1y ago

What are you playing this weekend? 2023-08-26

Hello Everyone!

Finally got my Dual Sense back from repair! So, spent most of my time this week on PS5 instead of Switch. Though, I did start a new game on Switch. 😀

Cleared the Water world in New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe. Going to play the next one now.
Started Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney trilogy. Playing the first game, and it's so much fun. Having a blast.
Still playing Dragon Quest XI, not much to mention here, except didn't give it as much time this week. I should've started this on Switch, but since it's free on PS+, playing it there. Problem is, you can't just save the game anywhere, I only play it when I know I won't be distracted midway, which isn't that easy with kids, and when I do have time like that, I want to play Monster Hunter, cause that game also has the same problem. Last I played I was mid-way in dungeon, but had to zoom back to last camp so that I could save and quit. Would have to play that half-dungeon again.
Finally beat Pink Rathian in Monster Hunter: World, beat it solo, after dieing some 6-7 times. Finally beating a monster you've been stuck on for a while feels very rewarding, which is probably why I have spent most of my time playing MH:W after beating Pink Rathian. After grinding for better equipment, and tracking the tracks, have reached the part where you fight Nergigante. Didn't know you can't capture Elder Dragons, which got me killed, but was so close. Should be able to beat him next time.

That's all about me. What about you guys? What have you been playing?

38 comments

I’m going to play the demo of Sea of Stars. Not sure how long it is but unfortunately the full game does not come out until Tuesday.
- Yeah, I am pretty excited for it. Would probably play it sooner than later.

Wow, OP, enjoy Phoenix Wright! I'm playing through Apollo Justice for the first time right now, but I played through the original Ace Attorney Trilogy a bunch of times as a kid, I love these games. Best soundtracks ever.
- I have been playing them late at night, in bed, with very low sound. Just enough to hear Objection! but not enough to enjoy the soundtrack. Going to try headphones next time I play.
  Thanks for the heads up!

Slow week but still got some progress on Grisaia Phantom Trigger 5.5 to 08. For those unfamiliar with this series of Visual Novels I left a small explanation about it on a comment a couple weeks ago.
Finished Episode 06, which was my favorite so far. The original Phantom Triggers were very fun, in particular Aoi, and we finally get confirmation that the main plot will be dealing with the terrorist group that showed up in 04. We also get a view of the "villain" here, which was the only thing I disliked - while the game shows the reasons for that character to go rogue, the transition is too abrupt, they go from a friendly character into a almost cartoonish villain immediately, so I'm hoping they will explore and explain this better in the following chapters.
Also started Episode 07, which is another Shiori-focused episode. This chapter starts with her finding a way to deal with the fact that her students are also soldiers that are going to be put in dangerous situations and reaching an amusing but also perfectly in-character solution. Then we move into gathering all the people we met in the previous episodes to fight the villains.
Two interesting things about 07: It's much longer, and it actually features choices - all previous episodes were Kinetic Novels, VNs where there are no choices or routes. I wonder if this was done as a callback to the first Grisaia game, where most of the choices (and all the relevant ones) were in the final 1/3 of the story.
- Ahan, interesting.
  I finally started my first VN-ish game. Phoenix Wright. Where does it stand in another VNs? Or is it not even considered a proper VN?
  
  Depends on who you ask, as they're kind of a midway between a VN and a point-and-click adventure.
  I'd consider them VNs, VNDB says they aren't, but I'm pretty sure most people would be fine discussing those on VN-focused forums or communities.
  Are you enjoyjng them? I'm a big fan of the series overall, with the third game being my favorite.
  As for how it compares to "traditional" VNs: PW games have you interact way more often. You don't get sections of 1h+ of just reading text uninterrupted in PW games, and that's fairly common in other games of this genre.

Trails to Azure.
- Nice! That means you finished Trails to Zero. How are you liking the series?
  
  Woah sorry for the late reply. I’m hooked. I’m just starting chapter 3 and I’m already wondering what it’ll be like moving to cold steel after this, or if it’s worth doing boundless trails first.
  I‘ve been going through the series blind by order of release because I heard it likened too an MCU of jrpgs. I admit Sky FC was a hard push for me because nothing really happens for most of it and the combat system is really basic. The ending is pretty much what made me want to play SC, which was much more compelling.
  While playing through the Liberl arc, official western releases of the Crossbell arc were made available, and I was ready.
  I’m really liking the characters. I adore kea so much that I actually feel distressed if I think something bad is going to happen with her, which isn’t something I get out of many games. I’m really glad I got
  into the series.

I've been playing Moon on my 3DS. It's been a fair amount of fun but I don't know how memorable the story will be
- Never heard of it before, but looks like a fun game.
  
  Yeah I was pleasantly surprised by the graphics and how smooth the controls were for a FPS on a DS

Now that I finished Octopath 2, I finally started with Yomawari 3. Let's see how far I'll get over the weekend.
- I am not a fan of horror games but Yomawari games look interesting. Have them on my wishlist.
  Have you played the previous 2 Yomawari games? How are they?
  Also, how did you like Octopath 2?

Blasphemous. I'm going through the Wounds of Eventide quest first before allowing myself to play Blasphemous II.
- Nice! How is the difficulty level of Blasphemous? It's on my wishlist, but I have heard it's a pretty difficult game.
  
  It can be difficult at times but not impossible. I'd say it's more forgiving than Hollow Knight. The difficulty is mostly from combat which requires mastery of the defend technique, similar to that in Metroid Dread. It's a beautifully stunning game with detailed pixel art and has a phenomenal soundtrack!

As a fan of the Ace Attorney series, the whole series is amazing. Great writing (including the localization), music, characters and sprite work/art throughout. Have fun with it!
I've been busy with other things this week so didn't play much. Got through the forest but haven't claimed the Master Sword yet in TotK. I hope it's not too spoilery to say that you really need to build up your stamina to get it, but even with all the shrine hunting I've been doing I didn't have enough (I was remembering BotW where you needed a lot of health and built that up instead) so now I'm doing even MORE shrine hunting. (I could use a certain thing to trade but I don't want to do that, I want to do it "legit".) Fortunately I should only need three more shrines (one more stamina vessel) to have enough so it's possible I'll be able to do it this weekend.
- Yeah, the writing in Ace Attorney is really good. At least in the first one, haven't played any of the rest yet. 😀
  Good luck with TotK, not much remaining after that. You would be soon coming face to face with the big bad. Have fun!

Still working through Entropy Center. I'm working through level 9 at the moment. Also the original Karamari Damacy went on sale, so might start that.
- This looks interesting. How tough are the puzzles? And how are you liking the game?
  
  So it's a different concept that you have to wrap your head around for it. I've had more success solving things backwards. On some of the longer puzzles I have a spreadsheet running for the order of things, as I kept doing them in the wrong order. But most puzzles are short enough that isn't required.
  The funny thing is that I was stuck on two puzzles and every time I have been stuck the reason is that I didn't think of the concept of rewinding things properly. I was stuck on trying to throw things or drop them perfectly. I've only looked up to solutions so far and really kicked myself for spoiling it. The game does a good job of teaching the techniques, you just have to be savvy enough to use them.
  But if you enjoyed Portsl, you're most likely going to enjoy it. Fun puzzles, snarky robot, saving the world. Very inspired by Portal, but it does a good job of being its own thing.

I have been playing a bit of Sonic Origins here and there these days. I am trying to finish Sonic 2 just now.
I'll definitely be playing some co-op beat em ups this weekend. Maybe continue with Double Dragon, but we may end up switching to something else (better 😅).
I've also been playing Pikmin 4, but I'm taking it easy, and I've been thinking a lot about going back to Tears of the Kingdom to finish the main story. But maybe I'll wait until after I've finished Pikmin...
- Nice. Sonic 2 is the only Sonic I clearly remember finishing. The last levels were pretty tough.
  Good luck with Pikmin 4!
  
  I'm hating every single underwater level. I have a lot of issues with Sonic games level design (in some cases it's plainly bad in my opinion). But pushing through!
  We ended up playing Shredder's Revenge instead of Double Dragon, looking forward to the DLC in a few days!

Started playing Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE by the Danganronpa team, it really does feel like a Danganronpa style game but with a new setting! Kinda refreshing now to get a new setting and not have the story "locked" by the Danganronpa setting, actually.
Also I got back into Hyper Light Drifter, which I played a bit a few years ago, but it didn't quite "click" with me. I think I found the map confusing. However this time I managed to understand how to navigate better, and got more into the game!
- Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE
  Really wanted to play this one but my copy is taking forever to go through customs. :/ Might stick to shorter games for a while and pray it gets here soon.
- Nice list of games. All of these are on my wishlist. 😀 I think I'll give Danganronpa a try after finishing Ace Attorney trilogy.

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