Your 2025 Gaming Diary

[Dcubed]

It’s done by the same people who made Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons @Glen-i.  Pure co-op only (kind of the developer’s shtick).

I would get it… but the file size on Switch 2 (and every other platform) is quite frankly, frightening.

[Cube]

14 minutes ago, Dcubed said:

It’s done by the same people who made Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons @Glen-i.  Pure co-op only (kind of the developer’s shtick).

It's the same director, but he founded his own company for A Way Out. 

Plus, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is designed as a single player game, you just control two people with one controller. 

[Hero-of-Time]

Just now, Cube said:

 

Plus, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is designed as a single player game, you just control two people with one controller. 

Indeed. I could actually play that game (loved it) but have no way of playing these newer games.

[nekunando]

 

 

Must be getting close to half way in Travis Strikes Again and it's just feeling like a game to burn through, tick off and move on.

I think Tunic and Daemon X Machina are both on the 'Delete' pile. Certainly wouldn't be wasting precious Switch 2 space on them 😅

[Cube]

Tales of Symphonia

 

Good lord, this one took a very long time. And there were a load of side quests that I didn't do as well. That said, even though I was ready to be done well before the end, I still very much enjoyed it.

The combat not being turn based was a very pleasant surprised and I found manual mode to be the best way to play. It's also interesting that you could have friends join you in the fights, although it would be a lot of doing nothing between the fights (I suppose you could take turns of walking around). I found the combat to be quite enjoyable, although some bosses were crazy with damage. 

The story and characters I also liked a lot, and there were a lot of plot twist (and a lot of devastation that you end up causing), although also some moments of the main characters not figuring obvious stuff out too late, like when a character mentions that their shop is named after their mother - the shop having the name of a character important to Lloyd and Genis, but thankfully it's just a few little moments.

The dungeons had some interesting puzzles, but they were so large with a lot of trekking back and forth to the different parts of the puzzle. And then when you get to the end, you often have to walk all the way back out as well. Some of the later quests are also a lot of ferrying back and forth (that gnome dungeon was horrible) and when you have to revisit dungeons, there's nothing new, you just walk through the completed dungeon. The characters even complain about how boring it is walking through the finished dungeons again...

 

But still, it's a great game and I liked the characters enough that I'm tempted to check out the Wii sequel at some point. 

[Dcubed]

1 hour ago, Cube said:

 

But still, it's a great game and I liked the characters enough that I'm tempted to check out the Wii sequel at some point.

 

 

Absolutely under no circumstances should you ever touch the Wii sequel, especially if you enjoyed the original game!!

It’s a complete travesty!

[Glen-i]

He's right. It's terribad!

Tales of Symphonia is @Ugh first aid's most favourite game of all time, and even she hates the sequel!

[Cube]

@Dcubed @Glen-i is this from a gameplay perspective or story perspective? Because if the former is the problem, I can use cheats to put up with it.

[Dcubed]

1 hour ago, Cube said:

@Dcubed @Glen-i is this from a gameplay perspective or story perspective? Because if the former is the problem, I can use cheats to put up with it.

Both.  It’s a shit game in every respect.  A complete insult to the original TOS.

If you want a decent follow up game? Play Tales of the Abyss, Tales of Vesperia or Tales of Eternia next.

Edited Monday at 05:57 PM by Dcubed

[Jonnas]

On 4/28/2025 at 1:09 PM, Cube said:

Good lord, this one took a very long time. And there were a load of side quests that I didn't do as well.

In order to fully 100% this game, you need to beat it 3 times (all because of the item records. There are three mutually-exclusive items that you can only get one of per playthrough). I do not recommend aiming for 100% completion, just do whatever sidequests you find, as this game as a surprisingly large amount of them. I know I managed to find a new one I had never heard about around my 3rd or 4th playthrough.

I am very happy to hear you liked it Tales of Symphonia is among my Top 3 RPGs of all time, and its plot, characters, and writing meant a lot to me growing up. It's also an incredibly fun game to just play and enjoy. There aren't many RPGs like it.

On 4/28/2025 at 1:09 PM, Cube said:

But still, it's a great game and I liked the characters enough that I'm tempted to check out the Wii sequel at some point. 

While my reaction isn't as visceral as Dcubed's, I will recommend that you heavily temper your expectations before approaching ToS2. It was done by a very different team (with different aesthetic and writing sensibilities) with an improvised plot, on a very tight budget, for the sake of making a quick buck on the Wii.

Gameplay-wise, there's nothing egregious about it. It's perfectly serviceable, if repetitive.

To this day, what bothers me the most about that sequel is the aesthetic clash with the first game. The monsters look nothing like the first game's, the new characters look waaay overdesigned compared to the first game (and the two sets of characters meet, so the clash is right there on-screen), the voice actors are different, and even the way they pronounce certain terms is different ("Mana" and "Palmacosta" being most notable).

It's a messy game for sure, and it does not mesh with the original at all. I don't think it's horrible, mind you (I do genuinely appreciate the the main story and its protagonist), but it only gets 2 stars out of 5 from me.

On 4/28/2025 at 6:56 PM, Dcubed said:

If you want a decent follow up game? Play Tales of the Abyss

...I'm surprised to hear you recommend that one, in the same post where you say ToS2 is shit. TotA and ToS2 have practically identical battle systems, and the 3D aesthetic is literally the same.

[Dcubed]

8 hours ago, Jonnas said:

...I'm surprised to hear you recommend that one, in the same post where you say ToS2 is shit. TotA and ToS2 have practically identical battle systems, and the 3D aesthetic is literally the same.

That's because TOTA is actually a good game, with worthwhile out-of-battle gameplay.  Decent dungeons & puzzles to solve, actual proper RPG towns, a proper world map etc.

And the story & characters aren't hot bum either.

Edited 6 hours ago by Dcubed