The Official "What Are You Playing?" Thread (Post Screens)

[-GD-X★ 7,740]

41 minutes ago, kaz said:

Of course they are self aware and I noticed these jokes too. Like I mentioned they are doing a homage to JRPGs, I get it. But the rest of it is lazy and worse than any other JRPG I ever played. It's fine, kids play it too, and I'm glad they get their kinda version of oldschool games.

 

My point still stands though, I think what I'm trying to say is I hope to see a JRPG-style game but with a heavy-theme and plot. It doesn't have to be like a Shadowrun CRPG where you spent hours reading, I know must people would hate that, I would love it if it's good but I'm thinking of a middle ground between the two.

 

Most devs are too lazy when it comes to writing. But there is no excuse when TWO people (Signalis) come up with interesting shit even if it's cryptic - and told in tiny bits - I'd rather have that than a minute long meaningless convo. Or like that hyper light drifter dialogue, with metaphors etc.

 

can't have everything in life, i know

🐸

[Sabo 442]

Haven't played Signalis but I do know Horror is generally considered to be the easiest genre to work with, especially for a small team. There's a reason Horror is known as the "Breakout" genre for pretty much all forms of media. It's low budget and the writing gets heavy assistance from other factors involved. 

 

So comparing Signalis to Sea of Stars is just a dumb comparison... Two completely different genres with completely different standards.

[madmaltese★ 2,567]

11 hours ago, kaz said:

Of course they are self aware and I noticed these jokes too. Like I mentioned they are doing a homage to JRPGs, I get it. But the rest of it is lazy and worse than any other JRPG I ever played. It's fine, kids play it too, and I'm glad they get their kinda version of oldschool games.

 

My point still stands though, I think what I'm trying to say is I hope to see a JRPG-style game but with a heavy-theme and plot. It doesn't have to be like a Shadowrun CRPG where you spent hours reading, I know must people would hate that, I would love it if it's good but I'm thinking of a middle ground between the two.

 

Most devs are too lazy when it comes to writing. But there is no excuse when TWO people (Signalis) come up with interesting shit even if it's cryptic - and told in tiny bits - I'd rather have that than a minute long meaningless convo. Or like that hyper light drifter dialogue, with metaphors etc.

 

can't have everything in life, i know

Yeah like Sabo said, I just think there are other genres that are better suited to that type of writing and tone.

 

[kaz 2,439]

15 hours ago, Sabo said:

Haven't played Signalis but I do know Horror is generally considered to be the easiest genre to work with, especially for a small team. There's a reason Horror is known as the "Breakout" genre for pretty much all forms of media. It's low budget and the writing gets heavy assistance from other factors involved. 

 

So comparing Signalis to Sea of Stars is just a dumb comparison... Two completely different genres with completely different standards.

 

6 hours ago, madmaltese said:

Yeah like Sabo said, I just think there are other genres that are better suited to that type of writing and tone.

 

 

First off, the hardest genre to write a story/plot, or in general to is comedy. And I don't think it's harder to write a story for RE-like Horror game than a JRPG.

 

That said, my comparison isn't "dumb" if you consider that I myself already mentioned that it is indeed an odd comparison and I quote myself here:"...meanwhile Signalis made by TWO people, they worked on the story themselves. Okay, I'm comparing apples with dildos, but it shows they really cared about their game".

Whats dumb is that you didn't read that or idk didn't understand my point, which definitely isn't about standards but about the writing itself and how many people work on a project with a PASSION.

 

Owned    @mad too 

 

 

My point is that an entire team (I posted a link) was not able to come up with something. You guys all agree the story "sucks" more or less but still act like as if you need to defend it   I get it, it's because you don't care in the end because the focus is on the other stuff which is pretty good. So far so good, I won't complain it was just the shock coming back JRPGs. The writing is definitely worse than other jRPG I played. Imagine FF6 which such bland characters  

 

My dude who gave up on JRPGs long ago and played it said you could merge Zale and Valerie and make it one person, that's how atrociously written and one dimensional they are. He dropped the game after 10 hours so, I keep going but I'm terrified of any conversation  

 

 

It's ok guys, I was getting annoyed because it's a general thing. We can't expect anything because the writing standards will not be lifted (for many genres). Who cares about the JRPG writing. Love y'all

 

 

Edited September 13, 2023 by kaz

[Sabo 442]

19 hours ago, kaz said:

But there is no excuse when TWO people (Signalis) come up with interesting shit even if it's cryptic - and told in tiny bits - I'd rather have that than a minute long meaningless convo. Or like that hyper light drifter dialogue, with metaphors etc.

 

I did catch that. But you also turned around and said this which implies you were really pushing the argument to make the comparison. It's two completely different genres where the comparison doesn't make sense because they have different standards and expectations.

 

Let me put it this way:

 

What's the first thing people ask when it comes to a JRPG?

 

"Is the story good?" is usually the first question.

 

What's the first thing people ask when it comes to Horror?

 

"Is it scary?" is usually the first question. 

 

So to make this short and to the point- Story is far more important in a JRPG than it is in a Horror game therefore its far more important to hire an actual writer for a JRPG than it is for a Horror game.

 

You can get away with not hiring an actual writer for certain genres but you can't really get away with it for a JRPG if you want your story to be well recieved because the story is what most people are actually playing for. Basically, if you are making a JRPG- hire a fuckin' writer. It matters for this genre.

 

 

[kaz 2,439]

2 hours ago, Sabo said:

 

I did catch that. But you also turned around and said this which implies you were really pushing the argument to make the comparison. It's two completely different genres where the comparison doesn't make sense because they have different standards and expectations.

 

Let me put it this way:

 

What's the first thing people ask when it comes to a JRPG?

 

"Is the story good?" is usually the first question.

 

What's the first thing people ask when it comes to Horror?

 

"Is it scary?" is usually the first question. 

 

So to make this short and to the point- Story is far more important in a JRPG than it is in a Horror game therefore its far more important to hire an actual writer for a JRPG than it is for a Horror game.

 

You can get away with not hiring an actual writer for certain genres but you can't really get away with it for a JRPG if you want your story to be well recieved because the story is what most people are actually playing for. Basically, if you are making a JRPG- hire a fuckin' writer. It matters for this genre.

 

 

 

yes yes yes, let me hug you 

 

 

just went to the village

 

Spoiler

the first stage of grief lmfao. that was basically a village full of kaz's. also that dimension boss apparition was cool af.

 

 

best game ever made  

[Casual 732]

Sea of Stars is AWESOME.  Just took the pirate ship to the island, Definitely gunning for a spot in my top 10 of the year.

[-GD-X★ 7,740]

Just now, Casual said:

Sea of Stars is AWESOME.  Just took the pirate ship to the island, Definitely gunning for a spot in my top 10 of the year.

The last 1/3 gets insanely good. Some trippy stuff! 

[kaz 2,439]

I mastered the moonerang. That shit is a bosskiller holy damn, snatch 3 life mana, deflect perfectly, hitting faster and faster and BOOM. feels like im wearing a hand prosthetic having a malfunction at the end of the skill

[Twinblade★ 3,921]

Taking a break from Baldur’s Gate 3 and decided to play Trine 5. Very familiar but fun game so far.

[Twinblade★ 3,921]

I dropped Trine 5 close to the end. the game is mostly fine but I got sick of the clunky combat and it’s just wayyy too long for its own good. 
 

I decided to try Blasphemous 2. This game probably has the best 2D pixel art and animation I’ve seen.

[Sabo 442]

6 minutes ago, Twinblade said:

I dropped Trine 5 close to the end. the game is mostly fine but I got sick of the clunky combat and it’s just wayyy too long for its own good. 
 

I decided to try Blasphemous 2. This game probably has the best 2D pixel art and animation I’ve seen.

Is there a lot of it or something?

 

Trine has always thrown in some combat portions but they are usually pretty measured about it. The game's are pretty self aware that the combat isn't the greatest so they use combat sparingly and focus more on the puzzle side. Well, at least the ones I've played did. Haven't touched 4 or 5.

 

 

Anyways, trying to play through Final Fantasy mode just to finish the Platinum but holy fuck... I'm skipping all cutscenes and this game is still such a damn chore to play through. I'm trying to force myself because I know if I stop I will never touch this game again. 

[Twinblade★ 3,921]

4 minutes ago, Sabo said:

Is there a lot of it or something?

 

Trine has always thrown in some combat portions but they are usually pretty measured about it. The game's are pretty self aware that the combat isn't the greatest so they use combat sparingly and focus more on the puzzle side. Well, at least the ones I've played did. Haven't touched 4 or 5.

 

 

Anyways, trying to play through Final Fantasy mode just to finish the Platinum but holy fuck... I'm skipping all cutscenes and this game is still such a damn chore to play through. I'm trying to force myself because I know if I stop I will never touch this game again. 

 
The game just drags on and on but doesn’t introduce enough new ideas or mechanics to justify the greater length compared to the previous games. It just ends up feeling tedious.

[Sabo 442]

9 minutes ago, Twinblade said:

 
The game just drags on and on but doesn’t introduce enough new ideas or mechanics to justify the greater length compared to the previous games. It just ends up feeling tedious.

Ahh. That seems to be a growing trend now. Reminding me of the PS2 Era where devs thought length=quality.

[madmaltese★ 2,567]

Got a chance to play quite a bit more Sea of Stars. About 16h in now. The game is honestly so good and it probably has the best pacing ever in a jrpg. Continually moving forward, new environments, new mechanics, new bosses. The loop is great.

[-GD-X★ 7,740]

46 minutes ago, madmaltese said:

Got a chance to play quite a bit more Sea of Stars. About 16h in now. The game is honestly so good and it probably has the best pacing ever in a jrpg. Continually moving forward, new environments, new mechanics, new bosses. The loop is great.

Word!  

[Twinblade★ 3,921]

Man I wish I liked Sea of Stars. The demo did nothing for me.

[-GD-X★ 7,740]

13 minutes ago, Twinblade said:

Man I wish I liked Sea of Stars. The demo did nothing for me.

Full game is great! 

[Remij 4,679]

1 hour ago, Twinblade said:

Man I wish I liked Sea of Stars. The demo did nothing for me.

Have you tried the Star Ocean 2nd Story R demo yet?  It's damn good.  Would be gorgeous on the Ally since the game supports 120fps as well.

[Twinblade★ 3,921]

7 hours ago, Remij said:

Have you tried the Star Ocean 2nd Story R demo yet?  It's damn good.  Would be gorgeous on the Ally since the game supports 120fps as well.

 
I didn’t know there was a demo but that seems like a game that’s more up my alley. I’ll give it a try.