Games I'm Playing

As of Early January 2024. On hiatus: Age of Empires IV (for well over a year now...), Dragon Quest VIII (was overwhelmed by curiosity to try Persona instead), Persona 2: Innocent Sin (got so discouraged by the talk system I just jumped to P3 instead...), Ultra Street Fighter IV (can't remember when I last played this), Sea of Stars (since the summer of '23), and Disco Elysium (started it at the same time as P5R, decided to just go with that instead).

Game Release Date GameSpot Score Bhuj's Score

Baba Is You

Kind of...I'm stuck on FOUR different puzzles and I'm far too proud to look up the solution (also, I mean...kind of defeats the purpose of a *puzzle game*...). I have no idea if I'll ever properly finish this, but it'll always be there...if I ever feel smart.
7
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Disco Elysium

...you know what? Screw Thief 4. Gonna play this wild-ass game instead. ...though I have set this aside in favor of P5R lately...
10
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Hades

Stopped playing in late 2020 and just picked it back up. Finally got past the third area boss, but now I have to figure out how to finally beat the game...for the first time, from what I've heard. I just need to be in the right energy level and mood to play this, or I play *horribly*. Been playing Vampire Survivors a bit more instead, but I might be leaning back the other way now...and I did! Stopped playing VS for a bit and went back to this, getting to the boss multiple times...but I'm still not able to beat it! I kind of want to take a short break from it, so I might sit on this again for a bit.
9
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Persona 5 Royal

Continuing my way through the Persona series, and I've finally gotten to this one. It's pretty wild so far; from the bombastic presentation to the in medias res narrative to the rather messy UI. We're back in the city settings of P1/2s, away from the small seaside town of P3 and the quiet countryside of P4, and having random NPCs milling around that the player can't interact with and also chattering away endlessly really adds to the busy, almost overwhelming setting. The main character also threw me for a loop for actually being vocal in the cutscenes and not just in battle. I think I like him so far; he feels very distinctive compared to his antecedents while still allowing the player to project themselves onto him. His "wronged man" backstory is also quite unique, and his predicament is definitely one that wouldn't make much sense outside of Japan. The battle system is also returning the iconic monsters that were just personas in recent games (e.g. Pyro Jack), and I'm wondering if the "talk" system from P1/2s has returned... yep! I was right! Oh god. That stuff was interesting in P1, but got really aggravating in P2IS, which is why I stopped playing that one. Without save states I fear I might get a bit frustrated finding the right things to say every time. -_- Apart from that, my only complaint so far is that the supporting cast is nowhere near as compelling as P4's have been. Sakamoto is no Yosuke, and Morgana is *definitely* no Teddie. I also don't like their choice of voice actor for her. But these are all initial impressions from the first two hours. Excited to see more! ...well, reached the point where the game actually pissed me off. In one sessions, botched a bunch of talking sessions and got really irate at how effing tricky the choices were, AND got my first Game Over from the main character getting KO'd. Unlike P4, there's no option to NOT make this REALLY, NEEDLESSLY frustrating happen, and I obviously am not emulating this like P3FES. WHY DO THEY DO THIS?! That got me in a bad mood for several hours after I exited the game. Such an enraging decision. (Later) Ugh, well the cast has grown on me significantly, though I fear the dialogue is a bit uninteresting at parts. The story remains absolutely riveting and brilliantly devised. Just impressive on every front. What occasionally gets me down is the dang talk system. The hints the game gives you are next to useless because they're all trick questions anyway. Too proud to look up an FAQ or whatever. I did, HOWEVER, do so for the space station boss fight because JESUS, what a pain in the ass. One of most aggravating RPG boss fights I've ever had to deal with. Good grief. Luckily the next boss wasn't as bad. But DAMN, the story went nuts. Holy cow...
10
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Vampire Survivors

Just recently got this, and man, it's already one of my favorite games ever. What a fantastic game, so simple in premise, but tough as hell in execution. Already unlocked quite a few things, but there's so much more to do. Can't wait! ...well, kind of grew a bit bored of this, but I still have an urge to find everything, a goal that's getting a bit trickier as the developer has added quite a bit of DLC in the past couple of months. I play it now and then...

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