Hullo, dear fellow gamers! The New Classics project is progressing just fine — although you wouldn’t know it, because I cannot seem to post regularly enough; and I cannot seem to do that because I can’t handle time management even if my life depended on it. But the runs are there, and so are the reports; and once I manage to sort things out a bit, you’ll get these sweet reports.
I’ve put roughly 30 games to the New Classics test so far; and not only was it tremendously entertaining, but it also helped me figure out what I want my precious collection to look like. As I was busy playing — and lapping up — a game I’ll post about soon enough, I realised something important: I love grinding. Like, I really, really love it. More like I absolutely adore it, hot damn!
Well, ain’t that old news, you might ask? It sure is; but the thing is, I might have lost sight of that important fact over the years. I might have forsaken that engrossing trance, that tantalizing never-ending mountain to climb, that sweetest of the sweet activity that gave this blog its very name, in favour of other gameplay styles. I did that for curiosity’s sake, and it was a blast; but after ten years of non-stop gaming, my curiosity is quite fulfilled, and it’s time to go back to the basics and concentrate on what I love most. Namely, good old grinding.
This led me to a most ominous decision: all SRPGs will vacate the premises, without being put to the New Classics test. It’s time to admit that such RPGs are just not for me, and that I’ll just never enjoy strategizing as much as freedom & grinding. The only SRPGs I’ll hold onto are Fire Emblem Echoes, because it’s short and I love the hack’n’slash sections too darn much; and Sting’s Yggdra Union and Gungnir — because Dept. Heaven, b*tch. I will amend The List soon enough; but the decision is taken, and it’s taken for good. No FOMO to be found; I’m actually relieved, and glad I went back to my RPG roots.
Another important decision I’m going to enforce is to batch-test RPG series. The very fact that I do own full series I have yet to try at all is absolutely ridiculous; I should have bought a single entry, played it, and purchased the rest only if I liked that first entry. Well, what’s done is done; and since I own these series, I might as well give them a try. Here’s how I’m gonna roll: I’ll try the very first and the very last entry of each still unplayed series I own. If I like any of them or both, I’ll give everything in the middle a quick try to determine what I keep; if I like none, I’ll pawn the whole thing. Last but not least, I’ll write a single report for the whole series once I’m done giving it the New Classics treatment.
That’s all for now, dear fellow gamers; I’ll see you soon with all sorts of gaming goodness! In the meantime, keep playing and take care!
RIP SRPGs. Not every genre is for everyone, or better, not everyone has to like every genre. If SRPGs really didn't click with you, dropping the entirety of the genre would be the smartest and most efficient way to downsize your backlog. Still, I'll give you a final push to play Tactics Ogre: LuCT or Final Fantasy Tactics (Advance or A2, since I don't the original Tactics will suit you), maybe not now or not in the next year or two, but one day in the future.
ReplyDelete>The very fact that I do own full series I have yet to try at all is absolutely ridiculous; I should have bought a single entry, played it, and purchased the rest only if I liked that first entry.
Amen to that. That's something I also came to realize too late. I wager the Trails of Cold Steel series will be the first test run for this?
I'll definitely play Tactics Ogre and FFTA2, if only because these games mean something to me. Tactics Ogre was my very first PSP game, and FFTA2 was part of my first batch of DS games. I'll also play Heroes of Mana, because it was part of that first batch as well and because I have that irrational and enduring love for all things Seiken Densetsu.
DeleteAnd as a matter of fact, not only will I play these games, but I'll play them no later that right now. Because I can, and because I want to.
Now, Trails of Cold Steel would be a good place to start the batch-testing of series. Other series I wanna batch-try quickly are Ys, Rune Factory, Shin Megami Tensei and Persona.
Alright, go, Isleif! Hopefully, you'll love them, or at the very least have fun with them. I'll wait warmly for your post on those to see if they saved the genre for you.
Delete>Other series I wanna batch-try quickly are Ys, Rune Factory, Shin Megami Tensei and Persona
Rune Factory is a good candidate for that since the games are more or less homogenized (just more polished as sequels are released) but Ys, SMT and Persona's games are so different from one another that I wouldn't recommend it.
Ys' games are so fractionated in gameplay that I'd recommend you just playing I&II (known as the "bumper games"), which would take you around 10 hours each. Then either III (The Oath of Felghana, not the original Wanderer of Ys) or Origins, which use the same engine and considered by many as the best in the series. Then either Seven or VIII, from the "party-based" YS.
Mainline SMT is divided between I, II and Strange Journey which are DRPGs while III/Nocturne, IV, IV: Apocalypse and V are more classic RPG but still turn-based. You can pick whatever, but I'd recommend Strange Journey and IV.
Persona is also mostly divided between "classic" (1/Revelations and 2:IS and 2:EP) and "new" 3, 4 and 5. From the games you had listed on your, err, List I'd recommend 4:Golden since the other two are a spin-off and sequel.
Guess what, mate? The deed is done. Tactics Ogre and FFTA2 got their chance to shine and impress... You'll have to wait a bit to know if they did impress indeed, though ^^
DeleteThe original Ys games are already in my Cult Classic pool... Way back in the days, I played both the PSP and DS versions and wrote about them. I think you even commented these posts... ;)
In any given series, I'll always treat the spinoffs as separate entities. My focus for batch-trying will always be on canon games, because that's where the core gameplay reigns supreme. You can adore the core gameplay and hate the spinoffs, and vice versa; there is no better example of this than my experience with Pokemon Legends Arceus ^^