Things I played in the month of August and other wonderful uses of time and money

Hey there internet. Notifications are still broken. My computer is finally fixed, and while I’m reinstalling a bunch of crap that I bought during the summer steam sale but have yet to play much of (Hi there Transistor! Hi there State of Decay!) I figured I should bother telling you all what I’ve been up to over the past month as summer ends and school finally starts. I’d lie and say that you should probably expect less stuff from me as this semester winds up, but my writing output has been sparse enough that the status quo 1 blog/month continues to seem likely.

Pillars of Eternity: The Beta

I guess I’m a sucker for paying extra money to look at early-access betas of games I backed on Kickstarter. I did so for Wasteland 2 (only $10ish) and didn’t have to pay for Divinity Original Sin, so it only made sense that I would also take a look at another one of my more anticipated games of this year, Pillars of Eternity. It’s… definitely a beta! The current version is, quite frankly, something of a janky mess. While I appreciate Obsidian taking out the story stuff and basically giving players a small chunk of the game to mess around with, calling it playable might be a bit of a stretch. I’ve suffered total party wipes from combat (currently way too fast to keep track of what is going on without continual pausing or “slow mode”), bugs (losing equipped items upon reloading a game) and good old fashioned crashes! It’s sort of hard to give feedback to a beta when I can’t progress in said beta, so maybe I’ll have to check back when they release another build or something. I’ll give them this: everything in this beta, from the menus to the character portraits to the pre-rendered backgrounds (with 3D character models, actually reminiscent of Temple of Elemental Evil) evokes the Infinity Engine (probably helps that all the placeholder spell icons are from Icewind Dale II) and the little writing I’ve engaged with is about on par with any given Obsidian game (Good). Just… I’ll get back to you all with more substantive criticism when I can actually finish what appears to be a 2-3 hour experience.

Resident Evil: Code Veronica X HD

So this was on sale on Xbox Live a few weeks ago, and being the generally broken human being that I am, I figured that $6 or so was an acceptable price to pay for what is still probably my least favorite old Resident Evil game, a somewhat questionable qualifier given that I still think it’s a totally okay Resident Evil game. You don’t need to hear me go into details, I’ve done so elsewhere. It’s a little too long, somewhat awkwardly paced, surprisingly hard at times and is probably the moment when the plot of Resident Evil went off the rails. At least it’s a bunch of easy achievement points, Infinite Rocket Launcher (beat the game in under 4 hours, no saves or first aid sprays) and Linear Launcher (Get the highest rank in the battle game with all characters) aside.

Might and Magic VIII: Day of the Destroyer

Speaking of games I consider to be totally okay despite their inferiority to other games in the series… Might and Magic VIII sure fits that bill! Being the third Might and Magic game in that many years using the same engine, it’s probably only to be expected that the series would reach diminishing returns after the massive, open-ended Might and Magic VI and the more contained, polished Might and Magic VII. The gimmick for this one is that the player only creates one character and instead recruits the rest of their party from NPC hirelings found throughout the game. This presents a weird conundrum where you can sort of break the game by getting certain characters early on (The level 50 character who knows every elemental spell up to master level and any of the dragons come to mind) and also occasionally have to dump one of your party members in favor of a required NPC for a handful of quests. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still well made and I’ve enjoyed replaying it over the past couple of weeks, but you can see some of the cracks where things aren’t quite as polished. Dungeons are generally smaller, the game is still pretty easy even without delving into overpowered NPCs, at no point do you get laser guns, etc. It’s the kind of thing where I wouldn’t recommend it as anyone’s first Might and Magic game but still recommend it.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengance.

There was a point where I was going to say that Metal Gear Rising was my favorite Platinum game. After thinking for a bit, that’s obviously not true (It’s still Bayonetta), but man is it good. A character action game focused around parrying for defense over blocking or dodging is a fun thing, as is slicing dudes into hundreds of pieces and then ripping out their robot spines. It’s short as hell (Took me around 4-5 hours, clearly meant to be replayed for S ranks and higher difficulties), maybe not as mechanically dense as a Bayonetta or Devil May Cry, but maaaan does it make you feel super cool. The game’s brand of crazy is more Platinum than Kojima, but it’s still a mix that works incredibly well, especially given a final boss fight that is appropriately bananas and also a lot harder than anything else I faced on normal difficulty. I briefly messed with the Jetstream Sam and Blade Wolf missions and died repeatedly, so it’s at least good to know that those characters control differently from Raiden. I think I’ll stick with it for a little while longer. I’ve sort of fallen off Divinity: Original Sin on account of losing my save from 30 hours in, and Wasteland 2 doesn’t come out until next week, so I’ve got time to polish up my cyborg slicing skills.

Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan

As opposed to my playthrough of Etrian Odyssey III, which I almost managed to finish before I screwed up my character builds after re-speccing and didn’t want to grind my way back up, I actually did finish Etrian Odyssey IV last week, even going as far as to venture into some of the crazy post-game stuff it throws at the player. Having messed with all of the games in the series sans the second one to varying degrees, I definitely think this is the best one by an appreciable amount. While Etrian Odyssey III had some interestingly unorthodox character classes, I’d say that this fourth one is a lot more flexible. Part of that? It’s not as ball-bustingly hard as its predecessor (in fact, I’d go as far as to call the final boss “a joke”). But also classes are laid out in such a way as to encourage experimentation (a respec only costing 2 levels instead of 5) and less about putting points into crap you don’t want because they are prerequisites for stuff you do want. Add in the improved production values as a result of moving to 3DS and I’d say anyone who is vaguely interested in these sorts of games should give it a try. If you want a story that isn’t window dressing, or characters you actually care about (for what it’s worth I think there’s some decent writing in said window dressing), maybe head elsewhere? I guess I’m all ready for Persona Q* now, which I will similarly play in fits and starts and maybe not finish until months after I purchase it.

King’s Bounty: Dark Side

Yo, it’s like every other King’s Bounty game but you play as the bad guys. Sold.

And that’s the sort of shallow look at the variable grab bag I’ve dealt with over the past month or so. I hope you enjoyed it?

*You do know that Persona Q is basically an Etrian Odyssey game with Persona dressing and not the other way around, right? Just saying, some people on the Giant Bomb forums are setting themselves up for disappointment otherwise.

Glad to hear you enjoyed Metal Gear Rising! I knew you would anywhoo ;) And yeah, the jump in difficult for Armstrong is pretty extreme... My first playthrough was on Hard and I quite literally spent about 4 or so hours trying to beat that fucker... And yet at the end of the day I still came away really enjoying it and completing it on Very Hard. I also attempted Revengeance mode, managed to beat Ray, but then kinda felt like I maybe had enough. I will also admit that me continuing to play that game on Revengeance mode was a little intimidating after how difficult the opening Ray fight was.

I really should buy the HD version of Code: Veronica X myself. I too consider it to be the weakest of the survival horror Resident Evil as we've likely already discussed, but I've recently been playing so much bloody Resident Evil lately that I might as well give Veronica another swing, too. Also, I may want to blog about it in more detail, but for now I'll add that I think Resident Evil: Deadly Silence is pretty cool, if predictably piss easy given how many times I've completed the original, Mercenaries 3D is surprisingly fun if far too light on content, Resident Evil: Revelations on 3DS is a much better experience than its console counterpart, Resident Evil 5 is a good game with outstanding gameplay but that final third still kinda sucks, and Resident Evil 6 is still garbage... as is its Mercs mode still OK... but also still inferior to every other Mercs mode before it.

That also seems to be the case with Hyrule Warriors. It's just Dynasty Warriors yet people who normally despise Musou games are getting excited for it for no discernible reason.

Also could someone explain what the King's Bounty games are? I'm kinda interested in them but everytime I see them on Steam it's just a big picture of a lady in revealing clothes, which doesn't tell me anything about the game and just makes me not want to delve deeper.

Heroes of Might and Magic without the base building, but with a much more robust character level up system and combat system.

Sometimes it's the dressing that's all that matters. I'd wager a good number of the people that proclaim they despise Musou games, yet are clamoring for Hyrule Warriors, have never actually played a Musou game and just hate them because it's the hip internet thing to do. Show them a game with themes and characters they're familiar with and interested in, as opposed to Chinese literature, Japanese history, or anime, and suddenly people get interested.

It's VERY similar to Heroes of Might and Magic, except not quite as good.

So really, just go buy Heroes of Might and Magic 3 from Gog, and you'll be set.

@corruptedevil:
Yeah, it's basically Heroes of Might and Magic (like, occasionally venturing into "blatant stealing" territory) with fewer strategic elements, slightly better tactical combat and more RPG elements. All of the games are sort of the same and drag on for a bit too long, but they fill a specific "comfort food" niche for me and in that respect they're pretty great. If you aren't already into Heroes of Might and Magic:

@yummylee: I almost bought The Mercenaries 3D on sale before I realized that would be a really dumb idea, and I didn't love Revelations enough to want to buy it again just for a different Raid mode. I'll say this though, Code Veronica did a really good job of making me want to play RE 0-3 again though. Oh right, what do you think of the remix mode in Deadly Silence?

Metal Gear Rising has already taken me 12 hours, on Hard. I might stop now that I'm at the last boss. I don't feel that compelled to finish it. It has too much action for my taste.

I disagree that it focuses on parrying over blocking and dodging. Parrying IS blocking and the dodge is very functional.

Your complaint with a Platinum game is it has too much action? Why did you even get it then? Platinum makes character action games, that's what they do.

I don't care for the "character action" label. I liked the demo when I tried it again. I thought I'd get some entertainment from the game, and I did, but maybe not enough to make it through this last difficult boss. I've always wanted some exploration between fights. Devil May Cry 3 had that to an extent. It had interesting looking environments. I liked how the map changed when the tower turned. I recently ordered Ninja Gaiden Sigma, which apparently also has decent level design and art. I remember that in the demo. MGR is one arena after another. It gets tiring fast. You might as well make it a fighting game or a Bloody Palace.

@ezekiel: I really liked that about MGR, actually. That game has very little filler and is all murder all the time. However, I don't think that would work if the game wasn't so short. The parts in a Devil May Cry or whatever where you're solving some braindead puzzle give some needed breathing room because they are also like 10 hours long.

This is my favorite thing. Or people who are normally anti-JRPG who really like Persona.

I am a very mechanics-focused guy when it comes to RPGs, which I guess puts you and I on opposite ends of the spectrum, exceptions like Planescape Torment notwithstanding. I can tolerate all sorts of bad or non-existent narrative if the gameplay is good enough (see: Valkyria Chronicles 2) but it's going to take a lot to get me invested in a game I hate playing. For what it's worth, I don't think the narrative or the gameplay of Final Fantasy XIII would necessarily stand on their own but together I think that game did alright for itself.

I will admit though, I'll probably give Hyrule Warriors a shot should I ever regain access to the Wii U in my parents' basement and that has everything to do with it being Zelda related (and also the Wii U not exactly being a barn-burner in terms of high-profile releases). I'd like to hope that Persona Q will be some sort of gateway drug into the world of tile-based insanity, but I'm not sure if it will be "Persona-y" enough for some. I just think it's important for people to have the right expectations.

@arbitrarywater: It's ok. I actually decided to play through its OG mode first before I dive too deep into Remix, though from what I've seen Remix actually includes certain elements from the Director's Cut, such as Forest reanimating as a zombie. Otherwise as far as I can tell it's mostly the same mode beyond the touchscreen puzzles (which are neat) and those, er, how we say arbitrary first-person slashing things, which are kinda... meh. Though again i haven't actually completed a Remix playthrough yet as I've been too stuck in Mercenaries 3D and Revelations. I do like how it incorporates certain aspects of the remake as well, like Albert Wesker's new character design to make him resemble how he looked in the remake (but now with PS1 graphics) as opposed to his look in the very original. It's kinda funny how the saving system is now completely broken what with your ability to simply close the 3DS and come back to it whenever. Surprised as to why they even kept the ink ribbon stuff in there in the first place.

Also, seriously, Mercenaries 3D is alright! If you happen to like the Mercenaries mode from RE5 anywhoo, it's basically more of that but with some new characters. Getting to play as Claire Redfield in this format in particular is kinda neat. The primary problem with it again is its unfortunate lack of content... But at the price I bought it (£4 brand new) it's served me well and I've put in a lot of time into it.

Absolutely. I see that in myself sometimes.

I think that's a big part of why I liked Red Dead Redemption, but can't stand GTA IV. Mechanically they aren't dramatically different, but setting/look wise they definitely are.

I also think that's a big part of why people went nuts for XCOM when there has been great SRPGs like Fire Emblem, the Wars games, FF Tactics and Disgaea for years.

Man Code Veronica X was such a disappointment when I first played it. I guess it was because after the branching paths stuff in Nemesis and the Claire A-Leon B stuff in RE2, I was expecting a bit more from Veronica. I've never finished it so I might've gotten better later on. I did enjoy my time with the arcade Gun Survivor version of Code Veronica though, that one was really weird.

I can't believe that you have stuck with the King's Bounty games for this long. Every game since Crossworlds seemed like uninspired rehashes to me. Maybe I'm wrong and Dark Side and that viking one changes up the formula a bit to make it interesting, but that's what it looks like from a glance.

PS: Steve Burnside and Billy Coen for Resident Evil 7. It could even be a 4 player coop game if they add Fong Ling and Bruce McGivern!

@thunderslash: I feel like they tweak and add just enough things in any given King's Bounty game that I am totally willing to play new ones. They are basically iterating on a Call of Duty level with those games and I'm okay with that because they're all still well made. (Also, to be fair, there is the part where your choice of class does rather dramatically impact how you play the game)

@arbitrarywater: Ah I see. I guess it's the rate they produce these games and the time commitment that I find off putting. Seriously, I can't keep up. Good to know that they aren't simply rehashes of Armored Princess.