Posts made by HappyGaming

@oscillator I used this one a ton because I was stingy on eating certain foods outside of a pinch. Really helpful in certain environments!

Really enjoyed doing the 30-Day Music Challenge a few months back, so I did a mock-up of something that we could do starting this next Thursday with the new month.

It's a cheap Photoshop job from the original image, so apologies about that. If anyone has suggestions for changes, let me know and we can put them into the challenge. I figure because this one isn't specifically talking about music, we could share favorite scenes in videos, personal stories, screenshots, pictures, etc about each of the categories on a given day.

Really interested to gauge everyone's thoughts.

Pretty much anything Yasunori Mitsuda has composed.

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I think I had a comment with @TokyoSlim a few days ago where I basically said it's my Halloween tradition to try and love BloodBorne. And there are so many things to like; The Gothic architecture is almost second to none. The monsters are terrifying and feel so alive and dangerous. The weapons are so unique and fast. But that essence of Souls is there, and beautifully implemented while making the game still feel like its own separate thing, but is still too strong a flavor for me. It's probably what holds it back for me that helps it excel for other people. It just has an adoration of kicking my ass and telling me to like it, and there's only so much I can take of that. Who knows, maybe this Halloween, I'll get past where I was last year and finish to the end, but odds are slim. Even if I don't, I hold no disrespect or hatred of the game. I love going around and exploring the haunted town. But not as much as I've fallen in love with other games.

I also love Breath of the Wild. It was a really enchanting experience looking around that world the first time. The reigns are really taken off, and you're given that freedom to go wherever you want with the caveat of you'll also have to understand the world's mechanics to survive and progress. And it genuinely feels like an adventure, going into the unknown and trying new things in places you've never seen before. I played this for many evenings and had a wonderful, magical time. But to me, it isn't a game I can jump back into. Watching speedrunners, how people can and have broken the game and uncovered all of the secrets of mechanics makes it feel less special to jump back in. The magic isn't there anymore the second time because I've seen everything and I've done it before, and unlike many other games I'm attached to that are story-centric, Breath of the Wild is largely reliant on how you create your own personal story, for better or for worse. For me, it means that it won't be the same the second, or any other playthrough. But that first time held a special adventure like quality that I can't deny. I just hope that the sequel gives me that same feeling again. Adventuring into the unknown, never knowing what to expect, and never expecting anything. That first time with the game, the world is your oyster, and man is it magical.

Here's my list. I didn't expect all of the games to make the cut, but I voted based on where I felt things were on my personal scale as well as how I felt they were important or held up over the course of the decade as something that should be remembered. I'll try to only comment on the ones that didn't make the cut. I like some of these games more than I placed them. My list reflects what I feel were the best games of the decade that I played, not my favorite. For example, things like Yakuza 0 would be higher because I love them more, but I ordered my list according to a best not favorite mentality. Although looking back, I may have put Yakuza just a little higher

1 - Persona 5
2 - What Remains of Edith Finch
3 - Celeste - This was a fantastic and emotional experience for me. This was my Dark Souls where it was tough as nails, but the difference was that it was so gentle and kind about it. The messages about mental health were also so powerful to me. I wrote a whole podcast episode based on it, and there's a video if anyone is interested in an abbreviated version.
4 - Final Fantasy XV
5 - The Last of Us
6 - Journey
7 - Catherine - I didn't expect this one to make the cut, but I genuinely believe that this is a game that tells a story in a way most games are afraid to. It's a story that is extremely difficult to tell, because it's about personal relationships, sexuality, and how we are attracted to or happy with one another in relationships. That's big stuff. It's not perfect by any means, it has plenty of missteps, but I think it excels much more than it trips, and I definitely recommend it to those interested in deep character stories about relationships, anime and puzzle games. This is the first Atlus game I played that got me hooked on Persona.
8 - INSIDE
9 - Shovel Knight
10 - Limbo
11 - Yakuza 0
12 - God of War
13 - Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch - I don't think most people played this one. I know Ghibli is huge, but the market for a full RPG is probably not as wide as the people who watch the movies. That being said, this game has such positive and good vibes in a way that only Ghibli can provide. Even beyond the story of Oliver and his growth, you have these beautifully well crafted worlds full of cities and towns, full of believable and lovable characters. I just genuinely fell in love with existing in this place. The side quests are all about helping others by finding people to give a piece of themselves to help, and it made it so motivating to help each and every person, even if it really comes down to a checklist. On top of that, I loved the story of all of the characters, the cross-reality story, and just the art. What a work of pure joy!
14 - Mario Odyssey
15 - Katawa Shoujo - Definitely didn't think this would make the cut, but damn was I blown away by a game I was basically playing for porn and discovered it had a really touching, in depth story of each character. It has deep lessons about how people feel when they're disabled and how we should treat them equally, and also how we can see things from a new, beautiful perspective by understanding them better as a person. It being a (adult) visual novel definitely puts it into a more niche category, but if you're interested and put off by the adult content, just know you can turn that off and still enjoy the touching and heartwarming character stories that will leave you falling in love with each person depending on the scenario you choose.

Honorable Mentions
Zelda Breath of the Wild
The Walking Dead - Surprised we didn't see this, but at the same time given the material we're working with I'm not at all. This was another game that year that I was really impressed with, not just as a game, but for the fact that it was such an emotional rollercoaster while being a downloadable game. This was the year I remember 'downloadable games' being taken off of the specific hit list of how they're released, and just being recognized as 'games'. This was the year of Journey, and that also won huge accolades. This was a supremely special game with amazing characters and branching paths. I would talk with my buddy once a week on the differences in each of our episodes like a weekly television show we had personally taken part in, and the ending of the first season is so gut churningly emotional, I wish I could play it for the first time again. This was TellTale at the top of their game. Better than Wolf Among Us or Guardians, it was them before they got big, but when they had the most passion in my opinion.
Marvel’s Spider Man
P.T. - Another Halloween favorite, and I understand why it didn't quite make it all the way to the end. It's more of an idea than a game, but it is an idea that I come back to and dream about and have fallen in love with the more I play it. PT is the groundwork for a masterpiece of horror. It started the revolution of games like it that are slower and methodical, more thoughtful than things like Outlast. It was also the final nail in the coffin of the Konami Kojima debacle, so it holds a lot of weight, but putting all that aside, PT on its own is one of the best horror experiences you can play today. If you can't get it on PS4, people have remade it in Unreal and other ways. It holds up. It deserves to be more. It never will be.
Firewatch - Another slower pick game I didn't really expect to make the cut, but I genuienly think that Firewatch, like Catherine, handles relationships and personal motives and stakes like how few other games do. The way conversations flow feels so natural, and the way you slowly uncover and personally reveal and write your own past makes it feel personal. The stakes of the game aren't about something like the end of the world, but because they hit so close to home, the small things feel more biting. It's also just a joy to exist in a natural, empty space without anyone around. That's a personal joy to me, being a Firewatch hermit, but there's a real sense of escapism and tourism that you get to experience in a similar way as something like Yakuza 0. This is a space you learn to love and be in, and it's a place I'd love to come back to every year.

@bard91 I agree with the first two, but Trails in the Sky SC technically came out in 2006, so I wouldn't really count it for this generation. You should hypothetically tell them to download it regardless though.

@dmcmaster it honestly makes me wonder about what the cost of purchase versus the cost of revival of the Konami name would be.

My personal picks would probably be Persona 5 or Final Fantasy XV as a JRPG fan, but I think Witcher 3 should definitely be mentioned too.

Is it cheating to say PT?

Haven't heard this song since they used it in the 2015 PS4 sizzle reel commercial that I used to hear 30 seconds of constantly.

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Great trailer though! The game looks better every time I see it.

If we're just looking at the lowest scores given, I recall Bombshell, Orc Attack and GI Joe Rise of Cobra getting very low scores back in the GameTrailers days. As far as scores I don't agree with though, I'd have to dig through and see what I remember.

To me, there are few games as good as The Last of Us. While there are games I enjoy more, to me this is some of the peak of what storytelling is able to do with this medium. I recognize it's not the type for everyone, but I've had few moments where I've been as emotionally invested in every single moment on screen as this game presents.

This is a game that has a script and a vision that is uncompromisingly mature in its presentation, and doesn't hold back from bleakness or despair. In fact, it's a part of the reality that we come to know as what is commonplace. I've never been able to play the opening act without weeping, and the rest all has its points of pointed weight that picks at you, as a survivor, as a human.

The nature of survival is always up front. You survived to see this transition, the changes to what you thought were the most permanent parts of life. But you also survive second to second. The story reflects the bitterness and the hardened reality of survival, and the sadness of looking back. The game play reflects this as you try to live another second against someone else who is no less guilty of survival than you, scavenging for the same loot and gear, wanting to breathe life one more time the next day. So you scrounge supplies, craft gear, and fight your way to be able to be the last one standing.

While the storytelling is definitely not for everyone, the actors do a tremendous job moment to moment, selling their characters with weight and authenticity like few games I've seen before. Some lines make me choke up with just a small couple of words and some make me put the controller down to think. Ellie having never seen the world 'before' makes it all the more tremendously powerful to hear her thoughts on it as you progress, and Joel's callousness bounces off of her perfectly.

While going in I was expecting Uncharted with zombies, I was greeted with so much more; a thoughtful, methodical, slow and hardened look at humanity and the world like Cormac McCarthy's The Road, but with a different flavor. I wholeheartedly believe that Last of Us is one of the greatest games of all time, and I will stand by that.

@dipset

According to Push Square, "-Of course, it’s worth remembering that next-gen titles are likely to utilise higher quality assets overall, which could mean that they retain a very large hard drive footprint despite the aforementioned optimisations. As a result, file sizes could very well remain high – there’s just a strong chance they’ll be more efficient with it."

I always figured file sizes would continue to grow regardless as textures and assets increase in size, but I don't really know the details of how file size is determined in the first place in all honesty. In the same article they say that Spider Man's file size on PS4 was large because of how it used a lot of repeated and duplicated assets, but from what I also read somewhere, that's exactly the opposite as to why Red Dead 2 and Final Fantasy VII Remake were like 100 gigs (because they had so many unique assets used only once), so potato potahto.

Just remembered another one: Pokemon Snap!

I gave this game such a hard time for years after it came out. A photography game? On rails? Please. My best buddy tried to convince me for the longest time that it was good, and I wouldn't hear any part of it. Then I got that N64 with the game, booted it up, and it was some of the most jolly times I've had on the system. My girlfriend and I played it for days trying to find all the secrets and get the best photos. It's now one of my favorite games on the system that I've played and I'm stoked for the new one on Switch. I eat my words, Snap is wonderful.

So long as they fixed the jumping from the N' Sane Trilogy (which is a completely separate set of thoughts and arguments altogether) I'm all in. I've at least tried every Crash game, and even if they're not all made equal, this one looks real good!

I played through the first God of War on PS2, and watched a playthrough of 2 and 3 by my buddy. Maybe it was the Greek mythology I wasn't into, but I think it was more the hack n' slash combat and the unlikable Kratos. Hearing people's passion for this new entry, I was definitely skeptical. But boy did it blow me away!

There's so much I love about this God of War, and I think the thing that stands out more than anything else to me is how it doesn't scrap what came before. It's like everyone involved has grown, and have made a more mature and thoughtfully designed game because of what came before, making what comes now more meaningful and impactful. Watching Kratos, the character I hated so much before, try to contain all of his emotions and anger in order to be a better father and role model for his son is genuinely engaging and emotional to watch. The developers managed to turn a character who I was so against into someone I rooted for actively, and that's a win on its own.

On top of that though, they managed to make maybe my favorite implementation of 'open world' structure in a game to date. I love how nothing is forced. There are no waypoints, there are not technical side quests. It's all based on your desire to explore, sort of like Breath of the Wild but more contained. And it's all guided by the writing and the dialogue between the characters, letting you know the stakes as well as what options are available to you, subtly. The combat is also outstanding, especially how it expands throughout the adventure. The game being primarily about the evolving relationship between Kratos and Atreus really focuses on how they evolve together, especially in combat. I love the moments where gameplay reflects their relationship, which I won't spoil, but it evolves, shifts, and has schisms just like the plot it reflects, and you feel it!

I also think it helps that the game has a smaller cast of characters you're dealing with. While there are lots of stories to get lost in that you'll be told about the legends of the culture, you're not really ever overwhelmed with characters and left to wonder how they got there or where they came from. They really give you the perfect amount to season the journey, and let the rest be legends for flavor for later. The old games really overwhelmed me because I wasn't proficient in the stories of old Greece, and so I would have to ask who did what and when. This God of War doesn't fall into that trap, and always has characters you care about, or learn to care about through action and story.

It's rare that I'll completely do a 180 on a franchise, but this God of War did for me, and I'm extremely excited on where they go next. Also, for those who haven't watched it, the making of documentary is outstanding and just enhances my personal feelings on the game. I'll link it below.

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I'll start because this is the game that prompted me to actually start this thread:

Should I buy:
Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen

Yo everyone!

I have a certain issue. Maybe not an issue per se, but something I struggle with on a regular basis. You see, every week, I peruse the PS4 deals and new releases, sometimes the Switch sales, and I'll add a bunch of things to my cart. Then I'll spend the next week stressing over whether or not I should actually click on that "Proceed to Checkout" button. I'll watch videos from trusted sources, contemplate whether the genre is what I want versus what I have that I haven't finished and already have, wonder if the game is something that is worth trying altogether. And then the week goes by, and I start the cycle over, usually having not checked out at all.

I thought up this thread from that mentality, because sometimes you just need a buddy to tell you yes or no, and why. You can watch all the videos in the world, but sometimes the best source of confidence comes from honest people. So I figured maybe sometimes this community struggles in the same way, and we can help each other know what to check out from their carts. So let's help each other find games we want to pick up, especially when we're having the most trouble!

I have a habit of not wanting to be a part of the zeitgeist when games come out. It stresses me out having too many conversations when something is hot, and so oftentimes I'll wait for things, even go so far as to tell myself why I don't care to play it, and then have that moment from the end of the Not Funny GT sketch about Titanfall.

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Most recently off the top of my head, probably Zelda: Ocarina of Time. I played it at friends' houses growing up, but I never had an N64. My sister recently gifted me one, and I love that game! Not my favorite Zelda, but still excellent!

My sister introduced me to a group called God is an Astronaut probably a little over a decade ago, and they're definitely in my favorite groups to have on while I'm working or trying to focus. Probably not for everyone, but they're heavy instrumental rock (on their wikipedia they're classified under Post-Rock and Space Rock).

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Don't know if there are a good amount of people who are interested in books about the industry, but I posted this as a correction to last week's podcast and it didn't get mentioned. Thought I'd post it here in case people were interested!

I just wanted to recommend "Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo and the Battle that Defined a Generation" by Blake J Harris. It's written in more of a dramatization fashion, from character perspectives rather than a historical memoir, but was based on real interviews, events, people and situations that happened during the 90s from the sides of both Sega and Nintendo. It primarily follows Tom Kalinske as he began as CEO of Sega of America and the struggles of the company battling with Nintendo being the juggernaut it grew into at the time, but pretty fairly looks at both sides and the struggles of marketing, multinational company cultural disagreements, courtroom battles and more.

It's a pretty thick read, but I loved every bit of it and would recommend it to anyone hoping to learn more about the era and the people behind the decisions that were made then, as well as why certain events transpired.

https://www.amazon.com/Console-Wars-Blake-J-Harris-audiobook/dp/B00K0M8TR4/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=console+wars&qid=1600551240&sr=8-1

The book is actually being made into a documentary from CBS All Access, and the trailer dropped just a few hours after I made the last comment. You can watch the trailer here:

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I still very highly recommend the book!

I played and beat Demons Souls when it came out, but try as I might, I've never been able to get into the Souls games. I've played every one, plus Bloodborne and Sekiro but the difficulty is just too much for me.

I picked up Dark Souls another time on Switch last July, and parts finally started to click; things like how weapons scale to leveling certain ways, and how that makes things significantly easier if you plan around that. However, I've been stuck on Ornstein and Smaugh for over a year now, and I don't think that that joy will ever fully sink in. There's something insatiable about the games that keeps me coming back. The exploration, the dark worlds, the mystery. But as I read once in an editorial somewhere that I wish I could directly quote, "I don't like having my hand slammed in a car door and told to enjoy it".