Gonna go ahead an claim this as my main post for the second half of this challenge! May the RPG madness never end @_@
Game #28
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.hack//Mutation
System:
PS2 (via PS3)
05/11/16 to 05/12/16
03:41:32
No speedrun to copy this time but still a good time by my standards! Coming off my Infection save where I had no money or healing items left made much of the run pretty dicey! Seeking out doable yet deadly leveling spots got me game over'd a few times but the payoff was worth it. Cause I fudged my virus core count I had to go out an grab two of 'em to get into the final area which cost time >_<; Had a good time doing this overall!
Game #29
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Parasite Eve
System:
PS1 (via PS3)
05/14/16 to 05/17/16
08:52:26
I remember this game being much harder then it turned out to be? Maybe I was just bad at gear customization last time? This is still a decently fun game hampered by really slow movement speed outside of battles and terrible "hitboxes" on stuff like doors/phones/etc. The controls are kinda clunky an inventory management blows. Having to find the pixel perfect spot to click on to make things work stinks! Kinda wish cutscenes were skippable cause most of 'em are just gross x.x; Anyway the battle system is fun and even random fights can wear ya down so no free passes here! Still love the map and car sequences. Musics pretty alright to!
Game #30
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.hack//G.U. Vol.1: Rebirth
System:
PS2
05/18/16 to 05/19/16
05:04:07
Oh NG+ you are the best way to play this game! Starting at L35 trivializes pretty much everything up until the very final parts so its a shame only Haseo is at that level while everyone else is much lower. Wouldn't need half the grinding I did if everyone was good ta go! I think the worst part was raising your arena rank just ta be able to kick off the tournament an progress the story. Took an hour of ended in 1 second battles just to get to that point! At least I did better then usual on the final boss! Didn't even get knocked down to half health!
Game #31
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Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride
System:
DS
05/23/16 to 06/07/16
25:43:26
What goods Party Chat when for a huge stretch of the game your partys basically just monsters? Dunno, but a bunch of them monsters were useful all the way to the very end! Pretty depressing story all around but still a unique one! I think the biggest struggle was just keeping my party equipped as by the end I was totally an completely broke lol. The various Metal Slimes weren't kind to me in this go around an I didn't stick around places ta do much grinding so at least according to guides my levels were just on par which gave some of the tougher baddies at least a fighting chance! But boy, does it take way to long into the game to get Zoom, an even longer for other useful spells... -.-;
Game #32
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Phantasy Star Online Episode I & 2 Plus: Episode 1
System:
Gamecube
06/08/16 to 06/08/16
01:11:25
Nothin' like cruising through at L200 on the Normal difficulty to unwind! Got through alil quicker than I did last year to boot! Already beat PSO ep.1 earlier this year but on the Dreamcast version so not much ta say about it again um... other than maybe this being a game which makes me think you can "grow out of" a game? That and its kinda lame that at max level with great gear ya can't one-shot everything (aside from bosses).
Game #33
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Phantasy Star Online Episode I & 2 Plus: Episode 2
System:
Gamecube
06/09/16 to 06/09/16
01:23:19
Hey! This went alil quicker then last year to! Ep.2 as always is way better then the first in all regards!
Game #34
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Skies of Arcadia
System:
Dreamcast
06/11/16 to 06/19/16
37:55:38
Every boss fight is at least 2 boss fights. Often 3. In a row. No saving, no healing. The overworld encounter rate can suck badly at times! Menus are kinda clunky to. Other than that? Games golden! Really really great world, its one of those rare few ya actually feel like you're exploring and learning about normally and through discoveries! Ship battles are super fun, but dangerous if ya make the wrong moves! That OST is so great an chock full of different battle themes! Sadly this game can't make me a better navigator! Cause when I wanna go northeast I should totally go south right??
Game #35
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Style Savvy: Trendsetters
System:
3DS
01/02/13 to 06/29/16
27:06:27
Only took 3 & 1/2 years! I'd been playing this on & off all that time in really short bursts an only really powered through the ending stuff this past week. Think I took to long with this one but then playing a couple hours a day each day shows ya how much boring repeated text there is an how interchangeable the customers are, so I dunno. Had a buncha fun going from not being able ta afford stuff in the online shops to having money to blow! Filling up the lil jar of happiness an unleashing it each night was always pleasant even after the rewards just became random pieces of clothes. Taking photos, dressing up, seeing all the seasonal places & clothes... just a nice happy game overall!
Game #36
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Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs
System:
DS
06/25/16 to 07/05/16
16:49:00
While I liked the previous Ranger gaem theres no doubt this ones the best of the bunch! Just by letting ya use the d-pad & buttons for most things outside of battles is a big improvement! The new diving/flying sequences are nice breaks from the usual gameplay! Love the tropical islands setting it has, and the fact that the dungeons weren't anywhere near as treacherous/annoying as in the previous game. Having a partner pokémon and all 7 assist slots open from the start makes the early game much much better to!
Game #37
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.hack//Outbreak
System:
PS2
07/09/16 to 07/12/16
4:32:07
Lots more vicious baddies in this one so power leveling took abit more time, plus Virus Core drops just weren't happening in my favor. So I had ta spend extra time farming 'em up for use in the final game. Still decently speedy I guess? Time spent on that stuff in this game is less time spent in the next doing it so things'll even out I think!
Game #38
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Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation
System:
DS
07/10/16 to 07/20/16
37:00:09
Still the best of the Zenithia trilogy! Theres just so much world and adventure like not really knowing where you'll end up next! And the story is mysterious an full of intrigue! Your crew of characters are likeable including the monster pals! The vocation system is all kinds of great if ya love having pages an pages full of magic/abilities for each character! Had a really good time replaying this one!
Game #39
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Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
System:
PSP
07/21/16 to 07/24/16
07:09:38
I denied myself NG+ the second time I played this game for the sake of a certain GAF thread so this time I let loose an went wild by using it! This made the game super easy in that many battles were over before they began. Plus I didn't have ta fudge around with missions! Pretty much a for fun straight main game playthrough, with some side stuff done for more fun! Great game!
Game #40
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Pokémon Conquest
System:
DS
07/25/16 to 07/29/16
15:37:10
This is a great game ya know? Pokémon going SRPG plus Nobunaga kingdonm conquering stuff worked out very well! But like seemingly all SRPGs its got an isometric view which I just can never like! There's lotsa grinding fun in here if you're looking for perfect links with pokémon or just getting ones better than what most warriors start with. The evolution mechanics really require a guide though -.-; Games got nice art, an alright music. Pretty short to if you don't wanna grind much! But then there's the lengthy post-game which is where things get hard...
Game #41
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.hack//G.U. Vol.2: Reminisce
System:
PS2
07/29/16 to 07/31/16
07:54:25
Think I finally found my grinding groove for this series! No need ta clear an entire area of baddies, just battle until your HP/SP are low then leave and come back or go to an area a level or so above the one ya just left an repeat! Beats wasting time/items waiting to recover! The NG+ level advantage ya can start with doesn't last as long at G.U. Vol.1's does but you'll get about 2/3rds of the way through the story just fine with it. Being able to buy fairy orbs and smoke screens helps with speediness which is something ya don't get in the first game. Plus the occasional speed talisman pickup and speed+ accessories! An even though I took a chance an went into the final battle at only L88 I ended up with a much easier victory then usual? Thats fine by me!
Game #42
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Star Ocean: The Second Story
System:
PS1 (via PS3 & PS2)
07/31/16 to 08/06/16
22:07:00
Games got a slow start an not just in the story department but the battle system & skill buildups. Once those get going it becomes super fun to play! The game world is pretty open to, since once you're outta the intro town you can go to any other in the area an get some nice loot earlier then if you just go to the next official stop! Games got issues like being buggy an prone to freezing/glitching out, and making you exit dungeons through manual backtracking rather than being automatic or even giving you like an escape spell! Played through Rena's story btw since hers is better then Claudes! Also gave Claude the boot the second I was able to hook her up with an all girl party!
Game #43
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Golden Sun: The Lost Age
System:
GBA (via GB Player)
08/06/16 to 08/13/16
22:37:34
Oh you know I link cabled up an carried over my best data from the first game! Shame it doesn't help ya cheese the game any until very very far into it! Dunno how I ever played this without a guide in the past cause the worlds big an open with so many places to go an no obviously set order. An remembering places/things ya couldn't reach manyyyy hours after last seeing 'em is kinda hard! Still love the speedy battle system an messing around with djinn class setups or just plain summon rushing baddies! Offensive magic isn't weak like it tends to be in many rpgs which is another plus! Dungeons are bigger an mostly better even if there are some annoying "oh c'mon!" moments in 'em. Story is even better an so is the forever great soundtrack!
Game #44
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Return to PopoloCrois: A Story of Seasons Fairytale
System:
3DS
08/11/16 to 08/17/16
21:43:19
An rpg where ya farm items? Like... actually on a farm! Who knew it'd turn out ta be a nice combination? Helps that I like rpgs and Harvest Moon! Both sides of the game are pretty basic with nothing fancy going for 'em but thats kinda how I prefer it! Props for the cool features of being able to change difficulty/encounter rates whenever ya want, boo for the field music starting fresh each time ya come outta a battle. Yay for the crop/animal notifications, boo for still harvesting things one at a time. Games got a nice cute look to it, multiple battle themes which is always nice, and a safe but sound story. Overall I certainly liked it!
Game #45
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Xenogears
System:
PS1 (via PS2 & PS3)
08/19/16 to 08/31/16
49:05:22
Totally an epic rpg but not without its flaws. Bad camera angle, slow text speed, big lag opening/exiting menus, and potential game freezes hampered my enjoyment alot. Even so theres way more good than bad! The world/character history is crazy good, graphics are still nice imo, battles are fun, and the soundtrack is great! Its a classic which only falls short of legendary status because of the technical issues mentioned, unless ya just don't let those things get to you!
Game #46
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.hack//Quarantine
System:
PS2 (via PS3)
09/03/16 to 09/03/16
05:53:31
The end of the speediness for the original series. I zoomed through the game not lettin' any baddies come close to stopping me... now my virus level otoh well that almost put an end to things! Last dungeon was more brutal than usual throwing just a handful of non-data bug baddies at me! Was really surprised how many of the expensive healing items I was able to end up buying, plus all the other goods I needed! An finally, confirmation that the optional party members still show up at the end even if ya didn't recruit 'em! Next time around I'ma go back to taking things slowly an soaking up the atmosphere an all that good stuffs.
Game #47
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.hack//G.U. Vol.3: Redemption
System:
PS2
09/09/16 to 09/11/16
10:52:47
Since there's no NG+ bonus ya dun get to start overleveled like in the previous 2 games, so the first 4 hours was pure grinding! Getting to L120+ before even clearing the first chapter is pretty cheap but it made the rest of the game fly by. By the end I had overgrinded abit, L141 was excessive an prolly what pushed me over the 10 hour mark. Still, it made all but the doppelganger battle a breeze! Prolly shouldn't have wasted time with Avatar Awakenings either and instead just used the other two ta quickly finish fights. Pretty fun being so high level you can just run through story dungeons not fighting baddies at all hehe!
Game #48
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The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II
System:
PS3
09/06/16 to 10/09/16
91:12:59
Pretty darn sure this sets the record for longest game I've play an by like a 20 some hour margin! An somehow almost all of it was really good! Hard ta say much without spoiling but it delivered on stuff from the end of the first game that had left me wanting more and included lotsa stuff I didn't even know I wanted! Hooray for the snowboarding mini-game! And the great music including the ton of different battle themes which kept battling fresh!
Game #49
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Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past
System:
3DS
09/18/16 to 10/13/16
73:40:00
Okies now this was prolly the worst game I've played all year. Others may have been mediocre but this one just sucked. An thats a big disappointment for me since I'd liked all previous DQ's I'd played. Making ya redo places over an over again before letting ya push on to new uncharted territory made for a terrible game structure. Not mention the lousy localization which removed UI elements, added massive input lag, and other junk. Never touching this game again.
Game #50
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Golden Sun: Dark Dawn
System:
DS (via 3DS)
10/15/16 to 10/19/16
19:50:00
See now this was the polar opposite of DQ7. It was FUN! It had nice puzzles, it gave ya shortcuts, its backtracking was meaningful as it unlocked new things to see an do! Has a much better soundtrack to! But that cliffhanger never to be resolved still hurts... ;.;
Game #51
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Shining Soul
System:
GBA (via GB Player)
10/21/16 to 10/23/16
07:52:54
This could be the most or second most basic barebones rpg I've played all year an yet its fun in its own way once ya really get going. Attack, back off, attack, back off, attack~ simple stuff but I liked it. What I didn't like? That you can still be hit by baddies while you're in the menu x.x; That and your heroes pitiful high "miss" rate forcing ya to boost the heck outta the stat for that. Also the music is so bad there's an option to turn it off lol.
Game #52
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Mega Man Battle Network 2
System:
GBA (via GB Player)
10/24/16 to 11/07/16
17:08:12
What kinda rpg has regular randomly encountered baddies that can game over you? This kind! Had ta learn to save really frequently cause they'd kill me alot. Bosses weren't pushovers either. Game seems more unfair hard then hard-hard or maybe I'm just bad at it? Still enjoyed getting to replay it after such a long time cause it still holds up!
Game #53
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Phantasy Star: Portable
System: PSP[/b]
12/30/16 to 12/30/16
03:02:00
I decided that if I was gonna cheese this game again as part of the 52 game challenge I'd do it differently then before! It took some thinking but instead of plowing through the story missions again, I instead went through each of the open missions! On the easiest difficulty with my max level character naturally! Oh an I did this in one sitting to cause why not! Going through these missions made me nostalgic for old PSU cause these were still the original full maps versions of the missions. Many were changed/gutted later on in PSU & for Portable 2 / Infinity.
Games Beaten: 53 / 52 !!!
Total Playtime: 1061:19:00
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