_Lory98_

Finished Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and found it really disappointing.

I did like the idea of the whole story, but overall I didn't really care about anything. The prologue and the initial parts of act 1 where really strong, but after a while it wasn't really doing it for me. It picks back up right at the end, but the events there feel rushed, and while I do like where it goes, it didn't really vibe with me.

The combat on the other hand is a mess. The real time defensive actions are overpowered, as they completely prevent damage, so the only meaningful stats and equipment become the ones that increase the damage you deal. Before the end of act 1, I reached the damage cap on single hits and very quickly after that I reached it on multi hit moves. The enemies also follow the nonsensical animation design of Elden Ring where they hold a pose, twitch and feint, trying to get you to react earlier, which I just don't find fun.

Music was great tho, and I like the aesthetic even if after a while the environments got samey.

I'm occasionally playing Fantasy Life i, but mostly played Xenoblade Chronicles 2's DLC. I think I liked it more than the original game, although it could not exist without it.

I started Claire Obscur: Expedition 33. I really like the setting, presentation and aesthetics. I'm not entirely sold on the real-time defensive mechanics in combat, I think they remove more than they add, but I do really like how each character has their own unique gimmick, which is something that's sorely lacking in JRPGs.

Finished playing the Futures Connected extra story of Xenoblade Chronicles. It was OK as a short epilogue, but I wish the story explored more of

I've started the Torna DLC for Xenoblade Chronicles 2. I'm not sure sure if I wanna play it right now as it looks really bad in handheld, especially on Switch 2, where there's both the bad resolution (I think it's like 540p or less?) and the colors are fucked. I might wait a bit hoping a patch is released.

I've also started Fantasy Life i. It's pretty fun, it kinda reminds me of FFXIV with how the job system works. I do wish there was a bit more complexity in crafting, but it's still fun and there seems to be a lot to do.

That's true! I hadn't though about it, but it does feel a lot like when I tried optimising City Escape in Generations. Probably even faster paced since, you rarely need to slow down when driving.

Finished Xenoblade Chronicles, I'm playing the extra story now. I enjoyed it this time around. It's nowhere close to a masterpiece, but the setting is pretty unique and the gameplay is rather satisfying. Especially since every character plays differently from the others.

Playing a bit of Mario Kart World. The new systems (rails, wall riding) seem fun, but I'm not a fan of the constant straight roads. Grand Prix is not great and Knockout Tour is fun but is starting to get stale. The most fun I'm having is in Time Trial, as it seems like the best way to play with the new mechanics.

I'm playing Xenoblade Chronicles. I started it years ago and dropped because I was disappointed by the writing. Now I've been playing the other games in the series and gave it another shot. I am enjoying it now - the combat is more interesting than the one in 2 or X and the world is fun to explore. I do still find the characters a bit shallow tho and the story fails to create mysteries, as it spoils them immediately in an attempt to do foreshadowing.

I've had fun playing it with friends, especially Knockout Tour, but I'm not really sold on it: I'm not sure if it's because of the increased player count, but items feel overtuned to the point that getting to first place seems meaningless or even detrimental to winning the race, as you'll often get thrown back 10 places. Besides that, there is too much time spent driving on the roads between tracks, which are not as fun as the actual tracks.

Haven't played Free Roam since I mostly played with friends and I don't find it interesting, but it seems like a decent extra mode.

Also yea obviously it's overpriced and not worth 80 €.

A friend got a Switch 2 with Mario Kart World, so we too played that for a bit. Knockout Tour is really fun, while I didn't like that Grand Prix races have only one lap. I think the highways are better for KT since there's 6 tracks and there's more risk due to the elimination. Fun game tho not worth 80 € (or 90), nor a system seller for me.

The Switch 2 feels like a huge improvement over the original, the new joycons are much nicer and the 1080p screen looks much better. My only complaints are that the screen is an LCD without HDR (not a dealbreaker since it's good enough, but still disappointing when considering the price). The other complaint I have is the battery, as it's too small for the system. Playing Mario Kart in portable drained at least 50 % in around an hour.

I've finished Xenoblade Chronicles X DE and I kinda wish I didn't. The chapter added with the remaster was terrible, it was completely unnecessary, a waste of potential and ruined everything the original story did. It felt like the writers didn't have a plan so they just forced these 3 quests because they had to.

Still tho, the Wii U part of the game was good, as were the other DE changes, so I enjoyed it.

I'm finishing Xenoblade Chronicles X. I finished the original Wii U story, which was alright but

I'm now doing a few of the remaining side quests and I might try fighting some higher level tyrants before continuing with the new chapter.

I tried a couple of roguelikes, it's a genre I haven't played much so I was curious to try it:

I tried Hades. The story is probably good, but I just can't stand the gameplay. I didn't find the combat to be particularly engaging, it's too button mashy and none of the weapons feel good to use. I consistently get to Elysium in 25-30 minutes, then die at the boss and end up having to redo everything just for an attempt at fighting them.

Similarly for One Step From Eden, it takes me almost an hour to reach the final boss, for which I'm not ready since it takes so long to get to it. I do prefer the gameplay of this one, there's more variety in the bosses and there seem to be more options for builds, although I haven't had success in deviating from the one strategy I found.

I didn't really find the gameplay of either interesting enough to justify the grind, so I have dropped them.

I'm continuing Xenoblade Chronicles X. I've slowed down a bit, since last time I played like 45 hours in a single week and I've gotten a bit burnt out. The game has also become a bit stale since since I've unlocked all the (main) mechanics and the mechs were disappointing.

I'm not saying the game's bad or that I'm disliking it, but it feels too simple and repetitive for what the setting and mechanics could allow.

I've been playing Xenoblade Chronicles X.

The combat is pretty fun. It's a bit more complex than the other two Xenoblade games I played (1 and 2), as there are more support skills you can use and overdrive requires a bit of planning. Enemies also have breakable parts, which add a bit of decision making during combat, although it does still feel a bit passive as there aren't many enemy mechanics to interact with.

The main story is fine and the sidequests are pretty good. They are very short, but they have interesting stories. The "affinity" quests feel like they are the focus of the game instead of the main story.

I played a bit of Phantasy Star Portable, but my PSP's battery is half dead and I'm waiting for a replacement so I didn't play long. Seems like a fun game tho.

I finished Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and I have a few thoughts about it.

The gameplay starts slow, too slow to be interesting, but after around 20 hours you unlock all the main systems and it gets really fun. It is however dragged down a bit by how bad the blade gacha and how grindy other secondary mechanics are (affinity charts and region development/mercenary missions).

The story was fine, it was pretty standard for a JRPG. I felt like the main characters were more interesting than the ones in the first game, but the overall plot and themes were a bit weak.

The story feels overall a bit rushed towards the end (especially the ending comes abruptly, I was expecting it to be a fakeout) and weirdly unfocused before that, but still engaging enough.