What are you playing?

[Xeogred]

I wouldn't even think of attempting to platinum any of these games, haha. They look insanely time consuming and hard.

One thing about 3 is that the first 10 hours or so is about an orphanage and stuff. So yeah, it's kind of lighthearted in an enduring way but man it was a weird jumping in point for me. It actually took me like a year on and off to get past that part, but once I finally did I blasted through the rest. 4 on the other hand was off the chain, I beat it in like a week and it really made me a fan itching to play the rest.

I bet you'll have a much easier time going into 3 having played 1-2.

I think what also probably lightens up the later games is Haruka. I like her a lot though, but it's easy to see how she's kind of this anchor for Kazuma's character. I think she's really young in 1 so probably didn't focus much on her at all? Maybe the same case with 2 as well. Then she's not even in the picture with Zero, so they are completely free of her and can go all in on the grimdark mafia gang stuff with Kazuma. It seems like she gets a lot of focus in 5 and the gameplay aspects of her parts weren't good, but who knows.

[PartridgeSenpai]

I think what also probably lightens up the later games is Haruka. I like her a lot though, but it's easy to see how she's kind of this anchor for Kazuma's character. I think she's really young in 1 so probably didn't focus much on her at all? Maybe the same case with 2 as well. Then she's not even in the picture with Zero, so they are completely free of her and can go all in on the grimdark mafia gang stuff with Kazuma. It seems like she gets a lot of focus in 5 and the gameplay aspects of her parts weren't good, but who knows.

Well, from a narrative perspective, it wouldn't make any sense at all if Haruka was in Zero, because Zero takes place before 1, and Haruka is born during the course of 1's events. It would be REALLY weird if she were in that

Yakuza 1 focuses a LOT on Haruka and Kazuma's relationship though. It's one of the driving factors for the story. Granted she is a kid, so she's mostly just a plot device that Kazuma has to focus on, but hoping for strong, central female characters in a game like this is hoping for a little more than the moon, I feel (given that not only is Japan a fairly patriarchal society, even in comparison to Western cultures, but it's also about the Yakuza, a traditionally totally male-dominated aspect of culture. That said, 1 and 2 do have some cool ladies in 'em, they just play smaller roles/have less screen time). Two seems like it's focusing more on Yakuza-ish things and people so far, but 1 kinda started out that way as well so who knows where this is goin'.

[Sarge]

I'm still playing Hyper Light Drifter. My opinion of the game is climbing a bit more, as I start to uncover a little more of the combat depth and options. I'm much better at the dash timing, which helps, and I've also started to incorporate the guns a bit more in my strategy. Turns out the shotgun is really effective at close range. Who knew?

Anyway, pretty much everything I'm doing is poking around looking for keys, bits, modules, and monoliths. As it turns out, most of it is entirely optional, really just unlocking new outfits (that do, actually, have various buffs). But the exploration has been fun enough that the rewards really don't matter as much as you'd think. It took me long enough to recognize some of the tell-tale signs of secrets. While platforms at the edges of screens and whatnot are always good candidates, there are often also marks on the ground that denote secrets as well. These can be hidden paths, switches, invisible platforms, all sorts of fun stuff. I've pretty much doubled my play time poking around, and I've just got the southern area and some cleanup to go. Not sure where the monoliths factor in yet, but I'm sure I'll figure it out.

[Xeogred]

monoliths = purple diamond things? I think I was missing 1 or 2 in the end. I found most of the stuff in the game, but was still missing quite a bit of those "keys" for the locked doors. It's crazy because I was very thorough, but yeah there was some super tight knit secrets.

I also didn't try too much with the town trial things for some upgrades. Like the soccer game and such haha.

And how did you beat the game not knowing how amazing the shotgun to the face is?

What are the outfit perks? I kept switching them up when I found a new one and wondered if they did something different, but could never tell.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Trying to decide which Atari game to hit up. Maybe I'll finally finish Raiders of the Lost Ark.

[Sarge]

monoliths = purple diamond things? I think I was missing 1 or 2 in the end. I found most of the stuff in the game, but was still missing quite a bit of those "keys" for the locked doors. It's crazy because I was very thorough, but yeah there was some super tight knit secrets.

The big tablet things that you find. I found the area where they fill in, there's 16 of them in total. I'm probably missing five right now. I found all the triangles (I found out they're called Modules). Missing three keys, but there are still several key doors I haven't gone through. I may consult a guide to get me close to the area where the stuff is at, just to save a ton of backtracking.

I also didn't try too much with the town trial things for some upgrades. Like the soccer game and such haha.

The soccer game is super-easy. Literally just use your charge slash and it'll whack him, bounce past and into the goal.

And how did you beat the game not knowing how amazing the shotgun to the face is?

Cuz I'm awesome, natch. Nah, seriously, I died a fair amount until I got the dash rhythm down, then I just used that for dashing in and out with mostly melee combat. Works pretty well, actually. The last boss was a little tough, until I figured out a few of the best ways to evade his attacks. The last pattern is ironically a little easier, because while it might fill the screen, he doesn't move around a ton with melee attacks.

What are the outfit perks? I kept switching them up when I found a new one and wondered if they did something different, but could never tell.

From what I've seen, one makes the dash timing easier, one decreases stamina usage, there's one that gives you another charge of life, stuff like that.

[noiseredux]

playing a few things...

Halo Wars 2 was my main focus, but for this week it's taking a backseat to Elder Scrolls Online for the free trial week. I'll plan to purchase ESO while it's still on sale in preparation of the Morrowind expansion in June. And I've also been playing Elder Scrolls Legends, the CCG game. It's good, and somewhat complicated.

Besides highly anticipated new releases, it's my intention to really start focusing on my so-called 'backlog' for a while.

[Sarge]

Aaaaand that's it for Hyper Light Drifter. Put in a bit over 17 hours finishing everything off. I actually apparently got some monoliths and died after getting them or something, because there were a few I could have sworn I'd triggered. I didn't do the battle arena or the dash arena challenges, 'cause screw that. Also, the last boss is a lot easier with that massive laser shot that takes relatively forever to fire. Effective stuff.

Now I have to figure out what I'm going to transition to. I had Vanquish and Paper Mario: Color Splash going, so I might slide back to those. Still seems like I had one more that I can't remember in the super-recent backlog... oh, right, Devil Survivor and RE: Revelations. Hoo boy.

[PartridgeSenpai]

Yakuza 2 is REALLY heating up. One problem Yakuza 1 kinda felt like it had was the lack of a consistant bad guy. There are bad guys, sure, but there are so many, they just kinda feel here there and everywhere. The big bad of Yakuza 2 (provided he sticks around, I guess) is one nasty mo'fo', and I really hope he sticks around because he's so great.

Kiiiinda starting to regret starting the game on hard mode though. Enemies have a LOT more health. Possibly like twice as much as normal mode. Simply for time's sake of getting through the "random" encounters (i.e. non-story/mission-based fights), which take much longer when the enemies are so much healthier and smarter

[Xeogred]

Aaaaand that's it for Hyper Light Drifter. Put in a bit over 17 hours finishing everything off. I actually apparently got some monoliths and died after getting them or something, because there were a few I could have sworn I'd triggered. I didn't do the battle arena or the dash arena challenges, 'cause screw that. Also, the last boss is a lot easier with that massive laser shot that takes relatively forever to fire. Effective stuff.

Now I have to figure out what I'm going to transition to. I had Vanquish and Paper Mario: Color Splash going, so I might slide back to those. Still seems like I had one more that I can't remember in the super-recent backlog... oh, right, Devil Survivor and RE: Revelations. Hoo boy.

Vanquish gets my vote. Get back to that ASAP.