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Post by Xeogred on Nov 9, 2022 21:36:06 GMT -5
I made this thread mostly with the intention to talk PS3/360 exclusives but I guess it can't hurt to cover the whole thing. With GameFAQ's claiming 2015 was the end of this era, we'll have to ignore the later 10% of their libraries for now. But the earlier years are starting to become more and more retro legal lately. Remember the days of when the PS3 was like a normal plain OS menu, effective and to the point? No self updated ads in between, no linking your 50 social media accounts, etc. You just toss a disc in and you're playing a game like the ancient times. Back when privacy was a bit more granted! I personally still don't think "Retro" when I think of any of these systems, I still barely even think that about the PS2 somedays haha. But yeah, they are getting older and fun to look back on the simpler times.
Hah, but yeah I've noticed my PS3/360 gaming has slowed down a lot in recent years and I don't have any PS3 games on my "To Play" shelf lined up. The Ico/SoTC remaster was the last thing I had. That was a cool thing about those consoles, getting a lot of 6th gen remasters that I missed out on, or some nice collections. Not very uncommon thesedays with remasters/remakes and ports. But to see 6th gen games get a nice graphical/performance bump was pretty novel at the time.
I'll post more later but I'm curious to see what others bring up here.
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Post by Ex on Nov 10, 2022 0:40:10 GMT -5
I'm only going to recommend platform exclusive games I've beaten (instead of just sampled for 15 minutes) so these are informed rec's. Keep in mind I'm excluding awesome games that were later ported to other platforms. Really trying to stick to legit exclusives here. I consider all of these 8/10s or better: Microsoft Xbox 360Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation
Chromehounds (this DOES have an enjoyable offline single player campaign)
Nintendo DS Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow Castlevania: Order of EcclesiaDragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen (DS version is unique)
Chōsōjū Mecha MG
Heroes of Mana
Hotel Dusk: Room 215 Jet Impulse Kirby: Canvas Curse
Last Window: The Secret of Cape West Mario Kart DS New Super Mario Bros. Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword
Nostalgia
Soma Bringer Sonic Colors (DS version is unique) Trace Memory Trauma Center: Under the Knife Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2
Nintendo WiiAnother Code: R - A Journey into Lost Memories Deadly Creatures Disaster: Day of Crisis Endless Ocean Endless Ocean: Blue World Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers Kirby's Epic Yarn Nights: Journey of Dreams Sin & Punishment: Star Successor Super Smash Bros. Brawl The Last Story
Trauma Team
PlayStation 3Aquanaut's Holiday: Hidden MemoriesDemon's Souls (The PS5 remake is a different game if we're honest.) Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the PatriotsPlayStation Portable
Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception Brandish: The Dark Revenant Metal Gear Acid 2 Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Resistance: Retribution Soreyuke! BurunyanMan Portable SoulCalibur: Broken Destiny The 3rd Birthday Valkyria Chronicles II
Ys Seven
If anyone wants to know why I chose any particular game, just ask and I'll elaborate. I'm surely forgetting some stuff so I may edit in more later.
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Post by Xeogred on Nov 10, 2022 9:37:41 GMT -5
...Keep in mind I'm excluding awesome games that were later ported to other platforms. Really trying to stick to legit exclusives here. I consider all of these 8/10s or better: Nintendo DS Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow Castlevania: Order of EcclesiaDragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen (DS version is unique)
Mario Kart DSNew Super Mario Bros.
Nintendo WiiSin & Punishment: Star Successor Super Smash Bros. Brawl
PlayStation 3Demon's Souls (The PS5 remake is a different game if we're honest.) Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the PatriotsIndeed, that's kind of what I'm going for here. Any 7th gen game that has a newer port to PC/PS4 or whatnot I'd probably go with those versions. But yeah, the 7th gen libraries are pretty massive at this point. Might be some hidden gems we've all missed out on. I can definitely backup these recs.
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Post by Kazin on Nov 10, 2022 9:47:43 GMT -5
This was the generation that made me into a "retro" gamer - I don't look back on the consoles from this gen that fondly, and was pretty disappointed with the libraries at the time, with the exception of a few games (that have been ported to other platforms later on, making me not have to plug in my PS3 or 360 pretty much since they were viable). One holdout has been Tokyo Jungle on PS3 - that game was fantastic and weird, and is stuck there. I also really enjoyed Castlevania: Harmony of Despair, the multiplayer online 2D Castlevania where you'd power up your characters through multiple runs through the levels. I'm having trouble thinking of other stuff on the 360/PS3 that I'd like to play again, though, that haven't been ported to, say, PC. Wii has the normal first party Nintendo stuff that is good, like Super Paper Mario and New Super Mario Bros Wii, but I find the waggle of the Wiimote somewhat tiresome to deal with nowadays, so I haven't played many Wii games recently.
For me, the real good stuff from this gen was on the handhelds. The DS and PSP were fantastic, and were primarily what I gamed on at the time, and primarily what I find myself going back to since. Both have great libraries, though I'd give the edge to the DS overall. Piles of RPGs on both, the Castlevania games on DS are all good, I love Mario Kart DS, the Ace Attorney games are all good (yes, even Apollo Justice), and so on.
The fan translations of the PSP 7th Dragon games are must plays imo - the DS game is okay, but can be frustrating, whereas the PSP games are much more interesting mechanically and are more fun to play as a result. PSP is also where I first played the Trails in the Sky games, which have been ported elsewhere, but are still very enjoyable on PSP, especially if it's your only option for playing those portably. Shame the Crossbell games are only the badly translated versions on PSP.
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Post by Xeogred on Nov 10, 2022 10:05:54 GMT -5
This was the generation that made me into a "retro" gamer - I don't look back on the consoles from this gen that fondly, and was pretty disappointed with the libraries at the time, with the exception of a few games (that have been ported to other platforms later on, making me not have to plug in my PS3 or 360 pretty much since they were viable). One holdout has been Tokyo Jungle on PS3 - that game was fantastic and weird, and is stuck there. I also really enjoyed Castlevania: Harmony of Despair, the multiplayer online 2D Castlevania where you'd power up your characters through multiple runs through the levels. I'm having trouble thinking of other stuff on the 360/PS3 that I'd like to play again, though, that haven't been ported to, say, PC. Wii has the normal first party Nintendo stuff that is good, like Super Paper Mario and New Super Mario Bros Wii, but I find the waggle of the Wiimote somewhat tiresome to deal with nowadays, so I haven't played many Wii games recently. Yeah, I expect this will be the take some have on this gen. I know some members like toei don't even have any of these consoles or games I believe. It'll always be a mixed era for me, gaming wise and personally (lot of my angst high school/early college years for this gen haha). I went with the 360 initially and this was the rare time where I did fall off retro gaming for a bit. At one point I was doing 3 games out via GameFly and generally kept/bought them all. So my 360 collection is pretty huge for me (I think 70+ games last I remember). To which I double dipped for a lot on Steam for better versions years later. It was easy to be in the AAA machine during these years, from Halo, to Gears, to Call of Duty/Battlefield, etc. I'm pretty sure I played CoD4 regularly for about 2 years straight off and on. Literally maxed out everything possible in it... I feel you on the Wii/Wii U. The U had some amazing exclusives initially (before the Switch got them all, which is cool with me)... but yeah that library is so dinky. Earlier this year I played Sin & Punishment: Star Successor and had a blast with it. But that was the last Wii/U game I had on my shelf and I was happy to box that thing up and its dozens of cords. There might be some Wii stuff I still want to play, but I think I'll just do it via Dolphin. There's just too much baggage around these consoles for me to be a big fan. What's ironic is that from the PS4 and on I've fallen back on my roots, which is leaning far more into Japanese games again... and I know the DS/PSP were still strong there. Chances are they have a ton of stuff I'd love thesedays. I was just never too huge on handhelds, still do this day. But I get them in sometimes. Soma Bringer is probably my highest priority outside of all the SMT and such I have loaded onto my 3DS now.
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Post by Kazin on Nov 10, 2022 10:36:40 GMT -5
Yeah, that was the other thing for me about that era - that was when the FPS was pretty much codified into "The Canon Genre" of video games, at least in terms of sales, so that so many big sellers were (to me - I realize this is not really the case, but it sure felt like it at the time) cookie cutter FPS games. I could not then, and do not now, give a flip about Halo, Gears of War, Call of Duty, and whatever else is the current hotness now, of FPSs. I don't even like third person shooters - Splatoon is of no interest to me, either. As you can probably tell, I'm still bitter about it! lol
In any case, don't take my rants personally, as if you like FPSs, more power to you. It's "canonization" was just the catalyst for me feeling left behind, generally, in the video game medium. I'll survive, there's plenty to play that's retro lol (and admittedly some new stuff I'm interested in). I suppose the advent of Virtual Console on Wii helped take me down this path, actually - it was the first time I went back and played a lot of games I still didn't own, or had never played at all. First time I played any Turbografx game ever was on Wii, for example.
EDIT: I do not understand how to edit down quoted posts lol. This post was in reply to this, which I tried to quote this from your post, Xeogred: "It'll always be a mixed era for me, gaming wise and personally (lot of my angst high school/early college years for this gen haha). I went with the 360 initially and this was the rare time where I did fall off retro gaming for a bit. At one point I was doing 3 games out via GameFly and generally kept/bought them all. So my 360 collection is pretty huge for me (I think 70+ games last I remember). To which I double dipped for a lot on Steam for better versions years later. It was easy to be in the AAA machine during these years, from Halo, to Gears, to Call of Duty/Battlefield, etc. I'm pretty sure I played CoD4 regularly for about 2 years straight off and on. Literally maxed out everything possible in it..."
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Post by Ex on Nov 10, 2022 11:06:53 GMT -5
I kind of understand why some are not fond of the seventh generation. But I'm very fond of the seventh generation. (Remember Xeogred , 7th gen is where Demon's Souls and Dark Souls originated.) I own hundreds of 360 and PS3 games. At one time I owned hundreds of Wii games, but I'm down to about 80 there now. (When I beat a game I rarely keep it, unless it's amazing, or has the potential to dramatically increase in resale value over time.) I also "own" insane amounts of DS and PSP games, but those are all ROMs and ISOs so not counting that. (I made up for the karma by buying ridiculous amounts of legit 3DS and Vita carts.) There are many more quality exclusive 360/PS3/Wii/DS/PSP games than I listed. Thing was, I only listed games I've actually beaten. I could recommend loads of stuff that is likely great. But I don't want to be that guy who only played a game for a short while then recommends it. (Never know, that seemingly great game might go all to crap in its end run.) Also, I have beaten a lot of great games on seventh gen consoles that were multi-plat, or were later ported/remade for eighth gen, so I omitted all those. Anyway to touch on what's been mentioned so far: Kazin >Tokyo Jungle I've got that one on a physical bundle disc. Forgot I even had it, but your praise makes me care again. Of all the 7th gen platforms, the PS3 is the one I've spent the least amount of time with. I wonder if you'd enjoy Stray. >The DS and PSP were fantastic Agreed 100%. The 3DS and Vita while very good, didn't live up to their predecessors. >The fan translations of the PSP 7th Dragon games are must plays Interesting to see a fan of this series. You may be the first I've come across actually. Not that I'm saying you shouldn't be, I've never played any of these games. Although I do have access to, and have purchased some, of all the games. What makes the DS starting entry "frustrating"? >Shame the Crossbell games are only the badly translated versions on PSP Thankfully that's not the case any more. The first game, The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero has been officially localized and published in the west for PS4 and Switch. The second game, The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure will be officially published in English in the west for PS4/Switch in March 2023. Better late than never. >that was when the FPS was pretty much codified into "The Canon Genre" of video games Seemed like third person viewpoint grey/brown dudebro cover shooters were THE THING in the seventh gen. I won't lie, I beat a lot of fun ones on 360, but all of that was via local co-op. If I were playing single player, it's doubtful I would have been into those games. (I do enjoy first person shooters solo quite a bit, but I was into that genre long before the seventh gen.) Xeogred >the Wii/Wii U / that library is so dinky I can't argue for the Wii U, mainly because the Switch stole most of its games. But the Wii still has an amazing library with loads of quality exclusives. However, many of these games will only appeal to players with open minds. The Endless Ocean games for example are astounding, but only if you're willing to (virtually) SCUBA dive. Another Code R is a great mystery drama, but only if you don't mind being a 16 year old girl. Trauma Team is a badass adventure/action-puzzle hybrid that is wickedly good, if you are willing to play a medical care sim. Deadly Creatures is a completely unique action-adventure where you play as a tarantula and a scorpion, yet most people are terrified/disgusted of those bugs and have zero interest. Well, I absolutely loved the Wii/DS era of gaming, where so many developers took chances on truly new ideas. Unfortunately most gamers do not want new ideas. They want the same old ideas (genre staples) they already enjoy, just repackaged with different graphics/music. That's fair enough, but leads to a lack of experiencing all the creativity this medium offers, and broadening one's tastes as a result. >Soma Bringer is probably my highest priority I believe once you get passed the initial boring area (which is really a tutorial), you will have a blast with Soma Bringer overall. Most people quit within the first hour of this thirty hour game, because they lack the patience to get passed its slow start. Their loss. Soma Bringer and Xenoblade (as in XB1) have a lot of similarities and were developed by Monolith Soft in the same time period. Soma Bringer released first though and honestly I enjoyed it more than Xenoblade.
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Post by Kazin on Nov 10, 2022 11:30:18 GMT -5
Ex I did enjoy Stray! I played it on my Steam Deck and thought it was really fun. Helps that my wife and I are cat lovers lol So for 7th Dragon, the original DS release is aesthetically gorgeous, but very rough in terms of gameplay. Basically, the battles are far too frequent, and experience gain far too low outside the Dragons you're tasked with killing, that random battles are almost entirely pointless. There's also a heavy emphasis on sidequests, but the sidequest menu is basically nonexistent - so much so that you basically have to remember or write down quest givers locations and even what you're supposed to do in them. It's pretty frustrating! But, when you're fighting the Dragons - which is the main point of the game, to kill them all - the fights are pretty well done, and the battle system in the first 7th Dragon feels like an Etrian Odyssey game in many ways (the later games in the series feel distantly related, but they're much more their own thing mechanically). The PSP games are much more streamlined - random battles are not pointless, there's a good quest menu that tracks things well, and the battle system is much more focused on party building synergy. I will say, though, that the 3DS game - which might be the best of the bunch, but I like them all - is very good about fanservice for fans of the whole series. There's a bunch of references in it to the DS game, which aren't really there in the PSP games, though it's very much the "ending" to the whole series. Sort of like how Phantasy Star IV ties together the series for a finale (at least until PSO came along). RIP Rieko Kodama. Regarding FPS/third person shooters - you're right, third person shooters were a big deal back then. I'll be honest - I kind of lump them together. This is very reductive of me, but I don't find "aiming" a compelling mechanic, and that's what, to me, both those genres boil down to. I find it dull. I'm the weird one, here, though, clearly, because those games still sell bonkers numbers haha. I do like the original Doom, but part of that is because aiming is simpler there - I don't have to worry about the Y axis at all haha.
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Post by Ex on Nov 10, 2022 12:14:57 GMT -5
Kazin>the battles are far too frequent, and experience gain far too low A malady that afflicts a great many JRPGs, especially older ones. I've seen there is a patch for the DS version that lowers encounters and raises experience. Seems that's the way to go there. That doesn't fix the sidequest issue though. >Rieko Kodama Her influence is the #1 reason I'm interested in the 7th Dragon games at all. Your praise of the series renewed that interest. And hopefully others (maybe Sarge or bonesnapdeez would like this series). It's all in the "someday" pile for me though. There are so many games I'd like to play, but only so many hours in the day to attribute to doing so. >third person/first person shooters same thing >don't find "aiming" a compelling mechanic >those genres boil down to (aiming games) >very reductive of me Ha, well that's as reductive as saying platformers are just "jumping" games or RPGs are just "leveling" games. I very much enjoy shooters, but certainly don't blame anyone who doesn't. We all like what we like. Some of us only enjoy two or three genres and some of us enjoy myriad genres. As long as everybody's having fun playing something, that's what I like to see. 👍
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Post by Kazin on Nov 10, 2022 12:29:10 GMT -5
Ex Yeah, the sidequest issue still persists, and even with that patch, the battle frequency is still an issue. It is much better than the original version of the game, though, and is the one I'd recommend playing, if you ever do.
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