Although I have no idea when that obsession will fade, I'm fully prepared for when it does thanks to the following list, which details the five games I'm going start playing or, in some cases, get back to playing as soon as my heart yearns for something other than a little New Leaf action.
1. Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale--I've been hot to play this 3DS eShop title (see screenshot below) ever since the Japanese version was announced many moons ago. Those feelings only intensified when it was miraculously brought to North America. I hear it's a pretty brief experience, but that's OK with me--as long as it's as enjoyable as everyone (the guys over at tinycartridge.com, especially) says it is.
2. Black Rock Shooter--This curious-looking PSP game (below) landed in my lap shortly after its release, but I've yet to even boot it up. That's kind of the story of my gaming life these days, isn't it? Anyway, my neighbor (of sorts--we both live in the same Seattle 'hood), Brad Gallaway of the Drinking CoffeeCola blog, swears it's a worthwhile endeavor, so I'm determined to give it a go before this year is out.
3. EarthBound--Sometimes I think it's just not meant to be with me and this SNES classic. I mean, I've started it on at least three separate occasions, but I've yet to see its credit roll. That has nothing to do with me disliking the game, by the way; on the contrary, I love every aspect of it. For whatever reason, though, I've always been pulled away from it partway through the adventure. Don't worry, I'm going to do whatever I can to buck that trend when I return to last playthrough in the next couple of weeks.
4. Shin Megami Tensei IV--This poor 3DS game has been staring at me since it arrived on my doorstep a few weeks ago. That's because I have it sitting on my desk--in part to serve as a reminder that I have to get off my ass and play it. Sadly, all it's done so far is make me feel guilty that I've ignored it for so long. If what I've read about it so far (about its difficulty) is any indication, though, I have a feeling it'll savor the sweet taste of revenge in the end.
5. Xenoblade Chronicles--I was a little apprehensive about adding this much-ballyhooed Wii RPG (above) to this list, I have to admit. Although I enjoyed what I played of it late last year, there was something about the gameplay that just didn't sit well with me. Will those feelings fade away and allow me to make some real headway when and if I return to it sometime soon? I certainly hope so.
I have to note that I'm also planning to get back to playing THE "DENPA" MEN 2 once I've put Animal Crossing: New Leaf to bed (or at least convinced it to take a bit of a nap). I've put a good 17 hours into it so far, but I have a feeling I've got many hours to go if I want to see its ending.
With all that said, are any of you in the same boat as I am, spending all your gaming time with New Leaf and basically leaving everything else to rot on the vine? Even if you aren't feel free to share which games you are playing at the moment in the comments section below.
39 comments:
Nice selection, Bryan! I particularly like the look of the last one. Is that really on the Wii? I thought the graphics were meant to be sucky on that machine. Or is it a Wii U title?
Xenoblade Chronicles is great, though I have not finished it. I could never get into the Denpa Men, so I never bothered with the sequel.
My grip on New Leaf is finally starting to loosen a bit. I've reached what I call "the maintenance phase," where I have my house and town mostly how i want them. Now I just hop on and do a quick fossil search, check the stores for new items, and then stop after maybe an hour. (With all the idle time I spend with my gate open for other players to visit, I hit the 500-hour mark yesterday.)
Other games have been swooping in to get my attention now that I'm not as focused on New Leaf. I've been playing a little Final Fantasy 8 on the Vita, Pikmin 3 and DuckTales Remastered are waiting on the Wii U, and Saints Row 4 comes out next week.
Nope, that's a Wii game, Simon. And even though it has some absolutely awful textures (the characters' faces, especially--yikes!) and some low-ish poly characters, everything else is so wonderful it's easy to overlook. Some of the vistas in this game are amazing.
If you didn't like the first Denpa Men, Zack, I would highly recommend staying away from the second, as it's MUCH tougher, IMO. Also, I'm not sure some of the added elements (overworld, etc.) are needed.
I'm pretty much in maintenance mode, too, Terry, although I'm still playing it like mad. Plus, I'm still working on getting villager's photos, filling out certain furniture sets, stuff like that.
How are you liking Pikmin 3 and DuckTales Remastered so far, by the way? Or have you not gotten to them yet?
I've been really interested in Friday Monsters as well. I haven't got around to grabbing it yet, it's kind of low priority but I definitely want to check it out.
My current game is Guacamelee, which I've been going through pretty slowly since it came out on Steam. It's actually really fast paced for a Metroidvania and I'm enjoying it quite a bit, I just haven't put much time in.
Of those, I have played Attack of the Friday Monsters, SMT IV, and Xenoblade Chronicles.
Great selection of games you have chosen! :D
I will say... Xenoblade is LONG LONG LONG. Honestly, too long IMO, unless you ignore some of the side quests. If you are like me and have some damn tic in your brain that requires you to be a completionist, then - good luck!
I had to put it down, because I was hitting massive amounts of hours and there was no end in sight for me. I was neglecting all my other games.
SMTIV is just superb. I am playing that and Dragon's crown at the moment, as well as trying to slowly make my way through FF7 for the first time.
Also wanted to add, I have gone into a bit of maintenance mode in AC:NL as well. Not because I have gotten all that far, but because as a dad with full time job and a young son, my time is very limited and it was keeping me from playing anything else.
I'm also in "maintenance mode" in New leaf. I'm probably going to stop looking for fossils once I finish the museum display (only 3 or 2 to go) and i'm thinking I might stop shaking trees soon since the only pieces of furniture I need for my house are the mermaid chair and mermaid closet which can only can be gotten on the island. When I'm not playing New Leaf I'm trying to finish up Pokemon White 2 which shouldn't be much longer since I last saved in the 8th gym. After that I plan to alternate between Shin Megami Tensei IV and Radiant Historia.
Same here, I have a lot of games that are taking a backseat to AC (and Monster Hunter).
Looking forward to your impressions on SMT4...I've never played one other than a little bit of Persona on PS1, and gave myself one new game from the eshop between that, Fire Emblem and Monster Hunter...hoping to pick em all up sometime in the future.
I'd say I'm in "maintenance mode" on New Leaf too at the moment, waiting for some new blood in my town. Think you can come visit it in the next day or two? I'm liking the way it looks now! Kind of disjointed, but there are some nice setpieces and I finally got a nice, rural looking ground tile set I like.
I haven't played much of either. I played through the prologue stage of DuckTales last night after work, and it's certainly hitting all the right nostalgia buttons for me. I played the game a lot on the NES. I think they did a great job of updating it.
I've played less than an hour of Pikmin 3 (my first Pikmin game), but I like it. I'll dive into it when I finish with Saints Row 4, most likely.
Did you change your mind about giving Mario & Luigi: Dream Team a chance? I've just started, but it's pretty good so far. Igor seemed to really like it too.
Working through Xenoblade myself after many hiatuses. Trying to do like an hour or two every couple days and I hope to beat it in a month or so. Finally really rolling though at almost 30 hours in, when you get the hang of the battle system, it's so gratifying! Super intimidating game when you've got a massive backlog, but it's incredible if you can dedicate the time.
I have a Mermaid Closet for you the next time you pop in.
The NES version of DuckTales is one of my all-time favorite games, Terry, so I'm definitely itching to give this update a try.
As for Pikmin 3: I'm eager to play that one, too, but it's going to have to wait until I actually acquire a Wii U...
RE: Friday Monsters--this is where it's nice that the game is an eShop release, isn't it? If it were a boxed, cart-based game, you just know it would have had a low print run and if you didn't buy it right off the bat you'd pay like $80 for it later on. As it stands, we can buy it whenever we want--and if we wait a bit, we'll probably even be able to get it on sale. Yay!
I've heard loads of good things about Guacamelee, by the way, and I'd totally get it if I had either a PS3 or a Vita.
Yeah, I've heard similar stuff about Xenoblade from others, Kensloth. I'm actually not sure if I'll be able to ignore sidequests or not. I think I'll be able to, but you never know. I'll keep you posted...
As for SMTIV being superb: that's certainly nice to hear. I've heard it's grindy, but that's never really bothered me when it comes to RPGs. Actually, I usually grind even if it isn't required :)
I hear ya, Kensloth! My time has been pretty limited this week, for instance, and so my time with New Leaf has been limited to a few minutes in the morning and a few minutes at night. I guess that's just how it is, though!
Ah, which fossils do you need, Sam? The dino portion of my museum is complete and I've got all of the dino mini models complete, too, except for the stego (just need the skull, I think), so if you let me know what you need I can keep an eye out for you.
Sadly, I only have a few pieces of the mermaid series, as I haven't been going to the island as much as I used to (due to not having any public works projects to complete at the moment).
That's really nice of you, Terry!
Hey there, Jeremy! Sorry I've been out of pocket as of late--we had guests staying with us for the last two days, plus we've been spending pretty much all of our free time (over the last few weeks) preparing for our second wedding reception (long story), which happened yesterday. I could pay your town a visit sometime this coming week, though, if you'll be on and available!
Change my mind? I've always been planning to pick it up, Steve--just not until the end of the year. I've got too many games in my backlog right now, so I'm just going to ask for it for my birthday (November) or Christmas. Glad to hear you're enjoying it, though!
Thanks for the supportive e-mail, TruenoGT! I'm going to need it, I think, if I'm ever going to get back to this game, to be honest. I'll give it my best shot, I swear!
Definitely a plus to digital-only! I have to admit it's taken some of the urgency out of a number of purchases. I hate to turn into one of those misers (ie, $10 is too much etc, we've talked about that before ;) but I often get into a "I've got plenty to do and I know it'll still be there next month.." mindset and end up not buying them. It's kind of the opposite of the Steam Sale effect. :) I keep meaning to get Gunman Clive, too... ^^
Congratulations! Not to pry into the long story, but were you taking advantage of the new legislation? :)
Thanks for the Mermaid Closet. I know I told you thank you while playing the game but I wanted to thank you here too.
I need the Plesiosaur Torso and the T. Rex Tail. I think I might have an extra Stego Skull with my female character but I'm not 100% sure.
I usually go to the island everyday to check the prizes and to see if the elite hammer tour is available since I find that one the easiest to rack up some medals in. I only go bug/fish hunting on the island once a week or on a day I get a PWP request that I want now. Also if you have a PWP not payed off yet and I visit your town you should check to see if it's been payed off after I leave. I usually pay for other people's PWPs when they're not payed off yet unless my funds in the ATM is lower than 1,000,000 bells which it rarely is thanks to the island.
I'm in the same boat in all regards, Michael--especially Gunman Clive :|
OK, I'll keep an eye out for the Plesiosaur Torso and the T. Rex Tail. I'm going to keep digging up my fossils for quite some time, I think, so it's easy enough for me to keep an eye out for what you need.
That's nice that you pay off peoples' PWPs sometimes. I've done the same thing when I can. It's unlikely you'll ever have the chance to pay off one of mine, though, as I always pay them off as soon as they're started :)
Yes, we actually took advantage right off the bat (we were one of the first couples married in Seattle City Hall), but we wanted to wait until summer for the reception. It was great, although I'm glad it's over with :)
Sam's paid off enough of my PWPs when I wasn't paying attention that it's the least I can do for my New Leaf sugar daddy. lol
I looked to see if I had a Stego Skull but unfortunately I didn't have one but for some reason I keep getting the tail and torso. I've gotten the pumpkin pie DLC so If you haven't gotten it from a Nintendo Zone yet I give can get you one those. Also congratulations on your second wedding reception.
Of course you know which game I'm gonna tell you to get back into!!!! :p
I should have clarified I reckon.. Superb for a SMT game. It is most definitely grindy.
Xenoblade is the game that NEVER ENDS. Feels like it anyways :) So many side quests, you could probably spend the rest of your days on them. Out of your list, I am still slowly working my way through Earthbound and SMT IV. I *did* actually manage to finish Attack of the Friday Monsters, which is a bit of a rarity for me, as I usually either never finish games, or finish them YEARS after I bought them... Sometimes I miss all those free hours of my youth when I had no obligations or expectations. Ah well, life is good.
Hah, how I ended up posting on this old thread is beyond me! Meant to go to the main page and somehow got here.. heh.
Well, I certainly don't mind grindy, Ken!
Hmmm, I don't know either, Ken! I have a feeling you did it to remind me that I've yet to go back to (or start) playing any of these games :|
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