What are you playing?

[Arenegeth]

Thanks for that link, but they are parroting the same 'day after the scene with Nozomi at the park' fluff that's on some of the English resources, which is not true. Since you can get the Nozomi scene in Disc 1 but the Friends come for a visit is Disc 2 only, which is why I got it first night on Disc 2. So I can't take their word on it given that inconsistency.

I don't know if you have the answer to this question by the way, but can you get both rewards from Hang On and Space Harrier at once? What I mean by that, is that finishing either game with 1 credit should theoretically give you a high enough score for the other reward also, so if you play the game just once and finish with 1 Credit you should theoretically be able to get both rewards at once. Or at least hope that is the case...

By the way, according to the Data Review in the passport, I'm already over 110 hours spend on the game, that includes my original playthrough from back in the day, but it doesn't include the hours I spend total save scamming...

[pierrot]

Thanks for that link, but they are parroting the same 'day after the scene with Nozomi at the park' fluff that's on some of the English resources, which is not true. Since you can get the Nozomi scene in Disc 1 but the Friends come for a visit is Disc 2 only, which is why I got it first night on Disc 2. So I can't take their word on it given that inconsistency.

I'm a little confused, did you run it through a translator? Maybe it's a translation issue, because what I linked says to wait until Disc 2 to trigger the confession from Nozomi, then the next night, without going back home at any time after 7pm, he'll be in the bar after 11:00, or possible 11:15 pm.

I don't know if you have the answer to this question by the way, but can you get both rewards from Hang On and Space Harrier at once? What I mean by that, is that finishing either game with 1 credit should theoretically give you a high enough score for the other reward also, so if you play the game just once and finish with 1 Credit you should theoretically be able to get both rewards at once. Or at least hope that is the case...

Yeah, that I really don't know. I would personally assume the worst case here, that it would default to one or the other, but then the concern would obviously be which one would it default to if you 1cc it before getting the miniature of the arcade machine for 10 millions points. What I do know is that you can get the miniatures for both Hang-On and Space Harrier in Shenmue II, anyway, but I'm guessing that probably wouldn't work for your objectives.

[Markies]

I started Half-Life 2 on the Microsoft XBOX this afternoon.

I played through the original Half-Life on the PS2 and one of the main reasons I bought the original XBOX was to play Half-Life 2. I know very much about the hype and the praise going into the game, but I was curious to see if it still held up after all these years.

At the beginning, it took a while to load and the loading screens do perk up at the most inopportune times. Also, when I got into the game, the amount of times I got stuck in a doorway or in a hallway because of some item was getting really annoying.

With that being said, the game is utterly fantastic. I don't even have the gravity gun yet, so I have barely scratched the surface. But, the atmosphere is unbelievable and the set pieces are just so dramatic. So far, it really has been living up to the hype.

[Arenegeth]

I'm a little confused, did you run it through a translator? Maybe it's a translation issue, because what I linked says to wait until Disc 2 to trigger the confession from Nozomi, then the next night, without going back home at any time after 7pm, he'll be in the bar after 11:00, or possible 11:15 pm.

That's exactly the thing. Nozomi's confession triggers on Disc 1 not 2, and can be considerably removed from the 'friends come for a visit' scene.

More specifically, and according to my guide, I received the phone call from Nozomi on Day 6, December 8th 1986 Monday, Disc 1, that was right after the part in the story where you answer the password correctly on the phone. Though I think Nozomi's scene triggers right before that part, since I originally finished the day without answering the password correctly, and still got it.

I thought the friends would show up the next day because of the misinformation out there, so I was actually ready to get both Mr. Yukawa Easter Egg appearances on the same night (since the next day was the 9th).

But the friends visit triggered Day 13, December 15th 1986 Monday, Disc 2, literally an in-game week later. I assume that is because the 'friends come for a visit scene' data is not actually located on Disc 1 while the Nozomi scene is.

As far as I'm concerned, I don't even know if the two scenes are even related (thematically they barely are) but since I go for every optional scene, I obviously had the Nozomi scene as soon as possible, so I'm not even sure if it is technically possible to miss Nozomi's call and still get the friends visit or not, since everybody seems to be parroting the same info that originated 'somewhere'.

And I have confirmed that you can get Mr. Yukawa at the Bar Yokosuka scene to show up as early as 11:02 pm, so I don't know where the 11:15 pm thing came from.

Yeah, that I really don't know. I would personally assume the worst case here, that it would default to one or the other, but then the concern would obviously be which one would it default to if you 1cc it before getting the miniature of the arcade machine for 10 millions points. What I do know is that you can get the miniatures for both Hang-On and Space Harrier in Shenmue II, anyway, but I'm guessing that probably wouldn't work for your objectives.

I guess I'll have to find out the hard way...

I'll be going for the 1 Credit first, since is supposedly the hardest anyway, guess we'll see what happens. There's barely any information about the Arcade Rewards out there, besides the fact that they exist and the conditions to get them.

[Erik_Twice]

I wrote an article on JRPGs and spent a bit too much time (re)playing games for screnshots.

Dragon Quest (the original) is better than it seems at first glance. It's very primitive in some very fundamental ways, but it uses its basic tools very well. For example, the way it uses the old "you can see the city/castle/cave on the map" trick to good effect. Ultimately, it feels like a Wizardry game in that you make deeper and deeper incurions into enemy territory but without much of its depth.

Chrono Trigger has great pacing. Animations, text boxes and events move swiftly. Characters say what they have to say, but don't go on. It doesn't take long to get into fights. I like the sprite work quite a bit.

Final Fantasy VI. I forgot how comedic this game was. I remember it being funny and tongue in check and all that but I didn't quite remember the degree of it. I also misrememberd how long it takes to see Kafka's "HATE HATE HATE" scene. I thought it was an early game flashback when apparently it's almost two thirds in. Woops! I distinctly remember the "I fight for my friends" speech of one of the characters, though, as I do remember the amazing artwork of the battle and how it scrolls up to show more and more of the enemy.

It does have a fairly annoying pace, though. Scenes take long and many of the early battles are tiring. For some reason the real time turns feel less natural than they do in Chrono Trigger.

Either way, please appreciate this screenshot

WhyStoppedLovingJRPGs.3.Magic.jpg (112.54 KiB) Viewed 613 times

Beyond that, I haven't been playing much. I'm barely home and only have my phone to play with.

[pierrot]

I'm a little confused, did you run it through a translator? Maybe it's a translation issue, because what I linked says to wait until Disc 2 to trigger the confession from Nozomi, then the next night, without going back home at any time after 7pm, he'll be in the bar after 11:00, or possible 11:15 pm.

That's exactly the thing. Nozomi's confession triggers on Disc 1 not 2, and can be considerably removed from the 'friends come for a visit' scene.

Hmm, I think I'm starting to see what you're saying, but it seems to me that the information isn't necessarily that untrustworthy. Going through a bunch of videos of it being triggered--https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%E6%B9%AF%E5%B7%9D%E5%B0%82%E5%8B%99%E3%80%80%E3%83%90%E3%83%BC%E6%A8%AA%E9%A0%88%E8%B3%80--it seems that the more specific sequence is: Have the figures; Hang out at home until 7pm, before the point where Ryo gets the hand guard from the antiques shop, in order to get the Nozomi cutscene; Go to Bar Yokosuka after 11pm some day following the Nozomi scene. I checked the videos of my playthrough, and I had gotten the scene with Nozomi about where you had (failed the password a few times, on the 12th, and headed in the door to the Hadzuki household just after 8pm to get the phone call from Nozomi). I also got the scene in Bar Yokosuka (sans Yukawa) well after that. So it's not necessarily the very next day, but some day after the Nozomi scene. I think the only thing that's really in question is whether or not the Nozomi scene is actually required to get the scene in the bar.

It does maybe seem possible that only one of the Yukawa figures would be required to trigger his appearance in the bar during that scene, but it seems to me that even if that were true, it's likely that the business suit figure would be needed to have him appear at Bar Yokosuka, and the happi figure would be needed to have him show up in the sushi bar. That would be my assumption, anyway, given his attire in those respective appearances.

[Arenegeth]

I have now personally confirmed, that if you don't have either of the Mr. Yukawa figures he doesn't show up at Bar Yokosuka on the night the friends visit even if entering after 11:00 pm.

I didn't have to do a dry run from the start of the game to get to that point, I had a Disc 2 Start File from my previous run on my 4x Memory Card which was were I originally started my playthroughs (I moved on a single VMU since), so I only had to do the first day of Disc 2 and I was afk waiting for 11:00 pm for most of it.

I wasn't able to confirm whether the Nozomi scene was absolutely necessary for the friends visit, or if only one of the figures was enough to get Mr. Yukawa to show up, since I had neither by that point on that run, and I have both on this one.

I'm not curious enough or have the time to waste to test either of those things out, and they are beyond the purposes of the guide anyway.

So what does this mean as far as my guide goes?

Well, I'll have to actively advise people to let go of the Dural Gold if they get unbelievably lucky as I did, or else risk missing out on this Easter Egg. And that makes me feel bad, because I got the Dural and the Yukawa's (though I did have to forgo the Silver one). I could alternatively suggest to squeeze in the second Mr. Yukawa figure exactly when I did, but that complicates things, because statistically speaking, me lucking out and getting the Dural Gold so easy, without Silver, or either of the Mr. Yukawa's showing up first, had a very, very low probability of happening, it is very likely that at least 99% of the people who would potentially use the guide might not get that lucky.

I guess I'll figure it out, it doesn't affect my actual playthrough and at least now I know for sure both Mr. Yukawa Easter Eggs trigger if you have both figures 100%.

[noiseredux]

Tetris 99 is totally my go to right now. I'm up to 6 wins (out of 320 games, haha).

Lightseekers is still my more mellow go to. I wish y'all were playing this. I feel really good about my Nature and Storm decks right now.

I've been back on Overwatch a bit again. OWL got me hooked again. Shouts to Boston Uprising who cracked .500 this weekend

I also finally gave Apex Legends a go over the weekend. I'm not good. I have two kills in two hours played. But my team did win in my very first match, with my kill being the last. Felt absolutely epic. Turned out to be beginners luck of course, and I've done pretty lousy in the games since.

[noiseredux]

Started replaying Mega Man 3 last night for funsies. Prob not weird to say that it's perhaps my favorite of the NES games. (2 and 3 are real close). Ran through uh, five levels if I recall. I've played it a million times, though. I lucked out, having picked up MM Legacy Collection used on Switch, and just assumed the download code for Vol 2 would be used, but nope - I got those games as well. Such a great compilation. The soundtrack selection is awesome, and I listened to the intro for MM3 a few times in a row - one of my fav chiptunes of all time. I don't have a Mega Man amiibo - anybody know what it does in this collection?

[ZenErik]

Didn't get to play any Vesperia over the weekend since I was visiting my gf. I'm really enjoying it overall. I'm not quite sure what makes this game a Tales fan favorite so far, but it is quite good. Rita is my favorite character so far.

I still got a little FFIX time in on the trip. Only about 3 hours in. I love how great it looks on the Switch. The remaster came out great. I assume it looks about the same as the PC release which I have but have never touched.

We played some Katamari Damacy Reroll together as well. The Switch is so perfect for trips. Can play it as a portable at the airport and on the flights and also bring along the dock and plug it into any TV for a nice console experience.

I've got some games lined up to for the next 3 or so months after Vesperia.

Bayonetta
Bayonetta 2
The Last Story
Shining Resonance Refrain
Ys VIII

In addition to the single player games I end up playing a match or two of League of Legends some days. Sometimes more on weekends. Depends how busy I am and how invested I am in whatever single player game I am playing. Like Vesperia I've only been playing for a few hours each night so I have time for other things, but when I was playing XC1 I didn't have much time for League because I just wanted to play XC1 as much as possible.

Also pre-ordered FFVII on the Switch. These game should hold me over pretty well til the big releases this summer. Fire Emblem isn't til the end of July. I'm interested in DMC5 too, but I'm waiting til I can get it for half price or less. Same goes for the Switch releases of FFX/X-2 and XII.