Been playing lots of stuff, mostly from the same genre. Maybe I'm getting old but I don't think I can play a ton of RPGs back-to-back anymore. I might be feeling tired from playing Ao Evo and DQ7, though.
Dragon Quest IV Mobile:
As someone who got a little nauseous while playing the DQ games on the DS, having one screen for DQ4 was completely welcome (same could be said for DQ7 on the 3DS). I think the controls are fine for something that's mostly turn-based, and if I wanted to, I could use a capacitive stylus. I played it on my Android tablet instead of my phone, but it still felt fine while using my thumbs. Party chat added more depth to the characters since there was something that needed to be said about almost everything, from after NPC convos to story elements. I didn't play the other DQ ports, but this seemed acceptable to me.
Oriental Blue:
I had the urge to play through it again, and it wasn't until a few hours in that I felt I should've done a runthrough with the male protagonist for the first time instead of the female protagonist. My playthrough is already different from my previous one since I started out in a different area after the first portion of the game. As I said in another thread, a lot of things change per playthrough, from who you recruit (which can be time-based (ex: you can get one character if your clock is from x:00-x:29 or another character if your clock is from x:30-59), or based on what scenarios you've done), to what scenarios you experience, to which bosses you can beat or which bosses you lose against. I decided to do a few things differently to change the scenario around a bit. I am also playing with the English patch this time and I think it's a pretty good translation (Tom from XSEED worked on the translation patch but don't let that deter you based on what he's been saying about other things; it's a genuinely good translation). Comparisons to SaGa are pretty legitimate.
Fantasy Life Link!:
I don't like Level-5. I like Brownie Brown save for a few things they've worked on, but I don't like Level-5. So playing Fantasy Life Link is an interesting experience. I think it's okay so far. It's loaded with furigana for people who wanted to import it (but since it's coming out here later this year, there's kinda no point). I started the game with the first software version so I didn't have some of the extras before (the game originally didn't come with 3 save files until you upgraded to another version, for example). The game seems pretty lax on time constraints, and overall, it's not as difficult as regular RPGs (in terms of being an RPG, it's kinda like "my first RPG"). At the same time, it isn't necessarily comparable to an RPG, but more like Harvest Moon, a very basic version of Atelier if you have an alchemist job, and Rune Factory (Rune Factory is probably the best comparison to make). People going in thinking it's like Animal Crossing are in for a surprise. The main scenario is pretty short and all you seem to have to do for that is clear the butterfly quests. The bulk of the game comes from getting jobs, upgrading, foraging, doing townspeople sidequests, etc. The game looks really good, and the soundtrack is pretty decent (it's by Uematsu, and coming off from some of his other stuff in recent years, it sounds a little refreshing).
Tales of the Heroes: Twin Brave:
I think Omega Force should've been asked to help out on this one because Namco doesn't seem to make a good Musou on their own. It's not even about the complexities of square and triangle. It's just so easy to get a 150-hit combo in one shot without even trying. I even used one arte the entire time and racked up 130 hits with spaces between. The scenarios are just as poor as Tales of VS, but that isn't really a surprise. You're generally fighting against other Tales characters and not Tales villains, and since the characters I like to use aren't unlocked right off the bat, it makes for a bad time.
To be fair, the last Omega Force game I'd played was Trinity Souls of Zill O'll. Maybe I was expecting something more like that, or maybe Twin Brave feels like it's more restricted since you have less buttons to your disposal (ex: to switch characters' artes used, you have to hold L and something else... kinda like the artes ball in Xillia where you were able to equip 16 artes at a time).
Persona 4: Golden:
I bought it when it came out and decided to drop it to play Virtue's Last Reward and Nayuta no Kiseki that year. I haven't really played it much since then and since I'd beaten the PS2 version twice before, there wasn't much of a reason to go back to it. I figured I should get it over with since it's been a while since I played it and I want to put the cart back in its case. Into December in-game right now.
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I should probably go back and beat NSMB U since I was halfway through it and dropped it for... um, I don't even remember what I'd dropped it for. People have been bugging me to start and finish Uncharted 2 since forever, but I just don't feel like playing a cinematic shooter atm. Just want to pick something up that isn't an RPG for a few days.
