I'm going to sit through Ash soon enough so I'll let you know if the story and what not is decent enough to sit through the jank. To me it seems like most of those other jank ps2 sequels where they change up the general gameplay for worse in order to "innovate" but just making it much worse overall in the process.

I also felt mostly the same about C;H. It feels like one of those things that should be cool but was just kind of dull to me. I never finished it but I also played Noah which is supposed to be much better (I don't really see it unless someone is already into C;H).

also lol @ brain lord. Not a video game but that's exactly how I felt with the VN "Gore Screaming Show". With a title like that I was expecting a crazy edgefest but really it's the same shit as every mid horror story ever. Not much gore or screaming to be found.

i've gotten like halfway(?) through ash and let me preemptively urge you to keep a guide handy and maybe even to amp up the emulator speed to 2x because rion walks so fucking slow and enemies are such a non threat that you'll go insane otherwise. it's nice that he's at least voiced by someone who isn't 8 years old now

also if you read through the first few hours of c;h - specifically before the boring ass investigators steal the show - then you've already seen the best of it... barring the ending sequence which is hilariously terrible

oh also - dont be alarmed when you fire up ash and find it to be an unviewable blurry mess at first. it's got this native intentional motion blur regardless of your emulation settings which looks fucking terrible. i played it in a pretty small window so it didn't look like the screen was constantly melting

Yeah I read like about half of it. I don't really get the appeal at all, if it was entirely about some crazy NEET going sicko mode it'd be good but pretty much every other character takes over Takumi. I also found all the female characters to be pretty unlikeable which would be w/e if the game didn't put so much spotlight on them.

also will keep in mind thanks

run siren 2 its not a guide game and p much just a similar experience, doesnt need the first game outside a bonus mini game u unlock after beating it being spoilers

I must have restarted SMT4A over 14 times. The rancid English only dub was the main reason I kept dropping it.

Hopefully an undub patch will come soon (or maybe it exists already).

honestly the dub is the least of my concerns. it's not great but it's pretty standard for atlus. it's not like jp audio is gonna make the narrative any less trite or terrible - and even then apocalypse has far bigger and deeper rooted issues than that

a bad dub ruining a game for you is cuckshed as hell ngl
also the dub is fine? gaston and navarre alone do a better job than like 90% of dub actors nowadays, and hearing rigby/reverend putty play YHVH is at least funny

DMC3 is one i desperately wish i liked more. i always replay it hoping im the problem but i just cant find anything i love outside of the first 4 levels and the virgil fights.

omg Siren, so so much Siren

I had some fun with Ash but I'm also a fucking freak with standards as low as the ocean floor so don't take my word as gospel.
That being said, if the art direction and environmental design had the variation seen in its predecessor, it would've made the constant grinding and backtracking a smidge more bearable. Still I wish there wasn't any grinding in Ash to begin with because it completely derails almost any tension in the story and it's also just not fun to equip D-Felon and play cattle herding with low-level mooks until you short yourself to near death. The puzzles also suck and I really don't like them. Why the fuck aren't you allowed to pick up certain key items until the game feels like they're needed, that shit actually pissed me off

While the plot itself isn't as engaging as the first game's, I kinda liked how it tried to expand upon the themes and lore mentioned in G1. I like the subtext behind Galerians as a series about overcoming trauma and abuse, what 'family' means, identity and finding meaning in life, and free will. Ash expands on these ideas in really interesting ways and introduces new concepts that I think fits the themes of the first game well. It also canonized my "Galerians is gay as hell" headcanon so even if the game itself is mid at best, I still win in the end.

@guttertrash There is no such thing as a good English dub.

But on a slightly more serious note, if a publisher is stupid enough to not include dual audio (Which should be an industry standard), I'll play something else.

@sagemustdie yeah your complaints pretty much echo mine. i do think i'll probably beat it eventually (with a guide in hand of course) but yeah hoo boy i'd never accomplish that without one. the way it prevents you from collecting necessary items until you need them is so fucking aggravating

then like them more tf?

@ToasterNinja an undub does exist for IVA, can't really link it here but just know it exists

bro dont call me out like that, ive actually been thinking of removing mother 3 from my top 10 lmao

hard relate on FF6. especially after (SPOILERS) the world splits in half. celes almost killing herself in that manner just felt jank and half assed attempt at being tragic, and sabin just chilling in town like nothing happened. bruh thats where i stopped

@imshitting420 funny you say that because celes is one of the only characters in ff6 i find to be halfway decent. everyone else fell totally flat for me, but i thought she was convincing enough given events surrounding that scene

and yeah, mother 3 really is not deserving of all the unanimous 10/10 praising it gets. half the game feels like a sidequest and i'd argue its emotional peak is the first chapter. no other character lived up to the impressions flint gave right off the bat

Caligula 1 is definetly kind of a bizarre game (everything Overdose adds in terms of writing is bizarrely leagues better, while the base game is utterly mediocre to offensively bad) but I've always liked those weird kusoges since I feel there's still some sort of soul behind it. 2 is actually well written and well designed though and I do really reccomend it even if finishing 1 + reading the novel tie-in might be a bit much

@apocynadeae eh, i'm not opposed to b-games by any means - i mean shit, i'm playing and really enjoying quantum theory right now - but something about furyu titles just doesn't click with me. i don't see the soul

this is probably my new-bad-old-good bias with regards to its Modern Anime Aesthetic™ shining through, but everything about that game outside of its battle system - which is far too slow and cumbersome to be intuitive - just reeks of generic writing and plasticky art direction to me (less so in the original, but OD is visually dull as hell)

I'd argue FuRyu's appeal is at its weakest with Caligula 1 of the games I've played; their strengths come more from strong emotional writing and emphasis on environmental design; unfortunately Caligula 1 looks boring and the writing is... Caligula 1. Crystar is a much clearer example since its visual design actually looks good with vibrant colors and imaginative worldbuilding, while still having a more distinct art style with Riuichi's art (though I like some of his fanart much more, as well as Rolua's in Crymachina) as well as Hajime Ueda's input and a much stronger writing, even with some heavily mediocre to flat out bad gameplay. Caligula 2's a step in the right direction to mesh that appeal with its urban sense while also showcasing Oguchi's progress as an artist

The Caligula interview is also pretty interesting as the intent behind Caligula as a series feels a lot more transparent as it's a clear attempt to be on the pulse of contemporary topics, ranging from more related to the teenage audience that these games are aimed for, but also more adult with characters like Sasara and Shota despite issues that Caligula 1 faces with trying to grapple with these topics, and how they start clearing up with Overdose, and are finally rightfully justified with Caligula 2 understanding and delivering these topics with the care they deserve

@apocynadeae i'd be lying to you if i said the majority of this struck me in much of any way, but i do like that ueda art. crymachina's sense of style isn't so bad either. but yeah i mean, i'll concede the most of the actual experience with furyu is caligula 1 and monark. both of which i thought were turbo ass

i can't really knock crystar or crymachina without trying em. maybe i will sometime. doesn't really seem like it's for me though (and the furyu tax doesn't help). granted crymachina sorta hits the kinds of edgy aesthetic strides i love - but more in a... code vein/god eater way than in the way i actually really fuck with

yeah that is fair; you did try the two weakest FuRyu titles. and regardless you'd probably get more from Crystar and Crymachina; taro's games and especially Drakengard were pretty strong inspirations for both down to crystar having a similar route system, so they're worth a fair shot

blame nisa for that tax though i fucking hate nisa so much and them artificially inflating their prices like a year ago

@apocynadeae being influenced by taro is a deterrent if anything lmfao but i'll take your word on caligula and monark being the worst they've got to offer. i've previously been surrounded by furyu fans who think that the caligula is one of the best games ever made - so that's a refreshing thing to hear

yeah no i dont understand 1's die hard fans speaking as someone who also originally played (and dropped before i picked it up again for 2) because of then; feels more reactionary to the increased popularity of persona. but yeah by the end i hope you do dip your toes into both of the cry games and are able to enjoy them; they really have some strong offerings despite their lackluster gameplay