Gaming General (Special Limited Deluxe Digital Edition)

Lol. I just remembered I have Thief from PS+ freebies way back... One of these days I'm actually going to get around to looking at my PSN inventory...and heck, doing a general inventory of all my games. Losing track, especially with digital titles.

These past couple of weeks, I've mostly been playing the **** out of Devil Survivor 2: Record Breaker and Splatoon. As of yesterday, I started playing MH4U again.

Heh, all that talk of Thief, and now Dishonored 2 is official. I was hoping to see it announced at E3 this year, and it looks like things worked out. Also **** yeah, Emily! Admittedly, as much as I like Dishonored, I am very suspicious of this ~Definitive Edition~ they are touting. At this stage it's one of those things where it seems more than appropriate to call shenanigans and label it as downright obnoxious if it is anything but a simple HD port, and yet it also warrants harsh criticism if they neglect to put the effort of extra missions and such in it...Meh...

And of course, a true remake (not just the port) of FFVII for PS4. After all this time. I look forward to kicking back, playing the Seinfeld theme, and spending time with memories.

Wait. Are you saying FF7 remake is actually in the works? Or you're hoping it is?

Also, that Fallout 4 presentation...

And Nintendo World Championship. That was great, but ended on such a sad note. Cosmo man! I wanted to see him take the title, but he lost from not knowing NSMB physics!

Multiple sources are expecting it to be announced officially at the SE presentation, and Siliconera in particular announced it as practically confirmed that FFVII remake (distinct from a straight HD port) is going to be released on the PS4. Since Siliconera rarely jumps the gun on low-tier rumors, I'm inclined to think it's actually happening. But yeah, I'm not just hoping for FFVII remake; it seems pretty legit this time. If I were just ~hoping~ for a rumor, it would be a rumor that starts with Square Enix announcing ~the long-awaited successor to FFVI~ and teasing everyone just enough for them to think it's the FFVII remake, only to announce FFVI-2.

Meanwhile, many predictable announcements lately. Dark Souls III of course, some game collections, and obvious 2-for-1 bundles. Xbox One being Xbox One, although it does look like they're actually putting some effort into building up their library quantitatively if nothing else. Meanwhile, "From Keiji Inafune and the Makers of Metroid Prime" is a line I really don't care to see for something on Xbox One, but I admit I'm interested.

Fallout 4 all the win still, more or less. Even Microsoft couldn't resist shelling out the cash to have an excuse to feature it in a premium manner, even though they don't have it as an exclusive. (I still get a huge kick out of this sort of thing, especially with the way Nintendo is acting these days. While Sony and Microsoft seem to be constantly taking shots at each other to the effect of ~no our premium content/limited exclusivity/publishing choices of these multi-platform games are better~, Nintendo is more or less of in its own world like ~idgaf about that stuff, check out our true exclusives, have fun playing our championships built upon the Nintendo legacy, and watch us print money even when we're being heavily criticized for making tons of bad moves. You know you're going to buy Roy and/or Ryu even if you haven't played SSBU in a couple of months, so just sit back and enjoy~.

So many E3 highlights...of course, much of it was stuff we already knew/expected, but it's still cool to see things more officially fleshed out. Meanwhile, as usual, Nintendo pretty much blows the competition out of the water in many regards. Square Enix actually had a pretty decent presentation all around - and w00t, Star Ocean 5 confirmed for fairly timely localization, all things considered. FFVII remake trailer and confirmation that previous news was legit. Hitman and Deus Ex. On the other side of things, some other pretty big names like Shenmue 3...heh...it's going to be funded by Kickstarter...I wonder if it'll break not-Castlevania's record.

And Nintendo, freaking Nintendo. Hyrule Warriors Legends, Triforce Heroes, SMTxFE character trailer (w00t Tiki), Yoshi, Xenoblade Chronicles X release, Youkai Watch...heh, even a new Animal Crossing and Metroid title, although I imagine many people are probably on the fence if not outright disappointed about those two. Personally, I'm looking forward to any new Metroid, and I'm one of those morphballs who liked Prime Hunters, so I'm willing to give it a chance since at worst it looks liek a chibi prime hunters, maybe with a bit of Galactic Federation flavoring, and of course mecha soccer. As for Animal Crossing...I think the subtitle might be more of an issue than the ~spin-off~ aspect of the game...Amiibo Festival...really? Even if they bundled the Amiibo with the game and the amiibo could only be used with that one game, I would still expect ridiculous sales shortages and a general game flop/marketing shenanigans to ensue.

There are no games that will get me to buy a console ever again, I've given myself over to PC gaming and kinda shunned AAA games entirely. Not even a FF7 remake can get me to buy a PS4.

The question for me though is how long will the FF7 Remake remain a PS4 exclusive? In the trailer it says, "Play it first on the PS4". Here is hoping it makes it to PC someday.

Also Nintendo. I was pretty disappointed, give me a reason to turn my Wii U on again. The console is flatlined in my eyes, it's entirely a first party "Nintendo" only console now. I had a glimmer of hope that it wouldn't turn out that way but I can't say I'm surprised, seemed inevitable.

I can't really blame you. By my reckoning, I still regard the Wii U as the only true current-gen video game console. As it stands, the PS4 and Xbone are basically just budget PCs with legacies (and ironically, no backwards compatibility to fully capitalize on those legacies - I'd have bought a PS4 on day one if it could play PS3 games). I still haven't bought a PS4, and I'm still quite heavily on the fence about getting one even with so many great games being announced - especially since I don't see any ~gaps~ in game releases between my Wii U, 3DS, and Vita anticipated titles. Meanwhile, lately I've been tempted to just go ahead and get a decent gaming PC - nothing too extraordinary, but future-proofed for a couple years. Unfortunately, right now I'm trying to go on a semi-poor university student lifestyle until work/income is more stable, even though I could easily afford to buy an Xbox One, PS4, and gaming PC without necessarily having any problems...better safe than sorry.

There's no way the FFVII Remake is going to be PS4 exclusive - that's just its obvious flagship release platform. I'd say it's practically guaranteed to come to Xbox One and PC shortly after its PS4 release - "coming first" no doubt means exactly that. Admittedly, I'd love to see FFVII Remake on Wii U, where it belongs.

I'm inclined to disagree about the Wii U flatlining, but we may have pretty different tastes and gaming schedules. Similarly, I always expected the Wii U to be a more or less first party only console - the veritable Nintendo machine, and anything more than that is just a bonus as far as I'm concerned. The console is cheap enough that it's not really an issue, and the quality and longevity of the games more than make up for the few-and-far-in-between top-tier releases. Meanwhile, my ~wishlist~ of Wii U games to buy isn't empty yet, so when all is said and done, I just can't relate to people who are declaring the console as dead yet. Then again, I still play my Vita even though the ~experts~ have decided that it's been dead for...what...2 years now?

I'll just say this: Everyone did way better than SE. Everyone else had one thing I'd be interested in playing, while SE just... no. They had some movie voice over to talk to us about Just Cause 3. JUST SHOW US BLOWING STUFF UP! THAT'S ALL WE NEED! The one game where shooty shooty bang bang is all we want to see, and they don't do it. Wow...

Also, I will never sleep again
http://s3.amazonaws.com/gameskinnyop/0/d/5/0d56ed5ed353f6fee258cc4212df2158.png

Heh...I think SE did alright based on highlights, but they probably could have done a lot better. I haven't gotten around to watching the actual presentation, but I hear it was pretty bloated and E3-ish...lots of talking/cinematic/teaser footage - practically no gameplay to speak of.

That mask was awesome tho, and I know you're excited for Nier Neo.

In other news - and quite a strange and exciting turn if there's anything to it...there's word on the net of a localized version of Digimon World: Cyber Sleuth...except curiously enough, the version in question is apparently for the PS4. Heh...Japan doesn't even have a PS4 version, although obviously I want pretty much any news of the game being localized to be legit.

And plenty of other details about SMTxFE have been pouring out since the Nintendo presentation. By now it's probably common knowledge that, as suspected by many of us, FE characters are basically going to be the ~demons~ of the game, while combat and other stuff seem to be more firmly based in a hybrid of SMT and Persona gameplay. Overall, I'd say it still looks fantastic, especially if they really flesh out the cast. Heh...having legendary FE characters transcend space and time to manifest as Mirages linked to the realities of others...great stuff. Sort of makes up for the fact that Fire Emblem Awakening kinda dropped the ball on the ~legacy~ characters. Of course, I see that the ~theme~ of SMTxFire Emblem is getting a bit of a mixed reception. Some people aren't too fond of the characters, the performance/entertainment side of things, and the fact that the game seems to be leaning a little more toward Persona than SMT in its execution. Personally, I quite like it, but I imagine it's going to rub a lot of people the wrong way. Also lol - Tiki is Miku Hatsune...no lie. Meanwhile...Kiria is best girl?

Edit: Ohlol, I almost forgot to mention - another cool thing that I'm really liking about SMTxFE: the more I hear about it and see of it, the more it reminds me a bit of the story and concepts behind the Fate/ anime and games. Heh, Fate/SMTxFE ftw. I mean, people awakening to the ability to summon legendary spirits and practically being drawn into a veritable war to have their wishes granted...all they need is a Holy Grail or similar, a bit of family lineage/rivalry backstory, and a key character who is in a limbo between the mundane and magical worlds clashing all around them and thus may be able to trump both...and it pretty much is a Fate/ crossover. In any case, I'm game.

And some other tidbits from Atlus...let's see - I saw that it's been confirmed/reassured that Persona 5 will indeed be coming out this year in the west, even though details have been scarce (although at this rate, I wouldn't be surprised if, by ~this year~, they meant Christmas/Boxing day lol). Also, P4:DAN is supposedly going to have a fairly dark storyline, only just barely covered up in a pretty wrapper (but this is the idol industry we're talking about).

And yes, in terms of my own general gaming, I'm still burning most of my free time on Record Breaker and occasionally a bit of Splatoon. That Dishonored 2 E3 presentation left me wanting to boot up my PS3 and actually get into the second story DLC that I bought but never got around to playing - so I'll probably do that at some point in the near future.

Okay so Shenmue 3 was mentioned by Anubis.

Found out it's not actually being funded by Kickstarter. It did what Bloodstained did. If it reached a certain amount of funding then a big publisher that they were in talks with would fund the entire thing. Sony is funding all of Shenmue 3.  Let's not even get into the fact it's 40,000+ fans who donated, that's a guaranteed 40,000 sold copies? Some of those fans spending hundreds of dollars. This doesn't mean it will sell well.

That is NOT what kickstarter is suppose to be used for. Last I checked the Shenmue 3 page on kickstarter hasn't even been updated with the fact that Sony is funding all of it either... and they are still taking money from the fans. That is BS to me, complete bull. One of the reasons why I'll never donate money to a kickstarter especially with the way things are heading. Maybe kickstarter needs to change their policy and require the projects to be more transparent and upfront with why they are asking for your money.

Really want to play the game though.

I dunno how I feel about this new SMTxFE info... I was expecting SMTxFE and not Persona x FE. I love Persona and all (P5 this year hype) but this... I have my doubts. I'll just have to play it when it comes out, but gee I'm scared.

Meanwhile my Nintendo wants are Starfox and Xenogears X. Maybe Yoshi... but meh. Wish they had kept more for the big reveal, but they're too busy doing it all year long.

Also, today finally started Freedom Planet since FF14 is down. (Heavensward hype) It is really fun, and I'm looking forward to finishing the rest.

Also... Nolt... if that stuff is true, that big reveal is actually going to be a huge explosion of hate. More so than Nintendo is getting for the Metroid game.

News already broke on all the big sites. There was even an interview with a Sony suit along with Yu Suzuki during E3. Yet it's not even mentioned in the kickstarter page.

Ohlawl Lost...I thought you'd be above and beyond the ~oh noes, it's Persona x FE not SMTxFE~ crowd. Xenogears is a given, and yeah, Star Fox is going to be great, although I was never a huge fan.

Meanwhile, I saw that Shenmue was being backed by Sony as partners, although that was obvious pretty early on. The actual details of funding have been back and forth, and I'm beyond the point of caring as long as the game gets made. From what I've seen, most of the articles calling foul come across as a bit click-baity tbh. As for kickstarter - all the meh. It has its ups and downs, and it's readily apparent at this stage that it's a complete crapshoot and everything on it is a massive buy-at-your-own-risk issue.

I just played fire emblem awakening for the first time it was great. I've never played SMT, but I played persona. Gonna keep and open mind and just hope for the best. I'd like to see a new advance wars, that'd be cool.

Yeah, I've been hoping for a new advanced wars (and/or battalion wars) for quite some time. If you've never played SMT, be aware that SMTIV is on the 3DS. I can also highly recommend the Devil Survivor games if you're looking for more SMT on the 3DS. I'm still playing Record Breaker (probably going to keep going until I 100% the game).

I really enjoyed Fire Emblem Awakening, and I'm looking forward to the next game. Also, pretty interesting to see that recent news that the next Fire Emblem is going to have same-sex marriages. Unfortunately, it looks like that option is going to be version-locked so that it only allows for MxM pairing in one version while the other allows for FxF. And speaking of Fire Emblem...the Fire Emblem 0 cards look really great, even if the game is a bit basic.

In other news - wow - that new Persona 5 (leaked) trailer. Wicked stuff. And shadows/personas bursting out of other people...Plus, the new engine is just fantastic. Everything's looking awesome still, and more excellent music.

Sorta neat-o news; GameStop is now selling retro consoles and games on their website and some in-store locations!

http://www.gamestop.com/collection/retro-classics

Indeed, GameStop's been going on about formally entering into the retro gaming scene for a while now. After a glance, it looks like the prices aren't too ridiculous - somewhat standard value as far as the going rate for a lot of the games is concerned.

Meanwhile - some amazing news about the DLC/Expansion packs for Star Ocean 5: there won't be any! **** yeah - looks like they've decided to actually develop and release a complete game, with no plans for nickel-and-diming consumers after it hits.

Also, new Fire Emblem confirmed to have online multiplayer features. Great to hear - I was almost thinking they might drop the ball on that again like they did in Awakening...really ridiculous that Awakening had all those cool StreetPass features but didn't extend any of them to online even with friends.

That's rather impressive impressive step for tri-Ace to actually release a fully realised game, lol. Is this the dawning of a brave new world? A PS3 has come into my possession recently, so I can afford to actually get excited about releases like this - not to mention the happy challenge of building a nice catalogue of the games I've already been missing out on.

GameStop is setting a good example here, too. Retro collecting needs some kind of price guidance, rather than governance of cheeky, brass neck rip-off eBay merchants. Speaking of which (or rather the exact opposite), I picked up the Genesis version of Ghouls & Ghosts for 83p in a charity/thrift store yesterday. Gotta love those Grail Finds

Oh wow - Ghouls & Ghosts dirt cheap...that is a pretty wicked find.

I've been keeping my eye on a lot of new titles, and it looks like the PS4 is finally coming into its own, more or less. I might get one before the year is out, although I've still got my fingers crossed for either a Persona 5 special edition PS4 or a great deal on the console, especially with the new model and the 1TB PS4 - maybe it'll finally drive the vanilla down to a reasonable degree.

I've mostly been playing Splatoon this past day or so, although I played Advance Wars on my Wii U this morning. Good times. Heh - Advance Wars looks so great on both the gamepad and the TV - and the Wii U's image smoothing is pretty cool, although I prefer the ultra-pixelated look.

I should probably say something to show I am still alive.

I beat FF14 Heavensward main story, all of the dungeons after the main story, and beat the first Extreme Primal fight. Started working on the second one today to prepare for the Raid release Tuesday. Need his weapon.

So much fun... help me...

Meh, there's no obligation, but yeah - I figured you were lost in the world of FFXIV and/or other PC gaming. Haven't seen you on the 3DS or Wii U in a while, but that could just be different schedules. I can't really criticize you for letting so much of your summer go to FFXIV while I'm still burning tons of my time on Record Breaker, although I've also been regularly playing Splatoon and making decent progress in Advance Wars.

Did you ever beat PQ, or are you still recovering?

In other news, looks like the official/final backer surveys for Mighty No. 9 version selection are out. I haven't absolutely decided, but I'm heavily leaning toward a PSN version and probably going to play it on my Vita in particular. I haven't thoroughly checked the details yet though. I hope the cross-buy extends to backer PSN versions. It would be really lame if my backer download turned out to be limited to one copy for one platform when the retail versions are going to be full PS4/PS3/PSV cross-buy.

Nope, never made it back to PQ since. I'll try getting it finished soon since I'm at the final boss. Alexander is the last bit of content they're doing until 3.1 so I'll do those, then get back to other stuff while grinding.

As for Mighty No.9, I went with Steam version. Makes things simple.

Blast lol.
On a sidenote: I half-expected you to hit up the anime thread as soon as Durarara's latest episode was up.

Gaming news has been here and there recently, hasn't it? It's sort of like a massive post-E3 lull. Although, the new Fire Emblem is out in Japan, so there are tons of spoilerific details out if you really want news, but I'm leaving those alone. That said, I have heard plenty of people whining that Nohr version/campaign is too hard/crazy brutal. So yeah, sounds like fun stuff, and it sounds like Nohr version is best version. Still be getting both of course.

Meanwhile, the ~rumored~ Digimon Cyber Sleuth localization is now fully confirmed, although even that's starting to become old news now. Still, it's awesome that Bamco is actually pulling through and giving us Digimon Cyber Sleuth in the west on PS4 and Vita. Apparently they came to their senses and realized that the franchise anniversary and revival of Digimon Adventure meant it was a great time to try to reintroduce quality Digimon games to the west.

And Fairy Fencer F: Advent Dark Force is finally coming out (at least in Japan), although the odds that it will get localized are pretty decent.

And Mighty No. 9 - I selected Playstation Vita, and the form said it comes with PS4/PS3 cross-buy versions, so in theory the download code(s) they give me will work for a ~universal~ PSN version or all 3 systems independently. In any case, that takes care of that. I'm looking forward to it - although as far as Red Ash goes, I think I'll just wait for the retail version.

I didn't know Durarara started back up until you said it did. Both episodes out now are great.

But here for gaming... a very sad tale...

Satoru Iwata has died. There will be a large hole in Nintendo for a long time to come. May this god of gaming rest in peace.

Yeah, I've been a bit lax on news this weekend and haven't been paying much attention to gaming releases proper, but I saw the announcement about Iwata-sama. I'd say he lived a fulfilled life though, even given that 55 is a bit young. Much respect.

Anime:
Heh - Mika sure dropped the bomb, didn't she?

Um...hybrid gaming/anime news: PSO2 is getting an anime adaptation. Heh, although SEGA screwed us over on localizing the game, it's nice that they can't really do anything to prevent us from getting a taste of the story via the anime.

Gaming progress:
I'm still chipping away at Record Breaker for the most part. So close, yet so far from 100%. Meanwhile, as I was looking forward to Steins;Gate finally coming out in NA, I started thinking of some other VNs. I bought a couple of top-shelf VNs I'd never played before, and if I finish those before Steins;Gate is out, I might even dig up Fate/stay night. So far the two VNs I've been playing are excellent, although I'm not sure about discussing them in Gaming General, in part because they both have an AO rating. Although...cough cough...Gen Urobuchi is awesome.