The Backlog Check-in Vol. 115: 3/14/20: Animal Crossing: New Horizons/Doom Eternal Edition

[Phaseknox]

Played: How to Survive, How to Survive 2, Need For Speed: Payback, Shiness: The Lightning Kingdom

Finished (playing): How to Survive, How to Survive 2, Need For Speed: Payback, Shiness: The Lightning Kingdom

Playing: ?

As I mentioned before, I quit playing How to Survive despite enjoying it because it became really difficult. They went overboard with the amount of enemies that they started to throw at you, and it was no longer fun for that reason. There's a difference between challenging and cheap, and it became cheap. I started and stopped playing another game for the very same reason: Shiness: The Lightning Kingdom. This one is really deceiving as everything about it seems like it's aimed at a younger audience, but the combat is brutal pretty much from the start.

Shiness: The Lightning Kingdom is a cartoonish, colorful, Japanese anime style action adventure/RPG that was developed in France so it doesn't feel like an authentic JRPG that was developed in Japan, but it still looks and plays very much like a JRPG. The two main protagonists are cute little anthropomorphic bear-like creatures that know martial arts. The story is told using comic book style scenes that are voiced. While there's seriousness to the story, it also includes humor and silliness like anime aimed at a younger audience. The game in general looks and plays like something more aimed at kids than adults with a fun lightheartedness feel to it. It offers smooth controls, and platforming and puzzle elements.

Since it's an action RPG, I was expecting your basic button-mashing combat with you fighting enemies real time with punches, kicks, blocks, dodge rolls, etc. And while it somewhat does, they had to go and ruin it by making it a lot more challenging and complex than was necessary. When you engage with an enemy in the game world it throws a big force field around you enclosing you in a one-on-one battle with the enemy. The combat is fast and frantic - too fast and frantic. The enemies block, dodge and pummel you with fast frenzied attacks nonstop. I was finding them to be somewhat difficult even at the very beginning during the tutorials which wasn't a good sign, and they just kept getting harder after that. You have a block, parry and dodge roll, but the enemies hit you so fast that you barely have time to use them. And once an enemy starts hitting you, they pummel you nonstop until they knock you down. You can attack fast too, but the enemies just seem to have an advantage when it comes to blocking, parrying and dodging compared to you.

You have what is called shi magic that allows you to shoot elemental projectiles at the enemies, but you can only shoot a few before it runs out. The force field changes color depending on the element, and you have to charge your earth/fire/water/wind shi back up based on the color. You're vulnerable while charging your shi, and the enemies will almost always hit you when you do. Some enemies also have shi projectiles, and the only way to not get hit by them is to parry them. But they shoot as fast as bullets, so timing your parry in the heat of battle is really hard to do.

I was leveling and becoming stronger to take on the harder enemies, but I made it to the first boss and he was a hit sponge enemy that was so ridiculous that I quit playing. I was really enjoying the game despite the enemies being somewhat difficult because it has all of the elements that I like in an action JRPG, but it got to the point where it just wasn't fun anymore. If it offered a more arcade-y style button-mashing combat system with less challenging enemies it would have been a winner, but they ruined the experience by making the combat more complex than necessary with the whole elemental thing along with the ridiculously hard enemies.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Doom Eternal come out this week.

[jfissel]

Finished: Spider-Man DLC

Now Playing: Ummm

Added to Backlog: Nothing

Current Backlog: 35 games

Finally finished the Spider-Man DLC (all 3 episodes) and it was a great addition to the game. Highly recommended. Not sure what I'm going to play next, but maybe I'll go for the last trophies in Untitled Goose Game to fully complete that one.

[canedaddy]

Played this week: Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age

Finished: nothing

Added to backlog: nothing

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


Back to DQ this week and having a lot of fun. j, did you get 100% on that one? Platinum? If so, how long did it take you, if you recall?

[isthatallyougot]

I decided to replay The Last of Us as a sort of gesture to the current circumstances in the world. It still looks great, and I'm having a good time re-acquainting myself with the world & characters.

[crimson_tide]

Sup? Last year Kingdom Hearts 3 came out so I dropped in. Sorry it took a pandemic to say sup again...

Ummm ...

Playing: Tales of Vesperia, Assassin's Creed Origins (I think...the Egyptian one), Shining Force Resonance, Symphony of the Night, Megaman X, Castlevania, Sega and Contracollections, Dragon's Dogma...and like everything in my backlog, nothing is grabbing me. I played all these for like half an hour tops. I keep going back to Vesperia only because have you guys seen the styling hat Yuri can wear? Holy schnikeys, how was that mot part of his design originally, it's flipping amazing! Might fire up that Spidey DLC I never played but J says is good. I trust J.

Beat: Nothing

Bought: Dragon's Crown Pro, Castlevania...the one with Rondo and Symphony because I want to play Symphony again for some reason (they changed the script!)...and Dragon's Dogma.

Later and stay safe, fam!

[argyle]

Hey, a Crim sighting! Glad to see you're still doing good.

Alright, first, can we just say...things are weird. They've got the college shut down at least through the 6th, but rumblings are it's going to be longer than that. So I'm working from home. I always used to joke around when I heard that someone worked from home, saying things like "man, that must be nice!" - but 3 days in, and I'm not all that sure that it is. I don't exactly have a home office, so I'm trying to set up something temporarily because I can tell you now that working off of the couch is NOT going to cut it. Anyroad, hope you guys are all staying safe!

Games added: Black Future '88 and Heroland would be the main 2. I picked up a few others for really cheap in some sales (as in $5 or less), but most of that was just for the collection. I've actually been getting rid of some stuff on the 'bay lately.

Last week or whatever: Finished nothing, played Pokemon Sword, Death End RE;Quest, and a little Borderlands 3. Been afraid to play any Two Point Hospital lately since I heard about a nasty save-deleting bug on the console version - not sure if it's been patched yet or not.

This week: The same, plus I'm patiently awaiting Animal Crossing.

Yeah Phase, a little game called Animal Crossing: New Horizons comes out this week also.

Also getting VERY HYPED for the impending release of the FF7 Remake! If I'm still working from home when that hits, I don't know exactly how much I'll be getting done that week!

[Phaseknox]

I decided to replay The Last of Us as a sort of gesture to the current circumstances in the world.

You should play The Division or The Division 2 if you want to play games that closely resemble the current situation in the world.

Playing: Tales of Vesperia, Assassin's Creed Origins (I think...the Egyptian one), Shining Force Resonance, Symphony of the Night, Megaman X, Castlevania, Sega and Contracollections, Dragon's Dogma...and like everything in my backlog, nothing is grabbing me.

None of those games are grabbing you? Assassin's Creed Origins, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Dragon's Dogma and Tales of Vesperia are all really good, but you have to be in the mood for certain games when you play them so perhaps you're just not in the mood for any of those.

I'm patiently awaiting Animal Crossing.

Yeah Phase, a little game called Animal Crossing: New Horizons comes out this week also.

Isn't that for grandmas?

Also getting VERY HYPED for the impending release of the FF7 Remake!

I would be more excited about it if it were the complete game, but knowing that it's only the first episode makes me less excited about it. I'm more excited about Resident Evil 3 myself.

[crimson_tide]

Yeah, you're exactly right Phase. All of those (except maybe Shining Force Resonance which is cheesecake button mashy nonsense or goodness depending on your perspective) are classics. I am just in a weird headspace. Don't do well without structure and schools are closed, everything is cancelled and the gym is closed so my structure system is gone. If Symphony, Contra and MMX aren't landing right, something is definitely up with me. But the weekend is coming so I can actually stop planning (trying to move all your teaching lessons, assignments and materials online is daunting especially with no guidelines in place but an edict to KEEP TEACHING NO MATTER WHAT, CONTINUITY IS KING, GET THIS RIGHT AND GET IT RIGHT NOW is not fun. At all) .

At least I have a mile of things to be grateful for at the moment considering the moment we are collectively in. Just in a funk because I can't focus without structure. Sorry to be a bit whiny, my bad...

[canedaddy]

Hey crim! Glad you're alive.

So you just bought Dragon's Crown? My (admittedly CTE-ravaged) brain recalls you playing that years ago when you were a regular here.

[crimson_tide]

Old man! How the hell are you?

And I had Dragon's Crown on the PS3. Beat it once. Moved to NYC. Beat it 4 more times on the Vita with other characters as it was my subway game for like a year. Got married, beat it with the last character while cruising on the honeymoon. That game is comfort food. It just cheers me up. It was only $10 on PSN, so I grabbed it.

Vesperia I put some time into. Now I have a decent flow going, might focus on that this weekend. Again, I cannot stress how much more into this game is now that I have discovered Yuri's hat in the costumes. That has kept me so into this game...I know, I am weird. But you people know that.