Oh haha, didn't notice you've never tried SMT V before. Should've told you, back when Persona's long story segments were not working out for you, that the mainline series is more combat focused.

Once you've finished it and you liked the entire game, try SMT 3 Nocturne as well. There is a port on the Switch. SMT V was the series going open world kinda like Zelda: BotW. SMT 3 is an older, more dungeon crawler type of game.

DarkPlasmaBall

United States45020 Posts

January 05 2023 19:22 GMT

#3582

On January 06 2023 04:03 andrewlt wrote:
Oh haha, didn't notice you've never tried SMT V before. Should've told you, back when Persona's long story segments were not working out for you, that the mainline series is more combat focused.

Once you've finished it and you liked the entire game, try SMT 3 Nocturne as well. There is a port on the Switch. SMT V was the series going open world kinda like Zelda: BotW. SMT 3 is an older, more dungeon crawler type of game.

I definitely will; thanks for the recommendation! And it blows my mind that Persona is a spin-off of SMT; I can see some overlapping art styles, but the games are still so different to me!

andrewlt

United States7702 Posts

January 05 2023 22:59 GMT

#3583

Persona added dating sim elements and long story segments to the SMT formula. The demons, spells and abilities should be similar. Persona's one-more combat system should be mostly similar to SMT's press turn combat system as well, with subtle differences between the two.

One of the biggest differences is that sukukaja/sukunda goes from the least useful buff/debuff in Persona to arguably the strongest one in SMT. I don't know how early you are in the game but buffs/debuffs are generally very good in the series, just maybe not in the early game when the mana costs are too high.

DarkPlasmaBall

United States45020 Posts

January 05 2023 23:41 GMT

#3584

On January 06 2023 07:59 andrewlt wrote:
Persona added dating sim elements and long story segments to the SMT formula. The demons, spells and abilities should be similar. Persona's one-more combat system should be mostly similar to SMT's press turn combat system as well, with subtle differences between the two.

One of the biggest differences is that sukukaja/sukunda goes from the least useful buff/debuff in Persona to arguably the strongest one in SMT. I don't know how early you are in the game but buffs/debuffs are generally very good in the series, just maybe not in the early game when the mana costs are too high.

I just beat all the gods from around the world - Zeus, Odin, and whoever was Shiva's second in command - and now I'm in the Empyrean. Pretty sure I'm near the end of the game / main story? Not sure about post-game content.

andrewlt

United States7702 Posts

January 05 2023 23:47 GMT

#3585

That's definitely very near the end. And I think you can get all the endings by making a hard save before the Empyrean. I don't remember any post-game content for this game. There are a few high level quests but those can be done before the ending if you level enough.

DarkPlasmaBall

United States45020 Posts

January 06 2023 00:00 GMT

#3586

On January 06 2023 08:47 andrewlt wrote:
That's definitely very near the end. And I think you can get all the endings by making a hard save before the Empyrean. I don't remember any post-game content for this game. There are a few high level quests but those can be done before the ending if you level enough.

Cool, thanks! And yeah, I think Shiva is a high-level quest... I tried to start a special battle near where I beat his second in command, and it said I wasn't strong enough yet o.O

DarkPlasmaBall

United States45020 Posts

January 17 2023 17:28 GMT

#3587

Friday = Fire Emblem Engage

So psyched!

I also have Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition, Rune Factory 5, and Disney Dreamlight Valley in my backlog. I have a feeling that each of those 4 games will deserve a good chunk of my time, and I don't want to start a new game right before FEE comes out, as I want to jump into FEE on release day and I don't like bouncing back and forth between different games.

Laurens

Belgium4550 Posts

January 18 2023 08:15 GMT

#3588

What's new about the Skyrim Anniversary Edition?

Or have you not played Skyrim yet?
e: also getting FE on launch, still wrapping up GoW Ragnarok though.

DarkPlasmaBall

United States45020 Posts

January 18 2023 10:12 GMT

#3589

On January 18 2023 17:15 Laurens wrote:
What's new about the Skyrim Anniversary Edition?

Or have you not played Skyrim yet?
e: also getting FE on launch, still wrapping up GoW Ragnarok though.

I've never played Skyrim ^^ I googled it and apparently "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition: The Anniversary Edition includes a decade worth of content: the critically acclaimed core game, pre-existing and new Creation Club content, plus all three official add-ons: Dawnguard, Hearthfire, and Dragonborn."

BisuDagger

Bisutopia19298 Posts

January 18 2023 18:19 GMT

#3590

Just started playing Earthbound on the switch. I'm a couple hours in and it's a hilariously fun handheld game. The developers break the fourth wall a lot in the dialogue.

DarkPlasmaBall

United States45020 Posts

January 19 2023 10:22 GMT

#3591

On January 19 2023 03:19 BisuDagger wrote:
Just started playing Earthbound on the switch. I'm a couple hours in and it's a hilariously fun handheld game. The developers break the fourth wall a lot in the dialogue.

I really like games that break the fourth wall, like Earthbound and Undertale. I used those as inspiration for when I made the dialogue and fourth-wall breaks in Mango Mischief

Another Switch game that I found hilarious was Dadish. Very simple platforming game, but really funny dialogue. (Dadish 2 and Dadish 3 are more of the same, but I prefer the first one.)

DarkPlasmaBall

United States45020 Posts

January 23 2023 03:44 GMT

#3592

Fire Emblem Engage is shaping up to be a really solid game in the franchise. I wouldn't rank it as high as Three Houses (S tier for me), but Engage is definitely going to be either A or A+ tier on my list.

[image loading]

Laurens

Belgium4550 Posts

January 23 2023 09:34 GMT

#3593

FE has its own thread fwiw: https://tl.net/forum/games/503645-fire-emblem?page=166
I thought 3 houses was pretty mediocre, so hearing you say Engage is worse than 3 houses is worrying xd
But the game is arriving today, we'll see how it goes.
Anything like the monastery in this game? Pls tell me there isn't.

DarkPlasmaBall

United States45020 Posts

January 23 2023 10:07 GMT

#3594

On January 23 2023 18:34 Laurens wrote:
FE has its own thread fwiw: https://tl.net/forum/games/503645-fire-emblem?page=166
I thought 3 houses was pretty mediocre, so hearing you say Engage is worse than 3 houses is worrying xd
But the game is arriving today, we'll see how it goes.
Anything like the monastery in this game? Pls tell me there isn't.

There's a small hub called The Somniel, but it's considerably less significant. Engage goes back to focusing on fight after fight without as many peripheral distractions / life-sim, so if you're a purist in that sense, you'll likely enjoy it more than Three Houses

Laurens

Belgium4550 Posts

January 23 2023 12:12 GMT

#3595

That is goooood to hear!

DarkPlasmaBall

United States45020 Posts

February 05 2023 23:32 GMT

#3596

Not real, but would 100% watch.

DarkPlasmaBall

United States45020 Posts

February 06 2023 13:15 GMT

#3597

Overall, I'm really happy with the way Fire Emblem Engage played out. I played Shin Megami Tensei 3 too, which is solid but I was definitely spoiled by how great SMT5 was (I don't think 3 is as amazing as 5, but 3 is still good). I still have both Skyrim and Rune Factory 5 in my backlog, but what I'm currently playing is a Disney life-simulator called Disney Dreamlight Valley. After how much I loved the JRPG / life-sim combination of Harvestella (and I assume I'll really like RF5 too), I figured I'd give another shot to the pure life-sim genre, and DDV is actually pretty solid. The beginning area (Merlin, Mickey, Goofy, Scrooge McDuck) takes a little longer to get through than I would have liked, but overall the overwhelming magical, whimsical Disney universe is hitting me right in the nostalgia, and it's awesome, despite it only being a simple life-sim game. I'm also learning just how integral the fishing rod + pickaxe + watering can + shovel foundation is for these kinds of games lol. If you love Disney and/or love life-sim games, DVV is a must-have; if you're not into either of those, then just avoid the game entirely. It does its job really well imo, without pretending to be anything it's not.

Disney Dreamlight Valley screenshots:
+ Show Spoiler +

andrewlt

United States7702 Posts

February 06 2023 15:56 GMT

#3598

I was going to post that Mario Kart sketch too. Pretty impressive for a 3-min comedy segment. And I'm thinking expensive as well.

I only played SMT3 in 2021, I think. I've definitely been spoiled by all the QOL improvements in recent years.

[Phantom]

Mexico2170 Posts

February 06 2023 22:17 GMT

#3599

Any "cheap" nintendo games you'd recommend?

Cheap being $40 usd or less

DarkPlasmaBall

United States45020 Posts

February 07 2023 00:06 GMT

#3600

On February 07 2023 07:17 [Phantom] wrote:
Any "cheap" nintendo games you'd recommend?

Cheap being $40 usd or less

Not sure what genres you like/dislike, but here are some for under $40 that are amazing imo:

Hades, Ori and the Blind Forest, Ori and the Will of the Wisps (sequel), Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, Yooka-Laylee, Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair, Monster Sanctuary, New Super Lucky's Tale, and Kaze and the Wild Masks