So, Vandal Hearts, huh. JBear's LP of this, made almost 10 years ago, was the reason I discovered Talking Time in the first place. It's a good game, I'd say. 9/10. The characters are fun, the plot is messy but enjoyable, and the gameplay is fine.
-
Welcome to Talking Time's third iteration! If you would like to register for an account, or have already registered but have not yet been confirmed, please read the following:
- The CAPTCHA key's answer is "Percy"
- Once you've completed the registration process please email us from the email you used for registration at percyreghelper@gmail.com and include the username you used for registration
Once you have completed these steps, Moderation Staff will be able to get your account approved.
Beating Games
- Thread starter Octopus Prime
- Start date
-
- Tags
- the end times
Finding out that the remake does not have Leon being chased by giant robot Ramon Salazar seriously dampened my desire to play it.
Violentvixen
(She/Her)
Oh yeah, P3P is so good, but not being able to see the characters move around in the world (especially Elizabeth's antics) or any of the animated scenes is a bummer. Such a good game.
I was so excited when I reached a room with a giant mechanical Salazar and all it sis was breathe fire when I was climbing it
RE4 remake is in a rare position of being a great game while also not living up to the original.
FelixSH
(He/Him)
Tonic Trouble is done. I remember seeing it in a magazine, back when the N64 was a thing, and for some reason, I was curious about it. Never enough to actually look for it, but it stuck in my mind. For some reason, I assumed it was some, dunno, nothing-game. Some trash that a company just pushed out, where you only walked around doing whatever. I know, sounds completely incoherent, but it felt like a trashy game without focus. From the little bit I read and saw about it.
In reality, it's a perfectly decent B-level platformer. It has its problems, specifically the camera, but if you like early 3D platformers, you should get fun out of it. As mentioned in the other thread, it feels very related to Rayman 2 (which it is, from the same company, made between Rayman and Rayman 2). You make it through a level, you get a new ability. The next level will test this ability, while giving you stuff to collect which you need for the next ability. And so on. There is a really nice feeling of progression in there, as you get more and more capable. Even if the abilities are not always great or a bit gimmicky - the pogo ability is extremely situational, and flying is just awful. It feels like a worse version of the winged cap from Mario 64. Like they wanted to make it hard to learn, fun when you do. But it feels just so unreliable.
Anyway, flying aside, it's a fun game. And nice to finally know what it actually is.
In reality, it's a perfectly decent B-level platformer. It has its problems, specifically the camera, but if you like early 3D platformers, you should get fun out of it. As mentioned in the other thread, it feels very related to Rayman 2 (which it is, from the same company, made between Rayman and Rayman 2). You make it through a level, you get a new ability. The next level will test this ability, while giving you stuff to collect which you need for the next ability. And so on. There is a really nice feeling of progression in there, as you get more and more capable. Even if the abilities are not always great or a bit gimmicky - the pogo ability is extremely situational, and flying is just awful. It feels like a worse version of the winged cap from Mario 64. Like they wanted to make it hard to learn, fun when you do. But it feels just so unreliable.
Anyway, flying aside, it's a fun game. And nice to finally know what it actually is.
Resident Evil: Village is more or less the kind of experience I was hoping to get from the RE4 remake; in that, y=yeah, the premise is pretty similar but otherwise it's wildly different. Ethan isn't anywhere close to as fun of a protagonist as Leon (how could he be), but I appreciated his hapless Not an Action Movie Guy Trying to Be An Action Movie Guy deal. Middle third of the game dragged pretty badly, but the Castle and Factory sections were great.
Overall, I would put it in the middle of the pack of my Resident Evil estimations.
It also has the absolute most bonkers-ass plot point I think I've ever seen in this series, and it's Resident Evil so, buddy *that takes some doing*.
Overall, I would put it in the middle of the pack of my Resident Evil estimations.
It also has the absolute most bonkers-ass plot point I think I've ever seen in this series, and it's Resident Evil so, buddy *that takes some doing*.
Unicorn Overlord finished. Will be a strong contender for my GOTY, I can already tell.
FelixSH
(He/Him)
Phantasy Star IV is done. Very easy final boss, which is fine. Without constant party-wide attacks (and with a super-good healer), bosses aren't much of a threat at the end.
A bit of a disappointment was the story. I hoped for a bit more than a simple good-vs-evil story, but whatever.
The artstyle and music are fantastic. In both senses - they are super-good, but they are also amazing at putting out that old-school sci-fi vibe that I love so much. The best part of playing this game was spending more time in this universe. I wished I had got the chance to play this game as a kid. It would have been my favorite game.
I basically didn't use macros, and only sometimes stumbled over a combotech (forgot the name of them). It didn't matter much, was fun when it happened, but was far from necessary. This is a pretty easy game, apart from that one dungeon and a handful of bosses.
Oh, and Seth was kinda hilarious. He joins you, a complete rando with weirdly strong power and a kinda generic look, admires the group to pieces, and then, after the short dungeon where you got him, he transforms into the boss. Dunno, something about that was amusing, I think it happened a little bit too fast.
I still feel like it will have a different place in my heart than PS I and II. These two are so different, and II has these supercool story beats. IV is so incredibly friendly, and kinda fanservice-y, with all the callbacks. Not in a bad way, it's great to get all they give you here. It still feels a bit by-the-numbers, compared to the first two. Which is perfectly fine, it's a very good rpg of that era. Wouldn't put it quite as high as the Final Fantasies and Chrono Trigger, but maybe on the level of Lufia II (which I also love). I just wished there was more.
A bit of a disappointment was the story. I hoped for a bit more than a simple good-vs-evil story, but whatever.
The artstyle and music are fantastic. In both senses - they are super-good, but they are also amazing at putting out that old-school sci-fi vibe that I love so much. The best part of playing this game was spending more time in this universe. I wished I had got the chance to play this game as a kid. It would have been my favorite game.
I basically didn't use macros, and only sometimes stumbled over a combotech (forgot the name of them). It didn't matter much, was fun when it happened, but was far from necessary. This is a pretty easy game, apart from that one dungeon and a handful of bosses.
Oh, and Seth was kinda hilarious. He joins you, a complete rando with weirdly strong power and a kinda generic look, admires the group to pieces, and then, after the short dungeon where you got him, he transforms into the boss. Dunno, something about that was amusing, I think it happened a little bit too fast.
I still feel like it will have a different place in my heart than PS I and II. These two are so different, and II has these supercool story beats. IV is so incredibly friendly, and kinda fanservice-y, with all the callbacks. Not in a bad way, it's great to get all they give you here. It still feels a bit by-the-numbers, compared to the first two. Which is perfectly fine, it's a very good rpg of that era. Wouldn't put it quite as high as the Final Fantasies and Chrono Trigger, but maybe on the level of Lufia II (which I also love). I just wished there was more.
R.R. Bigman
Coolest Guy
I completed the story for one of the leads in the new Alone in the Dark. The ending I got was fairly rewarding. The game bites off a lot more than it can chew at the end when it culminates in a big Resident Evil style boss and, Bless them, it just doesn’t work. That said, everything about the events surrounding the fight are absolutely off the chain. A for effort.
I’ve only gone through as one character, yet I can say I liked this game. I can’t recommend it at full price, and there’s some cool DLC that should have 100% been rewards for completing the game. Looking forward to playing it at least once more.
I’ve only gone through as one character, yet I can say I liked this game. I can’t recommend it at full price, and there’s some cool DLC that should have 100% been rewards for completing the game. Looking forward to playing it at least once more.
My recommendation is to go through that second playthrough on easy. More slightly spoilerly reasons below.
Content wise, it's mostly the same game. Same levels, same story flow, etc. Just the dialogue and character interactions are different. It's a good game but its got jank, and easy mode helps to ease some of that so you can focus more on exploring and finding collectables and make that final boss push somewhat bearable.
I finished off Princess Peach: Showtime. Its a good time. Not a groundbreaking game or anything really memorable, but its charming and solid. I liked it a bunch.
I'm also right at the end of Bloodstained. I'll beat the bosses at the end eventually. That's a durned good metroidvania.
I'm also right at the end of Bloodstained. I'll beat the bosses at the end eventually. That's a durned good metroidvania.
The Rhava Velar's much less of a hassle to get than the Crissaegrim, that's for sure.
Yakuza: Like a Dragon is a reinvention of the series from a brawler with RPG elements to a full turn-based RPG. There were a few moments where the difficulty spiked but besides that I liked it a lot. The new cast is really good.
I finished off Final Fantasy: Stranger of Paradise. I'm realizing that I don't actually like character action games very much; I played on the easier difficulty and ignored about half of the mechanics presented (directional attacks, command abilities, etc) because I just didn't feel compelled to engage with them. The loot was also a terrible system full of meaningless bits and bobs. I did like the job system, but even then some of the trees were littered with stuff you'd have to go out of your way to engage with for little overall benefit. The story was, fine? The characters were surprisingly likable but the overall was unsurprisingly pretty dumb, but in a fun way. I don't feel compelled to go back in for the post-game or DLC stuff, so I'm putting it down now.
Ultimately, not a bad game by any stretch; I'd even call it a pretty OK, possibly even good one. It's just not for me.
Ultimately, not a bad game by any stretch; I'd even call it a pretty OK, possibly even good one. It's just not for me.
Credits rolled on Sea of Stars, which was somewhat anticlimactic since I didn't feel like scouring the world for another 30 tchotchkes to unlock the Real Final Boss. That's on me, but at the same time that's a *lot* of tchotchkes.
On the whole it was fine, but way too slow of a slow burn given how very badly the game wants to be Chrono Trigger; the last third or so of the game was great but everything up to that point just felt like the game was taking its sweet time for stuff to happen, even when Stuff Was Happening A Lot.
I did appreciate that it wasn't afraid to just have some wild-ass stuff happen in the plot with no explanation or justification whatsoever.
On the whole it was fine, but way too slow of a slow burn given how very badly the game wants to be Chrono Trigger; the last third or so of the game was great but everything up to that point just felt like the game was taking its sweet time for stuff to happen, even when Stuff Was Happening A Lot.
I did appreciate that it wasn't afraid to just have some wild-ass stuff happen in the plot with no explanation or justification whatsoever.
That really is when you know for sure that the devs were committed to the bit.
FelixSH
(He/Him)
The Witness is done. Well, the credits rolled, but I only have something like 280 puzzles, and apparently, there are over 500, plus some extra ones. I do enjoy the game in some way, but as mentioned in the other thread, I don't like the puzzles too much, where you have to use surroundings, like branches or shadows. Always feels like the game is hiding something from me. I know, it's by design, just doesn't work that well with me.
Anyway, on the whole, a very nice, well done puzzle game. A lot of different ideas for a basic concept (draw a line over a grid, from point A to point B), and some very cool "aha" moments. Great atmosphere, being on the island is nice and relaxing. I realised how much I liked the quite, when I found a recording that just went on, and on, and on, and I just wanted it to stop. Definitely a cool experience, if you a) like puzzling out everything, including rules that can be somewhat obscure or b) don't mind looking up a solution or two, in case you are completely stuck. These puzzles can get hard, but you also don't have to do all of them. Far from it.
Anyway, on the whole, a very nice, well done puzzle game. A lot of different ideas for a basic concept (draw a line over a grid, from point A to point B), and some very cool "aha" moments. Great atmosphere, being on the island is nice and relaxing. I realised how much I liked the quite, when I found a recording that just went on, and on, and on, and I just wanted it to stop. Definitely a cool experience, if you a) like puzzling out everything, including rules that can be somewhat obscure or b) don't mind looking up a solution or two, in case you are completely stuck. These puzzles can get hard, but you also don't have to do all of them. Far from it.
Last edited:
Yeah. I really liked the game, but even my overactive completionism gland wasn’t enough to keep me banging my head against the puzzle with the sounds on the wrecked ship.
If you’re interested in taking a look (or a listen) for yourself without searching the whole island over again, click here.
FelixSH
(He/Him)
Thanks, I think I once went near there with the boat. But with all the places, and no portable map, I just forgot about it. Stumbling around the map was, in general, not my favourite part, even though having a small, open world full of puzzles should be ideal for me.
In the mountain? I think that's the very same set of puzzles I complained about in the gripe thread. I just looked up solutions for them and carried on, but I really don't like how specifically these are puzzles you can't skip, unlike nearly all the other puzzles. You can choose during the whole game, aside from the very start, and the very end, and making specifically these puzzles mandatory was pretty questionable.
Violentvixen
(She/Her)
Played through Imposter Factory this weekend, the third game in the To The Moon series. Fun and a different way of expanding on the story arc from the first two.
As always some dang gorgeous pixel art and their goofy sense of humor (second screenshot is a borderline spoiler).
The presentation of this as a murder mystery makes me curious about their supposed next RPG game which is just the last hour of an RPG with the main characters from the To The Moon series.
As always some dang gorgeous pixel art and their goofy sense of humor (second screenshot is a borderline spoiler).
The presentation of this as a murder mystery makes me curious about their supposed next RPG game which is just the last hour of an RPG with the main characters from the To The Moon series.
FelixSH
(He/Him)
Still missing 23 puzzels in The Witness, and a bunch of environmental ones. But with the final challenge done, I lost the drive to keep going. And I certainly don't want to stumble around the island, searching for anything missed. The same problem as in collectathons, really. A method for the game nudging you towards missing puzzles would be neat, but is definitely against the design ethos of the game.
Anyway, it's a great puzzle game. I already wrote about it, so I'll keep it at that.
Anyway, it's a great puzzle game. I already wrote about it, so I'll keep it at that.