it's the end of the world as we know it

[muladhara]

So! My 2DS has arrived!

Mum is non-plussed about it, but didn't make me feel guilty about buying it (though she did say, "I didn't know you were getting that" and I thought, well no, I didn't tell you).

It came with just its charger, but I guess that serves me right for not paying a couple of quid more and getting one in a box (which probably would've had all its bits). I knew I should've ordered a memory card. It works well, but since I don't have a card, it won't let me download anything (I wanted to try out Pokemon Picross!)

I ordered a 16Gb memory card from PC World yesterday, and it shipped at 1am this morning, so maybe I'll get it tomorrow. The tracking number I was given is useless, as it was previously assigned to a delivery just under a year ago, and hasn't been updated since *sighs* Which I suppose is only fair, because I spent all weekend refreshing the tracking number for my DS and getting mad when it didn't update and stuff.

Anyway, I hope it turns up soon, because I want to do stuff! I know I could just play my DS games on there (and I did do that last night and today a bit) but!! I am impatient!! Soul Hackers is £8.99 and I want to download it! I want to see how much Style Savvy 2 is! (I really liked the original Style Savvy, so I am so happy I will actually get to play both sequels. CEX has 2 for £8 and 3 for £15! Bargain!).

OH AND! I can get a copy of Theatrhythm for £8, so I'm going to buy that in a bit.

(I suggested to mum that people should give me money - and it doesn't have to be loads - for Xmas, so that I can buy myself games, and she looked surprised and asked if I meant her as well, and I said yes. I know she likes giving presents, and she's good about buying me games sometimes*, but asking her to actually get the games would probably be an exercise in frustration).

~

I am still playing Nocturne off and on, though it's slow going because sometimes I barely manage to get an hour in, but at least that's better than nothing.

I am almost at the top of the Obelisk, and about to do the Moirae sisters boss fight, which I remember causing me problems last time. Hopefully I'm better levelled this time, so it might not be as bad??

~

Anyway, I think I need to get off the computer and get today's inktober done, because I haven't managed it yet.

~

*She's bought me Dragon Age: Inquisition and Resident Evil Code: Veronica (for example) in the past, though honestly I think my interest in games bewilders her. I know my interest in comics does.

Comments

[selenicdistance]

Oh, oh! You have a 3DS! (Well, a 2DS, but same difference, really.)

Do you want recs? I want to give you recs.

(I'll say this one thing: If you're going to get Theatrhythm, I sssssssssssssssssstrongly recommend getting Curtain Call rather than the base version; Curtain Call has nearly all the first one's DLC, some gameplay improvements, more characters, etc.

[lassarina]

^ seconding this, Curtain Call is much better.

Yay for 3DS! (I also have recs if wanted.)

[muladhara]

Oh yes please recs would be awesome!

[lassarina]

If you like old-school turn-based JRPGs, I highly recommend bravely default. It has some...really unfortunate gender trope bullshit in the second chapter (standard, if tooth-grinding, JRPG nonsense) but it's so adorable and tons and tons of fun.

Fantasy Life is super, super cute and is a game all about helping people find their heart's wish and making friends for a better world. I love it. It's so charming and sweet.

FF Explorers is a grindy, monster-hunter-type game. I had fun with it, but don't go to it expecting characterization or plot. That being said, the gameplay is fun.

Lord of Magna: Maiden Heaven is a 'harem' type game in which you play as the guy who owns this family inn, and seven young women with fighting powers arrive and you can romance them and build this family with all of them. It was fun to play, and also the lead guy is genuinely sweet and kind, which helps make it not feel exploitative and gross. Tactical combat and cute badass ladies, A+.

If you like Professor Layton, there are several 3DS Layton games and they were a lot of fun.

Super Mario 3D Land was fun and I heard good things about the sequel.

There are a lot of SMT games out for it; I really didn't enjoy Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers (a remake of a PSX game) and probably wont' finish it. I enjoyed Persona Q as far as I got; it's very Etrian Odyssey, so if you don't like dungeon crawlers you won't like it. If you liked FF Tactics, you might like Devil Survivor (the Overclocked version of 1 and the Record Breaker version of 2 are the ones you want; they have lots of quality-of-life addenda.) And of course there's SMT4 and SMT4 Apocalypse, which I haven't played but I know people who love them a lot.

Do you want regular DS game recs as well?

[muladhara]

I want to play Bravely Default; partly because I've seen you post about it, and partly because of Akihiko Yoshida's art for it (I am a sucker for him, heh).

Fantasy Life sounds like exactly the sort of game I want to be playing right now. (I was wondering a bit back if anyone had made a game like this, and now I know they have!)

I was wondering what FF Explorers was like, since I know absolutely nothing about it, apart from that it is a thing that exists.

Lord of Magna sounds good, too.

Did you know I have never played a Professor Layton game IN MY LIFE. Which is a surprise because aren't they essentially puzzle games with a plot? There's one for under £5 right now in the eshop, so I might download that and have a look at it.

The SMT games are pretty much the reason I got the 2DS :D And I'm going to try all of them, because it is my mission in life to play as many of them as I possibly can.

Yes, regular DS game recs would be cool! And thank you for giving me a good list to be going on with already!

[lassarina]

I enjoyed FF Explorers but mostly because it turned out I was really in the mood for mindless exploration/grinding, so if that is not your thing, you won't like it. (Also, it is action-y compared to most FF games - all FF games really - so take that as wlel.)

Yep, that's pretty much the tl;dr of Professor Layton. I love them all, though the series gets some pretty solid quality-of-life improvements over time.

OKAY SO REGULAR DS GAMES HERE WE GO *consults backloggery*

Avalon Code - Action RPG, fairly cute, but I got bored about a third of the way through. conceptually I like it, in execution I was kind of eh, but I know some people who DEEPLY ADORE it so I'm listing it anyway.

If you like exploratory dungeon crawling, you may be into the Etrian Odyssey games. Many of them have demos. Give the demo a try (this will also tell you if you have any interest in Persona Q: Shadows of the Labyrinth since it's basically an EO game with a P3/P4 skin on.)

FF Tactics Advance 2: I LOVED IT. If you like FF tactics, this is a delight. It is much better than the GBA one (many excellent quality-of-life improvements; also, badass dragon girls who fly over your opponents and do 4x backstab damage. Yes please.)

Final Fantasy: 4 Heroes of Light: ....I am torn. This is a really cute game. It can also be frustrating. Trying to do 100% completion is. Well. It killed a lot of my joy. main quest was fun though.

If you feel the jonesing for a new version of FF4 or Chrono Trigger, I can wholeheartedly recommend the FF4 port (though the PC/Steam version has, again, some quality-of-life that you may appreciate in lieu of the DS version.) I heard good things about the CT port, though mine languishes unopened.

Glory of Heracles: fun, dorky, ridiculous, too many puns, SHARKS WITH HEAD-MOUNTED LASERS, occasional JRPG gender essentialist bullshit. I enjoyed it despite, YMMV.

Phoenix Wright series: I got frustrated with them after a while, to be totally honest. Conceptually I adore them. In practice, the adventure/exploration stuff got frustratingly finicky. Characters A+++. Execution: YMMV.

Picross 3D: if you like Picross get it. It owned my brain for weeks straight. I was delighted. It was also my intro to Picross and then like four iOS games happened oops.

Puzzle Quest series: First one is the best. Galactrix was OK. PQ 2, I made it through and that's all I have to say.

Radiant Historia: GET IT. PLAY IT. SO FUCKING GOOD. HANDS DOWN ONE OF MY FAVORITE DS GAMES. Time-traveling shenanigans and beautiful feelings.

SMT: Strange Journey was great. Devil Survivor is frustrating in that you really have to play it at least twice to get even a half-decent ending without tearing your hair out (I opted to the easy route to get NG+ and...haven't done it yet.) If you go this route, get the Overclocked 3DS version. Ditto its successor; get Record Breaker.

and lastly, New Super Mario Bros. on regular DS: delightfully nostalgic, I liked it a lot.

I have many more games in my pile on recommendation (Fire Emblem of various sorts, Suikoden of various sorts, and on and on and on) but I've probably given you quite a list already. Sorry, I have many games and many opinions. XD

[muladhara]

I thought about trying an Etrian Odyssey specifically because of PQ.

I liked both FFTA2 and 4HOL! I need to restart and efficiently finish the latter. I haven't touched since the year I got it, I think :[

I have also thought about the Phoenix Wright games on and off (because I know a fair few people who've played them).

I am currently playing Pokemon Picross, though it's a freemium game and BOY OH BOY does it let you know it. You can either grind for in-game currency, which takes forever and is kind of boring, or you can buy it (and I'm not going to buy it unless I REALLY have to). So any kind of picross that is not that would be lovely (apparently if I get enough gold coins on the rewards system I can download a LoZ one!)

I was wondering about Radiant Historia, and was going to ask in a journal entry about it, oddly enough. I will definitely check it out now though, so thank you for mentioning it :D

I am always up for game recs! If you want to go and give me more recs for older systems, go for it. I don't mind at all.

[muladhara]

YES PLEASE GIVE ME RECS.

I do have a list, which broadly contains: all the SMTs available, the Adventure Time games, the Style Savvy games, Bravely Default, and...something else I'm forgetting.

I didn't realise that was the case with Curtain Call, I thought it was a sequel. But it sounds like it's going to be better value to get that in that case!

[helvetica]

non-plussed is one of my favourite words ever, I think!

Money for games sounds like a really great xmas present !!!!

[muladhara]

Hee, yeah it's a very good one.

I know, right? That way I know I'm getting something I really want, and whoever gives it to me is satisfied that I got something good (hopefully).