Board 8 > transience's top 60 games - 2018 edition

(+) Yeah! (+)

I like how you think
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transience posted...

yeah, I kinda have this "I'm too old for this shit" attitude towards SF nowadays - any time I'm grinding on a game without a tangible reward, like a story beat or an ending in sight, I feel like I'm wasting time. I don't have a lot of time to actually play video games. I *love* SF4, and I would totally pick it up here and there, but it's not a game I can dedicate myself to. if I did, I'd be playing it at the detriment of everything else. it's a sensible choice but I like to keep up on games and see things through. I'm a single player kinda person at heart.

Yeah, this is exactly my feelings with fighting games. I dont mind playing them, I just cant spend time getting good at them. Like, I would love to throw down in some casual SF2 with you, but I know the moment I went online it wouldnt even be an enjoyable experience, haha. I kind of have this problem with Dark Souls and its ilk, too. At least I did with Nioh. I couldnt keep repeating that same 15 minutes of gameplay multiple times.

It was a huge mistake in SFV not having better single player stuff. I know they wanted to emphasize the online experience, but I want an old-fashioned arcade mode with a barebones story. There's just something nostalgically appealing about that. I can only do trials and survival mode so long before I'm just utterly sick of them. I also eventually get bored fighting random people online. Fighting against your friends is so much more fun. Fighting games are like a community experience for me.

SFV is trying to tempt me to come back by bringing back Cody, who was one of my SF4 mains, but I think it's too little, too late.

Also, my favorite SF game might be Alpha 2, so I'm sad Alpha 3 is getting online support instead.
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Leon, you do know that they just added that to SF5 this week, yeah? free update?
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I heard they added a bunch of stuff, but I didn't know what all that entailed. I still don't know if I want to try to get back into it though. Feels like the damage is done, especially with that port with all the old games in it coming out. I'd rather just get that.
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yeah I'm done with SF5 too. I got all my fun out of the beta.
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10.



Dragon Quest 8 is so, so good but its biggest flaw was its battle speed. Hello, 3DS version! Battle speed is much improved. Alchemy Pot is now an Instant Pot. Enemies are now visible on-screen. Amazing.

All these little quality of life changes end up being huge and let you enjoy the amazing overworld and swelling soundtrack all the more. (I think they screwed up the music in the 3DS version? I wouldn't know because I patched in all the old stuff they randomly removed.) Dragon Quest 8 has a lot of Xenoblade in it (other way around, really) in that everything is really endearing and the overworld gives it a sense of scope that makes it feel really special. I honestly have nothing bad to say about this game. Dragon Quest 11 has a tall bar to clear if it wants to compete with this game.
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I need to go back and beat DQ8 one of these days. Maybe I should go for the 3DS version if the quality of life improvements really are that much better.
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someday I will beat the final boss of Cave Story

also I'm about 150 holes into Desert Golfing - I don't play it much, but when I do, I go at least 30 holes
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if I had one complaint for Cave Story it would be the difficulty spike that is the last boss
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Dragon Quest VIII is such a good time, its hard to find too much fault there other than the battle speed, which the 3DS fixes like you said. It isnt my favorite DQ, Im not sure its even top 3, but I cant argue giving a high place on the list.

The unpatched 3DS version of DQ8 had the symphonic version of the soundtrack replaced with the original midi tracks. From what I heard, the reason this was done was legitimately because the guy who composed the original soundtrack got upset and threw a fit.

I assume you patched stuff using a hacked 3DS or something? DQ8 with better speed and no 'random' battles sounds awesome.
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LeonhartFour posted...

I need to go back and beat DQ8 one of these days. Maybe I should go for the 3DS version if the quality of life improvements really are that much better.

I would say the 3DS version is the only real way to play it today. The QOL gameplay improvements are real, though it does take a hit in the visual/audio department, naturally.

yeah. they also censored Jessica a little bit but I think I left that intact because yeah I'm old enough to not need to leer at anime girls.
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belated omg heroic mario
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9.



20 years later and still nothing has even really attempted to replace this game. The closest are those Advance games that, let's be honest, aren't really trying to take the mantle from FFT. They feel more like spinoffs.

That job system is so good. The political intrigue storyline is also really good. There are fantastic hacks done by a seriously dedicated community that improve a lot of the balance and offer up new fun ways to play. This might be where FFT shines the most - not only does it have most of what you'd want, the community adds the other special ingredients where it's lacking.

My only negative with FFT is that you've usually fully built out your characters by the time you get to chapter 4 and I lose a lot of steam when I don't have a next ability or growth to go for. I've dropped a lot of FFT games right before the last stretch of battles just because of that.
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heck yeah FFT

I enjoy destroying everything with Orlandu in Chapter 4 anyway so maxing out by then doesn't bother me, although I did a Geomancer SCC last time I played it about 5ish years ago. It was a lot of fun, but I don't think I'd do another one.
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I probably prefer Dawn of Sorrow -- I liked its cohesiveness and I don't remember using Charlotte much -- but Portrait of Ruin is in the same tier and it deserves this conversation it doesn't always receive.
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Haha, wow, I dont know why I didnt expect FFT to be this high, but it surprised me at first! I wouldnt have predicted it, anyway.

I never got super deep into FFT (never any SCC stuff), but the gameplay and story are solid. I always treat FFT differently from the other games, enough so that I usually forget about it. Certainly true nothing has stepped up to claim its place. Advance games are not very good.

Gatarix posted...

belated omg heroic mario

It has been a while!

Also, about DQ8: I've never touched the series before. I've loved some RPGs, but I don't always like the genre and I don't often give those games a chance. I've heard people talk well enough about it for years so I could be interested in the 3DS version.

What are good questions to see if I should give it a chance?
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do you like turn based combat? like, does it bother you at all?

how do you feel about a game that focuses more on getting to know a world than telling a story?

do you mind a game that takes over 50 hours to complete?
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Hmm. What RPGs do you like? The biggest deterrent to DQ8 would be the time investment and the pacing about midway through. If you can get into playing for the gameplay, rather than being driven by a compelling narrative, you might have a good time with it. DQ8 is the most accessible DQ for people who arent into the series purely because of its presentation, but you do have to enjoy RPG mechanics. It isnt complex at all, but it comes from a time when RPGs loves advertising that they would consume your life forever.

8.



This video says more about Spelunky than I ever could:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JZtQYSev-w

Every item in Spelunky -- and there are many -- is unique. The items interact in the strangest and most entertaining ways. When you first start playing Spelunky, you get destroyed by every manner of environmental trap on the level. This game is devious in the ways in which it kills you.

There's also a huge amount of skill. At first it seems like the game is just killing you randomly but you start to learn the patterns and exactly what you can and cannot do. This is a "get good" kind of game but it's not in the pure dexterity of your jumps. It's in the knowledge of what will happen, what you can do about it and how you can avoid it. It's like playing chess and needing to think 2-3 moves ahead.

Spelunky is a game design powerhouse, one of the most influential games of the last decade. Every procedural game takes from Spelunky. It's not the first but it's the best. It's also just so damn playable. I'm not great at Spelunky - there's stuff I haven't seen in it still after hundreds of runs - but I can go back to it all the time and really enjoy whatever happens. Sometimes I have bad karma and something bizarre happens to me. Sometimes I get all the items I want and make a deep run. And sometimes I do neither and just survive long enough to see the ending. What a great game. This is often the only game on my Vita and I kinda don't need anything else.
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My time with FFX, Undertale, and LISA this decade says turn-based is fine. Menu'ing has grown to bother me more, but I can deal.

Not sure I have a world > story RPG example to reflect on, but I very much enjoyed The Witness's world despite my disappointment in its lack of story.

And it better hook me for fifty hours! Thinking of this past decade again, there are only a few games I've broken forty hours on: three or four of them's Phoenix Wright, three are McMillan games, then there's FFX and The Witness...maybe something else.
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you'd be better off playing something else, I bet. what're your top 5 RPGs?
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7.



AA3 puts a bow on the Phoenix Wright series. It could have stopped here and that would have been fine. The later games are good, but they're good in the way that the new Star Wars movies are good. They're forever in the shadow of the original trilogy and constantly making callbacks to remind you of the good stuff.

The story of Dahlia Hawthorne is absolutely fascinating, stretched across 3 cases and a number of years. Your opponent in this game is as cool as the other side of the pillow. The final case in this game is my pick for best Ace Attorney case and I don't have a close #2. Ace Attorney 3 is *really* good.
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Godot the best
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Other RPGs I like: loooooved FF7 growing up but may have outgrown my patience with it. FF3/6 was great until I got stuck in the dark world. CT's solid all the way but not a game I consider my favorite in the genre. SMRPG was a good time. Only SRPG I've liked was XCOM. Undertale and FFX are probably my favorites.

RPGs I had an issue with: I wanna give Earthbound another chance after loving Undertale and LISA, but I remember it being annoying. I love South Park, but the menus in Stick of Truth was crap and kept me from really playing it. Don't really like WRPGs either.
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Offhand: Undertale, FFX, FF7, LISA, SMRPG...about that order.
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hmm

Xenoblade
Persona 5
FF9

would probably be my recommendations. I'd also be fascinated to see you give Xenogears a go.

edit: oh, and be prepared for an 80 hour game if you get the first two. if that's not something you can see yourself stomaching, skip 'em.
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T&T is the best. Don't think any AA game will ever beat it. 3-5 is just a perfect conclusion to the trilogy.
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although, if you really wanna have some fun -- Half-Minute Hero.
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NFUN posted...

Godot the best

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Also, give Trails in the Sky a shot, HaRR.

They're very long games, but they're pretty straightforward and easy to get into.
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I've wanted to play Xenoblade and Persona 4 for quite some time, and therefore P5 too. FF9 has my interest as well, but the other two have my attention more. I've meant to watch a Xenogears stream one day.

Half-Minute Hero's a lot of fun to watch but I got stressed by its time limit!
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yeah HMH is much more of a puzzle game than an RPG. I like that game a bunch.

P4, P5, same thing really.
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And TitS seems well-liked here...made a topic about it awhile back. While I wasn't convinced, I really liked the detail someone gave about how you can make a picnic feel meaningful in that game.

I'll wishlist it and see if some sweet sale comes one day.
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Persona 4 is my favorite Persona game. I'd recommend playing Golden if you have the means. I'll warn you that it's pretty slow going at first.
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HaRRicH posted...

While I wasn't convinced, I really liked the detail someone gave about how you can make a picnic feel meaningful in that game.

Oh, it's super charming and charm is worth a lot in an RPG for me.
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Anyway, Trials and Tribulations was fantastic. I think I'll always side with the original, but jeez that whole trilogy was so good and dealing with Dahlia was a top-tier way to conclude their stories (even though they continued).
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KamikazePotato posted...

The unpatched 3DS version of DQ8 had the symphonic version of the soundtrack replaced with the original midi tracks. From what I heard, the reason this was done was legitimately because the guy who composed the original soundtrack got upset and threw a fit.

The US version's soundtrack is midi, but it isn't the same as the JP PS2 version's midi, it was a new arrangement. Koichi Sugiyama the composer is pretty strict about retaining certain rights to the music he composes. He's actually a chairperson on one of Japan's major copyright administration groups for musicians. I assume he wants an additional license to be paid by Square-Enix USA separate from Square-Enix Japan for the symphonic recordings, and this is why VII and VIII didn't have them in the US. And if you ever played Dragon Quest Heroes (and maybe Builders had this too?), before you start playing for the first time you have to agree to all these extra rules regarding streaming of the game because of its music.

His strictness about this stuff is not the only thing that makes him an asshole. Check out the "political activities" section of his Wikipedia if you're curious
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okay, top 6 tomorrow. my top tier is 6 games.
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ZM
SM
N++
FFV

what else
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Xenogears is definitely there.

Not sure on the other game.
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smart money's on FFIV
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need an order
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More Godot love please.
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TheKnightOfNee posted...

ttrpg

nostalgia so hard john hodgman is rolling in his grave
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HaRRicH posted...

Offhand: Undertale, FFX, FF7, LISA, SMRPG...about that order.

you're a good person
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