What are You Currently Playing?

[Hirox]

Im currently playing Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Mario kart Wii, Animal Crossing (my friend just got it so ive been pickin it back up). Also started Persona 3

[Sonic#]

Wow, it's been 10 months.

Right now I'm playing through Wild Arms 3 for the first time. I found it a few months ago at Gamestop used for $5. And wow, I would've paid $40 for it. (To explain the markdown, the game is an old PS2 game, and so its cel shading is sometimes rougher than more recent games, but sometimes it manages to look like Dragon Quest VIII... except of course in the desert.)

And then I'm playing Oblivion on my new computer. Right now I'm footing it in the wilderness, and I most recently came upon a haunted ruin, and I'm going to have to retreat because I can only damage it with the offensive spells I originally skimped on. I created my own class which is based in melee combat (Heavy Armor, Blade, Blunt weapons) and noncombative magic (Restoration, Alchemy).

[Nobiyuki77]

I have a bad habit of playing too many games at once, takes me forever to complete them.

1) Grandia (Saturn) - I play this game while I run on my tredmill in an effort to lose a little weight (lost 5 lbs w00t!)
2) Wii Fit - I want to lose weight. ^^
3) FFCC: My Life as a King - My kingdom is called the Kingdom of Vane. XD
4) Lunar: Eternal Blue - Play on my PSP while my sister drives us to New Jersey for Japanese lessons
5) Sakura Taisen 1 & 2 - same as Lunar: EB

[Jasonb12]

Man, it's been a while. Currently playing Tsukihime, Phantasy Star Gaiden and Legend of Legaia. Will start on EBC once I'm finished with Legaia.

Nobuyuki, is Grandia for Saturn in English? Or Japanese only?

[Nobiyuki77]

Japanese only. I've played it in English on the Playstation before, but I'm trying to practice my Japanese reading whenever I can.

[Jasonb12]

Tch...! What about Sakura Taisen? I read a sample of the manga a while ago and was interested.

[Nobiyuki77]

I've played all 5 Sakura Taisen main games to DEATH (and am playing 1 and 2 again on PSP). So I'm doing Grandia right now for variety. XD

[Jasonb12]

Are they in English or have a translation? Can you explain the series to me? And what systems are they for?

[Nobiyuki77]

They're in Japanese (there are translations for the first 3 games online if I recall correctly...) The first two games were originally released on the Sega Saturn, but were later ported to the Dreamcast (I recommend the ports, the artwork is higher res and the music is sharper). The 3rd and 4th games were released on the Dreamcast (though the 4th game was rushed and is really really short. It was done as a present for Japanese fans of the series since the 3rd game sold so well on the Dreamcast...). There was a remake of the first game for the PlayStation 2 called "Sakura Taisen: Atsuki Chishio Ni" that used the same battle engine as Sakura Taisen 4 with some additional "improvements" (that I never used and thankfully, they're not required). Sakura Taisen V was released on the PlayStation 2, sadly to little fanfare, and the series has kind of run its course in Japan (though I hope they will make a new awesome one someday). Sakura Taisens 1 & 2 were ported to the PSP on one disc, but do NOT play this version unless you're using a PSP slim, because on the old PSPs the load times are atrocious (not just from one scene to the next, mid gameplay/scene). There was also a new Dungeon Crawler for the DS released just a couple of months ago. It's alright, but it's a low budget game that's really just testing the waters to see if there's still a market (sadly, there isn't much of one anymore in Japan).

Sakura Taisen is essentially a combination of an Adventure game/Dating Sim (no hentai)/Strategy game. You spend (usually) the first half of each episode talking to the girls and progressing the plot, then when the evil forces attack, the game switches to a battle mode that plays out like turn-based strategy. It's quite fun and the first game especially is a decent challenge at points. I love the story and characters and if you can read Japanese (or at least enough to understand the general idea of what's going on), it's a great series of games. ^_^

[Jasonb12]

Seems reallly interesting. I don't have a Dreamcast though.
What about the PC Versions? Would they work just as good as the Saturn/Dreamcast versions?

[Nobiyuki77]

Oh yeah, I forgot they ported 1-4 to the PC. Yes, those are fine as well.

[Jasonb12]

Cool. I'll look into it. I take it you're a Disgaea fan, right? What do you think about the new DS port of Hour of Darkness?

[Nobiyuki77]

Haven't picked it up just yet, waiting to see if the US version will have Japanese language on it. (PS2 and PSP do, but those are on discs, I don't want to take any chances for the DS version).

[Jasonb12]

I'm not sure about that myself, but do you think it's a good idea to port it to DS?

It wold be nice if they could port Disgaea 3 to PS2 or PSP though...

[Katze]

Right now I'm playing Star Ocean: The Second Story--yes, for the first time. I'm really loving it so far.

[LunarRaptor]

How far into it are you, Katze?

[BattleMedic]

Just finished Mass Effect and now working on GTA 4

[Nobiyuki77]

I'm not sure about that myself, but do you think it's a good idea to port it to DS?

It wold be nice if they could port Disgaea 3 to PS2 or PSP though...

Can't hurt I suppose. I want a Wii version but I'm crazy like that. XD

[Katze]

How far into it are you, Katze?

Right now I'm fighting two of the Wise Men, Decus and Vesper. And I hate them.

[Zophar]

I'm currently playing Kingdom Hearts: Re- Chain of Memories for PS2. I'm also playing some games on the side of that like Doom 3 and a bit of Halo 3 every now and then.