The Selective Hearing team has been immersed in various games this month as fellow gamers. After a brief hiatus, we’re excited to share our personal gaming experiences with you.
Allen
What Have You Been Playing in April?
- Suikoden I & II HD Remaster: Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars
- Stellar Blade
What Are Your Thoughts?
SPOILERS AHEAD
I was a huge fan of the Suikoden series back on the PSX, and I couldn’t believe Konami was bringing a remaster of both I and II. I was disappointed at Eiyuden Chronicles Hundred Heroes but couldn’t wait to replay the originals.
I was having flashbacks to my childhood. I could remember the music and castle layouts of the first game more vividly than the second one. However, the story in the second game is more memorable, as most Suikoden fans will agree.
There is a lot to do along the way when you go collect all 108 stars of destiny. I finished the first game in under 20 hours, thanks to the 2x and 3x speed increases. That should be the case for all remasters of games going forward. Also, having a hard difficulty option was a great add-on. However, the game still felt like a cakewalk overall.
The upscaled graphics looked great and did not take away from the retro look from the past. Suikoden II was a much bigger game with so much more to do than the first one. I managed to clock in exactly 40 hours by the time I finished. I couldn’t believe it, no way I could have nailed that timing. One platinum trophy for both games though. Either way, what a great time to relive some of the best old-school JRPGs.
Shortly after I completed Suikoden 1 and 2, I debated taking some time off or knocking out something in my backlog. I ended up playing Stellar Blade, which was on the top of my backlog very recently. I was hesitant because I am not very good at or interested in Souls-like games. However, I enjoyed playing the demo a few months ago.
I was super surprised at how much fun I was having the more I progressed through the game. Graphically, the game looks amazing. It’s very polished, and everything runs smoothly. I was able to enjoy it on the performance pro option and had no issues whatsoever.
They slowly give you abilities to add to your offensive and defensive play styles. It was very flexible because you could always reset the skill trees if you wanted to; however, I never had to use that feature. I did enjoy learning the enemies’ moves and combat options. I did get overpowered a few times, especially at some boss fights.
Unlike other Souls games, death didn’t feel too punishing, as I had to spend minutes travelling back to a boss to rematch. I always felt my deaths were pretty much my fault because of poorly timed parries or dodges. Victory felt within reach, so I could keep going despite issues with certain bosses.
There are many sidequests to complete, all of which are very valuable. I had a lot of fun with the fishing minigame. It uses the DualSense controller and haptics in such a good way that it makes fishing fun.
The one where you collect old beverage cans was particularly cool. The developers made different logos for each can. However, it did give me trouble on my way to the platinum trophy, as you have to collect 49 different cans.
I missed one in particular in two different play throughs, so I had to do a third one to make sure I didn’t overlook it again in a highly missable area.
I ended up finishing the platinum trophy in around 65 hours. I enjoyed every minute. I can tell that the developers put so much care into Stellar Blade, which ended up being a very solid and polished game. It’s been one year since its debut. Hopefully, more people will knock this out of their backlog and have fun like I did.
“What Are You Looking Forward to in May?”
I’ll most likely be playing…
- Clair Obscur Expedition 33: This game looks so different from a standard JRPG. It’s already getting GOTY-type scores, and I can’t wait to get my hands on it.
Greg
What Have You Been Playing in April?
- Pokemon TCG Pocket
- NHL 25
What Are Your Thoughts?
My choice of games hasn’t changed since the last article. As of the posting of this article, I have vastly improved my HUT team by simply grinding out missions to get tokens to use in the exchange and by getting free daily packs to get more free tokens.
I also did what I swore I would never do, go back to online play. Online players are still using the same bullshit tactics, and it seems that most people want to do cross-crease passes with every play. I have learned quickly that passive defence is the best way to mitigate (but not entirely eliminate) this overly abused play.
Do I win any online games? Absolutely not, but I’m not getting blown out like in previous experiences, either. So there is some improvement in my defensive performance overall. However, breaking out of the defensive zone is still a problem for me since humans, unlike computers, want to goon the hell out of you at every opportunity. That is still something I have to work on.
On the other hand, Pokemon TCG Pocket has started becoming increasingly difficult to keep up with if you don’t want to spend vast amounts of real-life money on the game to keep up with the relentless number of new sets coming out.
For a semi-free-to-play player such as myself, keeping up with the meta is becoming a chore. I have found myself playing the solo missions rather than grinding it out in ranked. I don’t have the time (or the funds) to keep up with the latest and greatest in the game, so I have decided to leisurely collect the cards and do my best to complete each set.
Maybe one day I’ll win the lottery, and then I’ll be able to buy infinite amounts of in-game currency to open multiples of every pack.
“What Are You Looking Forward to in May?”
I’ll most likely be playing…
- The same games until I get bored and go back to trying to Finish Final Fantasy 7 or the Yakuza series.
