c/nintendos's Official Head of VNs
SP is always your bottleneck since you have healing spells from the beginning (Morgana comes with Dia).
Which is why it gets easier later on to complete palaces in one go, some confidants will get you access to SP regen accessories and ways to create SP recovery items.
Wanted to do it all in one day, but don’t think it was possible.
It's possible for certain palaces, but others have story-related moments where you're forced to go back to the real world and come back again in another day.
I did all the palaces in P5R in the minimum amount of days (in other words, only went back midway if the story forced me), but it was more of a personal challenge since I was already familiar with the game due to me beating "vanilla" P5 in the past.
It's honestly a major pain in the first couple palaces since you don't have good options for refilling SP, and probably not worth it unless you want to challenge yourself, but became fairly easy to do on later ones.
Also worth mentioning that even if you're aiming to max confidants taking an extra day in early palaces won't really change much, the biggest time "optimizations" come from things in the real world.
@slimerancher@lemmy.world I definitely recommend reading the first spoiler above. Missing that makes you lose a huge chunk of content, it's bad enough that I always say "spoilers be damned" and tell that to any friend of mine that plays P5R.
You cannot complete all confidants
It's definitely possible, I did it my first run through Royal with some time left over. But I agree that this game is better enjoyed if you don't stress trying to get all confidants maxed.
The easiest option if you want to play MTG without the need to keep updating is to buy some Commander Preconstructed decks (ideally from the same set) and keep them unmodified.
These decks meant to be played against each other and usually well balanced. Just find a collection with aesthetics that appeal to you, get 3-4 and have fun. There's the option of "in-universe" sets with classic MTG aethetics like Tarkir, Lorwyn or Bloomburrow, or "crossover" sets with popular IPs - they just released TMNT, and there'll be Marvel and Startrek later this year.
The biggest thing to keep in mind is that Commander by far the most popular way to play MTG - but also the most complex one.
It's free-for-all multiplayer mode with politics, singleton 100-card decks and crazy interactions. If you have an MTG-playing friend they should be able to help you get started, but otherwise I'd suggest playing the free Magic Arena game which has some good tutorials, or look for Youtube videos - there's a ton of content to help people get started.
Very little gaming time since since I've been busy with a Magic the Gathering project - building on a box of Premodern decks, a "nostalgia" format with only cards printed between 1995 and 2003.
I don't have the time or interest to keep up with the crazy speed of MTG releases nowadays, so this type of format that doesn't require updates suits me better. The idea is to have a bunch of decks ready and use it as a board game of sorts, just pick up a couple decks and play any time we feel like it.
Will still be working on this for a few more weeks, but now that I got the lists defined and I finished organizing which cards I own and which cards I need to buy/trade I should have more time for gaming again.
Playing Witch on the Holy Night!
Progressing through Chapter 8.
Playing Astalon: Tears of the Earth!
Current side-game. An old-school metroidvania with 3 different characters (the classic "warrior, mage, archer" trio), each with different strenghts, weaknesses, and traversal abilities. The map design is great with interesting puzzles, the challenge is "just right" so far and bosses are fun. I think the balance between characters is not great (mage seems way better than the other two), but that's not a major issue.
However... the checkpoint system really sucks. Health recovery is very limited and anytime you die you go back to the entrance of the castle. Sure, there's some fast travel spots and you unlock a ton of shortcuts so getting back to where you were before will be much faster than before, but these runbacks get tedious very quickly. I'd also like to add that the key required to use the fast travel is a missable item, which is just mean in a game with this design.
That's a massive improvement in some games for those who play handheld. Probably should've been there from the start, but it's good that Nintendo finally implemented it.
So, this is now in top five of the series?
I'd say it's a contender for the #5 spot, but I'll need to think about it a bit more. There's a lot of competition for that slot. 🙂
Super Robot Wars Y is also done? No more DLCs?
Nothing announced but datamining from the PC version indicates we might get more DLCs later this year.
Finished Trails Beyond the Horizon!
That was one hell of an ending.
So good that it makes me move this game to the top tier of this series - but it also brings a big question of "will Falcom be able to put a worthy follow-up to this ending?".
This game also adds a ton to the worldbuilding of the series, and I'm impressed that they managed to create a twist that not only solves some of my long-standing complaints but even turns them into clever foreshadowing.
Two things that always bothered me in these games were the absurdly fast pace of technological advance, and the near-prophetic abilities some people have (like the plans of the Ouroboros Grandmaster).
The time-travel and time-loop reveals fully explain this - we have both very advanced technology coming from the future, and people with memories from previous loops (Novartis is certainly one, won't be surprised if Epstein and the Grandmaster are the same) that explains their ability to predict future events.
I'm now desperately wanting the next game on the series. There's so, so many possibilities and questions going through my mind right now.
So, if I'm reading this correctly and the implication of the ending is that Agnès disappeared from the timeline due to her intervention with the Grand Reset.
But doesn't this completely change the timeline for the Daybreak games?
Agnès bringing Van the quest to retrieve the Geneses was the start of the first two games, so what happens in a timeline where she isn't present? Do the Geneses still exist? Does Van still somehow get all those people joining the Arkride Solutions Office?
Finally, I'm very happy we're getting more of Risette's backstory. She's been one of my favorites since the first Daybreak game, so seeing her role grow in importance is fantastic.
Finished DLC 2 for Super Robot Wars Y!
Definitely not as good as the first DLC. It lacks the strong storyline combining the new series that made the previous batch shine, and doesn't bring enough to the table to make up for that. At least while the new units are interesting individually.
One big highlight were the Koutetsu Jeeg animations, easily the best among new DLC units.
Playing Witch on the Holy Night!
With the two above done we go back to our regular programming.
From what I gather, this is Ys: Memories of Celceta. Originally released before Ys VIII, but the story follows right after Ys X. This version was released in Japan last year, now coming to the west.
It's a remake of Ys IV, and this particular version was originally released for the PS Vita.
The Ys games are mostly self-contained, each telling one of the adventures of Adol Christin, based on a list of diaries/books he left behind.
There is a timeline but it doesn't follow the game release order - X is a good example since it's one of the earliest games in the chronology, taking place right after I and II.
Yes, Kevin first appears in Sky SC and is the protagonist of Sky 3rd.
Then he kinda disappeared, only showing up as a minor NPC in some games (like Azure) until he finally returned as a playable character in Horizon.
Playing Trails Beyond the Horizon!
Finished Rean Route 3 and Kevin Route 3, and now going through Van Route 6. Looks like these are the last parts of their individual routes and after that we go for the final chapter.
I'm quite disappointed by how short Kevin's route was. I was hyped to have him as a playable character again after all these years, but he has the shortest route by far (his last chapter is just two short maps and a two boss battles, doesn't even have a second city to explore like Rean's), and he struggles with the weakest of the three teams as well (Swin really needs a buff).
At least his story beats were good. He and the Picnicking Front have a good dynamic, and it also includes some major reveals that I'll discuss in a spoiler section after I finish the game. Though I'm curious where they're going with his character building, he seems to have somewhat "regressed" to how he was before Sky 3 - and even his party members are constantly calling him out on that.
Rean's route was also on the short side, but that didn't bother me as much since we had so many games to play with him already. It was damn good though, with some long-awaited encounters and also interesting reveals related to what we saw in Kevin's route.
I'll leave my final comments on Van's route for after I finish the game, but so far it's the weakest of the three, it feels too much like "filler" - despite being longer than the other two combined it don't contain as many interesting story moments.
With this current pace I'll probably finish the game this weekend, which is faster than I expected. If that happens I'll go back to Super Robot Wars Y to play DLC2.
Fully focused on Horizon so no progress on other games.
Playing Trails Beyond the Horizon!
Finished Van Routes 4 and 5, Kevin Route 2, and I'm now progressing through Rean Route 3. Probably in the last third of the game, but with my current schedule I think it'll still take me a couple weeks to get to the ending.
The reveal that Hamilton "stole" water from the future to help Tharbad in the present is crazy.
Wonder what happens when we get to that point in time - does the water just dissapear and we go back to the original problem? Is the "stolen" water from an alternate/branching timeline?
Wasn't expecting time travel paradoxes to show up in these games.
Fully focused on Horizon so no progress on other games.
For beginners I'd recommend Drainus among traditional ("non bullet hell¨) shmups and Danmaku Unlimited 3 on the easiest settings for bullet hell.
And if you enjoy Danmaku Unlimited 3 I'd go for Crimzon Clover next, it's one of the best games in the genre. It's significantly harder even on Novice, but still beatable with some pratice.
A bit early to tell. There's a lot of things being set up in all three routes, so the payoff will say how this game will end up in my ranking.
But I will say it's looking very promising so far.
Playing Trails Beyond the Horizon!
Currently on Act 3, Van Route 4. The end of the previous act was a very interesting surprise and a great character moment.
Agnès telling Van she loves him is not something I expected to happen mid-game.
But it was a really good scene, with Van expressing how important she's to him but rejecting her since he can't see her as a romantic partner. I wonder if he was being completely honest there or was acting that way due to their age gap, or if he even has his feelings properly sorted out given all the baggage he's still processing from this past. Still, that response was very much in-character for him, and I really appreciate the adult way the situation was handled.
But it doesn't mean the the Van/Agnès/Elaine love triangle is over - Agnès is not giving up and claims she'll him over despite the age gap, even if that takes many years.
Fully focused on Horizon so no progress on other games.
why not just upgrade to Switch 2
I will pick one up eventually, but right now it's being held back by the combo of "only Bananza as an exclusive I care about", "high console price", "high SD Express price" and "game key carts".
Besides Bananza the only Switch 2 games I have in my wishlist are "Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave" (no release date yet) and "The Adventures of Elliot" (June). All recently announced ports fall into "if I cared about those I'd already own a PS5".
$450 for the Switch 2 is pricy, adding another $200 if I simply want to have the same 1TB I have on the Switch 1 makes it sting a lot more. Simply letting me use my current SD card for my existing Switch 1 library would've been a huge deal.
Game keys make everything much worse - I refuse to buy those as a game collector, so for a lot of games I'd end up picking up the Switch 1 version anyway (this includes Trails Beyond the Horizon) or wait for a heavily discounted digital (meaning I wouldn't be playing them for 1-2 years). And it also adds to the storage problem too.
Playing Trails Beyond the Horizon!
Quite a bit of progress, I'm on the latter half of Act 2 having just finished the second part of the Rean route.
Seems like the route splits aren't quite like Reverie, with Van's side taking most of the playtime (I'd say his team gets 50-60% of the game), but despite their reduced playtime the other two routes have been far more interesting. The end of latest Rean section brought a major reveal that has me extremely interested in direction the story is going alongside a long-waited battle where they nailed both custscenes and challenge.
We finally got the Rean vs Shizuna battle and it was pure hype. And having a 4-way boss battle with her, Kurogane, Kincaid and Ashladd was not something I was expecting to hit mid-game.
One thing I haven't commented before is the quality of the Switch 1 version, which has some really odd problems - it keeps going back and forth between "this looks pretty good" and "extremely low-res and blurry" very abruptly and all the time. It's very distracting, and given how much worse it looks than Daybreak 1/2 (which AFAIK runs on the same engine) I think something is wrong in this port.
Fully focused on Horizon so no progress on other games.
My wishlist is kinda empty for "major" releases right now.
If I get a Switch 2 I'm interested in the new Fire Emblem (plus Bananza which is already out), and maybe Adventures of Elliot depending on the reviews. Other than that I only have the two games from Falcom (Kyoto Xanadu and Trails in the Sky 2) and the new Professor Layton game.
Of all of these I think only Adventures of Elliot has a release date and it's only in June!
Mario Tennis is not my cup of tea.
I've tried DQ games before but I almost never liked them enough to finish, 5 being the main exception. So while I might give 7 a shot it's probably a "pick it up with a big discount" situation.
There's also storage costs.
In a world where games can easily be dozens of GB and storage is at a premium (thanks, AI companies) having physical media with most of the game data on it makes it a lot easier to juggle between games.