ThePigMarcher

Only a couple of days until Stardew Valley arrives on PS4 and as someone who spent way too much of his youth playing various iterations of Harvest Moon I really can't wait, haven't had a PC for ages which is why I've not picked this up before. The reviews it has received for the PC have largely been outstanding so hopefully it gets ported well. The only thing that may prevent me from spending too much time with it is my current obsession with Let It Die.

I've not yet checked the PSN store to see what items are currently available and it seems that, according to the in-game messages, they are still working on bringing more to the storefront. From what I've worked out so far it really is just ways to making your way up the tower a little easier. There is/will be a pass which gives you a few benefits, things like using a special elevator (so you don't need to pay in-game cash to use one), a temporary boost to your fighters inventory space (which is an issue) and getting decals for your fighters (which boost their abilities a little). It doesn't appear to be game breaking or give too much of an disadvantage to us cheapskates , I could be proven wrong on that. You can also purchase death metals, which can be used as continues should you die (not the best use of them AT ALL) and apparently they can be used to upgrade your waiting room storage which I've not looked at yet, and likely many more things. It appears that this will be the main currency of the game and you do seem to get a few as a daily log-in bonus as well as for completing quests so it's probably a little too early to see just how often/or if you'll need to purchase any at all. EDIT: Been playing a few more hours this evening and this game just keeps getting better. I decided it was time to move up a few floors and I'm now on Floor 6, just before another boss battle by the looks of it, and things got a little tense for a while. After getting ambushed by a mob on the 5th floor I used a lot of my healing items early but was determined not to backtrack so I then spent the rest of Floors 5 and 6 (seeing as there was no elevator on 5) on the verge of death, I then ran into a Lvl 30 Hater and thought I was screwed, managed to just about dispatch it before stumbling on some mushrooms and got within sight of the elevator only to get killed by a lone enemy. I wasn't about to give up the progress I had made and as I had a couple of new blueprints I reluctantly used one of my Death Metals to revive so I could get back to safety. I've also unlocked the ability to grab a few specialist fighters, namely a Collector and another that is built for CQ combat, So I've now chucked my existing two level 25's and a level 20 fighter on defensive duty to allow me to level up the CQ combat specialist. On another note, the soundtrack in this game is freaking amazing and I'm sure if Grasshopper wanted to grab some more funds from this game, making the soundtrack available would be a nice little earner. EDIT 2 (07/12): Beat the boss on level 6 and subsequently cleared through floors 7, 8 and 9 although that ended in a dead-end with no elevators on any of the floors so I had to backtrack all the back to 6. A few more paths opened up and it appears that I'll need to go down again in order to move further up the tower, guessing that reaching that top floor (whatever number that is is going to take a while). Seeing as things are about to kick off between the UK and California clubs* I thought it would be a good idea to get a few raids under my belt. Raided three bases successfully, albeit two were undefended and the other had a lone defender so that was easy pickings. I've now got a roster of five fighters to work with so I've shored up my defence as best I can to prepare for the inevitable payback as well as the oncoming beef with California. * Basically when two rival clubs build enough 'hate' between one another a 24 hour fight breaks out between them and the idea is for each to raid one anothers bases until a winner is declared. Spending far too much time on this game but I'm loving every f'ing minute of it.

Played a bit more yesterday and got past the boss on third floor, I then decided to return to the elevator rather than take the next floor up just in case there wasn't another elevator nearby. Little did I know that the boss would respawn when I went back up there . Beating the boss opened up an alternate route which I explored briefly although the elevator I found there didn't lead anywhere so I ended up backtracking rather than taking a chance on progressing further. Also the online raid/defend aspect unlocked. I can now go and raid other players waiting rooms to grab some cash/resources as will as having the chance of capturing one of their fighters. Then again, I'm also open to others doing likewise to me and this is the one aspect of the game that I'm not really sold on just yet as I'm not sure if there are measures in place to prevent griefing. I have been raided once but thankfully didn't lose too much although it now means I'll have to build up some other fighters in the hope that I can put up some sort of defense. I have largely spent most of my time milling around the opening few floors looking for materials and bluepoints so that I can improve my gear through R&D, although I should probably think about trying to move up a few floors instead, still only got to the beginning of the 4th floor. Really enjoyable game still, I'm just hoping that the raid/defend waiting rooms doesn't ruin my enjoyment, you need to do it to allow yourself to be able to increase your max bank etc, it's just a pity that when you do the tutorial it doesn't warn you that you're opening yourself up to invasions.

Absolutely love this feature and the way that stamina is represented (as you also pointed out). Considering it's a F2P game it's clear that some considerable thought has been put into it. Still a fair amount of stuff that I need to get a grip on and unlock etc but there does appear to be some depth to it and a decent amount to do.

I played a bit of this yesterday although due to server issues I wasn't able to make any progress, however, I am liking this a lot. The only thing that's taking a little while to get used to is the controls, primarily using the touchpad. They work well enough but due to how the touchpad is commonly used in other games (maps/inventory etc) it's a little too easy to use items by mistake, as evidenced by my eaten one of the those exploding mushrooms instead of throwing it, cue early suicide I'm sure I'll get used to it in time. Will be interesting to see how the F2P thing works out and as long as it doesn't become P2W then I can see me spending quite a but of time on this, that said, if I continue enjoying it (and it gets well supported) then I won't be adverse to dropping a few quid every so often. I love how bat-shit crazy it is, then again, I do love the work/style of Suda 51 and Grasshopper so that was to be expected anyway.

Nice one man, didn't even realise the demo was up yet so I'm downloading it now. I really need to get into the habit of checking the Japanese store updates more often.

From what I understand, and I could be wrong but due to text heavy nature of the game some people just preferred reading the text on a larger screen and found the Vita version to be a little tougher on the eyes. I personally didn't have this issue and found the text perfectly fine. Another thing could well have been loading times. Many believed they were far shorter on the PS3, however, by the time we received the original game this had been patched and supposedly loading times were pretty much identical after that. Re loading times on both games, I only really noticed the loading being a minor issue on the first battle after continuing from a save on the first game. I assume the game was still loading the main assets which lead to a slight delay on those first battles after a continue. I have noticed on the sequel that there does appear to be the occasional load before and after some battles but thankfully it's only really long enough to be noticeable but not an annoyance and again, it's not on every battle. Whether the same thing happens on the PS3 I can't say.

I didn't think it would be worth starting a game specific thread (only because not many appear to play it) but Trails of Cold Steel II arrived earlier today. Since completing the previous game earlier this year, in which it happened to become one of my favourite games of recent years, I have been eagerly awaiting this game and despite only spending a couple of hours with it so far I can already see that this sequel is unlikely to disappoint. It carries on from the cliff-hanger ending of the first game and it feels great to be back in Erebonia again. One thing the Legend of Heroes games do really well is world-building, narrative and creating a cast of characters that you really do care about with some great back stories and whist the games can be quite slow going to start off they are definitely worth sticking with. As is typical with JRPGs there is a tonne of stuff to do and I absolutely love the combat system, which due to events in this previous game, will have even more variety this time around. I really am looking forward to spending more time with this and if it is anything close to the greatness of the previous game then I may be constantly recharging my Vita for a while yet.

I grabbed this yesterday (Vita version) and whilst I've not yet progressed too far, little more than where the demo ends, I am absolutely loving it. Really enjoying the little quests that you get sent out on and the NPC interactions but I really need to start sorting out my little town, well, it's not close to even a hamlet yet :p. I started out by slapping a few buildings here and there but as time has gone on I realised that I need to put a little more thought into things. So I've taken a little break from questing so that I can go on a full properly thought out rebuild, especially as I've expanded my recipes a little more. It really is a perfect chill out game and I love nothing more than relaxing/idling in the middle of my settlement admiring my handiwork as the evening draws in, barring the odd enemy invasion of course, even if it means I'm getting very little done.

I had completely written this off as I hate Minecraft and games of its ilk but finally decided to (at least) give the demo a go earlier today, after all it is Dragon Quest of sorts. All I can say is, wow, the thing is cute as fuck and now I'm eagerly awaiting its release. Will probably go for the Vita version as it will be a perfect fit for the machine, just disappointing that it won't be a physical release on that and I can't be bothered importing.

Thanks! I didn't even think to look into remapping controls. On that note, I contacted the devs on twitter last night and they are aware of the issue and are working on it, expecting a fix to ready in a few days.

Thanks! I didn't even think to look into remapping controls. On that note, I contacted the devs on twitter last night and they are aware of the issue and are working on it, expecting a fix to ready in a few days.

Gave this a brief look on my sub-account (just in case it wasn't for me) and it certainly has a lot of promise. First attempt on the first boss didn't end well, second attempt I was getting the hang of it then the game bloody crashed, on the third attempt I got the boss down to it's last health bar but could't finish it off, fourth attempt got to the last phase again and then my f'ing Dualshock 4 ran out of juice. The gaming gods are obviously not smiling on me today Getting a real El Shaddai vibe out of this and I enjoyed that game so look forward to giving it a deeper look. EDIT: Seems to be some sort of issue with 'Charged shots' and the game just doesn't want to recognise inputs on the R2 button, sometimes it'll work, other times, not at all. I don't appear to be the only one who has experienced this problem so hopefully the developers are on the case. A shame too, as the game did have potential.

Gave this a brief look on my sub-account (just in case it wasn't for me) and it certainly has a lot of promise. First attempt on the first boss didn't end well, second attempt I was getting the hang of it then the game bloody crashed, on the third attempt I got the boss down to it's last health bar but could't finish it off, fourth attempt got to the last phase again and then my f'ing Dualshock 4 ran out of juice. The gaming gods are obviously not smiling on me today Getting a real El Shaddai vibe out of this and I enjoyed that game so look forward to giving it a deeper look. EDIT: Seems to be some sort of issue with 'Charged shots' and the game just doesn't want to recognise inputs on the R2 button, sometimes it'll work, other times, not at all. I don't appear to be the only one who has experienced this problem so hopefully the developers are on the case. A shame too, as the game did have potential.

Admittedly I wasn't using the spell as often as I could/should have, as I didn't think it was particularly effective at first, especially due to how much of a hit your damage output took so it seemed counter-productive. Nearly all of my upgrades went on the sword and I wasn't in a rush to upgrade the spells. As you know, BIG MISTAKE Anyway, game has now been completed and the Platinum has been obtained too. Took me just shy of 10hrs which is pretty bad by comparison but what the hell, it's done. Absolutely incredible game (as others have testified) and one I'd also consider to be a must-buy for Vita owners.

Wow! I must be doing something very wrong* if this game could be classed as very easy. I've had a few moments where I've been challenged and the area I'm in at the moment is causing me all sorts of problems, trying to manage those buffs/debuffs with multiple enemies is proving problematic. Admittedly, it is handy that dying places you right before the fight you died in but even so. Still enjoying it a lot though. *Disclaimer: It could well be that my gaming skills aren't what they once were seeing as I struggled through Dark Souls III more than any other game in the series, I'm awful at Uncharted multiplayer, seem to have gotten worse at Rocket League and now this game. Just recent examples of my declining skillset.

Started this on Saturday and I'm probably about mid-way through at the moment. I'll not say too much but so far it has been absolutely fantastic, solid pacing and the story telling/character interactions have been great, some decent set-pieces, stealth is actually viable this time (for the most part anyway), looks outstanding and is a little less linear than previous games. Dabbled with the multiplayer briefly this afternoon (as the servers only just went live) and just like in the beta, I'm absolutely terrible. Something about online shooters and me just don't get on, that said, I can see me spending a little more time on that side of things as there seems to be a fair amount of unlockables/upgrades etc.

Just to say that I've made a quick start on it and you guys are definitely forgiven, fallen in love with it already so cheers guys, it's highly unlikely that I'd have picked this up had it not been for this thread

Given just how much you guys seem to love this game (and how much I enjoyed Guacamelee) I decided to take the plunge on this. Damn you guys for making me spending more money :wink: but if it turns out to be as enjoyable as you've all made out I may just forgive you all.

Would have to disagree. It's the sort of game that reminded me of why I created a sub-account, only played enough to grab the first Championship and even during that short spell I found myself beyond bored, just wasn't feeling it at all and it's already been deleted. Tropico 5 may have some potential though, played through the tutorials and seemed like something I may be able to enjoy.

It'll become clearer once you beat the first mission, which you may have done by now. On beating that mission you'll get taken to a mission select screen which will allow you to select that mission and you can either replay it or enter matchmaking, the latter will match you with anyone who may have placed the 'cup' offering at any shrine in the area. That's really all there is to allowing yourself to being summoned. As for why no-one joined you, it's likely due to the fact that not many are making themselves available for summoning in that mission as the amrita, gears and rewards aren't great, especially when compared to what you can gain in the second mission. Personally I haven't minded making myself available, it's not as if I need anymore loot anyway, and I usually get summoned really quickly.

Finally fully beaten the demo. Jeez, that final boss gave me a really tough time, however the reward was a pretty tasty Level 43 Sword. Instead of wrapping up my time with this I've begun to explore the co-op and it seems to be pretty solid. There does appear to be some lag issues but given that this is only an alpha that's to be expected but depending on which stage you look to co-op in I've not had to wait long to find a match. I like the fact that you can still earn amrita and items and you also get various rewards depending on if you beat the stage, how many shrines you visit and more etc. A nice little addition to the game and something else I can't wait to see fully explored when the game launches.

I cannot recommend the donating/selling of items highly enough. The boost in amrita is nice enough but the bonus items you get are so much more useful, especially as you find so much loot. I've found it to be a great way of maxing out elixirs instead of having to farm them and the occasional spirit stone (amongst other items) is not to be sniffed at either. One of my favourite 'hell yeah' moments of the game so far was when I accidentally agro'd a couple of enemies only to fall off a ledge and attract the attention of a couple more. I started legging it and it looked like a 'Benny Hill' moment that wasn't going to end well. Thankfully and rather luckily I had a decent spear and managed to somehow take out all five at once. I don't know how I managed it and it's probably not something I'll be able to repeat but damn, it felt freaking fantastic.

Managed to beat the first mission in the demo which was enough to earn myself access to the DLC (which has to be grabbed before May 5th I think). I certainly had my fair of struggles with the final part and had to change up my gear as my light armour just wasn't cutting it. The weird thing is that I didn't notice my character slowing down too much with the heavier gear, although I didn't go full on with it just in case. Perhaps I've just gotten adjusted to expect my character to react noticeable slower after a certain 'equip' limit due to Souls' games so maybe the drop-off in this game isn't meant to be so severe.

Finally made a bit of progress, reached the second shrine last night and earlier this morning unlocked a short-cut back to the first shrine (so Dark Souls ). Have just this minute reached what appears to be the second area of the demo and the third shrine. I'm not sure how big the demo is but the enemies really don't mess about, especially the big bastards. Really like the online aspect of taking on the ghost things of other victims to gain their amarati (spelling). In fact, there is just so much to like about this game and the release date can't come soon enough.