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“I Just Think They're Neat.” Like What You are Playing

Not actually playing this at the moment, but, as a general "this game is good" type observation that I don't know where else to put, I just noticed that the Enhanced Editions of Baldur's Gate 1&2 and Icewind Dale all got a huge update full of bugfixes out of the blue, 3 years (!) after the last patch. I played these for the first time last year (maybe started the year before last—they are very long) after enjoying the Divinity games to see the origins of this genre and had a great time.

These got a lot of bad press at launch due to both a reputation that these were more buggy than the existing fanmade patches and also a (mostly stupid) capital G gamer controversy about a trans NPC, but by the time I played them they were already great. I'm guessing maybe more attention/sales and the expectations of even more to come because of Baldur's Gate 3 enabled this, but in any case I do like it when this much attention is paid to a re-release.

Reading the patch notes kind of made me want to play them again except that they're a billion hours long.
 
Do those patches also extend to the console ports?

They're currently using "we haven't announced plans for" language to respond to questions about console patches, which sometimes means "we'll say yes later at some event where it will get the game more publicity, instead of in response to this forum post no one is reading" and sometimes means "no."

Android/iOS patches are announced, though.
 

JBear

Internet's foremost Bertolli cosplayer
(He/Him)
I just started Aria Chronicle yesterday, but I'm really enjoying it thus far. It's a Japanese take on Darkest Dungeon, with all of the things that you'd suspect that would entail: more focus on story, named story characters, combat that feels a bit more like a traditional JRPG, and the Lovecraft replaced with anime. It's fully voiced (in Japanese), and one of the MCs is a Paladin lady built like a brick shithouse:

EdrMmEkWoAErznR.png


One neat new wrinkle it adds is that each class has a unique field ability: Rogues don't need keys, Warriors don't need shovels, Monks allow the party to retrace their steps without penalty, Cooks can gather resources for free, etc.

I'm playing on Hard, which feels just about perfect, but it also offers two easier difficulties for folks that don't want permadeath (the story MCs can't die regardless, though). Anyway, it's a good time!
 
I just started Aria Chronicle yesterday, but I'm really enjoying it thus far. It's a Japanese take on Darkest Dungeon

It's JRPG influenced for sure, but the developer is Korean. (And the twitter bio says "One-man indie game dev studio," so although I'm sure there was some contracting I think the core team is basically one Korean guy.)

Understandable why you might get that impression though, since the game pursues that JRPG feel to the extent that it has Japanese voices but not any other language!

(I haven't played it yet but it came up on the Waypoint podcast a while ago and I've had my eye on it for a while. Thank you for your writeup!)
 

MetManMas

Me and My Bestie
(He, him)
Android/iOS patches are announced, though.
It's not too likely that I'll be reinstalling these games on my phone anytime soon unless I got a mouse for my LG, but...
  • New System Requirements | 32-bit operating systems are no longer supported. Check out the updated system requirements below, or visit game pages for details.
I am not looking forward to these games being made incompatible with my phone like Pocket Camp was when it shut out 32-bit OSes.
 

Mogri

Round and round I go
(he)
Staff member
Moderator
and one of the MCs is a Paladin lady built like a brick shithouse:

EdrMmEkWoAErznR.png
I'd love to see an x-ray view of this armor, because I'm not sure how her shoulders and arms align with where the armor is positioned.
 

JBear

Internet's foremost Bertolli cosplayer
(He/Him)
It's JRPG influenced for sure, but the developer is Korean. (And the twitter bio says "One-man indie game dev studio," so although I'm sure there was some contracting I think the core team is basically one Korean guy.)

Understandable why you might get that impression though, since the game pursues that JRPG feel to the extent that it has Japanese voices but not any other language!

(I haven't played it yet but it came up on the Waypoint podcast a while ago and I've had my eye on it for a while. Thank you for your writeup!)
I stand corrected! I'm not surprised to find out that it's a one-man production. It has... that feel to it, in a way that I can't quite articulate. Certainly I've run into a bug or two, at least. That said, the localization is great, outside of an occasional typo, so I suspect that was contracted out, at least. (I had my worries this wouldn't be the case when the trailer on the Steam page showed Japanese text.)
 

JBear

Internet's foremost Bertolli cosplayer
(He/Him)
It occurs to me that I should mention this too: its visual style is reminiscent of Vanillaware titles, but it has none of the horny excesses of those titles. On the 1-10 horny scale that I just invented, if Vanillaware games are an 11, and Shantae games are a 5 or a 6, this is like, a 2, maybe a 3. It's just happy, colourful, and cartoony, with maybe one or two risque character design choices.

Oh, and I love the way it handles Poison. Poison is a status ailment that, once inflicted on your or an enemy, does nothing for 3 turns and then the afflicted character dies. It's different, fun, and makes total sense.
 

MCBanjoMike

Sudden chomper
(He/him)
It occurs to me that I should mention this too: its visual style is reminiscent of Vanillaware titles, but it has none of the horny excesses of those titles. On the 1-10 horny scale that I just invented, if Vanillaware games are an 11, and Shantae games are a 5 or a 6, this is like, a 2, maybe a 3. It's just happy, colourful, and cartoony, with maybe one or two risque character design choices.
That answers a question I had about the game, and it's an answer I like!
 

Violentvixen

(She/Her)
It occurs to me that I should mention this too: its visual style is reminiscent of Vanillaware titles, but it has none of the horny excesses of those titles. On the 1-10 horny scale that I just invented, if Vanillaware games are an 11, and Shantae games are a 5 or a 6, this is like, a 2, maybe a 3. It's just happy, colourful, and cartoony, with maybe one or two risque character design choices.
Hello yes this is relevant to my interests.
 

JBear

Internet's foremost Bertolli cosplayer
(He/Him)
I actually really like the character designs. The equipment shop is run by a bad-ass old lady:

17440a4b387d201392ecc6295168fe1a8279_1920xt1080_S1000.jpg
 

q 3

here to eat fish and erase the universe
(they/them)
I'd love to see an x-ray view of this armor, because I'm not sure how her shoulders and arms align with where the armor is positioned.
That's where the Super Missiles are stored.
 

JBear

Internet's foremost Bertolli cosplayer
(He/Him)
No, but exciting update: it has cats that you can pet and feed in order to get party buffs.

(What it does have in the way of advancement/customization, actually, is the Diablo 3 system. You have swappable slots for passive abilities, and as you level up, you unlock more abilities and more slots to flavour your version of class X to your liking.)
 

JBear

Internet's foremost Bertolli cosplayer
(He/Him)
I think it's supposed to be coming to Switch later this year?
 

ASandoval

Old Man Gamer
(he/him)
Started a replay of Resident Evil VII and I forgot how good this game is, to the point that now I'm scared VIllage can't possibly live up to it. The first hour alone is one of the tightest introductions to a cinematic game I've played outside of the Half-Life series. I also remember a lot more of the game than I thought I did and I'm itching to get back to my next play session tonight.
 

Adrenaline

Post Reader
(He/Him)
Started a replay of Resident Evil VII and I forgot how good this game is, to the point that now I'm scared VIllage can't possibly live up to it. The first hour alone is one of the tightest introductions to a cinematic game I've played outside of the Half-Life series. I also remember a lot more of the game than I thought I did and I'm itching to get back to my next play session tonight.
The first half of 7 is great. The second half really brings it down to Earth.
 

lincolnic

can stop, will stop
(he/him)
I’m very much liking Guacamele 2.
I had a really good time with this one when I played it last year. I've said this before, but I love how the series has your combat upgrades double as movement upgrades too. Feels like a very appropriate way to approach the typical Metroidvania constraints.
 
I forgot how much I love OG Link's Awakening's localization. It's so quirky and full of character and it's yet another reason this is my favorite Zaldo.
 

Mogri

Round and round I go
(he)
Staff member
Moderator
I thought Touhou Luna Nights was excellent. Then I played Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth.

Luna Nights gives you incredible abilities right out of the box: you've got a float, a time slow, and a time stop, and the time manipulation abilities actually work against every boss in the game. It feels great.

They're the same publisher, same game engine, so a lot of the feel is the same. I didn't expect Deedlit to have any time powers (she doesn't), but the float was such an essential part of Sakuya's movement that I kept expecting it to be there, so I was thrown off at first. And then Deedlit gives you hover/flight as its very first upgrade, and the game gets even better from there.

Strong recommendation to both. The Touhou series has a reputation for difficulty; Luna Nights is pretty forgiving, and if anything, it understays its welcome. I'm not especially far into Deedlit, but it gives a good impression. I am not especially familiar with the Touhou franchise and exactly zero familiar with Lodoss War, so I can safely say that enjoyment of these games does not depend on the franchises to which they are connected.
 
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