The Backlog Check-in Vol. 238: 7/23/22: Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Edition

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Phaseknox
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The Backlog Check-in Vol. 238: 7/23/22: Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Edition

Post by Phaseknox »

Played: Ashen, Gemini: Heroes Reborn, Hob

Finished: Nothing

Playing: Gemini: Heroes Reborn

Added: Alwa’s Legacy, Cris Tales, Freedom Planet, Gemini: Heroes Reborn, Ghost 1.0, Greak: Memories of Azur, Heroine Anthem Zero, Last Stop, Marenian Tavern Story: Patty and the Hungry God, Massira, Mighty No. 9, Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath HD, Q.U.B.E. 2, Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth, Rustler, Sparklite, World to the West

I started playing Gemini: Heroes Reborn, a game that came out back in 2016 that I never heard of before that is loosely based on the Heroes Reborn TV show. I saw it while browsing games at the PS Store, it looked interesting and was only $15 so I decided to get it. And I’m glad that I did, because it’s a pretty cool game. It’s a mid-tier first person action adventure platformer that feels kind of like a mix of Half-Life and Mirror’s Edge. It looks and plays like a game that would have come out during the PS3/Xbox 360 generation, but I’m fine with that since I’m a fan of games from that generation. While it has some climbing and platforming similar to Mirror’s Edge, it’s not nearly as prominent. But it’s enough to add some navigation variety to the levels. The levels have a bit of a similar look and design to Half-Life.

The unique aspects of the game are that you can switch between the past and present at any time with a press of a button, you can slow down time and you have telekinesis powers to pick up and throw objects. Throwing objects at enemies is the game’s combat, because there are no melee weapons or guns for you to use. Enemies have them, but you can’t pick them up and use them. However, you can slow down time and send bullets shot at you back at the enemies. As fun as the telekinesis is to use, it does seem a little unrealistic to only use it to fight enemies who have guns. Having the ability to use guns would make the combat a little more fun, but it’s still fun the way that it is.



Games releasing this week
Autonauts vs Piratebots
Azure Striker Gunvolt 3
Bear and Breakfast
Captain Velvet Meteor: The Jump+ Dimensions
Chaos Galaxy II
Digimon Survive
Hunt: Showdown - Serpent Moon
Fire Commander
Koumajou Remilia: Scarlet Symphony
The Legend of Heroes: Kuro no Kuseki
LootLite
Lord Winklebottom Investigates
Lost Epic
Noel of Moral Fate
Nyaruru Fishy Fight
Path of Titans
RaceLeague
RimWorld
Sapiens
The Sims 4: High School Years
Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town
Sweet Transit
Train Valley
Vestaria Saga II: The Sacred Sword of Silvanister
Xenoblade Chronicles 3
Yacht Mechanic Simulator
Yuoni
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isthatallyougot
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 238: 7/23/22: Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Edition

Post by isthatallyougot »

Still giving The Good Life some more of my time. There's still tons of side quests to do, although I'm not planning on any push to 100%. And I've upgraded my house in Rainy Woods to a much nicer abode than the starter which I stayed in throughout the narrative. I should have upgraded it earlier to enjoy it through the story, but I wasn't exactly sure on how to open the option to upgrade, despite it obviously being a possibility. The game doesn't always communicate all the details clearly to the player. But I've had enough fun with it after completing the narrative and plenty of exploring/side content that I'm satisfied to call it quits whenever I want. I really enjoyed it for the most part and have put close to 40 hours in, and although it's surely a bit clunky in some regards, it's got that unique charm that you don't find in games that are streamlined for the mainstream palate. It's a game for those who like and can appreciate things that are a bit odd, and that suites me just fine.
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Dragon kick your a$$ into the Milky Way!
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jfissel
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Location: Ohio

Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 238: 7/23/22: Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Edition

Post by jfissel »

Finished: Nothing

Now Playing: Final Fantasy VII Remake, Stray

Added to Backlog: Nothing

Current Backlog: 44 games

Beat a few more chapters in FF7 Remake and then played maybe 2 hours of Stray. Stray is pretty fun, just going around a chunk of the city trying to find items and complete some quests. Not entirely sure where this game is headed, so we'll see.
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Phaseknox
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 238: 7/23/22: Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Edition

Post by Phaseknox »

I finished Gemini: Heroes Reborn, it was a decent first person action game with some platforming and puzzle solving here and there. My biggest issue with it is its length, it’s really short only taking a few hours to complete. It had the foundation to be a really good platform puzzle game like a mix of Mirror’s Edge and Portal which it had elements of at times, but instead focused more on its past/present time shifting mechanic and telekinesis based combat.

When traversing its levels via platforming and puzzle solving is when it’s at its best, unfortunately a good amount of the game is just clearing out somewhat open areas/rooms of enemies to obtain a key to unlock a door to move onto the next level. The telekinesis combat of throwing objects at enemies and stopping their bullets and flinging them back at them is ok in small doses, but not fun enough to make up the majority of what you do in the game. There are some challenging platforming sections and clever puzzles to solve, but they’re few and far between. They should have made up the bulk of the game instead of the combat, because they were the highlights of the game IMO.

It’s not a bad little game for its $15 asking price, but it had the potential to be a lot better than it is. All of its creative game mechanics feel a little wasted on such a short experience that focuses a little too much on combat which isn’t its strongest area. And its story ends incomplete leaving it open for a sequel that there will most likely never be.
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canedaddy
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 238: 7/23/22: Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Edition

Post by canedaddy »

Played recently: Elden Ring

Finished: nothing

Added to backlog: Death's Door, Judgment

Current backlog: 27 (25 PS4, 1 Vita)


I had a good week in Elden Ring. Broke through big-time with help from my new weapon and got past a couple of pretty tough boss fights in the area I reached (CFA). Cannot wait to get back to it. (Not many games have you feeling that way after the amount of time I've put in.)
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Phaseknox
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 238: 7/23/22: Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Edition

Post by Phaseknox »

I started playing Zombieland: Double Tap - Road Trip, and it’s dumb fun. It’s an isometric view co-op twin stick shooter where you fight hordes of zombies.

You always have a slow shooting pistol with unlimited ammo, but it’s not the best option when getting rushed by mobs of zombies. So throughout the environments you come across containers that have melee weapons (axes, baseball bats, swords, etc.) that are powerful but can only be used for a certain amount of hits, guns (dual pistols, machine guns, rifles, shotguns, etc.) with limited ammo that can’t be refilled and are discarded when they’re empty, and throwable items such as Molotov Cocktails and grenades. There’s also Twinkies to refill your health, and energy drinks to temporarily boost your movement speed scattered throughout the environments.

There’s really no story, it’s just the characters from the movie stopping at different locations while traveling to gather supplies. I’m playing solo, but the game acts as if all four of the characters are together and they constantly talk via little profile text boxes. The characters have the likenesses of the actors that play them in the movie, but are voiced by different actors trying to sound like them. They do a decent job, and the dialogue can be funny at times. However, it would have been nice while playing solo if the other characters were with you as AI companions since only having one character onscreen while four are having conversations with each other seems odd.

A little bit of story with cutscenes would have added to the experience as well considering that the game is based on a movie. As it is it’s strictly a stage based arcade twin stick shooter without much else to it. But the graphics are decent, the gameplay is fun and the writing is often humorous.

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Phaseknox
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 238: 7/23/22: Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Edition

Post by Phaseknox »

I finished Zombieland: Double Tap - Road Trip, it was a fun little arcade twin stick shooter. It’s short, but also somewhat repetitive so I wouldn’t have wanted it to be much longer than it is. It had the potential to be a better more varied game than it is, but they opted to make it a basic co-op arcade style game without much depth. It was worth the few bucks that I paid for it, but that’s about it.

I started playing Rustler, and I’m liking it so far. It’s an isometric/top-down view open world action game similar to Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars. It takes place in medieval times, but is a parody of GTA with humor and silliness. Some of it is funny, and some of it is dumb. It definitely doesn’t take itself too seriously. Gameplay is decent including combat with melee weapons and shooting weapons, and you can ride horses. The missions have been somewhat fun, and varied so far. It’s an appealing little medieval version of old top-down view GTA games, and people who like those should like it as well.

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Phaseknox
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 238: 7/23/22: Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Edition

Post by Phaseknox »

I started playing Dusk Diver because I was in the mood for something anime and Japanese since it’s been a while since I played something like that, and that’s what it is. It has a colorful anime aesthetic, and the story and characters are very Japanese. The graphics, gameplay and Japanese voices (all dialogue is voiced) are quite good. The game itself is a third person action RPG that takes place in both the real world (a real shopping district in Japan), and an otherworldly dimension. It’s similar in some ways to other Japanese games such as Akiba’s Trip, Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth, Persona, Scarlet Nexus and Tokyo Xanadu. If you like any of those games then chances are that you will like this as well. It’s currently on sale for $14 at the PS Store, and I would recommend getting it for that price if it looks like something that you would enjoy. The sequel comes out next month.

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canedaddy
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 238: 7/23/22: Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Edition

Post by canedaddy »

You got me semi-interested in Rustler and then apparently bounced off it really fast. What happened?
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Phaseknox
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 238: 7/23/22: Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Edition

Post by Phaseknox »

canedaddy wrote: Thu Jul 28, 2022 10:33 amYou got me semi-interested in Rustler and then apparently bounced off it really fast. What happened?
I was definitely liking it and will play it again when I’m more in the mood for it, but I bought Dusk Diver yesterday and wanted to play it since I’m in the mood for something anime and Japanese right now.

I have over 500 digital games now, but I haven’t played very many of them. I’ve been wanting to at least check some of them out to see what they’re like, but I’m not always in the mood for what they are when I check them out so I don’t always stick with them despite liking them. If they really click with me because they’re what I’m in the mood for at the time then I’ll keep playing them, but if not then I’ll check something else out.

Just because I stop playing a game that I started doesn’t necessarily mean that I don’t like it, it’s just not something that I’m in the mood to keep playing at that time. Of course sometimes it is because I don’t like it, but I have liked most of the games that I’ve been buying.

The games that are on sale now at the PS Store that I think that you might like are American Fugitive, Ashen, Hob, My Time at Portia and Rustler. They’re all fairly cheap, and skimming some video reviews of them would probably give you an idea if you would like them or not.
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