@PixelPrinny:Hey thanks for the reply, my bad on the ever17 confusion.
On Rune Factory:
I haven't touched the newer Atelier games yet (Rorona and Totori - still sitting on my shelf) but the way you describe them in your blogs is kind of how I feel about Rune Factory which is why I recommended it lol (sorry about that! I really did think you would like it). I find them sort of relaxing, carefree and whimsical especially because you can play them differently depeing on your mood since it mixes gameplay elements (combat, farming, dating/social sim). I will say though I haven't tried Oceans yet and that one mixed things up a little from what I've read. In any case when I do get round to Rorona/Totori maybe I will find them much better than Rune Factory in retrospect.
On Odin Sphere and Xenogears:
I did give them a chance lol! With Odin Sphere despite loving the look and the music the gameplay didn't hold my attention and I didn't feel it was going fast enough despite putting in around 20 hours. I'm looking forward to Muramasa though since it looks like it has a little more engaging gameplay although story-wise it seems less so which is a little worrying. With Xenogears I played it for about 7 hours but it just didn't click with me. I've done something like this before though - With Ar Tonelico when I first played it I hated it, but upon returning several years later its one of my favourite rpgs atm despite its faults.
The thing is I only got a ps2 around 4 years ago and didn't have a ps1 so I was trying to catch up on a lot of games (FF 7-12, Metal gear etc etc) so to cope with the enormous back catalogue I created a system whereby I gave action games 2-3 hours to grab me and rpgs 5-10 hours. If they didn't grab me I just moved on. I sort of do this now for new releases by waiting for review hype to die down before buying games (unless I know I want them) since I really have to limit the never ending tide of great games. This year has been hard especially since there has been so many great rpgs.
On Fate/Extra:
I'm suprised you even touched this game since its sort of aimed at fans of the VN. I can't even imagine caring about the characters/events/world without having some connection to it. I'm actually really looking forward to it since having seen how badass Archer is on the UBW route in the VN I desperately want to play it to have him as my servent to learn more about the character. As you hinted at though, I'm not expecting it to be a great rpg but one which I think I'll enjoy.
Hmm, once I finish some of the games I'm juggling I think I will dive into Atelier Rorona or Disgaea 4. From the same developer as Rorona I've played Atelier Iris 2, Ar Tonelico and Ar Tonelico 2 and I really enjoyed them.
@ShadowMountain: In regards to the writer of Ever17 / 999, I meant he learned from the mistakes he made with Ever17 when making 999; not the other way around, obviously.
I never got bored of Trails in the Sky, my attention turned for whatever reason; I don't remember now. I was enjoying it while I was playing it. As for Rune Factory... that game was just dull as hell. o.O Enemies had waaaay too much hp, so grinding was super boring. Farming was super boring -- having to just go around waving your wand over the green locations over and over... zzzz.... building relationships was boring, and the characters hardly changed what they said. Festivals were incredibly underwhelming and bare-bones... the game was just bad. Typically, I enjoy normal RPGs over SRPGs, but yeah... it's no contest in Agarest War's favor if I'm comparing it to Rune Factory.
I got the Japanese versions of the Diva games, alas. Though there's an English patch for Project Diva 2nd, out there, I think. Not that you even need it. There's no story or dialog, so all it'd be changing are menu and item names, but those are easy enough to navigate even if you can't understand them.
Not liking Odin Sphere and Xenogears puts you on my shit list. Best you sleep with one eye open.
I've never played any Fate Stay/Night Visual Novel. Fate/Extra is an RPG in the vein of the Personas (kinda), It was okay, though I wouldn't call it even close to one of my favorites.
Lookin' forward to talking to ya about games as you finish em :)
1) Shame you didn't like Rune Factory Oceans! I haven't played it yet but I have immensely enjoyed the past games (Frontier & 3) - thought you would like it.
2) Ever17 came out before 999 - around 2002 I think so the author could not learn from his mistakes unless he can time travel lol. So anyway you thought FSN was a better VN than ever17? I'm still playing through FSN (on the UBW route ryt now) but popular opinion is that ever17 is slightly better (not necessarily my opinion though)
3) OH GOD PLEASE TELL ME HOW YOU GOT THOSE MIKU GAMES IN ENGLISH! I NEEDS IT!!! *heart*
4) Hmmm your tastes are wierd coz you got bored of Trails in the Sky and Rune Factory but you really like Agarest war...fan of SRPGs over RPGs? Or just particular tastes? (e.g. for me little things can break a game such as music, characters etc so I can see maybe where you are coming from despite also being a jrpg fan. Its strange how sometimes its the little incedental things that can make or break a game)
5) I thought Odin Sphere and Xenogears were TERRIBLE lol! I thought they both dragged horribly (pacing). Ah well different folks etc
6) You must live in a hyperbolic timechamber becauseso far this year I've only played: Banjo-Kazooie, Demon's Souls, Persona 4, Tactics Ogre, Rune Factory 3 and FSN. You've seemed to have played like x100 more! How on earth do you do it?! I had like a 2 month holiday in the middle of the summer as well!
7) Amazing list and want to check out many of those games. I look forward to discussing games I finish in the future with you (perhapes FSN or F/Extra) since no one else on GB seems to play these types of games. Unfortunetly I could not delve too deep into some of your blogs since I haven't finished some of the games so I want to avoid spoilers -_- So I apologise for this but you're just too far ahead of me; I will revisit them in the future though so hopefully it won't be too bothersome for you if I PM you for a little discussion/thoughts about a particular game.
I got the feeling you were forgetting something and now I remember - Alice:Madness Returns! You can also include American McGee's Alice since it came for free with the game!
ohh thanks for the reminder, I did forget that one XD
I got the feeling you were forgetting something and now I remember - Alice:Madness Returns! You can also include American McGee's Alice since it came for free with the game!
Hehe, that's an awesome list. But I have to say: aren't you forgetting Dead Space 2? Hmmm?
Edit: Apparently you weren't done, forget I said that :P
Also, if you liked the focus on less combat more story in Uncharted 2 I get a feeling you'll like Uncharted 3. It has even less combat than Uncharted 2 although the shootouts are more fun and intense, and has puzzles that require some actual thought rather than just whipping out your solution booklet and reading the blunt answers. The story could be ridiculous at times but the setpieces are even better than those of Uncharted 2.
And daaaaamn didya get a ton of games this year @.@
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