JRPGs Ruling October

On 10/17/2024 at 05:26 PM by KnightDriver

I finished the main story of Ni No Kuni II. I kept going for a good long while after that too, wracking up about 60 hours of gameplay but ultimately stopped when a sale for Dragon Quest XI happened. I'm back into that now, probably for the rest of the month. Darn these games are long.

Ni No Kuni II - Main story is done finally. I got so into side missions, I almost forgot the main story, but I attacked it finally and finished it. I kept going after that, hoping to clear as many achievements as I could, plus, I just like doing the side missions and special maze challenges. I got to one though that drew me in and then threw me to the ground on the last of multiple bosses. I didn't know it would be so involved. That party-wipe really hurt. I lost a lot of time. So I quit for a while.

Dragon Quest XI - I have previously (2021) put 80 hours into this, beating the main boss but failing to continue to the true ending. I started over this time, and so it's unlikely I'll get as far with what remains of October. I don't mind though. These games are darn long, and I don't expect to finish anything anymore. I've been experimenting with the auto-battle tactics, speeding up the battles and generally trying to be as lazy as possible. But I've been lured into total battle control by bosses, mini-bosses and side quest challenges when I had to to survive. Set tactics don't always do the best job. I'm enjoying it a lot. My friend Mark has also started playing again with his 200+ hour team. He has way more patience than I do with these things.

Microsoft Solitaire - Started this up again on my phone for daily rewards points in Game Pass and to work on a few long-term achievements like level 200 and 100 games of (hated) Spider and Free-Cell. I find the games set above Expert are completely impossible, and so I'm not even trying those anymore. It's some casual fun. I wish MS would release some more casual games for phones that had achievements (I've played Mahjong, Wordament and Suduku already). I've heard they are going to do more with phone gaming, so I can only hope.

That's my week. How about yous?

Cary Woodham

10/17/2024 at 09:20 PM

A couple of days ago I downloaded a demo for Ys X Nordics and I'm still playing it! I've got the game preordered but this is one meaty demo! You should check it out.

KnightDriver

10/18/2024 at 11:26 AM

It looks really interesting. If I get my PS4 running this month, I'll check it out (or my Switch).

daftman

10/19/2024 at 10:35 AM

Good job working through those meaty RPGs! So hard for me to get over the hump of starting games like that. "But it's so long. I'll be tied up with this for months..."

10/19/2024 at 12:29 PM

I had a lot of grim FPS and strategy games ahead of Ni No Kuni 2, but I think I just wanted a bright and cheery game in my current funk. I didn't expect to finish it, but nothing particularly discouraged me until that post game dungeon. Will I stay with DQXI 'til the end? I don't know. I'm a bit touchy lately, so as long as it doesn't throw at me something I feel is unfair, I'll keep going.

And I would say to "getting over the hump", just be okay with not finishing it. I feel, even if I only played a few hours of a long game, I got something out of it. And there'll be more for a return visit too. These redditer's bragging about their numerous 100% completions be damned.

Super Step Contributing Writer

10/19/2024 at 10:26 PM

60-hour games are definitely going to be less and less appealing to me as work hell approaches.

PixlBit