Games I’m playing 2019
Alright on to the new year and on to typing a bit of games I’m playing/have played. I’m not sure if I’m going to change the format where I list any and all games vs ONLY the new ones because then it’d be comical repeats of Freedom Planet, Sonic 3 & Knuckles or Mania, Phantasy Star IV- BUT, maybe just thinking about it now I’ll include a little bit at the end that will include those. So, onto the games.
Tales of Vesperia Definitive Edition: (PC/Switch/PS4/XB1)
Oh dammit, first entry and it’s already a remaster?! Augh. WELL THEN, it’s still TECHNICALLY new. It sports new content. . .for the west anyway. Apparently the Xbox 360 version was deemed to be the only one to get this game over here so it missed out on a lot of extra goodies when they made a PS3 version in Japan. This has that and more, apparently. Neat!
Like other Tales of games, it’s an action RPG where you have real time battles and fight along teammates. I’m about 8 hours in and am really enjoying it. I got the Switch version so I’d hopefully be able to finish it in a timely manner (yeah right). It’s not bad, I’m preferring Xillia & Berseria so far but I can see why this one is loved.
Update: Yes I’m updating this before even posting this blog but hey, it’s fine right? Right. The game has surprised me with the characters and story. It’s impressive how it’s both a bit cliche and surprising with some actions that happen in the game. Not spoiling anything but, I’m enjoying it!
Resident Evil 2 (Remake): (PC/PS4/XB1)
Alright onto a real new game, it’s Res- . . . I’m seeing a pattern to 2019 already. Okay, so, it’s a remake of a PS1 game and. . . I beat it in one sitting. Well, I beat Claire A in one sitting and made it through half of Leon B. It’s a hell of a game, really enjoyed my time with it so far and look forward to replaying this as it’s REALLY replayable. I guess my only gripe is it’s not the perfect remake that Resident Evil 1 got. Let me put that into context, RE1’s remake is incredible, it’s SO good it replaces the original entirely. It kept a lot of the same mechanics and went out of it’s way to subvert your expectations
Resident Evil 2, doesn’t really do that. The gameplay is entirely different (not a bad thing!) and I feel like it misses just a little bit that keeps it from being that perfect remake. But really the change in gameplay is both great and a disappointment- but it still means the original is worth playing. RE2 is what a lot of people claimed RE7 was- this is actually survival horror. You gotta manage your inventory and combat is best avoided as you are never rewarded for taking out zombies (except for having safe passage, of course). It’s a brilliant game that’s apparently getting FREE DLC this month! (As I am writing this in 2/5/19). I was worried that they’d make this a action game where you’d be suplexing suspects but no it’s pretty dang true to the original.
The amount of stuff you get in the game is really impressive, it’s pretty much everything the PS1 version came with and then some. Whatever complaints I have I feel are minor at best and don’t harm the game’s overall fun or replayability.
Valkyria Chronicles 4: (Switch/PC/PS4/XB1)
Finally, something new- I think it came out this year but I’m not about to check because this list can’t be all games that came out before to some extent.
So, I got this on a whim, on sale, got a discount slapped on top of that too and thought I’d give it a try. It’s a odd one to describe so far. I’m about 2 hours into it and it plays out in semi-real-time and turn based. You move characters and enemies can shoot if you’re in sight, a sort of suppression fire that you and they do depending on the turn. When not in battle trying to be all strategic your allies are being silly anime characters off screen. The most unrealistic military you’d ever see. One of the characters has a knights helm AND pigtails just to round off the silliness. I’m interested to see where this goes, it’s a new kinda game for me so here’s hopin’ it’s good!
Astral Chain: (Switch)
I went into this game blind, not knowing much else beyond that people were giving it a recommendation and enjoying it- well that and that Platinum games made it. I was really surprised with this one! I’m on Case 8 at the time of writing and the game I feel mixes it’s gimmicks in well with the overall gameplay. It has a over the top anime plot with another dimension attacking the remains of the world, leaving you a …super police officer with a legion from their dimension under your control to help you in combat.
It’s not all action, you have parts where you’re using your legion to solve some simple tasks in the normal world. Doing some beat cop stuff, helping solve crimes, stopping graffiti artists and so on.
This game surprised me, so far I’m really enjoying the HECK out of this game and can’t wait to play more. Wish I had more time to jump into it more often but I’m happy with my purchase that’s for sure!
Dragon Quest XI: Definitive Edition: (Switch)
Yes, this game isn’t technically new but apparently this version has a boat load of new features and stuff that make it overall the most appealing package to grab. I didn’t play the OG version so I can’t comment much on that but, I heard they added some new character development events which is what I really enjoy in a RPG, a better soundtrack & some other gameplay fixes. Listening to Digital Foundry talk about this it seems the developer really had to go out of their way to get this game working as well as it does on Switch, which is good to hear they wanted a good port vs some of the trash I’ve heard of recently.
I never got into Dragon Quest as a series, I don’t want to get into why but the short is this game seems to solve any gripes I had. I heard a lot of praise off twitter so I was hoping to grab it, then the D.E. was announced so, grabbed that up instead.
This is a really, really fun time. I dunno why Square is so hateful against turn based combat but that’s what Dragon Quest has and it’s simple but fun. I look forward to getting further in this but I’m getting the feeling it’s gonna take me into next year to complete!
Non-new games:
The Mummy Demastered: (Switch/PC/PS4/XB1)
I got this last year and I was really hyped for it. The trailer made it look so good with brilliant sprite work, awesome music but my goodness I do not like this game. So much works against it in the gameplay department. It has the annoying enemies of Castlevania, like the medusa heads that go through walls & floors while your bullets don’t. To top it off you have 1 weak gun that has infinite ammo and 2 other guns that are far better. . .That have limited ammo. If you die? You start fresh with none of your perks because you have to go find and kill your undead past life that has ALL your gear while you have 1 bar of HP, a cruddy gun, no grenades.
I lost a character that’s past an area that is full of fast enemies that with 1 hit will remove half your health. They spring up out of the ground without warning and shoot a flaming skull across the map, with birds that fly by medusa head style to make maneuvering a pain. So, gotta go past an entire field of monsters, then find my powered up corpse.
It’s such a shame. I wanted to like the game but the mechanics really do not gel with each other and it becomes more of a slog than a fun, challenging platformer.
I tried returning to it but beyond the awesome visuals/animation & music, I just don’t like this game. I really feel like the mechanics fight against eachother and ultimately make for a game that isn’t fun. It was okay till I got into the situation. Which, you can blame on me all you want for not being great at the game? But, even before then the game wasn’t fun.
Diablo 3: (Switch/PC/PS4/XB1)
I grabbed this on Switch on sale since I wanted to play some local co-op with friends and it’s a lot more fun than the PC launch which was maddening. Annoyingly/thankfully? IDK- the Switch version doesn’t have always online DRM like the PC version does. Which was a major problem at launch and is a big reason for me to dodge games, a friend got the original for me so I- I’m off topic.
It’s a fun beat ’em up but it’s far from a proper Diablo game. It’s pretty braindead as you plow through the hordes of evil while tapping away without much risk. My friend and I melted bosses in under 10 seconds, without any chance of dying-on the hardest mode we could access.
The necromancer had me laughing the entire time, corpse explosion is the gift that keeps on giving!
Either way, it’s dumb, it’s great local co-op fun.