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Critique My Video Gaming


Obsessionist

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This is probably a dangerous thing to ask for, but here goes.

 

Summer break is coming, which bodes well for by gaming career. I'm trying to keep track of games I'm playing or want to play so as to better allocate time and funds. I've added a nifty content block to the right to keep tabs on these things.

 

Obviously it's a little Nintendo-centric, and even within Nintendo there are a few franchises which I've never tried. I need suggestions as to what games would best introduce me to franchises and even systems which I've never played. What's the quintessential Fire Emblem or Final Fantasy? What's the short list of must-play Playstation or Xbox games? What(cheap/old) non-Nintendo system will be me access to the most impactful Playstation/Xbox games? PC games?

 

Only caveats is that I'm not looking for competitive or mostly-multiplayer games, and I'm relatively conservative as far as violent/suggestive content goes.

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In the Final Fantasy department, most will point to VII and X as their favorite.  Personally I love V, which is currently on GBA and smartphones, so it's pretty accessible.  The creator of the series has said that IX is "the closest to what he thinks a Final Fantasy should be", though that was probably a while ago.  And since we're on the topic of Square Enix, I'm compelled to mention Kingdom Hearts, The World Ends With You, and Bravely Default.

 

Most of what I play now is either Kingdom Hearts or Pokemon, so...let's see, what else to suggest?  Disgaea can be fun, though they may have a little too much content.  Since visual novels are technically video games, I'm going to throw out a Steins;Gate recommendation--you can download it on PC now and I think they're planning to release on some PlayStations soon.  And there's the Mega Man franchise to consider.  Each individual series is a little different, but they're mostly either platforming shooters or RPGs (Battle Network and Star Force).  Star Force is my personal favorite, especially the first one.

 

I don't want to take up too much space, but if you want a little more info on any of these I'd be happy to provide it.

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Fire Emblem is a great series. The best starting point I think is Awakening, even though it's the most recent. It's the easiest to obtain save for the ones that have been released on virtual console. After that I'd recommend the original or Path of Radiance (which may be hard to find a cheap copy of as it's a sort of rare Game Cube release).

 

As for Final Fantasy, the best IN MY QUITE HUMBLE OPINION are 2, 3, and 7. I haven't gotten around to playing 10 or 13 but I've heard extremely mixed stuff about both so it's probably a matter of opinion? Anyway my personal favorite is 3, and the DS version (an excellent remake imo) is actually available on Steam. So is 4, which is decent. 7 is also on Steam. It can be -kind of- over the top but that's part of the charm of 7, 8, and 9 imo.

 

If you do like Final Fantasy, you might want to try out Golden Sun or The Legend of Mana, both very iconic RPGs that follow the FF formula. There's also Bravely Default, a recent RPG which I really like. It's got a WHOLE lot of customization as far as job/weapon/ability goes and the story is alright.

 

I notice you like Mother and are playing some Metroid games. I'd highly recommend Super Metroid, it's one of the greatest exploration platformers of all time IMO and has a similar dark/psychological feel. It's certainly not as feel-good as the Mother series can be though. I'm not a big fan of Metroid 1 but it's similar. They're both on the virtual console.

 

If you end up liking the Ace Attorney series, Layton vs. Ace Attorney is very good. I'm not too fond of Professor Layton games but it holds up very well and doesn't come across as any less good than games from either series. Likewise Apollo Justice and Dual Destinies are good too.

 

Happy gaming :U

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For Wii U, I would have to recommend The Wonderful 101. Don't let the kiddy looking visuals fool you. This game can be terrifyingly difficult. The same developers made Metal Gear Rising, which is also a blast.

If you haven't heard of it, Bastion is REALLY good. Like, really good. I can run it on my laptop, so you don't need anything too fantastic to run it.

Shovel knight is good too, and can be obtained on a bunch of systems.

 

I've always liked Metal Arms: Glitch in the System, but that ones rather old, the only way I know to get a copy is through Amazon or at a used store if you're lucky, if you happen to have a Wii it was available for gamecube.

 

Half-Life is a pretty good series as well.

 

I'll make a quick run through and look for any other gems I have.

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You should check out Monster Hunter! Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate is on the Wii U and 3DS, and Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is on the 3DS.

 

It's a completely cooperative game if you deal with groups at all, and overall it presents an extremely rewarding experience, especially if you solo your way through a game. It's also not very violent; mainly people swinging giant fantasy weapons around with only a small amount of blood effects (which can be turned off, I believe).

 

But yeah, overall incredibly deep yet challenging gameplay make Monster Hunter a favorite of mine. I can't recommend it enough.

 

(Fair warning, once you get hooked it may devour your life. :P)

 

~B~

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After so many years of not playing RPGs, it would appear that I have quite a bit of catching up to do.  Thanks for weighing in on the Final Fantasy issue--that's definitely next on my agenda as far as RPGs go.  Bravely Default I'll probably hold off on.  It looks really fantastic, but it's a new game that I might be able to get cheaper later.  Also, it's not and iconic, quintessential RPG yet.  I'm looking for the deepest, most meaningful experiences, but I'm also just trying to become more well-rounded/well-versed as a geek.

 

Kingdom Hearts has always seemed very, very cool to me, but I've always found it confusing.  What games exist, and on what consoles?  Which one is "the" one (not a spinoff or anything)?

 

I'll probably hold off on the Mega Man RPGs, as my backlog is over-saturated with other RPGs already.  I have dabbled in Mega Man 2 for the Wii VC, though.  I forgot to put it in the "To Play" list.  Mega Man isn't really my thing, but then I've only played a couple of levels.  What Mega Man feels the most smooth/modern?

 

Super Metroid is one of my favorite games ever.  I've got the original Metroid on 3DS VC.  While there are other Metroid games I'd rather play, I'll keep it up in "To Play."

 

I want to play Awakening a lot.

 

What's The Legend of Mana, exactly?  I've heard of it, but I'm not sure just what it's about.

 

Layton games are fun diversions, but I think I've had my fill of half-contextualized puzzles.  (That said, Layton games have some cool cutscenes.)  Phoenix Wright I'd love to play, but I'd need the right occasion.  I find that those types of games are best enjoyed on a trip or something.

 

I hadn't considered Wonderful 101.

 

Oh, Bastion looks really cool.  Definitely worth putting on the list.

 

Shovel Knight I've played.  Really great game.

 

Ballom, I'll take that as a warning to stay away from Moster Hunter.  It sounds like a game I would love, but I don't want that kind of neverending, optimization game devouring my life.  Pokemon did that once, and I now regret it.  (Kind of.  Pokemon is still amazing, I'm just never letting myself do that much breeding again, when there are novel experiences to be had elsewhere.)

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I haven't ever played Kingdom Hearts but I believe KH1 and KH2 are the only game within the main storyline, the rest are spinoffs or mid-quels, but I may be wrong. They're both on PS2 (and maybe PS3 as a rerelease or something? It's definitely on Wikipedia or its own Wiki if you're interested).

 

As for Mega Man, The X series is a really faithful reproduction of the main series but with better controls and graphics, since they were for the SNES and not the NES. Many prefer the main series because it's more iconic, and I am a big fan of MM2 and MM3, but I think the X series is better designed and equally influential. The Robot Masters (core series) are better than the Mavericks (X) though, imo.

 

Legend of Mana is an RPG on Playstation with really beautiful 2D graphics. It has roaming enemies rather than random encounters (speaking of which: I've heard Chrono Trigger works like this and I've heard good things about it) and a unique sort of map system. The overall structure reminds me of Golden Sun, honestly, it makes great use of the color depth and it's an RPG that happened toward the end of the sprite era that really started testing the waters before 3d rpgs were common.

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KH, KHII, Birth by Sleep, and KH3D are all considered "main titles", with Chain of Memories, 358/2 Days, and Re:coded all being considered "spin-offs". (There's also a semi-canon smartphone game on the horizon, probably also qualifies as a spin-off.) Recently almost all the games have been collected on the PS3: Kingdom Hearts I.5 has the first game, Chain of Memories, and a theater mode summarizing Days, while Kingdom Hearts II.5 has KHII, Birth by Sleep, and a theater mode summarizing Re:coded. (I recently saw some copies of both for surprisingly cheap at GameStop.)

 

KH3D (the most recent) also has written summaries of all the other games that you unlock as the plot progresses, but I've been told those work better as refreshers than anything else?  KH3D is a lot of fun, but since it serves to tie together like, all of the previous plot points and push them forward, it's probably not a good game to start with.  The first game is the most standalone, since at that time they didn't know if they were getting to make any more.  Birth by Sleep is set ten years before that, so it's a pretty fresh place to jump in, plus the gameplay is great so it's a fun play. (And Kingdom Hearts II is really fun IMO so I have to mention it somewhere.)

 

Re:coded is definitely the easiest game to skip, it only has one important part which is at the very end and gets covered in KH3D's ending anyway.  Also Days isn't really important unless you get interested in Roxas and Axel, or want to get a better understanding of who Xion is (though to be fair she's only had cameos since then).  Since this is the paragraph about side games I should probably mention Chain of Memories, but that one is a fair bit more important--going into KHII without at least reading up on CoM will leave you with a few more questions.

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The World Ends With You is great

 

Bastion is my favorite game of all time

 

you should play them both

 

*drops mic*

 

E: Oh also I love Fire Emblem. Only played the American GBA ones though, but at least one of them is on the VC and they are both really good so yeah. You can look into them after Awakening.

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Seconding recommendation to play TWEWY

 

Vaguely threatening you and yours with being part of a Nonary Game if you don't play 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors

 

*Snaps fingers*

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