RPG/JRPG What are you playing now?

[Oreo]

I have heard a lot of good things about that one, but I have to put games on the back burner for a bit. I haven't caught up from Christmas spending...and then my Amazon Prime comes due this month. It's so hard having two pages of wish list games and I can't get any of them.

I tipped the bucket getting FF Explorers.

[The Dark Raven]

I hear that one is good, but I have not played it.  This is the first game I've gotten in a while...probably 18 months.  Most of my spending is going to nursery stuff.

[Oreo]

*nods* That is the ONLY benefit of being old. You can buy stuff you want, after you have adulted and payed the monthly bills. I usually get about three games a month. Last month was Dark Cloud 2, Rogue Galaxy, some new FF XIII 2 DLC, and Explorers.

Right now I am replaying FF XIII 2. I had my first battle last night where I thought for sure I was going to die. It lasted 20 minutes, but it was worth getting out of the way before it was really time/level enough to try.

[Oniya]

I particularly enjoyed Dark Cloud 2.  At one point, you can unlock a frozen trout as a weapon and go through dungeons whacking baddies with a fish.

[The Dark Raven]

Now I want to find the trout...

[Blank]

Tales of Zestiria.  I would hesitate to recommend though if you like tales games of yore.

[Oreo]

Tales of Zestiria.  I would hesitate to recommend though if you like tales games of yore.

I am actually playing through Zestiria a second time. (I generally play several games at once as the mood strikes me.) I am trying to get a better grasp of the weapons system this time. The first play through I never managed to get a weapon to level 10 for the bonus whatever that is supposed to get you.

If you never played a Tales game it would seem alright, but if you have, I agree, it does not live up to the it's predecessors. Then again Graces got bad reviews and it was my favorite out of all the Tales games.

[Blank]

Really?  How would you rate the story?  The characters, world building, and story seem a bit lackluster.  Maybe I'm just older and expect more since I played my last tales game, but it doesn't strike me as a unique or exciting experience.  Maybe I'm not far in enough to get to the good parts (only about 11 hours in).

Though the localization in this game is amazing.  The crud the characters talk about is pretty dang funny.

Graces?  What console did that come out for?  I think I missed it because I went the route of XBox instead of Playstation for a while.

[Kakihara]

I've sadly been addicted to Destiny for over a year, picked it up in December soon after the first DLC the Dark Below came out. (Yes, the game everyone has to ask 'do people still play that')  I probably would have quit it but found some other older gamers like me and we clicked and have been running together every since.  Technically it's more of an MMO RPG/shooter hybrid but I guess it counts.  Sadly the lack of content has made it where I don't log on much and mainly only log on to enjoy the friends I made there.  I recently participated in Ubisofts The Division beta which is very RPG but again is a hybrid like Destiny.  I really liked it and will probably be playing that when it finally releases come March.

I've not really played any single player RPG lately, closest is Shadow of Mordor and I played through DA: Inquisition on the 360 but picked up the GotY edition digitally to play on the X1, which I picked up this Summer.

[Oreo]

Really?  How would you rate the story?  The characters, world building, and story seem a bit lackluster.  Maybe I'm just older and expect more since I played my last tales game, but it doesn't strike me as a unique or exciting experience.  Maybe I'm not far in enough to get to the good parts (only about 11 hours in).

Though the localization in this game is amazing.  The crud the characters talk about is pretty dang funny.

Graces?  What console did that come out for?  I think I missed it because I went the route of XBox instead of Playstation for a while.

There really isn't any world building to speak of in Zestiria. Where I would rate Graces and Xillia 1&2 an A, Zestiria would be a C. I liked the flow of gameplay. The story and characters are okay. I sometimes get more out of a game the second time through since the first time I expend a lot of effort to learn the system, resulting in not getting the full story if I rush the game.

Even Graces f was better to me the second time through. It came out on PS3 along with Xillia and Xillia 2, some of my all time favorite JRPGs. Tales humor gets me every time.

The line still rings in my head -

"Isn't her dress too short?"

"Yeah...*sigh* isn't it wonderful?"

[Blank]

Really?  Maybe I should keep an eye out for remastered editions of Xillia and Graces for the PS4.  Was it Xilla that had some demi-god as one of the main characters?

What were people's gripes about Graces?

Hahaha!  That is fantastic.  That sort of stuff gets me every time.  The skits might be one of the best parts of those games.  You just don't know what kind of random stuff they'll throw at you.

[Oreo]

Either that or pick up a used PS3. In my estimation it is worth it simply for those three games.

Tales of Vesperia came out on the 360. It is worth playing as well.

Some people just didn't like the story of Graces f. For me it was a story of profound redemption. I actually cried during the last arc of the story. Most tales stories have three arcs. You get a bit of a prequel, then the main story, followed by an after story, bonus after the boss stuff is done. Mr Oreo didn't even realize the game had a third part that was almost as long as the original story the first time he played. It is now his favorite of the games as well.

The weapons system was awesome once you figure out how to merge gems. Side note, some things are carried over in all the games like the items used for healing and such, so you don't have to relearn those. I like that aspect too. An apple gel in one story does the same thing in all the games.

If you like the skits, this one is perfection: Linked because of character ages.

Yes, Millia is a demi god. You can play through the game and get her side of the story or you can play through as the medical student. It makes for great replayability. Xillia 2 can be played as a stand alone, but it is a great follow up to the original story as well since they bring back all the characters you grew to love.

[Blank]

But... I've worked so hard not to buy a PS3!  I feel that I shouldn't cave in now!   I've made conscious effort to not buy one for a long time, I'd feel I'd let myself down if I caved now, especially since I have a PS4.

I did Vesperia, I thought it was ok.  But my experience was tainted when I found out afterwards they left out a third of the game in the NA release. :(

From the way you describe Graces, it sounds like an amazing story line.  I'll have to keep an eye out for it on Steam or PS4.

Mmm Apple Gel.  So delicious.

OMG Bazongas?  I guess... Every young man needs to learn about those eventually.

Oh I had forgotten about that!  That sounds awesome, the dual storyline.  Mighty tempting. :S

[Oreo]

Vesperia I would rate a B compared to the others. I still have to finish Tales of the Abyss, but it was for PS2. There is also Tales of Hearts for PSVita. I bought the Vita just to try that one, but I like playing so much more on the giant TV screen.

[SinXAzgard21]

I particularly enjoyed Dark Cloud 2.  At one point, you can unlock a frozen trout as a weapon and go through dungeons whacking baddies with a fish.

Trout becomes big bucks hammer and makes you loads of money.  Or it can be a different elemental path to Max's final weapon.  But trout smacking baddies is still fun.

[Oreo]

Just finished Trails of Cold Steel. *grumbles at the cliff hanger and the wait for parts 2 and 3*

[The Dark Raven]

Playing ARK: Survival Evolved off and on again.  Still not sure if I want to move camps...lol

[Revelation]

Just finished Trails of Cold Steel. *grumbles at the cliff hanger and the wait for parts 2 and 3*

I'd really love to get into this series but this is without a doubt the biggest thing holding me back from it.

[ChefofDreams]

I just got the new digimon cyber sleuths and it is so much fun. The story is a little weird but it is worth the price. Over 200 digimon and they are rendered so nicely and the digivolution is a lot of fun in this one.

[Oreo]

I just got the new digimon cyber sleuths and it is so much fun. The story is a little weird but it is worth the price. Over 200 digimon and they are rendered so nicely and the digivolution is a lot of fun in this one.

Me too...I just need to walk down to the UPS box to get it. Not sure if I feel good enough to do that yet.

[Twisted Crow]

Forgotten just how useless armor is in Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal. Actually, how useless armor typically is in 2nd edition AD&D is in general when it comes to high level campaigns. At 20th level and higher, damn near everything at that level has negative THACO. Meaning that unless a 1 is rolled on a d20, the monster is likely going to hit my character's absurd Armor Class anyway. No wonder I liked Shadows of Amn better... the gear and treasure you get actually matters by comparision. :/

[Revelation]

Cyber sleuth is a ton of fun, the music also really grows on you.

However I sill say this.

hard mode is fucking hard. The bosses do not play around.

[Oreo]

I never play hard mode. It is too hard for me. Too much tension and I have to stop playing. I do love that they have different levels of difficulty in games these days so those with disabilities can often get through a game and still have fun.

[Oniya]

Not sure if this counts, but I've been playing a little modpack about bee-breeding in Minecraft.  The modpack creator is ESL, and I'd been seeing a lot of comments on the boards there about the 'poor grammar' (to be fair, they all shut up right quick when I pointed out that he was writing the modpack in something other than his native language.)  So, while I'm letting my bees make All The Things (TM), I'm going through (with his blessing and thanks) and redoing the quest texts so that they read better.  Ninety percent of the errors are flow or idiom-related - only a few actual spelling errors.

[Oreo]

I haven't tried Minecraft, but I can certainly see how ESL errors can happen. Our sentence structure is so different from most other countries. That is awesome that you are helping him out, Oniya.

The tread is pretty much open to any squee type game thrill or discussion. *nodnods*