iracional 88
Finished:
Figment - This one pleasently surprised me.
The Lion’s Song - Quite enjoyed some aspects of it, but replaying segments is rather awkward, if you want a specific sequence of choices (auto save points only).
Tales of Berseria - the reason it has taken me a month to post progress XD. Memorable characters (party and adversaries). The pacing is a bit off, but the banter/journey redeems it.
Re: the pacing -
I’ve been noticing that a lot about Tales games in specific and JRPGs in general - the pacing of their cutscenes really is just a liiiiittle bit off where it’s hard to get really Drawn In and have it Work. Everything just moves a little bit too fast, too jarring.
I wonder if that’s a function of the translation, or just a difference in the media. I don’t have a lot of experience with Japanese movies, but I don’t feel that way about Ghibli films, though they do purposefully move slower than most.
What surprised you about Figment?
Hmm… for me the cutscenes were okay, I guess (I could be just used to it). It was more the map movement/dungeons - you don’t move very fast, some levels are large and it feels a bit like expanses of fights/walking with some loot between spikes of cutscene/banter goodness. It could be that contrast is what makes the cutscenes feel too eventful. In-character, your party is building up for the scene, pursuing the quest and inevitable events, but the players were just spending the time crossing maps. The mood changes can also be a bit jarring/sudden (huge emotional crowning scene of Plot, with a quirky completely random party banter blurb few in-game minutes later) but I kind of expect that from a Tales game and without the twists/developments, it would be easy to lose interest. What happens next is a powerful motivator XD
As for Figment, I went in with low expectations, I guess. A surrealism-inspired game about aspects of the mind, I wasn’t expecting to grow fond of it (and in general, I’m a little wary of topics which easily end up a pretentious mess when presented for effect alone); however Figment managed to stay quite appealing, never overplaying its hand. The attention to detail, really, bobbing of bridges under the protagonist’s feet, inspired little touches like lightbulb-baloons and the boss-fight songs, that one bit with rhyming, the snippets of conversations. The game never makes you feel like it doesn’t need you (weird thing to say, I know, but some games don’t interact as openly with the player - they tell the story and whether you listen or not, it’s told). Figment tries to engage. It’s not perfect and I didn’t enjoy all the gameplay it offered, but it makes you feel welcome.