Thread: Mantis' Gaming Journey

Originally Posted by Mantis

Since I'm putting myself through this Chinese RPG binge, you need to return the favour by finally giving Chrono Trigger a full chance.

I've been meaning to reply to this for weeks, but every time I login I jump into new posts and forget to do so. "putting myself through" sounds as if it's painful for you to play JRPGs. I don't think that was meant to be taken seriously, but I am curious if you've found them less enjoyable in recent years? I never challenged anyone to play anything! I don't like being prodded to play/watch things so I'd never do that to you for an entire game series or genre, feel free to back out of FF at any time! Real fans won't hold it against you! Although I will accept this push since Chrono Trigger is one I've meant to get around to.

The trouble with a chronological playthrough of the series is that the old games...well...feel really, really old. You're starting off with the worst momentum-killers the series has to offer. If I recall, I think you bounced off the first two, and those weren't even the original hyper-jank versions. You've got to either 1. be masochistic, or 2. really love bare-bones JRPG mechanics to the point that the jank doesn't bother you. I'm a member of camp #2, no matter how many I play it's always satisfying for me to grind & watch stats go up. That's all the first 3 games offer anymore because the story is an afterthought in all 3 cases.

On the topic of Chrono Trigger...while I have said that it's not really appealing to me, I hope it didn't come across like I was dismissing the game as a whole. I'm not a fan of how Chrono looks & I've played some of the Mana series so I know that the battle system isn't for me (too action-y) HOWEVER it's a classic and I've never gone hands-on with it. It's 100% on my radar and it's getting very close to the top of my backlog list, which is shockingly growing rather small. Having never played it, I can't say that I dislike the game. It was more of a dis-interest. I will certainly be giving this game a fair shake soon. I'll even put a time-frame on that: before making this post, I went ahead and added Chrono Trigger to my birthday and Christmas lists and sent it out. If I get the game, I will start it either during my Christmas break from work or at worst during the Winter (prior to March 20th).

When I mention my backlog it's literally a stack of games on a card-table next to my TV that are upcoming, which probably sounds crazy to other people that don't plan things as meticulously as I do. Since I don't own a copy of Chrono Trigger it's not in the stack, but it's currently holding an honorary 2nd position after Xenosaga Episode 1 (I'm 2 bosses from the end on that) at your request. THIS IS A FORMAL COMMITMENT

If I don't get the game for my birthday/Christmas then I may need to modify this a bit but i'll try to keep the March 20th deadline regardless.

Chrono Trigger is my personal favourite game of all time. I'm not one for RPGs at all really, but I'm a massive sucker for anything involving time travel. Oh, and I love Dragob Ball and Akira Toriyama's work so the art style is great for me also.

So 2020 has not gone as planned in many ways, sadly including the return to my video game hobby. However, I think I will be getting back into it rather soon. I think a lot can be excused in 2020 but I do feel some regret. One problem I did have was a storage issue. I'd been having a storage problem over the past couple of years. Be it the Outlaw Star projects and videos taking up far more than you'd guess or my anime, music and game installs, I was running out fast. I owned two of my hard drives since 2013 so it's a wonder how they're still alive. Fortunately I wasn't stupid enough to put all the Outlaw Star data at risk. I mirrored all that across multiple drives.

Finally I upgraded with a NAS and some mighty drives. I won't be having a storage problem for a long time. I know it sounds over the top, but something I've been doing over the past week is installing every last one of my 4000+ Steam games. I'm currently at 2592 so it'll take a bit longer. In the meantime I've only played a few games. They're alongside Among Us and Fall Guys, both of which I'm really enjoying. But I'll try to only spend at most an hour on both of those games per day. They're fun but I do want to focus on the backlog.

One game that I revisited is a unique title called Emily is Away and I finally played its sequel, Emily is Away Too. Previously I expressed an interest in writing reviews for games I complete. I've done this for the aforementioned games and will continue to do so with any others that I play on Steam.

Originally Posted by Emily is Away: Recommended

One of Steam's best freebies and a great taster of the much improved sequel. This game really speaks to those who spent their teens using an earlier internet during the early/mid-2000s. It focuses on your interactions with a girl called Emily over five years, 2002 to 2006. The fake Windows XP and AOL Instant Messenger may feel very familiar.

It simulates your multiple-choice typed responses to Emily as you keep in touch throughout the story. I think a lot of people get the wrong idea about this game. Its linear story ultimately has a similar conclusion no matter your choices, but the actual journey is determined by you which does feel quite personal.

Many think the game is about the "friend zone", but first and foremost this is a nostalgia trip. I love the cultural references it's packed with. To put it simply, you'll only get to enjoy that primary part of the experience if you're in the right age group. Would I recommend this to just about anybody? Not really. Like I said, the experience is subjective. If you actually enjoy it you can support the developer with a donation. Or better yet, you can buy the improved sequel. I'd say you can't go wrong with spending some time on this free and unique title.

Review link

Originally Posted by Emily is Away Too: Recommended

This is the sequel to the popular Emily is Away that released in 2005. Unlike its predecessor this is a paid title, but it's pretty cheap. If you fit into the correct target audience you'll probably get your money's worth. It's worth playing the free original beforehand.

Like the original this is a nostalgic and rather unique choice-based story game. You could call it an unorthodox dating sim. Emily is Away took place from 2002 to 2006, whereas this is five seasons in 2006 and 2007. I imagine this was mostly done to avoid doing the same thing twice. If you're a "30-year-old boomer" this is definitely for you. I grew up at the same time as the story's events so I felt right at home.

The first game is good but this sequel adds some new dynamics. Instead of only talking to Emily it also features a second girl called Evelyn. In both games Emily is a bit of a traditional plain Jane and Evelyn is more of a carefree punk rocker. Your interests really shape the outcome of the story. As before your responses in the imitation AOL Instant Messenger (called EOL) affect the dialogue, but unlike the original game there are multiple endings.

This sequel also challenges you at times. Eventually you'll face a race against time, having to maintain a very fast typing (and thinking) speed or making a choice and changing the course of the story. Interestingly the instant messenger isn't the only throwback software. You'll be asked for your opinions of music from 2006/2007 and given links to an older YouTube which is especially cool. A nice bonus you get with this is Emily Online. It's a chat skin that allows you to talk to your Steam friends with an interface similar to the game's, or AOL Instant Messenger's.

As for my recommendation, my stance is similar to what I wrote in my Emily is Away review. If you were a teenager during the early/mid-2000s I highly recommend this. If you're considerably younger there's a high chance you won't understand many of the cultural references. Without that you're really just left with a simple dating sim and there are many other dating sims on Steam. I think this is a good time to buy this since the third game is right around the corner.

Review link

So what am I playing next? I can answer that one immediately. I've always felt quite bad about not getting around to playing games that I've been gifted, especially since they usually look genuinely good. (Of course I've played through some gifts so I'm leaving those ones out.) I'm putting them at the top of the list starting from the most recently received. That list goes:

Shantae
Lisa: The Painful
Maximum Action
Subnautica
DUSK
Devil May Cry HD Collection
Stay! Stay! Democratic People's Republic of Korea!
Kindergarten
Firewatch
Bayonetta
Devil Daggers
Punch Club
Party Hard
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
SpeedRunners
Magicka

I got Lisa most recently but had already started Shantae. Speaking of which, I decided to just do the full series. I'm currently playing through Risky's Revenge.

I thought about recording some Let's Plays of my progress but people don't want that on my channel since it doesn't exist for that kind of content. Anyhow, I think that's enough for this update.