Board 8 > are these games worth playing?

(+) Yeah! (+)

culling the backlog. all stuff i marked down as 'to play' in the past but i'm going to play like two of them and make peace with the idea that i'm just never going to play the rest. which two (if any) should i keep?

Ni no Kuni
Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines
SMT III: Nocturne
Mother 3
Hotel Dusk Room 215
Radiant Historia
SMT Devil Survivor
Stella Glow

I like Devil Survivor a lot. It's vastly improved in the 3DS version though, so hopefully that's the one you have.

I liked Ni no Kuni a lot at first but I found it boring by the end.

Not a fan of Nocturne or Mother 3

From the four that I've played... Radiant Historia > Devil Survivor > Mother 3 > Stella Glow.

Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines
Hotel Dusk Room 215

Definitely Radiant Historia

Devil Survivor is pretty good, so is vampire the masquerade although I do think it shows its age a little bit

Of the three I've played:

Devil Survivor > Radiant Historia > Hotel Dusk

DS is underrated as hell, RH was decent, and HD is outclassed by tons of other visual novels. I remember it being a bit short, though.

Hotel Dusk is fantastic

SMT III: Nocturne
Radiant Historia
SMT Devil Survivor
Stella Glow

These are the ones I've played, and I would say that all four are worth playing. If I must pick two of them to recommend, it would be Nocturne and Radiant Historia.

who was it that had the 'attempting to finish my backlog' topic here?

Radix?

thx

wow he made some good progress

Both Devil Survivors are bingeably good. They will keep you on your toes and keep you engaged throughout.

Radiant Historia is good but not much of a challenge in most spots once you get how it works. It's main mechanic loses some of it's steam in the mid to late game, but the game is strong enough to hold throughout.

Stella Glow is both easy and really easy to outright break. It's still worth a playthrough though just for the story, characters, and music.

(The AI is abusably bad in many spots. One of the strongest bosses for his time in the entire game is in chapter 5. He has one of the most broken abilities in all of existence and the stats/moveset to take advantage of it. You have a character that can shoot him off a building at range for as long as you fuel her magic. She can do significant damage to him and possibly even outright kill him without him ever moving without any significant prep.)

Just couldn't get into hotel dusk. I tried it, and it just wasn't my sort of thing.

Mac Arrowny posted...

I liked Ni no Kuni a lot at first but I found it boring by the end.

This feels like every time I ever see anyone talking about Ni no Kuni.

I played some of both Stella Glow and Radiant Historia (more than half of SG, only like 10 hours of RH). They were both pretty good, but not great from what I saw.

i do tend to play simpler or more 'pick up and play' games mostly. really hate going through tutorials, especially those scripted unskippable ones ughhhh

but there's some stuff in my backlog that i've always told myself i would take the time to "learn" because i like aesthetically so much. but it's also the reason they've been in my backlog for so long

also a good time to go through the backlog because i care far less about newer games nowadays

can't even think of two games i'm looking forward to

kateee posted...

i do tend to play simpler or more 'pick up and play' games mostly. really hate going through tutorials, especially those scripted unskippable ones ughhhh

but there's some stuff in my backlog that i've always told myself i would take the time to "learn" because i like aesthetically so much. but it's also the reason they've been in my backlog for so long

Devil Survivor is a game that requires actual planning and forethought to what you're going to do. Even if you abuse free bottles, there's a limit to how much they can do.

Haphazardly attending events at random is a pretty good way to finish none of them and permanently lose a couple of characters on the way.

Though, the second game warns you and it's generally completely on you if you let anyone die.

Haphazardly fusing demons is likely to slow you down significantly more than carefully putting your fusions together.

Mother 3 is a top 10 game of all time

Ni no Kuni
Hotel Dusk Room 215
Radiant Historia
SMT Devil Survivor
Stella Glow

Yes

Also probably yes for Nocturne but I haven't played it.

There is a difference between a game that is "really good" and a game that is "worth playing" and Mother 3 is one of the few games in existence I feel definitively can be described as the latter. Absolutely that one.

Hotel Dusk is pretty good, at least in terms of the characters and story.

I didn't think Devil Survivor was all that (I played the DS original version though). The difficulty is all over the place and it felt very obtuse on how to actually pursue certain endings. Had to force myself to even finish it once. (I'd also call the story really bad but I think I just don't like SMT stories in general.)

after looking through some more stuff, i'm going to cut Ni No Kuni. the animation is what drew me most to it but it looks like a real grind and one i would probably get tired of anyway. i did start it on my ps3 a couple years ago but shelved it pretty quickly because i wanted to be in the right mood for it (never came). would probably want to just watch a movie of it or something

also cut some other stuff from my backlog. the ones in the first post were supposed to be the ones on the chopping block but there was a bunch of other stuff that i'm just giving up on. down from 153 to 122

kateee posted...

i'm going to play like two of them and make peace with the idea that i'm just never going to play the rest.

for shame

never give up on the dream of finishing the backlog

i just cut like 30 more games i didn't bother listing. it takes so long for me to decide what to even play when there's so much stuff

that probably actually just means i don't really want to play anything.

maybe fuck videogames is the only way after all

hotel dusk is worth

Mother 3 is one of the best games ever made. If you only play one game on the list, it should absolutely be that one. It's best to play Mother 2/Earthbound beforehand if you haven't already, but not essential, though it is also a really good game.

Vampire the Masquerade is a classic PC RPG/Immersive sim game, sort of in the same lineage as System Shock and Deus Ex, where it's very inaccessible but can be really rewarding if you take the time to learn it. Most people play with mods because there are game-breaking bugs and unfortunate cut content in the base game.

I've heard really good things about Hotel Dusk, that one is probably a good pick if you're looking for something a little more casual, since it's mostly reading.

I think the rest of the games are all kind of hardcore JRPG aficionado games, so you'll like them if that's your style, but if you dropped Ni no Kuni for seeming too grindy, you might have the same issue with any of them.

hotel dusk isn't a vn ftr it's an adventure game

Radiant Historia 100%
Ni No Kuni started really great then like 10 hours in got super lousy and I lost interest. I have seen that same sentiment a lot

ninkendo posted...

Mother 3 is a top 10 game of all time

basically this

SMT Devil Survivor and Radiant Historia are also amazing jRPGs, but Mother 3 surpasses both of them

Hotel Dusk is good. Not great, but I enjoyed it for what it was.

Devil Survivor is worth a try but especially if you like SRPG or SMT in the first place.

Devil Survivor 2 is a true sequel or just next in the series? the character designs in 2 are a lot more appealing.

also going to go through my list to weed out any games where i have to play as snot-nosed kids

grumble grumble

kateee posted...

Devil Survivor 2 is a true sequel or just next in the series? the character designs in 2 are a lot more appealing.

They're standalone titles. I also liked 2 more than 1, but that's minority opinion.

I liked 2 more than 1 as well, but it was close. Also, I played 2 and then I played Overclocked, so it might just be that I simply was going to like the first one I played better either way.

That said, Hotel Dusk is fuckin' awesome, and the sequel is even better. Kyle Hyde is one of my favorite protags ever.

I think DeSu 2 did a lot of things right. It's a perfectly respectable opinion to like it better.

2 did more things right than 1 did, but the first game does a better job of building the atmosphere. Your party feels more alone and vulnerable in the sheer chaos of the first game, and the second one feels like it follows more of a formula rather than really focus on day to day survival, and as a result doesn't let the "hellscape" aspect sink in a much.

cut Stella and a bunch of other unlisted stuff so i actually have room for the rest on the shortlist.

got the list down to 100 and never going over 100 again. will periodically lower upper limit by 10. it's time to playyy

Atelier Ryza
Dragon Quest XI
FFVII Remake
Final Fantasy Tactics
Final Fantasy VI
Final Fantasy XII
Final Fantasy XV
Tales of Berseria
Tales of Xillia
Tales of Zestiria
SMT Devil Survivor 2
SMT III: Nocturne
Radiant Historia
Mother 3
Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Paper Mario TTYD
Pokemon Conquest
Pokemon Sword/Shield
Pokemon XD
Persona Q2
Persona 5 Strikers
Hollow Knight
Metroid Dread
Metroid Prime
Metroid Samus Returns
Super Metroid
Shantae Riskys Revenge
Shantae Seven Sirens
Celeste
Ori and the BLIND
Shovel Knight
Cuphead
Hades
Indivisible
Katana Zero
Kero Blaster
Binding of Isaac
Kirby Epic Yarn
New Super Mario Bros. U
Bayonetta
Devil May Cry
Wonderful 101
Metal Gear Rising Revengeance
Nier Automata
Nier Replicant
Bloodborne
Dark Souls
Sekiro
Furi
Okami
Super Mario Odyssey
Zelda Breath of the Wild
Zelda Minish Cap
Zelda Skyward Sword
Zelda Twilight Princess
Zelda Wind Waker
Beyond Good & Evil
Prince of Persia Forgotten Sands
Rise of the Tomb Raider
Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction
Yakuza Kiwami
Ico
Shadow of the Colossus
Kid Icarus: Uprising
Doom 2016
Resident Evil 2
X-Men Legends
Skyrim
Vampire The Masquerade
Starcraft
Killer7
Katamari Damacy
Harvest Moon Wonderful Life
Elite Beat Agents
Ghost Trick
Hotel Dusk Room 215
Phoenix Wright SOJ
Professor Layton Curious Village
Secret of Monkey Island
Life Is Strange; Before the Storm
Yugioh legacy of duelist
Mario Kart Wii
DOA6
Granblue Fantasy Versus
Guilty Gear Strive
Melty Blood Type Lumina
Mortal Kombat 11
Pokken DX
Power Rangers Battle
Samurai Shodown
SoulCalibur VI
ARMS
Nickelodeon
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Persona 5 Royale
Tales of Vesperia Def
Klonoa Wii
Pokemon Shining Pearl
Viewtiful Joe (RE)
Starfox Adventures (RE)

i've actually started literally over half of these over the years and just told myself i would come back to them. Electric Boogaloo: this time if i stop playing it's dropped permanently.

kateee posted...

Paper Mario TTYD
Hollow Knight
Metroid Prime
Super Metroid
Celeste
Cuphead
Hades
Binding of Isaac
Bayonetta
Metal Gear Rising Revengeance
Okami
Zelda Breath of the Wild
Zelda Minish Cap
Ico
Kid Icarus: Uprising
Hotel Dusk Room 215
Tales of Vesperia Def

Great choices!

Starfox Adventures (RE)

...Less great choice!

I got to at least get to the totem pole challenge to see if it was my pea-brain kid mind that was the cause or if it was actual bullshit

kateee posted...

Hotel Dusk Room 215

Yes, play it now. And if you like it, there's a sequel called Last Window: The Secret of Cape West that's also very good.

Only played Nocturne out of those and highly recommend it. Have heard great things about Devil Survivor, which I also have and still haven't played

Ni No Kuni and Hotel Dusk are both excellent games. The latter is one of my fave games of all time