Whatcha Been Playing?

[Alex79]

I wish I could play Tetris 99, but I'm really hoping it inspires other devs to get creative with the battle royale formula. Imagine a Streets Of Rage scrolling brawler type affair, or racing game where the last ten places each lap are eliminated or anything really. There is so much more scope than just shooting each other to win.

[Suits]

Imagine a Streets Of Rage scrolling brawler type affair, or racing game where the last ten places each lap are eliminated or anything really.....

What, like a Mario Kart 99 ..........

[ColinAlonso]

I'm probably rotating through too many games at the minute.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is ongoing, still in chapter 2.

It's still early days in Wargroove (Chapter 3 to be precise). It looks like all I wanted from it, Advance Wars but with its own style and quirks. Font annoys me, the font didn't need to be in a pixel style.

Professor Layton and Pandora's Box is still my commuting game. I like the train setting, helps to differentiate from the first game by not just sticking in one location. We seem to be in our final destination now though. Puzzles are still good. Some are awkwardly worded though.

Played a few games of Tetris 99. Best is 4th. I don't think I'll get much higher.

Edit: I also played that demo of Daemon X Machina. There's something about the structure of it, a small hub from which you select missions on a menu and fight enemies in a small area, that puts me off completely. I feel like I've seen this in a number of PSP/Vita games before.

[Alex79]

Edit: I also played that demo of Daemon X Machina. There's something about the structure of it, a small hub from which you select missions on a menu and fight enemies in a small area, that puts me off completely. I feel like I've seen this in a number of PSP/Vita games before.

God Eater, Soul Sacrafice, Freedom Wars, Monster Hunter Freedom Unite...

It's pretty much the standard for that sort of game.

[Magical_Isopod]

Edit: I also played that demo of Daemon X Machina. There's something about the structure of it, a small hub from which you select missions on a menu and fight enemies in a small area, that puts me off completely. I feel like I've seen this in a number of PSP/Vita games before.

God Eater, Soul Sacrafice, Freedom Wars, Monster Hunter Freedom Unite...

It's pretty much the standard for that sort of game.

Mech games in general are like that, both the eastern and western ones. Armoured Core, Mech Warrior, Lost Planet / EX Troopers, Zone of the Enders, most of the Gundam games... The military theme fits a mission structure very well. The only linear ones I can think of are all sidescrollers - Front Mission: Gun Hazard (STRONG RECOMMEND), the Assault Suits series (Target Earth, Cybernator, et al), and POSSIBLY the forthcoming Left Alive, which is also a Front Mission game, but one where you play as civilians on the ground in more of a stealth/sabotage scenario (although there is mech combat too).

Also, I didn't realize just how rich the mech combat subgenre was until I started writing that - holy heck are there some absolutely stellar games in there.

[Magical_Isopod]

Edit: I also played that demo of Daemon X Machina. There's something about the structure of it, a small hub from which you select missions on a menu and fight enemies in a small area, that puts me off completely. I feel like I've seen this in a number of PSP/Vita games before.

God Eater, Soul Sacrafice, Freedom Wars, Monster Hunter Freedom Unite...

It's pretty much the standard for that sort of game.

Mech games in general are like that, both the eastern and western ones. Armoured Core, Mech Warrior, Lost Planet / EX Troopers, Zone of the Enders, most of the Gundam games... The military theme fits a mission structure very well. The only linear ones I can think of are all sidescrollers - Front Mission: Gun Hazard (STRONG RECOMMEND), the Assault Suits series (Target Earth, Cybernator, et al), and that really expensive LucasArts one for SNES I forget the name of. And POSSIBLY the forthcoming Left Alive, which is also a Front Mission game, but one where you play as civilians on the ground in more of a stealth/sabotage scenario (although there is mech combat too).

Also, I didn't realize just how rich the mech combat subgenre was until I started writing that - holy heck are there some absolutely stellar games in there.

[Magical_Isopod]

Oh, and shoutouts to Gundam Wing: Endless Duel, a Japan-only SuperFami Gundam fighting game that is absolutely superb and a must-own for Gundam Wing fans.

[ColinAlonso]

God Eater, Soul Sacrafice, Freedom Wars, Monster Hunter Freedom Unite...

It's pretty much the standard for that sort of game.

Definitely played demos/dabbled in PS Plus copies of some of these. Never grabbed me though. Good list for those type of games.

Isopod, I think I played a little bit of Front Mission: Gun Hazard back in the mid-2000's when I was also playing a translated rom of the first Front Mission strategy RPG. A 2D side scroller where you could get out of the mech and run around. Set in the future where Bergen (of all places) was important to the story? (or at least at the start).

Really liked the SRPG at the time. You could purchase various parts for each mech (left/right arm, legs etc) and the parts all had various strengths and weaknesses as well as a number of weapon types. Great for giving your squad various roles in battle.

[Alex79]

I've got limited enjoyment out of them, mainly when I've been looking for a Vita equivalent of Monster Hunter. Soul Sacrifice I played a fair bit of before it got too hard. Freedom Wars I didn't like at all, and I'm enjoying God Eater at the moment, although I'm not sure it'll sustain the fun enough for an extended play of.

[Magical_Isopod]

Isopod, I think I played a little bit of Front Mission: Gun Hazard back in the mid-2000's when I was also playing a translated rom of the first Front Mission strategy RPG. A 2D side scroller where you could get out of the mech and run around. Set in the future where Bergen (of all places) was important to the story? (or at least at the start).

Really liked the SRPG at the time. You could purchase various parts for each mech (left/right arm, legs etc) and the parts all had various strengths and weaknesses as well as a number of weapon types. Great for giving your squad various roles in battle.

I have very little familiarity with Front Mission as a whole, but that seems to Gun Hazard. I love it for its fantastic soundtrack and surprisingly intelligent war story. I've heard that Front Mission 3 was the series peak - one of those games I own, but have never played.

[Flabyo]

Front Mission 3 is indeed a fantastic game, and one you can play through more than once. Very early on you make a seemingly innocuous choice that sends the game down one of two completely different plots. There are also some other branching moments later, but it’s really a two scenario game (think resident evil 2)

[dezm0nd]

I've been sat watching Ellis play Abzû this morning. Being a three year old, he has the attention span of a gnat, and try as I might he's not yet got the hang of the controller properly. He has sat, absolutely enthralled with this game for a good half hour - a personal record. Just swimming about, looking at fish, talking to the fish. Loving it.

Ivy is 2 and has similar experiences with videogames but one day it'll click, if that's what she wants to do.

Touch screen tablets, however and shes a genius on it. Blows my mind watching her play cbeebies playtime island etc

[Magical_Isopod]

Front Mission 3 is indeed a fantastic game, and one you can play through more than once. Very early on you make a seemingly innocuous choice that sends the game down one of two completely different plots. There are also some other branching moments later, but it’s really a two scenario game (think resident evil 2)

True story, I had actually "sold" Front Mission 3 on eBay, but something about the art style just started screaming at me with this very specific vibe - like you know that kinda sketchbook industrial style games like FF7, Metal Gear Solid and Einhander had? I wish I knew more about art to describe it - but something about that whole motif just gives me the wiggles, fam. So I'm staring at this game *in the post office* ready to bundle it up, and I just decide to cancel the order. Luckily, I had other stuff to ship out but... I just couldn't part with it without having tried it. So if it ends up winning me over? That's true love, yo.

[stvnorman]

I’ve been trying out new free stuff on the Switch. I think I like Tetris 99’s fast-paced spin on the game, though I’m still not really sure what these attacking options are all about, which is probably why I can place in the top ten and not much higher!

I’ve played through the Yoshi’s Crafted World demo a few times and it’s definitely grown on me, from being convinced I wasn’t the target demographic (relating back to the previous discussion) to the point where I can see the compulsion to properly complete a level, but it’s not enough to make me want to spend full Nintendo price on it.

The Daemon X Machina Prologue Missions unfortunately did nothing for me. I’m not big into mech games, but this just didn’t feel like I was prancing about destroying stuff in anything of substance.

I do like a Pokemon game though, so have given the new Let’s Go Eevee demo a good session. I didn’t buy it before, partly because I’m still dipping in and out of Ultra Moon on 3DS, and partly because I didn’t want to muck around with motion controls. I still don’t really, but it seems to be really good despite them! If I finish up on the 3DS before a new core game I might be tempted now, so at least one of these demos has done a job on me.

And whilst it’s not free, I did use a few gold points to pick up Link’s Awakening DX on 3DS for £2.69 which I assume is significantly less than the remake will be! Only had a quick go so far but seems like my cup of tea.

And all this surviving another year of another week of chucking myself around a mountain on a snowboard!

[dezm0nd]

Links Awakening DX for that price... man, what a bargain. Still a classic in my eyes and I really only played it relatively recently.

[Suits]

Z:LA is a good game.

I played it back in the day when I was about 9/10 and again when I bought my original GBA with my first pay packet from McDonalds, which was about 2002.

The second time was on a DX cartridge which I may have gotten from eBay when it first came around - which I still have, and still have my save for - which is named something massively inappropriate.

So I've not played it for at least 15 years I'd say.

This is a good game.

More bite-size than Z:LttP but still very enjoyable.

I'm curious to see what they do to it, if they do anything at all, add the DX dungeons, or pad it out in another sort of way.

I'm down with the idea, the art style and form.

I'd also like a nice pre-order poster please Nintendo.

[Alex79]

I’ve been trying out new free stuff on the Switch. I think I like Tetris 99’s fast-paced spin on the game, though I’m still not really sure what these attacking options are all about, which is probably why I can place in the top ten and not much higher!

Whilst searching whether this game will come out on any other consoles I stumbled across this, which seems a fairly comprehensive guide.

https://www.reddit.com/r/NintendoSwitch ... mechanics/

[dezm0nd]

I'd also like a nice pre-order poster please Nintendo.

I got a feeling this is gonna get a swanky collectors editon

[dezm0nd]

In regards to Tetris 99 coming to other consoles... it's a nintendo published game so it's not looking likely.

[stvnorman]

Whilst searching whether this game will come out on any other consoles I stumbled across this, which seems a fairly comprehensive guide.

https://www.reddit.com/r/NintendoSwitch ... mechanics/

I think I wish I hadn’t asked! Thanks. Much better informed now, and will give some of those attack pointers a go.