Games I’m playing in April

My video game sessions have been all over the place lately. This text will be less about overarching themes and more down to earth, including what I’ve been playing in the last weeks or so.

Cyberpunk

** Spoilers only for Cyberpunk **

I have been exploring all main endings in Cyberpunk. By main ending I mean the main choices we have to pick to reach Mikoshi inside Arasaka Tower. I’ve been choosing to always go back to my body. I did two missions so far and unlocked the Aldecaldos ending, which was very good and promising for V. It was the ending where I got to maintain Judy as my romance option without having weird things happening. I romanced her more for the story development than for the vibe I got from her. It’s not a character I’m very attracted to. I think Panam’s friendship is much more valuable in the game than any romance. In hindsight, I could have gone without romancing anyone in the game.

After unlocking the ending and watching the last scenes as well as the credit scenes I got the feeling that there was hope for V and that Panam wouldn’t easily give up on V and would try to save her by any means necessary. That’s the value of a good friend. From Judy, I got the same feeling as I always did. She wanted to run away to “find herself” and I happened to be in the right place at the right time, getting away from Night City, and she took the ride. Me being there or not was just a detail. That’s the Aldecaldos ending, not Judy’s, which makes me think romancing/befriending Panam is some sort of a canon.

After that ending I unlocked the Rogue/Silverhand ending. I enjoyed it and it was a bit easier to reach Mikoshi than with the Aldecaldos. Once again I defeated Smasher in a fight I wasn’t ready for because I’m playing a type of blade/shotgun glass cannon, and once again returned to my body. The ending was very anticlimactic because I was beyond help. I didn’t have a family to support me even though I was the queen of The Afterlife. More people surrounded me and applauded my feats but less people did actually show the drive to help with my short lifespan. Of course, Judy was the first to jump ship on her quest to find her place in the world. Why waste any time in the company of a terminally ill person, right? Judy isn’t the kind of person you’d want at your side if you’d find yourself in a similar situation, but the odds of finding someone like her in real life aren’t slim. After a nice mission in space and an ending clearly open to interpretation, the credits roll and we find our closest acquaintances wanting to know how V is doing.

My last ending will be accepting Hanako’s deal, but I don’t remember much of what the deal was. I decided to level up a bit more and do some jobs and gigs before trying the last mission. I finished all of Regina’s requests and visited some more places in Night City while taking NCPD side jobs. Once again I plan to return to V’s body if the ending allows it. From what I’ve seen there’s variations to the endings if we choose to give V’s body to Johnny but there’s only so many times I can kill Smasher without getting bored.

Valkyrie Elysium

One weekend, I was exploring my collection of Playstation games and noticed I still had Valkyrie Elysium installed. I checked it and my save was from almost a year ago. I decided to give it another try. I wasn’t that far from the end-game, but still had a good portion of side-quests to complete. I may have abandoned the game because the colour palette was very pastel and not in the most pleasing way, the colours and volumes had very similar tonalities, the landscapes looked a bit flat, and my eyes got tired from the scenery. However, the combat is good and fun and it’s where the game really shines both for new and experienced players. After re-learning how to use magic, combos and my einherjer, I adapted myself to a number of combat situations, used elemental advantages and finished regular enemies and bosses alike.

I went through all side quests and unlocked some progress and combat trophies in the process. Since I was having fun, I tried to complete everything before the last chapter, but I didn’t collect absolutely everything, only prioritising the side quests and the flowers. When I was ready to enter the last chapter I was meant to choose a path. I used a guide and saw that my progress would naturally land on the true ending. I wanted the trophy for all four endings, so I took the easiest one out of the way. Then, reloaded the save and went for the true and arguably the most difficult ending while I still had the energy. It was difficult and during the fight with the last boss my Playstation crashed. Fortunately it wasn’t on the second phase and thank the gods (and the devs) for checkpoints. Using my rage as fuel, I finished everything and watched the ending that tied everything up.

On the next day, I unlocked the normal ending, which is the one we get if we play the main story from start to finish without detours. It wasn’t what I was expecting if I was expecting anything at all. It felt just like an ending. After that, at last, the alternative ending to the normal one was an endurance trial of many bosses and my hands weren’t collaborating at all. I died once but in the end I won the fight and unlocked an ending that, even though it wasn’t on the same positive tone as the true ending, still felt very satisfying.

I enjoyed some of the other game modes but didn’t stick around. I wasn’t interested in getting the platinum because I had to play the game all over again on hard, grind a lot for the SSS weapons, have S-rank in everything and I wasn’t really feeling it. Moving on, I continued playing Cyberpunk and installed Valkyrie Profile Lenneth. The latter has a very interesting story from the get-go; there’s absolutely no doubt it’s a game I’m going to enjoy. However, it’s a traditional jrpg, and since there’s a learning curve I decided to wait for a time when I had the good energy to dedicate.

The House in Fata Morgana

Then, I got sick. It wasn’t anything serious but I just couldn’t be playing in my living room and had to lie down. It’s where the Nintendo Switch came into play, pun intended. I didn’t want to play anything in particular, just a little help to fall asleep. Some games just find their way into our hearts and more often than not those games are visual novels.

The House in Fata Morgana (THiFM) was sitting in my downloaded games for ages now. I don’t have a physical edition because importing Limited Run games to where I live is a fortune in shipping and taxes, not to mention the rarity tax. I found a nice sale and bought the game for a price I felt was very fair and within my budget. Also, the most complete version of the game is on the Switch, Vita, and Playstation 4, if I’m not mistaken. 

The game was exactly what I needed. It started slow; it’s not heavily choice-based, apart from the last half and endings, and it’s as dark as only some visual novels can be. It tells a gothic story with the romanticised flair of mediaeval times, cursed witches, haunted mansions, ruined families, tragic relationships, mysterious characters and many, many secrets. There’s no over-the-top anime banter, even when reading lighter conversations. After all, we really need those moments of respite in order to survive the story, trust me. I’m playing it first without a guide, but I think that if I’m not right at the true ending I may be very close.

Nobles, commoners, human nature, superstitions, fear, poverty, abuse, power, faith, sexuality, love – everything constitutes the mould from which THiFM came into existence, bringing life to a story full of horrors and despair spanning different generations. Maybe I’ll write a bit about the story, but I think it’s such a great game to play/read without reading anything about it first. It’s what I’m doing – just enjoying the surprises I find and the shocking revelations from the witch.

Playstation 2023 wrap-up

I saw my Playstation 2023 wrap-up and I was impressed that I’ve played so much in there. This year passed extremely fast to me, and it seems that playing many games was a contributing factor to the impression that time ran uncontrollably fast. If I had written a few words about those games maybe they’d be more than just a fleeting memory. The five games selected by Playstation were God of War Ragnarök, Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut, Final Fantasy XVI, Horizon Forbidden West and Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade. I may have played them in the first half of 2023 with some Xbox Game Pass games thrown in between. Those were Hi-Fi Rush, Return to Monkey Island, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, Somerville, Norco, The Last Case of Benedict Fox, Coffee Talk, Soul Hackers 2, Planet of Lana, Signalis, The Last Campfire, Dordogne, Opus: Echo of Starsong, Persona 5 Royal and Starfield.

I think I’ve played other games on Playstation which weren’t selected for the wrap up for some reason. They can also have been completed in 2022. Those were Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, The Last of Us Part II, Citizen Sleeper and Celeste. The ones I mentioned on Xbox were mostly played in 2023 but could have been started in 2022. There’s a lack of jrpgs because I went into that rabbit hole after I got the Switch in the second half of 2023. After that, my playtime in each game increased significantly. Those were Fire Emblem Three Houses, Triangle Strategy, The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails, Fire Emblem Engage, Dragon Quest XI S, Steins Gate, Saint Maker and a few others. It was Fire Emblem Three Houses that took most of my playtime in 2023. FE Engage and Steins Gate are still not completed. They’re two very long games and I decided to play Dragon Quest instead, which turned out to be a very long game!

I’ve played the first 50 hours of Persona 5 Royal on Game Pass, then Final Fantasy XVI came out and I took a break from Persona to play it. Fast forward a few months and Persona left Game Pass. I bought it for the Switch instead and will start all over again. When will that be, I don’t know. I think 2023 was a nice year for me. I’ll still be several years behind the current year, meaning that I’ll be playing older games in 2024 and I’ll be purchasing only exclusive games for the Switch or games that feel more natural playing handheld. I’d really like to have a physical edition of Another Code and I’m looking forward to it. Many jrpgs are coming in February but I don’t know if I’m going to buy something full price considering that my backlog is stacked already.

In all honesty I think I was a happier gamer when I had less games and less consoles. I remember when Xbox was the only console I had, and Mass Effect Trilogy was the only game I was playing. The same happened with Elden Ring. I gave so many hours to that game and it was the only game in existence during the time I was playing it. Now, when I play a game, I’m wondering about all the other games I have yet to play. Maybe a good 2024 resolution would be buying less games and waiting for price drops more often. Also, not falling into the trap of buying physical games for triple the price of the digital game just because they’re beautiful (which they are) and not falling into the trap of awesome digital sales only to add to an infinite digital backlog.  Trying balance, for starters.

Collecting console games or embracing Steam

I’ve been thinking a lot about this during hobby time. I’ve been enjoying this collecting journey for the Nintendo Switch, however I can’t help but wonder if all these games will eventually die on me (which they will) and if it’s actually worth the cost. Now, with the Steam Deck having such a strong presence in many households, with a gigantic jrpg library and emulation capabilities at our fingertips, if collecting for a console is actually the best idea for future access to our games. The games I bought on Steam ages ago are still in my library. They can be played in my potato laptop, a handheld device, or a future PC. It doesn’t mater the gear I have, if I have a PC in my house or not (I only have a potato laptop that runs Trails in the Sky, to my amazement) I just know that I can play those games the moment I have a way to play them.

I have a PS5 with some digital games I bought on sale and the PS+ subscription. I may have about 5 physical games too, since I don’t collect for the console. The xbox is only for gamepass and to run music CDs. I have a physical copy of the Dark Souls trilogy and that’s it. Meanwhile my Switch physical library keeps growing. The games don’t take up much space, the game cards are adorable, and the cover artworks are a pleasure to look at. I’m very picky with the titles I choose. I only buy if I’m absolutely sure I want it and if I intend to play it sometime in the future. I’m first a gamer and then a collector (I’m not a collector, really). I’m not concerned about xbox. It’s an excellent console, it comes with an extremely comfortable controller, and a good library of games. Unfortunately I can’t say the same about their jrpg library. However, it’s a solid console – quite literally – with solid choice for Western audiences, and I don’t really fear that their library of games is going to suddenly disappear. The same goes for the PS5.

I’m not so sure about Nintendo, though. They close their online stores some years after the end of a generation, and their exclusive games don’t magically appear in other platforms. To be totally honest, I don’t trust their ability to totally rework their online services and accounts. While people still complain about Bloodborne not being available on PC (with good reason), Nintendo has a chronic case of Bloodborne-itis. Relying on an emulator to play Fire Emblem Awakening is not my idea of fun. It’s an awkward way to play, something that I’d never gotten used to, and our only option apart from buying yet another console and the physical game. While buying a PS3 where I live is quite affordable, or even an Xbox One, a Nintendo 3DS is still very expensive.

Considering that my Switch won’t last forever I think that my game library will be unplayable one day. I can always buy a new PC. If I have money I can buy a better one, or I can either buy a less powerful machine that can run my non-AAA games. In some years the Nintendo Switch will be a retro console, it will be expensive and I’ll only find it used. One of my options will be to sell all those games and build another library somewhere else. Or rather keeping the games and try to grow my collection somewhere else right now, before I collect too much for one platform only. From my predictions, the amount of games I have for the Switch will give me about 1 or 2 years of gameplay, because I tend to sit on a game for many hours and I enjoy long rpgs.

The more I think about this the less I see the advantage of buying physical games for consoles, unless the fun resides in collecting and appreciating my collection for what’s worth and for the time it lasts. Another option is to mod my Switch and dump the games, but the limitations of an aging hardware will still be the same, and the option of emulators will still be the only viable choice. And then we have Steam that works pretty well for non-exclusive titles. At this moment, I don’t own an updated PC and even the less hungry jrpgs don’t work there. I learned the process of Switch emulation, it was very easy to learn and straightforward but my hardware can’t run it. This is not a problem now but I’m happy to know that, with a new PC, I’ll be able to play Switch games in the future.

People that are seriously into collecting for the Switch and have extensive collections usually have more than one device to guarantee they can keep playing their games and, well, to collect the system in its various limited editions. It’s like taking the collection to another level but it’s a smart way to avoid the raising prices when the console stops being produced. There’s also the possibility that the next console will be backwards compatible with physical games. That would be the perfect case scenario, to put our games on life support for some years like they did with the DS/3DS, until we play them all.

These are funny times, the first time I see myself thinking about such things and trying to plan for continued access to games that I don’t know if I’ll keep playing. I like to have them, though, and my collection is still small. Sometimes I wonder if I wouldn’t feel better if I had them inside my Steam library, allocated into one place and readily available to install, without thinking that my hardware will disintegrate with use and will be harder to replace in the future.