Latest Gaming Purchase

[Moonface]

Slay the Spire 2 (PC)
This might be the first time I've bought a game in Early Access? I love the first game but having done everything there is to do in it I don't want to wait for this to hit full release to get it.

[Dragon Lord]

Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree (PS5)

Another game I've been waiting to pick up for a cheaper price. The game is normally only $29.99, so not like it was expensive, but I was just being cheap and wanted it for $20 or less. Saw it was down to like $21 and figured that was close enough. Hey, $9 saved is $9.

[Dragon Lord]

Got some pretty sweet deals on Woot (Amazon owned company) tonight. I was randomly browsing my phone and saw an article that stated a huge sale on Monster Hunter Wilds, and whoo boy they weren't kidding. Here's what I got:

Monster Hunter Wilds (PS5) for $19.99 (normal price $69.99)
Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land (PS5) for $39.99 (normal price $69.99)
Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian (PS5) for $34.99 (normal price $59.99)
Tales of Xillia Remastered (PS5) for $24.99 (normal price $39.99)

Wilds is the real score here. That's an insane sale on it and I'm more than happy to pick up a copy for only $20.

Atelier Yumia and Resleriana aren't the biggest sales ever, but KT has been a bit stingy on sales for the Atelier series ever since Ryza blew up and made the series a little more mainstream than it once was, so these prices are likely the best I'll be seeing for quite a long time on them.

Xillia Remastered was eh. I was hoping to pick it up for $15-$20 (like how I got Graces f Remastered for $15), but I figured $5 over my preferred budge was okay, and with not knowing how well the stock is for physical copies of the game, I figured it wouldn't hurt to go ahead and just get it now while it was on sale for what it was. I know Graces f copies started to sell out at retailers a few months ago, so I don't want to worry about facing that situation again with the Xillia Remaster.

[Maniakkid25]

Fantasian: Neo Dimension (PC)

I saw this on the Square Enix Merch store, and was confused. Then I saw pics of it, and I was like "Wait, I've seen that before". It wasn't until googling it that I realized "This is that mobile game Mistwalker was developing!" That's right! Now available on all consoles (as of 2024) and PC, this is a base $50 mobile game that DOES NOT have microtransactions or gacha mechanics or anything of the sort. It's just a straight turn-based RPG straight from the mind of Hironobu Sakaguchi (Mistwalker is Sakaguchi's independent studio). It does come with some refinements, like updated graphics and new voice acting, but it's basically the same game. And I should say, it is legitimately a beautiful game, even before the updated graphics. It is a static camera game, but that's a consequence of how the areas were designed; all the locations are scale dioramas made by the team in real life, with the game characters and stuff pasted on after. So, we have a mobile game that isn't a cash grab, actual effort was put into it, and it's not trying to bait you into microtransactions. In fact, there isn't even DLC; just pay the 50 bucks, and you own the full game, no questions asked. This game is an anomaly in the world of mobile gaming, and it's good to see that some developers in the space just want to make a game, and not steal money from people.

It's currently on sale on PC and Switch for half off. The PC version is available at this price until the 26th, and the Switch version is available at this price until the 31st. I will report back how they are when it actually installs on my PC lol.

[Dragon Lord]

Fantasian is pretty decent. As you mentioned, it's a very pretty game. The story and characters are decent enough, I think. The only thing that really drags the game down some is the extremely high encounter rate. While the battle system isn't bad, how often you find yourself having to fight normal battles does end up making the combat feel extremely stale. There's a mechanic in the game that you'll learn of pretty early that really amplifies this issue as well, which doesn't help. Other than that, I thought it was a pretty solid game (though I still need to go back and finish the end of the game + get the platinum).

Made some more gay ming purchases today due to some sales around:

Octopath Traveler (PS5+PS4 -- you get both when buying it on PSN, which is the only option because no physical copies )
Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth (PS5)
WiZmans World Re;Try (PS5)
Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter (PS5)
Azure Striker GUNVOLT 3 (PS5)
Azure Striker GUNVOLT 3 (PS4)
Rocket Knight Adventures: Re-Sparked (PS5)
Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition (Steam)
LIVE A LIVE (Steam)
Harvestella (Steam)

FFVII Rebirth is $25 on Amazon right now, a big enough sale for me to finally spend on it. WiZmans World Re;Try is an interesting looking one. Apparently released back in February, it's an "enhanced" version of a previously Japan exclusive JRPG on the Nintendo DS. I saw it had physical copies even, so I wanted to snatch one up now before they go out of stock (I can't imagine they made a whole lot of stock for a super niche, unknown game like this). Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter is on sale for $50 (normally ($70), and while I would have no problems paying $70 for the remake of one of my top 5 favorite games of all-time, I'll definitely take a $20 discount on it.

The copies of Azure Striker Gunvolt 3 and Rocket Knight Adventures are from Limited Run Games putting some some vaulted copies of them for sale. I had forgotten to pre-order these games when they were first up for order, so it's nice to see them be put back up so I could snag them for myself without having to pay more to a re-seller.

Dragon Quest XI, Live a Live and Harvestella are just from the Square Enix publisher sale on Steam. I have been waiting forever for Harvestella to go on sale for a big discount, but it has yet to ever go on sale for less than $23 (which is currently is right now), so I said fuck it, I'm tired of waiting and I'm just going to go ahead and buy it now. Dragon Quest XI is just my usual buying the same game multiple times so I can 100% it a bunch of times (I have the platinum for the original PS4 release, gotta get the platinum for the S version on PS4 and now this copy on Steam). Picked up Live a Live while it was cheap too. Have it on Switch, but of course I'd much rather play a version that adds an extra layer of fun for me with achievements.

Phew, I think I can be done buying games for a while. I've stocked up pretty good the last week on top of my already insanely huge back log.

EDIT: Oh, almost forgot I also caved in and said what I wouldn't do... I bought Pokemon Leaf Greef on the Switch....

[Dragon Lord]

CURSE YOU SALES!!!!!!

So here I go spending money on games I'll never likely get around to playing, but sadly a second sale has hit my wallet.

PlayStation Portal - Midnight Black
Final Fantasy XIII
Final Fantasy XIII-2
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
Tales of Zestiria
Mugen Souls
Mugen Souls Z
Zanki Zero: Last Beginning
Silent Hope
Rune Factory 4 Special
Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth: Complete Edition
Blasphemous 2
Blasphemous 2 - Mea Culpa
Breath of Fire IV
Monster Hunter Stories
Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin
Journey of Realm: Dawn Dew

These were actually two separate bundles of purchases, but I digress. Finally decided to pick up the FFXIII trilogy for $7 each, so now I can finally experience the taste of pure trash for myself. Tales of Zestiria for $5 to continue my journey of collecting all Tales games on Steam while paying no more than $10 for each one.

I've been interested in Monster Hunter Stories for a while now, and there was a bundle for the first two games + a small add-on pack for Stories 2 for like $25, so I figured I'd dip on it finally.

Blasphemous 2 + its DLC were like $13 combined, so that was a nice deal. The two Mugen Souls games were $3 a piece, so that was just a pick them up because they're dirt cheap thing. Same with Zanki Zero, it was on sale for just $5 (I still have to play the PS4 version of this game though).

Breath of Fire IV was an add shadow drop on Steam today, and it has a 50% release sale making it just $5, so I figured why not. I never actually played BoF IV before, only the first three, so we'll see what it's like. No achievements for it though, which is a bit of a bummer for me.

Journey of Realm: Dawn Dew is probably the most intriguing purchase of this group of games for me though. It's an indie game made by a solo Chinese dev, has an art style very similar to the Ender games (Ender Lillies/Ender Magnolia), but it's a turn-based RPG that looks to use a card battle system. The art style is definitely what caught my eye about it, because I love the Ender games, so I saw it on sale and was like hell yeah. Definitely going to dive into this one sooner than the rest, I think, because while it doesn't have many reviews yet, people who are playing it seem to love it and say that you can tell the dev had a lot of love for the project, which is always a very good sign to me. I mean, wonderful art style + cute character + turn-based RPG? What's not to love about that? The only thing that has me a bit worried about my enjoyment of the game is that I'm not a huge fan of card-battle systems, so we'll see how that goes. Hopefully the other aspects of the game that I think I'll really enjoy will outweigh the negative of the card system if I end up not being a huge fan of it in the end.

Oh, almost forgot to comment about Silent Hope. This game is one of the super small games that XSEED localized a year or two back. This and Trinity Trigger were two games that came out that I had wanted to try, but sadly Silent Hope was console exclusive to the Switch and along with mixed reviews on it, I decided to wait until a decent enough sale on Steam to pick it up. Got it for $8, which was decent enough for me. Trinity Trigger was okay. I did enjoy playing the game, but it was just okay. Silent Hope seems to be along the same line as that, so hopefully I can at least get some enjoyment out of it like I did Trinity Trigger.

[ShiraNoMai]

EDIT: Oh, almost forgot I also caved in and said what I wouldn't do... I bought Pokemon Leaf Greef on the Switch....

BRO I legit said to Moony when I saw you in our friends' list playing it like "OHHH LOOKIE WHO'S PLAYING THE $20 NINTENDO SLOP"  (all in jest, of course). 

I think, in the end, it's not the worst offer Nintendo has made for a port/remake. There's worse things you could have done with your money. I mean plus, you're also playing it. Could be like the rest of the purchases you just made just for the sake of multiplatform investments lmao (which, I should note, is also not an invalid reason for buying anything--it's your money, you do with it as you please, so long as you don't hurt anyone for it).

Meanwhile, speaking of looking at friends' lists, I finally opened our CIB Switch 2 that's been sitting on our living room coffee table since launch. Transferred everything over and then bought & installed Pokopia. I knew the game was a mistake the second I started going to bed way later than intended because of it.  (in case it's not clear, it's very time-sinking/addicting lol)

[Dragon Lord]

Listen, listen. I know I literally threw $20 in the fire on this one, a complete waste of money, but god damn does the nostalgia hit good. Could I have just played the OG release on my GBA SP? Sure, but after being reminded of how god awfully small the screen on that thing is, I was like... you know what, $20 just to play this on a larger screen maybe isn't so bad (it is, I'm just coping).

And sure, I could emulate, play it on an even larger screen with even better features like save states and x2 speed... but something about just sitting in bed/random place with my Switch and getting to re-live a simpler time in my life just hits different.

Still a complete waste of $20, but I'm spent $20 on a lot worse.

Speaking of spending even more money on games that I'll definitely get around to playing at some point in my life, I made some more purchases!

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered (PS5)
Ariana and the Elder Codex (PS5)
Rune Factory 4 Special (PS4)

I think that's it this time... Picked up a copy of Oblivion Remastered because apparently after looking around, it seems like places are running out of them fast. The print must not have been that big, so I picked up a copy now while I still could find one. I had to go through Target for this one though, because Amazon was out and I think Best Buy and Walmart were also both out of them online.

Ariana and the Elder Codex is a recent release by IFI (Idea Factory, International) that I wanted to pick up when it released at the end of March, but they do little trading cards with their releases and the March card was for some Otome game that I didn't want, so I waited until the calendar flipped over to April to get a more desirable trading card with my copy.

"Hey, did you just buy RF4S on Steam?" Yes... yes I did. But it was on sale for $8 on PS4 too, so of course I wasn't able to resist the double dip (triple dip, technically, as I bought it on Switch several years back).