Board 8 > September Game of the Month Club ft. Yakuza 0, Stick It, and Tales of Xillia 2

(+) Yeah! (+)

Augusts Games:
Yakuza 0 (PC/XB1/PS4/PS3)
Stick It to The Man! (PC/Switch/PS4/PS3/Vita)
Tales of Xillia 2 (PS3)

What is Game of the Month Club?
Game of the Month is a community project open to all B8ers where users share, discover, play and/or discuss a select few games every month. The games featured each month are chosen by YOU the users (and Lady Luck)

The Basics
- Each month will usually feature three games that were chosen via a random drawing from a pool of games that users nominated
- For each game you beat, you get a cool point on our just-for-fun standings as well as a nomination for next month's randomized drawing
- In order to receive the point and nomination, you must beat said game within the calendar month
- If you beat one of the current month's games in the previous month, you can apply for a "recently beaten waiver," but you will only receive a point and no nomination should you do so
- Drawing for next month's games is usually around a week before the end of the month
- If you periodically keep us posted on your progress and/or talk about different aspects of the games, then everyone will think you are super awesome!

Nomination Rules
- You get one nomination automatically each month
- You receive additional nominations each month for every selected game that you beat
- Each game you nominate has to be unique from all other nominations and cannot include a game that has already been selected for GotM
- Each game must be a standalone game that can be acquired and played on its own (aka cannot be DLC/expansion that requires the base game)
- Nominations only carry over if you beat a selected game after the drawing for next month's games but before the end of the month
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Just-for-Fun Top 20 Standings
KCF - 116
gameking - 105
Mr Crispy - 67
ArkOfTurus - 64
Lolo Guru - 59
KnightOfNee - 35
Cody - 31
MegamanX - 26
Arti - 23
scarletspeed - 23
Wickle - 17
Fenny - 16
tazzyboy - 14
Robazoid - 13
Suprak the Stud - 12
FakeAccount - 10
Shonen Bat - 10
GreatPaul - 9
MZero - 8
profDEADPOOL - 8
Wigs - 8

Spreadsheet with history
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1X8E8oqzES42W4S82j7WTfNnzNa8c3uXdSE1rnqYG7WM/edit?usp=sharing

Additional noms this month
KCF - 1
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Yakuza 0 is on Game Pass for XB1 and PC

Stick It to The Man is currently $2.40 USD for Switch
https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/stick-it-to-the-man-switch/
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To celebrate their October birthday, darkx has given us two games to decide what will be featured next month

Golden Sun (GBA/Wii U)

vs

The Beatles: Rock Band (Wii/360/PS3)

Neither of these games should need introductions.

Just vote for which one you would like to be featured in September, and you are free to change or rescind your vote at any time.

I would prefer that the birthday person refrain from making comments about the games they put forth as to not influence voters (it goes without saying that birthday people can't vote).
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I tried out Yakuza 0 on Sunday just to see if it was something I would want to play going forward. Ultimately, I ended up uninstalling the game. It wasn't bad, but it was just...okay? It's pretty outdated for a 2015 game. It would seemingly fit in with the GC/Xbox/PS2 era, but that was a decade before it came out! I would love to see its multi-fighting styles inside a game with a modern design.

Pacing (what is this, a Metal Gear Solid game?), a hub city that can be a pain to navigate (why do so many people want to fight you?), and disappointing side activities (I liked darts and bowling to a lesser extent) were also things that I had issue with to where I just felt it wasn't worth investing more than my five hours.

I may start Stick It later today.
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Nominate Hypnospace Outlaw
Vote Golden Sun

installing xillia 2 today

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Tag, finally continuing on with Yakuza 0 now.

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Got Yakuza 0 after trying it out on Gamepass. Seemed like I'll enjoy it a lot, so wanted it where everything else was.

Vote Golden Sun

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Crash Bandicoot 4 releases October 2nd. Is it eligible to be nominated for next month, or not because it isn't available on the 1st?

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I think MMX has allowed games that didn't release until mid-month, so I would allow it.
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Nominates Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time

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I started Yakuza about a week ago and am at Chapter 2. I am a little busy this month but will try to play it in my spare time

I find the combat kinda clunky but I really like the cultural silliness and how over the top the fighting is

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KCF0107 posted...

I think MMX has allowed games that didn't release until mid-month, so I would allow it.

i have especially shorties

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I played the first few chapters of Stick It, and I am pleasantly surprised thus far. Platforming isn't an issue like I thought it would, and its puzzle solving is quite creative and fun.
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Nothing for me this month.

Nominate Her Story and Vote Golden Sun
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Cody11533 posted...

Nothing for me this month.

Same.

I'll nominate Amnesia: The Dark Descent. I'll also abstain from the birthday vote, since like last month, I (very likely) won't be playing either of these games regardless.

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Okay I want to say here; Im on Chapter 5 of Stick it to the man and this game is hilarious, atmospheric and weird. Loving it.

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Im going to nominate Gris.

Wait, can we say that on Gamefaqs? Oh dang, Im gonna get a 3kl.

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KCF has beaten Stick it to The Man!

I love absurd, dumb humor, so a lot of this game was right up my alley. The puzzle-solving was the best aspect of the game though given the cleverness, simple controls, and backtracking wasn't much of an issue. While the platforming wasn't an issue in low-stakes situations, I was definitely not a fan of the confrontations with goons. I understand that they were implemented as a change of pace, but the impreciseness of platforming and grabbing the two aids for those segments as well as camera issues made those an absolute chore at times.
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For my nomination theme this month, I will do games developed in Asia to complete the three-continent theme I set out to do. I will chose:

PixelJunk Shooter 2
Strider (2014)
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels
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I started Tales of Xillia 2 and...I'm unhappy
-the graphics are really impressive for ps3 era
-THE MAIN CHARACTER IS SILENT, come on man this kills me when companies do this in a game where everyone else is voice acted. even the cats and monsters.
-Instead you choose his dialog and everytime it comes up it makes a really awful portal opening sound effect gross

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Fall Guys has been taking up my PS4 time and distracting me from Yakuza 0.

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there's a grade shop option to have the choices be voiced, although that just raises the question why they didn't give you that option in the first place.
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Mr Crispy posted...

there's a grade shop option to have the choices be voiced, although that just raises the question why they didn't give you that option in the first place.

*flips desk* WHY

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I'm very sorry for this xillia 2 pick, yikes. the first game was great and this is just such a mess

-Silent protag but he can say 1 word stuff
-Nonsense time jump? 1 Year later from the first game but everyones super high tech suddenly in both worlds?
-You cant progress in the story until you make a loan payment
-The Allium orb skill stuff is bad
-ANNOYING CHILD character that doesnt fight and just yells at you

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Already on chapter 4 of xillia 2. I just dont like this at all, everyones living these weird new lives with trendy clothing....a year later. BUT only a few people remember two worlds merging.... what.......this is like a ten year gap badly translated

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Vote Golden Sun

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Beat Stick it to the Man

It was funny, and then it was a bit less funny when I realized a lot of the jokes were isnt this obvious thing weird? Isnt it funnier that I am now pointing it out? Isnt it even funnier that I am pointing it out that I am pointing it out? It got a bit too meta, lol. Still enjoyed the wacky characters regardless. The worst part was when the enemy chase sequences got more elaborate near the end and I got all the trophies except the not being seen by the copter one cuz heck that noise.

Nominate Mercenaries Saga: Will of the White Lions

Also Im starting Yakuza 0

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I can already tell pedestrian chatter isnt going to be very exciting since its all in Japanese and there arent any subtitles.

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Chapter 6 in Tales of Xillia 2, want to try and hit at least 7 or 8 by the time i sleep

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Why I realized Xillia 2 still bugs me
-The main characters plot is MY BROTHERS A DEMON OR SOMETHING and is wanted for murder after almost killing us and killing many people. Now to avoid police pursuit you agree to bounty hunt your brother as an employee of this big security company
-Meanwhile Judes more focused on fixing the Spyrite/Mana issue, because now that two worlds are fused the mana/spirit using people are causing the spirits to die, and thoset hat use tech infused with spirits are causing it to die. The worlds headed for a FF7 like state where the lifestream of the worlds gonna be gone and all life will die. SEEMS LIKE A BIGGER DEAL HUH?
-Also the rest of our xillia 1 party members are involved with stopping Exodus. Exodus was from the tech world and were stuck in the mana spirit part of the world. Now that they could go home they hadno life to return too and have switched their terrorist goal from getting home to KILL THE IMPURITY of the spirit using people. Their to blame! They are becoming a global terrorist threat and....yea this is a better main plot than the one the game focuses on

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Finished Stick it to the Man

was kind of expecting it to be more anti-corporate like I dunno portal based on the title but it was still ok I guess.

Anyway for Xillia 2 the goal I planned on setting was getting the two endings that I didn't get back when the game came out debt repayment and cameo and continue working towards the platinum, at least to get as much grade for the grade shop to carry over as much to ng+ as possible

so basically:

*grind out all the link time titles (done this)
*max out everyone's affection (only maxed out Leia's so far, though I also caught up Alvin and Gaius enough to take them into the bonus dungeon)
*grind out all the character/link skills (not much progress on this)
*grind out the link arts and link art combo trophies and the 200 hit combo trophy (only got the combo trophy, though I added 2000+ link art usages and 50+ link combo usages)
*grind out the battle challenge titles (up to like 42 out of 68 total needed for the trophy)
*finish the bonus dungeon and arena (not much luck at this point, I probably need to level up more)

Unfortunately, I think my ps3 is starting to fail (has trouble turning on, and beeps 3 times) so I dunno if I'd actually be able to do any more. :/

I will probably try to start Yakuza 0 soon too, but I don't know if I'd be able to finish it this month.
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I'll see about playing SITTM

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In Chapter 2 of Yakuza. I'm pretty awful with the combat, but loving the game overall. Had a few laughs during the fight scenes.

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Finished chapter 6 of Yakuza0

I'm really enjoying this property management simulator they added. I got distracted working on that for a while and not progressing the story. I got 100% in the Leisure King neighbourhood and then got to around 30% in the Electronics King neighbourhood until I decided to finally progress the story.

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Whelp in Yakuza 0 I spent a lot of time doing minigames and then lost like 2 million yen to Mr. Showdown.

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Finished chapter 8

Not sure how I feel about these alternating storylines. I think I would've preferred for one to play out completely, followed by the other, but I'm guessing there'll be a reason near the end on why it's presented this way.

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Stick it to the Man is free on the Epic Store next week.

Speaking of free things on the Epic Store.

Nominate Where the Water Tastes Like Wine

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Great_Paul posted...

Finished chapter 6 of Yakuza0

I'm really enjoying this property management simulator they added. I got distracted working on that for a while and not progressing the story. I got 100% in the Leisure King neighbourhood and then got to around 30% in the Electronics King neighbourhood until I decided to finally progress the story.

I personally prefer Cabaret Club and think Sega should turn it into a mobile game, it'd make a killer gacha.

Both the side games are worth doing to completion though!

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Yeah I think I like the Cabaret Club better too. Feels like there's more strategy to it and you get more involved.

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ViolentAbacus posted...

In Chapter 2 of Yakuza. I'm pretty awful with the combat, but loving the game overall. Had a few laughs during the fight scenes.

Getting knifed is pretty rough

some of those crazy weapons I got from the packs from the shrine like the swordfish were hilarious

Also I cant do the disco dance mini game worth shit, or the batting cage so much for the plat on this one

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Chaper 7 of xillia now

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Finished chapter 9 of Yakuza 0

RIP Lee, though that was incredibly obvious that the car was going to explode. I was also surprised with how short chapter 9 was. Walk a little, 2 fights, and it's done.

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FakeAccount3000 posted...

Getting knifed is pretty rough

some of those crazy weapons I got from the packs from the shrine like the swordfish were hilarious

Also I cant do the disco dance mini game worth shit, or the batting cage so much for the plat on this one

Yeah, I gave up on the batting cage REAL quick.

Spent a while on chapter 2 doing Side Quests, don't game much during the week. Some of them were... Bizarre.

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Just started chapter 3 of Yakuza 0. Majima is bananas wtf that was amazing.

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In chapter 3 of Yakuza 0

Not sure how I feel about swapping between the two characters and having to redo a bunch of the same stuff, but we'll see. Doing a fair bit of side missions before going on with the chapter.

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Yakuza 0 chapter 10 spoiler

The bat tattoo revealed! I definitely didn't see that coming. At first I was like "Why are they focusing on his arm? Is it going to move or something?" Then it clicked and I was like "oh shit". I also attempted to post shit with multiple "i"s for dramatic effect but Gamefaqs didn't allow me to post it like that.

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Monthly Progress
Yakuza -
Stick It - KCF, Fake, Crispy
Xillia 2 -

Nominations
Ark - Water Tastes Like Wine
Cody - Her Story
Fake - GRIS, Mercenaries Saga
KCF - PixelJunk Shooter 2, Strider (2014), Super Mario Bros. LL
Metal - Amnesia Dark Descent
MMX - Hypnospace Outlaw
Paul - Crash 4

darkx Birthday
Golden Sun - MMX, Abacus, Cody, MZero
Beatles Rock Band -
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Oh, dang, Strider (2014), for a moment I thought I'd get to play my arcade cabinet. Not that I've managed to beat it.

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Yakuza 0

I spent WAY too long at the telephone club... I hated it.

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