The Backlog Check-in Vol. 121: 4/25/20: Sakura Wars/Streets of Rage 4 Edition

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argyle
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 121: 4/25/20: Sakura Wars/Streets of Rage 4 Edition

Post by argyle »



:D
"When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed
if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I
became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the
desire to be very grown up.” ― C.S. Lewis

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Phaseknox
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 121: 4/25/20: Sakura Wars/Streets of Rage 4 Edition

Post by Phaseknox »

crimson_tide wrote: Sun Apr 26, 2020 11:06 amI look forward to phase's thoughts on Fatal Bullet. I haven't dove into that one yet and he gives some pretty thorough breakdowns.
Based on what I've played of it so far I'm finding it to be a rather average third person sci-fi shooter with an anime aesthetic and RPG elements taking place in the Sword Art Online universe featuring characters from the series.

You choose between a generic male or female avatar at the beginning, customize their look and name them. There's a lot of customization options which is nice, but unfortunately they're a silent protagonist.

You begin the game entering a mock MMO called Gun Gale Online which the entirety of the game takes place in, and meet a friend who invited you to join the game. Since it's your first time in the game, she takes you to a tutorial "dungeon" to get you familiar with the controls/gameplay.

The characters look and animate well, and the controls are fairly tight and intuitive. Running, aiming and shooting all feel smooth. You can duck behind cover, but it's not a cover shooter so you have to come out of cover to shoot. The graphics have a somewhat appealing cel-shaded look to them similar to the Borderlands games which this game seems to take some inspiration from in both its visual style, and the large amount of different guns that it offers.

Once you finish the tutorial dungeon you're taken to your room to have a lot of boring in-game stuff explained to you by reading text since voices are in Japanese, and then you go out into the semi-open city hub area where you can interact with NPCs and have a lot more boring in-game stuff explained to you which drags on for what seems like hours. The amount of stuff that they explain to you is overwhelming, and it almost made me stop playing because it was dull and somewhat hard to follow. But I stuck with it, and gradually started learning what all the stuff in the lobby, menus and terminals were. There's a lot of info thrown at you all at once, so it takes some time to get a handle on it all.

The core game is basically you being in a mock MMO getting quests in a city hub area from NPCs or terminals which (based on what I played) all basically consist of warping to self-contained semi-open outdoor areas and shooting lots of ****. There's enclosed maze-like dungeons as well.

There's a lot of quests on offer from the start, but they have a recommended level for you to be at to do them so you basically have to start with the lower level ones first to level up, improve stats, unlock skills, earn money to buy better equipment/weapons and gain materials to upgrade everything to take on the higher level quests.

There's little story tidbits here and there that are somewhat entertaining/humorous, but for the most part the game feels like a repetitive grind to me. It's not an adventure RPG so it lacks a compelling story, and characterization. You primarily play for its core fast paced run-and-gun shooting gameplay which isn't very engaging IMO. It's not a bad game, but it's not a very good one either.
argyle wrote: Thu Apr 30, 2020 11:31 am
That's an awesome cinematic trailer. And just like Odyssey before it, you can choose between a male and female character.
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crimson_tide
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 121: 4/25/20: Sakura Wars/Streets of Rage 4 Edition

Post by crimson_tide »

Vikings have never been my jam. And then I heard Viking rap battles...I have so many questions. When UbiSoft makes it crazy cheap like they did Origins and Odyssey, I might be down.

I would like to get back to Odyssey but Fist of the North Star Lost Paradise is just Yakuza with a tiny, tiny map. So I am compelled to beat that first. I really, really am enamored with this thing they made. They make no effort to disguise how Yakuza this thing is. If anyone talks smack about Yakuza 7 being turn based (I. Cannot. *******. Wait...), I will immediately shove this thing in their face because nobody bought this. You can even play the whole thing as Kazuma if you want! Ken has the same voice actor and there is a skin in the dang game. I am on chapter 6 now and it's been my focus this week, it's so dang badass!

Thanks for the detailed impressions Phase, appreciate your input! I know nothing about SAO except harem anime and everybody hates the main character. I was looking for a Lost Planet 2 knock off (I am so, so sorry...I love that game) and this was the closest thing that looked like it. Shame there's so much talking and setup. That sounds really unappealing, I just want to shoot giant ass monsters in a mid to low tier game as comfort food. I might get to it later now. After Lost Paradise and Odyssey, I might try one of the games you discussed earlier, Tokyo Xanadu. With the unprecedented amount of time I am stuck at home (straight through September for me at least at this point) I want to tackle my backlog with some of the B tier stuff I have available.
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canedaddy
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 121: 4/25/20: Sakura Wars/Streets of Rage 4 Edition

Post by canedaddy »

Played recently: Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age, Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse

Finished: nothing

Added to backlog: nothing

Current backlog: 36 (14 PS4, 9 Vita, 7 3DS/2DS, 5 PS2)

I was looking for something to play on handheld so I fired up SMT IV on 3DS... my first non-Persona SMT. It's OK so far... not as charming or vibrant as, say, P4, but the combat and demon fusion are still fun. Not sure whether I'll stick it out till the end. Did any of you guys play it?

Also still messing in the postgame of DQXI, which seemingly goes on forever. Not that I'm complaining.
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crimson_tide
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 121: 4/25/20: Sakura Wars/Streets of Rage 4 Edition

Post by crimson_tide »

My wife is making me play Smash Bros Ultimate. I didn't even know she had Smash Bros Ultimate. I am so, so sad...
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isthatallyougot
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 121: 4/25/20: Sakura Wars/Streets of Rage 4 Edition

Post by isthatallyougot »

crimson_tide wrote: Mon May 04, 2020 7:01 pm My wife is making me play Smash Bros Ultimate. I didn't even know she had Smash Bros Ultimate. I am so, so sad...
I play Smash Ultimate with my kid...and get absolutely wrecked. Something about my old man brain cannot fuse platformer with fighter very well. Plus my reflexes aren't that of a teenager anymore. But I'm still really good at Virtua Fighter though. It's just something about Smash, idk.
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Dragon kick your a$$ into the Milky Way!
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