The New Classics: Progress Report #7

 

Hello there, dear fellow gamers! Hope you’re doing fine, and indulging in whatever tickles your fancy. The New Classics project is progressing mightily fine, as I’m done putting ALL my subcollections to the test bar the PSP. Yay, me! The companion reports will come eventually as well, I promise. I cannot write as much as I’d like these days due to other matters; but I very much want, and firmly plan, to write them. In the meantime, here are a couple of insights from the New Classic epic:

 

— About SRPGs: I changed my stance on the matter — again! It turns out that I don’t actually dislike all SRPGs, nor the genre as a whole: I just dislike SRPGs that are too slow and/or complicated. Fast-paced and/or simple SRPGs, on the other hand, are right up my alley! Case in point, a couple of them passed the New Classic test with flying colours. Now, what do I mean by “complicated” and “simple”, you may ask? I could write a whole essay about that, but I won’t; I’ll just say that it all boils down to the level of intuitiveness. If I can grasp the gameplay in a flash without any tutorial, then the game is ‘simple’; if I fumble and struggle even with the tutorial, then the game is ‘complicated’. As far as my gaming instinct is concerned, Disgaea 5 is complicated, while Summon Night 6 is simple.  

 

— About my Japanese games: I decided to put them to the New Classics test as well, although I said I wouldn’t at first. This seems pretty logical, thinking of it: regardless of my understanding of the language, I have to determine if the atmosphere and whatever gameplay I may grasp tickle my fancy. I only own Vita, DS and PSP Japanese games, and they’ll be dully listed in my reports.

 

— About games I love yet don’t wanna replay: I used to be pretty sure about my not wanting to replay a game I had played and loved; however, a recent turnaround regarding one game I swore off in such a way made me reconsider. Also, I was pretty relaxed about the whole thing, thinking that I could always re-purchase any previously pawned game; yet a quick price check revealed the harsh truth, namely that many of my games from former gens are now much harder to find and/or command much higher prices than when I (first) purchased them. I cannot be careless, and let go of gems I may wanna replay later! I’ll thus give these games a new round of testing, in which I’ll replay them and re-examine my feelings about them; then I’ll decide which ones can stay in the collection, and write a report about the whole process while I’m at it. Because I don’t have enough posts in the pipeline already, you know.  

 

— About my PSP collection: I actually started testing it a month ago; however, I quickly realised that I had opened a serious can of worms. I’ll expand on the hairiness of that PSP situation in due time; for now, suffice it to say that I cowardly wisely decided to retreat and to save the testing of that collection for the very end of the New Classic adventure.

 

That should mean right now; but it so happens that I wanna play some games in earnest for a change, and that’s exactly what I’m gonna do — in fact, I’ve already started. My gaming instinct suddenly wanted to replay Pokemon Mystery Dungeon:Rescue Team DX a couple of days ago, even though I previously swore it off; fortunately, I hadn’t pawned it yet, and I could dive into a new run with abandon and gusto. I also very much wanna play Atelier Firis, although not to scratch an alchemy itch. When I first played Rescue Team DX, I played Atelier Sophie at the same time, and really loved the combination of the two; I wanna recreate that vibe, just because I can. I also caved in and purchased Fire Emblem Engage, because my gaming instinct desperately wanted to play it, right now.

 

This means that I’ll stop posting New Classics progress reports for now: instead, you can expect posts about Fire Emblem Engage and Atelier Firis, as well as reports about my subcollections. I’ll see you later with all that gaming goodness, dear fellow gamers; in the meantime, keep doing your thing and take care!

 

The New Classics: Progress Report #6

 

Hope you’re doing well and indulging in whatever makes you happy, dear fellow gamers! As for me, I’m progressing faster than I ever thought I could through the New Classics project. This is the result of my unwavering focus, but also of unfavourable IRL circumstances that require compensation. I won’t enter details; but suffice it to say that some key parts of my life are beyond my control right now — I’m the captain of a vessel sailing out in the wrong direction, trying to steer the darn ship towards a better place. That situation is bound to end soon enough, so no worries; but in the meantime, I need to gain a feeling of control and autonomy from somewhere — and what better somewhere than my still-uncharted-yet-not-for-long video game collection? ^^

 

Long story short, I've put my whole Vita collection to the New Classic Test, and I should be done with my Game Boy collection in a few days. I’ll post the Winners&Losers Lists soon enough, along with the still-unposted W&LL for the 3DS — but more on that below. This means that I kinda crossed the halfway mark, as I only have to explore my PSP, GBA and DS sub-collections now. Hooray! I’m really proud, let me tell ya 🤩

 

As for my 3DS collection: I announced in last week’s report that I was going to post my already written impressions about the few games I played; but all things considered, I really don’t feel like doing so. These impressions are mostly negative, and I don’t wanna b*tch about games I won’t play anyway. Ranting about games can feel liberating sometimes, and I’ve indulged in it more than once on that very blog; but right now, this is the last thing I wanna do. Instead, I’ll roll with the W&LL — with commentaries et al. Stay tuned, dear fellow gamers, and take care! 

 

The New Classics: Progress Report #5

 

Dear fellow gamers, I’m proud to announce that I’m done putting my whole 3DS collection to the New Classic test!

I tried writing down my feelings about every single game, just like I did when I tested my Switch collection; but somehow, the whole thing felt dreadful this time around. I realised that writing about the games that didn’t click with me actually made me feel like sh*t: I was basically bitching, and squandering my precious time and energy. As for the games I liked, I didn’t want to write about them; I simply wanted to set them aside, until I could play them in earnest and write about them extensively.

 

Then came the epiphany: if writing about every single game now feels boring, then I can, and should, dispense with that task! What I should do instead is come up with my final list of winners and losers, along with my feelings about the whole process and the revamped sub-collection du jour.

 

Still, I wrote about a couple of 3DS games already, and I don’t wanna let that work go down the drain; so I’ll post it in the next days, along with the list of games that made the cut. Stay tuned for more gaming goodness, dear fellow gamers, and take care!