The first four games in the series were great. Very innovative action RPGs. The menu system (in games 2 - 4) was a little wonky, but once you got the hang of it, it was a blast.
Then for some reason around 2006, Square declared it, "The Year of Mana" and introduced a bunch of new games in the series, but they moved them to different genres. They started out bad, and only got worse from there. Each one was just worse than the next and it got so bad that the series was put on ice for almost 15 years.
The remake of 3, Trials of Mana, was fantastic though. They did an amazing job of transforming a 2D world into a 3D World, but still making it feel kind of old school at the same time. I'm glad everyone seems to agree and that it boosted enough interest for a new one in the series. And I agree, that new one looks really really good.
Interesting. I really should start playing that Trials of Mana. I also picked up the Legend of Mana remaster that came out not long ago as well. Still haven’t played that either.
I would definitely recommend Trials over Legend. I love Legend, but when I finally played the remaster earlier this year, it was unquestionably dated. There are plenty of elements that are still good, like the blacksmithing and the hand painted backgrounds which are gorgeous. But the combat, which is ultimately most of the game, is pretty rough. Personally, I think it's worth putting up with for everything else, but your mileage may vary.
Trials on the other hand, despite a very old school feel, still has all the current day quality of life features that you want in a game that you're going to invest 20 something hours in.
I was excited because I bought a hdr 4k tv then RDR2 came out a few weeks later. It did have the option to switch the hdr on or off and I still didn't really see any difference. Maybe I need to hire a tech guy to work on my setup.
OLED has ruined me for tvs.
I can't bear a normal TV now. It just looks sad.
All the other junk like QLED, LED etc sound similar to OLED but are actually junk.
I was excited because I bought a hdr 4k tv then RDR2 came out a few weeks later. It did have the option to switch the hdr on or off and I still didn't really see any difference. Maybe I need to hire a tech guy to work on my setup.
It's around $300 or so for a professional calibration. It is the best option and might be worth it, though.
Another option would be to Google your TV's model number and brand looking for articles/videos by calibration experts explaining the best calibration settings for it specifically. Then tweek those settings a bit for your personal taste. It also helps to find settings for each of the consoles you own. HDR PS4 content will need different picture settings than SDR Nintendo Switch games for example.
It's around $300 or so for a professional calibration. It is the best option and might be worth it, though.
Another option would be to Google your TV's model number and brand looking for articles/videos by calibration experts explaining the best calibration settings for it specifically. Then tweek those settings a bit for your personal taste. It also helps to find settings for each of the consoles you own. HDR PS4 content will need different picture settings than SDR Nintendo Switch games for example.
Yeah youtube has some videos for calibrating specific tvs. I just use my eyes till I get it right, sharp and colourful.
Once again though, playing games on a 1080p TV again reminds me of how much smoother it is than 4k (for older systems)
I completed Old Man's Journey. You guide an old man to see his family before the end. You point and click to move the environment around for him to walk. Lovely artstyle, not a bad time waster.
Still playing Yooka Laylee, almost 7 hrs in. There's some fun to be had there, at its best it feels like Banjo Kazooie.
There are a lot of lacklustre bits that suck the will to live though. There are these arcade games in each level, one in each level. But so far every one has utterly sucked so bad that I can't bear to play them. There's also a Mine cart mini game each level which is much the same.
There's some janky platform bits and it comes off as half asked or underdeveloped compared to a good platformer. You don't feel rewarded enough.
I'm on this casino level and they have a slot machine, you have to bash out to get 3 of the same icons. But then the level is very large geographically and there's multiple slot machines, which you have to repeat the same thing.
Wow, what have I done. Its an open world rpg where you battle the environment to collect and deliver goods.
On one of the first missions I did 90% of it, then had to reverse a trailer truck into the exact position to finish. I swear it took 30 mins of trying to reverse this thing. Do you know how hard it is to reverse a trailer? It's ridiculous. In the end I had to do a turn in the road and forward park it.
Then I did this mission to refuel trucks and deliver logs, I got to the end, somehow managed to unleash my cargo with it like having 1cm outside the target circle. My logs fell off and couldn't be reattached. Ahhhh
This weekend I've played through the Stellar Blade demo a couple of times. Boss battles and enemy designs are fantastic. Exploring the opening city level, unfortunately, wasn't very good. It's not bad either. Just okay. Same with the story setup and character personality, just okay. Navigating the world, especially the platforming feels awkward. This is the exact opposite of the combat. There's lots of moves to unlock and the combat is very challenging and fun. You fight two different bosses in the demo. Cool game.
Mudrunner graphics are a lot better than I expected. Other than the trees most of it looks nice.
I found a challenge impossible so I dived into the open world instead. There's no mission or hand holding. I literally jus set out and started exploring. It's strangely satisfying and addictive playing this game. You don't just drive over everything, you have to battle the environment to overcome it.
I did one task, knocked over a tree, only minutes later to get the tree trunk stuck under my wheels.
I'm playing casual rather than hard-core mode, but it's still pretty hard-core. I wish you could run about on foot like Off the Road Unleashed. Still feels like a high quality game though.
I've been playing a little bit of Quest for Glory 5, but most of my fears were right on. This is not going to be a real fun experience. It's not bad per se, but it was made during a time when game developers didn't quite know what to do with 3D adventure games just yet. I had it come around either 2 years earlier or 2 years later. It probably would have been a much different experience.
I'm going to try to push through that, but I'm also kind of ashamed to say I went back to the ex. I started up with Hearthstone again.
Interesting. I really should start playing that Trials of Mana. I also picked up the Legend of Mana remaster that came out not long ago as well. Still haven’t played that either.
Trials on the other hand, despite a very old school feel, still has all the current day quality of life features that you want in a game that you're going to invest 20 something hours in.
OLED has ruined me for tvs.
I can't bear a normal TV now. It just looks sad.
All the other junk like QLED, LED etc sound similar to OLED but are actually junk.
Yeah, I've been spoiled by OLED too.
It's around $300 or so for a professional calibration. It is the best option and might be worth it, though.
Another option would be to Google your TV's model number and brand looking for articles/videos by calibration experts explaining the best calibration settings for it specifically. Then tweek those settings a bit for your personal taste. It also helps to find settings for each of the consoles you own. HDR PS4 content will need different picture settings than SDR Nintendo Switch games for example.
I downloaded the Stellar Blade PS5 demo last night. I'm enjoying it so far.
Yeah youtube has some videos for calibrating specific tvs. I just use my eyes till I get it right, sharp and colourful.
Once again though, playing games on a 1080p TV again reminds me of how much smoother it is than 4k (for older systems)
Me too!I completed Old Man's Journey. You guide an old man to see his family before the end. You point and click to move the environment around for him to walk. Lovely artstyle, not a bad time waster.
Still playing Yooka Laylee, almost 7 hrs in. There's some fun to be had there, at its best it feels like Banjo Kazooie.
There are a lot of lacklustre bits that suck the will to live though. There are these arcade games in each level, one in each level. But so far every one has utterly sucked so bad that I can't bear to play them. There's also a Mine cart mini game each level which is much the same.
There's some janky platform bits and it comes off as half asked or underdeveloped compared to a good platformer. You don't feel rewarded enough.
I'm on this casino level and they have a slot machine, you have to bash out to get 3 of the same icons. But then the level is very large geographically and there's multiple slot machines, which you have to repeat the same thing.
I started Mudrunner.
Wow, what have I done. Its an open world rpg where you battle the environment to collect and deliver goods.
On one of the first missions I did 90% of it, then had to reverse a trailer truck into the exact position to finish. I swear it took 30 mins of trying to reverse this thing. Do you know how hard it is to reverse a trailer? It's ridiculous. In the end I had to do a turn in the road and forward park it.
Then I did this mission to refuel trucks and deliver logs, I got to the end, somehow managed to unleash my cargo with it like having 1cm outside the target circle. My logs fell off and couldn't be reattached. Ahhhh
My god, my impressions sound like the diary of a real life trucker.
Happy Easter everybody!
I’ve been playing Diablo IV this long weekend thanks to Game Pass. Am enjoying it quite a bit. It has the darker look and tone of Diablo II.
Happy Easter!
This weekend I've played through the Stellar Blade demo a couple of times. Boss battles and enemy designs are fantastic. Exploring the opening city level, unfortunately, wasn't very good. It's not bad either. Just okay. Same with the story setup and character personality, just okay. Navigating the world, especially the platforming feels awkward. This is the exact opposite of the combat. There's lots of moves to unlock and the combat is very challenging and fun. You fight two different bosses in the demo. Cool game.
Mudrunner graphics are a lot better than I expected. Other than the trees most of it looks nice.
I found a challenge impossible so I dived into the open world instead. There's no mission or hand holding. I literally jus set out and started exploring. It's strangely satisfying and addictive playing this game. You don't just drive over everything, you have to battle the environment to overcome it.
I did one task, knocked over a tree, only minutes later to get the tree trunk stuck under my wheels.
I'm playing casual rather than hard-core mode, but it's still pretty hard-core. I wish you could run about on foot like Off the Road Unleashed. Still feels like a high quality game though.
I'm still trying to finish up Dead Island 2. Just a couple more main missions to go.
I'm going to try to push through that, but I'm also kind of ashamed to say I went back to the ex. I started up with Hearthstone again.