While most people forgot all about the game after a month or two... When the end of last year came around and everybody was doing their end of the year lists ni no kuni was very much left out from most. Not to mention I've seen tons of people mention not liking it despite the great reviews...  But pretty much in my book most Japanese games that make it over here to the states are pretty underrated and that's just a sad truth... but for some reason ni no kuni seemed even more underrated than others, I don't know it might just be that I've let to many other people's bad opinions about the game influence my observation. I personally enjoyed the games story and art style as well as the gameplay, even though it's not as deep as other J-RPGs that make it out here to the west I sill found it to be an enjoyable experience and I had fun playing it. I would definitely be willing to replay it here in a few more years if only to re-experience the awesome atmosphere of the world, but is it a modern classic? No not in my opinion. 9/10 and 10/10 reviews does not equal a modern classic, actually I don't know anyone who would consider it a modern classic including myself. For it to be a modern classic; for one more people would actually have to remember the game (lol) and for two, It needs a bigger impact such as a game mechanic that's works really amazing and never been done before or a great story that's uniquely different from other offerings. Most of all to be a modern classic it would need to be remembered and sadly from what I've seen nobody remembers this game and most people didn't even think it was that great to begin with, some of these people are of course posers who either one; never played the game and are just "bandwagoning", two; played the game but never got past the first few hours before quitting, and three; played the game all the way through and legitimately didn't like it. I'm sure we both know which two categories most people fall under XD  

 

But yes definitely continue playing it, the gameplay gets a little better farther in at least.    

[Bear 1817]

I see. The game has gotten a massive response here in Norway, and wherever I go to, be it forums or game shops or places where people talka bout games, people are talking about it like crazy. Been like that since it came, which is why I finally decided to pick it up (aka borrow it from my brother).

 

I also disagree with you about what a game has to have to be considered a modern classic. For something to be a modern classic, it only have to be out of the ordinary good. I'm more into films than games, and both The Call of Cthulhu, Blancanieves and The House of the Devil are modern day classics, despite not having a touch of originality to them. All three imitates styles from other eras and tries to copy the style and make it look like they were actually made in those decades (20's and 70's), yet they're modern classics because they're so damn good. Sure, a lot of films are damn good, but these are out of the ordinary good, and that's all you need really. You don't have to make anything new, be original and lead way or anything like that, which is something that goes for films, TV-series, comics, music and also games.

 

But yeah, in Norway at least, this game is already known as a modern classic and so far I fail to understand why.

[Original Saku 1593]

Ah well I think films and games are a little bit different in that regard but to each their own I guess. The main thing is that your whole argument about films works for films but not games in my opinion... with games it's a bit different because everybody is looking for the next big thing or innovation, people don't want to play the same formula over and over again. They'll play a slightly altered formula with a few changes here and there but usually if a game releases with the same tired mechanics and no alterations whatsoever people kinda frown upon that. one example for me would be the Dynasty Warriors franchise, which in my opinion is a rinse and repeat series with almost no merit. I know people still enjoy it because of the game play but overall it's the same thing every iteration and it's gradually dieing with each as well. The game industry strives on innovation, innovation is literally the history of the video game industry as we know it. I agree with your statement about "it only haveing to be out of the ordinary good" but that doesn't change the fact that it has to also be well liked and remembered, even among the very niche scene that is the western JRPG scene ni no kuni in particular is not very well received and mainly goes unforgotten by most people who've played it and while it might be popular in Norway, that only really results in a very small percentage of people compared to everywhere else it is not revered so highly.   

So I guess it is a modern classic in Norway but elsewhere or to be more exact the united states it is not? Really I don't know... when I think of modern classic and video games I think more on a grander scale than that of ni no kuni i guess

 

Yeah here in America it's not nearly like that.... kinda a shame too. Wish it was the opposite.

[Bear 1817]

I get what you mean, but I don't agree on everything. If you look through history of gaming, there's a shitload of the classics that didn't offer anything new or innovative, other than another story and characters of course. And that's just as with films and music. Look at all the classics through the time. Very few of them very innovative, and despite just giving the people more of the same ol', they'e still classics and people still loved them because they were out of the ordinary great. Same as with a lot of games to be honest. Look at some of the classic Castlevania and Megaman games, or a lot of the classic fighting games. They're the same as the previous ones, or other games within the genre, but still gained status as a classic.

 

 

I should also add that a modern classic, isn't the same as a true classic. A modern classic isn't sure to be a classic in 7-10 years time. None of the us knows how these games/albums/films will stand the test of time, but it's they're things that currently looks as if they will become a classic inthe future. That's how I see a modern classic at least.

[Original Saku 1593]

Ah good point about modern classics and classics not being the same and indeed you are correct about classic games such as Castlevania and Megaman series being widely popular and well received despite the same formula, but one big difference between back then and now is that I believe the industry has evolved past that age and is still evolving today. Whether for better or worst things are changing rapidly pertaining to all aspects of the video game industry whether it be the methods that developers use to create these games or the platforms we play these games on or even the process of how we acquire these games. Shit has changed.

 

Basically what I'm saying is that the times have changed and with the times aspects of the industry have changed which in turn results in peoples perception of what they want out of video games to change as well. At least that's how I see it now a days... of course that's just my theory and observation as a gamer.

 

You make a good argument though I've rather enjoyed discussing this topic with you, It seems like this could be a discussion thread all on it's own really xD

[Bear 1817]

Yes, you're right. The industry has evolved, and it still continues to evolve and it'll continue as long as people are making games. But the criteria for something being a classic, the way I see it at least, is still the same. Some things changes, but some things stay the same.

 

And of course people also want new things, and I want new things as well. But I, as many others, don't care about how innoative a game is. We want something good.

 

I'm more of an old school gamer myself though, and most of my favourite games of the 2000's are games that have much of the same feeling as older games, innovative or not. Super Meat Boy, Donkey Kong County Returns, Braid, Shadow of the Colossus, New Super Mario Bros., Hotline Miami and a few others are games I love of the 00's. But no matter how innovative, or uninnovative, these games are, they still evoke much of the same feeling as I got in the 90's when I was playing games like Super Mario, Donkey Kong, Bomberman, Castlevania, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Megaman and so on. And that of course is one of the reasons I hail several of them as modern classics. Games that will be remembered, not for being original, unique or anything, but for being out of the ordinary good. I like newers games such as the Battlefield series, Uncharted-series, God of War-series, and many more too, but none of these games evoke this child-like feeling in me and none of them makes me proud of being a beast at them. But as already said, being innovative isn't imortant to me. Making games that evokes real feelings in me, and make me enjoy the living shit out of the games, are the important thing. But this is a bit off topic, ain't it? I suddenly went into another territory here and couldn't stop.

 

 

Why thank you, good sir. Likewise.

[Original Saku 1593]

Ahh i see, that base feeling of truly enjoying a game and the emotions that it evokes... that might just be the best criteria for one to personally judge if a game is a modern classic or not.

 

I think I now also understand what your definition of a modern classic is; a game that evokes a particular feeling of enjoyment and nostalgia, similar emotions that have been felt before while enjoying games that you regard as a classic. or something roughly along those lines? Which I can totally see that as being correct as I have felt the same things before. So to conclude it's not really about the games being of a similar formula as older "classic" games but the emotions or feeling you have while paying a game that makes it a modern classic.

 

hmmm... I feel like we're getting somewhere with this breakdown of what makes a game a classic and what make's a game a modern classic discussion. Now that I think about it, whether a game is innovative or not has no bearing on whether it is a modern classic since even if it is innovative, if you don't get that particular feeling while playing it, it does not matter. I seem to have gotten off topic myself there when talking about the state of the industry since that very well seems to have no bearing on the discussion after all. Since we're at the point where the genre or type of game it is does not matter as to whether it is a modern classic, so my evolved perception theory is actually not correct when pertaining to this topic.

 

Yes it does seem we might have gotten a bit off topic from the original discussion, however I think there is probably one thing we could definitely agree about and that would be the matter of whether Ni no Kuni is a modern classic or not in our eyes. 

[Bear 1817]

Well, not exactly. There's a lot of games, albums and films that I don't like, and that doesn't evoke a single feeling in me, that are classics and modern classics, even in my eyes. So that thing was more about how I feel about todays games, than anything else.

 

But when something is a classic, or modern classic, you will, in most cases if not always, see that the game/album/film is full of quality, despite not liking it myself. I wasn't very impressed by Amnesia: The Dark Descent on a personal level, but I still see it as a modern classic because there's so much quality in the game. And at the end of the day, that's what decides if a game/film/album have the power to become a classic or not.

 

 

 

Anyway, a bit on topic for a change (), i'm about 4-5 hours into Ni no Kuni now and it's become a lot better. Not where I expect it to be, but a lot better. But I hate a lot of the helpful elements in the game, such as the people glowing on the mini-map. I'm looking for the missing kids, and they actually glow on the mini-map. It's just weird, man. Not impressed with the fights yet either. I just send out one of those small fuckers and push X a few times, and I've won the fight. Not very impressive. No thinking, no nothing to be honest.

[Original Saku 1593]

Oh well that's pretty much a given since it's not you yourself as an individual that decides if a game is an modern classic but more a collective group of people. Pretty much the game needs to be acknowledged by more than just yourself to be considered a modern classic, and in that case acknowledgement doesn't always equal enjoyment as you pointed out. Which means that there is two ways to decide if a game is a modern classic, one; the emotion or feeling of enjoyment that you have while playing a game, and two; Acknowledgement of a game's quality whether or not you particularly like the game. But of course there is another factor, that factor being the collective agreement between many persons on the aforementioned points. At least that's how i see it, since no one person should be able to declare a game is a modern classic or not... it should be many people in agreement that should be the definite.

 

Ah yes glad to hear it's gotten better for you... can't really say i enjoyed the "helpful elements" of the game either, I don't mind some hand holding in my games but there's a point where enough is enough.

[kyoselflove 2680]

I've been playing Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, and I have to say it is very satisfying....  But I saw that you were talking about Ni no Kuni and I wanted to share my...opinion? 

 

Oh Ni no Kuni, I downloaded the demo way back when it came out and absolutely hated it.  I bought the game because I am a sucker for any RPG these days (I love RPGs).  After 5 hours of playing, yes 5 hours, I was cussing at my TV and hating the game more.  I hated the battle system (maybe because I am stupid and couldn't get a hang of it until 10 hours into the game haha) but the art and story drove me in.  I wanted to give people courage dammit! lol. 

 

But seriously I hated that game with a passion but I think 12 hours into I started to slowly fall in love, by the end, the game was amazing.  I'm not so sure that is a good thing, taking 12 hours to love a game haha, but I give all RPG's a try and for some reason I kept going with this one.  To me RPGs are becoming a rare breed, and I give all of them a try.  And I love Studio Ghibli, so maybe that is why I kept going.  Okay I'm done xP

[Bear 1817]

Oh well that's pretty much a given since it's not you yourself as an individual that decides if a game is an modern classic but more a collective group of people. Pretty much the game needs to be acknowledged by more than just yourself to be considered a modern classic, and in that case acknowledgement doesn't always equal enjoyment as you pointed out. Which means that there is two ways to decide if a game is a modern classic, one; the emotion or feeling of enjoyment that you have while playing a game, and two; Acknowledgement of a game's quality whether or not you particularly like the game. But of course there is another factor, that factor being the collective agreement between many persons on the aforementioned points. At least that's how i see it, since no one person should be able to declare a game is a modern classic or not... it should be many people in agreement that should be the definite.

 

Ah yes glad to hear it's gotten better for you... can't really say i enjoyed the "helpful elements" of the game either, I don't mind some hand holding in my games but there's a point where enough is enough.

 

I feel like we agree more or less 100% now. High fuckin' five!

 

 

 

Oh Ni no Kuni, I downloaded the demo way back when it came out and absolutely hated it.  I bought the game because I am a sucker for any RPG these days (I love RPGs).  After 5 hours of playing, yes 5 hours, I was cussing at my TV and hating the game more.  I hated the battle system (maybe because I am stupid and couldn't get a hang of it until 10 hours into the game haha) but the art and story drove me in.  I wanted to give people courage dammit! lol. 

 

But seriously I hated that game with a passion but I think 12 hours into I started to slowly fall in love, by the end, the game was amazing.  I'm not so sure that is a good thing, taking 12 hours to love a game haha, but I give all RPG's a try and for some reason I kept going with this one.  To me RPGs are becoming a rare breed, and I give all of them a try.  And I love Studio Ghibli, so maybe that is why I kept going.  Okay I'm done xP

 

What was it that you did not get a hang on? For my part, this is the easiest battle system I've tried in a RPG game. It's very simple, at least for now. I hope it gets a bit harder and more complicated. Unlike Final Fantasy 7 I do not need to use my brain to win any of these battles, and I rarely lose much HP, which is a bit disappointing. I like it a bit harder. Or, a lot harder.

[Vitne Eveille 65]

I just downloaded Final Fantasy III, the original US release (meaning Final Fantasy 6), on my Android phone.  Man, the memories

[Original Saku 1593]

Playing a lot of Dark Souls II (PC) right now, been playing around with the GeDoSaTo tool to make it look a ton better and modding in a few things I want... might do some screenshots herein a little while once I get it perfect so I can showcase how amazing it looks right now I'm currently working on my cleric character who somewhat a faith based spellsword type and lightning user, I'm maining the Halberd which I plan to eventually make it +10 with lightning enchant for ultimate effectiveness.

 

Other than that not really doing much on the videogame front other than the odd session of JJBA:ASB every once in a while, although Watchdogs comes out in a few weeks and I'm definitely picking that up for my PS4 So pretty much a typical summer, not much coming out so it's time for backlog stuff I suppose... I kinda want to replay all the MGS games this summer since I did buy the legacy collection last year so I might as well, plus there's gonna be a new phantom pain trailer at E3 in a few weeks so that seems fitting to get me hype for some MGS.

[JukaForever 758]

I am almost done my first playthrough with Dark Souls 2. Since people are saying NG+ is different, I will have to do it as well but with a different playthrough since I am not fully happy with my first build. I also have to do a solo runthrough as I keep summoning NPCs since I don't want to miss any storylines. I can't say for sure I have beaten the game unless a full on solo playthrough (with no shield and using minimal armor) is done.

 

I am also already prepping new builds for PVP which I have a bit of mixed feelings with. Lag stabs are still around and my win streaks are a little random due to lag. I thought since it is now a proper PC game, lag should be minimal and better than DkS1 but it isn't the case so far.

 

Multiple builds and mastery is still at hand so it looks like I will probably last another 3 years till I get bored and done everything with it ^.^

[Original Saku 1593]

^ Lag is more about your own network environment though isn't it? I don't see how it's the games fault if you're lagging online due to your internet connection... maybe check and see what your ping is? IDK, I remember there was a really nifty mod for DaS1 that fixed a lot of the online PVP connectivity problems that we're plaguing the PC version, I'm sure there'll be something similar for DaS2 sooner or later if it's a big issue. 

[JukaForever 758]

Well, the thing is, it is fine on some cases and terrible on others. To put it simply

 

Lag: DkS < DkS2

Connectivity: DkS < DkS2

 

I can say the summons(including red soapstones and dragon remants) are much more reliable on DkS2 and not a problem at all but the lag is a hit or miss in terms of severity. I can't speak much on invasions as it seems like NG players are given less invasions, I will have to see what its like in NG+.

[sai 868]

Currently playing the Tomb Raider 2013 reboot, it was on sale, got it for around 10$. This is one of the first non-JRPG I'm playing and I'm really enjoying it. The story is really captivating and Lara's character is really believable and loveable. I'm enjoying the gameplay and the unexpected quicktime events.

[kyoselflove 2680]

I feel like we agree more or less 100% now. High fuckin' five!

 

 

 

 

What was it that you did not get a hang on? For my part, this is the easiest battle system I've tried in a RPG game. It's very simple, at least for now. I hope it gets a bit harder and more complicated. Unlike Final Fantasy 7 I do not need to use my brain to win any of these battles, and I rarely lose much HP, which is a bit disappointing. I like it a bit harder. Or, a lot harder.

 

I don't really remember it's been over a year since I played it.  I remember it getting harder, at some points you couldn't even move on unless you captured a certain familiar (is that what they are called?)  and I spent hours and hours trying to get one familiar.  Maybe it was just annoying at times, I remember dying a lot lol.

[Flame-X 441]

Got myself Gundam Extreme VS. Full Boost for the PS3. Currently playing the Last of Us.

 

On the PC side, HAWKEN.

[Original Saku 1593]

Got myself Gundam Extreme VS. Full Boost for the PS3. Currently playing the Last of Us.

 

On the PC side, HAWKEN.

 

Damn I wanted to buy that shit really bad but I refuse to spend 8,000 yen (about 80USD) for a game... Japan really needs to get with the program and learn how to price their games appropriately...