What are you playing right now?

[Through the Living Hopper He/Him]

I just finished a run-through - to the credit roll - of Hogwarts Legacy, which took me a year, mostly because I have a weird thing where I don't like ending things like that. I started again, and did it in half of the time. Now I'm trying to 100% it with my new character. I'm around 50-60% right now, after playing for almost 30 hours. IT'S A HUGE GAME!

[Eluvianii he/him]

Just finished Metaphor ReFantazio at a little under 106 hours. This might just become my favorite Atlus game. It takes everything I like about their games and polishes it to perfection.

The art is gorgeous, the music is breathtaking, the combat system is incredibly versatile and fun, the characters are amazing company as always.

But above all I'm really impressed with the themes here. I've always respected how Atlus likes to pick a central theme for their games, and then take it apart and inspect it from every angle. Well, this time around they chose one hell of a difficult theme and the inspection was particularly thorough. Trying to keep every angle in mind and considering with a level head up to the last few minutes of game. Hats off to them for this, it was incredible.

Not to mention the theme in the name itself. Game really explores the word "fantasy". It plays around with it, and the conclusion it arrives to is the central pillar behind the reason fiction is such an important part of my life. It's a sentiment that has helped me through life and lets me enjoy stories in a deeper way than before I had made that realization. So I'm just really happy to have found a game that resonates with me on such a personal level.

I'm also incredibly pleased with the time and effort that went into building a good villain. Out of the ones I've seen from the studio, this is the villain with the most character building put into them and it makes the last stretch of the game feel so meaningful.

The followers were all great, some were par for the course as I was used to from the Persona series, but others went above and beyond to craft a story of their own, I was on the edge of my seat for some of these.

Only very small gripe with the game would be some of the character endings:

Spoiler

Mainly, that all the party members become members of the government. Makes sense and they are happy, and if they are so am I, but it kinda clashes with some of their journeys.

The priestess whose dream was to save the world so she could go back to her village and help improve life for her neighbors went to live at Grand Trad. The songstress who wanted to find the world's greatest stage to sing on it became a headmistress for a school. The good chef that talked about opening a restaurant became a captain of the guard.

If they like it that's cool but I was looking forward to see those dreams fulfilled tbh.

But again, very small. A small footnote in all the praise I have for the game. Hell, even the nameless npcs get resolutions to their character arcs. I'm so used to Atlus leaving me hanging on those. This is just such a complete experience.

10/10, game of the year, fight me.

Edited March 1, 2025 by Eluvianii

[aneonfoxtribute]

Metaphor is a damn good game, definitely one of ATLUS' best

[Briar King]

It's like Persona?

I would probably have finished that if it didn't have the calendar stuff in it. That got way to hard for me.

Or is it like Shin Tensin? I haven't played the one i bought for switch yet. I think it's 5. So was that Persona game.

[aneonfoxtribute]

1 minute ago, Briar King said:

It's like Persona?

I would probably have finished that if it didn't have the calendar stuff in it. That got way to hard for me.

Or is it like Shin Tensin? I haven't played the one i bought for switch yet. I think it's 5. So was that Persona game.

It's a mix of both. It has the calendar system and social elements of Persona, but the turn based gameplay of SMT

[Briar King]

Hmm that would likely be a pass for me than. I know Atlus has a rep for being more difficult and I guess that is apt because I was only in the 2nd dungeon running out of time/health/mp etc. It was annoying there was no heal points and you lose a day to do so only to go back the beginning of area all over again.

[Eluvianii he/him]

Worth mentioning that the dungeons have checkpoints and the calendar is a lot more forgiving than Persona. I ended up with 4 extra days that I didn't know how to spend at the end of the game because I had already done everything. 

[Briar King]

I ll look at it down the road sometime. Persona 5 storytelling was really good but that damn calender clock got to me to much.

[Eluvianii he/him]

Just finished Monster Hunter World, the base game. Well, kinda, there's a few monsters left but I beat the final boss.

Strange experience this, while it took me less than base Rise, it still was a good 50 hours or so, and yet it still feels kinda foreign to me. As if I had just started playing and was getting used to the controls. It actually feels like I only just now got a feel for the gameplay, and that's only because of the farming I did before the last stretch.

Still, it was very enjoyable, save for a couple monsters that I'd rather forget are even in the game (I'd heard Kushala was rough on this game but wow, it was such a downgrade from even GU). The new guys are great, Dodogama is the most adorable little boi, the Handler isn't as bad as I was made to expect. Cool game overall. 

At this point I could just try and finish up the remaining base monsters but I'm pretty excited for Iceborne. And to be perfectly honest I'm not opposed to the idea of going back to those missions sporting master rank equipment and just steamroll them. So on to Iceborne I guess. 

Edited March 5, 2025 by Eluvianii

[BenKenobi7333 He/Him/Mandalorian]

I’ve been grinding on Sea of Thieves even though I’m not that good on it. I recently bought my first sloop, so that’s so fun.

[Use the Falchion]

I'm trying NOT to play Unicorn Overlord, because there's not much I'd change about my playstyle or groups at this point, and it gives me Fire Emblem Genealogy of the Holy War vibes; I'm trying to wait until Genealogy's remake is announced to scratch that itch. (Although with the number of review and playthroughs I've been watching, there's a definite likelihood that I'll be tired of the remake before it's even announced...)

[Eluvianii he/him]

Just started Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist. Been very excited for this one and so far it's delivering.

Ender Lilies is one of my favorite games and, well, this is more of it. I'd be happy enough with that but this one promises to be even better. Where the spirits in Lilies just helped you without saying a word, here they made the homunculi into actual characters, with a part to play in the story and small conversations between them. They removed the use limit for abilities and used a cooldown instead. They gave dialogue to the main character. Overall a more character focused game, which I always appreciate.

I was also really excited because Mili also made the soundtrack for this one and as expected they killed it. All of the music is beautiful so far and there's more vocal tracks which I'm pretty happy about.

There's more lore, more cool bosses, more beautiful areas, and there's some focus in establishing connections between the two games. Honestly, everything I could have asked of this game. So excited to continue.

[Silver Phantom he/him]

Been playing Assassin creed 3. I love it so much. I grew up in New Mexico so it’s cool to have a game where a Native American is the main character and they aren’t afraid to show the messed up stuff the colonies did to them.  Also the combat is great.

 

@Eluvianii , that sound super interesting. What is it on?

[Eluvianii he/him]

5 hours ago, Silver Phantom said:

@Eluvianii , that sound super interesting. What is it on?

The Ender games? Pretty much everything I believe. I got the first one on PC and the sequel on Switch. Pretty sure they're on Playstation and Xbox too.

[Use the Falchion]

I was hoping for SOMETHING Fire Emblem to be announced in today's Nintendo Switch 1 Direct, with reliable insiders such as Nate the Hate claiming it exists, but, as has been the case for the past Directs, we've had nothing. I'm losing hope in it, to be honest, and if it doesn't appear in next week's Direct, I'm moving to the "new mainline FE on the Switch 2" bandwagon. 

On the bright side, I have no reason to hold back on replaying Unicorn Overlord anymore, and I'm more motivated than ever to continue playing Romancing Saga 2 now. 

[aneonfoxtribute]

2 hours ago, Use the Falchion said:

I was hoping for SOMETHING Fire Emblem to be announced in today's Nintendo Switch 1 Direct, with reliable insiders such as Nate the Hate claiming it exists, but, as has been the case for the past Directs, we've had nothing. I'm losing hope in it, to be honest, and if it doesn't appear in next week's Direct, I'm moving to the "new mainline FE on the Switch 2" bandwagon. 

On the bright side, I have no reason to hold back on replaying Unicorn Overlord anymore, and I'm more motivated than ever to continue playing Romancing Saga 2 now. 

I didn't expect too much big first party stuff here. Most of it is gonna be saved for next week

[Use the Falchion]

2 hours ago, aneonfoxtribute said:

I didn't expect too much big first party stuff here. Most of it is gonna be saved for next week

Agreed, but historically Fire Emblem has been the exception to the rule. 

 

FE games are rarely on a system within its first launch year.*

In fact, it's more likely that we'll see a Fire Emblem game at the end of a console's life than towards the beginning. This goes double for remakes. Shadow Dragon, New Mystery, and Echoes all released right as a new system was coming out, if not after said new system came out. Genealogy keeping that trend would be par for the course. In fact, a new FE game coming out to launch a new system would be breaking the habit, not conforming to it. 

Then again, nothing Nintendo has done recently has made much sense from an outside perspective. 

 

 

*GBA and Gamecube released in 2001, with Binding Blade and Path of Radiance releasing in 2002 and 2005 respectively. 3DS in 2010, Awakening in 2012/2013. Nintendo Switch releases in 2017, and Three Houses releases in 2019 despite being planned for 2018. There are more examples, but you get my point.

[Eluvianii he/him]

Finished Monster Hunter World: Iceborne, at a little under 104 hours, which would put it somewhere around 54 hours playing the expansion. And of course, by finishing I just mean I rolled credits on it. There's still more story to be seen, bigger and meaner monsters to fight, and I'm not uninstalling this until Fatalis is down.

The game was a fun time, though I had to go through a long and frustrating period of acceptance regarding the game being so... gimmicky. Take Resuscitate to Velkhana if you don't want to be incapacitated half the fight. Take Effluvia Resistance to Vaal Hazak if you don't want to have an unfairly low amount of health the whole time. Take wind resistance to Kushala if you want to hit him at all. Preparation has always been a big part of the series, but whereas in say, GU and Rise (the ones I've played the most), ignoring a monster's gimmick just results in a harder fight, here doing so entirely prevents you from playing effectively, and sucks all the fun out in the process.

Once I accepted that there was no way out of this, the game did become a lot easier, but I can't say I enjoyed unlocking the next monster in the story, only to be told I would have to go farm a different armor for a few hunts just to not throw the controller out the window. That has happened once in a while in the other games of course, but once I upgrade I can usually carry the same couple armors a few ranks. Here I almost needed one for each Elder.

Anyway, if you do go prepared, most fights are a lot of fun. Banbaro is easily my favorite new normal monster in the expansion (which there's probably like 2 so not a lot of competition, but still). He's too big and hittable for his own good, but he's beautiful and fun. I love the new locale. Snowy regions usually involve a rocky mountain, or a glacier, so having at least 2 or 3 areas being a forest instantly shot it to the top as far as World goes.

Fought a couple new elders, Namielle is easily my favorite elder in World, and probably my favorite overall monster. It's so damn pretty. The final boss was also pretty good, and sort of terrifying (Capcom is pretty good at that), and actually had a proper storyline leading up to it. Really enjoyed it overall. Though I guess from my hunter's point of view it might have been underwhelming, did not beat Nergigante and did not beat Shara, lol

It's been fun, I look forward to Alatreon, I look forward to Fatalis, and I look forward to doin some fashion hunting. There's a layered set I wanna get but I need hunter rank 50, and somehow after finishing the main story I only made it to 45. Damn it goes slow in this game.

Edited April 11, 2025 by Eluvianii

[damega]

• Call of Duty Black OPs 6
• Lửa và nước

Edited June 20, 2025 by damega

[Briar King]

The Oblivion remastered has me both pissed and happy(maybe).

Pissed because it's not Morrowind(my fav) or 1-2 which I never played before.

I maybe happy if this remaster eliminates that brutal enemy scaling of the original. It's the only one of the 3 I've played that I could barely make story progress in. I never understood how people were able to survive that game after getting only to a certain point each time on my 4-5 character trys. It was brutal.

If it's gone I can see myself buying and finally playing and it would be like getting the next installment since I never could get very far into 4 back then.

Edited April 23, 2025 by Briar King

[aneonfoxtribute]

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy both came out on the 24th, and they're both incredible!

[Zurvanight he/him]

Switching between Oblivion Remastered and Expedition 33. Both are amazing and Expedition 33 has one of the greatest stories ever in an rpg. I am hooked.

[The cheeseman Don't you dare go Hollow!]

13 minutes ago, Zurvanight said:

Expedition 33 has one of the greatest stories ever in an rpg. I am hooked.

Think it's GotY material?

[aneonfoxtribute]

1 minute ago, The cheeseman said:

Think it's GotY material?

It absolutely is. Expedition 33 is fantastic. Hundred Line Last Defense Academy, which released on the same day, is also gonna be a strong candidate as well 

[Briar King]

I'm only just getting Ex 33 on my radar from YouTube. I think it might be a XB exclusive? I have stopped taking in info on it to avoid spoilers but I've heard it's like a phenomenal rpg.