Serenes Forest's Teehee Thread

[Lightcosmo]

This i'm not to certain about, though.

[Armagon]

7 hours ago, GuardianSing said:

Any game that's not already on this list I am happy to hear about.

I'll divide this into two, specifics and general.

Specifics:

Xenoblade Chronicles X: You have the Xenoblade trilogy there, which is based, but you should also play Xenoblade X. It is structurally and aesthetically the most different Xenoblade game and you could compare it to Majora's Mask. If you just go for the main objectives, it'll be alright. Where the game really shines however is the sidequests. Almost every single sidequest is part of some bigger chain, some even crossing over. Some sidequests only become available depending on the choices you made and it won't be immediately apparent either. Planet Mira is an absolute joy to explore and with the worldbuilding the game has, it legitimately feels like it reaches Star Wars-level of lived in. For a while i considered it the apex of side quest writing in a video game, nothing else i played really came close. The only thing that came to match it was Xenoblade 3 but for different reasons. Xenoblade 3's sidequests feature very good character writing but the quests themselves don't get as "out there" as Xenoblade X's. I mean, what other game has a sidequest about a pizza serial killer?

Only thing i'll say is that Xenoblade X should be played after Xenoblade 1 for the very simple reason that the gameplay is Xenoblade 1 but way better. You should play Xenoblade 1 first regardless because imo, going back to it after playing the later Xenoblade games makes it less fun.

CrossCode: I recommend this to Joevar but i'll do it to you as well because it's great. You like Zelda? You'll like this game. It's the Dark Souls of 2D Zelda but the Dark Souls part applies to the puzzles. Some really complex stuff that can admittedly be taxing (on my first run, i couldn't finish the first two dungeons in one sitting). The main protagonist Lea is canonically mute, she expresses herself through facial expressions and charades. She can speak but her vocabulary is limited to eight words max and they're all very basic. Lea is the reason why I can't really stand most silent protagonists anymore. I used to, and there are some i sill do like (Link, Cross) but for the most part, if i see a silent protagonist, i just think back to Lea and how RadFish took the silent protag trope and weaved it into an actual character who is silent because she actually cannot speak. If you get it, make you also get the New Home DLC, it's an epilogue story.

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim: There's not too much i can about this one. There's two halves: gameplay and story. Gameplay is a fairly standard but addicting RTS with big numbers. Story features 13 different characters, whose stories are told independently yet are all interconnected. They'll be constantly crisscrossing here and there and generally, the story is told out of order, in almost any order. This is why fans are so tightlipped about the plot, because past the prologue, there's no way to know who's at what part. There's so many different ways to approach the story and the fact that it's all so seamless is amazing.

Odin Sphere Leifthasir: it's similar to 13 Sentinels, only it follows five characters instead of 13 and while their stories are told out of order and interconnected, there is a set order in which you follow each character, so it's a bit more linear in that regard. It's a lot more simpler but it still works. It's also a 2D ARPG as opposed to RTS.

Gravity Rush 2: it's a very fun superhero-type game. The world is very fun to explore, there's a good amount of sidequests and the gravity's just fun to mess around with. What makes this game really neat is how everything is spoken in a fictional language (it sounds French but it actually isn't). The world actually reminded me of Venezuela for some reason, even though i don't think that's the inspiration. 

"What about Gravity Rush 1" don't. It's bad. It's a barebones game only carried by it's gravity mechanic and even then there's not much to do with it. By the time it actually starts to get good, it abruptly ends. The story here gets written out of existence before the second game begins anyways, Gravity Rush 1 does not matter. Only play it if you want to see how much of an upgrade 2 is.

Kid Icarus: Uprising: it is peak. Very good gameplay, very good character writing, all to make one of the best games ever made.

Mario+Rabbids: Sparks of Hope: whatever your favorite SRPG is, this clears it.

"What about Kingdom Battle" it's decent. Play it before Sparks of Hope because i cannot imagine going back to it after.

I would've recommended Metroid Dread and the Prime trilogy but i figured that was on your to-do list anyways.

General (series-wide) recommendations:

General recommendations:

Azure Striker Gunvolt trilogy: Gunvolt is very based. Dopamine 2D action platformer series that never gets old. There's also the Luminous Avenger iX side games but sadly, iX 2 is mid.

Blaster Master Zero trilogy: solid trilogy of Metroidvanias, leaning more towards the Metroid side of the genre. Blaster Master Zero 3 has one of my favorite endings ever.

Honestly i'd recommend Inti Creates' library for the most part but those two trilogies are the main draws for me.

Atelier: slice-of-life RPGs, good for simply relaxing (most of the games). Check this out, it's more in-depth and i'm about to head to work in a bit so i don't have time: https://barrelwisdom.com/blog/atelier-series-guide

Insomniac Spider-Man: for similar reasons as Gravity Rush 2. Solid games.

Xenogears and the Xenosaga trilogy: good games for the most part, albeit dated. I'd say check these out after becoming familiar with Xenoblade.

1 hour ago, Shrimpy -Limited Edition- said:

We had the Aquadom in Berlin. An elevator inside a giant water tank (1 Million Liters iirc) with the fishies around you....

Had being the key point. It burst a few months ago 😞

We can't have nice things.

Did they say if they would try rebuilding it?

1 hour ago, Sooks said:

Idk if this was intentional or not, but now that they’re both out, there’s no real reason to play Pokémon Sun and Moon over Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, unless you really want to play every Pokémon game. They’re just better versions in most aspects, they have more Pokémon, slightly more story stuff, extra minigame/bonus type stuff, some fixes to make evolutions not have to wait til the late game for no reason, and it’s one of the games that has a little bit of difficulty to i

Ultra Sun and Moon does rewrite Sun/Moon's story to be a little worse tho.

Edited March 7, 2023 by Armagon

[joevar]

6 hours ago, GuardianSing said:

Any game that's not already on this list I am happy to hear about.

what is crusader kings doing in the middle of weeb game JRPG and Japand made SRPG? lol.

you want solely Nintendo games or also PC game (since theres minecraft and CK3) ? what genre you prefer?

 

[BrightBow]

Berwick Saga is just so nice with so many extra bags.

Now if only I could find a code to prevent premature weapon breakage.

[joevar]

@GuardianSing while waiting your answer, i will just recommend the safe recommendation:

Valkyria Chronicles 4

Astlibra: revision

both games review is in links above 

Also since you like JRPG, then i recommend Tales of Arise. big budget, multiplatform JRPG done right. Sure its not the height of storytelling within Tales of series, but its not offensively bad either. And if Xenoblade wins in terms of sheer size (graphical) spectacles, Tales of Arise win in terms of (graphical) details imo. the closest to what i can call "realistic anime" graphic. The steam user reviews also quite high number with very high rating for a JRPG, and you know that PC gamers usually hard to please especially in JRPG field

[Acacia Sgt]

Goes without saying, but I'd recommend trying out a SRW game, heh.

If I had the time, I'd give a more thorough list.

[Sooks]

1 hour ago, Armagon said:

Ultra Sun and Moon does rewrite Sun/Moon's story to be a little worse tho.

Does it? I don’t remember any substantial changes other than those… guys, with the weird techno suits, showing up and and doing stuff that doesn’t matter until the end. But it’s been forever.

[Acacia Sgt]

Ah, I might have to wait until the weekend to play through Wave 3. Well, it's fine.

[Codename Shrimp]

3 hours ago, Armagon said:

Did they say if they would try rebuilding it?

No plans atm but who knows

[GuardianSing]

Thanks for all the suggestions folks, I now have an eye on even more games.

Also happy Birthday @Newtype06 sorry I'm a bit late.

7 hours ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

...I could keep going forever, but I am feeling tired, and this is enough that you probably shouldn't commit to all of these suggestion. I probably should have fine tuned the list a bit better for you specifically, but you never really know what might catch your fancy in the end.

 

No it's fine, these are all great!

 

[Benice]

9 hours ago, GuardianSing said:

Before I go to bed I wanna ask you folks to recommend me some games you think I might enjoy, I likely wont play them anytime soon but I would like to put more games into my backlog so I can remember them for later.

I'll always be a stan for Yakuza 0. I don't know if it's your jam entirely, but it's an absolutely incredible story that also makes really good use of its unique setting to make interesting commentaries on society- It's my very favorite game and narrative. Judgement is quite good as well, and Lost Judgment is superb on all sides of the ball as opposed to just story or gameplay. If you prefer JRPGs, then... Well, the gameplay's not stellar, but Like a Dragon is a terrific game with really good characters and lots to do.

Kirby's Epic Yarn is a silly little platformer with great music, adorable visuals, and a pretty short run-time; I can recommend it as a nice little distraction.

(Not a game, but I do renew my recommendation for A Raisin in the Sun!)

[Sidereal Wraith]

16 hours ago, Acacia Sgt said:

 

 

 

[Armagon]

A surprise to be sure but a welcome one. Tagging @Interdimensional Observer as a fellow Vanillaware enjoyer and tagging @Shrimpy -Limited Edition- cause witch game.

3 hours ago, Sooks said:

Does it? I don’t remember any substantial changes other than those… guys, with the weird techno suits, showing up and and doing stuff that doesn’t matter until the end. But it’s been forever.

From what I gather, it cheapens Lille and Lusamine's arcs.

40 minutes ago, GuardianSing said:

Thanks for all the suggestions folks, I now have an eye on even more games.

No problem. If you want to see more games I'd recommend but didn't put on the list for one reason or another

https://www.backloggd.com/u/Armagon/

The scores should be a good indication but particularly check out the Lists and Review tabs.

 

[Armagon]

Oracle of Ages is asking a lot just to enter that third dungeon lmao.

[Acacia Sgt]

5 minutes ago, Armagon said:

Oracle of Ages is asking a lot just to enter that third dungeon lmao.

Are you saying it takes... Ages to play through?

[Saint Rubenio]

[Acacia Sgt]

14 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

But was he?

[Saint Rubenio]

30 minutes ago, Acacia Sgt said:

But was he?

No.

He was a better ally than I could have ever hoped for.

[Interdimensional Observer]

7 hours ago, Shrimpy -Limited Edition- said:

Oh my god

Point taken xD

Mind, that was incredible unluckiness on my part.😆 The summer highs for DC peak in July at around 90F/32C, so less of an oven, but still too warm for walking around outside a lot IMO.

...And while I relayed the earlier false notion that DC was built on a swamp, I forgot that ironically, your country's capital was built on a swamp. I've read/watched stuff mentioning how Berlin is a pretty flat city, few hills, with some of it built over drained wetlands (some of which dates to the late 1600s or 1700s I think), which doesn't make for good building foundations. (An antonym of shaky soil would be "Manhattan schist". This solid bedrock is often very conveniently close to the surface, where an architect/engineer would want it to be, it explains how that borough of NYC is able to support the weight of so many towering skyscrapers.) Berlin wouldn't be the first case of city built over flimsy ground.:

• I recall hearing the Colosseum in Rome was partly built over a buried river. The soft soil is why part of the upper half of the exterior is missing, an earthquake destroyed it, but roughly only the portion built over the former stream, where the ground was less stable and hence more prone to the effects of vibrations.
  • This also is a microcosm of how the ground in different parts of the same city can vary in its firmness. Even if you can plop a gargantuan feat of engineering in one spot, doesn't mean it'll work elsewhere in that municipality. Forget that the earth is the foundation of human artifice, and it will literally swallow thy hubris.
• Also in Italy- the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
• There is another infamous case in St. Petersburg. Peter the Great ordered his nobles to build big glorious mansions in his newborn coastal capital, the ground was too squishy to support the structures' weight, so they began sinking in and had to be rebuilt.
• In America some coastal or even riverine cities have used landfill to increase their total area. Comparing maps of colonial and modern Boston, the city during the Revolution was much more of a peninsula than it is today. I believe Philadelphia also has some landfilled ground.

7 hours ago, Shrimpy -Limited Edition- said:

Thank you 😄

I only wish I could relay more.🙂

 

6 hours ago, Acacia Sgt said:

Goes without saying, but I'd recommend trying out a SRW game, heh.

Reminded me I was wanting to get back to that second A Portable run. I don't think I can move on to J without first wrapping that up -well, playing through the Little Bharm route, and then doing like another two battles to give the Full Armor ZZ Gundam a spin (it appeared lackluster barring the nice MAP without the armor). Refighting Haman and Vindel to then wrap it up isn't necessary for me.

I did resume the game today. Left it off at Lantau Island, that AP inaccuracy was on full display again.😆 The Death Army is as scrub as it gets, yet them in a bunch of forests had me missing like the Stormtrooper meme. This was especially true for Voltes, Combattler, and Daimos, I was a fool for deploying them b/c it seemed like they "fit" the scenario, SRs aren't entirely useless in AP, but the only use they had on this map was using Strike to injure Master Asia (of course he has to spawn on a mountain). Zambot 3 was slightly worst on the subsequent map. -I still find fun in this even so, says something about my liking for SRW.

 

2 hours ago, Armagon said:

A surprise to be sure but a welcome one. Tagging @Interdimensional Observer as a fellow Vanillaware enjoyer and tagging @Shrimpy -Limited Edition- cause witch game.

 

I tend not to play demos well in advance of when I would consider buying the actual game. And I've several Switch titles unplayed ATM, but, maybe I'll make an exception for this.😄

 

1 hour ago, Armagon said:

Oracle of Ages is asking a lot just to enter that third dungeon lmao.

The Wild Tokay minigame is what for a while held me back from finishing OoA. Its demand for perfection was a bit much for younger me.

[Lightcosmo]

2 hours ago, Armagon said:

Oracle of Ages is asking a lot just to enter that third dungeon lmao.

Its one of the best events in the game, though!

[Saint Rubenio]

You know, I had never stopped to talk about it back in the day, but I've always wondered...

Why is Langrey's hair so weird? Even the characters drawn in the more anime artstyle have mostly normal-looking hair, but then this guy (drawn in the "realistic" artstyle, no less) has hair that looks like a hay sofa plopped on top of a moldy dorito. Whatever he was trying to do there, it did not work.

That's probably the real reason behind the civil war. Try as he might, he couldn't get his hair to look as fabulous as Kristoff's. Alas, how dreadful war's horrors.

[Benice]

Gosh, there really have been a lot of spambots lately, haven't there?

[Sooks]

Oh, so Hikari’s chapter 2 was actually just Olberic’s chapter 2 but worse. How nice. It might’ve actually been fun if I wasn’t absurdly overleveled.

There is a slight twist at the end but… eh, still pretty boring.

[Acacia Sgt]

1 hour ago, Benice said:

Gosh, there really have been a lot of spambots lately, haven't there?

Really?

[Armagon]

5 hours ago, Acacia Sgt said:

Are you saying it takes... Ages to play through?

Yeah, might even take me a few seasons.

3 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Its demand for perfection was a bit much for younger me.

I take it you were playing on original hardware?

_____________

Ok so Veronica is just the Summoner class, got it.