I always thought 'dirge' was a bad thing to name a game.

"We have to call it something beginning with DC, to keep with the alphabetical naming scheme, otherwise the fans will be pissed and won't buy the game. I know! How about Dirge of Cerberus? It totally works if you ignore the 'of'."
"Sir, I don't think it really matters. I don't think anyone's noticed. Plus, 'dirge' kinda has a downer feel to it..."
"YOU'RE FIRED."

Apparently there's a FF7 novel (Traces of Two Pasta) that it is highly recommended to read before Rebirth.

Going full Kingdom Hearts I love it.

regmcfly wrote:

Apparently there's a FF7 novel (Traces of Two Pasta) that it is highly recommended to read before Rebirth. Going full Kingdom Hearts I love it.

Tried to buy that novel when I was in the uk but it was 7.99 and I only had 7.98. That's right, i was a penne short.

regmcfly wrote:

W.T.F U fusilli.

Oh yeh.

I've been up since 4am, that's my excuse.

I still haven’t finished the Final Fantasy XV good ending book.

FranticPea wrote:

Oh yeh.

I've been up since 4am, that's my excuse.

Good morning Frantic.

Famicom Detective Club: The Girl Who Stands Behind (Nintendo Switch) - Another polished-but-faithful remake from the Famicom visual novel duology. I’ve seen a few people suggest this is a step up from the first game but to be honest, I didn’t think it was much different and I ended up preferring the mystery from the first game. Also there’s a dumb mechanic where you have to play the game in a very specific, perfect way to build up compatibility points with your investigation partner/possible romantic interest to unlock the perfect ending, which seems to involve always acting in a stereotypically masculine way or somehow earning points in mysterious, obtuse ways. I only earned 11/20 and had to watch the good ending on YouTube. I think it’s supposed to encourage replays but why would you want to replay a linear visual novel over and over?

Overall, this is a bit dated and obtuse but not bad for an 8-bit console visual novel and the visual overhaul and full voice acting are nice. [6]

Just finished The Last of Us Part 2 [PS5]. I had said to myself previously that I wouldn’t play this again, after the PS4 version. It’s absolutely superb, but so damned bleak and hopeless that I wasn’t sure I could emotionally take it again. However, having recently done Part 1 on the PS5, I went into this with an open mind. It’s still bleak as hell, but I found myself enjoying (or perhaps appreciating) it more this time around - possibly because of playing Part 1 so soon before. Both are absolutely masterful story-based experiences that play well too, Part 2 especially. I wonder what comes next from Naughty Dog?

I enjoy reading badger Yakuza feedback but I think I'll stick with the memories of 0. Was nodding along to Liv's review further up the page (although would've settled on the [9] myself, was such a wild ride). Which of the new ones isn't turn based? I've lost track.

Yaklad and this are the only turn based games.

Minnesänger wrote:

Moot_Geeza wrote:

I enjoy reading badger Yakuza feedback but I think I'll stick with the memories of 0. Was nodding along to Liv's review further up the page (although would've settled on the [9] myself, was such a wild ride). Which of the new ones isn't turn based? I've lost track.

Judgement and Lost Judgement are the modern punchy punch ones, plus Like a Dragon: Gaiden - Blokey Wot Has No Name.

I bought Lost Judgement when it was cheap on PS5. Didn't hate it but the main character wasn't doing it for me after 3-4hrs. It's doing the forum rounds now and I'm not too fussed about having another crack. Man With The Ink Eraser might be worth a shot at some point. I really enjoyed Yak 0.

I've been crossing my fingers for a 2D Yak game for years. Belt scroller, lots of bosses. Would probably have to use the interconnected map system of something like River City Girls rather than a traditional levels in sequence format. Lots of pixel art minigames, obviously loads of arcades with playable old Sega stuff in them too. Chip chooons. Multiplayer. Would love.

Finished Final Fantasy VII Rebirth with 77 hours on the clock. I have plenty of thoughts. They're mostly positive, though I wish they'd toned down the number of and difficulty of a lot of the minigames, it really is quite kitchen sink design. Very lavish but not quite necessary. The last three chapters are excellent though, the combat system really shines and it gets very difficult. Sometimes too difficult, like it's asking you to solve a puzzle that it won't give you the guidelines for until after you've failed so you have start from scratch. That said, when it clicks it's absolutely electric and the audio visual stuff is great. Having all six team members around at nearly all times is great fun.

I came out of Remake fairly enthused about the game, but extremely suspect of where they could go with this story, and not really liking the changes to the story. This time around I am quite positive on where they can go with the third instalment, and I think they've improved on what was a good gameplay core in Remake.

The presentation is fantastic, the music especially is remix and reshaping Uematsu's work into something expansive and engrossing. Any time the game adapts musical motifs to do with Jenova, the Ancients, or the Planet/Lifestream, it does really interesting things with a broad instrumental palette that do more than just build up the original themes with bluster and fireworks - something Remake did a little too much of for my taste. 

As well as some absolutely soaring highs, there are some quite crushing lows, mainly around poorly judged minigames or combat sequences where the Assess text doesn't quite mesh with your combat objective, but these are largely minor missteps in a very grand and incredibly generous game. The final chapter kinda sums it up fantastically, a quiet little moment of character expansion that builds on the work done to turn these characters into real three dimensional portraits, followed by some utterly head scratching narrative stuff, rounded out out by an absolutely breathless sequences of battles that is a loveletter to the original game, recontextualised for a modern console and all the graphical horesepower it can harness.

Crucially, it's not a 1:1 replacement of the original FInal Fantasy VII, a game I maintain holds up well to this day, especially in its quieter and more atmospheric moments. The Nibelheim flashback is handled better in a 30 year old game than in its modern counterpart, the gaps in its presentation allow you to fill in so much more and it all drips with dread. But the times when Rebirth really excels is when it takes moments that need to be grander and dramatic, and it elevates them through the fucking stratosphere. I am glad this part of the journey is done, and that it's been handled so confidently. Onto the next part. Let's mosey.

PS Fuck Chadley and MAI they belong in the crashed Gelinka with all the horrible high level fiends. Loser shit. The worst hangs imaginable.