[archived from a cohost post, originally made on june 30, 2024]
none of the rest of my games are going to be bad.
none of them are going to be bad! none of them are going to be harsh disappointments failing my optimistic vibe checks! I'm going to play 13 more games and I'm going to enjoy them over the rest of this year!
RIGHT? RIGHT?!
shining resonance refrain was a video game that seemed charming in a sort of knock-off Tales way, but didn't get localized on its home platform of the PS3, and instead it took until it got a then-current-generation port for the ps4, xbox one, and windows before it got an english release.
I kinda wish it stayed japan-only.
it's a slog of a video game with writing that would appeal more to me, a lover of mediocre light novel adaptations, as a 13-episode anime than it did as a video game they had to space out with a horrendous experience curve.
by the time I hit the 1.5 hour mark, the game expected about 45 minutes of grinding to keep my party on par for the bosses, even on easy. I made the executive decision to cheat myself to the level cap once I realized how dire the difficulty/experience curve was going to be, and this is the sole reason I was capable of enjoying the game as much as I did.
the 9-hour runtime with this complete sidestepping of the grind was already painfully brisk, offering basically no room for character growth. yuma ilvern starts out a whimpering sadboy with a bone-deep fear of the power he holds, and within those first couple of hours, he's already willing to wield it for his friends; the party builds him up as the hero and the glue that holds them together, but he hardly does any more than the stereotypical passive clueless light novel protagonist who nonetheless has a sword he can point at the bad guys.
and to be clear, I like a lot of media with that kind of wishy-washy bullshit main character! engaging with the subtleties of what choices do get made about their character is fascinating to me. and teasing the failson for his sudden popularity is always fun. (don't look at me)
but like. there's so much less here than there should have been. which is why like half of my playtime (of, again, 9 hours, a full 21 less than the HLTB Main Story data point of 30 hours) is running between plot points. and if I had spent those 21 hours of difference grinding in this sludgy mechanical mess I would have been driven insane.
THIS SHIT WAS CONTEMPORARY WITH TALES OF ZESTIRIA! this game came out on ps3 on december 11th, 2014, whereas zestiria came out on the same platform on january 22nd, 2015. there was six weeks between those. this is just ass. I'm so tired. let me play good games.
(the remaining games, for the record:)
gba - swordcraft story
3ds - dragon quest vii - fragments of the forgotten past
3ds - the legend of zelda: the link between worlds
nsw - mario + rabbids kingdom battle
nsw - master detective archives: rain code
psx - threads of fate
ps2 - tales of destiny (director's cut)
stm - tales of vesperia: definitive edition
stm - sekiro: shadows die twice
stm - okami hd
stm - la-mulana 2
stm - crosscode
stm - megaman battle network 2 postgame